Plot

Rattled by sudden unemployment, a Manhattan couple surveys alternative living options, ultimately deciding to experiment with living on a rural commune where free love rules.

In New York, the aspirant filmmaker Linda convinces her husband George Gergenblatt to buy an expensive Micro Loft apartment in Manhattan. Linda expects to sell a documentary about penguins to HBO to help the payment of the installments and George expects a promotion. However, HBO rejects the documentary and George's company has folded and he is fired. With the American financial crisis, they lose a large amount selling the apartment and George does not find a new job. George's brother Rick offers a job position in his company in Atlanta. They drive from New York to Atlanta and they decide to stop for the night in the hotel Elysium. However they see a naked man running toward their car and George tries to return to the highway but accidentally he turns his car over. Soon they learn the Elysium is a hippie and vegan community and the dwellers invite George and Linda to stay with them. However, they decide to go to Atlanta but soon George has an argument with his arrogant brother. George returns to Elysium with Linda and they decide to stay for a two-week trial. A couple of days later, Linda feels well with her new friends but George has difficulties to adapt himself to the rules of Elysium.—Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Married George and Linda Gergenblatt love and thus are invested in life in New York City, despite he hating his job as a low level Wall Streeter, and she being on her latest in a long line of careers, this time as a documentary filmmaker, as she tries to find herself, those past careers in which she always bailed and failed. That investment is purchasing a micro-loft (i.e. studio apartment) in the West Village they can barely afford. When New York City seems not to be invested in them in return in both having professional setbacks, they believe they have no other option but to accept the offer by George's wealthy, Atlanta residing brother, Rick Gergenblatt, a blowhard who they barely tolerate, to live with him and his family in their McMansion and for George to work for him in his "construction rental equipment" business. When that situation with Rick too goes sideways, George and Linda decide to head back to Elysium, a commune in northern Georgia that was attached to the bed and breakfast they stayed at the night before arriving at Rick's, that night ending up being one of the best times they've had in their lives. The commune is run by the charismatic Seth, with Carvin being the leader emeritus, he who has lived there as a commune when he purchased the property in 1971 with nine others who have all since gone their own separate ways. Beyond if they can adjust to the ways of the commune and their interactions with the other residents, George and Linda's stay at Elysium is affected by whether they can be truthful to each other about what they really want in life, it all set against the backdrop of pressures by developers to take over the property.—Huggo

After George is downsized from his financial firm and Linda's depressing documentary is cancelled, they can no longer afford their overpriced 'micro-loft' in New York. They find themselves with just one option - to pack up their lives and head south to move in with George's brother and his wife. George and Linda stumble upon Elysium, an idyllic community where the only rule is to be yourself.—Universal Pictures

George (Paul Rudd) and Linda (Jennifer Aniston) are an urban married couple who purchase a micro-loft in New York after much hesitation. George is expecting a promotion while Linda is trying to sell a documentary to HBO. Soon after purchasing their home, George learns that his company has folded, overnight, while HBO rejects Linda's documentary. With both out of work, they are forced to sell their apartment and decide to leave for Atlanta, Georgia to live with George's arrogant brother Rick (Ken Marino) and his wife Marisa (Michaela Watkins) after Rick offers George a job.

After many hours on the highway, Linda demands they stop to rest. The closest place to stop is a bed and breakfast hotel named Elysium. When they turn, they are surprised to see a man walking naked named Wayne Davidson (Joe Lo Truglio). They promptly try to turn back but flip the car over, so they are forced to stay at the hotel. While trying to sleep, they are distracted by noises in the living room. When they go to check, they learn that Elysium is a hippie commune. They meet the various residents of Elysium, including Seth (Justin Theroux), Eva (Malin Åkerman), and Elysium's owner Carvin (Alan Alda). George and Linda spend the night feeling more alive than before. In the morning, everyone helps flip George's car back so they can leave, but Seth urges them to consider staying.

George and Linda arrive at Rick's house and find the atmosphere much less soothing. Rick mistreats George at work & Marisa is shooting down Margarita's at 4:30 pm & has a dildo which she invites Linda to use. George eventually reaches the breaking point with Rick and takes Linda back to Elysium, where they are welcomed back. George is excited about the simpler lifestyle while Linda is hesitant. After a few days, however, Linda starts feeling enlightened by the lifestyle while George begins having second thoughts. George and Linda soon learn that 'free love' is strongly encouraged as Seth and Eva want to seduce Linda and George, respectively. Both George and Linda rebuff the notion of free love.

At the same time, Elysium is being targeted by property developers to build a casino on the property, but they are unable to until they have the deed to the land, which Carvin misplaced. When the property developers arrive with bulldozers, Linda scares them off by flashing them and the other residents join her. Linda is lauded as a hero by the commune. George then demands that they leave, saying that if they stay, they would have to give in to 'free love'. Linda wants to stay and has sex with Seth. George is pressured to have sex with Eva, but he drives her away with his bizarre behavior. The next morning, George reaches breaking point, stating that he dislikes the rules of Elysium and wants to leave. Linda wants to stay, so George goes back to Rick's house alone.

Seth believes he has found his soul mate in Linda and searches for the deed to Elysium which he sells to the property developers to start a new life with Linda. A child from the commune witnesses the burning of the deed by Seth and the man who wants to build the Casino. Seth tells Linda that he wants to go away from Elysium and that the others can look after themselves. Linda refuses. In the meantime, George realizes he loves Linda and comes back to find her, getting into a fight with Seth while the commune looks on and tries to help 'non-violently'. The child who witnesses the burning of the deed by Seth tells the commune what happened and George punches Seth in the jaw.

In the aftermath, the news show that visited Elysium does a story about the commune. George and Linda start a publishing company, with their first book being a political thriller novel written by Wayne. The novel is then fast-tracked into a film adaptation starring Ray Liotta. Carvin reclaims his rights to Elysium after he is reunited with all the original founders of Elysium, one of whom had another copy of the deed.