Burn After Reading is a 2008 black comedy film written, produced and directed by Joel and Ethan CoenCarpenter, Cassie. "Fire and ice queen." Back Stage, January 23, 2008. Retrieved on 2008-09-09.. The film stars John Malkovich, George Clooney, Tilda Swinton, Frances McDormand and Brad Pitt. It was released in the USA on September 12, 2008 and it was released on October 17, 2008 in the UK. The film had its premiere on August 27, 2008 when it opened the 2008 Venice Film Festival. The film is the brothers' first to follow their Academy Award winning Best Picture, No Country for Old Men.

Plot

Osbourne Cox (John Malkovich) is a CIA analyst who quits his job at the agency after being demoted, ostensibly because of a drinking problem. He then decides to write a memoir about his life in the CIA. His wife, pediatrician Katie Cox (Tilda Swinton), wants to divorce Osbourne and, at the counsel of her divorce lawyer, she copies many of his personal and financial files off his computer and onto a compact disc. The lawyer's receptionist accidentally leaves the disc at Hardbodies, a health club. After her husband is served with divorce papers, Katie changes the locks to keep him out of their house.