PLOT
Distinguished advertising executive Howard Inlet (Will Smith) is reduced to a critically depressed, suicidal loner after his young daughter's unfortunate death. His former friends and business partners, Whit Yardsham(Edward Norton), Claire Wilson (Kate Winslet), and Simon Scott (Michael Pena) fear for Howard's mental state as well as their company's future, as Howard's unconventional behaviour has cost them numerous high-profile clients
and left them on the verge of bankruptcy; as the majority shareholder, Howard has also undermined their efforts to sell the company.
The trio hire a private Investigator, Sally Price(Ann Dowd), to acquire evidence that Howard is unfit to run the company, allowing them to take control. Sally intercepts Howard's letter about abstract concepts of Love, Time and Death, and presents them to Whit, Claire and Simon. They hire a trio of struggling actors- Aimee (Keira Knightley), Raffi (Jacob Latimore) and Brigitte (Helen Mirren) to masquerade as Love, Time and Death to confront Howard about his letters. Sallywill record these encounters and then digitaly erase Aimee, Raffi and Brigitte to make Howard appear mentally unbalanced, enabling them to sell the company.
In preparation for their roles, Aimee, Raffi and Brigitte spend time with Whit, Claire and Simon, who are going through personal problems of their own: Whit is struggling to reconnect wiyh his teenage daughter Allison Yardshaw (Kylie Rogers) after cheating on her mother leading to a divorce; Claire is looking for sperm donors to conceive a child after neglecting her private life for years; and simon is battling cancer in secret from his wife and newborn son. Meanwhile, Howard reluctantly begins attending a grief support group and befriends Madeleine (Naomie Harris), who also has lost her daughter Olivia to cancer which led to the end of her marriage. She shares with Howard a note from her husband wishing they could be strangers once again, claiming he's finally got his wish.
Brigitte, Raffi and Aimee separately approach Howard, but Aimee falters, repentant over manipulating Howard. Whitt attempts to convince her to return, and also voices his romantic interest in her, but Aimee rejects him and only agrees to commit to their plan if Whit commits herself to making amends with his daughter, Allison. He then visits Allison at school and although she refuses to speak to him, he professes his love for her and vows to return everyday until she talks to him, touching Allison, who welcomes Whit back into her life. Simon likewise confides with Brigitte about his condition and his fear of death, and she encourages him to share the burden with his family, which Simon ultimately does, being comforted by his wife.
Aimee, Raffi and Brigitte confront Howard once again, and he lashes out at them, particularly Aimee, externalzsing the pain he held inside since his daughter's death. Aimee pointedly tells Howard he owes his daughter's existence to love and can't live without it, which inspires Howard to reach out to Madeiline once again. She speaks of the day that Olivia died, in which an old woman at the hospital told her about the "Collateral Beauty", the acts of selfless kindness that results from tragedies.
The following day, Howard attends a meeting with his company's board of directors in which Whitt, Claire and Simon present the doctored footage of his encounters with Aimee, Raffi and Brigitte. Howard realizes that the video makes him mentally unfit to run things and signs over the company, while also voicing his gratitude for all that his friends have done for him, and promising to be there in their times of need. Aimee, Raffi and Brigitte later forfeit the payment promised by by claire for their services and Claire confides with Raffi that she gave up on becoming a mother, but Raffi assures her of her capacities and that she still has time to make her decision.
Howard visits Madeleine and is invited into her house, where Madeleine persuades him to watch a video of her husband playing with their daughter, who turns out to be Hoqard and Olivia. Grief had separated Howard and Madeleine and she agreed to them becoming strangers once again as he had wished. Howard finally acknowledges his daughter's name and condition, and they make amends and rebuild their relationship. Later, while Howard and Madaline are walking through the park, Howard notices Aimee, Raffi and Brigitte proudly observing them. When Madeleine looks, however they are gone, while Brigitte is shown to be the woman that first told Madeleine about the Collateral Beauty.
Distinguished advertising executive Howard Inlet (Will Smith) is reduced to a critically depressed, suicidal loner after his young daughter's unfortunate death. His former friends and business partners, Whit Yardsham(Edward Norton), Claire Wilson (Kate Winslet), and Simon Scott (Michael Pena) fear for Howard's mental state as well as their company's future, as Howard's unconventional behaviour has cost them numerous high-profile clients
and left them on the verge of bankruptcy; as the majority shareholder, Howard has also undermined their efforts to sell the company.
The trio hire a private Investigator, Sally Price(Ann Dowd), to acquire evidence that Howard is unfit to run the company, allowing them to take control. Sally intercepts Howard's letter about abstract concepts of Love, Time and Death, and presents them to Whit, Claire and Simon. They hire a trio of struggling actors- Aimee (Keira Knightley), Raffi (Jacob Latimore) and Brigitte (Helen Mirren) to masquerade as Love, Time and Death to confront Howard about his letters. Sallywill record these encounters and then digitaly erase Aimee, Raffi and Brigitte to make Howard appear mentally unbalanced, enabling them to sell the company.
In preparation for their roles, Aimee, Raffi and Brigitte spend time with Whit, Claire and Simon, who are going through personal problems of their own: Whit is struggling to reconnect wiyh his teenage daughter Allison Yardshaw (Kylie Rogers) after cheating on her mother leading to a divorce; Claire is looking for sperm donors to conceive a child after neglecting her private life for years; and simon is battling cancer in secret from his wife and newborn son. Meanwhile, Howard reluctantly begins attending a grief support group and befriends Madeleine (Naomie Harris), who also has lost her daughter Olivia to cancer which led to the end of her marriage. She shares with Howard a note from her husband wishing they could be strangers once again, claiming he's finally got his wish.
Brigitte, Raffi and Aimee separately approach Howard, but Aimee falters, repentant over manipulating Howard. Whitt attempts to convince her to return, and also voices his romantic interest in her, but Aimee rejects him and only agrees to commit to their plan if Whit commits herself to making amends with his daughter, Allison. He then visits Allison at school and although she refuses to speak to him, he professes his love for her and vows to return everyday until she talks to him, touching Allison, who welcomes Whit back into her life. Simon likewise confides with Brigitte about his condition and his fear of death, and she encourages him to share the burden with his family, which Simon ultimately does, being comforted by his wife.
Aimee, Raffi and Brigitte confront Howard once again, and he lashes out at them, particularly Aimee, externalzsing the pain he held inside since his daughter's death. Aimee pointedly tells Howard he owes his daughter's existence to love and can't live without it, which inspires Howard to reach out to Madeiline once again. She speaks of the day that Olivia died, in which an old woman at the hospital told her about the "Collateral Beauty", the acts of selfless kindness that results from tragedies.
The following day, Howard attends a meeting with his company's board of directors in which Whitt, Claire and Simon present the doctored footage of his encounters with Aimee, Raffi and Brigitte. Howard realizes that the video makes him mentally unfit to run things and signs over the company, while also voicing his gratitude for all that his friends have done for him, and promising to be there in their times of need. Aimee, Raffi and Brigitte later forfeit the payment promised by by claire for their services and Claire confides with Raffi that she gave up on becoming a mother, but Raffi assures her of her capacities and that she still has time to make her decision.
Howard visits Madeleine and is invited into her house, where Madeleine persuades him to watch a video of her husband playing with their daughter, who turns out to be Hoqard and Olivia. Grief had separated Howard and Madeleine and she agreed to them becoming strangers once again as he had wished. Howard finally acknowledges his daughter's name and condition, and they make amends and rebuild their relationship. Later, while Howard and Madaline are walking through the park, Howard notices Aimee, Raffi and Brigitte proudly observing them. When Madeleine looks, however they are gone, while Brigitte is shown to be the woman that first told Madeleine about the Collateral Beauty.
Culled from Wikipedia
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