‘SPOILER ALERT’
The story begins with an introduction of Amelia, who is now in her forties and finds herself in a state of discontent. Having imagined her life to be something remarkable after graduating, she hasn’t been able to fulfill any such dreams.
On top of that, Amelia continues to live in her hometown working at a clothing store, and finds herself without any friends or a life partner, which naturally creates a sense of dissatisfaction within her. She fondly recalls a time when she was brimming with ideas about what her future might hold, but now it feels as though time is slipping through her fingers.
On her birthday, Amelia receives the upsetting news from her boss that she will soon be replaced, leading her to resign in a fit of anger. Crushed by this turn of events, she finds herself in a nearby pub, having a drink by herself.
Ironically, back in her high school years, Amelia had been the town’s “it” girl, always surrounded by a circle of friends. Now, with no one to keep her company, she can’t help but reminisce about the lavish celebrations of her 18th birthday, a time when her life seemed to be filled with people who cherished her presence.
At the pub, a new face enters the place, and it doesn’t take long for Amelia to realize who it is. She then immediately recognizes the woman as Fiona, whom she used to be the best of friends with during her childhood years. Interestingly, they also shared the same birthday and used to affectionately refer to each other as “star sisters”. Now, Fiona has gone on to achieve popularity as a singer, earning adoration from both fans and friends, a stark contrast to Amelia’s own life journey.
After some small talk, Fiona leaves the pub, leaving Amelia alone to reminisce about their friendship with Arez, the bartender. In her slightly tipsy state, she recollects the days when she and Fiona were inseparable before they eventually drifted apart. During their childhood, the two of them used to celebrate their birthdays on the same day, among many other shared experiences.
While talking about this, Amelia suddenly recalls a significant memory from their past, their thirteenth birthday. On that special day, Amelia and Fiona had taken a moment to write down their wishes on small pieces of paper. They then sealed those wishes inside a box and buried it at a specific spot near the mountain, essentially creating a time capsule.
They had planned to dig up the box and open it together when they both turned eighteen. However, Amelia confides in Arez, admitting that they never actually retrieved that time capsule since they had grown apart by then.
Feeling sad and somewhat drunk, Amelia decides to climb the mountain alone to retrieve the time capsule. After some digging, she uncovers a tin box, in which she finds a small note of her childhood wish, to become cool and popular.
With a hopeful heart, Amelia reaches for Fiona’s note, eager to rediscover her friend’s long-forgotten wish. However, as she pulls the paper from the box, a sudden gust of wind carries it away before she can even read it. Panic sets in as Amelia desperately chases after the drifting paper, which leads her onto a busy road. Just as she manages to grasp the note, a truck comes speeding toward her, and Amelia is struck by the vehicle, losing consciousness in an instant.
As Amelia regains consciousness, she finds herself in her childhood bedroom at her family’s house. Suddenly, her parents, who look much younger than she remembers, enter the room, singing a cheerful birthday song for her. They congratulate her on her eighteenth birthday, which leaves Amelia utterly confused.
Naturally, Amelia struggles to comprehend the strange situation. Everything around her, from the music playing in the background to the books on the shelf, seems frozen in the year 2002, the same year she actually turns eighteen. However, when she looks into the mirror, her reflection remains unchanged and shows her as a forty-year-old, in contrast to her parents’ youthful appearance.
Next, Amelia’s confusion grows as Moa, her high school best friend, arrives at home to pick her up for school. Along the way, Amelia cannot help but notice familiar objects and relics from her teenage years scattered around.
As she spots a newspaper from the year 2002, a startling realization dawns upon her. At that very moment, she comes to understand that she has somehow time-traveled back to the day of her 18th birthday, having returned to relive the past all over again.
While at school, Amelia begins to notice that everyone around her appears much younger. Strangely, no one seems to perceive any change in her physical appearance, and they still see her as an eighteen-year-old teenager. However, her friends start to find Amelia a bit odd, as they notice her acting way mature for her perceived age. On top of that, she reunites with her young boyfriend, Max, who remains as charming as ever in her eyes.
During one of her classes, Amelia partners with Moa to deliver a presentation on various Asian cultures. Moa explains how they perceive life as a continuous circle with reincarnations and rebirths. This concept makes Amelia wonder whether something similar is happening to her.
However, she still remains baffled, unsure if she’s caught in a dream or if this is now her reality. Eventually, Amelia starts to find delight in her popularity at school, and embraces the opportunity to relive the best year of her life to the fullest.
Later that day, Amelia goes to the school auditorium for the talent show along with Moa and Max. The last performer, Fiona, courageously takes the stage to play a song on her guitar. To her dismay, the entire audience rudely exits the auditorium as soon as her performance starts, leaving her feeling rejected.
Amelia follows the crowd as well and leaves the venue along with everyone else. At this point, it becomes evident that Fiona is an outcast among the students, likely due to the difference in her appearance and lifestyle as compared to her classmates.
After the school day comes to an end, Moa invites Amelia to her home, where she has organized a lavish birthday party for her. This birthday party turns out to be the very event that Amelia had been fondly reminiscing about before being mysteriously transported back in time. At the party, Amelia spots Fiona with some of her friends and decides to strike up a conversation.
However, her plans are interrupted when Max unexpectedly intervenes just as she’s trying to talk. Trying to fit in with her circle of friends, Amelia goes on to belittle Fiona, questioning her presence at such a party.
Afterward, Amelia sleeps with her boyfriend, which causes her to wonder about the potential for their relationship to work out this time. After having spent forty years without friends or a partner, she relishes the time spent with Max and envisions a serious future together, even suggesting the idea of settling down and starting a family.
Unfortunately, this idea catches eighteen-year-old Max off guard, causing him to panic at the thought of commitments and responsibilities. As a result, he abruptly ends the relationship with Amelia, leaving her to spend the rest of the night drinking alone until she passes out.
The following morning, Amelia awakens in utter shock to discover herself back in her childhood, with it being the morning of her birthday once again. As expected, her parents serenade her with a birthday song, and Moa arrives at her house to pick her up for school just like before. However, this time, Amelia decides to take a different approach to the day and savor her birthday party to the fullest.
While at the party, Amelia notices Fiona with her friends and once again approaches her. This time, she confides in Fiona about how she uncovered their old time capsule and how her wish on that note miraculously came true. Just as she’s about to ask about Fiona’s wish, Max intervenes, leading her away. Later, Amelia accidentally spills her drink on Max’s shirt, causing him to angrily storm off from the party.
Later on, Moa approaches Amelia to discuss her crush, Patrick Foreman. She desperately wishes to speak with him, but is feeling anxious about doing so. Naturally, in an effort to help her friend, Amelia acts as a wingwoman and informs Patrick about a friend who likes him and expresses her belief that they would make an excellent match.
However, Patrick misunderstands Amelia’s intentions, and assumes that she is actually referring to herself. While Amelia clarifies that she is talking about Moa, things take an unexpected turn, when Moa catches them. Consequently, this ends up straining her relationships with both Moa and Max.
The following day, the familiar cycle repeats as Amelia’s parents wake her up with a birthday song, and Moa arrives to take her to school. Once at school, Fiona takes the stage with her guitar to perform a song, and as usual, all the students leave the auditorium as soon as her performance begins.
But Amelia begins to piece together a connection between her childhood friend, Fiona, and the beginning of this time loop. It was after reuniting with Fiona at the pub that this mysterious cycle of days began to unravel. Determined to find answers, Amelia turns to Fiona for help following her failed performance in the talent show.
Although Fiona is taken aback by Amelia’s sudden appearance, she agrees to hear her out regardless. Amelia then reveals the mysterious time loop situation and asks for her advice on the matter.
Upon hearing this, Fiona doesn’t brush off her concerns with laughter. Instead, she brings up the movie Groundhog Day. Fiona draws parallels between its plot and Amelia’s life, and suggests that her life appears to be mimicking the events in the film.
At her birthday party, Amelia decides to ditch her friends, and leaves the party to pay a visit to Fiona’s family video store. Upon her arrival, she discovers that the store is closed, and patiently waits outside until Fiona arrives later that evening. Afterward, the two of them watch the movie together inside the store.
It’s during this movie that Amelia finally comprehends that to break free from the time loop, she must become a better person. However, she misinterprets this lesson, convinced that she should focus on improving her relationships with Moa and Max. With a sense of urgency, Amelia apologizes to Fiona for dragging her along to watch the movie with her and leaves the place hastily.
When the fourth day of her cycle rolls around, Amelia does everything she can to be a better friend to Moa and Max. Still, she wakes up the next day to find herself in the same cycle. While initially coming to terms with being trapped in this time loop, Amelia gradually starts to contemplate ways to break free from this seemingly endless cycle.
Now, Amelia’s days within the time loop take a discouraging turn, and her sense of hope gradually dwindles. She finds herself no longer caring about anything as she endures each repetition of her 18th birthday. As if her situation wasn’t disheartening enough already, it takes a turn for the worse when she overhears Moa and Max gossiping negatively about her behind her back. They make insensitive remarks about her unpopularity when she was younger, and they call her an attention-seeker.
Upon hearing this, Amelia ultimately comes to the painful realization that Moa and Max are not likely to remain her friends, once they graduate from high school. However, Amelia is so emotionally drained at this point, that she can’t even summon the energy to feel anger. Suddenly, her teenage years cease to be the best time of her life, as she comes to the stark realization that all her happiness during this period was merely superficial.
After some time, Amelia slowly begins to comprehend that mending her strained friendship with Fiona, is the key to breaking free from the time loop. However, she soon comes to realize that fixing her relationship with Fiona won’t be a straightforward task either.
At the party, Amelia finds herself going back to her childhood friend and extends a hand of friendship. She approaches Fiona, offering a heartfelt apology for having severed their connection, and then asking her to rekindle their friendship.
However, Fiona recalls how her best friend had abandoned her without any effort to maintain contact during their high school years. Regrettably, she declines the offer to reconnect and walks away, leaving Amelia feeling even more disheartened.
As it turns out, Amelia gained popularity among her friends and schoolmates during her teenage years, primarily due to her sudden transformation into a more attractive girl after going through puberty.
On the flip side, Fiona didn’t undergo the same transformation, and she found herself left behind by everyone, including her best friend, Amelia. Fiona could see that she no longer belonged in Amelia’s life, so naturally, the more Amelia went into the popular world, Fiona faded into the background.
That night, Amelia returns home with a heavy heart, overwhelmed by Fiona’s hurtful words. Her parents provide her with comfort, reminding her that being eighteen is a strange phase in life, filled with confusion and insecurity for many people. It is this perspective that eases Amelia’s guilt for her actions during her high school years, and makes her determined to fix her friendship with Fiona.
Later, in her room, Amelia watches the tape her dad gave her as a birthday present, it is a compilation of all her birthday parties leading up to her eighteenth. Since she and Fiona share the same birthday, the tape is filled with precious moments of the time when they were very close to each other.
Amelia watches with a sense of nostalgia as her younger self creates a time capsule with Fiona in one of the clips. Inspired by these memories, she ultimately decides to uncover that time capsule once again.
The following day at school, Amelia takes a courageous step by standing up for Fiona during her singing performance at the talent show. When the other students begin to leave the auditorium, Amelia urges them to remain seated and offers her support to Fiona, ensuring that she can finish her song uninterrupted.
Later, at her birthday party, Amelia makes another approach to Fiona, this time offering a heartfelt apology. She suggests that, since it’s their eighteenth birthday, they retrieve the old box they had buried years ago.
Unfortunately, Fiona immediately declines the offer, leaving Amelia to set out on the journey to the mountain by herself. Upon reaching the familiar spot, she discovers the buried box and carefully opens it. Inside, she finds her wish written long ago, to become a cooler person.
As Amelia reaches out for Fiona’s wish inside the box, she is startled when Fiona unexpectedly arrives at the last moment. Then, she quickly rushes forward, desperately trying to prevent Amelia from reading her wish.
However, Amelia’s curiosity gets the better of her, and she opens the paper to reveal Fiona’s wish, to preserve her friendship with Amelia forever. The revelation leaves Amelia in a state of shock, because she comes to realize that Fiona only cherished their friendship.
Before Amelia can react, Fiona starts running away, leaving her behind. In a state of panic, Amelia also chases after her, without realizing that they have entered an open road. Tragically, just like before, a truck emerges and strikes Amelia, causing her to lose consciousness once again.
When Amelia regains consciousness this time, she finds herself back to her present timeline, returning her to the very point where her time loop initially began. To her astonishment, Amelia discovers that the truck driver who had accidentally hit her is none other than her ex-boyfriend, Max.
Seeing each other as adults, the two are filled with joy at the unexpected reunion after such a long time. Determined to reconnect with Fiona in this present timeline, Amelia asks Max for a ride to Fiona’s birthday party.
However, upon arriving at Fiona’s party, Amelia catches a glimpse of Fiona with her new friends. Instantly, she jumps to the conclusion that Fiona has moved on and is now with new people. Overwhelmed by mixed emotions, Amelia hastily leaves the party, accidentally causing a commotion and drawing Fiona’s attention in the process.
Amelia decides to respect what she believes to be Fiona’s newfound happiness and chooses not to interfere. She then leaves Fiona alone and allows her friend to pursue her own path. Following this decision, Amelia goes to the clothing store where she used to work and extends her apologies to her boss.
To her surprise, her boss reciprocates with an apology as well and offers her job back. With her employment reinstated, Amelia takes the opportunity to reconnect with her parents, rebuilding the bonds that had frayed over time.
Amelia heads to the mountain where she and Fiona had buried the time capsule containing their wishes many years ago. With a sense of nostalgia, she then carefully uncovers the box and rereads their wishes.
While seated alone on a bench overlooking the city, Fiona unexpectedly arrives at the location and takes a seat beside her long-lost friend. Then, she reveals how she had witnessed Amelia leaving her party.
In a heartfelt moment, Amelia offers a sincere apology for everything that has happened between them since their childhoods. She also shares her deep sense of loss and how much she has missed Fiona, expressing her wish to have her friend back in her life.
To her surprise, Fiona reciprocates the sentiment, revealing her own wish to have Amelia back in her life as well.
With this, the two come to a mutual decision, to have a fresh start together.
