Bedazzled (2000) Timeline Explained – Every Event in Order

Elliot wishes to be rich and powerful with Alison as his wife, but he isn't specific about HOW to achieve that wealth. Satan interprets his wish literally, making him a Colombian drug lord, a quick path to riches that comes with deadly consequences including a murderous rival and an unfaithful wife. This illustrates how vague wishes backfire because Elliot never specified he wanted honest wealth.

Foreshadowing: Earlier, Satan reminds Elliot that there's no such thing as a free lunch when he forces him to pay for the Big Mac.

• wealth wish
• drug lord
• vague wishes
• wish backfire

Elliot wishes to be emotionally sensitive to understand women better, but he becomes excessively emotional, crying at everything and constantly seeking reassurance. Alison, who had just started dating him, finds this exhausting and leaves him for someone who is strong and emotionally stable. The wish backfired because he wanted to understand emotions but instead became controlled by them.

• emotional sensitivity
• Alison leaves
• wish backfire
• understanding women

Elliot wishes to be a superstar athlete attractive to women, but Satan twists the wish, he becomes an NBA player with a small endowment and low intelligence. As a sports reporter, Alison is initially interested but quickly loses respect for his limited mental capacity, proving that physical fame alone cannot sustain attraction.

Foreshadowing: Each wish demonstrates that Satan always finds a way to twist desires into negatives.

• NBA player
• wish backfire
• attraction
• sports reporter

Elliot wishes for intelligence, wit, and charisma to win Alison. He becomes a successful writer who captures her attention at a party, but the twist reveals he's gay and living with a flamboyant male partner. The wish fulfilled his desire for success and sophistication, but his romantic fantasies with Alison couldn't come true because his true self wasn't aligned with his wish.

• famous writer
• wish makes him gay
• intelligence wish
• charm

Elliot wishes to be President of the United States to feel important and impactful, but Satan sends him to the night of Abraham Lincoln's assassination at Ford's Theatre in 1865. This historical nightmare represents the ultimate consequence of seeking power without wisdom, being thrust into a pivotal but deadly moment in American history.

• president wish
• Abraham Lincoln
• assassination
• Ford's Theatre

After most of his wishes backfire, Elliot makes a completely selfless wish: he wants Alison to be happy, even if it means not being with him. This act of genuine selflessness surprises Satan and voids the contract because the terms required Elliot's soul as payment for selfish desires. A truly unselfish wish has no price, so the deal collapses.

Foreshadowing: Earlier, Satan mentions that selling one's soul isn't as simple as it seems.

• selfless wish
• cancel contract
• soul
• void agreement
• Satan

In the final scene, Satan and Elliot's cellmate (revealed to be God) play chess while watching Elliot meet his new neighbor Nicole. This symbolizes that everyday life involves ongoing choices between good and evil, with Heaven and Hell existing within human decisions rather than as literal places. Elliot's journey demonstrated that choosing selflessness leads to a positive outcome.

Foreshadowing: The cellmate earlier told Elliot his soul belongs to God, hinting at his divine identity.

• God
• Satan
• chess
• Heaven and Hell
• choices
• ending meaning

At the end, Elliot meets his new neighbor Nicole Delarusso, who bears a striking resemblance to Alison but has distinct personality traits. This represents Elliot's growth, he no longer needs to obsess over the exact Alison from his fantasies. He's ready to build a genuine connection with someone new, accepting imperfect realities over fantasy ideals.

• Nicole
• Alison lookalike
• new relationship
• fresh start

Every wish backfires because Elliot is never specific about what he truly wants. He wishes for wealth without specifying how to earn it, sensitivity without balance, fame without defining its nature, and power without wisdom. Satan exploits the literal interpretation of vague desires, revealing that Elliot's understanding of what he actually wants was fundamentally flawed.

Foreshadowing: Satan's opening demonstration with the Big Mac establishes that nothing comes without precise terms.

• wishes backfire
• vague wishes
• wish interpretation
• contract rules

When Elliot wakes up after his selfless wish, he finds himself in a courthouse rather than literal Hell. This reveals that his Hell experience was a metaphor for his internal struggle and legal contract with Satan. The courthouse represents judgment and the resolution of his contractual dilemma, allowing him to keep his soul and return to reality.

• Hell metaphor
• courthouse
• soul contract
• reality return

Elliot visits a church seeking divine help to cancel his contract with Satan, but when he confesses his dealings with the devil, he is misinterpreted and arrested. Satan appears dressed as a police officer, explaining that selling one's soul involves more complexity than Elliot understood. This scene reinforces that Elliot cannot escape through conventional means.

• church arrest
• confession
• police
• contract complexity

After Elliot returns from his ordeal with self-confidence, he approaches Alison to ask her out, only to discover she's already in a relationship. This rejection, which would have devastated him before, doesn't break him because his self-worth now comes from within rather than from winning her over. His growth is complete when he can accept this outcome calmly.

Foreshadowing: His journey through the wishes showed him that his happiness cannot depend on one person.

• Alison rejects
• new relationship
• self-worth
• personal growth