Comet

Present day. Dell, dressed in a suit, stands outside with a bouquet, anxiously awaiting an answer to his knock. The moment is charged with anticipation as he rehearses his words and hopes for a favorable reply. The bouquet signals a hopeful, vulnerable plea.

Six years ago in Los Angeles, Dell lines up to secure a spot in the cemetery for a view of the meteor shower. In the crowd, a teenager tells him that his mother has been diagnosed with liver cancer, and we learn that he works for a pharmaceutical company and is portrayed as a narcissist. The reveal of his personal life sets the stage for his flawed approach to love.

Six years ago, Dell meets Kimberly in a moment that leaves him dazzled by her eyes. She warns him to step out of the path of a speeding car, initiating their first contact. He asks for her number, while Josh interrupts, and Dell fires off a few verbal jabs that pique her interest.

Two years after their first encounter, Dell and Kimberly are in a hotel room in Paris, preparing to attend her friend's wedding. She is frustrated that their relationship needs to evolve to consider kids, signaling tension about their future. The scene captures the push-pull between desire and expectations.

Back at the meteor shower, Dell stands in the dark, muttering about Kimberly's beauty and realness. Kimberly bumps into him again, and he joins her, insisting they keep talking. He privately admits that he has been telling himself not to miss her, signaling his anxious foreboding about what comes next.

In a Paris memory, Dell pulls out an engagement ring and goes to propose. Kimberly tells him that when he says he loves her, it doesn't sound genuine. He stands up, slips the ring back into his pocket, and the moment collapses under the weight of doubt.

One year after their first breakup, Dell begins stalking Kimberly, buying train tickets on the same northbound route. The couple remains hot and cold, oscillating between closeness and distance as their history continues to haunt them. He frantically recovers the ring after it has slipped from his pocket.

On the train, Kimberly begins to trust him again, sharing small moments of connection. Just before the journey ends, he is asked to disembark halfway to their original destination, highlighting how fragile their reconciliation remains. The dynamic shows how close they are to rebuilding something, only to be interrupted.

Interspersed between the train and Paris flashbacks are snippets of a mobile phone conversation between Dell in NYC and Kimberly in LA. She confesses she’s been on and off texting with Jack, the man she briefly dated after their first breakup. The fragmented calls add strain and reveal untruths that complicate their evolving bond.

Upset by the revelations, Dell ends the relationship, claiming to have never loved her and attempting to inflict pain. The breakup lands like a sharp cut, driving a deeper wedge between them across the ongoing timeline. The moment marks a painful, decisive turn in their story.

A nurse calls Dell to inform him that his mother, whom he had saved from liver cancer years earlier, has died from a heart attack. The news arrives just as old wounds flare anew, intensifying his emotional turmoil. The death adds a final, personal tragedy to his long, complicated journey with Kimberly.

In the Paris hotel room memory, Dell sits Kimberly on the bed and lists the things he loves about her, revealing his habit of exaggerating affection. He insists the feelings stem from how she responds to him, not a genuine selfless confession. She tells him he was almost successful, leaving the moment unresolved and loaded with tension.

The sixth-year timeline converges as Dell finally reaches out after months of Kimberley wanting to see him. Using his observational skills, he guesses she is engaged to Jack, evidenced by boxes of worn kitchen paraphernalia, a photo of them, and her ring finger bearing a ring. The moment wires present-day intentions with past suspicions.

Dell tells her about his recent dreams, a non-chronological stream of mostly past events, and says he cannot imagine existing in the world without her love. He frames his memories as a path to truth, insisting his feelings are real even if the past is messy. The scene crescendos toward an uncertain future as the narrative lingers in his declaration.

The film closes on Dell's confession and the unresolved future between them, as the screen fades to black. The audience is left to wonder whether their bond can endure the years of distance and miscommunication. The final moment emphasizes the power and danger of a love shaped by memory and ego.