Edith Bouvier Beale and her daughter, Edith “Edie” B. Beale, Jr., are searching for their cat, Whiskers, who apparently escaped through a hole in the wall created by a raccoon. Edie is concerned that they will be raided by the East Hampton authorities, claiming that “they can get you for wearing red shoes on a Thursday.” Two years earlier, the Beales faced eviction for allowing their twenty-eight-room house to fall into disrepair, while garbage accumulated in several rooms, and their eight cats created an infestation of fleas. The women are the aunt and first cousin, respectively, of former First Lady, Jaqueline Kennedy Onassis, who paid to have the house cleaned and repaired, and the event was reported in the media. As Edie happily greets documentary filmmakers David and Albert Maysles, gardener Brooks Hyers trims the dense foliage in the backyard. On the upstairs deck, Edith sunbathes, scantily clad, and Edie scolds her mother for her near-nudity. That evening, Edie reads a description of a “Libra husband,” the kind of man she desires. She is joined by Jerry Torre, a teenaged handyman. She has nicknamed him “the marble faun,” from a Nathaniel Hawthorne novel. After reading a passage about divorce, Edie explains that her parents never legally parted; her father, Phelan Beale, got a “fake Mexican divorce,” and remarried, though it was never recognized by the Catholic Church. Inside Edith’s bedroom, the women look at old photographs, including one of Phelan and another of Gould Strong, Edith’s accompanist during her singing career. There are also pictures of the Beale sons, whom Edie complains were never disciplined, and a photograph of Edith in her prime, which Edie shows to the Maysles brothers, despite her mother’s protests. Edie plays a recording from 1934 of Edith singing in a soprano voice, accompanied by Gould on piano, noting that no man could have come between her mother and Gould. As Edith sings along to a record of “Tea for Two,” she asks her daughter, a former dancer, to do a soft-shoe routine, but Edie refuses. One night on the porch, Edie complains to Jerry that she had to give up the only things she cared about: Catholicism, dancing and swimming. When she tells Jerry that she doesn’t want to live in Grey Gardens because of the fleas and the unsettling quiet of East Hampton, he offers to help with the fleas. Sometime later, as Edith tunes in the radio to a Dr. Norman Vincent Peale sermon, Edie announces that her mother “doesn’t like the Catholic Church,” but Edith argues otherwise, then listens to the sermon while Edie makes facetious comments, and complains about her poor eyesight and lack of hair. Outside, Edie declares herself a “staunch character” that does not weaken, despite her late father’s disapproval. Later, items from Edie’s past, including photos, news clippings and an artist’s portrait, reveal that she was once a fashion model and a poet. Edith describes her daughter as “a girl who had everything,” including marriage proposals from millionaires such as J. Paul Getty, but she turned them all down. Edie regrets staying in New York during World War II to attend to Edith, who had several eye surgeries. Later still, Edie enters Grey Gardens with the Maysles, reciting a verse by Robert Frost and describing her eight-hour struggle with a dance routine the previous evening. In Edith’s bedroom, Edie reminisces about her past at the Barbizon Hotel in New York City, during which she was discovered by Broadway producer Max Gordon. Edith remembers that her daughter was starving, although she did encourage Edie’s dance and modeling careers. Edie asserts that she gave it all up to care for her mother, but Edith disagrees, claiming that Gould was her caretaker. However, Edie insists that Phelan was the only man who cared for her mother, and no sexual relationship existed with Gould. Edith concedes that she pressured Edie into leaving the city in 1952, even though her daughter was on the verge of her “big chance” on Broadway. Edie later tells the Maysleses of her dislike for the three men in her mother’s life: Phelan, Gould and Tom Logan. Tom was a musician, as well as a cook and a handyman, whom Edith admired, but Edie distrusted him. When Edie goes to the attic to feed raccoons, she finds a book that she believes was taken from her room, and suspects Jerry. Edie and Edith argue while one of the cats relieves itself on the floor. Later, Edie tells the Maysleses that, despite liking Jerry, she does not want him in the house. When Edith suggests that Jerry is in love with her daughter, Edie declares that she will never have sex with him, an overreaction in Edith’s estimation. When Edie leaves, Edith explains that her daughter always needed “a very strong hand,” because Edie “went wild” after her father left. Sometime later, groceries are delivered, and the two women chat in the bedroom, each with a pint of ice cream. Edie recalls working in her father’s law office, where he berated her for wearing fashionable clothes and makeup, and discouraged her from marrying. Regretting her solitude, Edie talks wistfully about Eugene, a Polish count and culinary author, who had been her suitor, but Edith insists that Eugene was too young for Edie, and notes that she would be alone without her daughter. Later, in another room, Edie decorates the walls with childhood mementos and a quote from Omar Khayyam. Later, she suns herself on the beach and swims in the ocean. On 5 October, Edith celebrates her seventy-ninth birthday in the kitchen with guests Lois Wright and Jack Helmuth. Edie covers the dirty chair seats with newspaper and serves refreshments while Edith criticizes her daughter’s waitressing skills. As a radio squawks under the conversation, Edie proposes a toast: “To my mother—may she live to be at least eighty.” Following a phone call from her sister, Edith opens presents from Jack and Lois. Two hand-painted posters are on display, one touting Edith as a great singer, the other touting Edie as a great dancer. Sometime after the party, Edie performs a dance routine to a recording of the Virginia Military Institute Marching Band, and tells the Maysles brothers that she wishes she had known them sooner. In the bedroom, the women sing together, but Edie’s farcical approach offends Edith and they bicker. One night, Edie tells the Maysleses that “the marble faun” is moving into Grey Gardens, expecting him to stay for ten years. She feels “pulverized” and wants to move out. On another occasion, Edie’s singing leads to more bickering, but Edith admits that her daughter has the better voice and later encourages Edie to sing. When another argument erupts over Eugene, Edie leaves the room in tears, and Edith tells the Maysleses that Eugene rejected her daughter. Outside, Edie is resigned to the fact that Grey Gardens is her mother’s house, and that she has no say over who lives there, but she also fears her mother’s death. Edie talks about moving back to New York City because winter in East Hampton is depressing. Later, Edith sings along with a recording of “Night and Day” as she sits in her bed surrounded by cats and refuse. Edie dances downstairs. On a wall is a hand-painted poster that reads, “October 5th—1973 ‘Grey Gardens’ At 78 it is true, You can live to be 80. Happy Hunting, From Edie.”