Jumping from High Places is the story of Sole, a girl suffering from severe anxiety who decides to overcome her fears in memory of her recently deceased best friend. The film is now streaming on Netflix.
Warning: This article contains heavy spoilers
Plot summary
Sole is a young girl with a severe anxiety disorder which doesn’t allow her to truly live her life in peace. She lives in a coastal town in Italy where everyone living close by knows her.
Sole’s best friend, Emma, left got engaged and moved to France leaving Sole behind and Sole wasn’t too happy about this. Later on, it is revealed that Emma died two years ago which had an adverse effect on Sole.
She visits a psychiatrist named Dr Basille who tries to help her overcome her issues. Emma’s brother, Massimo, returns from Milan where he’s studying architecture. Sole has had a crush on him since she was a little girl.
Massimo hands Sole an envelope addressed to her in Emma’s handwriting. Sole is shocked to see the letter and tells Massimo to leave. Sole cannot get herself to read the letter no matter how hard she tries.
She attends a party that night where she gets extremely drunk. Massimo calls her and she answers in anger and asks him how he could keep that letter from her for so long because the last time she spoke to Emma before her death, they argued.
She then reads the letter where Emma tells her that she doesn’t want them to stay apart because of a silly argument and tells Sole to make a list of her biggest fears so that they can overcome them together.
She shares the letter with Miriam, an older friend of hers. Miriam introduces her to Danio, Giulia and Marta. They help her list down her fears and Miriam insists that she has to go through the list.
The next day, Miriam’s mother offers Sole a job as a waitress at her restaurant, allowing her to cross off one thing from her list which is to get a job.
Slowly but surely, she crosses off other things from the list like getting a piercing and going on a ride at an amusement park. Some of the bigger ones prove to be more of an obstacle, however.
Sole has been drawing since her childhood to cope with her anxiety but she’s never shown anyone her drawings. She shares her interest in art with Danio, who goes to a local school where people get together to draw live models. Sole keeps going but cannot bring herself to draw in front of everyone.
She does get closer to Danio through all this. At the same time, her relationship with Massimo grows as well. They get along well and he invites her for a boat ride which is one of her fears but she isn’t ready yet.
Sole makes great strides toward improving her anxiety but there are still a few issues hanging over her head that are holding her back. Does she manage to push through them?
Jumping from High Places ending explained:
Do Sole and Massimo get together?
Sole’s birthday is coming up and Miriam suggests flying to someplace close by since getting on a plane is one of her fears. Sole recounts that her argument with Emma was because Emma bought her flight tickets to Paris so Sole can visit her there but Sole felt like she was being pressured.
She finally agrees to go on a boat ride with Massimo and even gets in the water, crossing off two more items from the list. She tells him that she plans to fly to Paris for her birthday and spend it with Xavier, Emma’s widow.
She then kisses Massimo but he’s taken aback by it, causing Sole to leave immediately.
Sole goes to the airport to catch her flight but she gets a panic attack for the first time in two years and doesn’t get on the flight. That night everyone gathers at her house to celebrate her birthday and she has a moment alone with Massimo.
Massimo tries to tell her that he likes her but can’t get the words out. He kisses her but she stops him. She then stops him from leaving and hugs him tightly.
She says that she only liked him because he felt safe and didn’t make her feel abnormal but now she feels confident enough to just remain close friends with him.
What happens to Miriam?
Sole is woken up by Miriam one day who shows her bald spots on her head and says that she’s suffering from Alopecia. She had signed up for a local beauty pageant so that she could feel beautiful with her hair for once before it was all gone.
She has a change of heart and hands Sole an electric trimmer because she wants to embrace the condition without fear. She then walks the ramp with a shaved head and feels proud about it while also making her friends and family proud.
Do Sole and Danio end up together?
Sole is finally ready to move on and decides to move to Rome with Miriam. Her mother isn’t too happy with her decision but knows that she can’t change Sole’s mind. Dr Basille is happy that she’s taking the steps to move forward in life.
She meets Danio to discuss her moving to Rome and they share a kiss. She asks him where he might go next since he has spent his life moving from one place to another. He says that maybe he might check out Rome.
When Sole is packing her stuff, Miriam has a look at her art book and is hugely impressed with her drawings. She tells Sole that she needs to show people her drawings.
When it’s time for her to leave, her mother asks her if she informed everyone around and Sole says yes. She leaves a personal drawing for everyone she considered close as a farewell gift.
Sole leaves with Miriam, finally dreaming about the life that awaits her free of fear.
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