A snowy New York City night, a beloved teacher, a shocking crime: ANESTHESIA is a provocative drama that pieces together the puzzle of a man s life just before it changes forever. While on his way home one evening, Walter Zarrow (Sam Waterston), a popular Columbia University philosophy professor, is violently attacked on the street. Flashing back one week to the beginning of a domino effect of events that led up to this seemingly senseless assault, actor-director Tim Blake Nelson traces hidden connections between an apparently disparate group of people including a self-destructive student (Kristen Stewart), a hard-drinking suburban housewife (Gretchen Mol), and a desperate junkie (K. Todd Freeman) forming a complex, engrossing mosaic of lost souls united by tragedy. Featuring a stellar ensemble cast including Glenn Close and Michael K. Williams, ANESTHESIA is a film for anyone who dares wonder what it means to be alive.