[1] Like its predecessor, it comprises a wide array of selected video clips showing things happening in the world on one day: July 25, 2020.

After showing students graduating, the film cuts to the mother of Alexander "ATG" Lucas, who was featured in the original Life in a Day (2011), saying he died on February 18, 2020, due to COVID-19 complications.

Meanwhile, a man devotes himself to not wearing masks, a trans woman does street dancing amid harassment, and a former soldier reflects on his time serving.

A montage features various physical labor, with a sweeper harshly criticized by a citizen and a shoeshine worker struggling to attract people amid fear of COVID-19.

The homeless man from earlier flies drones as a way of coping, while others skydive, and a horse rider wins a race.

The announcement of the film was published on the movie's YouTube channel on July 8, 2020,[3] coinciding with the COVID-19 pandemic, the George Floyd protests, natural disasters, etc., which Sundance Film Festival director Tabitha Jackson sees as "the perfect time to premiere this for a new edition of a work that so powerfully demonstrates the power of cinematic storytelling to reveal and celebrate our shared humanity".

Kevin Macdonald sees the film as a "time capsule," stating:[6]I guess any movie reflects its moment, whether you consciously want it to or not, but this even more so.

[9] Most critics came to an agreement that the film is a comprehensive depiction of life during the COVID-19 pandemic,[10][11][12] with the Chicago Sun-Times calling it "wholly predictable yet undeniably effective",[13] and Variety comparing it favorably with its predecessor for focusing on highlighting themes of unity, though noted that this approach caused the film to lack themes of "seeking and stressing life’s more diverse and disorienting juxtapositions".

[14] Many also praise the choice of videos and compilation style, which they observed to be emotional and heartwarming, feelings ambient in a variety of ways during the pandemic,[15][10][11] though Variety called certain choices "irregular",[14] and Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian criticized its apparent context-free nature and that the compilation "look[s] more like a corporate ad".