The Aviator tells the story of the emotional life of aviation pioneer, Howard Hughes (Leonardo DiCaprio) between the late 1920s to the 1940s.

During this time, he turned a small fortune into a massive one, was test flying innovative aircraft that he had designed, directing or producing movies like The Outlaw and Hell’s Angels, buying control of RKO Pictures and having love affairs with such Hollywood legends as Katharine Hepburn (Cate Blanchett) and Ava Gardner (Kate Beckinsale).

The film also recounts his increasingly erratic, obsessive-compulsive behaviour that eventually leads him to isolate himself from the world.