History Film / SynecdocheNewYork

* DyingReconcilliation: subverted to the point of parody. Caden is summoned to his daughter Olive's bedside when she becomes terminally ill from all her extensive tattoos. Although he has been forcibly removed from her life for years against his will, Olive blames him for abandoning her, and insists he apologize for having a gay affair with someone named Eric (which... never actually happened). Caden does apologize and begs her forgiveness... which Olive refuses before promptly dying.

* ExistentialHorror: The movie has a huge focus on the RealLife horror of our death being unavoidable and possibly happening at random, and time moving very fast, which can cripple someone's attempts at having meaningful relationships or finishing projects to leave a mark.

* PunnyName: The title is a combination of "[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schenectady,_New_York Shenectady, New York]]" and "[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synecdoche synecdoche]]".

''Synecdoche, New York'' is a 2008 movie and directorial debut of Creator/CharlieKaufman, starring Creator/PhilipSeymourHoffman as [[MeaningfulName Caden]] [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cotard_delusion Cotard]], a struggling theatre director trying to remain optimistic and creative in spite of his marriage collapsing and [[StrawNihilist finding his life is ultimately meaningless]].

Especially notable in that the (relatively) basic plotline quickly turns bizarre when Caden hires an actor to play himself, which then extends to the people in his life, too; needless to say, things turn into a mash-up of MetaFiction, RecursiveReality, PostModernism and flat out MindScrew pretty fast. [[SignatureStyle Would you expect any less from a Kaufman movie?]]

** The name "Samuel" (or Sammy as he's known) translates from Hebrew to mean either "god listens" or "name of god" which fits with his role of an observer

-->'''Therapist:''' Oh, hardly. Little Winky is a virulent anti-Semite. The story follows his initiation into the Klan, his immersion in the pornographic snuff industry, and his ultimate degradation at the hands of a black ex-convict named [[OverlyLongName Eric Washington Jackson Jones Johnson]]

* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: Sammy is an omniscient observer who follows you everywhere, is only seen when he wants to be seen, knows all of your thoughts and feelings, genuinely cares about you regardless of your selfishness [[spoiler:and dies when no longer needed by Caden]] he in all pourposes is this universes version of God. The fact his name is Sammy (translateable from Hebrew to literally mean "Name of God" supports this).

* ApocalypseHow: [[spoiler: Society collapses utterly over the course of the film, though we never find out how or why. It's a kind of existential joke, usually meditations on mortality have the message "You will die and the world will carry on, and you have to accept that," but in this case the world dies and Caden has to carry on, more bewildered than ever.]]
** [[spoiler: It’s even more depressing than that. The world itself hasn’t necessarily collapsed. Caden’s simulated reality warehouse society is destroyed. That’s how removed we are by the end from a sense of true reality or sense of purpose.]]