Always be My Maybe(2019)

Pooper:
Marcus finally starts moving forward in life and flies to New York to tell Sahsa he loves her. The pair reunite. Sasha opens a new and wildly successful restaurant based on recipes taught to her by Marcus’ mom, and Marcus writes a song about how he once punched Keanu Reeves.

Long Ending:
Opening in San Francisco during the 1990s, we meet a young Marcus and Sasha. They are best friends. Both of Sasha’s parents work, so she spends many of her nights at Marcus’ house. She bonds with Marcus’ mother over their shared love of cooking and Marcus’ family enjoy many dinners with Sasha.

In high school, Marcus’ mother dies unexpectedly. This leaves Marcus (Randall Park) and his father (James Saito) devastated. Soon after the loss, Sasha (Ali Wong) kisses Marcus and the two lose their virginity to each other in the back of his car. The pair are very awkward afterwards, particularly Marcus who is unable to express his feelings. Marcus ultimately insults Sasha, essentially calling her an interloper in his family. She storms off and the pair don’t talk again for sixteen years.

Cutting to the present day, Sasha is a wildly famous chef engaged to her manager. She is about to open a restaurant in her hometown of San Francisco, aided by her high school friend and business partner Veronica (Michelle Buteau). Her fiancée asks for a break in the relationship shortly before Sasha returns home.

Veronica hires Marcus, who now works for his dad’s HVAC company, to come and fix the air conditioning in Sahsa’s new home. Marcus has never left San Francisco and still lives at home with his dad and plays in a band with his high school buddies. Although the band is talented, Marcus purposefully holds the band back from bigger and better gigs (preferring to keep playing for the same old dive bar in his neighborhood). Things do not go well when Marcus and Sasha see each other again.

Marcus’ dad invites Sasha to a show featuring Marcus’ band. Out of sheer boredom, Sasha attends the gig with Veronica and realizes that she loves their music. The pair begin hanging out, with Sasha realizing that she has painted her childhood memories in a falsely negative light. Ultimately, Sahsa’s fiancée dumps her. But Marcus is already dating another woman, so he does not ask Sasha out despite that he has developed feelings for her

A little while later, Sasha invites Marcus and his girlfriend on a date with she and her new mystery boyfriend. When Marcus and his girlfriend arrive at the restaurant, they learn that Sasha is dating…. superstar actor Keanu Reeves (playing himself). Keanu is incredibly arrogant and dramatic while constantly delivering backhanded insults to Marcus. As the night progresses, the four get drunk and play a game similar to truth and dare. During the game, Sasha admits that she had a crush on Marcus their entire childhood. Over the course of the game, Keanu and Marcus grow ever more belligerent (in a very comical way) until the pair fight (with Keanu allowing Marcus to punch him in the face – with Keanu not being hurt at all by the punch). After the fight, Marcus and Sasha depart (and Marcus’ girlfriend stays with Keanu). On the drive home, Marcus kisses Sasha and she reciprocates. The pair spend the night together and start dating.

As they date, Marcus grows increasingly unsupportive of Sasha’s job and her celebrity status. She asks him to accompany her to New York where she is opening a new restaurant. Marcus declines to go and insults Sasha for being too obsessed with fame and inauthentic in her cooking. Sasha responds that though she loves Marcus even when he’s being an asshole, he needs to grow up and start moving on from where he was in high school. She then departs for New York without him.

With the help of his dad and band, Marcus realizes Sasha was right and starts turning his life around. His band is awarded a big new gig and he finally moves in to his own apartment and buys a (discount) suit. He tries to call Sasha, but she ignores his overtures. One day, he stops by her San Francisco restaurant. He learns from Veronica that although she is too mad to speak with him, Sasha has been covertly buying his band’s merchandise to support their growth.

In New York, Sasha is attending an awards banquet with her parents (who apologized for their prior neglect and proved that want to be a part of her life moving forward). During the press conference, Marcus emerges from the crowd, having left San Francisco for the first time to come to Sasha. He professes his love and his acceptance and support of his career. The two passionately embrace.

The film ends with Sasha bringing Marcus to her new restaurant. He discovers that it sells authentic Korean food all based on his mother’s recipes (the same food Sasha cooked with his mom growing up). The restaurant turns out to be a big hit. Sasha mentions that all they need now is a song about how Marcus punched Keanu Reeves. That very song plays over the end credits.