The Second Chance Cinema

An engaged couple takes stock of their lives with the help of a magical film in the first-rate debut from Weiss. Author Ellie Marshall and her fiancé, Drake, have just finished dinner at one of their favorite restaurants when they stumble upon a majestic old theater whose marquee announces the feature film The Story of You. Curious, Ellie and Drake enter the theater. The movie turns out to be a 10-part highlight reel of the couple’s lives, beginning with a scene of Drake blowing out his first birthday candle. Over the course of their return trips for the nine additional installments, they discover that the cinema is open only for them—when Ellie tries to bring her best friend along, the trio find a dilapidated, long-shuttered theater in the same place. More than a nostalgia trip, the marathon film also throws secrets into the open, forcing Ellie and Drake to speak to each other directly about past lovers and hardships, as when Drake reveals the true story behind Ellie’s engagement ring and faces her culpability in her brother’s death from a car accident years earlier. Weiss supplements the accomplished plotting with realistic character work, focusing on how the couple is impacted by the film’s revelations. This tugs at the heartstrings. (Oct.)