The Prince exiles Romeo from Verona, under penalty of death if he ever returns.

Juliet visits Friar Laurence for help, and he offers her a potion that will put her into a deathlike coma and make her appear dead.

At first, the Nurse teases Juliet for sleeping since Paris will keep her up all night during their honeymoon. Then she realizes the child isn't breathing.

Friar John does not reach Romeo who learns of Juliet's apparent death from his servant, Balthasar.

Believing Romeo to be a vandal, Paris confronts him and, in the ensuing battle, Romeo kills Paris.

Believing Juliet to be dead, he drinks poison.

When she awakens and finds Romeo dead, Juliet stabs herself with his dagger.

The play ends with the Prince's elegy for the lovers: "For never was a story of more woe / Than this of Juliet and her Romeo."

The major characters wear costumes that reflect their personalities: Romeo as a knight, Juliet as an angel, Tybalt as a devil, Capulet as an emperor, etc.

The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes as Romeo and Juliet.