Blue Jay 2016

Jim Henderson, Mark Duplass returns to his hometown in California with the intention of renovating and selling his late mother’s house. While shopping at a supermarket, he bumps into his former high school girlfriend Amanda, Sarah Paulson. They greet each other, but Jim says he does not want to stop her from whatever she was up to.

They run into each other again in the parking lot and decide to grab coffee at Blue Jay. Over coffee, they catch up on the years since they last saw one another. Amanda has since married and become the stepmother to two children, while Jim works alongside his uncle on renovating old houses and is considering turning his late mother’s house into a new project. The contrast between their fulfilled lives and Jim’s unsettled feelings becomes clear as they walk to her car, passing a liquor store they used to frequent. Amanda bets the owner will remember them; Jim is skeptical, but the owner does recognize them and teases their famous hometown romance, offering free beer and jelly beans while they half-joke about still being a couple after all this time.

A lakeside conversation deepens their nostalgia, and Jim leaves feeling discontent after hearing about Amanda’s seemingly accomplished life. Back at his mother’s house, they sift through old memorabilia, fueling more memories. Amanda finds a letter addressed to her from years past and discovers tape recordings of Jim and her roleplaying their imagined middle-aged selves. They listen and laugh at how awkward they were, and Jim suggests they recreate the moment—pretending to be a married couple celebrating their 20th anniversary.

That night grows intimate, and Amanda reveals she has been on antidepressants and hasn’t cried in years. They kiss, but the moment shifts when Jim tells her he loves her. The truth comes out that Amanda had an abortion during high school, the source of their breakup, triggering a painful confrontation that ends with Jim breaking down on the floor.

The next morning, Jim walks Amanda to her car, and she explains her decision. He asks her to read the letter he never sent, the one in which he hoped to confess keeping the baby. Amanda begins to cry for the first time in five years, and then they share a fragile, mutual understanding. They laugh through the tears, exchanging a quiet, shared breath as the screen fades to black.