History ContrivedCoincidence / LiveActionFilms

* In ''Film/BackToTheFuture'', the day Doc invents time travel just happens to be the same day that Marty's parents meet. Lampshaded by Doc in ''Film/BackToTheFuturePartII'':
-->'''Doc:''' It could mean that that point in time inherently contains some sort of cosmic significance, almost as if it were the temporal junction point of the entire space-time continuum. On the other hand, it could just be an amazing coincidence.

** Used egregiously in ''Film/TheForceAwakens'' to get the main cast together. Rey happens to live within walking distance of Lor San Tekka, despite there being no known reason as to why they'd even be on the same planet, and [=BB8=] just happens to run into her while fleeing the First Order. Finn, meanwhile, just happens to be part of the First Order division that attacks Tekka's village. When his and Poe's ship is shot down, they land close enough to the market Rey sells her goods at that he's able to find it wandering aimlessly, and Rey just happens to be there with [=BB8=] (who recognizes Finn because he just happened to take Poe's jacket) when he arrives. Then, when they need to steal a ship to escape from the First Order, the ship they choose ''just happens'' to be the Millennium Falcon, which had, by a series of unrelated events, somehow ended up in the possession of Rey's boss. After they escape, they're picked up by another ship... Which just happens to belong to Han and Chewie, the Millennium Falcon's previous owners, who just happened to be in the area looking for it.

* In ''Jason's Lyric'': On the first meeting, after buying a TV from Jason's workplace, Lyric says "if it's meant to be, you'll find me". Later, when looking for a restaurant for dinner, Jason and his friend happen to choose Lyric's workplace. Cue, Jason sees her again, pursues her and convinces her that [[BecauseDestinySaysSo they are meant to be.]]

* In ''Jason's Lyric'': On the first meeting, after buying a TV from Jason's workplace, Lyric says "if it's meant to be, you'll find me". Later, when having a dinner, Jason and his friend happen to choose the restaurant where Lyric works as a waitress. Cue, Jason sees her again and pursues her as well as convinces her that [[BecauseDestinySaysSo they are meant to be.]]

* In ''Jason's Lyric'': On the first meeting, after buying a TV from Jason's workplace, Lyric says "if it's meant to be, you'll find me". Later, when having a dinner, Jason and his friend coincidentally choose the restaurant where Lyric works as a waitress. Cue, Jason sees her again and pursues her as well as convinces her that [[BecauseDestinySaysSo they are meant to be.]]

* In Jason's Lyric: On the first meeting, after buying a TV from Jason's workplace, Lyric says "if it's meant to be, you'll find me". Later, when having a dinner, Jason and his friend coincidentally choose the restaurant where Lyric works as a waitress. Cue, Jason sees her again and pursues her as well as convinces her that [[BecauseDestinySaysSo they are meant to be.]]

* ''Film/TheAssignment1997'': Annibal just happens to be identical with one of the most notorious terrorists in the world, arrested after being mistaken for him then recruited by the CIA. On top of that, he's also Latin American and even has the same last name, Ramirez.

* ''Film/{{Swelter}}'' has Pike dying from a bullet to the head in the exact patch of desert where the only doctor for miles happens to be walking in the middle of the night. Doc lampshades this.

* In the Brazilian comedy ''Lisbela e o Prisioneiro'' (Lisbela and the Prisoner), this sort of coincidence sets up the plot. [[HandsomeLech The protagonist]] happens to have [[GoodAdulteryBadAdultery sex with a woman who is married to a]] PsychoForHire. He escapes before the man can kill him, and neither of them gets a good look at the other's face. Months later, the hitman is about to be run over by a stray bull... and guess who saves him? It becomes really funny when the PsychoForHire decides he must [[IOweYouMyLife pay the favor]] to this man he's just met by [[WhenAllYouHaveIsAHammer killing one of his enemies]] - and the protagonist launches into a tirade insulting and mocking [[RightInFrontOfMe the very man who's in front of him]].

*** The two Avengers sent to retrieve the Soul Stone, Black Widow and Hawkeye, are sent to a location that none of the other Avengers know anything about, but fortunately happens to be well [[ThisLooksLikeAJobForAquaman within the skills of two secret agents without superpowers]].

* ''Film/SlumdogMillionaire'' could easily be titled "Contrived Coincidence: The Movie". Somehow, nearly ''every single question'' Jamal is asked during ''Who Wants to be a Millionaire?'' is related to a specific incident from his past. To give an example: one of the questions is "Who appears on the American $100 bill?" This prompts a flashback to Jamal's childhood working as a beggar, when an American couple offered him just such a bill; another blind child then tells him that the name of the man on the money is Benjamin Franklin. It's mildly lampshaded in the movie, as the showrunners remark that Jamal's explanations for knowing all of the answers are "bizarrely plausible." The whole situation could be chalked up to BecauseDestinySaysSo--one of the film's taglines was "It is written," implying that fate had a hand in Jamal's success--but still, it's a large stretch.\\
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Website/CollegeHumor later spoofed the film's ridiculous coincidences in their parody "Slumdog 'The Price is Right'", which saw characters randomly yelling out the cost of items that just so happen to appear on the show later ("No, don't get blood on that patio set, it cost $399!").

** In ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'', this is how the Comicbook/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy meet [[Comicbook/TheMightyThor Thor]]. [[spoiler: First, they are the only ones to hear the distress call from the Asgardian refugee vessel, and happen to be close enough to the ship's position to locate it. Despite protests from Rocket, Comicbook/{{Gamora}} argues that they need to go and help out. They arrive to find the ship completely destroyed, with the dead bodies of the various Asgardians floating through space. Then, Thor crashes into their windshield, and briefly opens his remaining eye, signaling that he's somehow still alive. Because of this, the Guardians bring him aboard their ship and learn that the Asgardians were slaughtered by Comicbook/{{Thanos}}, Gamora's adoptive father, who is after the Infinity Stones. Were it not for all of these extremely unlikely coincidences, the Guardians likely never would have gotten involved in the plot of the movie, and Thor probably would have been left floating in the vast emptiness of space.]]

** In ''Film/AvengersEndgame'', reversing the damage caused by Thanos would not have been possible if it wasn't for [[spoiler: a random rat in a storage locker stepping on the right button to release Scott Lang from the Quantum Realm. If it wasn't for that, no one would have possibly seen time travel as a reasonable solution]].

** In the first movie, Kevin being punished and sent to his room after punching Buzz for eating his pizza kept him out of sight from the rest of his family when they left for the airport. Also, a tree branch happened to fall on the power lines, muting the alarm clocks and caused the family to oversleep which drove them into such a hurry that they forgot about Kevin, and finally, a nosy neighbor boy who bears a quick passing resemblance to Kevin is counted in the initial head count.

*** When searching for the Sith wayfinder on Endor, Rey happens to wind up standing in the exact spot where she needs to be in order to fit the dagger into the outline of the Death Star II's wreckage (which somehow has not shifted, collapsed, and/or been scavenged in the decades since ''Return of the Jedi''.

** And as of ''Film/TheRiseOfSkywalker'', [[spoiler:Rey is the granddaughter of Darth Sidious]], putting the Millennium Falcon, the map to Luke, and [[spoiler:the descendant of the former Emperor]] all within 10 miles of each other.