Middle-aged couple Josh (Ben Stiller) and Cornelia Schrebnick (Naomi Watts) have a shaky relationship while living in New York City. Josh is struggling on the post-production of his documentary film about leftist intellectual Ira Mandelstam (Peter Yarrow). His previous documentary about the military-industrial complex titled The Power Elite was based on C. Wright Mills's sociological theory. Both Josh and Cornelia are struggling to try to have children, although Cornelia is reluctant due to her miscarrying the past two pregnancies. After finishing a lecture at the college where he works, Josh is approached by Jamie (Adam Driver) and Darby Massey (Amanda Seyfried), a young couple who invite him and Cornelia out to dinner, the former claiming to be a fan of both his works and the works of his accomplished documentary filmmaker father-in-law, Leslie Breitbart (Charles Grodin). Josh is immediately awestruck by Jamie and Darby's non-conservative outlook on life, and he and Cornelia begin spending more time with them and indulging in their activities.