She thought about Lawrence of Arabia —but that was nearly four hours. Grave of the Fireflies —too devastating. The Seventh Seal —too heavy.

But the rules revealed themselves slowly. She couldn’t change major plot points—only nudge small things. A word of comfort to a doomed character. A dropped key returned to its owner. Nothing that altered the ending, but enough that the characters remembered her across cuts. In It’s a Wonderful Life , George Bailey looked right at her during his darkest moment and said, “You again. Why do you keep showing up?”

A single line appeared: Destination found. One movie. Go. Beneath it, a search bar. No logos, no ads, just that clean, eerie prompt. She typed a random title— The Philadelphia Story —and pressed enter.

She typed: The Wizard of Oz .