Five More Minutes

The film begins with a flashback of young Clara and her grandfather, Jerry, playing hide-and-seek in his year-round Christmas store. Jerry imparts the wisdom that a wish is simply 'saying out loud what is in your heart.' In the present day, Clara is an art teacher in Chicago who receives the devastating news that her contract is not being renewed due to budget cuts. She travels home to North Carolina for the first Christmas since Jerry's death to support her mother, Bonnie. Upon arrival, she encounters Logan, her former high school boyfriend and a retired Lt. Colonel now working in construction. Clara finds Jerry's private journal, which reveals a secret romance with a woman named Martha from the 1950s, a relationship severed by his military service. Simultaneously, a young man named Jay appears at the shop, claiming Jerry hired him months prior. Jay is an uncanny worker who knows the shop's 'system' perfectly and uses Jerry's specific catchphrases. As Clara and Logan search for the mysterious Martha, Clara's boyfriend Blake arrives from Chicago to propose. Clara realizes she is unhappy with Blake's 'safe' life and his suggestion that she give up teaching art for a more stable subject. Clara and Logan eventually find Martha, only to learn that Jerry had actually reconnected with her by phone before his death, finding the closure he needed. On Christmas Eve, Jay has a final conversation with Clara, repeating Jerry's exact advice about candy canes and heart-wishes. After Jay vanishes into thin air, Clara realizes he was the spirit of her grandfather granted 'five more minutes' to help her. She breaks up with Blake, chooses to stay in her hometown to teach art, and confesses her love to Logan, promising to wait for him during his upcoming redeployment.