Irrational Man

Philosophy professor Abe Lucas (Joaquin Phoenix) arrives at a small-town campus amidst high expectations of himself and his radical teaching methods. Soon, however, rumours are beginning to circulate that he”s caught in an existential crisis and is a bad writer and a worse lover. His alcohol problem, too, is becoming more and more obvious to the outside world. “You”re suffering from despair”, one of his students (Emma Stone) tells him in a restaurant. Lucas finds a new purpose in life as he gets close to this beautiful and understanding student and transforms from a gloomy man into an energetic optimist. Referencing Dostoyevsky, Heidegger, Kant, Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir, Woody Allen raises the question whether writers and thinkers can change the world and breach the enormous gap between theory and practice.

Woody Allen previously worked with Emma Stone for his romantic comedy Magic in the Moonlight (2014). This time he also cast Jamie Blackley and Parker Posey.