[Warning: this article contains spoilers, viewer discretion is advised]

Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams, co-star in the iconic movie portray a young couple who fall in love in the summer of 1940 in South Carolina.

An elderly man tells the story of the two through a journal, and he reads it to a woman who suffers from dementia.  Noah Calhoun, a mill worker, sees Allie Hamilton, a rich girl, at a carnival on a summer night in South Carolina and persuades her to go on a date with him.

Shortly after their first date, going to the movies with their other friends, they decide to begin dating. However, Allie’s parents make it clear they forbid the relationship, as Noah comes from a family with little money.

That night, after Noah meets her parents, he takes Allie to visit a huge abandoned house and promises her he will buy it and fix it up for her. After Allie is found with Noah by the police, who were sent out by her parents, she returns home and gets into a heated argument with both of them. Her parents insist that Noah is a bad influence and that she must break up with him immediately.

It was awful that Noah had to go through what he did that night, as he knows he won’t ever be good enough for Allie’s parents, but he wants to be with Allie.

Noah suggests to Allie they should wait out and see what the summer does to their relationship, but they begin to fight, as Allie assumes he is suggesting they should break up. Eventually, after fighting for a little longer, Allie decides she wants to break up, but she instantly regrets the decision.

In hopes of ending their relationship for good, the next morning Allie’s parents announce they are returning to their hometown, Charleston, that very day. Allie never gets to say her final goodbye to Noah before they leave.

This part of the movie was so heart-breaking. I didn’t think they were going to get separated from each other so quickly, just the day after they decided to break up.

For a year Noah writes letters to Allie and he never gets a response, as Allie’s mother confiscates each letter. After 365 letters no unanswered, Noah decides to move on and continue with his life, as he decides to go to war.

During this time of his life, Allie was a nurse who wounded soldiers in a hospital and met Lon Hammond Jr., a lawyer. They got engaged a few years after meeting.

Noah returns to South Carolina to renovate the old abandoned house, in hopes Allie will return if he fixes it. When he finishes the house, he holds onto it and refuses to sell it.

When Allie returns and she finds out Noah renovated the house, her feelings for him come rushing back. She tells Lon that she is going on a solo trip before the wedding, where she finds Noah living in the house. They rekindle their relationship and he reveals that he sent 365 letters to her, and her mother kept them from her.

Noah and Allie argue about what she wants, not what everyone else wants. He confesses her feelings for Noah to Lon, and although he is upset, she follows her heart and returns to Noah.

I loved this part of the movie. It was awful Allie never got the letters when he was sending them,  but when she finally came across the letters during this part, it made me feel really happy. I also love that she finally decided to choose Noah in the end, a true example of what true love looks like.

In the present, the elderly woman is revealed to be Allie, and the elderly man is Noah. Allie is suffering from dementia and he reads the journal to her almost daily to try and rekindle her memory.

This is one of my favorite parts of the movie. I love that in the end the elderly couple were revealed to be Noah and Allie, which is the cherry on top for a perfect movie.

When Noah finishes reading the story to Allie, she briefly remembers him. They have only five minutes until she loses her memory again, so they dance to one of their favorite songs before her dementia quickly comes back.

She is panicked that a stranger is touching her and calls for someone to help her. This causes Noah to have a heart attack and is treated in a nursing home while Allie is taken to where dementia patients stay.

Although not allowed to, Noah sneaks into Allie’s room in the night, and she somehow recognizes him. They kiss before dying together holding each other’s hands.

The ending to this movie made me cry so much. I love how it made it seem like Allie was going to end up marrying Lon, but she instead decided to get back together with her first love. When we are revealed the elderly couple, Noah and Allie, it made the whole movie and plot more romantic and wholesome.

I would recommend this movie to anyone who wants to watch a romance movie that has a good ending but also allows you to have a good cry. I would rate it a perfect 10 out of 10, and I would love to watch it again.