HERE

*CUT TO THE CHASE*

NOTE: This spoiler was submitted by Jeremy

*The film spans several centuries and lifetimes, so this will be told in chronological order.

The film opens on a piece of land that is developed into a house in a colonial town. Over centuries, several couples are shown as they acquire the house and begin to raise families in there, with the focus set primarily where the house’s living room is or will eventually be. The land is first seen all the way back during prehistoric times, right when the meteor that wiped out the dinosaurs hits.

The Indigenous Couple
Among the first inhabitants in the land are an indigenous man and woman (Joel Oulette and Dannie McCallum), who are shown to be in love and eventually have a child of their own. As they grow old, the woman dies before the man. As he mourns her, a hummingbird flies by him, implied to be his wife returning to him in a new form.

Colonial Times
A brief period during the time of Benjamin Franklin (Keith Bartlett) and his family are shown. His sons do are not very fond of the work he does and do not believe that he will go down in history. Eventually, the house is developed and built upon the land, overlooking one of the colonial buildings that remains in place along with the house as time goes on.

The Harters
In the early 20th century, a couple, John and Pauline Harter (Gwilym Lee and Michelle Dockery), move into the house. John is a pilot, but Pauline does not much care for him going around and flying so much, as she fears he may hurt himself. The Harters later have a daughter, but Pauline is angry when John takes her for a ride in the plane. Later, John passes away, from what is initially implied to be from a plane crash, but at his funeral, it is revealed he passed from influenza. Pauline and her daughter later move out of the house.

The Beekmans
In the early 40s, Leo and Stella Beekman (David Fynn and Ophelia Lovibond), an inventor and pin-up model, move into the house. Leo is developing a set of reclining chairs and other furniture, which he plans to call the “Relaxy Boy”. His business takes off, though it is renamed “La-Z-Boy”. An investor later meets with Leo and Stella to discuss the booming television business, and how Leo’s furniture would be a perfect accompaniment to this invention. When asked about their relationship, Leo mentions that he just “followed” Stella home, and that (somehow) blossomed into a romance.

The Young Family
Sometime after WWII, Al and Rose Young (Paul Bettany and Kelly Reilly) move into the house. Al suffers from PTSD, some hearing loss, and is also an alcoholic as a result. The two end up having three children – Ricky (Finn Guegan, later Callum Macreadie), Elizabeth (Beau Gadsdon, later Lauren McQueen), and Jimmy (Albie Salter, later Harry Marcus).

As a teenager in the 70s, Ricky starts going by Richard (Tom Hanks) and brings home his girlfriend, Margaret (Robin Wright), to introduce to the family. They develop a loving relationship, but Richard gets Margaret pregnant when they are 18. Al chides Richard for what he did, but Rose is thrilled. Richard and Margaret are later married in the living room.

Richard and Margaret become parents to Vanessa (Faith Delaney, later Zsa Zsa Zemeckis). Jimmy causes a stir when he announces that he is enlisting in the Navy. Al and Rose later have their friends, Ted and Virginia (Tony Way and Jemima Rooper), come over for a visit. Ted suffers a heart attack and collapses, and Rose later finds out that Ted passed away at the hospital. She joins Al to go comfort Virginia. Rose is also later visited by Earl Higgins (Jonathan Aris) and his students Todd and Lisa (Louis Suc and Eloise Webb), as they inform Rose that the house is a historical site.

Around Christmastime, Rose suffers a stroke and collapses. She is left paralyzed on one side and wheelchair-bound. Al quits drinking and starts to make plans to move to Florida and leave the house to Richard and Margaret. However, Margaret does not want to live there, preferring to build a life outside on their own, especially since Richard had made his own plans to design their own home. Rose and Margaret are later visited by Earl, Todd, and Lisa again when they uncover a necklace that belonged to the indigenous woman. Al and Rose eventually leave.

Vanessa goes off to college and starts to make plans for law school by the early 2000s. Margaret is surprised by Richard and other friends and family for her 50th birthday. She starts to make a speech but becomes emotional as she feels that she has put off a lot of things in her life, like traveling to Paris, due to getting married and having a kid. Rose passes away, and Al later moves back in with Richard and Margaret after he breaks his hip and is confined to the living room couch. By the time 2003 comes along, Richard and Margaret’s marriage is clearly on the rocks, to the point that she has brought a life coach to suggest that they split up. Eventually, Richard and Margaret have the discussion and make their split official.

Al later has a dream about Rose and appears to follow her into the afterlife. Margaret consoles Richard, who has begun to go back to painting like he used to. Margaret later starts to travel like she wanted to, and even brings Vanessa along. Vanessa is also said to be married to someone named David. Richard then invites Margaret over for Thanksgiving dinner, which she accepts. They start by having fortune cookies, with Margaret’s fortune mentioning that she will have a grand adventure, which she has already been living. Richard’s says that “an old love will return” to him. Sadly, Margaret says this is not the case. Richard then tells her that he is selling the house, which she supports.

The Harris Family
In the 2010s, a black family – Devon and Helen Harris (Nicholas Pinnock and Nikki Amuka-Bird), plus their son Justin (Cache Vanderpuye) – moves into the house, along with their housekeeper, Raquel (Anya Marco-Harris). As Justin gets older, his parents have to instruct him on how to behave if he gets pulled over by an officer to avoid any tragic consequences. Justin is later implied to go to college, but Raquel later becomes a victim of the COVID-19 pandemic and passes away, with Devon and Helen mourning her. The family eventually moves out as well.

Epilogue
Richard and Margaret are now elderly and are shown returning to the now empty house. Margaret appears to have some form of Alzheimer’s, as Richard sits down to remind her about events that took place in the house. They laugh over a time when they got caught having sex on the couch, and another time when Vanessa lost a ribbon and got upset until Margaret found it in the couch. This starts to trigger Margaret’s memory, and she becomes emotional as she starts to reminisce more about her time in the house. The camera then pans out for the first time to show the house’s exterior, as well as the rest of the street. Right above the colonial building, a hummingbird flies overhead.

The film focuses on a piece of land that is later developed into a house, with much of the focus taking place in the living room of the house. Several families are shown living there, with some thematic connections to one another.

The earliest inhabitants on the land were an indigenous couple. During colonial times, Benjamin Franklin was making history before the house was built. It is first shown to be inhabited by a pilot, John Harter, and his wife, Pauline. John passes away from the flu before Pauline leaves with their daughter. The next couple shown are Leo and Stella Beekman, as Leo invents reclining chairs that end up becoming a profitable business.

WWII vet Al Young and his wife Rose move into the house. They raise three kids - Ricky, Elizabeth, and Jimmy. Ricky/Richard later falls in love as a teenager with his classmate Margaret, later impregnating and marrying her. They have a daughter, Vanessa, but Margaret later starts to resent the marriage due to putting off a lot of things she wanted to do, like traveling. Rose and Al eventually pass away, and Richard and Margaret get divorced but remain friends. Margaret lives out her dream of traveling while Richard goes back to painting before selling the house. A black family, the Harrises, later move in, where their housekeeper Raquel succumbs to COVID-19.

Years later, an elderly Richard and Margaret return to the now empty house. Margaret has Alzheimer's, and Richard tries to get her to remember the times they had in the house. Margaret starts to remember and gets emotional.