Life Itself is a 2018 American psychological drama film written, co-produced and directed by Dan Fogelman. It stars Oscar Isaac, Olivia Wilde, Mandy Patinkin, Olivia Cooke, Laia Costa, Annette Bening, and Antonio Banderas, and follows multiple couples over numerous generations, and their connections to a single event.
The film had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 8, 2018, and was theatrically released in the United States on September 21, 2018, by Amazon Studios. Life Itself was largely panned by critics, who criticized Fogelman's screenplay and direction, and calling it "simultaneously overwrought and underwhelming."
Plot
Chapter One – The Hero
Narrator Samuel L. Jackson first introduces the hero of the story, Henry, as he is talking to his therapist, Dr. Cait Morris (Annette Bening). Unimpressed with Henry, he focuses on Cait. As she is crossing the street, Will Dempsey (Oscar Isaac) tells her he is a big fan and she is then hit by a bus. Sam breaks the narration, appears physically, and suggests that Cait will be fine because she is the hero. When he sees that she is dead, he leaves.
It is then revealed that this scene is part of a script that Will is writing, and another narrator (Lorenza Izzo) takes over, telling the actual story. Cait is actually Will's therapist, and he has been seeing her since he was discharged from a psychiatric hospital. Flashbacks show Will and his wife Abby's (Olivia Wilde) married life. She is a Bob Dylan fan, and is very pregnant.
Will tells Cait about Abby. Her parents died in a car accident, while she sat in the backseat. She had to live with her only family member: her Uncle Joe (Bryant Carroll), who sexually abused her until her teens, when she threatened to shoot him dead if he touched her again.
Abby and Will meet, become friends in college, he asks her out and less than a year later, proposes. She meets his parents Irwin (Mandy Patinkin) and Linda (Jean Smart). On another occasion, Abby excitedly talks to Will about her thesis on the unreliable narrator: that life is the ultimate unreliable narrator as it is so tricky and surprising.
In the present day, Will wonders what happened. Cait tells Will that he was institutionalized following Abby leaving, pushing him to remember the details of "that day". Walking down the street after having lunch with his parents, Abby announced they were having a girl and wanted to name her Dylan. Distracted, Abby was struck by a bus, while a little boy watched from inside. She died and the baby survived. Will, blaming himself, shoots himself in front of Cait.
Chapter Two – Dylan Dempsey
Will and Abby's daughter Dylan, born of death and tragedy, seems to have a dark cloud following her. Dylan is raised by her grandparents. Dylan’s grandmother, Linda, passes away when Dylan is 6. Her dog dies when she is 7, leading to a talk with her grandfather, Irwin, about death. On her 21st birthday, Dylan (Olivia Cooke) gets ready to go out, and then performs a rendition of To Make You Feel My Love with her band.
After the show, Dylan fights another girl before leaving the venue. Sitting down on a bench to smoke a joint, she imagines watching her mother's final moment. Waking up crying with the bus in front of her, she seemingly sees the young boy on the bus asking her if she is okay.
Chapter Three – The Gonzalez Family
In Spain, Vincent Saccione (Antonio Banderas) owns an olive plantation. Inviting his worker, Javier Gonzalez (Sergio Peris-Mencheta), into the house for a drink, he tells him how his Italian father impregnated his Spanish mother and then shunned them both. Saccione inherited his wealth and land as his father left no will. He offers Javier the position of foreman, which includes living in the house.
Javier visits his beloved girlfriend Isabel Diaz (Laia Costa), telling her about his promotion. They build a life together, getting married and becoming parents to Rodrigo. Saccione often visits mother and son while Javier is out working. After Saccione gifts him a globe, Rodrigo becomes interested in seeing New York. Saccione tells Isabel he feels it is too late for him to find the happiness Javier has, apologizing for intruding. Isabel assures Saccione that Rodrigo enjoys his visits. However, Javier disapproves and returns the globe.
Javier takes Isabel and Rodrigo to see New York City. Rodrigo is having a great time, until he and his parents find themselves on the bus. Rodrigo distracts the bus driver, causing him to hit Abby, and Rodrigo becomes traumatized.