Plot

A stage director and his actor wife struggle through a grueling divorce that pushes them to their personal and creative extremes. Noah Baumbach's incisive and compassionate look at a marriage breaking up and a family staying together.

After several unsuccessful marital mediation sessions and fruitless attempts to make it work, Charlie, a talented theatre director from New York City, and Nicole, a former movie actress from Los Angeles, want to call it quits. However, divorce is never easy, especially after ten years of marriage and an eight-year-old boy. As slick and absurdly costly lawyers step in, mutual accusations and bitter resentment threaten an amicable separation. And now, things have got even messier. But why do the painful wounds of passion run so deep? Is love always meant to last forever in the end?—Nick Riganas

Charlie Barber (Adam Driver) is a successful theater director in New York City. His theater company is currently producing a play that stars his wife Nicole (Scarlett Johansson), a former teen film actress. The couple is experiencing marital troubles and sees a mediator, who suggests they each write down what they like about one another, but Nicole is too embarrassed to read hers aloud and they decide to forgo the counseling.

Nicole is offered a starring role in a television pilot in Los Angeles, and she decides to leave the theater company and temporarily live with her mother Sandra (Julie Hagerty) in West Hollywood, taking the couple's young son Henry (Azhy Robertson) with her. Charlie elects to remain in New York, as the play is in the process of moving to Broadway. Despite the couple agreeing to split amicably and forgo lawyers, Nicole hires family lawyer Nora (Laura Dern) on the advice of her new producer. Nicole tells Nora the full story of her relationship with Charlie and how she gradually felt neglected by him and how he rejects her ideas and desires. Nicole also reveals that she thinks Charlie slept with the stage manager of the theater company.

When Charlie flies out to Los Angeles to visit his family, Nicole serves him divorce papers via her sister Cassie (Merritt Wever). Charlie meets with Jay Marotta (Ray Liotta), a brash and expensive lawyer who urges Charlie to fight dirty, but Charlie returns to New York without hiring him. He receives a call from Nora who urges him to get a lawyer soon or risk losing custody of Henry. Charlie returns to Los Angeles and hires Bert Spitz (Alan Alda), a retired family lawyer who favors a civil and conciliatory approach. (Nicole had met 11 lawyers before hiring Nora as a strategy so that Charlie couldn't hire them (once you consult with a lawyer, they can represent against you). So, in desperation Charlie had to call Sandra to get a recommendation for a lawyer).

All through the process Charlie maintains that Nicole is friendly and wants this done amicably, but time and again Nicole proves that she is following Nora's advice and is actively hostile towards Charlie. Bert advises Charlie to spend as much time as possible with Henry, while Nicole ensures that she minimizes the time Charlie gets with Henry. When Charlie confronts Nicole, she screams at him for cheating on her.

On Bert's counsel, Charlie rents an apartment in Los Angeles to be closer to his family and strengthen his custody case. Charlie wishes to avoid going to court, so Bert arranges a meeting with Nora and Nicole. Nora argues that Charlie refused to respect Nicole's wishes to move back to Los Angeles and that Henry would prefer to stay with his mother rather than fly back and forth between coasts. Bert privately advises Charlie to drop his New York residency altogether, but a frustrated Charlie refuses and decides to fire him. (Bert had told Charlie to spend more time in LA and to rent an apartment here, but now Nora was using that as precedent to argue that Charlie is able to spend time in LA. Bert asks Charlie to settle and let Henry and Nicole stay in LA. Charlie flatly refuses)

Charlie wins a MacArthur Fellowship grant and uses the first payout to hire Jay on a $20,000 retainer. The case moves to court, where Nora and Jay argue aggressively on behalf of their clients and attempt to paint the other party in a negative light. Nora highlights Charlie's past infidelity and emotional distance, while Jay exaggerates Nicole's drinking habits as alcoholism and threatens criminal action for hacking into Charlie's emails. Meanwhile, Charlie and Nicole remain friendly out of court and share time with Henry, who is increasingly annoyed with the back and forth.

Disillusioned with the legal process, the couple decides to meet in private away from the lawyers. A friendly discussion in Charlie's apartment devolves into a bitter argument; Nicole claims he has now fully merged with his own selfishness, and Charlie punches a hole in a wall and says he wishes she would die. He then breaks down in shame and apologizes; Nicole comforts him. Soon after, the couple agrees to relax their demands and reach an equal agreement to finalize the divorce, although Nora negotiates slightly better terms for Nicole.

A year later, Charlie's play has a successful Broadway run, while Nicole has a new boyfriend and is nominated for an Emmy Award for directing an episode of her show. Charlie informs Nicole that he has taken a one-year residency at UCLA and will be living in Los Angeles full-time to be closer to Henry. Later, he discovers Henry reading Nicole's list of things she likes about Charlie she wrote down during counseling. Henry asks Charlie to read it aloud to him, and Charlie does so, becoming emotional as Nicole watches from afar. That evening, after attending a Halloween party together, Nicole offers to let Charlie take Henry home even though it is her night with him. As Charlie walks out to his car carrying a sleeping Henry, Nicole stops Charlie to tie his shoe for him. He thanks her, and they part.