Lenore (2026) Movie Script
1
[logo chimes]
[beep]
[crackling]
- Hi, everyone.
Wait. Sorry.
Uh, God, I don't even know
where to start, start.
Um.
[tense music]
It's just...
This is so new to me.
Testing.
This whole talking
to the camera thing.
Can anyone hear me?
[tense music continues]
Don't get me wrong.
I love being on camera,
but talking about myself
and shit.
Not so good.
[tense music continues]
So, um, to tell you a little
something about myself.
I'm a Cancer.
That's,
that's good enough, right?
I, I sing.
Oh, um,
I can do this with my tongue.
Hmm?
- She was amazing.
I can't believe
I actually saw her.
You know, it's actually amazing.
- I've done a bit of modelling,
but I'm really trying
to move away
from a lot of that stuff now.
Uh, I just really
want to do stuff
that's a lot more personal.
[screen crackles]
[people screaming]
[tense music continues]
What that's gonna be,
well, you'll just have
to wait and see.
- Oh, dear.
You're my only [indistinct]
- This is one of the most
despicable
obscene, unforgivable things
that I have ever seen.
I don't, I don't give
a shit who's responsible
because either way,
this bitch, she needs to go.
[crosstalk]
- Do you have any regrets
for what you...?
[tense music ends]
- So, yeah.
I think this is
going to be fun.
[tense music]
[muffled screams]
[groans]
[tense music continues]
[grunting]
[tense music continues]
- Hello.
I'm Max.
Max Wren.
W-R-E-N
like the bird.
I'm a filmmaker, I guess.
And, uh.
This is where the magic happens.
No.
I'm sorry.
I'm not good with words.
[suspenseful music]
[suspenseful music continues]
Please.
Please, please, please.
[gasping]
[computer beeping]
I love this one.
[Lenore clearing throat]
- Hi everyone,
and welcome back to my channel.
It's so nice to have you here
with me on this very fine day.
And I hope that wherever
you are in the world right now,
you're having a great one
so far.
So, a fair few of you in
the forums have been requesting
that I make a video
of some of my cameras.
Um, big shout out
to the LoneWolf91
for making that request
multiple times.
You are the best.
[chuckles]
Uh, firstly, I just want to say
that I absolutely adore cameras.
I have been collecting them
since I was a child.
My dad is to blame
for my obsession.
He was...
He was always taking all
these videos and photos of me
when I was little,
but he, actually, he wouldn't
want me talking about that.
Um, so yeah.
Uh, you may have
noticed me using,
uh, this National VHS camcorder.
Um, I've used this one
for quite a few of my videos.
I have ones
that are better than this,
but I just really love the way
that this one captures life.
Oh, and don't even
get me started
on that four by three frame.
It is just delightful.
In fact, let me show you.
Okay, so I'm going to be
uploading this video
to the forums.
So, say hi.
Say hi everyone.
[Laughing]
Oh, I hope you're all ready
to be caught on tape
for all eternity.
Um,
this, this one
actually came out
at a really special time
in history.
[screen crackles]
Okay, so it's like,
shit, 4 a.m. on a Thursday.
[laughing]
Dad passed out like an hour ago.
Booze bag.
But I can't sleep.
Oh, I'm fucking wired.
Hey, you want to see something?
Something I found.
Sort of.
Don't be afraid.
It won't hurt you.
Yet.
Oh,
awesome, right?
It's Dad's.
Well, I don't know, I just
find it sexy, you know?
You know what it is?
It's all those action movies
I watched growing up.
Lying there
on the couch next to Dad.
Mmm.
Watching Rambo,
Predator, Die Hard.
Anything, really?
Ten beers later
and he'd pass out.
I pulled it out once.
Well, a few times.
But this one time, after we'd
been watching Unforgiven.
I pulled it out,
and I pointed it right at him,
pretending
that I was Clint Eastwood.
[tense music]
[gun clicks]
[keyboard clacking]
Hey there, my little freaks.
And welcome back to another
spooky Saturday session.
It's the show
where we talk about
all of the creepiest stuff
in the world whilst I get ready.
So today we're going
to be learning about
this incredible ritual
that the good people
of Puerto Rico
and apparently
New Orleans get up to.
It's called, extreme embalming.
So, we know that a lot of
cultures view death differently.
For some,
it's the eternal sleep.
For others,
it's all about being this
idealised version of yourself
in a perfect heaven.
Well, the idea
behind extreme embalming
is to take the body,
and to make it look
as lifelike as possible,
so the person just looks
like they're sleeping.
Then the family of the deceased
will come in, take the body,
and pose it in this sort
of otherworldly tableau,
to place them in the context
of the things
that they love the most.
Some people find
this practice really creepy,
but I legit think it's
genuinely beautiful
to honour someone's
legacy like that.
Keep their memory alive.
- You know what's amazing?
[Lenore] So we might go in
and try...
- All these coincidences
in our worldviews.
[Lenore chatting indistinctly]
I began spotting them
years ago, and...
And I keep an ongoing tally.
I have done for years.
Which is to say nothing of all
the other coincidences on here.
The first I noticed
was our birthdays.
We were both born almost
exactly four weeks apart,
which means in turn,
we share a star sign, Cancer.
Our personalities line up too.
Both very protective,
very loyal.
Kind of stubborn too.
[chuckles]
[gentle music]
Of course, um,
Of course,
there's also our homes.
Both only children
who were raised poor.
We both come from broken homes.
Both hate our parents.
A lot of trauma,
a lot of darkness there.
Both pale and fragile.
In need of care.
I guess the only thing
that we don't have in common
is our eyes.
You have blue eyes,
I have brown eyes.
I hate that.
You have no idea how badly
I wish I had blue eyes, Nore.
Nore?
[eerie music]
[eerie music continues]
- You think you know me?
You'll dread me.
[indistinct]
[screen crackling]
[eerie music]
You know?
I need my chance.
[laughs]
[person screams]
[groaning]
- Fine.
Whatever you say.
[tense music]
- So let's jump right
into the news, shall we?
And look,
I really don't want to,
but we have to talk about
the internet's
most controversial
and perhaps
most dangerous artist.
Lenore.
Yes, that's right.
The usually very
prolific content creator's
uncharacteristically
long online silence
has culminated
in the disappearance
of everything related to her.
I'm talking her website's
socials, live streams,
donation platforms.
It's all gone.
Now, just in case you've been
living under a rock on Mars,
Veronica Brand, aka Lenore,
has been around
for quite some time.
Back when she used to
do her makeup,
and talk about her boring life.
But she rose to fame a couple
of years back
through a series of ridiculous,
short-lived music career,
political activism,
public stunts,
all came crashing down
just a few months ago
in what has since
become known as
the notorious
Playschool Incident.
The playschool incident
was a broadcast signal hijack
that took place
on March 21st of this year,
during which one of Lenore's
most infamous videos,
in which she has a miscarriage
on camera,
was spliced into the hit TV show
for Kids, Play School.
[chuckling]
It played for seven minutes
straight, uninterrupted.
Now, Lenore herself
was apparently mortified,
and denied any involvement in
or knowledge of the incident.
But given her past history,
and you know,
her acts of art terrorism,
as she calls it,
even some of her little
freak followers,
they're not buying it.
- Hey guys,
I seriously cannot believe
that I am making this video.
I mean,
I didn't think I'd ever actually
have to talk
about this publicly,
but we need to find her.
It has gone too far.
Like, this isn't just
some internet tea anymore,
this is real life.
Don't even get me started
on the stupid Play School thing.
No.
We all know she had nothing
to do with it.
Anyway,
she had been really quiet,
but still posting up
until about a week ago,
and then completely wild.
Her socials, scrubbed,
her channel hides
100 plus videos,
and her numbers have dropped
by millions,
and she wouldn't do that.
That channel was her life.
None of the mods
in the community have heard.
So we obviously think
that someone has taken control
of her accounts.
I mean, some are just
saying it's her dad
who's a very controversial
figure in her life for sure,
but...
look, nobody knows
what's happened,
but we need to find her ASAP.
So to help the mission,
I have set up a GoFundMe,
and all proceeds will help
to find our queen,
and kill whoever did this.
No, no, no, a joke, hey.
[tense music]
But we will find her.
- In the aftermath,
her followers became irrational,
hysterical, even.
They wanted to grieve, to rage.
They wanted a scapegoat,
an excuse.
They wanted an answer.
Even if that answer was stupid.
But some things are bigger
than that.
Like her.
I once saw a thing
about these olive trees
in Jerusalem
that predate Christ.
They are,
for lack of a better word, dead
or dying at least.
And yet, they still bear fruit
every year.
I mean, I've never been there.
No, no, no, no, no.
No, cut that.
[tense music]
[static crackling]
[tense music continues]
[tense music continues]
[banging on door]
[banging continues]
[banging stops]
Jehovah's Witnesses.
Nothing more.
[phone vibrating]
Yeah, that's all, Max,
nothing more.
[tense music continues]
[phone vibrating]
Hello?
[Man] This Max?
Max Wren?
It's Sam.
We used to work together
at the network, remember?
[tense music]
- Oh, yeah.
How are you going, man?
[Sam] Yeah, whatever, look,
you're on a forum thing, right?
You want some footage
for a movie or some shit?
- Yeah.
Yeah, um, so it's for this
documentary that I'm making.
[Sam] Right, sure.
Are you gonna let me in?
- What?
[banging on door]
[Sam] Let me in.
- Uh, all right,
one second, please.
[Sam] Ta.
[tense music continues]
- One sec, please.
- You live here now?
- Yeah.
- It's nice.
- Thank you.
- You got a girl in here?
- What?
- A girl, man,
- You got a girl?
- Well, yeah.
- Well, so where is she?
She's sick of you or something.
- Oh, no, no.
She's asleep.
- Well wake her up, then, man,
let's meet her.
- I can't.
Heavy sleeper.
So what have you got for me?
- Do you have any food?
- What?
- Food, man, I'm hungry.
- Yeah.
I've got cereal,
or I've got bread.
- Uh, do you have any real food?
- I've got cereal
or I've got bread.
Uh, what kind of cereal
do you have?
- Uh, Rice Bubbles.
- Nah, just bread.
So.
You make movies now, do you?
- Yeah.
[chair scraping]
I make movies now, I guess.
- What kind of movies
do you make?
- Uh, just documentary movies.
[Sam] Dirty movies?
- What?
- Dirty movies?
There's a lot of fucking money
in dirty movies.
Well, that and snuff.
You know how much they pay for
snuff in Russia and in Thailand.
No.
- 100 K man, 150 K.
Easy, right?
More if they're hot
or young or...
- I had no idea.
- Well you should get on it,
you'd be rich.
- I'll look into it.
- Got any butter or jam, mate?
It's like eating an old sponge.
- Uh, no, sorry.
- Tell me again.
What was it that you did at
the network, Maxi?
before, you know,
well,
you know what happened?
- Nothing interesting.
- Surely not, mate.
Look at you.
- I was a vision switcher.
- What the fuck is that?
- I switched vision.
- No, man, not that, this.
This your girlfriend?
- My research.
- Sure.
- It is.
- A nasty little piece of work.
- Put it back.
- Bet she fucks like
a fucking whore.
- Put it back, please.
- You know what happened
to her, yeah?
- What do you mean?
- I mean...
you know what happened to her,
don't you?
She's gone, Maxi.
[paper sizzling]
Without a trace too.
No press release, no goodbyes,
no nothing.
Just
nevermore.
Hey,
I can see why you'd make
a dirty movie about her.
- It is not a dirty movie!
For God's sake,
it is not a dirty movie.
It is a tribute, a collage.
Because unlike you,
it's not about that for me.
It's never been.
There's so much more to my
Nore than that.
- Nore?
- She's an artist,
a revolutionary, a goddess.
She is perfect.
- Fuck off.
- Fine. Whatever.
I don't care
because I know I'm right.
I know she's bigger than that,
and my work's gonna prove it.
- You are so cute.
- You just can't see what I see.
- Business a bit slow
these days, Maxi?
- Yes.
- Good.
- I work on this.
- What fun that must be.
- Look, did you bring it?
- What?
- My footage.
Did you bring my footage?
- Steady on, mate.
Right?
[tense music]
Got it right here.
However,
you're going to need subjects,
aren't you?
It's a documentary, after all.
See, I've always wanted
to be in the movies myself.
Maxi, I've got the face for it.
Yeah, and I've got
some shit I want to say.
So...
- Um,
you want
to be in the documentary?
[sighs]
- Yeah, sure.
- Okay.
- Fucking hell.
Hey, is all this shit from work?
- Some.
- And the rest?
- Found it.
- What? All of it?
- More or less.
Bed. Sit.
Run this up your shirt
for me, please.
- Just like this?
- It'll do.
- So, what are we going
to talk about?
- About her?
- What about her?
- Well, when did you
first see her?
- Um, I was watching
videos on, online.
- Were you interested in online
content before that?
- No, man, shit's for kids.
- And how were you feeling
at the time?
- Fine.
- Not lonely at all?
- I don't know, man.
Maybe, like,
everyone feels lonely sometimes.
That's a stupid fucking
question anyway.
The point is this.
One day she's just there,
right?
And I don't mean like,
some fate or destiny bullshit
or whatever.
I mean that.
One day, you've got
your life, right?
but then the next
it's just all about her.
I don't know, man,
maybe I couldn't help it.
[suspenseful music]
Maybe she knew I was coming.
Because you can't be friends
with a computer, Max.
You can't fuck a computer,
can you?
You can't do nothing.
Right? Because it's bullshit,
it's fake.
There's something
about her, I don't know.
I don't know.
I couldn't help it.
- Mm-hm.
Yeah.
I know.
- Shit started to change,
though.
It was small at first.
It was more
of a feeling I had about it.
Tried to brush it off
for a while.
Um.
It started to show,
she was acting different,
and looking different.
Talking different.
Like, um,
she wasn't talking
to me anymore.
I got mighty pissed, Max.
Fuck.
I even caught myself
angry at her for not asking
my permission first.
That's fucked, man.
Because I...
Don't worry.
Then one day I'm on her website
and I see it,
meet Lenore.
Right? I cried, man.
I was like, she's coming,
she's coming here.
I'm sure she's fucking with me,
right?
So I'm checking
her Facebook and,
you know, Twitter and Instagram
and TikTok, whatever,
15 times a piece, right?
It wasn't a lie.
February 16th, 4:30 p.m.
The Exhibition Centre.
[Max chuckling]
Remember it like
my own birthday.
- Did you camp out front?
- Yeah, 16 hours.
40 something degree heat.
Far out.
- Me too.
- Yeah?
Cowboy outfit didn't help,
either.
- Oh, because
her favourite film is
- Unforgiven.
- Unforgiven, yeah.
I was gonna save her, right?
be a perfect man.
[Scoffs]
Make her want me.
What's wrong with me?
It's like she said, man,
if you feel it, own it.
Yep.
By the time those doors opened,
I was like, today's the day.
She's gonna love me.
[suspenseful music continues]
So I'll go out to the front
of the line and, uh,
and there she is
smiling at me.
And, um, she said, uh,
uh, she said, "Hello, sweetie."
That fucking voice.
And...
I told her, man,
you know?
Standing there dressed
up like a fucking cowboy,
and I poured my heart out
to this woman.
You know what she said to me?
She said, "Have you got
anything for me to sign?"
"Have you got anything
for me to sign?"
I said no in a security told me
to fuck off.
[eerie music]
That's enough about me, Maxi.
Let's talk about you.
- Me?
- Yeah.
- I mean, I know you.
You can trust me, Max.
Plus,
we both got a bit in common.
Bit of history with this cunt.
The artist, the revolutionary,
the goddess.
[eerie music continues]
You've gotta clean your room,
mate.
Max.
What was it that you say
you do at the network again?
Sorry, mate.
Did.
- Vision switcher.
- Yeah. Vision switcher.
Right, right.
Those are the cunts that, uh,
cut the telly together.
Yeah, like they make sure
everything's where it should be.
When it should be there?
Yeah?
It's a really important job.
I wouldn't want to fuck that up.
[tense music]
Did you know
you were gonna do it?
- Shut up!
[Max grunting]
- I gotta say, Maxi,
I've always admired your style.
Play School? Oh, that's bold.
She must be so proud of you.
- Please.
Just give me the footage and go.
- Please.
- Oh, he's keen, isn't he?
- He can't wait.
Little Maxi just wants
to see his baby Nore,
in her fucking swimsuit,
jacking off her daddy
and munching
on her custard fucking creams.
The little fucking perve.
You're gonna have to try harder
than that, mate.
Oi,
Oi, look at me.
[Lenore] Is this structured cage
the embodiment
of man's control over women?
[eerie music]
It was designed
to enhance the female form,
make my waist slimmer,
push my bust up to create
a more desirable silhouette.
- Look at me.
Look at me!
- Max,
do you like the way this looks?
[Max screams]
[Max grunts]
- I can feel my audience
making space,
and my posture becoming rigid.
I can feel
my breathing constrict.
Yet, I am the one pulling
on these strings.
[Lenore grunts]
Some people will say...
- She's not going to save you
any more, Maxi.
-...real men prefer meat.
- Please, please, no, no.
[Lenore]...and the bones
are for the dogs.
- It's quite the mess you've
made for yourself,
isn't it, Max?
- Just tell me what you want.
- It had to be real good
- to keep me quiet.
- Anything.
- Please, just, just...
- Yeah.
- Wait!
- Come here.
[Max gasping]
Oh, that's a good photo, Max.
That's rare.
- Yeah.
Are there any more?
- Some of you have sisters,
mothers,
wives.
- Are there any more photos,
Max?
- Yes.
- Can you reconcile them
with your treatment of me?
[Sam] Give me the nudes.
- What?
- You get your tape,
I get your nudes.
No one needs
to know this happened.
- As much as you want
to reduce me.
- Well?
- As much as you want to own me.
I am not yours.
- Fine.
[tense music continues]
[Max grunts]
- Oh.
[exhales]
Yeah.
Yeah, we're good, Max.
[sighs] We're good.
[Max whimpering]
Pleasure doing business
with you.
- My footage!
[footsteps tapping]
[Max whimpering]
[door opening]
[door closes]
[Max laughing]
[sinister music]
[machine clicking]
[machine beeping]
[static crackling]
[Dad] Brand Christmas breakfast.
Ronnie,
you out here, sweetheart?
[tape crackling]
Jeez, a weed's needed, though.
Veronica?
Oh, there she is.
What are you up to?
Huh.
[tape crackling]
Hey, Ron.
- Hey, Dad.
- What are you up to?
Oh, well, we thought that
dinosaur bones were buried...
- Dad!
[Dad] What?
- Are you filming me?
[Dad] Well, yeah.
- Dad!
[Dad] I got it fixed.
[Lenore] I don't care.
- Ronnie. Come on.
I got the microphone fixed,
and it zooms in and out.
Ronnie. Come on!
[tape crackling]
Well, hey.
You know what we could do?
You could use it
while I'm at work.
- Really?
[Dad] Yep.
[tape crackles]
Ah, that's for me?
- For you, yeah.
Try not to rip the paper.
[Dad] Wow, yeah, okay, okay.
- I gotta film you.
Oop.
Looks like we're surrounded.
Dad, I'm doing my ninja routine.
- Yeah, you go, grasshopper.
[making ninja noises]
Dad!
[indistinct]
- I've gotta make a move, hun.
- Dad!
Come on!
[Dad] I'm a detective, right?
- Oh, thank you.
[Lenore singing]
Aha!
You thought
you could hide the...
[doorbell rings]
[pen scribbling]
[door closes]
[Dad shouting]
[Lenore laughing]
- Ron.
[Lenore] Hi, Dad.
- Ronnie, please.
[Lenore] Zoom in, zoom out.
- Please turn the camera off,
please.
[Lenore] How come?
- Cause I don't want to be
filmed right now.
[Lenore] Hey,
you got me this morning.
[Dad] Veronica.
[Lenore] Veronica.
- I just don't feel to flash,
okay?
[Lenore] Why?
- I just didn't have
a good day at work.
[Lenore] Why?
Somebody die?
- Hey!
[Lenore] Come on, tell me.
- Put the camera away.
Jesus.
[indistinct]
[Lenore] Dad!
- I'm going to count to three.
[Lenore] Stop, Dad!
[Dad] Or not be possible.
[Lenore] Fine.
[tense music]
- That's a good one.
That was your Mum's.
That was her favourite.
Put it on.
I know, you know how.
[gentle music plays]
[sighs]
- I miss Mum, too.
[sinister music]
[tape crackling]
- Ronnie.
Has that been on the whole time?
- I need to keep
these memories safe.
[sinister music continues]
[Dad] Oh, fuck you!
[Lenore] No dad, no, no!
[Dad] Ah!
- Wait.
- Hey, Ron.
Hey, Ronnie, you ready?
[Lenore] Just,
just a minute, mum.
- Wait!
[Lenore shouting]
[sinister music continues]
[Lenore shouting]
[Lenore shouting]
[Max breathing heavily]
[electricity crackling]
[fan whirring]
[machines whirring]
[sighs]
[eerie music]
[Max groans]
Ah, man!
Fuck!
[tape crackling]
[groaning]
[Lenore] Dad?
Dad? Dad, get up!
[Lenore gasping and sobbing]
[sinister music continues]
If you feel it.
[electricity crackling]
- Oh!
[sinister music continues]
Stop!
[Max panting]
Please.
[eerie music]
- Welcome.
[tense music]
Ah.
Imagine it.
You get everything you want.
Flesh and blood and bone.
You get me.
All of me, all of the time.
But what then?
Are you gonna fuck me?
Are you gonna make me cum?
Are we gonna move
into a little house somewhere
with a white picket fence
and some kids we hate?
Is that not enough for you?
You entitled fucking slime.
- Don't.
- Do you have any idea
how many men just like you,
I have to deal with every day?
Men just like you
who fail to see
that I perform myself
as my job with a wink,
a friendly sign-off,
and a gaze into the camera.
And yet, in your windowed
selfish view of me,
you think that I am just
for you.
And you think
that because you see a pattern,
that there is nothing to see.
That we are meant
to be together forever.
[laughs]
Well
guess what?
I am for everyone and no one.
And I am for me, baby.
And if you don't like that,
then there's the door.
- Lenore, I know you.
This isn't you.
- No, but I know you.
You see what you want to see.
You twist and contort the truth
into some gross monster suit.
Your sick little fantasies.
- That is not true.
[laughing]
- You really think you're
special, don't you?
To think that you can save me
from myself.
Save me from my daddy.
Save me from my promiscuity.
To keep me clean
and save me from a life
that I have clearly carved
for myself.
- Nore.
- You're not special, Max,
because you're just like
the rest of them,
sanctimonious,
sycophantic, little man.
Who simultaneously
wants to fuck me,
kill me, and keep me pristine?
[Max] No!
[breathing shakily]
Please, Nore.
Please don't make me
hate myself anymore.
Please don't make me hate you
for making me hate myself
so much.
Because there is a limit.
There is a limit
to all the pain,
and the weight and the hatred
you can carry around
inside yourself.
So, what you just have to start
sharing it around, you know?
[sobs] I can't do it anymore.
I can't bear it on my own.
[gentle music]
[sobbing]
I've got this vision.
I used to dream
about it all the time.
Since the moment
I first saw you.
I know,
I know it always looked like
one of those movies
that you say you hate.
But two people see each other
across a room.
Or a dance floor, maybe.
I don't know.
I've never...
They lock eyes with each other.
And they see only each other.
And they both feel it.
And the whole world just
falls away.
And there's no more time
or space
for other people.
No, nothing like that.
And they know.
They just know.
They were meant to be together.
I'm trying, Nore.
I'm trying so hard to make
that a reality.
You always said it.
If you feel it,
own it.
[thunder rumbling]
[disc clatters]
[eerie music]
[tape crackles]
[Lenore] Hi,
it's me, back again.
Sorry.
I'm so, so sorry.
I'm just so, so exhausted.
Like,
you, you wouldn't believe
the hell that has been my life
these past few months.
Like, between the fucking
Play School thing,
and the takedowns,
and the threats,
and the fucking move.
And also looking after...
Oh. Oh.
Oh, slow down.
Ooh, wait a minute.
Context.
So, yeah, I've moved.
[chuckles]
As you can see.
Um, hang on, come here.
Tadah!
So you'll have to excuse
the image.
This is not my usual boy.
Um. Yeah.
This is not my room, obviously.
God, could you imagine?
Uh, we're just kind of storing
stuff down here at the minute,
but I was thinking of maybe
turning it into a little studio
at some point
because it's pretty big.
The walls are thick.
It gets like no light.
So, you know, I could do
some new music down here.
I could even shoot
some spooky stuff.
Yeah. What do you guys reckon?
Let me know in the comm...
[sombre music]
[sighs]
[sighs]
Okay.
Yada, yada, yada.
Move done.
Play School.
[sighs]
Yeah.
[clears throat]
[sighs]
I need to set the record
straight on this.
That video was the most personal
and painful thing
I have ever made,
and I did it for me.
I did it because,
because I was in pain,
and I was trying to
openly and honestly share
that pain with my audience,
hoping that they'd...
hoping that they'd cry with me.
And they did.
Honestly, the support
I received was just incredible.
It felt like this huge weight
had been lifted off my chest.
I bore myself and my soul
and the world didn't end.
[sombre music continues]
For a while.
The fact that someone
took that pain and did...
[Dad] Hey, Ron.
...and did that with it,
makes me want to fucking...
[Dad] Hey, Ronnie,
are you around?
- Just, just a minute, Pa.
Fuck!
Um.
I'll be back in a sec.
But...
Here's the thing.
People need to understand that
a smile is never just for you.
That
when people reveal something
of themselves publicly,
it is not a sign of trust.
Some kind of
tacit endorsement.
some kind of
invitation to a life.
[sighs]
Because
we all have our masks
that we wear
when we're trying to get
by in the big, scary world
for safety,
for power or whatever.
I've used many masks to perform
my life for the camera.
All of them named Lenore.
She's been my conduit.
A vessel for my curiosities,
my fantasies.
My heartbreak and pain.
My joy.
But she is not me.
She is of me,
but she is not me.
She's me as seen through a lens.
[sniffs]
Because I am
Veronica Estelle Brand.
Ronnie to my father,
Henry James Brand,
the bravest
and kindest man in the world
who raised me all on his own.
When my mother, Estelle Brand,
died when I was nine.
I have a past.
I have a history
to be taken in its totality.
And nothing can take
that away from me.
Or you.
You may have once known me
as Lenore.
But she shall be lifted
nevermore.
[Henry grunting]
[tense music]
Dad?
Dad! Dad!
Dad!
[sobbing]
[tense music continues]
- Ronnie, Ronnie.
If you feel it, own it.
[Veronica screams]
[Max panting]
[eerie music]
[siren wailing]
[eerie music continues]
[banging on door]
[Police] Police.
Police, open up.
- One moment, please.
Coming.
- Son.
My name's Sergeant Kerrie Faith.
This is Constable Amos Fatts.
- Hello, officers.
- Mind if we come in, mate?
[heart beating]
- Won't be a sec.
- Why?
- Well, we've had several noise
complaints from your neighbours.
- All complaints reported
excessive yelling, screaming,
lots of violent banging.
- So, we just need to make sure
that nothing untoward
is happening in here.
- Are you sure it's this house?
I mean, it could be...
- We're sure.
Can we come in?
- We just need to take a quick
look around, mate,
and we'll be out of your hair,
okay?
- Easy peasy.
Just moved in, have you?
- Yes.
[Kerrie] How long ago?
- Not long.
- You on your own?
- Yes.
- You hardly touched
your brekkie.
- Wasn't hungry.
- So you got to be sparing
with the Vegemite, mate.
Little goes a long way.
- This way.
Don't really use
these other rooms.
- Hmm.
I was gonna say.
Big place for one person.
Wouldn't you say?
- Yeah. No.
- Okay, then.
- More of a family home
than a bachelor pad.
Hey?
Uh, it's very dark down here,
mate.
[Kerrie] This your room?
- Yes.
- Bit cramped, don't you think?
- I'd say cosy.
[chuckles]
- Messy too.
[sniffing]
That smell. Jesus.
- Should probably
shower more often.
[Amos] You get many visitors,
mate?
- Not really.
- Not really?
- No.
No one visits, Officer.
- Must get awful lonely.
Seems like you're running
an awful lot of power
down here, son.
[Max] Yes, officer.
- And why is that?
- Work.
[Amos] Work?
- Yes, officer.
- Running a factory down here
or something?
- No, officer.
- Well, then what do you do?
- So, you'd do well
- to actually get some surge
protectors down here, kid.
You can't be running this
much power without them, yeah?
- Amos.
- What?
- It's like an extra 20 bucks.
- Amos, what are you...?
He doesn't care.
- Well, what if there's
a thunderstorm?
What if a fuse goes?
- Amos, you're a cop,
not an electrician.
- And I can't be both?
- Just give me
the all clear on this,
and then we'll get out of here.
Please.
- Yes, ma'am.
- Amos, for the love of God,
we've talked about this.
- There's nothing there, really
- No, we'll be the judge
of that.
Name?
- What?
- Name?
Here, what's your name?
- Max.
- Max, Max who?
- Max Wren
W-R-E-N.
- Date of birth?
- July 22nd, 1991.
- And your occupation?
- I'm...
I'm a filmmaker.
- A filmmaker?
- Oh, God.
- Yes, officer.
I make films.
- Hmm.
Very interesting
because I've always wanted
to make movies myself.
- Oh, Amos.
-What? He doesn't mind.
Movie people love yakking
about what they do, Kez.
So where do you get
all this stuff from, Mark?
Huh?
Is this old new second-hand,
or...?
is that...
Is that a hi-8 machine?
- Uh, yes.
- Oh my lord.
I haven't seen one
of these in years.
Sorry, I get, I get really
excited by stuff like this.
- You've gotta be kidding me.
- Wow, no wonder you got
such a big place.
You must be bloody well
killing it out there.
- Not really.
- Oh, you know what?
My missus would absolutely love
to see all of this.
She's a bit of a filmmaker
as well.
- That's nice.
- Yeah.
Is that a VCR?
- I do a lot of digitising work.
- Wow.
That thing is awesome.
That, that thing must be
an antique by now, yeah?
Worth a fortune.
- What's with the monitor?
- Forgot to save.
- Forgot to save so you threw
a bowl of cereal
at your computer?
- It was annoying at the time.
- So what are you working
on at the moment, Mel?
- Max.
- Max, sorry.
- What are you working
on at the moment, mate?
- It's a kind of a documentary.
- Okay.
Like a what?
A home movies kind of deal,
is it?
- You could say that.
- Well, why don't we take a look
at how this all works, then?
You'd like that, Amos,
wouldn't you?
Oh, yeah, absolutely.
Hey, uh, you mind
if I film this for the missus?
You know what it's like.
- No!
[eerie music]
No, you can't film it,
and you can't see it,
and you can't touch it.
It's not finished.
No, no, no, no, no.
- Okay, mate.
- No worries.
- It's all good, mate.
- It's all right.
Amos, you head out to the car
and grab the DSLR
for me, please.
- There's nothing here, Kez
- Now, now!
- Please.
Don't hurry back.
- Okay.
Fine.
Hey.
It'll mean I'll get some good
photos of your rig, right, son?
Yeah.
Ready if you need me, yeah?
[door opens]
- Sorry about him, mate.
He's new.
[exhales]
Good heart.
But, uh,
new.
Mind if I sit, Max?
- No.
- Cheers.
[sighs]
Been a long night.
It's really, uh,
starting to come down out there.
- Do you want anything?
A water? Cereal? Bread?
- No.
I'm fine.
Thank you, Max.
- Okay.
- Aren't you gonna sit, Max?
- No.
- So you're just
gonna stand there?
- Yeah.
For now.
- Sit down, Max.
It's all good.
You said you don't get
many visitors.
[tense music]
- Yeah.
- Why's that?
- Don't know.
- Parents?
Friends?
Girlfriend?
I'm sorry.
That must be hard.
- It's fine.
I don't care.
- You like being alone?
Me too.
Tell you what.
If I'm home early
and the man's not around,
I just love diving
into some really bad telly
with a bottle of red till I
can't keep my eyes open anymore.
[chuckles]
Do you watch much TV, Max?
- No, officer.
- Well, uh, what about movies?
Do you like movies?
- Yes, officer.
- You don't have to call me
officer, Max.
I'm Kerrie.
Call me Kerrie.
- Okay.
Sorry.
[tense music continues]
- What happened to your leg,
Max?
Same thing
that happened to your hands?
You get on really well
with my son, I reckon.
Yeah.
Mine's a terribly shy young man,
but he means well.
God, he means so, so well.
He's whip-smart, too.
But I just worry
that he doesn't have anyone.
Well, except me.
He's always got me.
So maybe you're not so similar
after all.
At least you got out
of your mum's
before she wouldn't let you.
He's missing friends
and a girlfriend, basically.
Breaks my heart.
[tense music continues]
- I'm not like him.
- I'm not saying you are, Max.
- Good.
Because I'm not.
- Okay.
I understand.
You're not like him.
[thunder cracks]
- Why do you care?
- Pardon?
- Why do you care about me?
- Because too many people suffer
for no reason, Max.
- I've got my reasons.
- Well, what are they, mate?
You can tell me.
Maybe we can help.
[tense music continues]
[electricity crackles]
[Max gasps]
[tense music continues]
[computers beeping]
[Kerrie] I'm sorry, Max.
- No, it's...uh.
- I would do anything for you.
We're going to be famous.
You should be so proud of this.
- So, Max.
Tell me about this documentary
of yours.
- It's...
uh.
- It's like she said,
if you feel it, own it.
[crosstalk]
- Today is the day
that she's gonna love me.
[Kerrie] Max.
- I'm so excited.
Everyone's gonna reveal.
Through.
[tense music continues]
- It's about Lenore.
- Lenore?
Uh, who?
Veronica Brand?
- Lenore!
- Max?
Isn't that the woman
who went missing?
- No.
She's not missing.
- Max?
- She's right here.
[dramatic music]
- Max!
Max!
- Max! Max!
- Let go!
- Max!
- No, Nore, No!
- Max! Max!
- Get down!
Settle down! Settle down!
[Kerrie screams]
[combatants grunting]
Don't you touch her!
She's mine.
[dramatic music ends]
[Max panting]
[tense music]
[tense music continues]
[Max whimpering]
[dramatic music]
[computers beeping]
[Max gasping]
[eerie music]
[Kerrie grunting]
- Ah!
Amos.
I need you down here now.
[Max grunting]
[eerie music continues]
[Veronica] Dad!
Dad!
[eerie music continues]
[tense music]
[choir vocalising]
[tense music continues]
[tense music continues]
[logo chimes]
[beep]
[crackling]
- Hi, everyone.
Wait. Sorry.
Uh, God, I don't even know
where to start, start.
Um.
[tense music]
It's just...
This is so new to me.
Testing.
This whole talking
to the camera thing.
Can anyone hear me?
[tense music continues]
Don't get me wrong.
I love being on camera,
but talking about myself
and shit.
Not so good.
[tense music continues]
So, um, to tell you a little
something about myself.
I'm a Cancer.
That's,
that's good enough, right?
I, I sing.
Oh, um,
I can do this with my tongue.
Hmm?
- She was amazing.
I can't believe
I actually saw her.
You know, it's actually amazing.
- I've done a bit of modelling,
but I'm really trying
to move away
from a lot of that stuff now.
Uh, I just really
want to do stuff
that's a lot more personal.
[screen crackles]
[people screaming]
[tense music continues]
What that's gonna be,
well, you'll just have
to wait and see.
- Oh, dear.
You're my only [indistinct]
- This is one of the most
despicable
obscene, unforgivable things
that I have ever seen.
I don't, I don't give
a shit who's responsible
because either way,
this bitch, she needs to go.
[crosstalk]
- Do you have any regrets
for what you...?
[tense music ends]
- So, yeah.
I think this is
going to be fun.
[tense music]
[muffled screams]
[groans]
[tense music continues]
[grunting]
[tense music continues]
- Hello.
I'm Max.
Max Wren.
W-R-E-N
like the bird.
I'm a filmmaker, I guess.
And, uh.
This is where the magic happens.
No.
I'm sorry.
I'm not good with words.
[suspenseful music]
[suspenseful music continues]
Please.
Please, please, please.
[gasping]
[computer beeping]
I love this one.
[Lenore clearing throat]
- Hi everyone,
and welcome back to my channel.
It's so nice to have you here
with me on this very fine day.
And I hope that wherever
you are in the world right now,
you're having a great one
so far.
So, a fair few of you in
the forums have been requesting
that I make a video
of some of my cameras.
Um, big shout out
to the LoneWolf91
for making that request
multiple times.
You are the best.
[chuckles]
Uh, firstly, I just want to say
that I absolutely adore cameras.
I have been collecting them
since I was a child.
My dad is to blame
for my obsession.
He was...
He was always taking all
these videos and photos of me
when I was little,
but he, actually, he wouldn't
want me talking about that.
Um, so yeah.
Uh, you may have
noticed me using,
uh, this National VHS camcorder.
Um, I've used this one
for quite a few of my videos.
I have ones
that are better than this,
but I just really love the way
that this one captures life.
Oh, and don't even
get me started
on that four by three frame.
It is just delightful.
In fact, let me show you.
Okay, so I'm going to be
uploading this video
to the forums.
So, say hi.
Say hi everyone.
[Laughing]
Oh, I hope you're all ready
to be caught on tape
for all eternity.
Um,
this, this one
actually came out
at a really special time
in history.
[screen crackles]
Okay, so it's like,
shit, 4 a.m. on a Thursday.
[laughing]
Dad passed out like an hour ago.
Booze bag.
But I can't sleep.
Oh, I'm fucking wired.
Hey, you want to see something?
Something I found.
Sort of.
Don't be afraid.
It won't hurt you.
Yet.
Oh,
awesome, right?
It's Dad's.
Well, I don't know, I just
find it sexy, you know?
You know what it is?
It's all those action movies
I watched growing up.
Lying there
on the couch next to Dad.
Mmm.
Watching Rambo,
Predator, Die Hard.
Anything, really?
Ten beers later
and he'd pass out.
I pulled it out once.
Well, a few times.
But this one time, after we'd
been watching Unforgiven.
I pulled it out,
and I pointed it right at him,
pretending
that I was Clint Eastwood.
[tense music]
[gun clicks]
[keyboard clacking]
Hey there, my little freaks.
And welcome back to another
spooky Saturday session.
It's the show
where we talk about
all of the creepiest stuff
in the world whilst I get ready.
So today we're going
to be learning about
this incredible ritual
that the good people
of Puerto Rico
and apparently
New Orleans get up to.
It's called, extreme embalming.
So, we know that a lot of
cultures view death differently.
For some,
it's the eternal sleep.
For others,
it's all about being this
idealised version of yourself
in a perfect heaven.
Well, the idea
behind extreme embalming
is to take the body,
and to make it look
as lifelike as possible,
so the person just looks
like they're sleeping.
Then the family of the deceased
will come in, take the body,
and pose it in this sort
of otherworldly tableau,
to place them in the context
of the things
that they love the most.
Some people find
this practice really creepy,
but I legit think it's
genuinely beautiful
to honour someone's
legacy like that.
Keep their memory alive.
- You know what's amazing?
[Lenore] So we might go in
and try...
- All these coincidences
in our worldviews.
[Lenore chatting indistinctly]
I began spotting them
years ago, and...
And I keep an ongoing tally.
I have done for years.
Which is to say nothing of all
the other coincidences on here.
The first I noticed
was our birthdays.
We were both born almost
exactly four weeks apart,
which means in turn,
we share a star sign, Cancer.
Our personalities line up too.
Both very protective,
very loyal.
Kind of stubborn too.
[chuckles]
[gentle music]
Of course, um,
Of course,
there's also our homes.
Both only children
who were raised poor.
We both come from broken homes.
Both hate our parents.
A lot of trauma,
a lot of darkness there.
Both pale and fragile.
In need of care.
I guess the only thing
that we don't have in common
is our eyes.
You have blue eyes,
I have brown eyes.
I hate that.
You have no idea how badly
I wish I had blue eyes, Nore.
Nore?
[eerie music]
[eerie music continues]
- You think you know me?
You'll dread me.
[indistinct]
[screen crackling]
[eerie music]
You know?
I need my chance.
[laughs]
[person screams]
[groaning]
- Fine.
Whatever you say.
[tense music]
- So let's jump right
into the news, shall we?
And look,
I really don't want to,
but we have to talk about
the internet's
most controversial
and perhaps
most dangerous artist.
Lenore.
Yes, that's right.
The usually very
prolific content creator's
uncharacteristically
long online silence
has culminated
in the disappearance
of everything related to her.
I'm talking her website's
socials, live streams,
donation platforms.
It's all gone.
Now, just in case you've been
living under a rock on Mars,
Veronica Brand, aka Lenore,
has been around
for quite some time.
Back when she used to
do her makeup,
and talk about her boring life.
But she rose to fame a couple
of years back
through a series of ridiculous,
short-lived music career,
political activism,
public stunts,
all came crashing down
just a few months ago
in what has since
become known as
the notorious
Playschool Incident.
The playschool incident
was a broadcast signal hijack
that took place
on March 21st of this year,
during which one of Lenore's
most infamous videos,
in which she has a miscarriage
on camera,
was spliced into the hit TV show
for Kids, Play School.
[chuckling]
It played for seven minutes
straight, uninterrupted.
Now, Lenore herself
was apparently mortified,
and denied any involvement in
or knowledge of the incident.
But given her past history,
and you know,
her acts of art terrorism,
as she calls it,
even some of her little
freak followers,
they're not buying it.
- Hey guys,
I seriously cannot believe
that I am making this video.
I mean,
I didn't think I'd ever actually
have to talk
about this publicly,
but we need to find her.
It has gone too far.
Like, this isn't just
some internet tea anymore,
this is real life.
Don't even get me started
on the stupid Play School thing.
No.
We all know she had nothing
to do with it.
Anyway,
she had been really quiet,
but still posting up
until about a week ago,
and then completely wild.
Her socials, scrubbed,
her channel hides
100 plus videos,
and her numbers have dropped
by millions,
and she wouldn't do that.
That channel was her life.
None of the mods
in the community have heard.
So we obviously think
that someone has taken control
of her accounts.
I mean, some are just
saying it's her dad
who's a very controversial
figure in her life for sure,
but...
look, nobody knows
what's happened,
but we need to find her ASAP.
So to help the mission,
I have set up a GoFundMe,
and all proceeds will help
to find our queen,
and kill whoever did this.
No, no, no, a joke, hey.
[tense music]
But we will find her.
- In the aftermath,
her followers became irrational,
hysterical, even.
They wanted to grieve, to rage.
They wanted a scapegoat,
an excuse.
They wanted an answer.
Even if that answer was stupid.
But some things are bigger
than that.
Like her.
I once saw a thing
about these olive trees
in Jerusalem
that predate Christ.
They are,
for lack of a better word, dead
or dying at least.
And yet, they still bear fruit
every year.
I mean, I've never been there.
No, no, no, no, no.
No, cut that.
[tense music]
[static crackling]
[tense music continues]
[tense music continues]
[banging on door]
[banging continues]
[banging stops]
Jehovah's Witnesses.
Nothing more.
[phone vibrating]
Yeah, that's all, Max,
nothing more.
[tense music continues]
[phone vibrating]
Hello?
[Man] This Max?
Max Wren?
It's Sam.
We used to work together
at the network, remember?
[tense music]
- Oh, yeah.
How are you going, man?
[Sam] Yeah, whatever, look,
you're on a forum thing, right?
You want some footage
for a movie or some shit?
- Yeah.
Yeah, um, so it's for this
documentary that I'm making.
[Sam] Right, sure.
Are you gonna let me in?
- What?
[banging on door]
[Sam] Let me in.
- Uh, all right,
one second, please.
[Sam] Ta.
[tense music continues]
- One sec, please.
- You live here now?
- Yeah.
- It's nice.
- Thank you.
- You got a girl in here?
- What?
- A girl, man,
- You got a girl?
- Well, yeah.
- Well, so where is she?
She's sick of you or something.
- Oh, no, no.
She's asleep.
- Well wake her up, then, man,
let's meet her.
- I can't.
Heavy sleeper.
So what have you got for me?
- Do you have any food?
- What?
- Food, man, I'm hungry.
- Yeah.
I've got cereal,
or I've got bread.
- Uh, do you have any real food?
- I've got cereal
or I've got bread.
Uh, what kind of cereal
do you have?
- Uh, Rice Bubbles.
- Nah, just bread.
So.
You make movies now, do you?
- Yeah.
[chair scraping]
I make movies now, I guess.
- What kind of movies
do you make?
- Uh, just documentary movies.
[Sam] Dirty movies?
- What?
- Dirty movies?
There's a lot of fucking money
in dirty movies.
Well, that and snuff.
You know how much they pay for
snuff in Russia and in Thailand.
No.
- 100 K man, 150 K.
Easy, right?
More if they're hot
or young or...
- I had no idea.
- Well you should get on it,
you'd be rich.
- I'll look into it.
- Got any butter or jam, mate?
It's like eating an old sponge.
- Uh, no, sorry.
- Tell me again.
What was it that you did at
the network, Maxi?
before, you know,
well,
you know what happened?
- Nothing interesting.
- Surely not, mate.
Look at you.
- I was a vision switcher.
- What the fuck is that?
- I switched vision.
- No, man, not that, this.
This your girlfriend?
- My research.
- Sure.
- It is.
- A nasty little piece of work.
- Put it back.
- Bet she fucks like
a fucking whore.
- Put it back, please.
- You know what happened
to her, yeah?
- What do you mean?
- I mean...
you know what happened to her,
don't you?
She's gone, Maxi.
[paper sizzling]
Without a trace too.
No press release, no goodbyes,
no nothing.
Just
nevermore.
Hey,
I can see why you'd make
a dirty movie about her.
- It is not a dirty movie!
For God's sake,
it is not a dirty movie.
It is a tribute, a collage.
Because unlike you,
it's not about that for me.
It's never been.
There's so much more to my
Nore than that.
- Nore?
- She's an artist,
a revolutionary, a goddess.
She is perfect.
- Fuck off.
- Fine. Whatever.
I don't care
because I know I'm right.
I know she's bigger than that,
and my work's gonna prove it.
- You are so cute.
- You just can't see what I see.
- Business a bit slow
these days, Maxi?
- Yes.
- Good.
- I work on this.
- What fun that must be.
- Look, did you bring it?
- What?
- My footage.
Did you bring my footage?
- Steady on, mate.
Right?
[tense music]
Got it right here.
However,
you're going to need subjects,
aren't you?
It's a documentary, after all.
See, I've always wanted
to be in the movies myself.
Maxi, I've got the face for it.
Yeah, and I've got
some shit I want to say.
So...
- Um,
you want
to be in the documentary?
[sighs]
- Yeah, sure.
- Okay.
- Fucking hell.
Hey, is all this shit from work?
- Some.
- And the rest?
- Found it.
- What? All of it?
- More or less.
Bed. Sit.
Run this up your shirt
for me, please.
- Just like this?
- It'll do.
- So, what are we going
to talk about?
- About her?
- What about her?
- Well, when did you
first see her?
- Um, I was watching
videos on, online.
- Were you interested in online
content before that?
- No, man, shit's for kids.
- And how were you feeling
at the time?
- Fine.
- Not lonely at all?
- I don't know, man.
Maybe, like,
everyone feels lonely sometimes.
That's a stupid fucking
question anyway.
The point is this.
One day she's just there,
right?
And I don't mean like,
some fate or destiny bullshit
or whatever.
I mean that.
One day, you've got
your life, right?
but then the next
it's just all about her.
I don't know, man,
maybe I couldn't help it.
[suspenseful music]
Maybe she knew I was coming.
Because you can't be friends
with a computer, Max.
You can't fuck a computer,
can you?
You can't do nothing.
Right? Because it's bullshit,
it's fake.
There's something
about her, I don't know.
I don't know.
I couldn't help it.
- Mm-hm.
Yeah.
I know.
- Shit started to change,
though.
It was small at first.
It was more
of a feeling I had about it.
Tried to brush it off
for a while.
Um.
It started to show,
she was acting different,
and looking different.
Talking different.
Like, um,
she wasn't talking
to me anymore.
I got mighty pissed, Max.
Fuck.
I even caught myself
angry at her for not asking
my permission first.
That's fucked, man.
Because I...
Don't worry.
Then one day I'm on her website
and I see it,
meet Lenore.
Right? I cried, man.
I was like, she's coming,
she's coming here.
I'm sure she's fucking with me,
right?
So I'm checking
her Facebook and,
you know, Twitter and Instagram
and TikTok, whatever,
15 times a piece, right?
It wasn't a lie.
February 16th, 4:30 p.m.
The Exhibition Centre.
[Max chuckling]
Remember it like
my own birthday.
- Did you camp out front?
- Yeah, 16 hours.
40 something degree heat.
Far out.
- Me too.
- Yeah?
Cowboy outfit didn't help,
either.
- Oh, because
her favourite film is
- Unforgiven.
- Unforgiven, yeah.
I was gonna save her, right?
be a perfect man.
[Scoffs]
Make her want me.
What's wrong with me?
It's like she said, man,
if you feel it, own it.
Yep.
By the time those doors opened,
I was like, today's the day.
She's gonna love me.
[suspenseful music continues]
So I'll go out to the front
of the line and, uh,
and there she is
smiling at me.
And, um, she said, uh,
uh, she said, "Hello, sweetie."
That fucking voice.
And...
I told her, man,
you know?
Standing there dressed
up like a fucking cowboy,
and I poured my heart out
to this woman.
You know what she said to me?
She said, "Have you got
anything for me to sign?"
"Have you got anything
for me to sign?"
I said no in a security told me
to fuck off.
[eerie music]
That's enough about me, Maxi.
Let's talk about you.
- Me?
- Yeah.
- I mean, I know you.
You can trust me, Max.
Plus,
we both got a bit in common.
Bit of history with this cunt.
The artist, the revolutionary,
the goddess.
[eerie music continues]
You've gotta clean your room,
mate.
Max.
What was it that you say
you do at the network again?
Sorry, mate.
Did.
- Vision switcher.
- Yeah. Vision switcher.
Right, right.
Those are the cunts that, uh,
cut the telly together.
Yeah, like they make sure
everything's where it should be.
When it should be there?
Yeah?
It's a really important job.
I wouldn't want to fuck that up.
[tense music]
Did you know
you were gonna do it?
- Shut up!
[Max grunting]
- I gotta say, Maxi,
I've always admired your style.
Play School? Oh, that's bold.
She must be so proud of you.
- Please.
Just give me the footage and go.
- Please.
- Oh, he's keen, isn't he?
- He can't wait.
Little Maxi just wants
to see his baby Nore,
in her fucking swimsuit,
jacking off her daddy
and munching
on her custard fucking creams.
The little fucking perve.
You're gonna have to try harder
than that, mate.
Oi,
Oi, look at me.
[Lenore] Is this structured cage
the embodiment
of man's control over women?
[eerie music]
It was designed
to enhance the female form,
make my waist slimmer,
push my bust up to create
a more desirable silhouette.
- Look at me.
Look at me!
- Max,
do you like the way this looks?
[Max screams]
[Max grunts]
- I can feel my audience
making space,
and my posture becoming rigid.
I can feel
my breathing constrict.
Yet, I am the one pulling
on these strings.
[Lenore grunts]
Some people will say...
- She's not going to save you
any more, Maxi.
-...real men prefer meat.
- Please, please, no, no.
[Lenore]...and the bones
are for the dogs.
- It's quite the mess you've
made for yourself,
isn't it, Max?
- Just tell me what you want.
- It had to be real good
- to keep me quiet.
- Anything.
- Please, just, just...
- Yeah.
- Wait!
- Come here.
[Max gasping]
Oh, that's a good photo, Max.
That's rare.
- Yeah.
Are there any more?
- Some of you have sisters,
mothers,
wives.
- Are there any more photos,
Max?
- Yes.
- Can you reconcile them
with your treatment of me?
[Sam] Give me the nudes.
- What?
- You get your tape,
I get your nudes.
No one needs
to know this happened.
- As much as you want
to reduce me.
- Well?
- As much as you want to own me.
I am not yours.
- Fine.
[tense music continues]
[Max grunts]
- Oh.
[exhales]
Yeah.
Yeah, we're good, Max.
[sighs] We're good.
[Max whimpering]
Pleasure doing business
with you.
- My footage!
[footsteps tapping]
[Max whimpering]
[door opening]
[door closes]
[Max laughing]
[sinister music]
[machine clicking]
[machine beeping]
[static crackling]
[Dad] Brand Christmas breakfast.
Ronnie,
you out here, sweetheart?
[tape crackling]
Jeez, a weed's needed, though.
Veronica?
Oh, there she is.
What are you up to?
Huh.
[tape crackling]
Hey, Ron.
- Hey, Dad.
- What are you up to?
Oh, well, we thought that
dinosaur bones were buried...
- Dad!
[Dad] What?
- Are you filming me?
[Dad] Well, yeah.
- Dad!
[Dad] I got it fixed.
[Lenore] I don't care.
- Ronnie. Come on.
I got the microphone fixed,
and it zooms in and out.
Ronnie. Come on!
[tape crackling]
Well, hey.
You know what we could do?
You could use it
while I'm at work.
- Really?
[Dad] Yep.
[tape crackles]
Ah, that's for me?
- For you, yeah.
Try not to rip the paper.
[Dad] Wow, yeah, okay, okay.
- I gotta film you.
Oop.
Looks like we're surrounded.
Dad, I'm doing my ninja routine.
- Yeah, you go, grasshopper.
[making ninja noises]
Dad!
[indistinct]
- I've gotta make a move, hun.
- Dad!
Come on!
[Dad] I'm a detective, right?
- Oh, thank you.
[Lenore singing]
Aha!
You thought
you could hide the...
[doorbell rings]
[pen scribbling]
[door closes]
[Dad shouting]
[Lenore laughing]
- Ron.
[Lenore] Hi, Dad.
- Ronnie, please.
[Lenore] Zoom in, zoom out.
- Please turn the camera off,
please.
[Lenore] How come?
- Cause I don't want to be
filmed right now.
[Lenore] Hey,
you got me this morning.
[Dad] Veronica.
[Lenore] Veronica.
- I just don't feel to flash,
okay?
[Lenore] Why?
- I just didn't have
a good day at work.
[Lenore] Why?
Somebody die?
- Hey!
[Lenore] Come on, tell me.
- Put the camera away.
Jesus.
[indistinct]
[Lenore] Dad!
- I'm going to count to three.
[Lenore] Stop, Dad!
[Dad] Or not be possible.
[Lenore] Fine.
[tense music]
- That's a good one.
That was your Mum's.
That was her favourite.
Put it on.
I know, you know how.
[gentle music plays]
[sighs]
- I miss Mum, too.
[sinister music]
[tape crackling]
- Ronnie.
Has that been on the whole time?
- I need to keep
these memories safe.
[sinister music continues]
[Dad] Oh, fuck you!
[Lenore] No dad, no, no!
[Dad] Ah!
- Wait.
- Hey, Ron.
Hey, Ronnie, you ready?
[Lenore] Just,
just a minute, mum.
- Wait!
[Lenore shouting]
[sinister music continues]
[Lenore shouting]
[Lenore shouting]
[Max breathing heavily]
[electricity crackling]
[fan whirring]
[machines whirring]
[sighs]
[eerie music]
[Max groans]
Ah, man!
Fuck!
[tape crackling]
[groaning]
[Lenore] Dad?
Dad? Dad, get up!
[Lenore gasping and sobbing]
[sinister music continues]
If you feel it.
[electricity crackling]
- Oh!
[sinister music continues]
Stop!
[Max panting]
Please.
[eerie music]
- Welcome.
[tense music]
Ah.
Imagine it.
You get everything you want.
Flesh and blood and bone.
You get me.
All of me, all of the time.
But what then?
Are you gonna fuck me?
Are you gonna make me cum?
Are we gonna move
into a little house somewhere
with a white picket fence
and some kids we hate?
Is that not enough for you?
You entitled fucking slime.
- Don't.
- Do you have any idea
how many men just like you,
I have to deal with every day?
Men just like you
who fail to see
that I perform myself
as my job with a wink,
a friendly sign-off,
and a gaze into the camera.
And yet, in your windowed
selfish view of me,
you think that I am just
for you.
And you think
that because you see a pattern,
that there is nothing to see.
That we are meant
to be together forever.
[laughs]
Well
guess what?
I am for everyone and no one.
And I am for me, baby.
And if you don't like that,
then there's the door.
- Lenore, I know you.
This isn't you.
- No, but I know you.
You see what you want to see.
You twist and contort the truth
into some gross monster suit.
Your sick little fantasies.
- That is not true.
[laughing]
- You really think you're
special, don't you?
To think that you can save me
from myself.
Save me from my daddy.
Save me from my promiscuity.
To keep me clean
and save me from a life
that I have clearly carved
for myself.
- Nore.
- You're not special, Max,
because you're just like
the rest of them,
sanctimonious,
sycophantic, little man.
Who simultaneously
wants to fuck me,
kill me, and keep me pristine?
[Max] No!
[breathing shakily]
Please, Nore.
Please don't make me
hate myself anymore.
Please don't make me hate you
for making me hate myself
so much.
Because there is a limit.
There is a limit
to all the pain,
and the weight and the hatred
you can carry around
inside yourself.
So, what you just have to start
sharing it around, you know?
[sobs] I can't do it anymore.
I can't bear it on my own.
[gentle music]
[sobbing]
I've got this vision.
I used to dream
about it all the time.
Since the moment
I first saw you.
I know,
I know it always looked like
one of those movies
that you say you hate.
But two people see each other
across a room.
Or a dance floor, maybe.
I don't know.
I've never...
They lock eyes with each other.
And they see only each other.
And they both feel it.
And the whole world just
falls away.
And there's no more time
or space
for other people.
No, nothing like that.
And they know.
They just know.
They were meant to be together.
I'm trying, Nore.
I'm trying so hard to make
that a reality.
You always said it.
If you feel it,
own it.
[thunder rumbling]
[disc clatters]
[eerie music]
[tape crackles]
[Lenore] Hi,
it's me, back again.
Sorry.
I'm so, so sorry.
I'm just so, so exhausted.
Like,
you, you wouldn't believe
the hell that has been my life
these past few months.
Like, between the fucking
Play School thing,
and the takedowns,
and the threats,
and the fucking move.
And also looking after...
Oh. Oh.
Oh, slow down.
Ooh, wait a minute.
Context.
So, yeah, I've moved.
[chuckles]
As you can see.
Um, hang on, come here.
Tadah!
So you'll have to excuse
the image.
This is not my usual boy.
Um. Yeah.
This is not my room, obviously.
God, could you imagine?
Uh, we're just kind of storing
stuff down here at the minute,
but I was thinking of maybe
turning it into a little studio
at some point
because it's pretty big.
The walls are thick.
It gets like no light.
So, you know, I could do
some new music down here.
I could even shoot
some spooky stuff.
Yeah. What do you guys reckon?
Let me know in the comm...
[sombre music]
[sighs]
[sighs]
Okay.
Yada, yada, yada.
Move done.
Play School.
[sighs]
Yeah.
[clears throat]
[sighs]
I need to set the record
straight on this.
That video was the most personal
and painful thing
I have ever made,
and I did it for me.
I did it because,
because I was in pain,
and I was trying to
openly and honestly share
that pain with my audience,
hoping that they'd...
hoping that they'd cry with me.
And they did.
Honestly, the support
I received was just incredible.
It felt like this huge weight
had been lifted off my chest.
I bore myself and my soul
and the world didn't end.
[sombre music continues]
For a while.
The fact that someone
took that pain and did...
[Dad] Hey, Ron.
...and did that with it,
makes me want to fucking...
[Dad] Hey, Ronnie,
are you around?
- Just, just a minute, Pa.
Fuck!
Um.
I'll be back in a sec.
But...
Here's the thing.
People need to understand that
a smile is never just for you.
That
when people reveal something
of themselves publicly,
it is not a sign of trust.
Some kind of
tacit endorsement.
some kind of
invitation to a life.
[sighs]
Because
we all have our masks
that we wear
when we're trying to get
by in the big, scary world
for safety,
for power or whatever.
I've used many masks to perform
my life for the camera.
All of them named Lenore.
She's been my conduit.
A vessel for my curiosities,
my fantasies.
My heartbreak and pain.
My joy.
But she is not me.
She is of me,
but she is not me.
She's me as seen through a lens.
[sniffs]
Because I am
Veronica Estelle Brand.
Ronnie to my father,
Henry James Brand,
the bravest
and kindest man in the world
who raised me all on his own.
When my mother, Estelle Brand,
died when I was nine.
I have a past.
I have a history
to be taken in its totality.
And nothing can take
that away from me.
Or you.
You may have once known me
as Lenore.
But she shall be lifted
nevermore.
[Henry grunting]
[tense music]
Dad?
Dad! Dad!
Dad!
[sobbing]
[tense music continues]
- Ronnie, Ronnie.
If you feel it, own it.
[Veronica screams]
[Max panting]
[eerie music]
[siren wailing]
[eerie music continues]
[banging on door]
[Police] Police.
Police, open up.
- One moment, please.
Coming.
- Son.
My name's Sergeant Kerrie Faith.
This is Constable Amos Fatts.
- Hello, officers.
- Mind if we come in, mate?
[heart beating]
- Won't be a sec.
- Why?
- Well, we've had several noise
complaints from your neighbours.
- All complaints reported
excessive yelling, screaming,
lots of violent banging.
- So, we just need to make sure
that nothing untoward
is happening in here.
- Are you sure it's this house?
I mean, it could be...
- We're sure.
Can we come in?
- We just need to take a quick
look around, mate,
and we'll be out of your hair,
okay?
- Easy peasy.
Just moved in, have you?
- Yes.
[Kerrie] How long ago?
- Not long.
- You on your own?
- Yes.
- You hardly touched
your brekkie.
- Wasn't hungry.
- So you got to be sparing
with the Vegemite, mate.
Little goes a long way.
- This way.
Don't really use
these other rooms.
- Hmm.
I was gonna say.
Big place for one person.
Wouldn't you say?
- Yeah. No.
- Okay, then.
- More of a family home
than a bachelor pad.
Hey?
Uh, it's very dark down here,
mate.
[Kerrie] This your room?
- Yes.
- Bit cramped, don't you think?
- I'd say cosy.
[chuckles]
- Messy too.
[sniffing]
That smell. Jesus.
- Should probably
shower more often.
[Amos] You get many visitors,
mate?
- Not really.
- Not really?
- No.
No one visits, Officer.
- Must get awful lonely.
Seems like you're running
an awful lot of power
down here, son.
[Max] Yes, officer.
- And why is that?
- Work.
[Amos] Work?
- Yes, officer.
- Running a factory down here
or something?
- No, officer.
- Well, then what do you do?
- So, you'd do well
- to actually get some surge
protectors down here, kid.
You can't be running this
much power without them, yeah?
- Amos.
- What?
- It's like an extra 20 bucks.
- Amos, what are you...?
He doesn't care.
- Well, what if there's
a thunderstorm?
What if a fuse goes?
- Amos, you're a cop,
not an electrician.
- And I can't be both?
- Just give me
the all clear on this,
and then we'll get out of here.
Please.
- Yes, ma'am.
- Amos, for the love of God,
we've talked about this.
- There's nothing there, really
- No, we'll be the judge
of that.
Name?
- What?
- Name?
Here, what's your name?
- Max.
- Max, Max who?
- Max Wren
W-R-E-N.
- Date of birth?
- July 22nd, 1991.
- And your occupation?
- I'm...
I'm a filmmaker.
- A filmmaker?
- Oh, God.
- Yes, officer.
I make films.
- Hmm.
Very interesting
because I've always wanted
to make movies myself.
- Oh, Amos.
-What? He doesn't mind.
Movie people love yakking
about what they do, Kez.
So where do you get
all this stuff from, Mark?
Huh?
Is this old new second-hand,
or...?
is that...
Is that a hi-8 machine?
- Uh, yes.
- Oh my lord.
I haven't seen one
of these in years.
Sorry, I get, I get really
excited by stuff like this.
- You've gotta be kidding me.
- Wow, no wonder you got
such a big place.
You must be bloody well
killing it out there.
- Not really.
- Oh, you know what?
My missus would absolutely love
to see all of this.
She's a bit of a filmmaker
as well.
- That's nice.
- Yeah.
Is that a VCR?
- I do a lot of digitising work.
- Wow.
That thing is awesome.
That, that thing must be
an antique by now, yeah?
Worth a fortune.
- What's with the monitor?
- Forgot to save.
- Forgot to save so you threw
a bowl of cereal
at your computer?
- It was annoying at the time.
- So what are you working
on at the moment, Mel?
- Max.
- Max, sorry.
- What are you working
on at the moment, mate?
- It's a kind of a documentary.
- Okay.
Like a what?
A home movies kind of deal,
is it?
- You could say that.
- Well, why don't we take a look
at how this all works, then?
You'd like that, Amos,
wouldn't you?
Oh, yeah, absolutely.
Hey, uh, you mind
if I film this for the missus?
You know what it's like.
- No!
[eerie music]
No, you can't film it,
and you can't see it,
and you can't touch it.
It's not finished.
No, no, no, no, no.
- Okay, mate.
- No worries.
- It's all good, mate.
- It's all right.
Amos, you head out to the car
and grab the DSLR
for me, please.
- There's nothing here, Kez
- Now, now!
- Please.
Don't hurry back.
- Okay.
Fine.
Hey.
It'll mean I'll get some good
photos of your rig, right, son?
Yeah.
Ready if you need me, yeah?
[door opens]
- Sorry about him, mate.
He's new.
[exhales]
Good heart.
But, uh,
new.
Mind if I sit, Max?
- No.
- Cheers.
[sighs]
Been a long night.
It's really, uh,
starting to come down out there.
- Do you want anything?
A water? Cereal? Bread?
- No.
I'm fine.
Thank you, Max.
- Okay.
- Aren't you gonna sit, Max?
- No.
- So you're just
gonna stand there?
- Yeah.
For now.
- Sit down, Max.
It's all good.
You said you don't get
many visitors.
[tense music]
- Yeah.
- Why's that?
- Don't know.
- Parents?
Friends?
Girlfriend?
I'm sorry.
That must be hard.
- It's fine.
I don't care.
- You like being alone?
Me too.
Tell you what.
If I'm home early
and the man's not around,
I just love diving
into some really bad telly
with a bottle of red till I
can't keep my eyes open anymore.
[chuckles]
Do you watch much TV, Max?
- No, officer.
- Well, uh, what about movies?
Do you like movies?
- Yes, officer.
- You don't have to call me
officer, Max.
I'm Kerrie.
Call me Kerrie.
- Okay.
Sorry.
[tense music continues]
- What happened to your leg,
Max?
Same thing
that happened to your hands?
You get on really well
with my son, I reckon.
Yeah.
Mine's a terribly shy young man,
but he means well.
God, he means so, so well.
He's whip-smart, too.
But I just worry
that he doesn't have anyone.
Well, except me.
He's always got me.
So maybe you're not so similar
after all.
At least you got out
of your mum's
before she wouldn't let you.
He's missing friends
and a girlfriend, basically.
Breaks my heart.
[tense music continues]
- I'm not like him.
- I'm not saying you are, Max.
- Good.
Because I'm not.
- Okay.
I understand.
You're not like him.
[thunder cracks]
- Why do you care?
- Pardon?
- Why do you care about me?
- Because too many people suffer
for no reason, Max.
- I've got my reasons.
- Well, what are they, mate?
You can tell me.
Maybe we can help.
[tense music continues]
[electricity crackles]
[Max gasps]
[tense music continues]
[computers beeping]
[Kerrie] I'm sorry, Max.
- No, it's...uh.
- I would do anything for you.
We're going to be famous.
You should be so proud of this.
- So, Max.
Tell me about this documentary
of yours.
- It's...
uh.
- It's like she said,
if you feel it, own it.
[crosstalk]
- Today is the day
that she's gonna love me.
[Kerrie] Max.
- I'm so excited.
Everyone's gonna reveal.
Through.
[tense music continues]
- It's about Lenore.
- Lenore?
Uh, who?
Veronica Brand?
- Lenore!
- Max?
Isn't that the woman
who went missing?
- No.
She's not missing.
- Max?
- She's right here.
[dramatic music]
- Max!
Max!
- Max! Max!
- Let go!
- Max!
- No, Nore, No!
- Max! Max!
- Get down!
Settle down! Settle down!
[Kerrie screams]
[combatants grunting]
Don't you touch her!
She's mine.
[dramatic music ends]
[Max panting]
[tense music]
[tense music continues]
[Max whimpering]
[dramatic music]
[computers beeping]
[Max gasping]
[eerie music]
[Kerrie grunting]
- Ah!
Amos.
I need you down here now.
[Max grunting]
[eerie music continues]
[Veronica] Dad!
Dad!
[eerie music continues]
[tense music]
[choir vocalising]
[tense music continues]
[tense music continues]