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A Big Bold Beautiful Journey
Year - 2025
Studio - Columbia Pictures
Stars - Colin Farrell, Margot Robbie, Jennifer Grant
Director - Kogonata
Writing Credits - Seth Reiss
Music - Joe Hisaishi
Synopsis
David needs to travel to a friend’s wedding, but his car isn't operable. He rents an 1994 Saturn from a curious car rental office that insists that he include the GPS option. At the wedding reception, he meets Sarah who, too, has traveled to the event in a Saturn from the same rental agency. On his return drive, the GPS voice asks him, by name, if he wants to go on a “big, bold, beautiful journey?. It instructs him to stop a specific roadside cafe, and there he again finds Sarah, and he learns that her car has the same GPS instructions. Her car doesn’t start, so they begin the journey together.
Their first stop is wooded area, with a red door, standing all by itself. They enter the door together, and find themselves in a lighthouse that David remembers from his boyhood in Canada. Their second stop is a large field with another door. It opens to an art museum that Sarah once frequented with her mother. The door at the next destination leads to David’s old high school, where his drama teacher tells him that he is late for the play that is about to begin. The play is “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying” and David sings and dances on stage, as he proud parents watch in the audience. But David goes out of character to confront one of the performers, a girlfriend who had then broke up with him. The on stage cast is confused about the interruption, but Sarah, in the audience, stands up and begins singing, getting the show back on track. Later, another door takes them to a hospital where Sarah is informed her mother has died. This was in the past, but Sarah hadn’t actually had that experience previously, and mourns the fact that her mother died alone. In the hospital waiting room, David sees his father, at the time when David was born. He is frantically concerned that the baby has a serious heart condition.
Guided by the voice of the GPS, David and Sarah continue their journey, experiencing and attempting to process old situations, regrets and relationships. Sarah tells David they should end their trip together, on the fear that they will end up hurting each other. At the next stop, the GPS instructs David to drop off Sarah. They each tell their GPS to the them home. Each arrives at a different alternate reality of their lives: David at age 57, with a wife and son, Sarah at age 12, with her mother. David returns the car to the rental agency, but Sarah asks her GPS if they've reached the final destination. It responds, “How do you want this to end, Sarah?”. She tells it to take her to David. She tells David that, even though they might end up hurting each other, she’s in love with him and believes it’s worth the risk.
Trailer
A Big Bold Beautiful Journey is rated R for language. It is peppered with "F bombs" which, to this viewer, is out of tone with the story.