In the 2024 romantic comedy “Happiness Is,” Princess, the protagonist, seems to have it all—success, beauty, and wealth—but there’s one thing missing: a true companion to share her life with. Now 40, Princess longs for a meaningful relationship. Excited for her milestone birthday, her best friend Tumi insists on throwing her a grand party. Initially, Princess is on board with the idea. However, when she discovers her ex-husband has moved on with someone new, her excitement fades, and she wishes to cancel everything. Ignoring Princess’s wishes, Tumi goes ahead with her extravagant plans. Chaos ensues when the party spirals out of control, with unexpected and unwanted guests shaking up the celebration.
This article contains spoilers.
Happiness Is (2024) Plot Summary & Movie Synopsis:
The film opens with Princess reflecting on her life. At almost 40 years old, Princess has a thriving career, a busy social life, a child, and a supportive co-parent. However, Princess does not have someone to share this life with. At an art gallery, Princess’s best friend, Tumi, does not acknowledge her relationship with Sabelo. Meanwhile, Leo Princess’s ex-husband is going to have an exhibition for his artwork. When Tumi, Princess, and her mother step out for dinner, Tumi sees her ex-husband and his pregnant wife at the restaurant. Seeing them makes Tumi uncomfortable.
Why does Princess want to be alone on her birthday?
At this point, Princess and Leo are on good terms even though they are separated. When Princess drives her daughter Thandi home, Thandi is wearing blue lipstick. When Princess questions Thandi, the daughter says she found it in Leo’s bathroom. Suddenly, Princess starts to feel upset as she realizes Leo is dating someone. Sadly, Princess assumes Leo has introduced his girlfriend to Thandi. Later that day, Princess visits Leo with an excuse to ask if Leo will be attending her 40th birthday party. When Leo declines the invitation, Princess brings up Leo’s girlfriend. A misunderstanding is clarified when Leo says he has not introduced his girlfriend to Thandi.
Meanwhile, Tumi and Sabelo are having a romantic time in the hot tub, but Sabelo asks Tumi to meet his family. Tumi is not ready to do that, so she asks Sabelo to leave with an excuse of wanting to work. Fortunately, Tumi is busy planning Princess’s birthday, so she has no time to process her emotions. Amidst this, Princess does not feel like having a party. Therefore, she tells Tumi to call it off, and she goes to her mother’s mansion. On the way to the mansion, Princess runs into a truck and gets into a fight with the man. Even though Princess does not want a party, Tumi goes ahead with the plan and moves the venue to Princess’s mother’s house.
Why couldn’t Princess leave the mansion?
Tumi asks Sabelo to drive her to the mansion. Unfortunately, Sabelo invites his sister Nelly to join the drive. While Tumi and Sabelo argue, Nelly also invites Tony to the party. Unbeknownst to Princess, the party happens at the mansion, and people turn up at her house. The first person to arrive is the person she fought with on the way to the mansion. The man Mawethu is the chef catering at Princess’s party. As Sabelo, Nelly, and Tumi enter the house, Princess yells at Tumi. To make matters worse, Tony and his girlfriend Fifi join the party, and Sabelo doesn’t know about this as Tony is Sabelo’s brother. The situation gets out of hand when Leo shows up at the party. Moreover, it is revealed that the person Leo is dating is Nelly-Sableo’s sister.
That night, Princess is ready to leave the mansion, but the bridge is blocked because of the rain, and nobody can leave. Later that night, Princess locks herself in the room and does not come down for dinner. Meanwhile, Fifi is trying to mess with Sabelo and Tumi’s relationship. Once everyone sleeps, Princess comes down for some food. Thankfully, Mawethu is awake, and Princess and Mawethu hang out for the rest of the night. The following day, Tumi sees Sabelo talking to Fifi and gets jealous. Subsequently, she calls their relationship a situationship, and that hurts Sabelo. At breakfast, Princess agrees to have a small dinner at the mansion for her birthday and asks everyone at the table to stay back.
What does Princess find out about Nelly?
Later that day, the boys and girls had a great time. After a while, the boys and Fifi have fun alone, leaving Princess, Tumi, and Nelly together. As they converse, Nelly says she does not want kids. Since Princess is jealous, she starts to say that she and Leo are intertwined. On cue, Nelly leaves because she feels sick. Meanwhile, Tumi and the girls go looking for the boys. When they arrive at the bar, Sabelo, Tony, and Fifi have left for zip-lining. So Tumi visits the place and flirts with DJ after seeing Sabelo and Fifi close to each other. Immediately, Sabelo rushes to Tumi and says he loves her. The L word makes Tumi anxious, so Tumi gets away from Sabelo.
Later that day, Tumi says that her ex-husband wanted children but blamed Tumi for being unable to conceive. Time and again, Tumi kept looking at her ex-husband’s new wife’s life, wondering how that woman was leading her life. This is why Tumi fears getting into a relationship. At the same time, Fifi asks Sabelo to introspect and ask himself if he really loves Tumi. If Sabelo does love Tumi, he needs to talk to Tumi about it. At the mansion, Princess overhears Nelly asking Siri about morning sickness. This news devastates Princess more. Since Mawethu is heading out, Princess joins him. Meanwhile, Tumi brings DJ on their outing to make Sabelo jealous.
Why does Princess hide in the closet?
That night, as the group plays a game of charades, Princess uses the chance to reveal to everyone that Nelly is pregnant. Everyone is mad at Princess because revealing something so important wasn’t her place. Because of this, Leo leaves to visit a bar. Since Leo is a recovering addict, everyone starts to worry about Leo. Soon, Princess visits the bar and indirectly expresses that she still wants their relationship to work. Hearing this, Leo is furious and decides not to hold the exhibition. Later at night, when Leo mentions Princess to Nelly, she gets angry and kicks him out of the room.
The following day, as revenge, Sabelo gets close to Fifi to make Tumi jealous. It is Princess’s birthday, and she tries to make up with Leo and Nelly. While Nelly gives Princess a cold shoulder, Princess takes Leo to a small artsy place to inspire him. The artists will join soon, and Princess and Leo will have a fun time. When Leo and Princess arrive, Sabelo and the gang have already left the mansion. It’s time for the party, and Princess is feeling low. So Princess heads to the room and hides in a closet. Fortunately, Mawethu sees Princess and joins her. In the heat of the moment, Mawethu and Princess start kissing. As things escalate, Princess stops and tells Mawethu that she needs to stop making the same mistake repeatedly.
Happiness Is (2024) Movie Ending Explained:
How does Princess help Sabelo and Tumi?
By the time Princess heads back to the party, Tumi is drunk. The cake arrives, and Tumi and Princess start bad-mouthing each other in front of everyone. In the process, Princess mentions that Tumi keeps checking on her ex-husband’s life. Hearing this, Sabelo leaves the party. Nobody can find Sabelo the following day, and Tony remembers Sabelo taking edibles the previous night. The group gets a clue that Sabelo is by the river, so everyone heads there. However, Sabelo is done with Tumi and wants nothing to do with her. By the river, Leo and Nelly make up, and Nelly has decided to keep the child. At the mansion, Princess asks everybody for a favor to help Sabelo and Tumi.
So, Princess takes Sabelo to the cellar with the excuse of wanting some help. Tony brings Tumi to the cellar saying Princess has locked herself. As soon as Tumi enters the cellar, they lock them in. Locked in a room, Tumi expresses the hurt she felt during her first marriage, and Sabelo reminds Tumi that he was cheated on before. After expressing their feelings, Sabelo and Tumi kiss. In front of everyone, Sabelo proposes to Tumi, and she agrees to marry Sabelo. Later, Princess asks Leo and Nelly to go with Thandi to a K-pop concert so they can get to know each other. Soon, Princess and Tumi put their differences aside and became friends. In the last scene, Princess follows Mawethu as he leaves.
The last scene implies Princess will get into a relationship with Mawethu or have a casual one. After helping everyone with their relationships, Princess realizes she likes Mawethu. Soon, Nelly will meet Thandi, and Princess has made her peace with Leo’s relationship with Nelly. Now that Nelly is pregnant, Princess has no choice but to be okay with the relationship. Fifi is the kind of person everyone tries to avoid—she thrives on chaos and seems to exist solely to stir up trouble for her own amusement. Her role in the film is to fan the flames of drama, adding tension to the story. At its core, though, the film aims to highlight that without love, life feels incomplete, empty, or lacking a certain spark. While the plot is fairly predictable, the movie delivers a light-hearted and entertaining experience.
