He's Watching (2022) Movie Script
1
- This is our street,
and something really weird
is in the air.
You don't know what,
but something.
[crickets chirping]
It's beautiful.
It almost looks like...mist
or ash, something.
[wind whooshing]
It almost seems like snow.
So cool.
[The Do's "Dust It Off"]
- Burning papers
into ashes
What a season
How they fly high
From the ground up
- [giggling]
- There is yet
Another fountain
Flowing over
- [shrieks]
[laughter]
- As the night falls
Keep dreaming away
- Hey--hey, Mom.
Hey--hey, Dad.
We decided to make
a video diary for you
while you're away,
so just get well soon, please,
'cause we don't like
being alone.
[pan sizzling]
[laughs]
Why do the eggs look bubbly?
- Because eggs bubble
when you cook them.
- They do?
- Dude.
Gordon Ramsay
would not be proud of you.
- [laughs]
- Whoa, so messy.
- Iris' room
must be way more messy.
- Lucas won't clean his room.
He won't do it.
- Hold on.
Focus better.
- Here's his baby doll.
- It's not a baby doll.
- Raggedy Andy,
the little baby.
- [laughs]
Stop!
[both speaking indistinctly]
Curse!
Curse for life!
Demons will be down upon you,
and you will die!
Die!
Hi, Fran and Vincente.
- Hi, guys.
- How are you?
- We're good. We're good.
What are you guys up to?
- Making a video diary
for Mom and Dad.
You guys wanna say hi?
- Hey, Gretchen. How you doing?
- Hey, Gretchen.
- [coughs]
- Are you guys all right?
- Oh, yeah, yeah. We're good.
You kids come by anytime.
- Drop by, guys.
- Love you guys.
- Bye.
- Yeah, stay safe out there.
- We will.
- Okay, so for some reason,
Lucas insisted
on going barefoot.
- Yeah, 'cause shoes suck.
- But anyways, we're sneaking
into Brenda and Jay's.
We're going to use their pool,
their crystal clean pool,
which Lucas promises
not to pee in.
- Hey! I would never
pee in their pool.
- You would, and you have.
- Well, I mean, maybe a little.
- All right, ready?
- I'm ready.
- Okay, 1, 2, 3, go!
- You could possibly wear
Mess it up
Time is up
- Hey, guys.
My face is really crooked.
Um...[laughs]
It's been, like,
a day and a half
since you guys have responded,
but it says
you're opening our messages.
So if you could
just send a response
to me and Lucas,
that'd be really nice.
Love you. Bye.
[phone chimes]
[birds chirping]
[eerie whoosh]
[ominous tone]
[static crackling]
[radio stations tuning]
[thunder booming]
[rain pattering]
[screen humming]
[thunder booming]
[gunshot]
[screen humming]
[ominous tone]
[thunder booming]
[eerie music]
[static crackling]
[ominous tone]
[liquid pouring]
- What the fuck?
[timer ticking]
[camera beeps]
[chuckles]
What the fuck did you do,
Lucas?
[door creaking]
[whispering] Lucas?
Lucas?
[door creaks]
[switch clicks]
[light hums]
[object thuds]
[gasps]
[breathing shakily]
Lucas?
Lucas?
[static crackling]
Lucas?
[cat meows]
Jesus Christ.
[ominous music]
So why'd you
do that last night?
- Why'd I do what?
- Can you sit down?
- Yeah.
Why are you recording me?
- I'm trying to get
your confession tape, Lucas.
- What confession tape?
- Why'd you leave
all the stuff
in the middle of the hallway?
- What stuff?
["Clair de Lune" playing
on piano]
- So despite
your son being a dick,
trying to freak me out,
I'm still being a good sister
and making him
practice his piano.
And later, we're going out
for some exercise.
We're going to Chinatown.
[birds chirping]
[car engine rumbling]
Action.
- Hi, I'm Dad,
and I'm a famous TV director.
I'm superstitious
about this hat,
and the hat is, like,
so important
because everything
will go wrong
if I don't use it on set.
- The blue one's
the lucky hat, dumbass.
- Better go get
the blue one, then!
- Take off Dad's lucky hat.
- No.
- Take it off.
- No.
- Dude, that's his special hat.
Take it off.
- No.
Hey, you want my movie
to fall apart?
- I don't,
but I also don't want you
to lose it
and mess it up for Dad.
Wow, okay.
- Where do you think
you're going with that?
- Bringing the hat
back to its rightful home.
- Now the movie's
gonna be cursed,
thanks to you.
- Bye-bye.
- And that's all I know.
[piano lid slams]
[birds chirping]
[phone chimes]
- Iris, why are you recording?
- The mysterious disease
that has already...
- I already told you
why I'm recording.
- Killed over 2,000 people
in Los Angeles County alone...
- No, you didn't.
- Yes, I did.
I have to record it.
It's history.
- I know it's history,
but why record it?
- Dude, what is your problem?
- I don't have a problem.
I'm just asking you
a simple question.
- Okay, can you shut up now?
- I would, but you're being
super annoying,
making me listen
to the news all day.
- I'm being annoying?
- Yeah.
- Okay.
- Are nothing but a theater
being performed
by the devil
seeking to get his due.
[harsh piano notes]
- [coughing]
[low note playing]
[crack]
- [gasps]
[crickets chirping]
[owl hooting]
[door creaks]
[phone beeps]
[harsh piano notes]
- [coughing]
- Get up, dickhead.
Wake up, freak.
Why'd you do it?
- What did I do?
- Come on.
Why'd you record me sleeping
in the middle of the night?
- No, I didn't.
- Dude. The severed fingers?
The knife?
How'd you do that?
Admit it,
or I'm gonna tell Mom.
- I didn't.
What do I have to admit?
- The video's
on my camera roll, Lucas.
- Go back to sleep.
- I'm so done.
Om
[eerie music]
[cuckoo clock ringing]
[distorted laughter]
[ominous tone]
[distorted gasping]
[distorted laughter]
[music stops]
[birds chirping]
[ominous tone]
- We need more nurses
at the hospital.
The nurses are working hard.
The nurses
are working short.
- Stop playing the news.
It's getting very annoying.
- Or you could stop
being mean and complaining.
- Why do you
keep playing the news?
- 'Cause I feel
like playing the news.
- Seriously. Stop.
- Go in the other room
and annoy the cat
if you don't want
to hear the news, Lucas.
- The stench and taste
of death
in their mouth.
- Leave me alone.
[rock music]
[phone chimes]
- Hi.
Iris is showing me or...
interrupting everything I do
with the news.
And all the time,
it's just nothing
but people dying
and people sick and--
[metallic clang]
What?
Iris?
[panting]
[metallic clanging]
What?
Iris! Where are you?
[dull thudding]
- What?
Why'd you turn
your lights off?
- The lights--
- Well, why don't you just
click the--
- I don't know what's going on.
The lights turned off.
- You turned off your lights.
- What? No, I didn't.
- How else--
that's not possible.
- Go check the video.
Go check the video.
- Fine, I will check the video.
- Yeah, it has all the proof.
- I know what you're doing.
- I'm not doing anything.
- I know what you're doing.
Okay, all around the house,
something's going on
with the lights.
Not going off, like
in the video Lucas forwarded.
But there's a weird
flickering happening,
like a candle or something.
I tried to tell Lucas it was
probably just electrical.
But he doesn't
believe a word I say.
And now, after being
a royal dick to me
for the last three days,
he's acting like
a helpless little lamb
and begging me to be with him
at all times.
As if the lights flickering,
they're gonna kill him.
So we go over to our neighbors
to ask if they can come over
and give him
some adult-style comfort.
But they're not home.
And now here we are, and it's
happening in your office too,
which, by itself,
I wouldn't find very creepy,
but, Dad, I have to ask.
What the hell
is the closet creeper?
[mellow rock music]
I'm hoping he's a character
idea for one of your movies
and you didn't really
write this.
All right, time to say
good night to Mom and Dad.
- Good night, Mom and Dad.
- Anything else you want to say
before I leave?
You could say, "I love you."
- I love you.
- Okay, I'm gonna go to bed.
Good night.
- Wait, wait, wait.
Can you stay with me, please,
please?
- Lucas, I already told you
I'm not sleeping
in the bed with you.
You just have to be a big boy.
- How am I supposed
to be a big boy?
That makes me
sound younger than I am.
Seriously, it's not how old
I am or how not-old I am.
I'm actually scared.
You're scared sometimes, right?
- Should I close your curtains
or something?
- No. That's not gonna
change anything, please.
- Dude, I'm going to bed.
- I'm begging you.
Why is it so hard
just to stay with me?
- Because I don't want to.
- Iris, if you leave,
that's really mean
and jerky of you.
- Mean and jerky of me?
- Yeah.
- Okay, sweet dreams.
- All right,
see you later, jerk.
- You don't even know
what mean and jerky is, Lucas.
- Jerk, jerk--you're a jerk!
- Punk-ass.
[white noise hissing]
- [meows]
- This is my noisemaker.
I can't sleep without it.
And there's Brodie.
- [meowing]
[light music playing]
- [vocalizing]
How'd I find myself
in this mess
How'd I find
myself in this mess
I'm so stressed,
I'm upset
You know best,
unbelievable
Don't wanna see me fall,
see me fall
[knock at door]
- Iris?
- How'd I find myself
in this mess
- Oh, hi, Lucas.
- I'm so stressed,
I'm upset
You know best,
unbelievable
- Hi, Lucas.
- Can I come in?
- I thought I was a mean jerk.
- Well...
now you are, if you're not
letting me come in.
- [high-pitched]
Bye, Lucas.
- Okay, you are
being a jerk now.
Bye.
- Adios.
[sparse piano music playing]
[keyboard keys clacking]
- Iris keeps on locking me
out of her room because she--
there's a bunch
of creepy things
happening right now, and she--
and I think it's ghosts,
but she doesn't believe me,
and she thinks it's me
and I'm playing a prank on her,
which I'm not, and...yeah.
[objects clatter]
[footsteps thumping]
[dog barking]
- One, two, ready, go.
[Karen O's "Day Go By"]
So I went into your drawer
to find a needle and thread,
and I found this.
Are we really in danger
of losing our house?
- Day go by
Daybreak, can't wait for
- Iris.
Iris!
Iris.
- What?
- Where's Raggedy Andy?
Have you seen him anywhere?
- What?
- Are you serious?
Where is Rag-ged-dy A-an-d-dy?
- Lucas, I can't hear
anything you're saying.
- [shouting]
Where is Raggedy Andy?
- Dude, come over here
if you want to talk to me.
I can't hear you.
- Deaf!
- Doctor, doctor
- Olly, olly oxen
free, free, free.
Raggedy Andy, where can you be?
[ominous tone]
- My pain is gone
- Did you look in your room?
- Yeah, I looked in my room.
That's the most basic
spot ever.
And he obviously
should be in my room,
but he's not in my room.
- What about the kitchen?
- Okay, are you
actually gonna help,
or are you just gonna
keep on using makeup,
recording yourself
like a creep?
- What do you mean,
like a creep?
I'm being a normal person.
- Do normal people
put on makeup
and record themselves
just to send it to no one?
- Time away
- You know what, dude?
Get out of my face.
- You hid him from me,
didn't you?
- That's the stupidest
accusation I've ever heard.
- You just want revenge on me,
don't you?
- For what?
- For the pranks
you think I'm pulling,
which I'm not.
- Lucas, right now,
I think you're
either insane
or have a brain disease.
- Maybe you lost him
making that crazy movie
you're working on.
- You have no idea
how done I am
with this stupid conversation.
- Oh, my God,
what's wrong with you?
- Bye!
- Doctor, doctor
[phone chimes]
- She hid Raggedy Andy.
[timer rings]
She's keeping him away from me.
I know it.
- It's gone, gone, gone,
gone, gone, gone, gone
[unsettling music]
[bell tolling]
[eerie music]
[eerie whoosh]
[tense music]
[harsh piano notes]
[static crackling]
[eerie whoosh]
[harsh piano notes]
- Last night, I had a dream
where I thought I heard you
calling my name outside,
so I left the house.
[airy music]
But our front yard
was not our front yard.
Then for some reason, I was
transported back in time.
But Lucas
was still in the future.
So I flew back
and asked him to come with me.
Then I realized we weren't
time traveling at all.
We were watching
a film you'd made
out of our memories
without asking us permission.
You weren't there
in any of the images,
but almost like
I could see you
through my closed eyelids,
watching me,
filming me
while I was sleeping.
[tense music]
Only it wasn't exactly you.
You were something else,
something dark.
You were in a costume,
a costume I'd seen before,
but I couldn't quite place it.
Finally,
it came to me what it was.
And there you were,
just like in my dream,
on the poster
for that demon movie
you made last year.
Anyway, it's creepy here
without you.
And Lucas is acting weird,
so please get better soon.
Okay.
- Hi, Mom. Hi, Dad.
I've been learning this song
while you're away,
and it's called--
oh, I don't know.
But you'll really like
this song,
and it's a classical piece,
I'm pretty sure.
Doesn't sound like one,
but I'm pretty sure it is.
Okay, I'm gonna play it.
["Clair de Lune" playing]
[door creaking]
[eerie music]
[phone chimes]
[birds chirping]
[eerie music]
[John Gold's "Glow Stars"]
- I put my head
on the pillow
First thing I see
is your face
- So I was in
a pretty good mood.
And then I walked
into the living room,
and I found Lucas' poetry
that he left me.
"Keep recording his scenes
or suffer the consequences.
Iris, this means you."
- I told you I didn't do it.
- What are you saying,
a goblin did it?
- Maybe so.
- [sighs] Jackass.
[phone chimes]
[eerie music]
[audience laughter over TV]
[indistinct dialogue over TV]
- Were you
gonna offer me any?
Why not?
- Because.
- That's not nice.
Sharing is caring, Lucas.
- Yeah, I don't care,
so I won't share.
- You're such a dick.
- It all adds up.
- It adds up
to you being a dick.
- All you've been doing is
just blaming me for everything.
So should I share
my strawberries?
- If you don't share
those strawberries,
I think I might murder you.
- These are my strawberries.
They're not yours.
- Lucas, when someone asks you
for a strawberry...
- No! No!
- You give them a strawberry.
- Get away from me!
- Give it.
- Stop!
- Give me those strawberries!
- They're my strawberries!
- Those are not
your strawberries!
- No!
- They're our strawberries!
But if you want them back,
I'll happily smush them
up your stupid nose.
Yeah?
Want it?
- Give me back
my fucking strawberries!
No!
Stop!
[tense music]
Put down the chair.
[smacks lips]
Mmm.
[spray hissing]
[cymbal crashing]
[discordant piano music
playing]
[cat purring]
[eerie music]
- What the fuck?
[ominous music]
- I know I'm not really
supposed to be in Dad's office,
but I came in here
looking for Iris,
and I found this creepy video
she was cutting together.
I don't know why anyone
would make a movie like this.
I mean, what is that thing?
But maybe most freaky of all,
what kind of psycho
paints strawberries black
and then red again?
I hope she didn't
want to poison me.
[whimsical music playing
over TV]
- It's actually turning out
kind of good.
I'm like Bob Ross.
[giggles]
But I don't think Bob Ross
paints anything
other than tr--I've seen, like,
every episode of that show,
and I don't think
he paints anything
other than lakes and trees.
- [vocalizing]
But--and good for him,
but it's--I don't know.
What if he did, like, a city?
Do you think
he could paint a city?
- [vocalizing]
- Probably not, actually.
I don't think he could do it.
- [vocalizing]
- Lucas does not like Bob Ross,
but he just needs
to get into it,
and then maybe
he'll understand.
[soft music playing
over speaker]
- [vocalizing]
- Can you see?
Hold up.
Okay, there you go.
- [vocalizing]
[knock at door]
- Lucas, go to bed.
It's so late.
[knock at door]
[phone chimes, music stops]
[bang at door]
Lucas?
[ominous tone]
Oh, Jesus.
[whispering] Lucas.
Lucas.
Lucas!
Lucas!
[radio clicks on]
[gasps]
[soft piano music playing]
Hello?
Jesus Christ.
- Ave
Maria
[music distorts and stops]
[gasps]
Oh, my God.
[ominous tone]
[crickets chirping]
[touch tones beeping]
[line rings]
- Hello, you have reached
Los Angeles
Municipal Hospital's
intensive care unit.
Due to high call volume,
we are currently unable
to answer every call.
If this is a true
medical emergency,
please hang up and dial 911.
[ominous tone]
Otherwise, please leave
a message
for our nursing staff
or physicians after the beep,
and we will return your call
as soon as possible.
[ominous tone]
[line beeps]
- The mailbox is full
and cannot accept
any messages at this time.
Goodbye.
[suspenseful music]
[door creaks]
[eerie whoosh]
[static crackling]
[radio stations tuning]
[radio clicks off]
[ominous music]
[birds chirping]
- Hey, Iris,
I just came to say that...
I'm sorry for being
such a jerk earlier.
- All right.
Hey, Lucas,
thanks for apologizing,
but please don't film my art.
It's not finished yet.
- Okay, I'm sorry. I won't.
- Dude, just so you know,
I came down here
to have some alone time.
- I know, but, Iris?
- Yes?
- Some really weird videos
showed up on my camera roll.
- What?
- They were just
on the camera rolls
that one of us shot.
- You're not making sense.
What are you talking about?
- There's just videos.
I don't think
either of us took them.
- What are you talking about?
- Just look on
my video camera roll.
- Give it to me.
- I don't know who or what.
I think someone's filming us.
[tense music]
["Claire de Lune" playing
on piano]
- Lucas just showed me
this video.
I do not know...
what to make of it.
Now, I didn't shoot it.
Obviously, there's no way
he could have shot it himself.
Watch.
[door creaks]
The closet's so full of stuff,
I don't even know--
[lights click]
[gasps]
- [whispering]
What? What is it?
Iris, you're scaring me.
- I thought I saw something
by the piano.
- Something like what?
- It was like a flash of light.
- Like a lightning bug
or something?
[phone chimes]
- Hang on a second.
- Who is that?
Who texted you?
- I don't know. There's no ID.
- Iris, that--that's not
what I think it is, is it?
["Clair de Lune" playing
on piano]
- Lucas just showed me
this video.
Oh, God.
I do not know...
what to make of it.
Now, I didn't shoot it.
I don't understand.
Obviously, there's no way
he could have shot it himself.
[harsh piano notes]
- Iris, what did that?
- Shh.
Just be quiet.
[tense music]
["Clair de Lune" playing
on piano]
[camera whirs]
[ominous rumble]
[ominous rumble]
- [whispering] Is there
a hidden camera or something?
- I don't know.
[door creaking]
I don't see anything.
[chain jingling]
[ominous tone]
[door thuds shut]
[distorted ominous music]
- Lucas, I think we have
to leave the house.
- I don't think
that's gonna help.
- Why would you say that?
- Because leaving the house
doesn't seem to change
anything at all.
- How would you know that?
- There's other videos
in the camera roll
I haven't shown you yet.
- What videos?
[phone chimes]
- Like, remember how we
went into
Brenda and Jay's house
and did a bunch of recordings
of us cannonballing and stuff?
- Yeah.
- Well, we weren't alone.
- What do you mean,
we weren't alone?
- What I'm saying is,
there was something
in the water with us
that day...
Something I think
can follow us anywhere.
Some of the shots, we did,
but others were shot
by I don't know what.
- I don't know.
What is this?
[faucet creaks]
[water running]
[suspenseful music]
[water stops running]
[ominous music]
[cat meowing]
[suspenseful music]
Lucas.
[dark music]
Lucas?
[faucet creaks, water running]
[cat meowing]
[cat meowing]
[dramatic music]
[ominous tone]
[eerie crackling]
[ominous tone]
[distorted laughter]
[ominous tone]
[discordant music]
[static crackling]
[suspenseful music]
[bones crack]
[unsettling tone]
[eerie music]
[dramatic tone]
[dramatic tone]
[indistinct,
distorted dialogue]
[distorted wail]
- [screams]
[distorted crackling]
[door slams]
[ominous tone]
[suspenseful music]
[DVD player whirring]
[eerie music playing]
[static crackling]
- [whispering]
It's scary when it's dark.
That's how they like it.
Because when the lights
are out,
you're afraid.
And when you're afraid,
you're a very good boy.
[TV shuts off]
[phone chimes]
[piano note plays]
- Iris.
[piano note plays]
Iris, it's not funny.
[piano note plays]
[piano note plays]
Mom?
Mom?
[piano note plays]
[ominous tone]
[piano note plays]
Mom?
[piano note plays]
Mom?
[piano note plays]
- [screams]
- [yells]
[dramatic music]
[dramatic tone]
[ominous music]
[static crackling]
[alarm ringing]
- What?
[squeaking]
[tense music]
[phone chimes]
[light clicks]
[suspenseful music]
[ominous tone]
[eerie music]
[squeaking]
[ominous tone]
[static buzzing]
[metallic banging]
- Iris?
Iris?
[shakily] Iris?
[metallic banging]
Iris, it's not funny.
[metallic banging]
[metallic banging]
[high-pitched ringing]
[radio clicks on]
[indistinct,
distorted dialogue]
Hello?
[indistinct,
distorted dialogue continues]
Iris?
[static crackling]
- Ave Maria
[radio stations tuning]
[radio clicks off]
[gasps]
[harsh piano notes]
- My darling, my darling
I've wanted to call you
my darling
For many
And many a day
My darling, my darling
I fluttered and fled
like a starling
My courage just melted
Away
All at once, you kissed me
And there's not a thing
I'm sane enough to say
Except, my darling
- Mom?
- My darling
Get used to the sound
Of "my darling"
It's here
To stay
[alarm beeping faintly]
[ominous music]
- [gasps]
[beeping continues]
[discordant tones]
[ominous chiming]
[beeping continues]
[alarm stops]
[suspenseful music]
Hi, Iris.
- Hey, Lucas.
- Do you think
you did all of this?
- I'm worried
I'm gonna hurt you, Lucas.
- When I was walking up,
I saw a thing on your back.
Is it, like, a cut?
- What?
- Looks like something
spreading down on your neck
to your shirt.
- What do you mean?
- I don't know.
- Oh, my God.
What the fuck?
What the fuck?
What the fuck?
[crying] What the fuck?
[sobbing]
[whimpering]
[sobs]
[whispering] What do we do?
Lucas, what do we do?
- I know we're not supposed to,
but...
I think we should see
Mom and Dad.
[birds chirping]
[helicopter rotors whirring]
[sirens wailing]
[indistinct radio chatter]
[horn blaring]
[indistinct radio chatter]
[ominous tone]
- What you're about to see
is what Lucas and I saw
when we came back
from the hospital
to try to--
to try to see you.
Lucas freaked out and decided
to go ask the neighbors
for help.
- Cath!
Eli!
[knocking]
Anybody home?
[doorbell rings]
- But nobody came to the door.
[ominous music]
We called all your friends,
and no one answered.
Grandma Marsha
isn't answering either.
But the worst part is,
Lucas didn't even shoot
these videos.
These were just texted to us
from some unknown sender.
It's like
whoever's recording us
can see right through
our eyes.
- Anthony?
[knocking]
Anthony, Georgia!
Hello?
[doorbell ringing]
- The streets
are pretty much empty,
other than stuff like this.
[knock at door]
- Iris?
- Yo.
[keyboard key clicks]
- Is it okay if I sleep
in your room tonight?
[phone chimes]
- Sure.
[phone chimes]
- Why are you putting it up
on a tripod like that?
- 'Cause I want to see
if there's anything to see.
- Oh.
Won't the phone die
if we leave it on all night?
- No, it's on a motion sensor.
So, like, if anything moves,
it just--
it'll just record for, like,
ten seconds.
And then it shuts off.
- What if it's too dark?
- There's a flash.
Like, right now.
[sighs]
[ominous tone]
[ominous tone]
[eerie whoosh]
[sighs]
[ominous tone]
[toilet flushes]
[water running]
[ominous tone]
[crickets chirping]
[static buzzing]
[buzzing stops]
[metallic rattling]
[phone chimes]
[suspenseful music]
[crackling]
[phone chimes]
- Bike light.
[birds chirping]
[ominous music]
- Iris?
- What?
- Maybe instead
of thinking of these things
as just words on a list,
we could think of them
as ideas.
Like, the photo
might not be a picture,
but it could be us
or you and me together.
- Writing it down.
"You and me together."
But it doesn't make any sense.
Okay.
Watch.
Where's the apple?
Lucas, where's the apple?
- I don't know.
- Apple's gone.
- I can go get another.
[piano note plays]
[ominous music]
- Okay.
Watch, apple, nail, timer,
U-shaped magnet,
and a brown egg.
[sighs] Hmm.
- Makes no sense at all.
- Well, wait, okay.
If we do this, you're right.
It makes no sense.
But if we do this...
W-A-N-T...
both: M-O-R-E.
- Wouldn't that
just be a coincidence?
- I don't think
that's a coincidence.
- So what happens if we go back
and try the other one now?
- Let's see.
- H-H-T-C-R-A-O.
- That doesn't spell anything.
- Wait, there's more.
Egg.
Still doesn't spell anything.
- Iris, I have a thought.
- What's your thought?
- You know
how I'm always asking
for oranges all the time?
- I guess so.
Why?
- Remember Mom got so mad
because we kept on running out
and I kept on begging
for more and more?
- Where are you going
with this?
- It's basically
the same thing as the ring.
- My ring?
- Yeah.
Wait, where'd it go?
- It's here on my finger.
I put it on. Why?
- That's not just any ring
that you own.
That's the one that you
were super jealous
of Ruby for having,
so she had to give it to you.
- Yeah.
- I remember you almost
stopped being friends
because she wouldn't
lend it to you
and she thought
you were being greedy.
- Yeah.
- I'm saying maybe
we should write down
"greed" or "jealousy"
as one of our words.
- Okay.
But honestly, I feel like
you could see anything
you want in these things.
- That could be true,
but remember when Dad
got me that bike light
and I freaked out
'cause I wanted the square one
instead of the round one?
- No, what are you
talking about?
- Dad said something like,
"Well, it's too bad.
You don't get to choose."
And then we screamed
at each other
for, like,
the whole entire day.
- Sounds like
the kind of stupid fight
you two might have.
So what?
- Yeah, what I'm saying is
maybe that this is all about us
having to choose.
- Maybe.
Choose what?
[faint creak]
[birds chirping]
[faint creaking and tapping]
[metallic squeak]
[static crackling]
[crickets chirping]
[radio clicks on]
[static crackling]
[radio stations tuning]
- Ave Maria
- What's that?
- I have no idea.
Stay here. I'll go look.
- Wait, I'm coming too.
[radio stations tuning]
- You--
- And--
- You--
- What?
- The--
- What
- It--
- What you want
- But--
- You have to--
- Want it--
- Badly--
- It's you--
- Who--
- Can't--
- Escape.
- You--
- Are--
- Ours.
- Ours.
- The sound--
- Our bodies--
- Then it came true--
- Iris.
- And what--
[radio clicks off]
- What? Why--
why would you do that, Lucas?
[radio clicks on]
It was saying something!
- I just couldn't stand it.
- Move. Get away from it.
It's gonna happen again.
It's gonna start again.
Go away.
[Gretchen Lieberum's "My
Darling, My Darling" playing]
What fucking song is this?
Lucas, why does this
sound familiar?
- I think maybe it's because
it's one of the songs
from Mom's new record.
- My darling, my darling
I've wanted
to call you
- You're right. It is Mom.
- For many
And many a day
[ominous music]
My darling, my darling
[radio clicks off]
[crickets chirping]
[harsh piano notes]
- Oh, my God.
[eerie music]
Is that Grandpa Frank
with seeds on him?
Yeah. Why?
Oh, my God,
I haven't seen this in years.
- That's the magnet you traded
me for when I was, like, five.
- Take your hands off of that.
It's mine.
Let me see that.
- Hang on.
- Give it.
- I said hang on.
Iris, I think I know exactly
what it's trying to say.
- What does it say?
- Like, I think the lock
means something about
how things are set in stone
and can't be undone.
And the magnet,
it's about a trade.
But I don't think
it's about the trade we made.
And I think the thing
with Grandpa Frank
and the seeds means
it all started with him.
The Super 8 camera's
obviously about Dad's movies.
And I think the hammer
might be about how Dad
convinced Mom to have me.
- What are you talking about?
- Remember how she
only wanted one kid
and her excuse was something
like the house is too small?
- Right, he promised
to build her a new room.
Brought home
a hammer and nails.
[ominous tone]
- Iris, have you
ever heard about
things called the Wanderers?
- Why does that sound
so familiar?
- According to what I searched,
it's a kind of demon,
a kind of demon who wants
to confuse and scare people
into doing what it wants.
[ominous tone]
And the reason
it sounds so familiar...
look at this description
of Dad's movie.
- "A father sells his children
"to a demon known
as the Wanderer
in exchange
for fame and fortune."
- Iris, I think this movie
was based on something real,
something that maybe even
started before Dad was born.
- So you think Grandpa Frank
made a deal with a demon?
- Uh-huh.
Then Dad.
And now I think he wants
to make a deal with us.
[eerie music]
- What kind of deal?
- Well, like,
my baby handprint
and your childhood bracelet,
that means
something to do with kids.
- What does that mean?
- I think it wants us
to give it
more than what Dad gave it.
- More than two kids?
[crickets chirping]
I didn't tell Lucas this
because I didn't want
to scare him.
But the other night,
I had a dream.
I was lost
in some dark forest,
looking for him.
And I couldn't find him.
[ominous tone]
It was vague,
but somehow I knew
I had allowed something awful
to swallow us both up.
I woke up so ashamed.
But now...
I don't think
it was my fault at all.
I don't have any proof.
But I believe everything
Lucas says about you.
[discordant piano notes]
Did you sell us to it?
For fame or money?
Whatever the fuck you want?
You sold your own kids?
[ominous music]
You're a piece of shit.
[discordant piano note]
[ominous tone]
[birds chirping]
- Hello, my name
is Dr. Susannah Rogers,
and thank you for visiting
our page today,
where we will be discussing
the nature of demons
and strategies
people sometimes use
to attempt
to communicate with them.
Throughout the ages,
humanity has tried
to access the spirit world,
be it through sance, trance,
transcendental psychotropic
experiences,
and through extreme behaviors
such as fasting for weeks,
speaking in tongues for days,
or the application
of extreme pain,
such as branding or fire.
Others have used Ouija boards
or the recitation
of ritual prayer
often written in a language
that the speaker themselves
does not know.
The thing that binds
all of these rituals together
is not the specifics
of the effort
but the intent and the belief
of the summoner of the spirit.
Demons,
particularly Wanderers,
know when a person is
desperate and in need of help,
not because of the words
that they speak
or the actions that they take
but because of the feeling
of the person
speaking those words
and taking those actions.
They can feel the sincere need
exhibited in your prayer.
Little else matters,
certainly not the order
or the recitation
of ancient ceremonial rites.
No.
The demon prefers novel,
personalized approaches
to summoning,
because those who create
their own ritual
with pure and true belief
are often those
who are most corruptible.
End of message.
Have a safe journey.
[tense music]
[dramatic music]
[scissors snipping]
- With this,
my deepest, darkest secret,
I wish for you to speak.
- With this,
my deepest, darkest secret,
I wish for you to speak.
- For this,
my sacred childhood object,
I wish for you to speak.
- With this, given to me
by my beloved grandmother,
I wish for you to speak.
- For giving you these herbs
from a plant I planted,
I wish for you to speak.
- With a memory from my past,
I wish for you to speak.
- With this beautiful bottle
I found,
I wish for you to speak.
And this watch, given to me
by my Grandpa Frank,
I wish for you to speak.
- With this fire...
both:
We beg of you to speak.
[fire crackling]
- I don't think
it's gonna work.
[wind gusting]
[melodica note plays]
[low buzzing]
[fire crackling]
[fire roaring]
[ominous music]
Hey, Lucas.
Lucas, it worked.
What is this?
Is this
Grandpa Frank's melodica?
- Remember
when he gave it to us?
He was like,
"If you want to,
you could be
a famous musician."
Maybe it's here
to remind us of that.
- What about my crystals?
- Those were
your most precious things
when you were little.
I think it's saying
it can get us
more stuff like that
if we do if it wants.
And this picture of Dad
with the dead flowers,
when I first looked at it,
I was sure it meant
that Dad was about to die.
- You think Dad's dead?
- Maybe.
Or maybe the demon
just wants us to believe that.
This stuff over here
seems to mean
it wants us to choose
which way to go.
And with those things
it somehow unburned,
I'm guessing it wants us
to see how powerful it is.
- What about
your old bike lock?
- I'm pretty sure it's saying
we're going to be taken.
- Taken by the demon?
- Yeah.
And I think this watch here
means we only have
until 3:17 a.m. to decide.
- Decide whether
to take its offer?
- Yeah.
- Why 3:17 a.m.?
- I have no idea.
- What about the journal?
What's Dad's story journal
doing here?
- Well...
either it's telling us
if we go with it,
we get to write our own story,
or could just be--
could just be
wanting us to sign our names.
- And the bell?
[bell rings]
What do you think the bell is?
- The bell means nothing to me,
and neither do Grandpa's
old opera glasses.
But the fire being on,
it's probably a warning.
[ominous tone]
- You didn't start the fire?
- No.
- You're saying
the fire's saying
that's how it's gonna feel
if we don't give it
what it wants?
- Yeah.
- Do you think Mom and Dad
get to live
if we agree to do
what it's asking?
- I don't know.
[ominous tone]
[ominous tone]
[collar jingling]
[cat meows]
[static crackling]
[Victor Herrero Band's
"Brillante Estrella" playing]
- [singing in Spanish]
- Do you know what this is?
- I think it's a song
from Dad's new movie.
[static crackling]
- [sniffling]
[whimpers]
[sobbing]
[crickets chirping]
[creaking]
[fire crackling]
[ominous tone]
[tense music]
[ominous tone]
[animals chittering]
[ominous tone]
[bells tolling]
[dramatic tone]
[distorted roar]
[crickets chirping]
[Headcleaner's "Knots Untied"]
- Start playing guitar
These chords
will take you far
- There he is. There he is.
- These chords
will take you far
- Good to see you.
- Wears blue until a star
In a little wasted car
Wears blue until a star
In a little wasted car
Keep stepping on your step
Walk slowly,
it's not over yet
Breathe easy
on your breath
Breathe love
and that's a fact
'Cause I love it
when the sun is high
And I'm dreaming
about a ship I fly
North winters
have long gone by
All the knots
are gonna come untied
All the knots are gonna
Come untied
All the knots
are gonna come untied
All the knots are gonna
Come untied
All the knots
are gonna come untied
Ready skies and upper top
You're the world,
love make us stop
I seen a lot of movies
that've been flops
But I never seen
some corn bad in a crop
No, I never seen
some corn bad in a crop
I never seen
no corn bad in a crop
I never seen no corn
bad in a crop
I never seen
no corn bad in a crop
- [distorted scream]
I'ma teach you
how to step
That I work,
but I forget
I'm just sipping
on some gin
I'm a-hoping that you win
I'm a winner with a dream
I'm a-floating
Down a stream
I'm never, ever waiting
I'm a-rolling
Like a freight train
I'm a-rolling
Like a freight train
I'm a-rolling
Like a freight train
I'm a-rolling
Like a freight train
I'm a-rolling
like a freight
[distorted roar]
- Train
Start playing your guitar
These chords
will take you far
Wears blue until a star
In a little wasted car
Keep stepping
on your step
Walk slowly,
it's not over yet
Breathe easy
on your breath
Breathe love,
and that's a fact
Breathe love, and that's
a fact
I love the way
the sun is high
And I'm dreaming
about a ship I fly
North winters
have long gone by
All the knots
are gonna come untied
All the knots are gonna
come untied
All the knots
are gonna come untied
All the knots are gonna
come untied
All the knots
are gonna come untied
- [distorted]
And that's a wrap.
[ominous music]
- This is our street,
and something really weird
is in the air.
You don't know what,
but something.
[crickets chirping]
It's beautiful.
It almost looks like...mist
or ash, something.
[wind whooshing]
It almost seems like snow.
So cool.
[The Do's "Dust It Off"]
- Burning papers
into ashes
What a season
How they fly high
From the ground up
- [giggling]
- There is yet
Another fountain
Flowing over
- [shrieks]
[laughter]
- As the night falls
Keep dreaming away
- Hey--hey, Mom.
Hey--hey, Dad.
We decided to make
a video diary for you
while you're away,
so just get well soon, please,
'cause we don't like
being alone.
[pan sizzling]
[laughs]
Why do the eggs look bubbly?
- Because eggs bubble
when you cook them.
- They do?
- Dude.
Gordon Ramsay
would not be proud of you.
- [laughs]
- Whoa, so messy.
- Iris' room
must be way more messy.
- Lucas won't clean his room.
He won't do it.
- Hold on.
Focus better.
- Here's his baby doll.
- It's not a baby doll.
- Raggedy Andy,
the little baby.
- [laughs]
Stop!
[both speaking indistinctly]
Curse!
Curse for life!
Demons will be down upon you,
and you will die!
Die!
Hi, Fran and Vincente.
- Hi, guys.
- How are you?
- We're good. We're good.
What are you guys up to?
- Making a video diary
for Mom and Dad.
You guys wanna say hi?
- Hey, Gretchen. How you doing?
- Hey, Gretchen.
- [coughs]
- Are you guys all right?
- Oh, yeah, yeah. We're good.
You kids come by anytime.
- Drop by, guys.
- Love you guys.
- Bye.
- Yeah, stay safe out there.
- We will.
- Okay, so for some reason,
Lucas insisted
on going barefoot.
- Yeah, 'cause shoes suck.
- But anyways, we're sneaking
into Brenda and Jay's.
We're going to use their pool,
their crystal clean pool,
which Lucas promises
not to pee in.
- Hey! I would never
pee in their pool.
- You would, and you have.
- Well, I mean, maybe a little.
- All right, ready?
- I'm ready.
- Okay, 1, 2, 3, go!
- You could possibly wear
Mess it up
Time is up
- Hey, guys.
My face is really crooked.
Um...[laughs]
It's been, like,
a day and a half
since you guys have responded,
but it says
you're opening our messages.
So if you could
just send a response
to me and Lucas,
that'd be really nice.
Love you. Bye.
[phone chimes]
[birds chirping]
[eerie whoosh]
[ominous tone]
[static crackling]
[radio stations tuning]
[thunder booming]
[rain pattering]
[screen humming]
[thunder booming]
[gunshot]
[screen humming]
[ominous tone]
[thunder booming]
[eerie music]
[static crackling]
[ominous tone]
[liquid pouring]
- What the fuck?
[timer ticking]
[camera beeps]
[chuckles]
What the fuck did you do,
Lucas?
[door creaking]
[whispering] Lucas?
Lucas?
[door creaks]
[switch clicks]
[light hums]
[object thuds]
[gasps]
[breathing shakily]
Lucas?
Lucas?
[static crackling]
Lucas?
[cat meows]
Jesus Christ.
[ominous music]
So why'd you
do that last night?
- Why'd I do what?
- Can you sit down?
- Yeah.
Why are you recording me?
- I'm trying to get
your confession tape, Lucas.
- What confession tape?
- Why'd you leave
all the stuff
in the middle of the hallway?
- What stuff?
["Clair de Lune" playing
on piano]
- So despite
your son being a dick,
trying to freak me out,
I'm still being a good sister
and making him
practice his piano.
And later, we're going out
for some exercise.
We're going to Chinatown.
[birds chirping]
[car engine rumbling]
Action.
- Hi, I'm Dad,
and I'm a famous TV director.
I'm superstitious
about this hat,
and the hat is, like,
so important
because everything
will go wrong
if I don't use it on set.
- The blue one's
the lucky hat, dumbass.
- Better go get
the blue one, then!
- Take off Dad's lucky hat.
- No.
- Take it off.
- No.
- Dude, that's his special hat.
Take it off.
- No.
Hey, you want my movie
to fall apart?
- I don't,
but I also don't want you
to lose it
and mess it up for Dad.
Wow, okay.
- Where do you think
you're going with that?
- Bringing the hat
back to its rightful home.
- Now the movie's
gonna be cursed,
thanks to you.
- Bye-bye.
- And that's all I know.
[piano lid slams]
[birds chirping]
[phone chimes]
- Iris, why are you recording?
- The mysterious disease
that has already...
- I already told you
why I'm recording.
- Killed over 2,000 people
in Los Angeles County alone...
- No, you didn't.
- Yes, I did.
I have to record it.
It's history.
- I know it's history,
but why record it?
- Dude, what is your problem?
- I don't have a problem.
I'm just asking you
a simple question.
- Okay, can you shut up now?
- I would, but you're being
super annoying,
making me listen
to the news all day.
- I'm being annoying?
- Yeah.
- Okay.
- Are nothing but a theater
being performed
by the devil
seeking to get his due.
[harsh piano notes]
- [coughing]
[low note playing]
[crack]
- [gasps]
[crickets chirping]
[owl hooting]
[door creaks]
[phone beeps]
[harsh piano notes]
- [coughing]
- Get up, dickhead.
Wake up, freak.
Why'd you do it?
- What did I do?
- Come on.
Why'd you record me sleeping
in the middle of the night?
- No, I didn't.
- Dude. The severed fingers?
The knife?
How'd you do that?
Admit it,
or I'm gonna tell Mom.
- I didn't.
What do I have to admit?
- The video's
on my camera roll, Lucas.
- Go back to sleep.
- I'm so done.
Om
[eerie music]
[cuckoo clock ringing]
[distorted laughter]
[ominous tone]
[distorted gasping]
[distorted laughter]
[music stops]
[birds chirping]
[ominous tone]
- We need more nurses
at the hospital.
The nurses are working hard.
The nurses
are working short.
- Stop playing the news.
It's getting very annoying.
- Or you could stop
being mean and complaining.
- Why do you
keep playing the news?
- 'Cause I feel
like playing the news.
- Seriously. Stop.
- Go in the other room
and annoy the cat
if you don't want
to hear the news, Lucas.
- The stench and taste
of death
in their mouth.
- Leave me alone.
[rock music]
[phone chimes]
- Hi.
Iris is showing me or...
interrupting everything I do
with the news.
And all the time,
it's just nothing
but people dying
and people sick and--
[metallic clang]
What?
Iris?
[panting]
[metallic clanging]
What?
Iris! Where are you?
[dull thudding]
- What?
Why'd you turn
your lights off?
- The lights--
- Well, why don't you just
click the--
- I don't know what's going on.
The lights turned off.
- You turned off your lights.
- What? No, I didn't.
- How else--
that's not possible.
- Go check the video.
Go check the video.
- Fine, I will check the video.
- Yeah, it has all the proof.
- I know what you're doing.
- I'm not doing anything.
- I know what you're doing.
Okay, all around the house,
something's going on
with the lights.
Not going off, like
in the video Lucas forwarded.
But there's a weird
flickering happening,
like a candle or something.
I tried to tell Lucas it was
probably just electrical.
But he doesn't
believe a word I say.
And now, after being
a royal dick to me
for the last three days,
he's acting like
a helpless little lamb
and begging me to be with him
at all times.
As if the lights flickering,
they're gonna kill him.
So we go over to our neighbors
to ask if they can come over
and give him
some adult-style comfort.
But they're not home.
And now here we are, and it's
happening in your office too,
which, by itself,
I wouldn't find very creepy,
but, Dad, I have to ask.
What the hell
is the closet creeper?
[mellow rock music]
I'm hoping he's a character
idea for one of your movies
and you didn't really
write this.
All right, time to say
good night to Mom and Dad.
- Good night, Mom and Dad.
- Anything else you want to say
before I leave?
You could say, "I love you."
- I love you.
- Okay, I'm gonna go to bed.
Good night.
- Wait, wait, wait.
Can you stay with me, please,
please?
- Lucas, I already told you
I'm not sleeping
in the bed with you.
You just have to be a big boy.
- How am I supposed
to be a big boy?
That makes me
sound younger than I am.
Seriously, it's not how old
I am or how not-old I am.
I'm actually scared.
You're scared sometimes, right?
- Should I close your curtains
or something?
- No. That's not gonna
change anything, please.
- Dude, I'm going to bed.
- I'm begging you.
Why is it so hard
just to stay with me?
- Because I don't want to.
- Iris, if you leave,
that's really mean
and jerky of you.
- Mean and jerky of me?
- Yeah.
- Okay, sweet dreams.
- All right,
see you later, jerk.
- You don't even know
what mean and jerky is, Lucas.
- Jerk, jerk--you're a jerk!
- Punk-ass.
[white noise hissing]
- [meows]
- This is my noisemaker.
I can't sleep without it.
And there's Brodie.
- [meowing]
[light music playing]
- [vocalizing]
How'd I find myself
in this mess
How'd I find
myself in this mess
I'm so stressed,
I'm upset
You know best,
unbelievable
Don't wanna see me fall,
see me fall
[knock at door]
- Iris?
- How'd I find myself
in this mess
- Oh, hi, Lucas.
- I'm so stressed,
I'm upset
You know best,
unbelievable
- Hi, Lucas.
- Can I come in?
- I thought I was a mean jerk.
- Well...
now you are, if you're not
letting me come in.
- [high-pitched]
Bye, Lucas.
- Okay, you are
being a jerk now.
Bye.
- Adios.
[sparse piano music playing]
[keyboard keys clacking]
- Iris keeps on locking me
out of her room because she--
there's a bunch
of creepy things
happening right now, and she--
and I think it's ghosts,
but she doesn't believe me,
and she thinks it's me
and I'm playing a prank on her,
which I'm not, and...yeah.
[objects clatter]
[footsteps thumping]
[dog barking]
- One, two, ready, go.
[Karen O's "Day Go By"]
So I went into your drawer
to find a needle and thread,
and I found this.
Are we really in danger
of losing our house?
- Day go by
Daybreak, can't wait for
- Iris.
Iris!
Iris.
- What?
- Where's Raggedy Andy?
Have you seen him anywhere?
- What?
- Are you serious?
Where is Rag-ged-dy A-an-d-dy?
- Lucas, I can't hear
anything you're saying.
- [shouting]
Where is Raggedy Andy?
- Dude, come over here
if you want to talk to me.
I can't hear you.
- Deaf!
- Doctor, doctor
- Olly, olly oxen
free, free, free.
Raggedy Andy, where can you be?
[ominous tone]
- My pain is gone
- Did you look in your room?
- Yeah, I looked in my room.
That's the most basic
spot ever.
And he obviously
should be in my room,
but he's not in my room.
- What about the kitchen?
- Okay, are you
actually gonna help,
or are you just gonna
keep on using makeup,
recording yourself
like a creep?
- What do you mean,
like a creep?
I'm being a normal person.
- Do normal people
put on makeup
and record themselves
just to send it to no one?
- Time away
- You know what, dude?
Get out of my face.
- You hid him from me,
didn't you?
- That's the stupidest
accusation I've ever heard.
- You just want revenge on me,
don't you?
- For what?
- For the pranks
you think I'm pulling,
which I'm not.
- Lucas, right now,
I think you're
either insane
or have a brain disease.
- Maybe you lost him
making that crazy movie
you're working on.
- You have no idea
how done I am
with this stupid conversation.
- Oh, my God,
what's wrong with you?
- Bye!
- Doctor, doctor
[phone chimes]
- She hid Raggedy Andy.
[timer rings]
She's keeping him away from me.
I know it.
- It's gone, gone, gone,
gone, gone, gone, gone
[unsettling music]
[bell tolling]
[eerie music]
[eerie whoosh]
[tense music]
[harsh piano notes]
[static crackling]
[eerie whoosh]
[harsh piano notes]
- Last night, I had a dream
where I thought I heard you
calling my name outside,
so I left the house.
[airy music]
But our front yard
was not our front yard.
Then for some reason, I was
transported back in time.
But Lucas
was still in the future.
So I flew back
and asked him to come with me.
Then I realized we weren't
time traveling at all.
We were watching
a film you'd made
out of our memories
without asking us permission.
You weren't there
in any of the images,
but almost like
I could see you
through my closed eyelids,
watching me,
filming me
while I was sleeping.
[tense music]
Only it wasn't exactly you.
You were something else,
something dark.
You were in a costume,
a costume I'd seen before,
but I couldn't quite place it.
Finally,
it came to me what it was.
And there you were,
just like in my dream,
on the poster
for that demon movie
you made last year.
Anyway, it's creepy here
without you.
And Lucas is acting weird,
so please get better soon.
Okay.
- Hi, Mom. Hi, Dad.
I've been learning this song
while you're away,
and it's called--
oh, I don't know.
But you'll really like
this song,
and it's a classical piece,
I'm pretty sure.
Doesn't sound like one,
but I'm pretty sure it is.
Okay, I'm gonna play it.
["Clair de Lune" playing]
[door creaking]
[eerie music]
[phone chimes]
[birds chirping]
[eerie music]
[John Gold's "Glow Stars"]
- I put my head
on the pillow
First thing I see
is your face
- So I was in
a pretty good mood.
And then I walked
into the living room,
and I found Lucas' poetry
that he left me.
"Keep recording his scenes
or suffer the consequences.
Iris, this means you."
- I told you I didn't do it.
- What are you saying,
a goblin did it?
- Maybe so.
- [sighs] Jackass.
[phone chimes]
[eerie music]
[audience laughter over TV]
[indistinct dialogue over TV]
- Were you
gonna offer me any?
Why not?
- Because.
- That's not nice.
Sharing is caring, Lucas.
- Yeah, I don't care,
so I won't share.
- You're such a dick.
- It all adds up.
- It adds up
to you being a dick.
- All you've been doing is
just blaming me for everything.
So should I share
my strawberries?
- If you don't share
those strawberries,
I think I might murder you.
- These are my strawberries.
They're not yours.
- Lucas, when someone asks you
for a strawberry...
- No! No!
- You give them a strawberry.
- Get away from me!
- Give it.
- Stop!
- Give me those strawberries!
- They're my strawberries!
- Those are not
your strawberries!
- No!
- They're our strawberries!
But if you want them back,
I'll happily smush them
up your stupid nose.
Yeah?
Want it?
- Give me back
my fucking strawberries!
No!
Stop!
[tense music]
Put down the chair.
[smacks lips]
Mmm.
[spray hissing]
[cymbal crashing]
[discordant piano music
playing]
[cat purring]
[eerie music]
- What the fuck?
[ominous music]
- I know I'm not really
supposed to be in Dad's office,
but I came in here
looking for Iris,
and I found this creepy video
she was cutting together.
I don't know why anyone
would make a movie like this.
I mean, what is that thing?
But maybe most freaky of all,
what kind of psycho
paints strawberries black
and then red again?
I hope she didn't
want to poison me.
[whimsical music playing
over TV]
- It's actually turning out
kind of good.
I'm like Bob Ross.
[giggles]
But I don't think Bob Ross
paints anything
other than tr--I've seen, like,
every episode of that show,
and I don't think
he paints anything
other than lakes and trees.
- [vocalizing]
But--and good for him,
but it's--I don't know.
What if he did, like, a city?
Do you think
he could paint a city?
- [vocalizing]
- Probably not, actually.
I don't think he could do it.
- [vocalizing]
- Lucas does not like Bob Ross,
but he just needs
to get into it,
and then maybe
he'll understand.
[soft music playing
over speaker]
- [vocalizing]
- Can you see?
Hold up.
Okay, there you go.
- [vocalizing]
[knock at door]
- Lucas, go to bed.
It's so late.
[knock at door]
[phone chimes, music stops]
[bang at door]
Lucas?
[ominous tone]
Oh, Jesus.
[whispering] Lucas.
Lucas.
Lucas!
Lucas!
[radio clicks on]
[gasps]
[soft piano music playing]
Hello?
Jesus Christ.
- Ave
Maria
[music distorts and stops]
[gasps]
Oh, my God.
[ominous tone]
[crickets chirping]
[touch tones beeping]
[line rings]
- Hello, you have reached
Los Angeles
Municipal Hospital's
intensive care unit.
Due to high call volume,
we are currently unable
to answer every call.
If this is a true
medical emergency,
please hang up and dial 911.
[ominous tone]
Otherwise, please leave
a message
for our nursing staff
or physicians after the beep,
and we will return your call
as soon as possible.
[ominous tone]
[line beeps]
- The mailbox is full
and cannot accept
any messages at this time.
Goodbye.
[suspenseful music]
[door creaks]
[eerie whoosh]
[static crackling]
[radio stations tuning]
[radio clicks off]
[ominous music]
[birds chirping]
- Hey, Iris,
I just came to say that...
I'm sorry for being
such a jerk earlier.
- All right.
Hey, Lucas,
thanks for apologizing,
but please don't film my art.
It's not finished yet.
- Okay, I'm sorry. I won't.
- Dude, just so you know,
I came down here
to have some alone time.
- I know, but, Iris?
- Yes?
- Some really weird videos
showed up on my camera roll.
- What?
- They were just
on the camera rolls
that one of us shot.
- You're not making sense.
What are you talking about?
- There's just videos.
I don't think
either of us took them.
- What are you talking about?
- Just look on
my video camera roll.
- Give it to me.
- I don't know who or what.
I think someone's filming us.
[tense music]
["Claire de Lune" playing
on piano]
- Lucas just showed me
this video.
I do not know...
what to make of it.
Now, I didn't shoot it.
Obviously, there's no way
he could have shot it himself.
Watch.
[door creaks]
The closet's so full of stuff,
I don't even know--
[lights click]
[gasps]
- [whispering]
What? What is it?
Iris, you're scaring me.
- I thought I saw something
by the piano.
- Something like what?
- It was like a flash of light.
- Like a lightning bug
or something?
[phone chimes]
- Hang on a second.
- Who is that?
Who texted you?
- I don't know. There's no ID.
- Iris, that--that's not
what I think it is, is it?
["Clair de Lune" playing
on piano]
- Lucas just showed me
this video.
Oh, God.
I do not know...
what to make of it.
Now, I didn't shoot it.
I don't understand.
Obviously, there's no way
he could have shot it himself.
[harsh piano notes]
- Iris, what did that?
- Shh.
Just be quiet.
[tense music]
["Clair de Lune" playing
on piano]
[camera whirs]
[ominous rumble]
[ominous rumble]
- [whispering] Is there
a hidden camera or something?
- I don't know.
[door creaking]
I don't see anything.
[chain jingling]
[ominous tone]
[door thuds shut]
[distorted ominous music]
- Lucas, I think we have
to leave the house.
- I don't think
that's gonna help.
- Why would you say that?
- Because leaving the house
doesn't seem to change
anything at all.
- How would you know that?
- There's other videos
in the camera roll
I haven't shown you yet.
- What videos?
[phone chimes]
- Like, remember how we
went into
Brenda and Jay's house
and did a bunch of recordings
of us cannonballing and stuff?
- Yeah.
- Well, we weren't alone.
- What do you mean,
we weren't alone?
- What I'm saying is,
there was something
in the water with us
that day...
Something I think
can follow us anywhere.
Some of the shots, we did,
but others were shot
by I don't know what.
- I don't know.
What is this?
[faucet creaks]
[water running]
[suspenseful music]
[water stops running]
[ominous music]
[cat meowing]
[suspenseful music]
Lucas.
[dark music]
Lucas?
[faucet creaks, water running]
[cat meowing]
[cat meowing]
[dramatic music]
[ominous tone]
[eerie crackling]
[ominous tone]
[distorted laughter]
[ominous tone]
[discordant music]
[static crackling]
[suspenseful music]
[bones crack]
[unsettling tone]
[eerie music]
[dramatic tone]
[dramatic tone]
[indistinct,
distorted dialogue]
[distorted wail]
- [screams]
[distorted crackling]
[door slams]
[ominous tone]
[suspenseful music]
[DVD player whirring]
[eerie music playing]
[static crackling]
- [whispering]
It's scary when it's dark.
That's how they like it.
Because when the lights
are out,
you're afraid.
And when you're afraid,
you're a very good boy.
[TV shuts off]
[phone chimes]
[piano note plays]
- Iris.
[piano note plays]
Iris, it's not funny.
[piano note plays]
[piano note plays]
Mom?
Mom?
[piano note plays]
[ominous tone]
[piano note plays]
Mom?
[piano note plays]
Mom?
[piano note plays]
- [screams]
- [yells]
[dramatic music]
[dramatic tone]
[ominous music]
[static crackling]
[alarm ringing]
- What?
[squeaking]
[tense music]
[phone chimes]
[light clicks]
[suspenseful music]
[ominous tone]
[eerie music]
[squeaking]
[ominous tone]
[static buzzing]
[metallic banging]
- Iris?
Iris?
[shakily] Iris?
[metallic banging]
Iris, it's not funny.
[metallic banging]
[metallic banging]
[high-pitched ringing]
[radio clicks on]
[indistinct,
distorted dialogue]
Hello?
[indistinct,
distorted dialogue continues]
Iris?
[static crackling]
- Ave Maria
[radio stations tuning]
[radio clicks off]
[gasps]
[harsh piano notes]
- My darling, my darling
I've wanted to call you
my darling
For many
And many a day
My darling, my darling
I fluttered and fled
like a starling
My courage just melted
Away
All at once, you kissed me
And there's not a thing
I'm sane enough to say
Except, my darling
- Mom?
- My darling
Get used to the sound
Of "my darling"
It's here
To stay
[alarm beeping faintly]
[ominous music]
- [gasps]
[beeping continues]
[discordant tones]
[ominous chiming]
[beeping continues]
[alarm stops]
[suspenseful music]
Hi, Iris.
- Hey, Lucas.
- Do you think
you did all of this?
- I'm worried
I'm gonna hurt you, Lucas.
- When I was walking up,
I saw a thing on your back.
Is it, like, a cut?
- What?
- Looks like something
spreading down on your neck
to your shirt.
- What do you mean?
- I don't know.
- Oh, my God.
What the fuck?
What the fuck?
What the fuck?
[crying] What the fuck?
[sobbing]
[whimpering]
[sobs]
[whispering] What do we do?
Lucas, what do we do?
- I know we're not supposed to,
but...
I think we should see
Mom and Dad.
[birds chirping]
[helicopter rotors whirring]
[sirens wailing]
[indistinct radio chatter]
[horn blaring]
[indistinct radio chatter]
[ominous tone]
- What you're about to see
is what Lucas and I saw
when we came back
from the hospital
to try to--
to try to see you.
Lucas freaked out and decided
to go ask the neighbors
for help.
- Cath!
Eli!
[knocking]
Anybody home?
[doorbell rings]
- But nobody came to the door.
[ominous music]
We called all your friends,
and no one answered.
Grandma Marsha
isn't answering either.
But the worst part is,
Lucas didn't even shoot
these videos.
These were just texted to us
from some unknown sender.
It's like
whoever's recording us
can see right through
our eyes.
- Anthony?
[knocking]
Anthony, Georgia!
Hello?
[doorbell ringing]
- The streets
are pretty much empty,
other than stuff like this.
[knock at door]
- Iris?
- Yo.
[keyboard key clicks]
- Is it okay if I sleep
in your room tonight?
[phone chimes]
- Sure.
[phone chimes]
- Why are you putting it up
on a tripod like that?
- 'Cause I want to see
if there's anything to see.
- Oh.
Won't the phone die
if we leave it on all night?
- No, it's on a motion sensor.
So, like, if anything moves,
it just--
it'll just record for, like,
ten seconds.
And then it shuts off.
- What if it's too dark?
- There's a flash.
Like, right now.
[sighs]
[ominous tone]
[ominous tone]
[eerie whoosh]
[sighs]
[ominous tone]
[toilet flushes]
[water running]
[ominous tone]
[crickets chirping]
[static buzzing]
[buzzing stops]
[metallic rattling]
[phone chimes]
[suspenseful music]
[crackling]
[phone chimes]
- Bike light.
[birds chirping]
[ominous music]
- Iris?
- What?
- Maybe instead
of thinking of these things
as just words on a list,
we could think of them
as ideas.
Like, the photo
might not be a picture,
but it could be us
or you and me together.
- Writing it down.
"You and me together."
But it doesn't make any sense.
Okay.
Watch.
Where's the apple?
Lucas, where's the apple?
- I don't know.
- Apple's gone.
- I can go get another.
[piano note plays]
[ominous music]
- Okay.
Watch, apple, nail, timer,
U-shaped magnet,
and a brown egg.
[sighs] Hmm.
- Makes no sense at all.
- Well, wait, okay.
If we do this, you're right.
It makes no sense.
But if we do this...
W-A-N-T...
both: M-O-R-E.
- Wouldn't that
just be a coincidence?
- I don't think
that's a coincidence.
- So what happens if we go back
and try the other one now?
- Let's see.
- H-H-T-C-R-A-O.
- That doesn't spell anything.
- Wait, there's more.
Egg.
Still doesn't spell anything.
- Iris, I have a thought.
- What's your thought?
- You know
how I'm always asking
for oranges all the time?
- I guess so.
Why?
- Remember Mom got so mad
because we kept on running out
and I kept on begging
for more and more?
- Where are you going
with this?
- It's basically
the same thing as the ring.
- My ring?
- Yeah.
Wait, where'd it go?
- It's here on my finger.
I put it on. Why?
- That's not just any ring
that you own.
That's the one that you
were super jealous
of Ruby for having,
so she had to give it to you.
- Yeah.
- I remember you almost
stopped being friends
because she wouldn't
lend it to you
and she thought
you were being greedy.
- Yeah.
- I'm saying maybe
we should write down
"greed" or "jealousy"
as one of our words.
- Okay.
But honestly, I feel like
you could see anything
you want in these things.
- That could be true,
but remember when Dad
got me that bike light
and I freaked out
'cause I wanted the square one
instead of the round one?
- No, what are you
talking about?
- Dad said something like,
"Well, it's too bad.
You don't get to choose."
And then we screamed
at each other
for, like,
the whole entire day.
- Sounds like
the kind of stupid fight
you two might have.
So what?
- Yeah, what I'm saying is
maybe that this is all about us
having to choose.
- Maybe.
Choose what?
[faint creak]
[birds chirping]
[faint creaking and tapping]
[metallic squeak]
[static crackling]
[crickets chirping]
[radio clicks on]
[static crackling]
[radio stations tuning]
- Ave Maria
- What's that?
- I have no idea.
Stay here. I'll go look.
- Wait, I'm coming too.
[radio stations tuning]
- You--
- And--
- You--
- What?
- The--
- What
- It--
- What you want
- But--
- You have to--
- Want it--
- Badly--
- It's you--
- Who--
- Can't--
- Escape.
- You--
- Are--
- Ours.
- Ours.
- The sound--
- Our bodies--
- Then it came true--
- Iris.
- And what--
[radio clicks off]
- What? Why--
why would you do that, Lucas?
[radio clicks on]
It was saying something!
- I just couldn't stand it.
- Move. Get away from it.
It's gonna happen again.
It's gonna start again.
Go away.
[Gretchen Lieberum's "My
Darling, My Darling" playing]
What fucking song is this?
Lucas, why does this
sound familiar?
- I think maybe it's because
it's one of the songs
from Mom's new record.
- My darling, my darling
I've wanted
to call you
- You're right. It is Mom.
- For many
And many a day
[ominous music]
My darling, my darling
[radio clicks off]
[crickets chirping]
[harsh piano notes]
- Oh, my God.
[eerie music]
Is that Grandpa Frank
with seeds on him?
Yeah. Why?
Oh, my God,
I haven't seen this in years.
- That's the magnet you traded
me for when I was, like, five.
- Take your hands off of that.
It's mine.
Let me see that.
- Hang on.
- Give it.
- I said hang on.
Iris, I think I know exactly
what it's trying to say.
- What does it say?
- Like, I think the lock
means something about
how things are set in stone
and can't be undone.
And the magnet,
it's about a trade.
But I don't think
it's about the trade we made.
And I think the thing
with Grandpa Frank
and the seeds means
it all started with him.
The Super 8 camera's
obviously about Dad's movies.
And I think the hammer
might be about how Dad
convinced Mom to have me.
- What are you talking about?
- Remember how she
only wanted one kid
and her excuse was something
like the house is too small?
- Right, he promised
to build her a new room.
Brought home
a hammer and nails.
[ominous tone]
- Iris, have you
ever heard about
things called the Wanderers?
- Why does that sound
so familiar?
- According to what I searched,
it's a kind of demon,
a kind of demon who wants
to confuse and scare people
into doing what it wants.
[ominous tone]
And the reason
it sounds so familiar...
look at this description
of Dad's movie.
- "A father sells his children
"to a demon known
as the Wanderer
in exchange
for fame and fortune."
- Iris, I think this movie
was based on something real,
something that maybe even
started before Dad was born.
- So you think Grandpa Frank
made a deal with a demon?
- Uh-huh.
Then Dad.
And now I think he wants
to make a deal with us.
[eerie music]
- What kind of deal?
- Well, like,
my baby handprint
and your childhood bracelet,
that means
something to do with kids.
- What does that mean?
- I think it wants us
to give it
more than what Dad gave it.
- More than two kids?
[crickets chirping]
I didn't tell Lucas this
because I didn't want
to scare him.
But the other night,
I had a dream.
I was lost
in some dark forest,
looking for him.
And I couldn't find him.
[ominous tone]
It was vague,
but somehow I knew
I had allowed something awful
to swallow us both up.
I woke up so ashamed.
But now...
I don't think
it was my fault at all.
I don't have any proof.
But I believe everything
Lucas says about you.
[discordant piano notes]
Did you sell us to it?
For fame or money?
Whatever the fuck you want?
You sold your own kids?
[ominous music]
You're a piece of shit.
[discordant piano note]
[ominous tone]
[birds chirping]
- Hello, my name
is Dr. Susannah Rogers,
and thank you for visiting
our page today,
where we will be discussing
the nature of demons
and strategies
people sometimes use
to attempt
to communicate with them.
Throughout the ages,
humanity has tried
to access the spirit world,
be it through sance, trance,
transcendental psychotropic
experiences,
and through extreme behaviors
such as fasting for weeks,
speaking in tongues for days,
or the application
of extreme pain,
such as branding or fire.
Others have used Ouija boards
or the recitation
of ritual prayer
often written in a language
that the speaker themselves
does not know.
The thing that binds
all of these rituals together
is not the specifics
of the effort
but the intent and the belief
of the summoner of the spirit.
Demons,
particularly Wanderers,
know when a person is
desperate and in need of help,
not because of the words
that they speak
or the actions that they take
but because of the feeling
of the person
speaking those words
and taking those actions.
They can feel the sincere need
exhibited in your prayer.
Little else matters,
certainly not the order
or the recitation
of ancient ceremonial rites.
No.
The demon prefers novel,
personalized approaches
to summoning,
because those who create
their own ritual
with pure and true belief
are often those
who are most corruptible.
End of message.
Have a safe journey.
[tense music]
[dramatic music]
[scissors snipping]
- With this,
my deepest, darkest secret,
I wish for you to speak.
- With this,
my deepest, darkest secret,
I wish for you to speak.
- For this,
my sacred childhood object,
I wish for you to speak.
- With this, given to me
by my beloved grandmother,
I wish for you to speak.
- For giving you these herbs
from a plant I planted,
I wish for you to speak.
- With a memory from my past,
I wish for you to speak.
- With this beautiful bottle
I found,
I wish for you to speak.
And this watch, given to me
by my Grandpa Frank,
I wish for you to speak.
- With this fire...
both:
We beg of you to speak.
[fire crackling]
- I don't think
it's gonna work.
[wind gusting]
[melodica note plays]
[low buzzing]
[fire crackling]
[fire roaring]
[ominous music]
Hey, Lucas.
Lucas, it worked.
What is this?
Is this
Grandpa Frank's melodica?
- Remember
when he gave it to us?
He was like,
"If you want to,
you could be
a famous musician."
Maybe it's here
to remind us of that.
- What about my crystals?
- Those were
your most precious things
when you were little.
I think it's saying
it can get us
more stuff like that
if we do if it wants.
And this picture of Dad
with the dead flowers,
when I first looked at it,
I was sure it meant
that Dad was about to die.
- You think Dad's dead?
- Maybe.
Or maybe the demon
just wants us to believe that.
This stuff over here
seems to mean
it wants us to choose
which way to go.
And with those things
it somehow unburned,
I'm guessing it wants us
to see how powerful it is.
- What about
your old bike lock?
- I'm pretty sure it's saying
we're going to be taken.
- Taken by the demon?
- Yeah.
And I think this watch here
means we only have
until 3:17 a.m. to decide.
- Decide whether
to take its offer?
- Yeah.
- Why 3:17 a.m.?
- I have no idea.
- What about the journal?
What's Dad's story journal
doing here?
- Well...
either it's telling us
if we go with it,
we get to write our own story,
or could just be--
could just be
wanting us to sign our names.
- And the bell?
[bell rings]
What do you think the bell is?
- The bell means nothing to me,
and neither do Grandpa's
old opera glasses.
But the fire being on,
it's probably a warning.
[ominous tone]
- You didn't start the fire?
- No.
- You're saying
the fire's saying
that's how it's gonna feel
if we don't give it
what it wants?
- Yeah.
- Do you think Mom and Dad
get to live
if we agree to do
what it's asking?
- I don't know.
[ominous tone]
[ominous tone]
[collar jingling]
[cat meows]
[static crackling]
[Victor Herrero Band's
"Brillante Estrella" playing]
- [singing in Spanish]
- Do you know what this is?
- I think it's a song
from Dad's new movie.
[static crackling]
- [sniffling]
[whimpers]
[sobbing]
[crickets chirping]
[creaking]
[fire crackling]
[ominous tone]
[tense music]
[ominous tone]
[animals chittering]
[ominous tone]
[bells tolling]
[dramatic tone]
[distorted roar]
[crickets chirping]
[Headcleaner's "Knots Untied"]
- Start playing guitar
These chords
will take you far
- There he is. There he is.
- These chords
will take you far
- Good to see you.
- Wears blue until a star
In a little wasted car
Wears blue until a star
In a little wasted car
Keep stepping on your step
Walk slowly,
it's not over yet
Breathe easy
on your breath
Breathe love
and that's a fact
'Cause I love it
when the sun is high
And I'm dreaming
about a ship I fly
North winters
have long gone by
All the knots
are gonna come untied
All the knots are gonna
Come untied
All the knots
are gonna come untied
All the knots are gonna
Come untied
All the knots
are gonna come untied
Ready skies and upper top
You're the world,
love make us stop
I seen a lot of movies
that've been flops
But I never seen
some corn bad in a crop
No, I never seen
some corn bad in a crop
I never seen
no corn bad in a crop
I never seen no corn
bad in a crop
I never seen
no corn bad in a crop
- [distorted scream]
I'ma teach you
how to step
That I work,
but I forget
I'm just sipping
on some gin
I'm a-hoping that you win
I'm a winner with a dream
I'm a-floating
Down a stream
I'm never, ever waiting
I'm a-rolling
Like a freight train
I'm a-rolling
Like a freight train
I'm a-rolling
Like a freight train
I'm a-rolling
Like a freight train
I'm a-rolling
like a freight
[distorted roar]
- Train
Start playing your guitar
These chords
will take you far
Wears blue until a star
In a little wasted car
Keep stepping
on your step
Walk slowly,
it's not over yet
Breathe easy
on your breath
Breathe love,
and that's a fact
Breathe love, and that's
a fact
I love the way
the sun is high
And I'm dreaming
about a ship I fly
North winters
have long gone by
All the knots
are gonna come untied
All the knots are gonna
come untied
All the knots
are gonna come untied
All the knots are gonna
come untied
All the knots
are gonna come untied
- [distorted]
And that's a wrap.
[ominous music]