Everything Before Us

Plot

In the near future, the Department of Emotional Integrity (D.E.I.) issues relationship scores that affect the standings of everyone in society. In California, Ben and Sara are an older couple reconciling their past relationship while Seth and Haley are a younger couple registering for their first relationship with the D.E.I. Ben is denied a job at Origin, a design company, due to a low relationship score while Sara secures a business loan for a new cafe due to her high relationship score. Ben is later walked out on by his date, also due to his low relationship score. Henry then convinces Ben to make an appointment at the D.E.I. with his ex-girlfriend Sara to boost his score. Meanwhile, Seth and Haley are separated as they head to different colleges in California. Seth and Haley then register for their first and also long-distance relationship with the recurring D.E.I. agent, Randall. At the D.E.I., Ben and Sara clash due to their conflicting recounts of their past relationship. However, they reconcile and each sign off on 50-50 responsibility. This boosts Ben's score to land the job as a designer at Origin.

At his new job, Ben begins a relationship with Anna at the insistence of his friend Henry, as Anna's high score would in turn boost Ben's score. When Ben visits Sara's bakery's soft opening, Ben offers to build Sara a mural to fill an empty spot on the bakery's wall. When Ben and Sara get tipsy while working on the mural late at night, Ben kisses Sara who seems receptive at first, but quickly realizes the mistake and runs out. When Anna discovers the kiss, she threatens to terminate her relationship with Ben. The fate of the two couples then begin to intersect when Seth begins to work at Sara's cafe. As Seth visits Haley at her new college, their relationship begins to fall apart starting when she ditches Seth to go out with her friends. Seth continues to make advances to move closer to and visit his girlfriend, but Haley insists she needs space. When Seth visits Haley and realizes that she is at a malign fraternity party, he finds her with her teaching assistant's arm and jacket around her. Although her TA, Jay, was simply warning her of the predatory nature of the fraternity party, Seth thinks he was making sexual advances. Seth and Jay scuffle until Seth and Haley leave the party on bad terms. Their relationship worsens as Seth finds that Haley has been keeping potential plans to study abroad to London from him.

Two men from the D.E.I. visit Sara's office to investigate her fraudulent relationship with Jeremy, which she used to boost her relationship score. Sara loses her bakery as the investigation reveals the fraud and drops her relationship score below 20. And Ben loses his job at Origin due to an also falling score. When Ben apologizes to Anna, Anna reveals that she never filed her termination report. As Seth is on his way to the airport to visit Haley, Haley breaks up with him over the phone due to his pushiness, making decisions for both of them. When Jay makes advances on Haley, she pushes him away. Seth and Ben both visit the D.E.I. and share a small talk; Ben urges Seth to end his relationship in a way to make his love forever. Seth terminates his relationship, unexpectedly taking 100% of the fault for his relationship termination with Haley. Ben is audited and recorded to help the investigation on Sara's fraudulent relationship. Randall then goes against policy and gives Sara a recording of Ben's testimony that prevented further damage to her relationship score. She listens to his honest testimony of love for her and rebuttal of the D.E.I. When Sara visits what was her cafe, she finds Ben finishing the mural. Ben and Sara start over on the mural, painting a pair of sails. Seth and Haley are shown starting their new lives.

Cast

Production

Wong Fu Productions used the Indiegogo platform to crowdfund the money needed to produce the film. The fundraising campaign lasted one month. The original goal of $250,000 was exceeded to reach $350,000 worth of donations from over 6,500 individual donors.

Release

A teaser trailer for the film was released on April 9, 2015 on Wong Fu Productions' YouTube channel. The second trailer was also released on the channel on June 4, 2015, the same day as the movie's release. Wong Fu also held a screening tour across the United States to promote the movie. Other YouTube channels such as TIME and ISAtv indirectly promoted the movie by offering behind-the-scenes glimpses at the movie's production.

The premiere of Everything Before Us was held at the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival. Since the official release, a digital copy of the movie was made available on Vimeo to either buy or rent for streaming. A physical DVD bundled with the official movie poster was also made available for purchase through the movie's official website.