The Birthday Wish

Gwen Turner is a successful commercial director in the city who lives by a strict 'life to-do list.' Her primary goal is to be engaged by her 30th birthday to her boyfriend, Alex Stone, a self-absorbed TV weatherman known as 'Johnny Volcano.' On New Year's Eve, Gwen expects a proposal, but Alex is more interested in his own publicity. A week later, on her 30th birthday, Alex presents her with a 'smart ring'—a tiny phone for her finger—rather than an engagement ring. Frustrated and feeling out of control, Gwen makes a wish over a birthday cookie to see exactly what her life will look like in ten years. After a visit to an eye doctor where she receives mysterious drops, Gwen experiences a vivid vision of the year 2027. In this future, she is a mother of three living in the suburbs, married not to Alex, but to Dave, a creative director she currently finds irritatingly spontaneous. Most bizarrely, she discovers she has a life-threatening allergy to macadamia nuts in this future. Back in the present, Gwen tries to dismiss the vision as a hallucination, but she is shocked when she suddenly develops a real-world macadamia nut allergy. As she and Dave are paired together for a series of commercials—including a minivan ad and a dog food spot—she begins to see his charm and faces her childhood fear of dogs. Meanwhile, Alex's career ambitions lead him to pursue acting in Los Angeles, and he expects Gwen to follow him and manage his career. The conflict reaches a head during a ski resort commercial shoot. Alex finally proposes to Gwen in a grand, public gesture. Dave witnesses the proposal and, assuming Gwen said yes, leaves the set heartbroken. However, Gwen realizes that her 'perfect' plan with Alex no longer fits who she is. She rejects Alex, telling him they want different things. Gwen tracks Dave down at a dog park, where she confesses her feelings and clarifies that she turned Alex down. The film ends with a flash-forward to Gwen's 40th birthday, where every detail of her original vision—the house, the three children, and her husband Dave—comes true, proving that her wish granted her a glimpse of her genuine destiny.