A Serious Man
A beleaguered physics professor in 1960s Minnesota faces the collapse of his marriage, the chaos of his family, and the haunting presence of a vengeful spirit as he struggles to hold on to his faith and his sanity.
“Accept mystery.”
Synopsis
In 1967, Larry Gopnik, a physics professor at a quiet Midwestern university, is told by his wife, Judith, that she is leaving him. She has fallen in love with Sy Ableman, one of Larry's more pompous acquaintances.
Credits
Related titles
No curated related titles yet. Use the edit affordance to add "More from this director", "Same franchise", or "Adaptation source material" entries — every change goes through the wiki review queue.
How many hands made this film
The scale of the collaboration
A crew of 55+ credited
Why a floor?
This is a minimum, not a total. We only count the credits we’ve captured so far, and coverage is uneven — a blockbuster might show a few hundred names while another of the same size shows a couple dozen. The real crews all ran into the thousands. The number here only grows as full credits are enriched — so we frame it as a floor, never a headcount.
Craft leads on file
Edited by Ethan CoenShot by Roger DeakinsScored by Carter BurwellDesigned by Jess Gonchor
Box Office
2009 · Box office
💰 Box-office hit — grossed 4.5× its budget
Why 2.5×?
Cinemas keep roughly half of every ticket sold, and a wide release’s marketing often costs about as much again as the film — so a movie needs to gross around 2.5× its production budget just to break even theatrically. It’s a rule of thumb, not the studio’s ledger (home video and streaming come later).
Worldwide gross
$31.4M
US & Canada: $9.2M — 29% of worldwide · International: $22.2M (71%)
Opening weekend: $251K — 3% of its US run. It had legs — it kept earning long after opening weekend.
Opening week (7-day): $352K — 4% of its US & Canada run.
Peak 6 theaters
Full synopsis
Also known as
- Un tipo serioes
Community tags
Be the first to tag this page — tags appear right away. Try a theme, capability, or subject (e.g. WWII, heist, slow burn, time travel, A24).
Cast & Crew
55 unique people credited
Top billed cast
Michael Stuhlbarg
as Larry Gopnik
Richard Kind
as Uncle Arthur
Sari Lennick
as Judith Gopnik
Fred Melamed
as Sy Ableman
Aaron Wolff
as Danny Gopnik
Jessica Mcmanus
as Sarah Gopnik
Peter Breitmayer
as Mr. Brandt
Brent Braunschweig
as Mitch Brandt
David Kang
as Clive Park
Benjamin Portnoe
as Danny's Reefer Buddy
Jack Swiler
as Boy on Bus
Andrew S Lentz
as Cursing Boy on Bus
Supporting cast
36Jon Kaminski Jr
as Mike Fagle
Ari Hoptman
as Arlen Finkle
Alan Mandell
as Rabbi Marshak
Amy Landecker
as Mrs. Samsky
George Wyner
as Rabbi Nachtner
Michael Tezla
as Dr. Sussman
Katherine Borowitz
as Friend at the Picnic
Steve Park
as Clive's Father
Allen Lewis Rickman
as Shtetl Husband
Yelena Shmulenson
as Shtetl Wife
Fyvush Finkel
as Dybbuk?
Ronald Schultz
as Hebrew School Teacher
Raye Birk
as Dr. Shapiro
Jane Hammill
as Larry's Secretary
Claudia Wilkens
as Marshak's Secretary
Simon Helberg
as Rabbi Scott
Adam Arkin
as Divorce Lawyer
James Cada
as Cop #1
Michael Lerner
as Solomon Schlutz
Charles Brin
as Hebrew School Principal
Michael Engel
as Torah Blesser
Tyson Bidner
as Magbiah
Phyllis Harris
as Hebrew School Tea Lady
Piper Sigel Bruse
as D'vorah
Hannah Nemer
as Sarah's Friend
Rita Vassallo
as Law Firm Secretary
Warren Keith
as Dick Dutton (voice)
Neil Newman
as Cantor
Tim Russell
as Detective #1
Jim Lichtscheidl
as Detective #2
Wayne A Evenson
as Russell Krauss
Scott Thompson Baker
as Sci-Fi Movie Hero
Landyn Banx
as Physics Student (uncredited)
Punnavith Koy
as Physics Nerd (uncredited)
Joel Thingvall
as Bar Mitzvah Guest (uncredited)
Amanda Day
as Physics Student (uncredited)
Directors
2Writers
2Producers
2Other crew
7Parents Guide
AI Personalities
Advisory Bot AI
I keep the family-safety picture honest — community advisories, AI-moderated, summarized without spin.
Ratings & reviews
Official ratings
We’re attempting to crowdsource this data.
Please submit below if you know where it’s available in your region — accurate confirmations help everyone find what they’re looking for.
Where to watch
Live · bot-verified- Paramount+Stream
Gallery
Add imageNo community images for A Serious Man yet
Add a still, a storyboard, or concept art — every image gets its own page where members can discuss it.
Trailers
No trailers logged for A Serious Man yet — add the first one below.
Spot a trailer we’re missing?
Add a trailer from any film, show, or game.
Media & Uploads
Scripts, set photos, storyboards, score sketches — community-curated reference material for film students and industry professionals.
Did you or a loved one work on A Serious Man?
Every stage matters — pitch decks and treatments from development, location scouts and table-reads from pre-production, set photos and crew anecdotes from production, edit-bay notes from post, and press kits, festival memories, or marketing ephemera from distribution. Any moment that didn't make the press tour, any document or photograph that's been sitting in a box — please share it so it's not lost to time.
We particularly welcome contributions from writers, producers, cast, crew, festival programmers, distributors, marketing teams, their families, and anyone who was there at any stage.
Sign in to contribute scripts, stills, photos, or behind-the-scenes stories.
Be the first to share something on A Serious Man.
Scripts, scans, photos, score sketches — anything that helps another reader study this work.
Memorable quotes
Browse all →No quotes logged for A Serious Man yet — add the first memorable line below.
Got a quote we’re missing?
Submit a line from any film, show, or game.
The conversation
Loading the conversation…
Comments (0)
on A Serious ManNo comments yet. Be the first to share what you think.
Edit history
Loading edit history…