Set in the insular world of Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, "Two Lovers" is a classic romantic drama, with JOAQUIN PHOENIX giving a raw and vulnerable performance as Leonard, a charismatic but troubled young man who moves back into his childhood home following a recent heartbreak.

While recovering under the watchful eye of his parents (ISABELLA ROSSELLINI and MONI MONOSHOV), Leonard meets two women in quick succession: Michelle (GWYNETH PALTROW), a mysterious and beautiful neighbour who is exotic and out-of-place in Leonard's staid world, and Sandra (VINESSA SHAW), the lovely and caring daughter of a businessman who is buying out his family's dry-cleaning business. Leonard Becomes deeply infatuated by Michelle, who seems poised to fall for him, but is having a self destructive affair with a married man. At the same time, mounting pressure from his family pushes him towards committing to Sandra.

Leonard is forced to make an impossible decision between the impetuousness of desire and the comfort of love – or risk falling back into the darkness that nearly killed him.