3 Films that Trigger the Question: What If?
Life is this one crazy unpredictable thing. It gives us tons of decisions to make in a day, which makes you wonder whether these decisions are thought out or will eventually develop into regrets. Here are 3 films that trigger my what ifs.
What happens if you get the chance to risk for love?
Letters to Juliet (2010)
In this film, Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) is a fact-checker by day and a frustrated writer by night. She longs to write for her publication, only if she wasn’t “such a good fact-checker”, as her boss puts it. Currently engaged to a workaholic chef, Sophie yearns for a change in her otherwise planned life. Alongside her fiancé, she heads to the magical town of Verona, Italy for a pre-honeymoon as a short vacation before their wedding. Or so she thinks. Little did she know that she will be on an adventure for a lifetime.
Claire (Vanessa Redgrave) is a young woman stumped with a choice to make – running away with her first love or pursuing her studies in her homeland. Torn, she writes a letter to Juliet, hoping to receive advice on what she should do. Her letter remained unanswered, until 50 years later when a pink colored envelope arrived at her doorstep. After everything that’s happened, could her journey toward finding her first love still stand a second chance?
Charlie (Christopher Egan) is a pro-bono lawyer who carefully plans everything down to the minute. His life is clean-cut and organized, and chaos has no room in his focused mind. Until his grandmother coaxes him to accompany her to Paris and go on a scavenger hunt. How can finding a man she knew 50 years ago be possible? It was pure insanity, he thinks. He thought that if he accompanies her, he’ll be fine. The job will be finished. Then Sophie came along – chaos might not be so bad after all.
In this rom-com film set in the city of love, three people will take a chance at love and destiny. They face a string of choices that will make them revisit their deep-seated regrets and take risks in life and love. ‘Letters to Juliet‘ proves that love means taking risks. Love means being brave enough to take the leap toward pure happiness.
What if you have the chance to redo everything?
About Time (2013)
Tim (Domhnall Gleeson) just welcomed the New Year through a boring party, denying a girl of New Year’s kiss. His awkward self just can’t seem to handle situations wherein he is pressured to make split-second decisions. He wishes for more time to prod and carefully calculate his decisions and actions. Everything was ordinary until his father tells him a century-old family secret – the males in their family can travel in time.
With his newfound discovery, he goes back and re-does some scenes in the tapestry of his life. Until he meets Mary (Rachel McAdams), the girl who becomes the center of his universe – in all his parallel universes. His life with his powers seems to go smoothly, but then, he also suffers from the consequences of fiddling through timelines and playing with time itself. as it turns out, there are some things in your life you can change, and there are some things that are just meant to stay that way; no matter how painful it must be. According to ‘About Time‘, life is about the little things that most people take for granted. This film explains that these little things might be the ones you will miss the most when they’re gone.
What if you’re courageous enough to pursue your dream job?
Second Act (2018)
In this film, Maya Vargas (Jennifer Lopez) is a big box store worker who lives her day-to-day in the grocery store, wishing for a higher post and a salary increase. She has labored for 15 years in preparation for the promotion she’s sure she’s meant for; but in this world that prizes book smarts over street smarts, she was sidelined. Again. But life has its own twists and turns. With a little tinkering and some computer magic, she’s a full-fledged person complete with a Harvard degree.
She finds herself surrounded by MBA graduates and posh businessmen in their golf carts as she lands a job in a huge company. Her skills were put to the test as she fights her way to meet the expectations of the people around her. Things were going well until life gets in the way, in the form of a person she least expected to see. A decision she made years ago will haunt her existence, as well as her made-up internet existence. Zoe (Vanessa Hudgens) is an established vice president of a prestigious company. She had it all – the looks, the money, the skill, the intellect, but her existence still felt somewhat empty. In ‘Second Act‘, Zoe knew she was in for a fight when she met Maya. Thus, the competition for the innovation of specific skincare lines began.
These films give us hope that at some point in our lives, we make mistakes. We regret the choices we’ve made in the past and wished for time to go back so we could live our lives differently. But life doesn’t work that way. Life doesn’t work as it does in films. There is no magic timepiece that will set you years back to make things right. We have to live in the now, no matter how shitty things may be. Your life will only change if you have the guts to follow your heart and take a second chance at things. We simply have to take control of our lives like how protagonists do in films.
Life may be different now, but things can still work out their way for you if you take the risk. Take another leap, and take a chance for yourself. Want to read more articles like this? Click here.
