Writer and Director Michael Almereyda examines relationships as he ponders the question: when two people fall in love, what's lost and what's gained? This movie was based on the award winning short story "Five Fucks" by Jonathan Lethem. After first reading the short story some years ago, Almereyda was taken by how its "different strands of reality intersect and collide" and thought it would work well as a movie. "I like what it says about life. It's about love and loss, it struck me as a meaningful and compelling story, and the shifts in reality offered up strong visual possibilities."