A 63 year old man living in a tower block on the outskirts of Bucharest falls ill one night and is bumped from hospital to hospital throughout the night whilst his condition deteriorates. In each hospital, Mr. Lazarescu faces busy, unsympathetic or downright rude doctors who blame his condition on his alcohol consumption and turn him away. The only person who stays by this poor old man throughout his ordeal is a paramedic named Luminita Gheorghiu, who stubbornly escorts Mr. Lazarescu from hospital to hospital and is met with similar disdain from hospital doctors and nurses.

The film acts as a powerful but bleak comment on the Romanian public healthcare system and the compassion required by healthcare workers the world over.