A Nail Clipper Romance (2017) Timeline Explained – Every Event in Order

After Sean breaks up with his girlfriend, he goes surfing to cope but ends up drowning and getting hospitalized. His friends misinterpret the drowning as a suicide attempt because of his emotional state after the breakup, which is why they rush to cheer him up by taking him to a party.

Foreshadowing: The film opens with Sean emotionally devastated after discovering his girlfriend's infidelity, establishing why his friends would fear the worst.

• sean
• friends
• suicide attempt
• drowning
• breakup

Emily was drunk and lost a game with her friends at the bar. The penalty for losing required her to lick a stranger's face, which is why she approaches Sean and licks his face before disappearing.

Foreshadowing: This unusual encounter establishes Emily's eccentric personality and sets up their second meeting at the surf shop.

• emily
• lick
• bar
• game
• drunk

Emily claims she's on a diet, but the real reason is that she only eats nail clippers, not human food. This is part of her secret identity as a nail clipper monster.

Foreshadowing: Emily's refusal to eat foreshadows her unusual dietary needs, which Sean discovers later when he finds a bitten nail clipper.

• emily
• diet
• dinner
• nail clipper
• refuses food

Emily explains that nail clipper monsters are creatures that resemble humans but feed exclusively on nail clippers. She claims her ancestors came to America during the Gold Rush to search for metals specifically for making nail clippers.

• nail clipper monster
• emily
• origin
• creature
• mythology

Sean sells his deceased father's vintage car, which he had been reluctant to part with, to fund Emily's dream of opening a nail clipper-themed café where creatures like her could be accepted.

Foreshadowing: Earlier, Sean shows Emily the car and hesitates to sell it, emphasizing its emotional value. His willingness to sacrifice this possession demonstrates his commitment to Emily.

• sean
• vintage car
• father
• sell
• cafe
• funding

The café has no kitchen and is themed entirely around nail clippers, which is too niche for mainstream customers. Despite Sean and Emily's enthusiasm, the concept simply doesn't appeal to enough people, resulting in zero customers.

Foreshadowing: The decision to skip the kitchen and fill a wall with nail clipper decorations shows the impractical nature of the business idea from the start.

• cafe
• fail
• customers
• nail clipper
• no kitchen

Emily decides to close the café and leaves Sean, urging him to sell the shop to recover some of his investment. She disappears from his life despite his feelings for her.

• emily
• leave
• cafe
• close
• Sean
• heartbroken

An investigator hired by Sean's friends reveals that Emily is actually a Chinese woman who grew up in Hawaii, not a Joseon exile or nail clipper monster as she claimed. The nail clipper monster story appears to be an elaborate fiction.

Foreshadowing: Emily cleverly dodges every test Sean friends propose, maintaining her mysterious cover despite their suspicions.

• emily
• truth
• investigator
• chinese
• hawaii
• origin

After Sean lowers the price multiple times due to lack of interest, a man finally buys the shop. It turns out to be Emily's cousin's boyfriend, who plans to add a kitchen by removing the nail clipper-decorated wall that connects to an empty attic.

• cafe
• shop
• buyer
• cousin
• kitchen
• attic

Six months later, Sean returns for his best friend's wedding and considers pursuing a relationship with a longtime confidant who has secretly cared for him, suggesting he's moving on from Emily.

Foreshadowing: Throughout the film, there's subtle buildup showing this friend's unwavering support for Sean.

• sean
• wedding
• friend
• relationship
• moves on

At the end, Emily receives a package containing nail clippers from her favorite brand and is shown happily munching on several nail clippers on a rooftop, confirming her unique dietary nature and leaving ambiguity about whether her story was entirely fictional.

Foreshadowing: The ending mirrors her confession about being a nail clipper monster, leaving viewers to decide if she's truly what she claims to be.

• emily
• ending
• nail clippers
• rooftop
• package
• happy