The New Age (1994) — AI Story Visualization

Plot Analysis Summary

A financially threatened couple searches for meaning and direction as their old social and professional identity collapses.

Story Structure — 5 Plot Phases

A Marriage Under Pressure

Peter is pulled from meditation into debt anxiety, while Katherine loses work connected to a collapsed bank. Their marriage is burdened by money, insecurity, and status fear.

Key Events

• Meditation Opening — A meditation exercise urges awareness of the earth, breathing, and thoughts without judgment. Characters: Peter Witner Location: Meditation setting
• Debt Warning — A caller reports that a debtor has been fired and cannot repay a large obligation. Characters: Peter Witner Location: Peter's home
• Bank Collapse Files — Katherine deletes work files after learning that the bank no longer needs its brochures. Characters: Katherine Witner Location: Witner home
• Greed And Collapse — Katherine links the economic disaster to shopping centers, corrupt lending, and uncontrolled greed. Characters: Peter Witner, Katherine Witner Location: Witner home
• Status Anxiety — The couple's fear of losing money and social status intensifies during a shopping trip. Characters: Peter Witner, Katherine Witner Location: Shopping area

The Promise Of Change

At Sarah's party, Peter and Katherine encounter Jean's spiritual perspective. Jean identifies their distrust and invites them to a retreat, while Peter admits that change usually brings regret.

Key Events

• Status Anxiety — The couple's fear of losing money and social status intensifies during a shopping trip. Characters: Peter Witner, Katherine Witner Location: Shopping area
• Party Introduction — Peter and Katherine meet Jean and Alison at a party hosted by Sarah. Characters: Peter Witner, Katherine Witner, Sarah Friedberg, Jean Levy, Alison Gale Location: Sarah Friedberg's party
• Blocked Energy — Jean tells Peter that his energy is blocked and that Katherine shares his weakness and distrust. Characters: Peter Witner, Katherine Witner, Jean Levy Location: Sarah Friedberg's party
• Moral Conversation — Peter has a morally charged conversation while Katherine remains nearby. Characters: Peter Witner, Katherine Witner Location: Sarah Friedberg's party
• Retreat Invitation — Jean invites the couple to Lone Pine and urges them not to fear change. Characters: Peter Witner, Katherine Witner, Jean Levy Location: Sarah Friedberg's party

A Store Of Their Own

Unable to accept the collapse of their former professional lives, Peter and Katherine create HIPOCRACY. Their attempt to restore independence quickly becomes another source of financial danger.

Key Events

• Fear Of Change — Peter admits that change usually leaves him with regret. Characters: Peter Witner, Jean Levy Location: Sarah Friedberg's party
• HIPOCRACY Conceived — Peter and Katherine imagine HIPOCRACY, a store selling constantly changing clothing chosen by their taste. Characters: Peter Witner, Katherine Witner Location: Witner home
• Store Investment — The couple invests in their new store after rejecting a dull copy-shop concept. Characters: Peter Witner, Katherine Witner Location: HIPOCRACY
• Poor Sales — Business remains poor, leaving Peter and Katherine in urgent need of money. Characters: Peter Witner, Katherine Witner Location: HIPOCRACY

Debt And Despair

The couple considers selling a treasured painting, receives a loan from Peter's father, and stages a sale. The effort fails to remove their financial insecurity, pushing Peter toward visions of homelessness.

Key Events

• Painting Considered — Katherine considers selling her treasured painting to address the couple's financial crisis. Characters: Katherine Witner Location: Witner home
• Father's Loan — Peter asks his father for help and receives ten thousand dollars. Characters: Peter Witner, Jeff Witner Location: Jeff Witner's home
• Desperate Sale — The couple attracts buyers and holds a sale, but remains financially endangered. Characters: Peter Witner, Katherine Witner Location: HIPOCRACY
• Homelessness Fear — Peter imagines homelessness and interprets economic collapse as proof that people like them are no longer needed. Characters: Peter Witner, Katherine Witner Location: Witner home
• Suspicious Telephone Call — After receiving a suspicious telephone call, Peter decides to leave for Lone Pine. Characters: Peter Witner Location: Witner home

Silence At Lone Pine

After a suspicious call, Peter leaves for Lone Pine and Katherine follows. Jean's teachings about sacred energy, mortality, and personal choice leave Peter facing an uncertain future.

Key Events

• Journey To Lone Pine — Katherine insists on going with Peter as they travel toward the retreat center. Characters: Peter Witner, Katherine Witner Location: Road to Lone Pine
• Lone Pine Retreat — Peter and Katherine arrive at Jean's retreat center. Characters: Peter Witner, Katherine Witner, Jean Levy Location: Lone Pine retreat center
• Sacred Energy Teaching — Jean speaks about sacred energy, silence, birth, death, and personal choice. Characters: Peter Witner, Katherine Witner, Jean Levy Location: Lone Pine retreat center
• Uncertain Future — Peter confronts whether any future, including another store, is worth pursuing while the couple's fate remains uncertain. Characters: Peter Witner, Katherine Witner, Jean Levy Location: Lone Pine retreat center

Story Breakdown

• Meditation And Debt — The story contrasts spiritual stillness with the immediate pressure of unpaid debt and economic instability.
  • Meditation Opening — The opening exercise encourages awareness of the earth, breathing, and thoughts without judgment.
  • Financial Warning — A telephone report pulls Peter back into anxiety about a large unpaid debt.
• Marriage Under Strain — Peter and Katherine's marriage becomes the emotional center of their fear, distrust, and loss of status.
  • Bank Collapse — Katherine deletes work files after the bank no longer needs its brochures.
  • Shared Insecurity — Money, social position, and distrust intensify the couple's arguments.
• Jean's Spiritual Challenge — Jean offers a spiritual interpretation of the couple's crisis and asks them to face change.
  • Blocked Energy — Jean tells Peter that his energy is blocked and that he is trying to cancel himself out.
  • Retreat Invitation — Jean invites Peter and Katherine to Lone Pine and warns them not to fear change.
• HIPOCRACY Venture — The couple attempts to replace their failed professional identity with a personally designed clothing store.
  • Store Concept — They imagine a small department store with constantly changing clothing selected according to their taste.
  • Poor Business — After investing in HIPOCRACY, they find that sales remain insufficient.
• Desperate Financing — The failing business forces Peter and Katherine to seek increasingly personal forms of financial support.
  • Painting At Risk — Katherine considers selling her treasured painting to obtain money.
  • Father's Loan — Peter asks his father for help and receives ten thousand dollars.
  • Failed Sale — A sale attracts buyers but does not resolve the couple's financial danger.
• Collapse And Homelessness — Commercial failure becomes an existential crisis as Peter imagines a future in which people like them are unnecessary.
  • Dark Economic Vision — Peter sees economic collapse as evidence that his former way of life has lost its place.
  • Marriage Arguments — The couple's arguments grow darker as financial fear overwhelms their remaining security.
• Journey To Lone Pine — A suspicious call prompts Peter to leave, while Katherine chooses to accompany him into Jean's retreat.
  • Suspicious Call — Peter receives a telephone call that precedes his decision to depart.
  • Katherine Follows — Katherine insists on going with Peter to Lone Pine.
• Uncertain Spiritual Future — At the retreat, Jean's teachings leave Peter questioning whether any future project or identity is worth pursuing.
  • Sacred Energy — Jean speaks about sacred energy, silence, birth, death, and personal choice.
  • Open Ending — Peter confronts the value of another future while the couple's fate remains uncertain.

Directed by

Michael Tolkin

Key Cast

• Peter Weller — Peter Witner
• Judy Davis — Katherine Witner
• Patrick Bauchau — Jean Levy
• Rachel Rosenthal — Sarah Friedberg
• Adam West — Jeff Witner