History Film / IrrationalMan

''Irrational Man'' is a 2015 mystery film directed by Creator/WoodyAllen.

Abe Lucas (Creator/JoaquinPhoenix) is a college professor in a small New England town who is going through an existential crisis. He strikes up a relationship with a student, Jill Pollard (Creator/EmmaStone), which helps but doesn't alleviate him. One day, he overhears a woman talking about a custody battle she is in which is being screwed over by the presiding judge, and Abe has the perfect plan: kill the judge.

* MakeItLookLikeAnAccident: The judge is initially reported to have died of a heart attack. [[spoiler:Abe also rigs the elevator so that Jill would fall into the shaft, noting that he can't make it not look rigged but enough to seem like a mechanical failure.]]

* SheKnowsTooMuch: [[spoiler:Jill finds out everything about Abe's plan, leading him to attempt to kill her.]]

* HoistByHisOwnPetard: [[spoiler Abe, who falls into the open elevator shaft he had rigged for Jill.]]

* HoistByHisOwnPetard: [[spoiler: Abe, who falls into the open elevator shaft he had rigged for Jill.]]

* ChekhovsGun: Abe wins Jill a flashlight at a carnival. [[spoiler: It ends up saving Jill when Abe trips on it and falls into an elevator shaft.]]
* DeadlyDeferredConversation: [[spoiler: Subverted. Jill reconciles with her boyfriend Roy and promises to explain everything on Monday. Abe makes his move to kill her beforehand, but Jill ends up surviving.]]
* ElevatorFailure: [[spoiler: How Abe plans to kill Jill: by tossing her into an empty elevator shaft. He ends up falling instead.]]

* MakeItLookLikeAnAccident: The judge is initially reported to have died of a heart attack. [[spoiler: Abe also rigs the elevator so that Jill would fall into the shaft, noting that he can't make it not look rigged but enough to seem like a mechanical failure.]]
* SheKnowsTooMuch: [[spoiler: Jill finds out everything about Abe's plan, leading him to attempt to kill her.]]

Abe Lucas (Joaquin Phoenix) is a college professor in a small New England town who is going through an existential crisis. He strikes up a relationship with a student, Jill Pollard (Emma Stone), which helps but doesn't alleviate him. One day, he overhears a woman talking about a custody battle she is in which is being screwed over by the presiding judge, and Abe has the perfect plan: kill the judge.

* HoistByHisOwnPetard: [[spoiler: Abe, who is falls into the open elevator shaft he had rigged for Jill.]]

* MakeItLookLikeAnAccident: The judge is initially reported to have died of a heart attack. [[spoiler: He also rigs the elevator so that Jill would fall into the shaft, noting that he can't make it not look rigged but enough to seem like a mechanical failure.]]