Burning Kiss (2018) Movie Script

1
(EXPLODING)
(MISTY MUSIC)
(STATIC BUZZING)
Beach beach
Na Na wa wa
CHARLOTTE: (VOICEOVER)
The summers are getting
hotter out here.
(SERIOUS MUSIC)
I just know it.
WOMAN: (ON TV) Call the live
one-on-one psychic hotline
for your private
reading anytime.
(EXPECTANT MUSIC)
WOMAN: (ON TV)
First, we have the weather,
and surprise surprise,
it's gonna be hot.
(FIERY RUMBLING)
(STATIC BUZZING)
(SHINING MUSIC)
WOMAN: (ON TV) Aquarius,
with a new moon approaching,
it's your turn to
shine without apology.
(HYPNOTIC MUSIC)
(DOORBELL RINGING)
(DEEP RUMBLING)
(HEAVY WHOOSHING)
(STATIC BUZZING)
(FIRE ROARING)
CHARLOTTE: (VOICEOVER)
After the accident that killed mom,
dad never walked again.
Sometimes I could feel
her watching over me.
I hated that feeling.
EDMUND: Okay, let's
take it from the top.
It's me.
It's you.
I'm the guy.
You're the guy.
EDMUND: And you're
handing yourself in?
MAX: If that's what you want.
Cut the shit, kid.
You tell me where you
really got this from.
It was hanging from the
windstream wiper of my car,
next to your wife's back teeth.
NARRATOR: (ON TV)
This of course meant
not only giving testimony
against Spesman,
but also any information
she might request
now or in the future.
Cassandra wasn't fooling
anyone but herself.
MAX: I'm sorry.
(GUNSHOT FIRING)
NARRATOR: (ON TV)
Addicts have but one loyalty,
to themselves and their
all-consuming drug habits.
Damn.
I missed.
Still don't believe me?
NARRATOR: (ON TV)
When circumstances
threaten their freedom
to pursue those habits,
behavior is motivated by the
most primitive and basic thing.
Self-preservation and
survival of the fittest.
I can show you where the car is.
(MYSTERIOUS MUSIC)
Oo wa oo wa oo
Stand up.
I need you to take him
somewhere, on your own.
On my own?
Yes.
Here, take this.
He does anything odd,
you sense anything strange,
you point and click.
CHARLOTTE: Point and click?
EDMUND: Shoot him.
Wa wa wa wa wa wa wa wa
No, fuck that, give it back.
(EVIL MUSIC)
Charlotte, you look
stupid, give it back.
He's gonna show you something.
When you get there, you call
me straight away, understand?
Understand?
Yes.
RADIO DJ: Do you have a
prediction what the summer 65
FM top 50 is going to have?
(HEARTBEAT POUNDING)
You and a friend could
be spending three weeks
in sunny Spain with 10,000...
Dad said you had
something to show me.
RADIO DJ: Break out your
crystal ball, tea leaves.
CHARLOTTE: Well, get in.
In the back.
RADIO DJ: To go into the running
to win this tremendous
Spain trip now.
(CAR ENGINE RUMBLING)
(STRANGE MUSIC)
(ELECTRIC WHIRRING)
(BIRDS CHIRPING)
WOMAN: (ON TV)
Does it feel like sometimes
your world is spinning
out of control?
EDMUND: (VOICEOVER) What do you
do when you actually find
what you're looking for?
WOMAN: (ON TV) Psychic powers.
Call the Live Psychic Line.
Do you just stop?
WOMAN: (ON TV) And talk with
a gifted psychic anytime,
24 hours a day.
EDMUND: (VOICEOVER) Give up?
(MYSTICAL MUSIC)
Look for something else?
WOMAN: (ON TV) Call the
Live Psychic Hotline.
Call toll-free,
1-800-445-796,
and speak with a gifted psychic
who can help you
overcome your fears,
predict opportunity, and
help you find true love.
Psychic minds are waiting.
I think you let it go.
WOMAN: (ON TV)
To speak with you live.
And you find it again.
Now giving you the answers.
WOMAN: (ON TV) And connect
with someone so gifted
by you're just talking to them.
Call the Live Psychic
Hotline toll-free,
1-800-445-796.
(EERIE MUSIC)
There it is.
(MYSTIFIED MUSIC)
(PHONE RINGING)
Is it there?
Yes.
Charlotte, listen to
me carefully, listen.
(SPELL-LIKE MUSIC)
CHARLOTTE: (VOICEOVER)
Sometimes when
bad things happen,
you don't see it coming.
(STRANGE MUSIC)
Other times, it's in the air.
You need to show me
exactly what you did
when you left the car.
Why?
CHARLOTTE: He wants to know.
(TROUBLED MUSIC)
(MAX SIGHS)
What more proof does he need?
He wants to know how you did it.
MAX: How I did it seems
pretty obvious, don't you think?
How you got away!
He wants to know
how you got away.
MAX: (VOICEOVER)
How I got away was so easy.
It was embarrassing.
I wanted to say
there was more, but...
CHARLOTTE: Ran where?
MAX: (VOICEOVER)
It just was what it was.
Through the bush.
MAX: (VOICEOVER)
Wipe down the prints.
Take the number
plates and serials.
Run.
CHARLOTTE: Where?
I don't know.
CHARLOTTE: And did you keep walking?
MAX: (VOICEOVER) I even got
picked up straight away.
The hardest part was listening
to the truck driver talk
for a couple of hours about
fucking freestyle motocross.
CHARLOTTE: Where did he drop you?
(SHADOWY MUSIC)
At a motel.
MAX: (VOICEOVER)
Then I stayed the night
at a motel near the beach
and it was all over.
CHARLOTTE: What was it called?
(OMINOUS MUSIC)
The Sunset Shacks.
(LUXURIOUS MUSIC)
(THUNDER RUMBLING)
(CREEPY MUSIC)
(THUNDER BOOMING)
CHARLOTTE: (VOICEOVER)
The night of the accident
there was a thunderstorm.
Four inches of rain.
It washed half the town away,
and Max's tire tracks with it.
By the time the
police showed up,
they didn't even
know mom was there.
She was completely submerged.
In mud.
(THUNDER BOOMING)
(MYSTICAL MUSIC)
I've had some time
to think things over.
I've decided not to kill you.
Nor do I want you
to turn yourself in.
But at the same time,
you're not going free.
And you will be punished.
We're not so
different, you and I.
I've killed people
before too, you know.
I once shot a man
clean between the eyes.
Somehow he kept
moving and talking.
He even sat on a fucking
chair and tied his shoe laces.
(THUNDER RUMBLING)
(EERIE MUSIC)
I've been looking for
you for quite some time.
My name is Max Woods.
(VOICES WHISPERING)
I'm a locksmith from
the Gold Fields.
I wasn't drunk.
I was just passing through.
Any of your friends
know that you're here?
No, I don't have any friends.
EDMUND: Six years is a long
time to grow a conscience,
wouldn't you say?
You have an excuse for that?
No.
(HAUNTING MUSIC)
EDMUND: Charlotte.
I know this is unusual,
considering the
circumstances, but
Max is gonna be staying
with us for a little while.
(SHADOWY MUSIC)
He's agreed to help
me with something.
Sweet dreams, Max.
(FOREBODING MUSIC)
(THUNDER RUMBLING)
You did good today.
I'm proud of ya.
I want you to have this.
(CHEERFUL SURF MUSIC)
Thank you.
EDMUND: Open it.
Beach beach beach
EDMUND: You like it?
It's a uniform your
mother used to wear.
Try it on.
Beach beach beach
Na Na wa wa
Beach beach sha Na Na
CHARLOTTE: (VOICEOVER)
Dad used to be a detective.
For a while after the accident
he was convinced he
could find mum's killer.
Beach beach beach
Na Na wa wa
Beach beach
CHARLOTTE: (VOICEOVER)
Nobody took much notice though.
Part of dad seemed angry
that Max had found him
rather than the
other way around.
Do you want me
to clean the house?
EDMUND: No, I want you
to create a character.
CHARLOTTE: (VOICEOVER)
Another part was excited
to meet him.
By the end of it they
both agreed on something.
I got that feeling she
was watching me again.
EDMUND: If someone
wore that kind of uniform
and had that kind of hair,
what kind of person
might they be?
(CREEPY MUSIC)
Maybe someone who's
hard on their luck.
Too many children.
Definitely a broken marriage.
She'd smoke too.
(VEILED MUSIC)
Maybe she'd be French.
EDMUND: (LAUGHS)
No, she's not French.
Bonjour.
Charlotte, she's not French.
But she also knows
all about plumbing.
Oh
Plumbing?
WOMAN: (ON TV) That's right.
All you need to do is use
your extrasensory perception,
and you and a friend
could be spending...
(PUZZLED MUSIC)
Put this on in case
someone sees you.
And don't speak to anyone.
(WOMAN CHATTERING ON RADIO)
(CURIOUS MUSIC)
You must be Charlotte.
Oh! (LAUGHS)
Took me about two hours,
but I found the stuff your
old man's looking for.
Records from January
12th six years ago.
They're the only
ones that booked in.
CHARLOTTE: (VOICEOVER)
I'd only ever stayed
in a motel once.
I was 11.
I remember a boy in
the room next door.
He told me the sun
made him blind.
Which one is it?
It's that one
there, the blue one.
CHARLOTTE: (VOICEOVER)
During the day
he couldn't see at all.
In the dark he could
see like normal.
(KNOCKING ON THE DOOR)
(ODD MUSIC)
Called himself Dracula.
(PHONE RINGING)
Because he got up to
bad stuff at night.
Joe speaking.
Good day, Joe.
I'm gonna cut
straight to the chase.
My name's Edmund Bloom.
You ever heard of me?
JOE: Uh, yeah.
(WOMAN MOANING)
Nice on top, broken spine.
You've got a whisper?
EDMUND: Aw, Joe,
that's a bit hurtful.
Now I need someone
to run a story for me
and who won't call me crazy.
No promises.
(PLEASURABLE MOANING)
I had this dream
a few nights ago.
I know this sounds nuts, but
bear with me.
CHARLOTTE: (VOICEOVER)
Living by the ocean is nice
if you can get used
to all the rust.
(WOMAN MOANING)
(WEIRD MUSIC)
Even when things wash up dead,
it still looks right.
Like the sea has gently
placed them on the shore.
(FANTASTICAL MUSIC)
Inland is mostly roadkill.
That's different.
They look the way they should.
(PLEASURABLE MOANING)
Like they died painfully.
(WOMAN GASPING AND MOANING)
(MYSTICAL MUSIC)
What are you doing here?
I told you not to
be seen by anyone!
Where's your hat?
I just left it in the car.
I'm just seeing if you're okay.
CHARLOTTE: It doesn't matter,
you did exactly what
I told you not to do.
I was worried about the plan.
(SLAPPING)
That's for talking back.
And from now on you
do what you're told.
(SLAMMING)
CHARLOTTE: (VOICEOVER) I guess
most things die painfully.
It doesn't seem fair that the
last few minutes you've got
are probably filled with
terror, pain, or sadness.
("FOLLOW ME" BY BATZ)
You go through your whole life
trying to avoid those feelings.
Then suddenly there's
a bullet in your chest.
Or you're being eaten alive.
It says that
two people checked in the
Shacks that night.
Steve Linder and Jesse Atlas.
Your name's not even on here!
Oh.
I wasn't gonna check
in under my real name.
I booked in under
the name Jesse Atlas.
I just took it from that
day's newspaper headline.
CHARLOTTE: What was the headline?
MAX: Some kind of
tragedy from that day.
Maybe a boat accident or...
Shark attack.
(PERPLEXED MUSIC)
(SLAMMING)
(EERIE MUSIC)
(FAN RATTLING)
Dad wanted me to
give this to you.
It's good.
EDMUND: (VOICEOVER) Catching a
criminal can be difficult,
but it's never impressive.
I mean, who caught Ted Bundy?
Who caught fucking
John Wayne Gacy?
Who gives a shit?
Hey sweetie, we have a guest.
Put some coffee in the pot.
EDMUND: (VOICEOVER)
Ask any cop.
You've forgotten in a week.
EDMUND: Come in.
Detective Sophia...
Yeah, I know who you are.
SOPHIA: Inspirational story.
Unfortunate victim standing up
against the lazy incompetent...
EDMUND: No, you misread it.
It didn't say standing up.
SOPHIA: Sorry, rising up.
EDMUND: (VOICEOVER)
What you want to catch
is people's attention.
A premonition or a vision,
a dream.
People listen to that stuff.
They don't necessarily
believe it, but they like it.
CHARLOTTE: (VOICEOVER)
He knew there'd be no point
catching Max on his own.
People would always sooner
believe mum over him,
even if she was dead.
SOPHIA: Sophia.
CHARLOTTE: Charlotte.
Hey, did you enjoy
the Maritime Festival
the other night?
Sorry?
Opening night.
You were watching the
fireworks near the docks.
You were wearing a blue
cardigan over a pink dress.
But you had different
hair, short and dark.
No, that wasn't me.
I stayed home all night.
EDMUND: (VOICEOVER) Too many
facts obscure the truth.
Most cases are so
fucking boring.
A confession or a
witness account.
It's just forgettable bullshit.
People prefer a bit of darkness.
(ETHEREAL MUSIC)
EDMUND: You suddenly
fit the description.
Wouldn't you agree?
Yes.
(DREAMLIKE MUSIC)
EDMUND: These are
your mother's clothes.
Disgusting.
So, how do you plead?
Guilty.
EDMUND: I thought so.
(BEWITCHING MUSIC)
I'm sorry.
(TWINKLING MUSIC)
EDMUND: Not yet you're not.
If you refuse to
stay in bed at night,
the punishment
will fit the crime.
(TROUBLED MUSIC)
CHARLOTTE: (VOICEOVER)
There's this place I try to go
when I can't get to sleep.
(MAX GRUNTS)
It's nothing special.
(CELESTIAL MUSIC)
It's just flat earth stretching
on forever around me.
(FAN WHIRRING)
(DREADFUL MUSIC)
No one can see me.
Nothing can touch me.
(WOMAN LAUGHING)
(WOMAN MOANING)
(ELECTRONIC WHIRRING)
(CAR HORN HONKING)
(PEOPLE CHATTERING AND LAUGHING)
(EERIE MUSIC)
(WOMAN SCREAMING)
(FIERY RUMBLING)
Dad said the necklace
needed to look rusted
for the reporter and the cops.
It upset me to see it that way.
Especially since we'd
only just gotten it back.
I try and remember more
about what happened that night,
and I figure if he
ran in this direction
from where he left his car,
it's possible he would've
hit this road here.
And the time that it took him
from where he left the car
means he would've got
there around 11:00 p.m.
Now, this is where
it gets spooky.
I had a dream last
night with Juliette.
I'm sitting out by the pool,
and she's got these
cards in front of her.
She turns over the first card.
There's a picture of a pendant.
Thing is, it's the same
pendant she was wearing
the night she was killed,
the very same pendant
that was reported missing
from the hit-and-run
scene six years ago.
JOE: That's very weird.
Well it gets weirder.
She turns over the next card.
There's a picture of
a Great White shark.
And I look out into the pool,
the fucking thing's
in the water!
So next day, I
start checking down
some of these motels
and roadhouses
along this stretch of road
to try and get records of anyone
that booked in late that night.
And there was one.
In a place that
rents beach shacks.
Now, you ever heard
of Jesse Atlas?
No.
Well the poor son of
a bitch was attacked
and killed by a Great White,
bitten in half,
the very day before Juliette
and I were hit by the car.
It's very strange, and all,
but I don't see as any relevance
to what we're talking about now.
Well Joe, it just seems
that it would've been hard
for him to have booked
into a motel that night,
that's all,
especially being in
two fucking pieces!
Someone was booked in under
a fake name that night,
that they lifted from
that day's headline!
(CREEPY MUSIC)
(FAN RATTLING)
Exercise time.
[WOMAN ON RADIO]
Coming up next
we have a very special guest
who just had a
very special gift.
(SPLASHING)
(HEAVENLY MUSIC)
(VOICES CHATTERING
OVER EACH OTHER)
MAX: (VOICEOVER)
Edmund was totally insane,
but he wasn't a total fool.
He had a plan.
Now let's get
this story straight.
When you arrived at the motel,
you accidentally drop the
pendant down the drain.
MAX: (VOICEOVER)
And it wasn't just this bullshit
about Juliette and
the tarot cards.
That was the sideshow.
Carnie showmanship for
the psychic TV crowd.
The real stuff would be found
in the book he was going to
release after I'd been caught,
which would explain
how he really did it.
Precise detective work
and endless research.
Which of course would
also be total bullshit.
And what does that matter?
He had me to help
him bend the truth
whichever way he saw fit.
People could put holes in
their stories and evidence
all they liked,
but as long as I was in of it,
no one would ever know
for certain how he did it.
CHARLOTTE: (VOICEOVER)
As ridiculous as dad's story was,
it only seemed a fraction
worse than the truth.
Max had barely hidden his car.
He'd obviously faked his name.
He kept the number plates.
He kept the necklace.
Yet somehow, until he
showed up at our door,
not a soul knew he did it.
It was as if he hadn't
been running at all,
just waiting.
Waiting to be caught.
Waiting to be punished.
(FAN RATTLING)
(FEVERISH MUSIC)
(ELECTRIC ZAPPING)
Fuck.
(SONIC RUMBLING)
(GHOSTLY BREATHING)
(SPLASHING)
(ELEGANT MUSIC)
(MOVES INTO DREADFUL MUSIC)
(FIERY ROARING)
You've captured it.
Captured it.
You can kill him.
Waiting for you.
FEMALE: (VOICEOVER)
You've captured it.
FEMALE: (VOICEOVER)
I don't deserve it though.
(FEMALE VOICES WHISPERING)
(HEAVY BREATHING)
(CRAZY MUSIC)
What are your thoughts?
Hard to say.
Might've been six years ago,
but this place feels
like he's only just left.
(SUSPICIOUS MUSIC)
CHARLOTTE: (VOICEOVER)
There was a new story
about what happened that night.
If you'd just killed someone
and horribly maimed another,
what would you do when you go?
CHARLOTTE: (VOICEOVER)
This time when Max arrived
at the motel he accidentally
dropped mum's necklace
down the sink.
(SCARY MUSIC)
On the same day dad was
showing the reporter
where mom's pendant was,
a girl I used to
go to school with
had been found stabbed
to death in her home.
They caught the killer
in an old factory.
He shared the place
with the body of a girl
who went missing up
north five years ago.
Or what was left
of her, I guess.
WOMAN: (IN MOVIE) She looks
so strange, with her eyes.
CHARLOTTE: (VOICEOVER)
Dad was still the front page.
("SID AND NANCY" BY BATZ)
Any searching that room yet?
Uh, we'll be out
of your hair soon.
So um,
you haven't remembered anymore
about the man who booked
in here that night?
Only what I told the other cops.
He called complaining
about his television,
said it was broken.
SOPHIA: Which it wasn't.
That's right.
When we checked it, it was fine.
SOPHIA: And you describe him
as an unassuming young man.
Are you sure you can't
remember anymore details
about what he looked like?
It was six years ago!
Look, he didn't have a
swastika between his eyes,
if you know what I mean.
SOPHIA: What are you doing there?
Scratch and win.
Are you sure you're
not just scratching?
Gotta be in it to win it.
What do you win?
A million bones.
A big boat.
Home makeover.
You know, all kinds of stuff.
Yeah?
Well what will you do
if you win the money?
I'll fucking give it away,
to charity.
Mm.
Well that's really nice.
Mm.
Good, good idea.
Mm-hm.
EDMUND: So what did you do
when you left the beach shack?
MAX: I caught a bus the next day
and I headed home.
EDMUND: A bus?
MAX: Yeah.
Were you gonna hide the plates?
Yeah, it crossed my mind.
Whereabouts?
The Sun.
Sorry?
The Sun.
It's an old mineshaft
just outside of town.
(KNOCKING ON THE DOOR)
SOPHIA: Oh, hi Charlotte,
how's things?
Hi, uh, great.
How are you?
SOPHIA: I'm a bit stressed actually.
Is your dad about?
Uh, he's, he's actually
busy at the moment.
SOPHIA: Yeah, well look,
I really need to see him.
Um, I'll find him.
Um, I'll get him for you.
SOPHIA: Oh, no, look,
I'll find him.
It fits together
like a fucking watch.
Pray for me
Detective Valmont,
what brings you here?
Our cream of the crop here.
EDMUND: Uh, Charlotte,
could you please
show the detective
back inside the house,
and I will meet with her when
I've got sufficient Vitamin D.
With all due
respect, Mr. Bloom,
you're going to have to
surrender the pendant
or it's withholding evidence.
Hey.
My stuff is your stuff.
Look, can we please
talk about this
somewhere more appropriate?
Inside my own house maybe?
(STRANGE MUSIC)
SOPHIA: Your wife
was very beautiful.
Never heard a
bad word about her.
SOPHIA: People didn't like
you so much though, did they?
Come again?
People, they didn't like you.
[WOMAN VOICEOVER]
Hold your breath.
[WOMAN VOICEOVER]
Hold your breath.
(WOMAN GASPING)
[WOMAN VOICEOVER]
Dive in, dive in.
So have you got
another teaser for me
on what happens next?
I don't know yet.
Well I reckon that he
called public transport
the next day.
There's a bus that stops near
the motel and heads north.
Or he hitchhiked.
I don't think so, not this guy.
I've just got a feeling.
(DEEP RUMBLING)
(OMINOUS MUSIC)
CHARLOTTE: (VOICEOVER)
When I was old enough,
mum made me learn first aid.
I only remember two things.
A fast heartbeat is
bad for snake bites.
And when people are
trapped in a fire,
they don't always burn to death.
(MYSTICAL MUSIC)
Sometimes their insides
get so hot and blistered
that their lungs fill
with their own fluid.
And they drown.
(ELECTRIC BUZZING)
(WEIRD MUSIC)
(DEEP RUMBLING)
(FIERY CRACKLING)
(HEAVY WHOOSHING)
(AIR SUCKING)
(MAX COUGHS)
(SUSPICIOUS MUSIC)
You could've drowned
today, but you didn't.
You ignored that
voice inside saying,
"I'm just a worthless fuck-up
wasting time and oxygen.
"Maybe I should just die."
That can't have been
easy to ignore, Max.
But you did.
You held on to see
this thing through.
I respect that, Max.
I'm gonna let you in
on a little secret.
Juliette's still alive, Max.
(MYSTERIOUS MUSIC)
(EDMUND LAUGHS)
MAX: You're fucking crazy.
(MISTY MUSIC)
Come again?
I'm sorry.
I'm pretty rattled after today.
Drowning's pretty exhausting.
Yeah, you should try
getting hit by a car.
It's a fucking marathon.
I would've killed for
the pain to go away.
Until I couldn't feel my legs.
Now I'd kill for it
to come back again.
Look, Max,
I'm sorry I made
that joke, okay?
I do that sometimes.
It's just my way of, you know,
dealing with what happened.
Paramedics do the
same thing, you know,
to help with the horror.
MAX: Yeah, well whatever works.
Yeah.
Well.
I'm off to bed.
I'll see you in the spring.
Max said he almost
drowned today.
You saved his life.
I almost left him.
EDMUND: I would've been
very angry if you'd done that.
After all, he's almost as
innocent as me and your mother.
He didn't know what happened
any more than we did.
He tried to get away with
it, but he manned up.
He came clean.
(MYSTICAL MUSIC)
Now.
Listen to me carefully.
(TOTEMIC MUSIC)
Tomorrow you take Max back
to where he came from.
(SPELL-LIKE MUSIC)
I want you to follow him
to a mineshaft nearby
called The Sun.
(MYTHOLOGICAL MUSIC)
Don't be seen by anyone.
And when you get there,
you make sure he does exactly
what he's supposed to.
We're getting closer now.
The last clue's
been set in motion.
(HYPNOTIC MUSIC)
People are starting to listen.
(FIRE WHOOSHING)
Soon, they'll start to wonder.
(MYSTICAL MUSIC)
(RUMBLING)
(ZAPPING)
CHARLOTTE: What about
that detective?
(PERPLEXED MUSIC)
I'm just worried that she
might start to figure it out.
(SNEAKY MUSIC)
Don't worry about her.
She wouldn't be able to figure
out a fucking egg timer.
Now even though you
don't deserve a reward
for saving Max,
I'll allow it.
Can I have my pictures back?
No.
You've well and truly
lost that privilege.
Because you did so well,
something even better.
You get to sleep
in my bed tonight.
(HAUNTING MUSIC)
CHARLOTTE: (VOICEOVER)
Mum used to run
a charity modeling competition
for the girls in town.
Somehow dad's story had
made her seem alive again
and him seem tolerable.
They asked dad to present
the winner that year.
They'd never done that before.
(AUDIENCE APPLAUDING)
Thanks, everyone.
Thank you all for the
support that you've given me
during these difficult times.
I just hope that I
can prove to you all
that justice is something
worth fighting for.
And whether you believe
Juliette's helping me
solve this crime or not,
just remember, love is
stronger than death.
("RACKETEER" BY POW NEGRO)
Myth is stronger than history.
Hope is stronger than fear.
Wisdom is stronger
than ignorance.
And dreams,
dreams are stronger
than reality.
Whatever that means. (LAUGHS)
Anyway,
tonight's winner
is...
(STRANGE MUSIC)
(AUDIENCE APPLAUDS AND CHEERS)
(BALLS CLACKING)
(BANGING)
(RUMBLING)
(SIREN WAILING)
(CAR HORN HONKING)
(TIRES SQUEALING)
(CHARLOTTE CRIES OUT)
(PHONE RINGS)
EDMUND: Where are you?
I'm heading home.
We just dropped off the plates.
Where's Max?
CHARLOTTE: I dropped him at a pub.
Turn around and pick him up.
CHARLOTTE: But you said
I couldn't be seen with him.
I don't care what I said!
Pick him up and
bring him home now!
("GAMESHOW QUEEN" BY BATZ)
(THUNDER RUMBLING)
Maxie, sweetheart!
Give us a kiss!
I haven't seen you for a while.
Where have you
been, on holidays?
Well, guess that means
you haven't needed any
money recently. (LAUGHS)
Three years.
I haven't seen you
for three years.
Well honey, you are over 25 now.
What are you back for?
It's not to move
back home, is it?
Because I don't
live there anymore.
I found some somebody.
He sells jet-skis, you
know, really light.
Some stuff's
happened recently, mum.
What's happened?
Stuff that's made
me want to talk to you
about a few things.
What things?
Like me.
And about the way that
you treated Mason.
JUNE: Mason?
The way that you left
me to look after him.
(BANGING)
To look after him by myself.
Wasn't right.
It was the one time you needed
to step up, and you didn't.
Gameshow queen
Everybody knows you're a
gameshow gameshow queen
I love this song.
Come and dance
with your mum, Max.
I don't want to fucking dance.
Come on, Maxy, it's
a fucking good song!
Let's go and dance!
It's a fucking good song!
Come on, Max!
I don't want to dance.
Come on!
You'll dance with
me, won't you, son?
On a deal
Here we go
CHARLOTTE: (VOICEOVER)
It's as if she wasn't there.
(CAR ZOOMING)
On another planet.
(ENGINE ROARING)
He wanted to break her finger
or slap her in the face
just to see if she felt it.
(ENGINE ROARING)
We made a deal
Oh yeah we made a deal
Oh my deal
Yeah we had a deal
MAX: (VOICEOVER)
I had a brother.
He's dead now.
I imagine I would've
had more too
had mum not wised
up to abortions.
What can I say?
She loves fucking.
She had no choice really.
She was raised a
strict Catholic.
Every now and then
mum would get drunk
and tell me about my dad.
The story always changed.
He was a cop.
Then he was a marine.
He was even a fucking
secret agent once.
I eventually tracked him down.
He shot wild dogs for a living.
At least he had a gun I guess.
(CHILLED ROCK MUSIC)
(CIGARETTE CRACKLING)
Who's Mason?
What?
Mason.
I heard you talking
with your mother
about someone called Mason.
(THUNDER RUMBLING)
Sounded like he's dead.
(GLASS SHATTERING)
(NONCHALANT ROCK MUSIC)
(LIGHTER FLICKING)
Who is he?
My brother.
CHARLOTTE: And?
And he got sick.
How did he get sick?
(VOICES WHISPERING)
Did you poison him?
(SMASHING)
(VOICES WHISPERING)
(HAUNTING MUSIC)
(FIRE CRACKLING)
(PEOPLE LAUGHING)
(RELAXED ROCK MUSIC)
MAX: He died slowly and painfully
over six years.
(THUNDER RUMBLING)
When did he die?
What does it matter?
When?
Recently.
So that's why you
never came clean.
You had to look after him.
(FIRE ROARING)
(THUNDER RUMBLING)
CHARLOTTE: (VOICEOVER)
I like to think that's the reason
why Max never came
clean about mum.
He never said that though.
I wish he had.
(FIRE ROARING)
Can I tell you a story?
(THUNDER RUMBLING)
(TELEVISION ZAPPING)
(SCARY MUSIC)
WOMAN: (ON TV) Richard, do you
think the sheriff is right,
that the same person that
killed Bud killed Tom?
MAN: (ON TV) Not much.
If it's a person at all.
(MYSTICAL MUSIC)
(PHONE RINGS)
Charlotte, where
the fuck are you?
MAX: That's no way to
speak to your daughter.
What have you done to her?
MAX: Don't panic,
dad, she's sleeping.
Now what's the problem?
Don't play dumb.
The cops have your fingerprints!
They were on the inside
of a television set
inside the motel room!
You opened it up to fix
the reception or something.
The point is the owner
still has the fucking TV!
Your prints on
record for anything?
Yes.
I got caught with weed
when I was a teenager.
Why didn't you
tell me about this?
Now everything's fucked!
Not gonna say sorry this time?
(LAUGHS) That's a change.
Anyway, this is not over yet.
I'll think of something new.
We've just got a
ticking clock is all.
I'm coming to kill you.
What?
I'm coming to kill you.
I've seen the newspaper articles
and I know that you're on to me,
so I'm coming to
town to kill you.
You have a dream.
Juliette tells you I'm coming
and that you'll
be waiting for me.
EDMUND: And I disable
you in my own house.
And then I confess,
you find the plates
to seal the deal.
EDMUND: And then
you're finally forgiven.
No.
You forgive Charlotte.
(MYSTERIOUS MUSIC)
What are you talking about?
MAX: You know what
I'm talking about.
You blame her for
the accident, not me.
You're never to see her again.
She's free.
You are a cold son
of a bitch after all.
MAX: Do we have a deal?
Any other terms?
MAX: You do it now.
(SPOOKY MUSIC)
CHARLOTTE: (VOICEOVER)
Something washed up
on the shore once.
It didn't look like
anything I'd ever seen.
It was all spikes and teeth.
I couldn't tell if it was
that way to attack things
or to protect itself.
I would've killed it,
but I didn't want
to get that close.
I just walked away.
Hoping it would die.
(UPBEAT SURF MUSIC)
You okay?
I'm fine.
MAX: We should hit the road.
Uh,
no, I,
I'm not gonna go
home for a while.
While I'm all the way out here,
I may as well look around.
No rush for me to be back.
So what should I do?
You can take the bus.
(CHATTERING ON TV)
(OMINOUS MUSIC)
(CONTENTED SURF MUSIC)
You sure you're okay?
Yeah, yeah, I'm
fine, just tired.
(CHEERFUL SURF MUSIC)
Yeah.
(FUN SURF MUSIC)
(CHATTERING ON TV)
(EERIE MUSIC)
Shit.
No, I'm fine, really.
(KNOCKING ON THE DOOR)
Oh fuck, it's mum!
MAX: (VOICEOVER)
When I was a kid,
I thought seawater
was actually blue.
(KNOCKING ON THE DOOR)
I'll get rid of her.
No.
Don't worry about it.
Just leave it.
MAX: (VOICEOVER) I tried to
take some home with me once,
but it just looked like
I was carrying around
a jar of my own piss.
I've got memories like that.
And they're beautiful,
but they change the
closer you get to them.
It's best just to
leave those ones alone,
let them live in the dark.
(KNOCKING ON THE DOOR)
(BEAST ROARING)
(WOMAN SCREAMING)
(SCARY MUSIC)
(MYSTICAL MUSIC)
EDMUND: (VOICEOVER)
Hitching to town,
try to be seen by as
many people as you can.
It won't hurt to be seen
around my place either,
as if you're casing the joint.
Book into a motel,
then go to a hardware store
and buy a hunting knife.
Pick the meanest fucking
blade you can find.
Meanwhile, I'll
tell the newspaper
all about my latest dream,
an eerie nightmare which
involves a death card,
a mysterious man,
and Juliette trying to warn me.
(WHOOSHING)
(ZAPPING)
Something bad is coming.
(STRANGE MUSIC)
MAX: (VOICEOVER)
The plan was that I'd break in
through the front door
and head for his room
to kill him in his sleep.
(MYSTICAL MUSIC)
He'd be waiting for
me around the corner,
so as I'm about to knife him,
he puts a bullet in my head.
(MISCHIEVOUS MUSIC)
(GUNSHOT FIRES)
Then as I'm down,
he calls the cops and tells
them he shot an intruder.
They show up, I get arrested,
and it's all over.
But I knew what he really
had planned for me.
(GUNSHOT FIRES)
(EERIE MUSIC)
(MOVES INTO UPBEAT SURF MUSIC)
(THUNDER RUMBLING)
CHARLOTTE: (VOICEOVER)
You can't remember everything
about someone when they're dead.
(BANGING)
You try your best though.
Mum told me if I dropped my
comb while combing my hair,
something bad was coming.
I used to grip my comb so
tight my knuckles turned white.
I still do.
Once dad hit mum for
messing up dinner.
I remember crying all night.
Mostly because I felt
like she deserved it.
I have to hold on
to that memory.
Like the rest.
(PHONE RINGS)
His name's Steve Linder,
an electrician from Jild.
Says he knows nothing
about the hit and run
and was merely
staying at the motel
on the way to the Southwest.
But how'd his fingerprints
get in the television?
Get this.
Says he was trying
to open the door
because he thought
it was his room.
When the guy answered,
he noticed he'd been pulling
his television apart.
He offered to fix it.
After all, he's an
electrician, right?
(PHONE RINGS)
Motherfucker.
You knew they
weren't your prints
and you sailed me up the river.
Why'd you do it, Max?
As a bargain to
let Charlotte go?
You think you're saving her?
(EDMUND LAUGHS)
Creepy, Max.
Very creepy.
MAX: I'm still prepared
to hold my end of the bargain
if you're still
prepared to hold yours.
What, that I never
see my daughter again?
MAX: That's right.
You're obviously not a parent.
What do you mean?
Anxiety of influence, Max.
Everyone knows that kids
do the exact opposite
of what you tell them.
SOPHIA: He was staying
in one of the other rooms?
JOE: Yes.
Where did he say he was
at the time of the accident?
JOE: On the road.
He's telling the truth.
It's not him.
But we've got his prints.
It's not him.
MAX: I just hope there's
not too many jobs
that need urgent attention
around the house.
That could be a real hassle
for someone like you.
CHARLOTTE: Edmund, please,
I'm, I'm sorry.
(ELECTRONIC WHIRRING)
I'll sure you'll
survive though, Edmund.
(ELECTRONIC WHIRRING)
After all,
no one knows better than I do
that you're a survivor.
She's not coming back.
My pension will
barely cover her care.
You remember that?
Now it's only a matter of time
before they realize their big
arrest is a white elephant.
And you've been seen
all around town.
Every colonel wondered
what you were doing here
while I was solving the mystery.
So let's keep this ending, okay?
Did you get the knife?
MAX: Yeah, I got the knife.
Good.
Give it a couple more days.
Then we finish this thing.
CHARLOTTE: (VOICEOVER)
Western Australia is famous
for two things.
Sunburn and shark attacks.
(UPBEAT SURF MUSIC)
This makes the beach a
dangerous place to visit.
Beach beach beach
Na Na wa wa
Beach beach beach
Na Na wa wa
Beach beach beach
Na Na wa wa
Beach beach sha Na Na
Beach beach beach
Na Na wa wa
MAN: You got the right idea.
What's going on?
I swear I saw a
massive shark out there.
You're kidding.
No.
Would've been about
four meters I'd say.
It's definitely a Great White.
It's got to be the same one.
CHARLOTTE: Same one?
Well didn't you hear?
A fisherman got taken yesterday.
He got bitten in half.
CHARLOTTE: Is that it?
Where?
Out there!
To the left!
It's heading out to sea!
Listen, I, uh,
I don't normally do this,
but uh, me and some mates,
we're having a bit of a party
tonight out near the watchtower.
You game?
Why not?
Na Na wa wa
Beach beach baby
Na Na wa wa
Beach beach baby
JULIETTE: I can help you with that
when we get back if you want.
No, that's okay.
I'll probably be asleep anyway.
You guys won't
get back til late.
JULIETTE: Are you kidding?
These police balls
are so boring.
Any excuse to get out early.
EDMUND: Come on,
Julie, we're late.
JULIETTE: Okay.
Bye honey, I love you.
Bye.
EDMUND: Be good.
Sha Na Na
Beach beach sha Na Na
(WAVES CRASHING)
(CHEERFUL SURF MUSIC)
(MOVES INTO WEIGHTY MUSIC)
(THUNDER RUMBLING)
(PHONE RINGS)
WOMAN: I miss you.
(SIRENS WAILING)
And I'm sorry.
[WOMAN VOICEOVER]
You did this.
You did this!
(FIRE ROARING)
(DREADFUL MUSIC)
(PEOPLE CACKLING)
(GHOSTLY BREATHING)
(BIRDS CALLING)
(TERRIFYING MUSIC)
(CRASHING)
(RAPID THUDDING)
(CRACKING)
(SONIC WHOOSHING)
EDMUND: Go farther.
Madrid.
("STON GON" BY FAOUL DUKE)
Go to death right
in front of me.
I don't know if it was the
guns or it was not the time.
But for some reason
it gave me a hard-on
I couldn't get rid of.
Eventually I headed
for the red lights,
screwed everything with a pulse.
Even a fucking amputee.
Both legs.
I got mugged in the end.
Surfaced the next
day barely breathing,
covered in blood.
Do you know what para
siempre means, Max?
Forever.
Para siempre was written
on the side of my cock
when I woke up in the Sun.
Do you know why I remember that?
Because the fucking
thing was still hard.
Hanged men would be found with
these irrepressible erections
after their necks had snapped.
Back in the day,
they called it angel lust.
You know how I learned that?
Because the same way I
woke up that day in Spain
was the same way I was found
after you left me in the
dirt with a broken spine.
Half dead.
But carrying a fucking hard-on
that would've frightened
the Spanish Inquisition.
Some things just don't die, Max.
Remember that if you
get any funny ideas
about what you're
supposed to do tonight.
I'll see you soon.
(DIAL TONE BEEPS)
MAX: (VOICEOVER) I could no
longer see any bad
in killing Edmund.
(KNOCKING ON THE DOOR)
EDMUND: It's open.
MAX: (VOICEOVER)
It was only good.
We need to talk.
I'm at such a loss
over this whole thing.
I think it's time to
look to the stars.
(SONIC WHOOSHING)
MAX: (VOICEOVER)
There had been a good side
to killing Juliette.
Come on.
MAX: (VOICEOVER) All my life
I'd always felt bad
about something.
SOPHIA: Don't wanna play?
MAX: (VOICEOVER) Although I
wasn't really sure what.
(CREEPY MUSIC)
Juliette, can you hear me?
MAX: (VOICEOVER)
From her death onwards,
I had something.
I had her face.
SOPHIA: Has Edmund been
honest with the police
about this whole thing?
(MYSTICAL MUSIC)
GHOST: No.
(PERPLEXED MUSIC)
SOPHIA: Did the killer
really drop your pendant
down a sink at the
Sunset Shacks Inn?
GHOST: No.
(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC)
SOPHIA: Were you ever afraid
of Edmund?
(EERIE MUSIC)
GHOST: Yes.
(GHOSTLY MUSIC)
SOPHIA: Did Edmund ever
give you reason to be afraid?
(SPOOKY MUSIC)
GHOST: Yes.
(BEWITCHING MUSIC)
Would you like to talk about
his relationship with Charlotte?
(EERIE MUSIC)
Nah, she doesn't wanna talk.
But she does have one
other message for me.
(MYSTICAL MUSIC)
MAX: (VOICEOVER)
The electrician had my face too.
I bumped into him at
least seven or eight times
since that night,
all over the place,
mostly roadhouses.
(CREEPY MUSIC)
EDMUND: (VOICEOVER)
Oh for fuck's sake.
You're a bitch.
(SOPHIA LAUGHING)
MAX: (VOICEOVER) He had no
idea where I lived.
We had no mutual friends.
And he knew nothing
else about me.
(VEXED MUSIC)
But it wasn't gonna
take much more digging
to figure it out.
(UPBEAT PERCUSSION MUSIC)
Whatever happened,
I was definitely going down.
(VIGOROUS MUSIC)
I just needed to make sure
I wasn't gonna be alive.
(SQUISHY THUDDING)
(ENGINE RUMBLING)
(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC)
EDMUND: You're looking
for Max, aren't you?
No.
Be honest with me, Charlotte.
You've fallen for
him, haven't you?
(EERIE MUSIC)
No.
I just want you to
stop what you're doing.
You don't have to forgive him,
but just let him be
punished properly.
(GUNSHOT FIRES)
EDMUND: That's what
it's all about, Charlotte.
(MISTY MUSIC)
Where is he?
He'll be back here soon.
(DOOR CREAKING)
Now what about you?
(UNTRUSTING MUSIC)
You wanna come back home?
Come on.
Help your old man upstairs.
We'll talk about it.
(SPOOKY MUSIC)
(ELECTRICITY BUZZING)
CHARLOTTE: (VOICEOVER)
I used to like the heat.
I hate it now.
The grass can't grow.
Cars break down.
(DREAMLIKE MUSIC)
The sand hurts your feet.
(GLEAMING MUSIC)
The light hurts your eyes.
I want a bigger room
and I wanna be able
to stay out at night.
Now honey, you're
making me nervous.
Can you move me back
from the edge, please?
And I want a
part-time job in town.
Charlotte.
(EMPTY MUSIC)
Charlotte!
Wheel me back!
(GHOSTLY MUSIC)
(VOICES WHISPERING
OVER EACH OTHER)
(HEAVY BREATHING)
(THUNDER RUMBLING)
(SCREAMING)
(THUNDER BOOMING)
Where's Edmund?
He's not here.
(ETHEREAL MUSIC)
Where is he?
Does it matter?
You're free.
(DREAMLIKE MUSIC)
Free.
(FLOATING MUSIC)
We had a plan.
Forget it.
He canceled, he just
wants you to move on.
(MYSTIFIED MUSIC)
(THUNDER BOOMING)
What else did he say?
He said that it's
not your fault,
and even though you did the
wrong thing, he forgives you.
(EERIE MUSIC)
What did he say to you?
He said that I'm a good person.
And that if mum was still alive,
she wouldn't be angry
at me for anything.
(DREAMLIKE MUSIC)
(DEEP RUMBLING)
MAX: Do you forgive me?
(SOMBER MUSIC)
EDMUND: (VOICEOVER)
You're not a bird.
You're a mammal.
(SPLASHING)
You're supposed to live
in a cave like a bat.
(SONIC WHOOSHING)
(ETHEREAL MUSIC)
You can leave whenever you want,
but if this place
feels like a cave,
remember that it's also a home.
Once you break
through those bars,
you're on your own.
Forever.
(TRANQUIL MUSIC)
CHARLOTTE: (VOICEOVER)
It only took a few days
after they found dad for
things to go back to normal.
(CAMERA CLICKING)
People stopped caring.
The following week
there was a story
about someone who'd been
setting horses on fire
with a tin of gasoline.
(CALM MUSIC)
(STATIC BUZZING)
He said at night they
looked like giant fireflies.
(PONDEROUS MUSIC)
I never spoke to Max again.
I wonder about him sometimes.
(THOUGHTFUL MUSIC)
People always says they
don't want to die wondering.
(DREAMLIKE MUSIC)
I think it sounds
like a nice way to go.
Beach beach beach
Na Na wa wa
Beach beach beach
Na Na wa wa
Beach beach beach
Na Na wa wa
Beach beach sha Na Na
Beach beach beach
Na Na wa wa
Beach beach beach
Na Na wa wa
Beach beach beach
Na Na wa wa
Beach beach sha Na Na
Go to the shacks
bikini babes
Just having fun
out in the sun
Us holding hands
Your smile so bright
And you love me
holding you tight
Beach beach beach
Na Na wa wa
Beach beach beach
Na Na wa wa
Beach beach beach
Na Na wa wa
Beach beach sha Na Na
Go to the shacks
bikini babes
Just having fun
out in the sun
Us holding hands
Your smile so bright
And you love me
holding you tight
Beach beach beach
Na Na wa wa
Beach beach beach
Na Na wa wa
Beach beach beach
Na Na wa wa
Beach beach sha Na Na
Beach beach sha Na Na
Beach beach sha Na Na