I think People who keep saying things like, she was in love with death and not coffee shop guy/CSG. Missed some clues in the movie that they may see the next time they watch.

1. Joe/death, wanted to take her and unapologetically told her father about his plans. The father during his rant makes a point that it was the CSG whose body death is using that she loves, I.e not him. He ends the rant with a honest point about true love and sacrifice etc he challenges Joe to tell her who he is and see what happens.

2. when Joe and her are having a moment, she begins to talk about Joe in the frame of CSG, she even mentions the coffee shop meeting whilst staring lovingly in his (joes) eyes. Joe repeats the words “coffee shop” as he gets lost in thought, in that moment. I understood in that moment, he realised her father is right. So he makes the decision to let her live, he proceeds to let her go.

3. death/Joe tells her father before they leave to exit this world, that she will be ok and “these things have a way of working themselves out” it’s at this point it shows his intent to return CSGs body to him alive. So she can have the happy ending she deserves.

4. when CSG returns in a daze, not knowing what happened, Susan shows the audience she understood. She asks him what they’ll do now and he replies “it’ll come to us” and she melts/smiles. Some people say this is proof that it was Joe again in the end, because Susan said that to him & CSG. However that isn’t why that comment was so potent, a previous scene explains this better.

When on the plane or whatever with her father talking about love. She uses the expression “lightening striking” when she meets CSG and they exit the coffee shop together, he uses the exact same phrase and she stares at him curiously and with resonance. This is to show their similarities as souls, she knows his her person because of resonance. it’s coffee shop guy that struck her heart and why she kept looking back until she disappeared from that corner. Their being soulmates, who have similarities was also expressed in the actual coffee shop. When he offers her coffee and they move in motion, reaching for the milk and sugar and adding it to their coffees at the exact same timing. He notices that and smiles at her curiously.

The point is when he said “it’ll come to us” the same thing was at play again, I.e their similarities, how he mirrors her back even in expressions. It was also proof to her she was with CSG again, because he made her feel that resonance again. With Joe/death, it’s CSG essence she was associating with him. Hence how she fell in love. It was through the memory aided by his genuine falling for her.

When Joe saw what her father said was true, he sacrificed his love, to give her CSG who she loved through him.

Personally I cared more about the love aspect of the movie, and the father being content to go when his time came with “no regrets”. So I can push aside thoughts like, but the family think CSG is lRS and Quincy & the sister would wonder why he doesn’t remember them. Or he died so how did he return with no injuries and the same suit etc. All valid thoughts/points but I plugged out of it because the movie didn’t centre it.

Seeing meet Joe black from a lens of true love, how it happens in a moment in time, leaving the essence of the other with you. An essence your soul Is committed to knowing/discovering, exploring thereafter. And the father signing off prioritising family (his requests to keep having dinner at his house) was much more important.

In my culture there is a saying that good people know when their time is approaching, because they begin to move in ways, that only make sense in hindsight. I.e you look back and realise nothing was a coincidence, that our loved ones tie up loose ends, say goodbye unknowingly.

I saw this happen with my husband a day before he died, he began randomly reminiscing about us lovingly. Telling me I was the only women he ever truly loved, how pleased/happy he was. That my name is forever imprinted in his heart. What was strange is my husband wasn’t the type to get contemplative with back to back expressions of his love like that. He was a man of action in how he showed his love. He would verbalise the fact that he loved me. But to just have one stream of expression of it, that only happened the day before he died. When he passed on, i cried due to the realisation that, it was his soul saying good bye. It was the greatest closure I could have asked for as a wife and it helped me mourn to know how he felt one last time.

These are my thoughts on one of my fav movies because of the things it made me see/feel/remember whilst watching.