Plot

A divorced couple teams up and travels to Bali to stop their daughter from making the same mistake they think they made 25 years ago.

David and Georgia, divorced parents who can't stand each other, head to Bali after their daughter Lily announces her plans to marry a local islander she just met while on holiday. They decide to put aside their differences and work together to stop the wedding, believing that doing so will keep Lily from making a dreadful mistake similar to their own.—J. Brown

After an ill-starred five-year marriage, former college sweethearts David and Georgia divorced and have been dealing with loathing and resentment for the past 19 years. As the bitter antagonists enjoy carefree lives far away from each other, their daughter Lily, a recent law-school graduate, drops a bombshell: she's getting married in four days to handsome Gede and eager to start fresh in Bali, Indonesia. Simmering with restless irritation, Georgia and David play along, but secretly devise a plan to sabotage the young couple's traditional Balinese wedding. But there's something mysterious about exotic Bali. Can David and Georgia bury the hatchet for old times' sake?—Nick Riganas

David (George Clooney) and Georgia (Julia Roberts) Cotton are a divorced couple who hate each other and regret their marriage, which ended 20 years earlier. David and Georgia studied together in college. David wanted to stay in Chicago, and Georgia got a great job for a art gallery in LA. So, David proposed to her on graduation day. David and Georgia remember this day very differently. David thinks he made a grand gesture, while Georgia believes that he only embarrassed her. A month later they were pregnant with Lily. Their marriage lasted only 5 years.

Their daughter Lily (Kaitlyn Dever) graduates from law college, and goes on vacation to Bali with her friend and fellow graduate Wren (Billie Lourd). Georgia is now dating a French guy who is young, and David considers it to be age inappropriate. While snorkeling off the coast, their tour boat leaves them behind, and they are rescued by a young Balinese seaweed farmer named Gede (Maxime Bouttier). That night, Lily and Gede hit it off. Gede is a nature lover and is a marine seaweed farmer. He lives an idyllic life on an Island and in harmony with nature. A month later, Lily emails David and Georgia to let them know that she and Gede are getting married and are staying in Bali permanently, giving up her legal career before it begins. David and Georgia form a truce to try and convince Lily that she is rushing into things and making the same mistake they did. Their pilot on the flight to Bali turns out to be Paul (Lucas Bravo), Georgia's boyfriend, who arranged to work this flight, and returns to visit Georgia in Bali a few days later as a surprise.

David and Georgia give their verbal blessing to Lily and Gede, but secretly plan a "Trojan horse" strategy to sabotage the wedding from within. Their scheme includes stealing the couple's wedding rings, which the couple quickly replaces. Gede has a large family, a concept alien to both David and Georgia, who lives very insular lives themselves. Gede's parents Wayan (Agung Pindha) and Suli (Ifa Barry), and his sister Losi (Cintya Dharmayanti) are very loving and inviting towards David and Georgia, and they love Lily as their own daughter. Losi is training to be a doctor. David tells Gede that Lily is ambitious and that she will eventually end the marriage as it will not be enough for her. Wren tells David that Lily is happy, which is surprising as she beat herself up at college for over 4 years. David says that all relationships break when they get real. David says that he and Georgia were building the perfect cabin by the lake and David got busy paying off their debts. Soon, they were both busy with their lives and it wasn't a marriage anymore. They separated 3 weeks after the cabin burned down in an accident.

Gede immediately suspects David and Georgia but hides his suspicions from Lily. Gede confronts David and asks him to behave or else he and Georgia risk losing Lily if she finds out. While carrying out this plan, David and Georgia begin to mend fences with each another. David and Georgia engage in seaweed farming themselves. Later that night, they challenge Gede and Lily as couples to a game of beer pong. David and Georgia get horribly drunk and relive a little of how fun they used to be in college. They also get to know Gede and his large extended family and see that he really cares for Lily. Paul shows up and surprises Georgia with a series of marriage proposals, the first of which is interrupted by a snake bite at the temple of Tanah Lot, and the second is prevented by an accidental head-butt (Paul gets up from his knees and head butts Georgia in the nose). Lily is shocked to find that Paul proposed to Georgia. Gede was suspicious again when David insisted to visit Tanah Lot. The temple is cursed that any unwed couple who visits is bound to have an unhappy life. When he shares this with Lily, she agrees and decides not to visit the temple.

When Lily discovers the stolen rings, she demands that they get on board with the wedding or go home. She also confronts Gede, who simultaneously confesses his harbored suspicions toward David and Georgia stealing the rings. Georgia begs Lily to reconsider her decision and wishes that somebody had come through to herself when she was about to make the biggest mistake of her life all those years ago.

David and Georgia realize that they will lose Lily forever if they do not support her decision and offer their support. The wedding proceeds in accordance with Balinese custom. As the couple prepares to ceremonially stab a dagger through a Pandan-leaf mat to complete the bond of marriage, Gede pauses the ceremony to ask David and Georgia to give their blessing sincerely this time, offering not to go through with it unless they agree.

David stands up and says the couple has their blessing, but that they do not really need it, and if he and Georgia had listened to all of their own detractors (David's friends and Georgia's parents, respectively), they never would have had Lily. Despite how their marriage turned out, they are both happier in a world with Lily in it. Lily and Gede are touched, complete the ceremony and get married.

On the morning after the wedding, Georgia tells Paul that she cannot marry him, and they end their relationship. David and Georgia toy with romance again, even kissing each other once, before pulling away and laughing about it. David, Georgia and Wren exchange tearful goodbyes with Lily and board a boat to leave. David and Georgia consider their romantic prospects again, debating aloud whether they are too old to feel young again and when they might return to Bali. In a flash, they both decide to stay, jumping off the boat to return to the dock.