The Last Five Years (2020) Plot Summary & Timeline

The story is told through song and takes place over a five-year period, from the beginning of Jamie and Cathy’s relationship in 2009 to their divorce in 2014. It alternates between Cathy’s songs and Jamie’s songs. Cathy’s songs start at the moment she finds out Jamie has left her and move backwards in time until the beginning of their relationship, while Jamie’s songs start at the point when they first start dating and proceed forward to when he leaves her. The two timelines converge temporarily at their wedding for the duet “The Next Ten Minutes,” and continue past each other for the remainder of the story.

In 2014, Cathy returns home to find a letter from Jamie declaring their marriage over. She removes her wedding rings, as well as her wristwatch and bracelet.

In 2009, Jamie is an up-and-coming writer who has just met Cathy. He is overjoyed to be dating outside his Jewish heritage and declares, “I could be in love with someone like you.”

During the summer of 2013, Jamie visits Cathy in Ohio, where she is working in summer stock. It is her birthday, and he has come to visit her. She is anxious to fix any problems in their marriage but she becomes angry when Jamie tells her he has to return early to New York in order to attend a Random House party. She accuses him of egotism, claiming he values his career more than his relationship with her.

In 2010, Jamie receives a phone call from a Random House agent, who wants to make a deal for his manuscript. Overjoyed, he calls Cathy and agrees to move in with her. He comments on how lucky he feels to be so successful at only 23. Elsewhere at an audition, Cathy makes a call to her disinterested agent. It seems her career is not going the way she planned as she does not move on to the dance audition.

In late 2010 and early 2011, Cathy attends multiple social functions for the promotion of Jamie’s novel and for celebrating its success (63 weeks as a bestseller). She sings about how his newfound fame and success in writing have changed their lives and jokes about how focused or “catatonic” he becomes in his writing process. She expresses that she feels the best way to love Jamie is to focus on him and his growing career. She chooses to “follow in his stride” and put herself and her dreams second to his new success.

After a horrible day working as a bartender during the holiday season, Cathy comes home to an excited Jamie. He tells her a Christmas story he has written about an old tailor named Schmuel, who had given up on his dreams but is able to turn back time and undo his past regrets. After the story, Jamie encourages Cathy to take more risks and continue to pursue her own dreams. For her Christmas present, Jamie gives her an appointment for new headshots, a Backstage magazine, and a wristwatch, as well as the promise to support her as she pursues acting.

In the summer of 2010, Cathy is in Ohio doing summer stock and videochatting with Jamie. She describes to Jamie her disappointing life in Ohio, her dysfunctional and eccentric colleagues, and her desire to achieve success as an actress in New York, never to return to Ohio. It is revealed they have gotten married.

Jamie and Cathy’s timelines converge as they walk to a gazebo in Central Park, where Jamie proposes. Sometime later, they marry in the same spot.

Jamie, now a bestselling author, struggles to resist an increasing number of advances from other women, though he expresses his desire to remain faithful to Cathy. Cathy, meanwhile, has a seemingly successful audition for an off-Broadway show. She calls Jamie to tell him the good news, while he struggles to get a moment away from work to speak with her.

Sometime earlier, Cathy is struggling with poor auditions and repeated rejection. She attends a book reading for Jamie’s novel “Light out of Darkness,” where she realizes she is not content to put Jamie’s career before her own.

Jamie wants Cathy to attend a party to celebrate the publishing of his book, but she refuses, stating she has been to so many of them only to be ignored by her husband. He decides he will go alone, but questions Cathy about why she really refuses to go with him, suggesting she is jealous of his career success. Jamie promises her that he still believes in her and their relationship, but she walks away.

Cathy and Jamie are traveling to Cathy’s hometown, where he will be meeting her parents for the first time. She expresses her dissatisfaction with suburban life, as well as with her past failed relationships. Upon arriving at her parents’ house, she asks Jamie to move in with her.

Jamie wakes up in his apartment beside multiple women, including his editor, Alise, and the receptionist at Random House. About to leave for Ohio to visit Cathy, he tries to defend his actions and blames Cathy for destroying his privacy and their relationship. Jamie promises not to lie to Alise and tells her, “I could be in love with someone like you,” just as he did to Cathy.

In 2009, Cathy is ecstatic after her first date with Jamie. She proclaims that she has been waiting for Jamie her whole life. Back in 2014, Jamie writes a farewell letter to Cathy, claiming he tried all he could to save their marriage. As a hopeful Cathy waits for a tomorrow with Jamie, a discouraged Jamie tells Cathy “goodbye”. He leaves behind his keys and wedding ring. Later that evening, we see Cathy return to the apartment and open the front door to find Jamie’s letter waiting for her.