Love stories are so popular among the masses that they become a safe place to play all the cards for a storyteller. However, most of the time, storytellers have nothing new to add from a storytelling perspective as they try to be in this safe zone. As an Indian, I grew up watching romantic Bollywood films made by established directors like Karan Johar and Aditya Chopra. I don’t deny that during my childhood, I found these films very interesting and felt joy watching them. But as I grew up and became exposed to other greater works, I realized that these films were nothing but banal works in the Bollywood system. The same poor boy-rich girl forbidden romance or loose depiction of traditional values vs. modernity through a spoiled brat and a noble girl, or vice versa, became the key points in almost every Bollywood romantic film from the 1990s and the early 2000s. Perhaps, by watching these films, I believed only in this idea of romance throughout my entire childhood. So, watching the Indonesian film “Today We’ll Talk about That Day (2023)” somehow transported me back to the world of my childhood.
The same type of banal romance on the screen brought back so many memories that I can’t express them in words. However, if we set aside those emotions and talk about the merits of the film itself, it has nothing new to convey to its audience. However, in the following article, I intend to talk about the film in detail in this article, so readers are warned to proceed further only if it’s okay for them to read spoilers.
Today We’ll Talk about That Day (2023) Netflix Movie Synopsis and Plot Summary:
The film is divided into two timelines, one based in 1987 and the other in 2023.
1987 Timeline:
In the 1987 timeline, we first witness a hospital filled with chaos as a train accident takes place in Jakarta. We are introduced to our protagonist for this timeline, Narendra, who takes his severely wounded brother, Wildan, to the hospital. Both Wildan and Narendra were aboard the train that had the accident. Wildan tried to save his younger brother Narendra and got severely injured in the process. He lost a lot of blood, and when Narendra took him to the hospital, Wildan didn’t make it due to excessive blood loss.
On the same day, Ajeng, a girl from a wealthy family, takes her mother to the hospital as her mother urgently needs blood. However, the hospital’s blood bank runs out, and her call to the Red Cross goes in vain. Ajeng is seen crying in the hospital corridor when Narendra sees her and offers to help. He suggests that she should go to the Red Cross herself for the blood she needs and insists on going with her since he is already wounded, thinking it will make a certain impression on them. Ajeng agrees, and they go together.
During their conversation on the way, Ajeng apologizes for Narendra’s brother’s death in the train accident. However, Narendra tells her that his brother saved him and made him promise to help other people just like he is doing now.
They manage to get blood for Ajeng’s mother successfully. Ajeng tells her father that Narendra helped her get the blood. In gratitude, her father gives Narendra some money in a wrapped envelope.
Soon, Narendra and Ajeng meet regularly and realize that they are in love. However, due to their different backgrounds, it is difficult for them to unite. Ajeng’s father is a domineering person who tries to control every aspect of his daughter’s life for his own benefit. He arranges Ajeng’s marriage with a wealthy business tycoon’s son to clear his debts and regain his position in the elite class. For him, this marriage is of utmost importance.
Ajeng can’t accept this decision. She deeply loves Narendra and wants to spend her whole life with him. Her mother understands her feelings and eventually helps her elope with Narendra on the day of her engagement with Wirjawan, the wealthy business tycoon’s son, by providing them a free passage and her newly bought home to stay.
2023 Timeline:
In the 2023 timeline, the story starts in a hospital where our protagonist, Ang, suffers a massive panic attack. His colleagues bring him to the hospital, and it is revealed that his marital life is going through a rough patch, causing him tremendous stress and the panic attack. The doctors advise him to take complete rest, but he ignores their advice and goes to work, disregarding his health.
Meanwhile, his father arrives in Bali from Jakarta to spend time with him. It becomes apparent that Ang and his father have grown distant in recent times, so his father’s visit is an attempt at reconciliation.
However, his plans are shattered when he learns that Ang and his wife Lika are going through tough times in their marriage, and Ang even leaves home and stays separate from Lika for three weeks.
Ang wonders about the reasons behind the strain in their marriage day and night. His colleague tells him that Lika feels he doesn’t spend enough time with her and she has no one to talk to about her feelings. However, Ang refuses to accept this explanation and believes Lika is cheating on him with an old friend named Billy.
Ang decides to confront Billy, and his father insists on going with him on this journey.
Today We’ll Talk about That Day (2023) Netflix Movie Ending Explained:
What Happened to Narendra and Ajeng?
Ajeng and Narendra start staying in her mother’s house, but soon Ajeng feels guilty for betraying her mother, who has a rare blood disorder. Narendra understands Ajeng’s feelings and decides to take her to her mother. Unfortunately, when they reach her mother’s house, they find her taken to the hospital. Narendra understands the dilemma and sends Ajeng to the hospital to be with her mother while he surrenders himself to the police.
Narendra is charged with kidnapping, and Ajeng’s father threatens to destroy him completely. Fearlessly, Narendra tells him that he is not afraid because love strengthens his willpower.
Wirjawan, seeing how much Narendra and Ajeng love each other, meets Ajeng and gives her money to bail out Narendra. After his release from prison, Narendra and Ajeng start a new life together, but her father remains distraught and disgusted with their romance. He first throws them out of his house and then out of her mother’s house.
However, the couple continues to struggle, and eventually, they both find jobs in reputable fields—the bank and a telephone office. Due to her father’s behavior, Ajeng’s parents’ relationship becomes strained, and they stop talking to each other.
Eventually, Ajeng’s father realizes his mistake and accepts his daughter and son-in-law, along with their newborn baby boy, Ang.
What Happens to Ang and Lika’s Relationship at the End?
As Ang and his father (who is Narendra, as we come to know at the end) travel to confront Billy, Ang’s father advises him to deal with the matter calmly and with a clear mind, not in a fit of rage. He also tells Ang that he must fight for his love no matter what and shares his own troublesome romance story with his mother, which mirrors the events of the 1987 timeline in the film.
Upon reaching Billy’s house, Ang confronts him alone and openly discusses the situation. Billy smirks and admits he has always had feelings for Lika but never intended to take advantage of the situation. He understands Ang’s struggle to break free from his father’s shadow and make something of his own but suggests that he needs to understand and care for Lika’s emotions.
Ang realizes his mistake and shares this with his father, who also recognizes the difficulties his son faced in living up to the perfect family legacy. They reconcile and visit Lika’s house together for dinner. After dinner, Ang and Lika sit by the pool and promise to be with each other from now on. Witnessing this beautiful moment, Ang’s father calls his mother, whom he calls by the name Ajeng.
