Collateral Beauty

Successful advertising executive Howard Inlet makes a speech in his office to cheer on all his employees. He says that in order to go through the day with enthusiasm, they should always remember three important concepts in life, namely "Love", "Time", and "Death", but in fact, three years later, Howard's spirit fades and he becomes clinically depressed after his young daughter's death. He becomes a loner, rarely sleeping or eating, and at the office, building domino chains and structures. Howard's estranged friends and business partners Whit Yardsham, Claire Wilson, and Simon Scott fear for Howard's health and their company's future. His behavior has cost them numerous high-profile clients and left them on the verge of bankruptcy. As the majority shareholder, Howard blocks their efforts to sell the company. The trio hires private investigator Sally Price to show Howard is unfit to run the company, hoping to take control. She intercepts three letters written by Howard which he posted to the abstract concepts of Love, Time, and Death, and presents them to the group. Whit, Claire, and Simon hire three struggling actors – Amy, Raffi, and Brigitte – to masquerade as the abstracts respectively to confront Howard about his letters. Sally will record these encounters and then digitally erase the actors to make Howard appear mentally unbalanced. In preparation for their roles, Brigitte, Raffi, and Amy spend time with Simon, Claire, and Whit, who are undergoing their own personal problems: Simon is secretly battling cancer; Whit is struggling to connect with his pre-teen daughter Allison after cheating on her mother; and Claire is looking for sperm donors to conceive a child. After encountering "Love", "Time" and "Death", Howard attends a grief support group where Madeleine befriends him; she has lost her own daughter, Olivia, to cancer, which led to the end of her marriage. She shows him a note from her husband, "If only we could be strangers again..." and continues enigmatically "And now we are." Howard also tells her about his recent "conversations" with Death, Time, and Love. Madeleine tells him that on the day Olivia died, an old woman at the hospital had told her to notice the "collateral beauty", which she has learned to recognize as acts of selfless kindness following tragedies. As the group discusses the actors' performances, Amy storms out, feeling guilty about manipulating Howard. Whit goes to convince her to return and declares romantic interest in her. She rejects him but agrees to commit to the plan if he makes amends with his daughter. Simon confides with Brigitte about his condition and his fear of death. She encourages him to share the burden with his loved ones. "Love", "Time", and "Death" confront Howard again, but he lashes out at them, particularly Love, externalizing the pain he has held inside since the death. She tells him he owes it to his daughter's existence to love as he cannot live without it. The next day, Howard attends a meeting with his company's board of directors in which footage of the incidents, with the actors digitally removed, is shown. Howard realizes his mental state and behavior are ruining the company, so expresses his gratitude for everything his friends have done for him, promising to be there in their times of need. He then signs the documents given to him to sell the agency. Simon tells his wife about the cancer, who comforts him, although she already knew. When Claire meets Raffi, he states she will make a good mother someday. She says time has caught up to her, to which he replies that her battle with time isn't over yet, and mentions people who had had a positive effect on his young life. Whit visits Allison at school who, although expressing anger and initially refusing to speak to him, he expresses his love for her and vows to return every day until she does. Allison reconsiders, and in parting, mentions that "tomorrow is a half day of school". Howard visits Madeleine on Christmas Eve, who persuades him to watch a video of her husband playing with their daughter. Her husband turns out to be Howard playing dominoes with their daughter Olivia. He breaks down and finally says his daughter's name and cause of death, and hugs Madeleine. Brigitte is revealed to be the woman who had told Madeleine about collateral beauty. Howard and Madeleine walk hand-in-hand through Central Park. He turns and sees Amy, Raffi, and Brigitte watching from a footbridge, but Madeleine doesn't see them, implying they either went away or they were truly Love, Time and Death.

Plot from Collateral BeautyCC BY-SA 4.0