Genre: Comedy/Fantasy
Director: Taika Waititi
Writers: Meirad Tako & Chad Taylor
Cast: Timothee Chalamet, Jim Carrey, Melissa McCarthy, Mark Strong, Steve Carell, Mason Gooding, Tucker Albrizzi, Meirad Tako, Charlie Day, Sophia Lillis, Julia Roberts (cameo)
Plot: Sam (Timothée Chalamet) sits anxiously as he demands water from his assistant and grows angry when it does not happen promptly. “Sam, you’re up.” a voice says from the other side of the room and he makes a passive aggressive comment about the late water. Sam is 19 but is starting to gain a following online for his prodigious piano skills and singing voice to accompany it.
He’s now on the stage, performing to an audience of 1,000. He plays peacefully while closing his eyes but, when he starts to sing, something is wrong with the microphone. This bothers his focus and causes him to make a small mistake but he manages to right the ship and get things back on track. After the performance, he gathers all of his crew members together and lets out his annoyance with whatever was wrong on stage. He kicks over a table right in front of them, leaving them a bit scared. He apologizes for his outburst and thanks them for their hard work but says that if their work is not spot-on then they’ll be out of work soon enough because no one will want to see him play. There’s a knock on the door and his friend Jake (Mason Gooding) enters and surprises him. Sam’s demeanor immediately changes and awkwardly smiles at him and says he didn’t expect him to actually come.
Jake and Sam go out back behind the concert hall to talk, where some younger fans wait for Sam’s autograph. He signs their things but doesn’t give them much time beyond that and indicates that he’d like to talk to his friend. One fan asks if he will ever write his own material and this makes him frustrated as he walks away from the autographs for the night. Jake jokes about Sam’s angry face. Sam apologizes and says he’s not usually like that. Jake shakes his head and says he thought it was kind of cute. Sam says he enjoyed their chance encounter last week but didn’t think Jake would actually show. Jake touches Sam’s chin and pulls his face closer making Sam blushing even more. Jake lands a little kiss to Sam’s cheek, with Sam looking around to see if anyone is looking. “I wanted to see you again” Jake says.
Sam checks his watch and says that his driver is going to be waiting for him. At the car, Jake throws Sam a little kiss as the driver starts to drive away. Sam yells “I still don’t have your number” while Jake smiles and responds “next time!”. Sam rolls up his window and can’t help but smile. As Jake turns around, he runs into a girl (Sophia Lillis) with multiple signed pictures of Sam. He goes to help her pick them up but she looks annoyed and tells him she can do it herself.
At Sam’s house, loud noises can be heard. It is his father/manager William (Mark Strong), shouting and screaming at him. Apparently, Sam’s “meeting” with Jake was seen by his dad’s informant and he says this is not good if they want to continue growing his brand. Instead of biting his tongue, Sam mouths back to his father, showing the same anger he had earlier. After finishing his tantrum, Williams tells Sam to get out of his sight, as he can’t stand to even look at him right now.
Sam goes straight to his room and begins to softly cry, trying to hold it in. He wants to wreck his room but he sees a picture of his mom at his bedside and this gives him some brief happiness. He lays down on his bed and pulls out a notebook labeled "Songs". He translates his feelings to the page and writes a song titled "Anonymous" but is unsatisfied with it. He puts away the notebook and closes his eyes. An hour later, he wakes up from a nap surprised by a text message from an unknown number. It didn’t specify who it is but just first says “Hey you ” invites Sam to a certain park. Sam responds “Jake?” but, after a few minutes, he grows anxious and decides to just go for it. He sneaks out of the house and hops on his bicycle to meet his lover. He arrives at the park bench but there is no one there yet. He texts the number saying he is here and looks around nervously.
As he waits, a couple of rambunctious youngsters approach. One of them recognizes Sam from YouTube and asks if he’s the one who plays piano. Instead of answering, Sam starts to ride his bike away but they keep harassing him. One comments that he’s probably got something valuable on him so they should try to chase him down. He starts to get away but they begin to throw objects at him, one of which hits him in the head. He falls to the ground and the group check his pockets before taking his bike and getting out of there.
Meanwhile, Sam could feel his body falling to the ground but he cannot open his eyes. It takes some time until he can definitely feel his body is in the ground and he can also feel light is poured into him - instantly waking him up. To his surprise, he is in an open field, an unknown and unfamiliar place. He looks around at his arm and it looks bigger and … different. He finds a nearby pond to see his reflection and, when he does, he finds that he suddenly looks older (Jim Carrey). This freaks him out and he quickly backs away.
Someone is calling the name ‘Shep’ not far from him. It is a woman named Agnes (Melissa McCarthy), she looks like she is calling him. He points to himself and she nods as if to say “of course - who else would I be talking about?”. When he walks closer to her, she put her hand on his forehead thinking maybe he caught a cold or something, he put her hand away and started asking where he is and why is he here. She asked what happened to him to forget his own birth place but she explained it anyway, assuming that he is joking. She tells him that this is Kalifornia, one of the towns in the realm of King Leroy ‘the Fancy’ of the Lillian Kingdom. Shep is completely confused. She stops there and tells him to follow him to the market. He wants to object but does not and follows instead. On the way, he asks her if she is his...lover? She gags and asks what is wrong with him - she's his sister! Shep starts a fake laugh and acts like he was just joking.
While walking to the market, he looks the world around him, it is very different than his city. It is so green, trees are all over the place. No smoke from the cars because people are still using horses. The buildings are also very simplistic and mostly made of wood. Not long after that, they arrived at the market and she shows him a piece of paper that written with probably an old English, but he is able to understand it a bit. It says that in 1 month from now a big tournament will be held by the king for the peasant to show their talent in front of the king with a very big prize. She smacks him on the head and asks “now do you remember where you are?”. He fakes another smile and nods along.
Her eyes look sparkling while reading it, he noticed. She is filled with hope and she tells him that they should recruit his nephews to join. “Nephews?” he asks and she rolled her eyes and drag him again to their house not really far from the market. She greets her two sons Aldrich (Tucker Albrizzi) and Bradyn (Meirad Tako), and introduces them to Shep. Aldrich looks confused and says “Mum, why are you telling our own uncle our names?”. She laughs and says don’t ask. Agnes tells her sons about the tournament and Aldrich looks excited but Bradyn - who never talks - has a look of uncertainty. Shep asked him why and Aldrich tells him that Bradyn is hesitant to play music because they contain demon power. Shep is left a bit speechless, realizing how these people must think.
As a musician and a smartass in the last world, he quickly explains to his “nephew” that it has nothing to do with demon. He explains that it is actually more of an artistic science. We smash cut to five minutes later as they are in awe of him explaining music theory. Aldrich raises his hand and asks “so...what is science?”. Shep lets out an exhausted sigh. They wonder how he got smart just like that but Shep ignores the question and instead asks who here can play an instrument. Aldrich raises his hand again and grabs something that looks like a guitar that Shep has never seen before. He asks how about Agnes and she says that she fancies to sing a song or two when taking a bath. Bradyn gags and Aldrich says they doesn’t want to hear about his mum taking a bath. Shep says this is good - the singing not the bathing part.
He asks the two of them to show him their talent and they show him. It’s a disaster - Aldrich just strums his “guitar” without any key whatsoever and Agnes’s just screaming uncontrollably. Shep’s jaw drops immediately and he prays to God for forgiveness. He tells them they have some learning to do if they are going to win this tournament. He turns to Bradyn and says that this means he will be their percussionist. Bradyn nods along in slight confusion.
In the real world, William goes to his son’s bedroom to apologize but finds that he’s not there. This makes him irate. He then contacts his informant and tells him to get any information on the person that was seen kissing Sam. Not long after that, he found a few documents sent to his phone and read it for a bit. Jake’s photo showed up and he was kind of surprise. He knows Jake and his family but didn't know he was close with Sam. He decides to go to their house to meet Jake in person.
Back to Shep, he is now in the market. He is planning to buy some drums for Bradyn. He has already given Aldrich and Agnes techniques for improving their part but not for Bradyn because they don’t have any percussion instrument. After some searching in town, he stumbles upon an instrument stall. He enters and gets the drum for Bradyn. However, he now wonders if there is anything he can contribute. There is absolutely nothing resembling a piano and he doesn’t want to take the singing away from Agnes. He exits the store with a bit of frustration.
On the way home, he stumbles upon a long line of people. He asks them what are they lining for and they tell them they want to see Rowan perform. He asks them who is Rowan and they say that he's the best harpist in all the land - and a prodigy at that. Shep is intrigued but says that he must be on his way.
In the real world, Jake is gazing out of his bedroom window when he notices a black car pull up. He perks up - wondering if it is Sam. Moments later, there’s a knock on the door and from the other side of it a servant tells him that his father is waiting for him in the living room. He goes to the living room; there he meets William and his assistant. He can hardly swallow his saliva, thinking he will get scolded for their relationship. Instead, William informs him that Sam is missing. Jake’s heart skips a beat. William tells him that he came here to ask whether he knows anything about it or not. Jake says this is the first time he’s heard of this.
Meanwhile, Shep works with his "family" on fine-tuning their musical talents. As Aldrich and Bradyn work on their respective skills, Shep pulls Agnes aside and asks her what the reward for this tournament is going to be, anyways. She says she doesn't know - she has never even seen the King before! But she tells him to look around at their impoverished surroundings...any prize will help life be better than this. For the first time, we see an sympathetic tenderness in Shep's eyes. Agnes asks him what they are going to play once they've mastered their instruments. His eyes light up as he realizes that that will be his contribution: he will be their songwriter. He tells her to give him some time and he says to give her a moment and he will come up with something special.
Two weeks later. Shep's is face-down on a table. He lifts his head to reveal major bags under his eyes and a blank sheet where he meant to write music. He wonders to himself aloud if they should scrap the whole music idea and try to figure something else out. We see Bradyn overhearing Shep say this from afar. Frustrated at his writer’s block, Shep decides to go to the local tavern. This is his first-time drinking alcohol and certainly in different circumstances than he was expecting. As he begins to drink, he begins small talk with the drunk man next to him - who introduces himself as Favian (Charlie Day). As Shep begins to drink more, he reveals more about his story for the first time. He says that he is really from a different time and he is not sure how he got here. Favian, in a state of stupor, is probably the only person in the Kingdom of Lillian that would buy into this story - but he does. Shep then tells him about his “family” and the tournament they want to enter. Favian casually says that he has a foot in the door as he is the court jester for King Leroy.
Shep perks up and asks if that’s true. Favian confirms and says that he can get them entered in the tournament. But says that Shep better win or else - *klgh* he sounds as he does a head-cutting gesture with his hands. Shep suddenly sobers up and asks if means himself or Shep. Favian says himself...or maybe Shep, or maybe both? Shep falls silent. Favian begins laughing and says he’s just kidding - he thinks? You never know with King Leroy. Shep says that a problem they are facing is that he can’t actually write any songs that will do well in the tournament. Favian says “You’re from the future, right? Can’t you just play something from that time?”. Shep’s eyes light up and he hugs Favian tightly, thanking him. “I will go ‘write’ the greatest song this Kingdom has ever heard.” he proclaims, before turning around and tripping - hitting his head on the way down. The sound cuts out and Shep keeps his eyes closed - unsure if he is going to wake back up in the real world. He slowly opens one eye and finds Favian curiously looking at him and asking him if he’s OK. Shep begins to laugh and say yes, he’s just drank a little too much.
Shep walks drunkenly back to Agnes's home, brainstorming what song to use. He closes his eyes and suddenly hears his parents talking from when he was younger. They drive on summer vacation and his parents are in the front seat. A song comes on the radio and Sam's mom (Julia Roberts) turns up the volume - looking back and telling her son that this song was playing the night his parents first met. They all begin singing along and suddenly Shep's eyes open up - as if a lightbulb has been sparked. When he arrives back at Agnes's home, the family looks disappointed at him. Agnes asks if he is thinking about quitting on them. He insists that he is not - well, he might have been earlier but he is not anymore! Now...now he's got a plan.
.
Back to Jake, he is desperate to know where on Earth is Sam. He calls whoever he think knew but all in vein until at the very last moment when he was about to give up, an unknown number calls his phone. When he picks up, he can hear a voice of a girl. Jake asked who she is but she doesn’t answer it instead she says sorry, “I just want to be with Sam, but … I guess, we’re not meant to be” she says, she told Jake that she texted Sam while disguising herself as him and invite Sam to meet up in a park but then on halfway there she’s scared and turn back after. After she says another sorry, she hangs up. Jake rushes back to William and they go the park.
The awaited day has come. All of the people gathered in the designated area of the tournament. A grand throne was built to honor the King and his family while they watch the tournament. Shep bumps into Favian again, who wishes Shep good luck. He reminds him that their life is on the King’s hand right now. Shep swallowed his own saliva hard and told Favian that everything is going to be okay.
The Royal anthem is played by some knights meaning that the Royal family is coming, they come in a chariot. King Leroy ‘the Fancy’ (Steve Carrell) comes down. He looks back and talks to someone in the chariot that seems doesn’t want to come out. “But you’re the jury, darling” said the king and the voice from inside answered that she will hear it just fine, she’s just shy. The King sighs and walks to his throne that had been prepared.
With a short speech from the king, the tournament is officially beginning. Looking at the schedule, Shep and his family are scheduled to perform last. Shep turns to his family and gives a motivational speech. He sees the hope in their eyes and says they will win.
One after another performers come to the stage to show off their musical prowess. All of them are pretty decent, Shep thought. Now enters the penultimate performer, the prodigy Rowan. Shep smiles because he is too a prodigy. Shep’s smile disappears when Rowan (Timothée Chalamet) get on to the stage, it … it is … Him? Rowan is Sam, or something like it, it is hard to explain. Shep was shaken to his core. Rowan sets the bar so high, until some technical issue from the harp slightly messes his play. It took Shep back in time to remember his own experience. His eyes follow Rowan as he lashes out at his servant for messing up his harp.
Shep’s name is called. He and his family take their instruments to the stage with no roadie. “Hmm... ?” the King finds it interesting. Of all of the performers, they are the only non-rich nor noble contenders. Shep and his family take their respective positions. Shep take a deep breath and “one … two … one, two, three, go!”
Jake and William are driving to the location that the mysterious girl told them. They search the park up and down before finally finding Sam unconscious. Jake immediately checks Sam’s heartbeat and he is fine so they quickly take him to the hospital, without their noticing a girl is watching from behind a tree not far from them. It is the girl that Jake run into not so long ago. She says another sorry after they safely take Sam to their car and leave for the hospital.
“One, two, three, GO!” Shep and his family start playing their song that they had been practicing for some tim. It is the song titled “Africa” by Toto - which Sam used to listen and sing along to as a child together with his parents.
King Leroy doesn’t really understand what the hell are they singing, he doesn’t even know what is an Africa, but when the second chorus hits, he starts moving his head and jamming to the song while saying “I don’t even know what they are singing about, but I LOVE IT!”. Shep could hear him and it made Shep smile thinking he will win.
After their performance, they got a standing ovation from the King followed by his people. The king praised Shep’s playing, Shep refuses the praise and said that it was not just him. It was truly a team effort - causing his family to smile. The King thanks all of the contenders for the entertainment that most of them provided. It is now time to declare who is the winner of the tournament. He returns to the chariot and brings out the true judge of the tournament: the Queen (Julia Roberts). Shep’s eyes widen once again. He cannot believe it. He wants to rush and hug her but he knows his place so he just keeps it to himself.
The Queen tells them that she enjoyed most of the contenders and thought that Rowan would be the front-runner. However, she hated the way he treated his servant and it left a bad taste in her mouth. As such, she decided to give the victory to Shep’s band and their weird song. A happy roar can be heard, the people seems to agree with the Queen, and the people cheer them. They begin to chant for more and Shep turns to his family and says this means they want an encore. Agnes points out that they don’t know anymore song. He says that they know the instruments and that’s what counts. They can follow his lead. In his head, he closes his eyes and flashes back to the time he actually wrote his own song. However, when they start to play it, the sound goes away and time slows down as Shep takes this all in. Most of all, the smile on the faces of Agnes, Aldrich and Bradyn. Those are hard to beat.
Everything turns to black. He feels his body floating before finally land on a soft surface. He can feel some voice and something that holds his hand. He slowly opens his eyes and he can see Jake sitting beside his bed. “Jake?” Sam’s voice surprised Jake and unconsciously hugged Sam and tell him how worried he was. William comes in soon after. Sam is surprised and afraid so he tries to push away Jake, but instead, William smiles and says he’s the one who needs to apologize. His sincerity made Sam tear up and also apologizes to them for acting like a jerk so often - he just misses his mom so much. He wants to tell them about his crazy experience but then decides he can keep those memories to himself.
Time has passed and Sam is back on stage. This time with a much larger audience and he also acts so much nicer to his roadie because he thinks to himself that he and Rowan are not the same. Not anymore.
While signing things from his fans, he is very nice to them and has patience. From afar, he can somewhat see someone crossing the street who resembles Agnes. He doesn’t think too deeply about it but it brings a smile to his face just to remember his other “family”.
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