There’s no doubt that Charlie Kaufman is a prolific writer, having brought us such masterpieces as Adaptation, Being John Malkovich, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and more. In 2008 he made his directorial debut with Synecdoche, New York, and now he’s donning the hat again to co-direct a stop-motion film, Anomalisa, with Duke Johnson. This is the first time Kaufman has been involved with animation, so we’re very excited to see the results.

Anomalisa tells the story of Michael Stone—an author of books on the subject of customer service—who struggles with his inability to connect with people. One night while on a business trip, he meets a stranger who changes his world view. The trailer is characteristically wordy, but more to the point it’s incredibly emotional, painting the whole picture of Michael’s mundane existence and asking the important questions, like “what does it mean to be human, what is it to be alive?”

Anomalisa received many an enthusiastic review at Toronto International Film Festival, particularly for its emotional complexity. In a way, Anomalisa focuses on depressive themes that feels similar in subject matter to Netflix’s BoJack Horseman (just with a lot less dysfunction)—using thoughtful empathy without a desire to wallow in the darkness—to great effect. The film will open in a limited release on December 30, so watch out for it.

Are you ready to ponder your own existence and see Anomalisa? Are you a die-hard Kaufman or stop-motion fan? What are your thoughts on the trailer? Let us know in the comments below.

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HT: Movieclips Trailers
IMAGE: Paramount Pictures