Your Friends & Neighbors

In this unnamed Midwestern American city, the facade of suburban bliss cracks open to reveal a tangled web of deceit and infidelity. At the epicenter are two couples, Jerry (Ben Stiller) and Terri (Catherine Keener), and Mary (Amy Brenneman) and Barry (Aaron Eckhart), whose seemingly perfect lives are actually riddled with unhappiness and disconnection.

Jerry, a self-absorbed theater instructor, is married to Terri, a writer stuck in a loveless marriage. Their relationship is marked by Jerry's selfish pursuit of pleasure, which leaves Terri feeling unfulfilled and disconnected. One evening, they meet Mary, a writer friend, and Barry, a struggling business executive, over dinner. The conversation turns to the woes of other couples, with Mary sharing her thoughts on writing about bickering couples for a local newspaper column. Barry, oblivious to his own marital troubles, dismisses the idea.

As the evening wears on, Jerry's true nature is revealed as he makes a subtle pass at Mary, who is frustrated in her own life with Barry. In a moment of desperation, she agrees to meet Jerry for a night out. Meanwhile, Terri finds herself drawn to Cheri (Nastassia Kinski), an art gallery worker whom she connects with on a deeper level.

As the tangled web of relationships continues to unfold, Cary (Jason Patric), Barry's mutual friend and a self-proclaimed sexual predator, begins to manipulate Barry into leaving his wife for a life of non-monogamy. Unbeknownst to Mary, Jerry's true intentions are revealed as they meet at a local hotel, only to have their "affair" abruptly end when Jerry fails to get aroused during foreplay and takes out his frustrations on Mary.

Mary is left feeling miserable and betrayed, unaware that Barry has planned to rekindle their romance in the very same hotel room. When Mary realizes that Jerry had told Barry about their encounter, she feels a deep sense of sadness and disconnection from her husband. Barry, clueless as ever, attributes Mary's unhappiness to his own perceived shortcomings, further exacerbating the problems in their marriage.

As Jerry (actor name), Barry, and Cary converge at the gym to sweat out their demons, a peculiar dynamic unfolds. Within the confines of the steam room, Barry's prying inquiry sparks a confessional torrent, as Cary regales his companions with a disturbing tale of an incident 20 years prior, when he forcibly sodomized a male classmate in their boarding school locker room. The other two men are simultaneously repelled and captivated by this sordid account, their expressions a testament to the morbid fascination that often accompanies tales of transgression.

The evening's events unfold with a sense of inevitability, as Barry's queries about Jerry's most memorable sexual experience are met with a decisive silence. The tension is palpable as Jerry abruptly reveals his own extramarital dalliance with Mary (Mary), leaving Barry stunned and Cary seemingly unphased. This candid admission precipitates a chain reaction of revelations, as Terri (Terri) stumbles upon the truth about her husband's infidelity while browsing through a local bookstore.

As the evening wears on, Mary and Jerry both exhibit an unwavering commitment to their own desires, displaying little remorse for the emotional distress they've inflicted on their spouses. The façade of respectability is further shattered as Terri nonchalantly discloses her own lesbian relationship with Cheri (Cheri), demonstrating a lack of contrition for her own infidelity.

The narrative's trajectory becomes increasingly complex, as Jerry confronts Cheri at an art gallery exhibition, where she displays a similar lack of remorse. This confrontation marks the beginning of the end for both couples, as they gradually disintegrate under the weight of their respective deceptions and desires.

In the aftermath, Terri finds herself trapped in a loveless arrangement with Cheri, plagued by her partner's emotional neediness. Jerry continues to philander, his paramours drawn from the ranks of his female theater students. Meanwhile, Barry becomes increasingly despondent, his inability to achieve an erection during masturbation a poignant reflection of his crumbling sense of self-worth.

Mary, now ensconced in her new relationship with Cary (Cary), finds herself trapped in a loveless arrangement with a man who treats her with the same callous indifference he reserves for all the women in his life. The film's closing shot finds Mary and Cary entwined in bed, as she grapples with the realization that her unhappiness has only intensified since abandoning Barry for this new, more toxic partner.