Anomalisa.
Anomalisa is a 2015 animated film.
Cast[]
Singing roles[]
- Jennifer Jason Leigh - Lisa Hesselman
- Tom Noonan - Everyone Else
Non-singing roles[]
- David Thewlis - Michael Stone
Plot[]
In 2005, customer service expert Michael Stone travels to Cincinnati, Ohio to promote his latest book at a convention in a hotel. He feels distant from everyone around him, whom he perceives as having an identical face and voice, including his wife and son. Michael practices his talk in his hotel room, but is haunted by the memory of an angry letter from an old flame, Bella, whom he abruptly left without explanation years ago. He arranges to meet her in the hotel bar; still upset, she is outraged by his invitation to his room and storms out. Going for a walk, Michael mistakes an adult toy store for a children's toy store. Wanting to buy his son a present, he goes in and discovers his mistake, but is fascinated by a Japanese animatronic doll behind the counter.
After taking a shower, Michael hears a female voice. He rushes from his room to find its owner: Lisa, an insecure young woman attending the convention with her friend. Enraptured by her unique appearance and voice, he invites both women for drinks at the bar. Afterward, to Lisa's surprise, Michael invites her to his room. Captivated, he encourages her to sing (she chooses Cyndi Lauper's "Girls Just Want to Have Fun") and tell him about her life. After she calls herself an "anomaly", he nicknames her "Anomalisa". They become intimate and have sex.
Michael has a nightmare in which his face falls apart and the identical people of the world pursue him, claiming they love him and insisting that he and Lisa cannot be together. The dream inspires Michael to propose that he and Lisa start a new life together. She agrees, but her eating habits during breakfast annoy him, and her voice and face begin to transform into everyone else's. During his convention talk, he suffers a breakdown, saying that he has no one to talk to and ranting about the American government, alienating the audience.
Michael returns to his Los Angeles home. He gives the Japanese animatronic woman to his son, who is nonplussed. Michael's wife has arranged a surprise party, but he does not recognize any of the attendees, angering her. Michael sits alone on the stairs as the animatronic woman sings "Momotarō's Song", a Japanese children's song. Lisa writes Michael a letter, saying she hopes they will meet again. Lisa's friend, sitting beside her in the car, has her own face.
Musical numbers[]
- "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" - Lisa
- "None of Them Are You" - Tom Noonan