At this point, we all know La La Land is a sweeping romance where the couple doesn't end up together. However, even though I've had ten years to come to terms with that, it’s still a hard pill to swallow. I realized maybe we should have noticed it would end this way from the get-go, though. That's because when I rewatched the musical that almost won Best Picture, I couldn't help but pick up on four signs that foreshadowed Mia and Sebastian’s doomed relationship.
So, next time you watch La La Land, keep an eye out for these moments.
They Technically Meet For The First Time In Traffic With Seb Flipping Off Mia
After “Another Day of Sun,” Mia and Sebastian technically meet for the first time in this genre-bending movie. As she’s practicing her lines, she ends up accidentally holding up traffic, and Seb lets her know that she frustrated him by flipping her off as he drives by.
The scene shows both of them as the struggling artists they are, and gives us a good hint of the love and frustration they have for their passions (and eventually each other).
So, technically, they begin their relationship on the wrong foot.
Mia Walks Into A Bar, Here’s Seb Play, And Then He Ignores Her
If you don’t count that first scene as their first meeting, consider this their official meet-cute. Though it's not really cute at all. After a rough night at a party, Mia wandered into the restaurant where Seb was reluctantly playing Christmas music. However, what she heard wasn’t that; it was a beautiful song that had nothing to do with the holidays.
While it was beautiful, it also got Seb fired. So, he was grumpy and walking out of the building when Mia tried to tell him how much she loved what he played. Ultimately, he bumped into and ignored her, which isn’t the best way to meet someone (as he fully admits later on). And while there really weren’t hard feelings over this, it certainly is a bad omen about what’s to come.
When They Go To The Movies, Right Before They Kiss, The Film Burns Up
First of all, Mia is late for this date (though that probably isn’t what either of them was calling it at the time). She was at a dinner with her boyfriend, and then decided to run to the movie to see Sebastian and watch the film they had talked about while walking around the film lot.
While it’s ultimately a romantic night that ends with them dancing in the Griffith Observatory, there is a bad omen in there. At the movies, right as they’re about to share their first kiss, the film burns up, and the lights come up.
The moment is laughed off, and it’s overall kind of funny to see them taken out of their romantic moment right before the big first kiss. However, when added to the other misfortunes and bad events we’re talking about here, it’s another arrow pointing toward Mia and Seb’s sad ending.
One Of The Dishes Seb Makes Burns In The Oven While He’s Fighting With Mia
This last one is the most obvious omen, and it’s essentially the beginning of the end of their relationship.
In this scene toward the end of La La Land, Mia and Sebastian fight over Seb deciding to keep working with the band that he does not love playing for and touring with. All the tension that had been building up comes to a head in this moment, the music stops playing (literally and figuratively), and the scene ends with the fire alarm going off, Seb taking a burning dish out of the oven, and Mia leaving.
Unfortunately, you usually cannot fix something that’s burned.
To me, La La Land is a perfect film, in great part because of its sad ending. However, Damien Chazelle’s musical is better on a rewatch, because you can pick up on all the signs that point toward the tragically beautiful conclusion.
