The Lake House: A Love Story that Transcends Time

Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves reteam for romance in director Alejandro Agresti's remake of the Korean film Siworae (2000), exploring a mysterious mailbox that somehow bridges time. After moving away from her peaceful lakeside home, a lonely physician begins writing letters to the frustrated architect who now occupies the unusual house, only to discover that they're living two years apart.

For Kate Forster (Bullock) and Alex Wyler (Reeves), the mailbox at the lake house that Alex's father built for his mother is the bridge between their two times. After completing her residency, physician Kate moves from the lake house to the city to take a new position in a busy hospital, and leaves a note for the new tenant in the mailbox. Architect Alex buys the lake house and discovers the note, but responds with confusion, because as far as he knows no one has lived in the house since his own family moved out of it years earlier.

After discovering that Kate is living two years into Alex's future, the two begin communicating through the "magical" mailbox. Through their letters, they learn that they've actually met, in Alex's present/Kate's past, and Alex lives those moments as Kate remembers them. He swears they'll be together someday, but she hesitates to hope that such a thing is possible.

At the heart of this fairy tale romance is the plot for Jane Austen's Persuasion, a love story about a man and woman who "almost fall in love" but part ways because the "timing" is not quite right, then reunite years later to discover whether their love has stood the test of time. During one of their "chance" meetings in Kate's past, she tells Alex about it, and the point at which this scene occurs is strategically orchestrated to enlighten the audience to the fact that Kate and Alex are living out the plot of what is her favorite book. The time-transcending twist added to Persuasion's plot by Siworae screenwriter Eun-Jeong Kim translates well into David Auburn's Lake House screenplay and makes for a heart-wrenching romance, perpetuating the notion that love is timeless.