The film begins with us being shown three separate instances where the coincidences within the deaths were far too extraordinary to be simply a coincidence. They represent fate colliding in one moment of heightened circumstances. The story that follows is just that type of story. It is a normal day in the San Fernando Valley (SFV) for each of the characters. But, it becomes far from normal soon after and this is represented by the rain falling hard in the Valley. Southern California is a desert known for its lack of rainfall so, for rain to pour down the entire day is a representation that this day is unlike any other.
Today is the day when Earl will die, Jimmy Gator will admit his wrong, Donnie will cry out desperately for love, Stanley will be pushed further than he can stand, Frank will come face to face with his father who abandoned him and Officer Kurring and Claudia will find the opportunity for love despite their belief that they aren't worth being loved. The intersection of these people's lives is based on geography, that they all live and work in the SFV and their connection to the game show What Do Kids Know?. The film is a mosaic that is pieced together as the story goes on. We are given tiny fragments of the story by being introduced to the characters in their current lives. But, as the plot carries on we see that the lives of these characters are intersecting and fitting piece by piece to form a total piece of art.
Anderson's film says that though these characters exist in a city with millions of other people, it is the other people that our lives intersect with, knowingly or unknowingly, that effect our lives. It is the choices that we do or don't make that not only effect us, but all those around us. Anderson reveals to us how the past has a grip on these character's present lives. That though they tell themselves they are fine, the truth is they all live with some kind of pain or trauma from which they act from.
In the end, frogs fall from the sky. There are many interpretations to what this could mean, and one is that this is a day of great agony, pain and sorrow for these characters as they must face the truth of their lives past and present. And though these truths cause great amounts of damage, in the end this is the beginning of their lives, it is a day that is far more than normal. In fact, the frogs falling from the sky represent that. Today is the day of beginnings and endings, a day of life and death, trauma and pain, as well as love.
