Walking on Sunshine 2014

Taylor and her boyfriend, Raf, stand by the sea as he asks her to stay in Italy and skip the university plan in favor of a “real life.” He whispers of a future together, but she holds back, torn between a life abroad and the pull of a traditional path.

Three years later, she heads to the sun-soaked Apulia region for a holiday. Her sister Maddie has already arrived five weeks earlier, inviting an extravagantly lively circle of friends, including Lil. Maddie drops a bombshell: she’s getting married in two days. The dramatic, gleeful welcome also reveals that Maddie has invited Taylor to the wedding, while [Lil] reveals that Taylor had a romance in Apulia on a past trip. Taylor explains she doesn’t want to rekindle anything from that time, insisting she’s focused on family and moving forward.

On the beach, Taylor runs into friends again—Elena and her boyfriend Enrico, as well as Mikey. Raf is spotted among the crowd, and a clever, almost fated connection flares as Taylor follows him, only for Maddie to surprise them all by kissing Raf and revealing the engagement. The revelation shocks everyone, especially Elena, Enrico, Mikey, and Maddie, who never suspected the sisters shared such a past. Taylor pretends not to know Raf, hoping to spare Maddie from pain, even as the group senses unfinished business between Taylor and Raf.

The wedding day approaches, and Maddie assigns Raf and Taylor the task of sorting their outfits and choosing rings. Old tensions surface as they argue about whether people should “sing from the rooftops” about their feelings. Taylor remains cautious, while Raf insists that true feelings deserve to be spoken plainly. The result is a pair of wedding outfits that hint at lingering emotion, a sign of how closely their history still knots their present.

Meanwhile, Doug arrives, having second thoughts about the breakup that ended things with Maddie. He presses Maddie to take him back, but she declines, only to invite him to dinner as a kind of final farewell. A dinner scene follows where Elena and Enrico share a secret by the pool, and Elena confesses she is pregnant. The revelation adds another layer of complexity to the wedding plans and the hidden loyalties at play.

At Maddie’s insistence, the couple—Taylor and Raf—are sent to make final preparations for Maddie’s big day. Taylor declines a plus one, hinting at the unresolved past with Raf. Doug sends pink roses to Maddie with a note that foreshadows further complications, leading to a fiery argument among the group. The tomato festival becomes a moment of levity and color, as everyone heads to the vibrant event, with the crowd singing along to Walking on Sunshine.

The day ebbs into dusk as Raf and Taylor walk along the shoreline, the air thick with what-ifs. The sun dips, and a moment of quiet turns into a charged confrontation, with the memory of their past rising to the surface. The rooftop, once a private space for confession, becomes the stage for a public performance of their feelings. A theatrical turn follows, as Maddie’s hen party leaves her momentarily distracted and Taylor confronts the truth of her heart. The famous line from the rooftop moment surfaces:

If I Could Turn Back Time

Raf joins Taylor on the roof, and the two share a sincere, if hard-won, confession of love. Their kiss signals a turning point: the history they share is not simply left behind, but reconciled in a new, face-to-face honesty.

Back at the church, the ceremony begins with flourish, but Doug objects from the pews. Maddie, however, steps forward with a broader vision of love, declaring that she’s in love with love itself and that Raf deserves someone who truly belongs with him. Raf walks away, and Taylor pursues him, determined to make amends. On the rooftop once more, she sings to him, a gesture that seals their fate:

If I Could Turn Back Time

The couple’s resolve becomes clear, and they finally recognize the depth of their connection. The narrative then returns to Elena and Enrico, who reveal Elena’s pregnancy, while Lil hints at feelings for Mikey. Maddie faces a future of independence, supported by the love of her sister, and Doug meets a dramatic end as a light-hearted prank turns serious: a hang-glider scene releases him to the open sea, where he is carried away in a farcical and symbolic finale.

The film closes on a jubilant, all-hands performance of Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go, echoing the movie’s old-school pop sensibility and its themes of reconnection, forgiveness, and choosing love in all its imperfect, wonderful forms.