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It's Such a Beautiful Day poster

It's Such a Beautiful Day

2012 ยท 62 min ยท movie
โญ 8.2 (3,136 votes)

Bill is a man whose daily routines, perceptions, and dreams are illustrated through multiple split-screen windows that are narrated by an uncredited Don Hertzfeldt. He often has meetings with his ex-girlfriend, but suffers from an unnamed illness which interferes with his seemingly mundane and uneventful life. One day, he visits his doctor, who informs him that his illness is getting worse; as the days pass, Bill's hallucinations and thoughts worsen until he has a hallucinogenic mental breakdown and passes out in an alley.

To help him recuperate, Bill's mother comes to take care of him, but Bill mistakenly believes she is about to kill him and attacks her. He is then taken to a hospital but his health fluctuates rapidly and confuses his doctor, who concludes that Bill will not die, which surprises and inconveniences his relatives. He returns to work the following day.

In a flashback to Bill's childhood, the narrator explains the death of Bill's half-brother Randall, who ran into the sea while chasing a bird. After Randall's death, Bill's mother soon became fiercely protective of Bill and rarely left home, eventually causing his stepfather to leave. The narrator details the surreal history of Bill's family, many of whom suffered from mental illness and died in unpleasant ways.

A few days after leaving the hospital, Bill receives a call telling him that his mother died in a "fit of senile hysterics". After the funeral, Bill finds a notebook where his mother practiced writing love notes to send to him when he was young. Bill again visits his doctor, who is shocked to find that nothing appears to be wrong with him. However, on his way to lunch, he suffers a seizure and collapses. During the seizure, various memories of his infancy and childhood flash before him.

Bill returns to the hospital, where his ex-girlfriend frequently visits him. His new doctor questions him, revealing that Bill cannot remember basic information about his life. After a brain exam, Bill is asked various questions and shown photographs that appear irregular or nonsensical. His doctor explains that Bill is having trouble understanding the difference between past and present tense, and it is implied that many of his childhood memories and family history could have been confabulated.

Bill is allowed to go home for family care, but he arrives home to find no one there. He starts to repeat and then forget various tasks, such as buying food and going for walks, and he does not seem to understand that he is ill. His doctor eventually explains that he does not have long to live. Bill's outlook undergoes a stark change, such as noticing more of life's small details. This change is complemented by the film's animation style, with full-color photography of real-life images being merged into the animated scenery.

Bill rents a car and starts driving to nowhere in particular, only to find that his instinct takes him to his childhood home. His uncle gives him the location of a nursing home where Bill can find his biological father, whom he has not seen since childhood. After spending time with his father, Bill forgives him and leaves to continue driving. Feeling his health failing further, Bill stops to lay down under a tree, and the film cuts to black.

Rejecting the reality that Bill will almost certainly die under the tree, the narrator instead describes a different outcome: Bill becomes immortal, accomplishes many wonderful achievements, and outlives humankind and all future inhabitants of Earth. He survives until the death of the universe, looking up at the stars as they disappear one by one.

Directed by

Don Hertzfeldt

Starring