In A Journey, Shane gets a terminal cancer diagnosis and decides to fulfill her bucket list with her husband and their best friend. The film is streaming on Netflix.
Warning: This article contains heavy spoilers
Plot summary:
Shane, Bryan, and Kristoff are childhood best friends who still hang out with each other regularly. Kristoff is a famous actor, Bryan is his PA, and Shane owns a cafe.
Shane and Bryan are also married. Shane had breast cancer many years ago and recovered, but she gets the news that it is back and it is much worse.
She decides against getting treatment this time and tells Bryan that she would like to cross off things on her bucket list.
Bryan quits his job with Kristoff and when he asks why, they tell him the news. He also wants Shane to get treatment but she refuses.
Bryan asks Kristoff for help with Shane’s list, hoping that if she completes it she will be more open to getting treatment.
One of the items on her list is reconnecting with her estranged father, “Mr. T”. She also wants to see live penguins and try out exotic foods.
Kristoff’s career is on hold after he is caught sleeping with a wealthy businessman’s girlfriend.
He books a trip to Tasmania and gets tickets for Shane and Bryan so that she can complete her list there too.
After they arrive, they drive around in an RV and Shane is taken to a penguin statue where a man in a penguin mascot costume is waiting for her.
It turns out to be her father, whom Kristoff had tracked down. Mr. T travels with them so that he can reconnect with his daughter and make up for lost time.
They go see the penguins together, and Mr. T even gets to walk Shane down the aisle at a small church.
Kristoff tells Bryan how he feels lost in life and doesn’t know what to do anymore because he isn’t enjoying the work he’s doing.
Bryan gives some words of comfort and tells him to challenge himself and try different things if he thinks he’s getting out of touch.
The three of them also talk about enjoying life’s moments without something pushing you to do it.
Mr. T mentions that Bryan and Kristoff still hope that Shane will get treatment but she sticks to her guns and has an argument with them.
Bryan says that he will do anything to extend his time with her, and she says that she doesn’t want to put them through the pain of suffering of treatment again.
They eventually make up with each other and say goodbye to Mr. T who heads back home. Then they finish up Shane’s list and she tells them that she has changed her mind about treatment.
Ending explained:
A cruel twist of fate
The trio returns home but the next day, Bryan drops dead from a brain aneurysm. The doctors say that it’s something that commonly goes undiagnosed and there wasn’t much they could do.
Shane had prepared for her funeral and picked out an urn as part of her bucket list but she is forced to use it for Bryan.
She and Kristoff are rocked to their core by this sudden loss but they still have lives to go back to.
While Shane is at her cafe, she gets a visit from a famous person whom she wanted to meet as part of her list.
Bryan had contacted him before he passed away and he decided to fulfill Bryan’s request and make Shane’s dream come true.
Sticking to her promise
Shane goes into treatment because she had promised Bryan she would try her best. She goes through months of chemo but the cancer is too progressed.
Kristoff and Shane’s mother are there by her side throughout, and he is grateful for her and Bryan in his life.
She fights for as long as she can until it is time for her to say goodbye as well.
Carrying on their legacy
Kristoff rejects many of the scripts he receives for his comeback because he wants to do something different.
He gets the idea to do a film about Bryan and Shane’s love story. The film is a hit and he even receives an award for it.
He visits Shane that evening with the award so that he can thank his best friends for the influence they have had in his life.
He visits Tasmania the following year as they had planned and leaves behind some toys at the Penguin viewing site in memory of Bryan and Shane.
During his travels, he bumps into a fan and is quite taken by her. Thanks to Shane and Bryan, he learned how to love and believes that it is finally time to settle down.
Also Read: Midsummer Night summary and ending explained