It all starts with...

[problematicals]

𝑨𝒏𝒚𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔, 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒗𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒃𝒍𝒆, 𝒊𝒕'𝒔 𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒚. 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒂 𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒅𝒆𝒇𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕 𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕. 𝑰 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒏'𝒕 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒂𝒈𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒕 𝒚𝒆𝒕, 𝒃𝒊𝒕 𝑰'𝒎 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒏 𝒊𝒕.

Jess is a girl with family problems and she does not have any real friends. Jess tends to easily irritate others as she tends to say everything that comes to her mind, without considering the feelings of others. Jess' father, Chris Chrichton, is a local politician and the family is completed by her mother. Her sister Jen, who is very important to her, left the family a few years ago and is thought to have committed suicide.

The whole family, especially the mother and Jess, are still very upset about it. She often argues with Martin because it bothers her that he is everything she dislikes: educated and rather arrogant, features that fit her father, too.

Her relationship with her parents is tense because her mother accuses her of having stolen a pair of earrings from her sister Jen which the mother had left in Jen's untouched room. She is the one who convinces the group not to jump immediately but, instead, to find her ex-boyfriend. She wants to commit suicide by jumping from the tower block because of her family problems and losing her ex-boyfriend though it's also slightly impulsive, brought on by attending a party downstairs in Toppers House.

𝑭𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒆𝒆𝒕 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒐𝒐𝒇 𝒐𝒇 𝒂 𝑳𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒐𝒏 𝒃𝒖𝒊𝒍𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒏 𝑵𝒆𝒘 𝒀𝒆𝒂𝒓'𝒔 𝑬𝒗𝒆, 𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒉 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒖𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒅𝒆.


Martin Sharp is contemplating suicide on New Year's Eve on the roof of the Toppers Building, high above London's streets. He is interrupted by a woman, Maureen, who has the same fate in mind. She shyly offers to wait her turn, until two other strangers, a young woman named Jess and a pizza deliverer called J.J., also turn up.

Martin is recognized by the others, having been a popular television personality before going to prison for a relationship with a girl who turned out to be 15. After talking things over, the four strangers form a pact, vowing to wait at least until Valentine's Day before taking their lives.

Maureen has a disabled son she adores, but little life beyond that. Jess is the daughter of a politician (Sam Neill) and their relationship is strained. J.J. is an American who once played in a band, but while his three new acquaintances are suicidally depressed, he claims that he is terminally ill with cancer.

To profit from misfortune, Martin hatches a scheme that makes them the talk of London, claiming their mass suicide was interrupted by a vision. They end up on his old TV chat show, where Martin's former co-host Penny makes them feel humiliated and even more depressed.

The four go off to a vacation resort to get away from London's attention. They enjoy each other's company, at least until a confession by one of them and the intervention of a reporter named Kathy drives them apart. Matty, Maureen's son, has a heart attack but recovers. Jess and Martin visit Maureen in the hospital but J.J. can't be contacted. They realize it's Valentine's Day and that their pact has ended. All four end up back in London on the very same rooftop with the other three coaxing J.J. off the edge successfully.

On New Year's Eve that year, they video call each other and check how they had been doing in the past year.