Round and Round

The film opens with Rachel Landau, an assistant editor in Brooklyn, preparing for her parents' annual Hanukkah party in New Jersey, which commemorates their 1986 'meet-cute.' Rachel is responsible for bringing famous jelly donuts from Goldberg's Bakery. At the train station, she has a literal collision with Zach, a nerdy art teacher, resulting in the destruction of the donuts. Her boyfriend Adam, a biology professor, calls to bail on the party claiming an 'airport cold.' At the party, Rachel's sister Shoshana acts strangely, her parents reveal they are selling the family home, and the night ends with a fire caused by faulty dreidel lights. Rachel wakes up the next morning to find it is 10:00 AM on the seventh night of Hanukkah again. After several loops where she fails to prevent the fire or the donut disaster, she tracks down Zach, realizing he is a constant in her loop. Zach, a Dungeons & Dragons enthusiast, enlists his friends Andy and Seth to help Rachel treat the loop as a sci-fi 'inciting incident.' Through their 'nerd squad' investigations, Rachel discovers Adam is actually at an '80s cover band bar in Tribeca rather than being sick; she confronts him and breaks up with him, realizing he is a narcissist. Zach encourages Rachel to share her secret YA novel manuscript, helping her realize that her 'stuckness' in life stems from a fear of failure and feedback. Eventually, Rachel's father, Stan, reveals a family secret: the family's antique dreidel is magical and has caused time loops for family members (including himself and Shoshana) until they find their true soul mates. Rachel realizes Zach is her soul mate, but the loop only breaks when she takes a real-world risk. On the eighth day, the loop finally ends. Rachel attends Zach's art show, they share a real first kiss, and she begins her journey as a published author with her sister's professional help.