Rewatching (500) Days OF summer
This week, I rewatched one of my favorite movies, (500) Days of Summer. It’s one of the first films that made me notice how much storytelling style can completely shape how a movie feels.
I think there’s a movie for everyone that makes them start to appreciate different storytelling styles. For me, this was that movie. Since this isn’t exactly a new release, and I’ve seen it more time than I can count, I wanted to share what still stands out to me and why the ongoing debate around the film continues to fascinate me.
Storytelling
Right from the start, the film launches viewers 488 days into Tom and Summer’s relationship, then suddenly back to Day 1. That transition alone lets the audience know everything about the kind of story that’s about to unfold.
I’ve always loved when screenwriters play around with time. When done right, it’s like piecing together a puzzle where each scene clicks into place until the full picture is revealed.
That being said, nonlinear storytelling can easily confuse the audience or pull them out of the moment. Some might say it doesn’t properly build momentum. But here, it works perfectly. It mirrors how Tom processes his heartbreak—revisiting memories, looking for signs, trying to understand where things went wrong.
The film is based on Tom’s memory: messy, biased, and emotional.
Seeing Love Through Tom’s Lens
What makes (500) Days of Summer brilliant is how it slowly reveals that we’re not watching the truth, but Tom’s version of it.
The film opens with a detached narrator that we assume will stay for the duration of the movie. But that voice fades, and we’re left inside Tom’s head, seeing Summer as he remembers her, not as she really was.
The moment he asks, ”Have you ever thought back to all the times you had with someone…and look for the first signs of trouble?”, it all clicks. The film is like memory: messy, biased, and emotional. Everyone, especially Summer, behaves how Tom remembers them.
Once I caught that, my sympathy for Tom shifted. His heartbreak is real, but so is his self-deception. When his sister tells him to “look again,” that’s when he finally starts to see clearly. Then, the scene at the record store plays, and this time, it shows what truly happened that day.
Reframing Summer
There has always been discourse about whether Summer’s behavior is off and whether she “led Tom on”.
It’s important to remember that Tom takes being an unreliable narrator to a new level. He is a hopeless romantic who turns attention into affection, and affection into destiny. The only thing he remembered correctly was that Summer told him what she wanted: something casual. He thought he could handle it, but as we learn, he was far from ready.
The “Expectations vs. Reality” sequence is when the audience finally sees what is true. We watch his imagined version of their reunion play beside what actually happens, which exposes how much of the story was shaped by his fantasy.
“Her decision to move on came from a moment of clarity.”
On day 500, Summer and Tom are having their final conversation on the bench. As they reflect back on their relationship, Summer expresses how she was never sure whether Tom was the one for her. That comment shows that she cared for Tom and probably loved him, but knew that they weren’t right for each other.
Tom, in the end, was in love with his idea of her, not the real person sitting across from him. I believe Summer could sense that.
By the time she ends things, it’s not cold, it’s honest. Her decision to move on came from a moment of clarity. I think she had little to no fault in his heartbreak, unless you count giving things a try as her wrongdoing.
The ending
Those are my thoughts on (500) Days of Summer. I would love to hear yours. Did you see it the same way, or take away something different?
Also, a quick shoutout to the soundtrack. Every song and every score hits exactly how it should, just like the film itself.
