Flipped (2010)
When Bryce Loski and Juli Baker meet as children, Juli falls instantly in love, while Bryce does everything he can to avoid her. Over the years, their feelings and perceptions of each other slowly change as they grow up. Set in the 1950s and told through their contrasting perspectives, the story follows their evolving friendship and first love.
Narrative Score
Full Plot & Ending Explained
Intro
In 1957, seven-year-old Bryce Loski moves in next door to Julianna “Juli” Baker, and the moment Juli sees him she falls in love, while Bryce immediately feels awkward and tries to avoid her. The story follows their awkward, shifting relationship over the next several years, told through alternating perspectives that show how each misreads the other.
Turning Point 1
For years, Juli keeps pursuing Bryce at school and around the neighborhood, while Bryce does everything he can to stay away from her. When he reaches sixth grade, he tries to shake her off by asking out Sherry Stalls, the girl Juli dislikes most, but the plan collapses when Bryce’s friend Garrett tells Sherry the truth and she breaks up with him.
Turning Point 2
After Bryce’s grandfather Chet Duncan moves in, Juli’s devotion shifts to the large sycamore tree in front of the Baker house. When the tree is marked for removal, Juli climbs it and refuses to come down, drawing the town’s attention until her father Richard Baker persuades her to descend; devastated, she later receives a painting of the tree from him, which comforts her deeply.
Turning Point 3
Juli begins raising chickens from her science fair chicks and sells the eggs, even giving some to the Loskis as a friendly gesture, but she is hurt when she learns Bryce has been throwing the eggs away because his father fears they are unsafe. Around the same time, Juli becomes increasingly aware of how different the Baker family is from Bryce’s polished world, and Bryce starts to notice Juli’s determination and warmth more seriously.
Turning Point 4
Juli helps improve the Bakers’ yard to make it presentable after Bryce has mocked it, and Bryce’s feelings continue to change as Chet encourages him to see Juli more clearly. The breaking point comes when Juli visits her disabled uncle Daniel and overhears Bryce join Garrett in insulting him, which makes her lose interest in Bryce and believe she has finally understood his true nature.
Turning Point 5
When the Bakers are invited to dinner at the Loski house, Juli confronts Bryce directly about what he said about her uncle. The dinner becomes tense, but afterward Juli apologizes for her outburst, and Bryce is secretly upset that she is willing to forgive him so easily because it means she does not care enough to stay angry.
Ending
By the end, the old sycamore tree becomes a symbol of their changing bond again, and Bryce finally understands Juli’s character in a way he never did before. Juli also begins to see Bryce differently, and the film ends with both of them moving toward each other emotionally, with Bryce helping Juli at the tree and the two finally recognizing their mutual feelings.
Cross-checked against Wikipedia and other public film references. View on Letterboxd ↗ The Narrative Score above is an experimental 5-axis rating, not a critic score.