TICKET TO PARADISE
*CUT TO THE CHASE*NOTE: This spoiler was submitted by Jeremy
The film starts with divorced couple David (George Clooney) and Georgia Cotton (Julia Roberts) talking about each other to their friends. They feel that they rushed into their marriage 25 years earlier and didn’t listen to those that told them it was a bad idea, and now they hate each other’s guts. Meanwhile, their daughter Lily (Kaitlyn Dever) is getting ready with her best friend Wren Butler (Billie Lourd) for their graduation ceremony. Despite Lily telling her parents that they are not seated next to each other, David and Georgia soon discover that’s not the case, and they promptly begin bickering and trying to outdo each other with supporting Lily.
The next day, David and Georgia bring Lily and a very hungover Wren to the airport as they head off for a vacation in Bali. David and Georgia then passive-aggressively bid each other farewell in the hopes of never having to see each other again.
In Bali, Lily and Wren go swimming in the ocean until they get separated from their boat and have to start trying to swim back to the island. They are found by a handsome young local named Gede (Maxime Bouttier), who pulls the girls into his boat and instantly sparks a mutual attraction with Lily. At night, Gede invites her and Wren to go dancing, and he spends more time with Lily as they learn about each other. Lily talks about how she feels now that she graduated, while Gede tells her about how he’s a seaweed farmer. In the morning, Lily joins Gede as he works the seaweed, and it is clear they are now in love.
Over a month later, David contacts Georgia since Lily sent them both an email informing them that she and Gede are now engaged. The two think it’s a terrible idea since she only just met the guy, but they board a plane to head to Bali anyway. They are annoyed to see that they are seated next to each other until another passenger sits between them and hears as they vent about their failed marriage and how they think Lily is rushing into things. They also find that Georgia’s younger boyfriend, Paul (Lucas Bravo), is the pilot for the flight. At night, Georgia and Paul spend time together, leading to some turbulence.
Once on the island, David and Georgia form a temporary truce (their “Trojan Horse” plan) in order to convince Lily that she is making the same mistake that they made before they got married, and they hope they can get her to call off the wedding. They meet with Lily and Wren before taking a bus to meet Gede and his large family, including his parents and sister Loci (Cintya Dharmayanti). Gede spends some time with David and tells him about seaweed farming, but David doesn’t hide that he thinks Lily will end things on her own. The Cottons then join Gede’s family as his father gets them ready for the upcoming traditional ceremonies.
After settling into their rooms, David goes to the bar alone until he is joined by Wren. She expresses support for Lily since she seems happier than she was in college, then asks David what happened between him and Georgia. David explains that they had a lake house where they used to spend summers at, and he wanted to buy it when it went for sale. Over time, they began arguing and becoming more disinterested in one another, with David hoping the lake house would salvage their marriage, until it burned down and he lost hope in his marriage.
The next day, the families are getting ready for a ceremony involving an exchange of rings, with Gede’s little cousin being the ring bearer. Georgia does a trick involving a banana to get the kids distracted while she swipes the rings and hides them in her bag. When the time for the ceremony comes, Lily and Gede are disappointed when they find the rings are missing, and Gede’s cousin begins crying (which David and Georgia actually feel bad about), but Lily assures her and everyone that things are okay.
Gede takes the Cottons and Wren out into the ocean to go swimming with the dolphins, though he seems to imply that he knows what David and Georgia did with the rings. When they get into the water, one of the dolphins swims at full speed toward David and bites his leg, forcing everyone to bring him to shore to tend to his wound. Gede later takes them to a market where he outright asks David to return the rings and knows that he and Georgia are trying to sabotage their relationship. When they get back to their rooms, David and Georgia argue again over their parenting with Lily and how David was the fun dad and Georgia was the strict mom.
In the morning, David and Georgia attempt to farm seaweed on their own. It turns into a playful competition over who can gather the most seaweed, which is seen by Lily, Wren, and Gede. They later go through a ceremony since Lily and Gede got new rings, and then they go to a bar to hang out and play beer pong. David and Georgia get drunk and have fun playing and dancing together, which embarrasses Lily. Gede also gets too drunk and goes to vomit.
David wakes up in Georgia’s room naked below the waist. Making things more complicated is the fact that Paul decided to show up and surprise Georgia, which makes the two of them switch rooms to avoid suspicion since David answers the door to Georgia’s room.
Everyone goes walking around the island toward Tanah Lot, but Gede tells Lily that it’s cursed. Paul takes Georgia there and tries to propose to her, but he gets bitten by a snake and has to get taken to the hospital. While there, Georgia tells David and Lily about Paul’s proposal, which she didn’t accept yet, but Lily tells her that while Paul is a nice guy, Georgia is not her best self around him.
David and Georgia join Lily and Gede on a walk to the top of a hill with a great view of the ocean, but their boat floats away because David tied it to a log that is also floating away. While they walk back to the hotel, Lily finds the rings in Georgia’s bag. This leads to an argument when Lily realizes her parents never supported her engagement, and she is also mad at Gede for knowing about this and not telling Lily. While Gede and Lily talk it over, David and Georgia talk, and he agrees to tell Lily this was his idea, so they don’t both look like bad guys.
The following morning, David and Georgia go back up to the top of the hill to watch the sunrise. They have a conversation about the lake house and how the bit of land hasn’t had anything new rebuilt because David still owns the piece of land. They then start to kiss before realizing it’s probably not a good idea. They return to the hotel, where Paul proposes to Georgia again, but she has to break things off with him.
The time for the wedding arrives, with Georgia going to provide Lily support while Gede’s father does the same with him. David and Georgia gather to fully support Lily. During the ceremony, Gede cannot finish placing a knife through the ceremonial mat until he feels that he and Lily have her parents’ support. David stands up and says that they don’t need their support and that they are happy for the two of them. The ceremony continues, and Lily and Gede are married. David and Georgia begin to express confidence in Lily’s decision, and Lily privately reconciles with David by the ocean.
David and Georgia say goodbye to Lily, Wren, and Gede as they board a boat to go home. On the way, Georgia tells David that she has declined Paul’s marriage proposal. They decide that they should not wait to continue enjoying their life, so they hop off the boat and into the ocean to have more fun.
David and Georgia Cotton are a divorced couple who hate each other and regret their marriage. Their daughter Lily goes on vacation to Bali and meets a young man named Gede, and she gets engaged to him within a month of knowing each other. David and Georgia form a truce to try and convince Lily that she is rushing into things and making the same mistake that they made.
Over their time on the island, David and Georgia make attempts to sabotage the wedding but also begin to mend fences with one another. They also get to know Gede and see that he really does care for Lily. While Lily does find out about their plan and gets upset with them, they realize their mistake and opt to trust Lily with her decision and offer their support. Lily and Gede get married without problems.
While David and Georgia seem like they might be falling in love again, they decide to continue being friends and enjoy the time they have together.