A beautiful actress struggles to connect with her disfigured co-star on the set of a European auteur's English-language debut.

In the 1930s, a Bronx native moves to Hollywood and falls in love with a young woman who is seeing a married man.

Larry Gopnik, a Midwestern physics teacher, watches his life unravel over multiple sudden incidents. Though seeking meaning and answers amidst his turmoils, he seems to keep sinking.