After a classical string quartet's 25 years of success, Peter, the cellist and oldest member, decides that he must retire when he learns he has Parkinson's disease. For the others, that announcement proves a catalyst for bringing their hidden resentments to the surface, while the married member's daughter has her own disruptive desires. All this threatens to tear the group apart even as they are famous for playing Beethoven's String Quartet No. 14, opus 131, a piece that is played non-stop no matter how life interferes.