*We’re about to get into spoilers for Netflix’s Love Wedding Repeat. So if you haven’t watched the new rom-com streaming yet, this article is probably not for you--at least, yet. *
Love Wedding Repeat basically sells itself as playing out similarly to Edge of Tomorrow’s “what if” possibilities, only in this rom-com starring Eleanor Tomlinson, Sam Claflin and Olivia Munn the multiple ways the story could happen are not relived by any one character. Instead, the movie seems to be an exercise in how the same story can be told many very different ways, with an “oracle” narrating the Netflix movie to separate each of the timelines. Which means its ending is a little bit confusing, as the movie plays out with more than one finale.
The basic premise of the movie is that eight people sit together at the “English” table during the wedding between English-born Hayley (Eleanor Tomlinson) and Italian-born Roberto (Tiziano Caputo). The eight people sitting together at the table have very different experiences depending on where their place cards are dropped by an adorable group of young kids during each timeline.
Every outcome is explored on screen, although the majority of the wedding experiences are relegated to a quick montage in the middle, leaving a movie that ultimately feels like it has two endings.
How Love Wedding Repeat Really Has Two Endings
While the Netflix rom-com movie has a lot of nods to Edge of Tomorrow’s “live. die. repeat” phrasing, the more apt comparison might be the movie Clue, which gives us a bunch of different possible ways the whodunnit may have played out. Similarly, Love Wedding Repeat focuses on two separate place card settings.
The Not-So-Satisfying Ending
In the not-so-satisfying ending, Hayley’s wedding is ruined when a former sexual partner Marc (Jack Farthing) shows up to stop the wedding. She and her brother Jack (Sam Claflin) plan to drug Marc with a sleeping pill, only the place settings get switched and their friend Bryan (Joel Fry) is drugged instead.
Due to a series of events, Jack continues to try and distract Marc instead of spending time with Dina (Olivia Munn), the woman he is interested in. Marc manages to ruin the wedding nonetheless and Robero calls the nuptials off after finding out Eleanor previously slept with Marc. Meanwhile, the drugged Bryan ruins the cake and even Jack gets headbutted in the face by his ex Amanda (Freida Pinto).
If only things had gone differently…
The Feel-Good Ending
In this version of events, Marc still shows up, but Jack accidentally drugs himself instead of Marc (or Bryan, as happened in the previous timeline). He falls asleep while conversing with Dina, but with the help of a lot of coffee, he is able to wake himself up enough to convince Marc not to ruin the wedding and convince Dina he’s a worthy guy.
Meanwhile, Bryan’s wedding speech goes off well and he lands a potential job opportunity, Marc realizes stopping the wedding won’t get him what he wants, Hayley and Roberto stick to completing their nuptials and other characters find happy endings.
In the most rom-com-oriented moment of them all, Jack finally gets a moment with Dina and while they are nearly interrupted, he tells the guy to sod off -- he actually drops an f-bomb -- and finally kisses Dina. It’s the moment the movie is waiting for, but as Sam Claflin and Olivia Munn told CinemaBlend, it wasn’t originally supposed to play out the way it does.
The Real Ending For Love Wedding Repeat Was Improv’d By Sam Claflin And Olivia Munn
CinemaBlend's own Sean O'Connell was lucky enough to interview some of Love Wedding Repeat’s leads before the new romantic comedy premiered on Netflix this weekend, and apparently that final payoff moment almost didn’t happen. According to Sam Claflin and his co-star Olivia Munn, the major kiss wasn’t originally in the script and was something that came up spur of the moment.
Claflin: The more that I’m thinking, it wasn’t even scripted originally. I think at one point, originally, it got to the point where we were about to kiss, and something went wrong where we were leaning in and then it cuts to black, so you don’t know whether or not he… but then, because I kiss every other girl in the script at this point, I think Olivia [got jealous]. No, I’m joking!Munn: I was like, ‘Guys, we should shoot this!’Claflin: It is important. It was leading to that, and I think we wanted to fight for these two.
Jack spends the entire movie trying to have a moment with Dina, the woman he’s sure would be perfect for him, but previously their timing had always been off. Even in the last scene, he interrupts her during a phone call and originally it seems the movie wasn’t going to make it clear whether or not the happily-ever-after played out. According to both Claflin and Munn, the scene was one of the last things they shot and in a moment of inspiration it all came together.
Olivia Munn: We did leave [the kiss] towards the very, very end. It was my very last day. It was a few days before you finished, Sam?Sam Claflin: Yeah, it wasn’t my last day, but it was our last day together, which was important.Munn: It was a late night. We were scrambling around.
To think, if the place settings had been just a wee bit different, who knows how Love Wedding Repeat would have played out?
It's always interesting to hear how movies came together, but ultimately the ending of this Netflix rom-com doesn't 100% hinge on the one improv'd moment. Still, I do think the happy ending is all the better thanks to that inspired acting moment. You can catch Love Wedding Repeat currently streaming on Netflix or see what else the subscription service has coming up with the full schedule. In the meantime, what did you think of the latest streaming rom-com?
This poll is no longer available.
