Mother of Flies (2025) Movie Script
Life is rhythm.
The heart...
a drum.
But death knows only silence.
To woo death...
one must love it...
lie with it...
for three days, give your
beating bloody heart to it...
...till death grows ears...
...till death grows warm...
...till an ember sparks...
...the dead drum thumps...
and the blood of light...
floods in.
Hey, Mickey. You coming
to the house party tonight?
I'm actually starting
summer early, so I'm out today.
What?
You don't have finals?
Um, yeah, a couple, but, uh,
my teachers
let me do them early.
Are you okay?
Yeah.
Is it back?
No.
I'm all good.
Uh, yeah. I'm good.
Good.
Well, all right.
I guess
I'll see you in September.
Yeah,
I'll see you in September.
Hey, Dad.
Okay, I'll be right down.
Love you, too.
How did the last couple weeks
of school go?
It was good. Yeah.
So I just got a note.
Did you talk to your friends
about this?
What do they have to say
about what we're doing?
Not much.
You don't talk to them
about this?
Not really. No.
Why not?
It's not really
a college kid conversation.
Understood.
Boy, your hair grew out quick.
I'm gonna miss the Kojak look, though.
Who's Kojak?
He was a bald guy
that sucked on lollipops.
How about you?
What's new with you?
I finished
the storehouse renovation.
A year and a half of purgatory
is over.
Well, you finally got
the stone up the hill.
Good job.
Well,
you know better than anyone.
No fucking stopping.
No fucking stopping.
There is a song in the dirt,
where the beetles hum
and the crawlers worm.
A song of rot.
A rhyme to which they work.
Apostles of ruin.
Tiny gods of birth.
Memories haunt
these barren bones
when moons ago,
the shadow rolled.
A wicked, now forgotten flesh.
Remember quick
that life is death.
Hey, can I get a hug?
I'm sorry some of that
insurance stuff fell on you.
My school insurance was supposed
to cover everything...
- Kid...
- but...
...I should have been able
to do all that crap for you.
I'm just so bad
with bureaucracy.
I tried to battle a bunch
of those co-pays
- 'cause we're not supposed to...
- Hey. Please.
Well, thanks
for covering it all.
Mickey.
And thanks for trusting me
on this.
I'm curious...
How'd you find this lady?
Uh, well,
she actually reached out to me.
- What do you mean? How?
- Hi. What can I get you guys?
- Cheeseburger deluxe.
- Cheeseburger deluxe, please.
Okay. You're here fishing?
Camping?
No, we're just here
for the Lyme's disease.
Oh, well, you're in the right
neck of the woods for that.
So, how... What?
Did she e-mail you?
You know, this place really
reminds me of all the diners
that we used to go to
before my soccer games.
You remember?
That was so fun.
It does.
Does that mean you're
gonna take a pre-game shit
- in the ladies' room?
- Yep. Jackson Pollock, baby.
That cheeseburger
not sitting so hot?
No.
If you're gonna puke,
I could get the ice bucket.
Mm... it's all good.
I remember I once...
puked all over Mom.
Do you remember that tire swing
that we used to have?
I do.
Well, I asked her
to spin me around and around
and around on it, and she did.
And guess what.
I literally spewed all over her.
Sounds like something
she would have loved.
Yeah. She did.
She said it was funny
and that she loved my puke.
Yeah, that was her.
All right, well, um...
the lady says that
she wants us to be there at,
like, a really specific time
tomorrow.
So let's get up early.
It's your show, kid.
You just kick me in the pants,
and I'll be there.
- All right?
- All right.
Good night.
Good night.
Are you watching me sleep?
No.
Yeah, maybe.
I don't... You ready to go?
I saw your face,
I saw you shine
I heard you laugh,
I watched you cry
Fade, baby, don't fade, baby,
come home
Don't you fade, baby,
don't fade, baby, come home
I closed my eyes
and watched you fly
I held my breath and hoped
time was just a lie
I hear you whisper
on the line
Mickey, are you sure you know
where you're going?
You haven't even looked at a map
this whole trip.
Yeah, I do.
Does she know I'm coming
with you?
Uh...
- Great.
- Dad, I want to do this.
I know it sounds like a scam.
I doubt it will even work.
But I gotta try.
All right.
I know you said to not
pry or anything, but...
how are we gonna pay for this?
Does she take our insurance?
- Don't need it.
- How's that?
'Cause she's doing it
for free.
Don't worry.
Holy mind-blown.
Are you serious?
Nothing is for free.
Ever.
Well, this is.
Take a right
and go up this dirt hill.
This love is murder
Ooh, this love is murder
Ooh, this love is murder
Ooh, this love is murder
Ooh, this love is murder
Wow.
It's a pretty fucking
awesome.
Some pile of rocks.
And that house.
I-I just...
Dad, this is amazing.
This is real.
This is real.
Holy shit.
It... it's giving me like
insane dj vu.
You're sure this is it, right?
Yeah.
I can't believe I'm
here right now.
All right, well...
are you ready to roll?
Okay. Let's go.
Right on time.
Welcome.
Solveig, it's such a pleasure
to meet you
in the flesh.
Uh, this is my dad, Jake.
Super nice to meet you.
Please.
Wow. This is incredible.
What a beautiful butterfly.
Is it alive?
- No.
- Mm.
That's too bad.
It's as beautiful dead
as it was alive.
Please let me show you
to your rooms.
This is a lot cooler
than my dorm room.
I'll show your father his room.
Rustic.
I didn't notice
a bathroom upstairs.
Is it downstairs?
So a bear shits in the woods?
Where else would a bear shit?
You do know this won't be easy?
Well, it never has been.
But she's a tough kid.
I'm speaking of you.
Look...
I'm here because
this is important to Mickey.
So for three days,
you and I just need to...
pretend.
That's not true.
Death grows within her,
but miraculously, it's delivered
her the meaning of life.
But for you,
it's delivered the fear of loss
and stripped you of faith.
They came begging,
bent in shame.
Trampling their faith
on the path to my thorns.
How easily the brittle limbs
of the rootless tree bend
and snap in the honest wind.
Barely a woman,
her light near dim.
And a still baby,
cold in the womb.
A lonely anchor
afraid of the dark.
Dragging its mother
into the deep.
Shunned.
Maligned for years.
I gave what they begged of me.
The knowledge they hated.
The magic they feared.
To grease the palms of death,
so I might steal
from its fingers a life.
Sharp as the needle that sews.
Stitch by stitch.
Vale to vale.
Threading the cloth of flesh
to soul.
A prick to cut. The sap to
weep.
The tears to fall
and gorge the deep.
The hands of time
are wound by tricks.
But the spells of blood.
They must be clean.
To fool the still
and save the quick.
The gaze of the veil
has no love.
No hate.
No love.
No hate.
I gave what they asked of me.
And she was saved.
When did you first learn you
had the canker?
Oh, the cancer?
Um, when I was 15.
My chances were
50/50, which is...
And then it... came back.
and they said, uh...
less than six months
left to live, so...
- It?
- The tumor.
Ah. The canker. Yes.
The crab, so called
by the great healer Hippocrates,
who likened the shape
to the sea creature.
Hard body, legs growing askew.
I've never seen the sea.
Ah.
I love the ocean.
I've seen the Atlantic,
the Pacific.
I'd love to go to
the Mediterranean
or the Red Sea someday.
But, um...
My mom took me to the Caribbean.
That was fun.
- Tell me.
- Oh...
It's the bluest blue
that you could imagine.
And when you're swimming in it,
it feels like a wet, warm hug.
Thank you.
So beautiful.
Trees bind the heavens
to Earth.
Roots clenching down
in the dirt.
Leaves grasping high in the sky.
There's no separation.
And so we begin.
May I?
- Barren.
- Yeah. Not my favorite term.
Everything was removed.
It would have been great birth
control if I'd ever had sex.
Fruitless.
But a tree, no less.
Give me your hand.
This ring is a symbol
of a union.
Two circles, one soul
bound at the threshold
of life and death,
where one ends,
the other begins.
After the death,
the blood of life.
Well.
That was fucking... weird.
- Yeah.
- I think we should bail.
Dad...
She's right.
I'm basically dead.
Science tells me I'm dead.
And she's telling me
I don't have to be.
I don't want to be dead yet.
We could find
a different doctor.
We could do a different...
We tried that.
We tried that.
and it didn't work.
We just maybe didn't try
hard enough.
I mean, how long are we
gonna be here at witch camp?
She says she can do this
in three days.
That's fucking ridiculous.
How come she talks
so fucking weird?
It's a... it's a bullshit.
Fucking bullshit.
Is it?
So what if we
have to dance naked
under the fucking moonlight
with some, like, crazy bitch?
I don't know, it's fine.
It's...
I'm willing to do it.
Doubt and do, my friends.
Mick...
I'm here for you, okay?
I want to do this with you.
I'm sorry about that.
Would either of
you like to say a blessing?
No, thanks.
No, thanks.
- May I?
- Sure.
In darkness,
hungry shadows creep.
Lusting for a soul to reap.
Dark kills day.
But light is quick.
Come to trick and fool the sick.
Stay the bones of grief
and hurt.
Eat the worms in blackest dirt.
Bless the serpent nestled there,
coiled betwixt
the roots and air.
Though it suffer in the sun,
breath of night is soon to come.
- Amen.
- No!
Undo it!
No hollow idolatry at the table.
Undo it. Undo it, please!
- I'm sorry.
- Spit on the word.
Spit on the word
while it lingers.
- Where?
- On the floor where it belongs.
Spit on the floor.
Hurry!
This meal looks
beautiful.
What is it?
Gifts from the forest.
You know, if you'd like,
I could boogie into town
and grab some groceries.
I'm not really much
of a vegetarian.
Aren't yougonna eat?
I eat the air as I speak.
Well, that's some trick.
Oh. Do you believe in magic?
- I don't.
- Oh, your child has died.
- What?
- In magic lives the child eternal.
Even death has no greater foe.
Close your eyes.
And you.
Please, eat.
One day to die.
Three days to rise.
Hey.
Oh, my fucking God! Dad!
You scared the living shit
out of me.
Sorry.
You mind if I come in
for a second?
Yeah.
You okay?
Yeah, I'm okay.
It's just... a little weird.
I can't sleep.
I'm on an old canvas.
At least you got this nice moss.
Well...
I can't sleep either.
What are you thinking about?
Do you remember...
a woman from the chemo clinic
named Cindy Duke?
I do.
She was a sweetheart.
And she had that great
little girl.
Well...
one day when we were
shooting our chemicals together,
she turned to me
and said,
"I pray for you.
Will you pray for me?"
But, Dad, I...
I don't believe in prayer.
I have always believed in faith.
And when people pray,
it's because they have
a lack of faith.
A lack of faith that...
life will give
what it's supposed to give.
And death will bring
what it's supposed to bring.
Cindy Duke died,
and I didn't.
It's not
'cause you didn't pray, kid.
Maybe it is.
Maybe she believed in prayer
so much that it worked.
I'm not afraid
of what death will be.
Life has been such
an amazing gift.
I'm sure death will be, too.
But I'm gonna fight
like a motherfucker
to make this life last
as long as possible,
because death can wait.
So...
I'm gonna take a page out of
Cindy Duke's book and believe.
Believe in this moss
and this fucking tree bed.
And Solveig.
And her flies.
I'm just gonna
believe in it all.
I admire you so much.
I just keep learning from you.
I love you.
The truth won't hide
in dreams.
It lies still...
Seeing.
The whore...
Majestic.
Like echoes of the banshees
bouncing in a canyon...
Just below the light...
Disappearing in the
river below...
Drifting away, unheard...
In dreams,
guilt is pure, unseen love.
Creeping through the shadows,
until the veil breaks open.
Reflections glimmer
and death dies again.
I gave what they asked.
Death gave, too.
The blunt of time.
The burden of memory smothered
by the kindness of stone.
The balance due.
A simple debt of silence.
While I make music in the dirt.
Like the beetle and the worm.
The gift of their blindness
while I make mischief in the dark.
Ignorance while I trick the
grave and solicit the night.
The balance due.
A life for a life.
Good morning. I thought I was
the first one up.
Are you hungry?
Well, I'd love some
black coffee if you have it.
How about a nice strong tea?
Does it got as much zip
as coffee?
Zip?
Yes. It does.
Let's give it a go.
I need a little kick-start.
It's hemlock root.
Isn't that poisonous?
Oh, the hemlock plant, yes.
This is from the hemlock tree.
It can be poisonous as well, if one doesn't
know the proper alchemy for a sweet brew.
Great.
The difference between
a poison and a cure
is the dose, my friend.
You know, honestly, I was just
kinda poking for a black coffee.
Not really a cure for anything.
Well, maybe you've been
worrying so long for your daughter,
you've failed to realize you,
too, are in need of a cure.
A cure for what?
Sadness, loneliness,
anger, fear.
And that's gonna cure
all those?
It might.
Hey, kid, come on down here.
She's making us
a super poisonous potion
that cures all bad emotions and
got more zip than black coffee.
- You should have a cup with us.
- No.
Oof!
It's got some kick.
Must be healthy
'cause it tastes terrible.
You'll eat in the woods.
Did you dose my dad?
I helped him.
- How?
- Here.
That tea lubricates the spirit.
It reopens the mind's
closed eyes.
Well, I don't think
he's gonna like that.
Sometimes
the medicine is bitter,
but the cure
is sweet.
Oh, fuck.
Oh, fuck!
Ah! God damn it!
Oh, fuck...
Oh...
Close your eyes.
Show me your crab.
They say
that there's a tumor in here
about the size of an apple.
An apple
sweet enough to eat.
That's bullshit.
Oh, but to make
the wicked swoon,
one must love it just a little.
- What's that?
- Holy water.
That's the last thing I would
have expected from you, Solveig.
It's not to treat.
It's to test.
Is something
supposed to happen?
What do you think?
Yeah, I guess so.
Then pay attention
to your belly.
- Is it supposed to burn?
- Is it?
Uh, I have no clue.
Then why
did you mention burning?
I don't know, because of,
like..."The Exorcist."
Maybe because you
believe it's possible.
Well, I guess.
Yeah, I do.
That's what's supposed
to happen.
- What?
- You believe in ritual.
- That's it?
- No.
Now I put away
this pitiful flask of rainwater,
and we perform a true ritual.
- Sing to the crab.
- What?
Sing to the crab so it sleeps.
Sing what?
What did your mother sing
to you when you were a babe?
I don't remember.
But my dad sang to me.
The crab cares not who sang.
The Sandman is coming
with his bag of dreams
So take care
He'll blow you a kiss
Blow dreams in your hair
Oh, oh, oh
Don't let him know
you're awake till he's there
Oh.
Oh, my God. What was that?
A hungry crab awakes.
Keep singing.
You got to ride the spell,
if you dare
You're gonna ride, ride,
ride like a bird in the air
The sandman is coming
with his bag of dreams
So take care
He'll blow you a kiss
Oh! Ow!
Holy fucking ow!
What is that?!
A treat to trick a crab.
Ohh! It hurts, it hurts!
As it should.
Owww!
The serpent's spawn
is lost to the ground,
but all that's loved
will soon be found.
Owwww!
Fuck!
Good.
Hey.
What was in that tea?
Zip.
Zip.
Did she give you
any of that zip?
Are you okay?
No, I'm not okay.
I've been puking
my guts out all morning.
But it's not
like you're not used to that,
so I shouldn't complain.
How about you?
What have you been up to?
Progress.
Show him.
Fuck.
It's good.
It's a good thing.
It doesn't look like
a good thing.
It looks like a bad thing.
It is a bad thing...
inside of her.
The reaction is a good thing.
- How so?
- The crab is wounded.
Looks like Mickey's
wounded to me.
Did you not fill your
daughter with poisons?
Chemo?
Yeah, yeah, we did.
And did you not burn her
from the insides?
You mean radiation?
That's so cruel of you to say.
How could you say something
like that?
It was our only choice.
Mychoice.
But...
Yeah, it was my only choice.
And I don't doubt it.
And you accepted that pain
without hesitation.
You accepted a vicious cure,
and it failed.
Well, my cure is painful, too.
Death is no fool.
It does not trick it
with kindness.
Do you understand?
I do.
This will help.
You ever noticed how,
whenever she's around,
there's flies everywhere?
It's 'cause she's full of shit.
They came caked in lime,
a powerful bane.
How they flaunted
their hypocrisy, cloaked in it,
shielding themselves
from the spells of the dead.
No! N-o-o-o!
No, no, no, no!
No-o-o-o!
No!
My baby, no!
Can I ask you something?
Yeah.
It's gonna work,
but what are you gonna do
if this doesn't work?
I might chase you.
I would've chased your mom
if you weren't around.
There's no way
I could let you drift off
into that darkness alone,
I just...
I'd have to chase you
and make sure you're okay.
Well, I guess I'll be dead,
so I can't stop you, but if you
did have to kill yourself,
how would you do it?
I know exactly
how I'd kill myself.
I would want to make sure
that the coroner had
a really fucking hard time.
So I would stand on the edge
of a really high bridge,
I'd put a noose around my neck,
I'd eat a ton of sleeping pills,
I'd cut my wrists,
and then drink a lot of alcohol,
and then I would shoot myself
in the head
so that I flew off the bridge
and the noose yanked on me,
hopefully break,
and then I'd fall all that way
so that when the coroner tried
to figure out how I died,
they'd have to come up with
seven causes of death.
Oh, my God,
that's so fucked up.
I think I could make it into
"The Guinness Book
of World Records" finally.
Well, let's hope that you don't
have to do a septa-suicide.
Air, breath...
which comes first?
I bend circles in my verse.
Earth weds air.
They make a fire.
Ash, death's petals
on the pyre.
Blood, flesh, bone equates.
Wind gulps ash,
it rests, separates.
Life, death...
which comes first?
I bend birth in reverse.
This smells really good.
Well, it looks like meat,
so thank you.
What kind of meat is it?
Venison.
Mm. Cool.
I've never had venison.
Please enjoy yourselves while
I prepare for tomorrow's labor.
Hey, don't you think
it's a little funny?
- What?
- Well, she never eats.
And no matter how much I eat,
I'm always starving.
Well...
I gotta admit,
I don't feel too well,
so it doesn't really bother me.
Well,
maybe you don't feel well
'cause of all this
Voodoo bullshit.
Dad, you know that's not why.
All right, that's fair.
But there's no stove.
There's no running water.
I mean...
how did she even cook this meat?
I mean, I'm so hungry,
I didn't even want to ask.
I have bigger things to worry
about than my stomach or yours.
Do you know
how we even got here?
Nope.
She came to me
through a dream.
Through a fucking dream.
Tongue of fire
in mouth of moon,
blood and seed
and cunt and bone.
River flowing, sapling growing,
stink of rabid vulture knowing.
When the veil of night
has flown,
hide in quiet, still as stone.
Okay, okay, okay.
Hey.
What are you guys doing?
None of your
fucking business.
Actually, it is my business.
I'm too high for this
right now.
Let's get out of here.
I don't want
to get out of here.
I still have a full drink.
This seems
kind of disrespectful.
To who?
To Solveig.
Let's get out of here.
Burn it down,
baby, burn it down
Burn it down,
burn it to the ground, yeah
Eat shit, fruitcake!
- Isn't my dad coming?
- No.
He needs a moment alone.
So, today is day three.
And it will be a long one.
Can I ask, is it working?
I feel like absolute shit,
but that means it's working, right?
I...
Just, how will I know
that it's gone?
You'll live, you'll love,
you'll grow old,
and then you'll die.
And all you lived
and all you loved
will make a home in your bones.
And they'll know.
What is it?
A good sign.
The blood is quickening.
Solveig...
Why are you doing this for me?
Because you asked.
So out of the kindness
of your heart?
No.
Then why?
I heard you,
and you heard me.
I don't understand.
Your curse is my gift.
Close your eyes.
Put your head back.
Think of nothing.
Open wide the legs of light.
Swallow deep the seed of night.
Thorn wound, spell unbound.
Wake in half light.
Time confound.
This has to stop.
You look terrible.
What did she do to you?
Okay.
I've been supportive of this...
fantasy of yours
for long enough.
There's no such thing as magic.
She's not gonna cure you.
I know you wanted to believe
this could work,
but the truth is, she's a fraud,
and she's been making
you look like a fool.
And, kid,
I've tried to play along,
but it's always been obvious
that this is bullshit.
All you've been doing is
making jokes this entire time,
not taking any of this
seriously.
And I don't want to die
because of you.
So I want you to go.
Go get a fucking hamburger.
Oh, what the fuck
do you want me to do?
What the fuck do you want
me to fucking do?
You want me
to just cry all the time?
I've done plenty of that.
I know this
was important to you.
But I'm your dad.
We're a team.
We're not a team.
I'm in this alone,
and you're in this alone.
So, go.
Leave! Go!
When the wind blows cold
And the sun grows old
You can hear the song
of the barren
Through the night we fly
Till the new bird cries
Are you loved?
Are you barren?
Fall so slowly
Will you hold me?
In your arms
When I'm barren
Fall so slowly
Will you hold me
In your arms
When I'm barren
Hello?
Hello?
Sorry. Couldn't hear you
over the music.
How can I help you?
Can I get a room for the night, please?
Sure.
Just need your ID
and your credit card.
- You here for fishing?
- No.
I came up here to...
see a healer with my kid.
You're in the right neck of
the woods for that kind of shit.
Apparently.
You ever heard of a lady
named Solveig?
Solveig the witch?
Yeah, everybody
around here knows her.
Well,
I didn't call her a witch,
but probably talking
about the same Solveig.
She's a witch, all right.
Necromancer.
- You know what that is?
- No, I don't.
- She can trick death.
- Trick death.
Yeah, even her own.
People have been putting stones
on her grave for years.
- What grave?
- Hergrave.
- But she's alive.
- Oh, yeah.
That's why we keep
throwing stones on her grave.
Keep that angry bitch down.
Yeah, it's a great party spot.
You know,
you go drink some beers,
you chuck some rocks on top.
It's called the Witch's Tit.
Okay.
What? What?
You know the witch's name,
but you don't know the story?
I guess not.
What's the story?
Okay.
A couple hundred years ago,
Solveig brought
a stillborn back from the dead
and kept it as her own.
Then the townspeople found out,
took her zombie baby,
and burned it.
And what happened
to this witch lady?
They buried her alive so she
could dig her own way to Hell.
But she just stayed there in the
dirt, screaming for her baby.
And that's
why people keep throwing stones
on top of the grave.
To keep that crazy mama down.
Is the Solveig
that you're talking about,
is she related to the Solveig
that lives in the house
- up on that hill?
- House?
No, there's no house
around there.
Do you want a double
or a single?
Nowhere to run to
Nowhere to hide
Nowhere to run to
Nowhere to hide
Nowhere to run to
Nowhere to hide
Nowhere to run to
Nowhere to hide
Sharpen your knife
Bring down the castles
on high
Cut through the ties
Cut through the moments
that bind you
Ooooooh
Can you see the time?
Can you feel the schism?
Can you see the rhyme?
Bouncing in the rhythm
For centuries,
I screamed and screamed
and suffered in the dirt,
alone, empty-armed.
Loveless.
For centuries, my screams
were answered with mockery,
piss and stones to keep me down.
And when finally my screams
were warmed to a whisper...
...you heard, you so...
so young in your bones
and yet so old,
slumped in the lap of death.
You let me...
You let me rise.
I take you a shadow.
You give me life.
You gave me...
You gave me...
You gave me...
Aaaaaaaah!
Mickey!
Mickey!
Mick...
Mick.
Oh, Mick.
Mick.
Oh, she took it!
She took it.
Life.
Life is wondrous.
It is fire
in all its wild spirit,
licking the air
like a drunken snake.
Color,
and the eyes to behold it.
Fingers to feel
the cold roughness of stone.
Cold, innocent stone.
The call of distant birds.
The hum of flies.
The anticipation of a thrill.
The small joy that brings
a smile to a borrowed face.
The flutter of an eye.
The blink of a life.
The comfort of love.
Hands to raise
to an empty, endless sky,
against the pool of the earth,
the weight of bones,
the roar of wind
and the smell of dirt,
the taste of metal
and fresh blood,
the tapestry of color
on an autumn day,
the rich smell
of fallen leaves,
the pressure of tiny grains
of sand wedged in a fingernail.
How good to rest in solace,
bones entwined,
wrapped in worms,
a crown of dirt,
a bed of nothing.
Well...
We're baffled.
There's no sign of cancer.
There is no sign
of radiation damage.
There is no sign
of chemical burns.
There's no sign of anything.
We've ordered
up a whole new round of tests
because, honestly, um,
with these results, we...
we just can't believe it.
No, I don't think that we
need to schedule any more tests.
We believe it.
There's a song in the river
Row away
Make a sound in the river
Row away
The heart...
a drum.
But death knows only silence.
To woo death...
one must love it...
lie with it...
for three days, give your
beating bloody heart to it...
...till death grows ears...
...till death grows warm...
...till an ember sparks...
...the dead drum thumps...
and the blood of light...
floods in.
Hey, Mickey. You coming
to the house party tonight?
I'm actually starting
summer early, so I'm out today.
What?
You don't have finals?
Um, yeah, a couple, but, uh,
my teachers
let me do them early.
Are you okay?
Yeah.
Is it back?
No.
I'm all good.
Uh, yeah. I'm good.
Good.
Well, all right.
I guess
I'll see you in September.
Yeah,
I'll see you in September.
Hey, Dad.
Okay, I'll be right down.
Love you, too.
How did the last couple weeks
of school go?
It was good. Yeah.
So I just got a note.
Did you talk to your friends
about this?
What do they have to say
about what we're doing?
Not much.
You don't talk to them
about this?
Not really. No.
Why not?
It's not really
a college kid conversation.
Understood.
Boy, your hair grew out quick.
I'm gonna miss the Kojak look, though.
Who's Kojak?
He was a bald guy
that sucked on lollipops.
How about you?
What's new with you?
I finished
the storehouse renovation.
A year and a half of purgatory
is over.
Well, you finally got
the stone up the hill.
Good job.
Well,
you know better than anyone.
No fucking stopping.
No fucking stopping.
There is a song in the dirt,
where the beetles hum
and the crawlers worm.
A song of rot.
A rhyme to which they work.
Apostles of ruin.
Tiny gods of birth.
Memories haunt
these barren bones
when moons ago,
the shadow rolled.
A wicked, now forgotten flesh.
Remember quick
that life is death.
Hey, can I get a hug?
I'm sorry some of that
insurance stuff fell on you.
My school insurance was supposed
to cover everything...
- Kid...
- but...
...I should have been able
to do all that crap for you.
I'm just so bad
with bureaucracy.
I tried to battle a bunch
of those co-pays
- 'cause we're not supposed to...
- Hey. Please.
Well, thanks
for covering it all.
Mickey.
And thanks for trusting me
on this.
I'm curious...
How'd you find this lady?
Uh, well,
she actually reached out to me.
- What do you mean? How?
- Hi. What can I get you guys?
- Cheeseburger deluxe.
- Cheeseburger deluxe, please.
Okay. You're here fishing?
Camping?
No, we're just here
for the Lyme's disease.
Oh, well, you're in the right
neck of the woods for that.
So, how... What?
Did she e-mail you?
You know, this place really
reminds me of all the diners
that we used to go to
before my soccer games.
You remember?
That was so fun.
It does.
Does that mean you're
gonna take a pre-game shit
- in the ladies' room?
- Yep. Jackson Pollock, baby.
That cheeseburger
not sitting so hot?
No.
If you're gonna puke,
I could get the ice bucket.
Mm... it's all good.
I remember I once...
puked all over Mom.
Do you remember that tire swing
that we used to have?
I do.
Well, I asked her
to spin me around and around
and around on it, and she did.
And guess what.
I literally spewed all over her.
Sounds like something
she would have loved.
Yeah. She did.
She said it was funny
and that she loved my puke.
Yeah, that was her.
All right, well, um...
the lady says that
she wants us to be there at,
like, a really specific time
tomorrow.
So let's get up early.
It's your show, kid.
You just kick me in the pants,
and I'll be there.
- All right?
- All right.
Good night.
Good night.
Are you watching me sleep?
No.
Yeah, maybe.
I don't... You ready to go?
I saw your face,
I saw you shine
I heard you laugh,
I watched you cry
Fade, baby, don't fade, baby,
come home
Don't you fade, baby,
don't fade, baby, come home
I closed my eyes
and watched you fly
I held my breath and hoped
time was just a lie
I hear you whisper
on the line
Mickey, are you sure you know
where you're going?
You haven't even looked at a map
this whole trip.
Yeah, I do.
Does she know I'm coming
with you?
Uh...
- Great.
- Dad, I want to do this.
I know it sounds like a scam.
I doubt it will even work.
But I gotta try.
All right.
I know you said to not
pry or anything, but...
how are we gonna pay for this?
Does she take our insurance?
- Don't need it.
- How's that?
'Cause she's doing it
for free.
Don't worry.
Holy mind-blown.
Are you serious?
Nothing is for free.
Ever.
Well, this is.
Take a right
and go up this dirt hill.
This love is murder
Ooh, this love is murder
Ooh, this love is murder
Ooh, this love is murder
Ooh, this love is murder
Wow.
It's a pretty fucking
awesome.
Some pile of rocks.
And that house.
I-I just...
Dad, this is amazing.
This is real.
This is real.
Holy shit.
It... it's giving me like
insane dj vu.
You're sure this is it, right?
Yeah.
I can't believe I'm
here right now.
All right, well...
are you ready to roll?
Okay. Let's go.
Right on time.
Welcome.
Solveig, it's such a pleasure
to meet you
in the flesh.
Uh, this is my dad, Jake.
Super nice to meet you.
Please.
Wow. This is incredible.
What a beautiful butterfly.
Is it alive?
- No.
- Mm.
That's too bad.
It's as beautiful dead
as it was alive.
Please let me show you
to your rooms.
This is a lot cooler
than my dorm room.
I'll show your father his room.
Rustic.
I didn't notice
a bathroom upstairs.
Is it downstairs?
So a bear shits in the woods?
Where else would a bear shit?
You do know this won't be easy?
Well, it never has been.
But she's a tough kid.
I'm speaking of you.
Look...
I'm here because
this is important to Mickey.
So for three days,
you and I just need to...
pretend.
That's not true.
Death grows within her,
but miraculously, it's delivered
her the meaning of life.
But for you,
it's delivered the fear of loss
and stripped you of faith.
They came begging,
bent in shame.
Trampling their faith
on the path to my thorns.
How easily the brittle limbs
of the rootless tree bend
and snap in the honest wind.
Barely a woman,
her light near dim.
And a still baby,
cold in the womb.
A lonely anchor
afraid of the dark.
Dragging its mother
into the deep.
Shunned.
Maligned for years.
I gave what they begged of me.
The knowledge they hated.
The magic they feared.
To grease the palms of death,
so I might steal
from its fingers a life.
Sharp as the needle that sews.
Stitch by stitch.
Vale to vale.
Threading the cloth of flesh
to soul.
A prick to cut. The sap to
weep.
The tears to fall
and gorge the deep.
The hands of time
are wound by tricks.
But the spells of blood.
They must be clean.
To fool the still
and save the quick.
The gaze of the veil
has no love.
No hate.
No love.
No hate.
I gave what they asked of me.
And she was saved.
When did you first learn you
had the canker?
Oh, the cancer?
Um, when I was 15.
My chances were
50/50, which is...
And then it... came back.
and they said, uh...
less than six months
left to live, so...
- It?
- The tumor.
Ah. The canker. Yes.
The crab, so called
by the great healer Hippocrates,
who likened the shape
to the sea creature.
Hard body, legs growing askew.
I've never seen the sea.
Ah.
I love the ocean.
I've seen the Atlantic,
the Pacific.
I'd love to go to
the Mediterranean
or the Red Sea someday.
But, um...
My mom took me to the Caribbean.
That was fun.
- Tell me.
- Oh...
It's the bluest blue
that you could imagine.
And when you're swimming in it,
it feels like a wet, warm hug.
Thank you.
So beautiful.
Trees bind the heavens
to Earth.
Roots clenching down
in the dirt.
Leaves grasping high in the sky.
There's no separation.
And so we begin.
May I?
- Barren.
- Yeah. Not my favorite term.
Everything was removed.
It would have been great birth
control if I'd ever had sex.
Fruitless.
But a tree, no less.
Give me your hand.
This ring is a symbol
of a union.
Two circles, one soul
bound at the threshold
of life and death,
where one ends,
the other begins.
After the death,
the blood of life.
Well.
That was fucking... weird.
- Yeah.
- I think we should bail.
Dad...
She's right.
I'm basically dead.
Science tells me I'm dead.
And she's telling me
I don't have to be.
I don't want to be dead yet.
We could find
a different doctor.
We could do a different...
We tried that.
We tried that.
and it didn't work.
We just maybe didn't try
hard enough.
I mean, how long are we
gonna be here at witch camp?
She says she can do this
in three days.
That's fucking ridiculous.
How come she talks
so fucking weird?
It's a... it's a bullshit.
Fucking bullshit.
Is it?
So what if we
have to dance naked
under the fucking moonlight
with some, like, crazy bitch?
I don't know, it's fine.
It's...
I'm willing to do it.
Doubt and do, my friends.
Mick...
I'm here for you, okay?
I want to do this with you.
I'm sorry about that.
Would either of
you like to say a blessing?
No, thanks.
No, thanks.
- May I?
- Sure.
In darkness,
hungry shadows creep.
Lusting for a soul to reap.
Dark kills day.
But light is quick.
Come to trick and fool the sick.
Stay the bones of grief
and hurt.
Eat the worms in blackest dirt.
Bless the serpent nestled there,
coiled betwixt
the roots and air.
Though it suffer in the sun,
breath of night is soon to come.
- Amen.
- No!
Undo it!
No hollow idolatry at the table.
Undo it. Undo it, please!
- I'm sorry.
- Spit on the word.
Spit on the word
while it lingers.
- Where?
- On the floor where it belongs.
Spit on the floor.
Hurry!
This meal looks
beautiful.
What is it?
Gifts from the forest.
You know, if you'd like,
I could boogie into town
and grab some groceries.
I'm not really much
of a vegetarian.
Aren't yougonna eat?
I eat the air as I speak.
Well, that's some trick.
Oh. Do you believe in magic?
- I don't.
- Oh, your child has died.
- What?
- In magic lives the child eternal.
Even death has no greater foe.
Close your eyes.
And you.
Please, eat.
One day to die.
Three days to rise.
Hey.
Oh, my fucking God! Dad!
You scared the living shit
out of me.
Sorry.
You mind if I come in
for a second?
Yeah.
You okay?
Yeah, I'm okay.
It's just... a little weird.
I can't sleep.
I'm on an old canvas.
At least you got this nice moss.
Well...
I can't sleep either.
What are you thinking about?
Do you remember...
a woman from the chemo clinic
named Cindy Duke?
I do.
She was a sweetheart.
And she had that great
little girl.
Well...
one day when we were
shooting our chemicals together,
she turned to me
and said,
"I pray for you.
Will you pray for me?"
But, Dad, I...
I don't believe in prayer.
I have always believed in faith.
And when people pray,
it's because they have
a lack of faith.
A lack of faith that...
life will give
what it's supposed to give.
And death will bring
what it's supposed to bring.
Cindy Duke died,
and I didn't.
It's not
'cause you didn't pray, kid.
Maybe it is.
Maybe she believed in prayer
so much that it worked.
I'm not afraid
of what death will be.
Life has been such
an amazing gift.
I'm sure death will be, too.
But I'm gonna fight
like a motherfucker
to make this life last
as long as possible,
because death can wait.
So...
I'm gonna take a page out of
Cindy Duke's book and believe.
Believe in this moss
and this fucking tree bed.
And Solveig.
And her flies.
I'm just gonna
believe in it all.
I admire you so much.
I just keep learning from you.
I love you.
The truth won't hide
in dreams.
It lies still...
Seeing.
The whore...
Majestic.
Like echoes of the banshees
bouncing in a canyon...
Just below the light...
Disappearing in the
river below...
Drifting away, unheard...
In dreams,
guilt is pure, unseen love.
Creeping through the shadows,
until the veil breaks open.
Reflections glimmer
and death dies again.
I gave what they asked.
Death gave, too.
The blunt of time.
The burden of memory smothered
by the kindness of stone.
The balance due.
A simple debt of silence.
While I make music in the dirt.
Like the beetle and the worm.
The gift of their blindness
while I make mischief in the dark.
Ignorance while I trick the
grave and solicit the night.
The balance due.
A life for a life.
Good morning. I thought I was
the first one up.
Are you hungry?
Well, I'd love some
black coffee if you have it.
How about a nice strong tea?
Does it got as much zip
as coffee?
Zip?
Yes. It does.
Let's give it a go.
I need a little kick-start.
It's hemlock root.
Isn't that poisonous?
Oh, the hemlock plant, yes.
This is from the hemlock tree.
It can be poisonous as well, if one doesn't
know the proper alchemy for a sweet brew.
Great.
The difference between
a poison and a cure
is the dose, my friend.
You know, honestly, I was just
kinda poking for a black coffee.
Not really a cure for anything.
Well, maybe you've been
worrying so long for your daughter,
you've failed to realize you,
too, are in need of a cure.
A cure for what?
Sadness, loneliness,
anger, fear.
And that's gonna cure
all those?
It might.
Hey, kid, come on down here.
She's making us
a super poisonous potion
that cures all bad emotions and
got more zip than black coffee.
- You should have a cup with us.
- No.
Oof!
It's got some kick.
Must be healthy
'cause it tastes terrible.
You'll eat in the woods.
Did you dose my dad?
I helped him.
- How?
- Here.
That tea lubricates the spirit.
It reopens the mind's
closed eyes.
Well, I don't think
he's gonna like that.
Sometimes
the medicine is bitter,
but the cure
is sweet.
Oh, fuck.
Oh, fuck!
Ah! God damn it!
Oh, fuck...
Oh...
Close your eyes.
Show me your crab.
They say
that there's a tumor in here
about the size of an apple.
An apple
sweet enough to eat.
That's bullshit.
Oh, but to make
the wicked swoon,
one must love it just a little.
- What's that?
- Holy water.
That's the last thing I would
have expected from you, Solveig.
It's not to treat.
It's to test.
Is something
supposed to happen?
What do you think?
Yeah, I guess so.
Then pay attention
to your belly.
- Is it supposed to burn?
- Is it?
Uh, I have no clue.
Then why
did you mention burning?
I don't know, because of,
like..."The Exorcist."
Maybe because you
believe it's possible.
Well, I guess.
Yeah, I do.
That's what's supposed
to happen.
- What?
- You believe in ritual.
- That's it?
- No.
Now I put away
this pitiful flask of rainwater,
and we perform a true ritual.
- Sing to the crab.
- What?
Sing to the crab so it sleeps.
Sing what?
What did your mother sing
to you when you were a babe?
I don't remember.
But my dad sang to me.
The crab cares not who sang.
The Sandman is coming
with his bag of dreams
So take care
He'll blow you a kiss
Blow dreams in your hair
Oh, oh, oh
Don't let him know
you're awake till he's there
Oh.
Oh, my God. What was that?
A hungry crab awakes.
Keep singing.
You got to ride the spell,
if you dare
You're gonna ride, ride,
ride like a bird in the air
The sandman is coming
with his bag of dreams
So take care
He'll blow you a kiss
Oh! Ow!
Holy fucking ow!
What is that?!
A treat to trick a crab.
Ohh! It hurts, it hurts!
As it should.
Owww!
The serpent's spawn
is lost to the ground,
but all that's loved
will soon be found.
Owwww!
Fuck!
Good.
Hey.
What was in that tea?
Zip.
Zip.
Did she give you
any of that zip?
Are you okay?
No, I'm not okay.
I've been puking
my guts out all morning.
But it's not
like you're not used to that,
so I shouldn't complain.
How about you?
What have you been up to?
Progress.
Show him.
Fuck.
It's good.
It's a good thing.
It doesn't look like
a good thing.
It looks like a bad thing.
It is a bad thing...
inside of her.
The reaction is a good thing.
- How so?
- The crab is wounded.
Looks like Mickey's
wounded to me.
Did you not fill your
daughter with poisons?
Chemo?
Yeah, yeah, we did.
And did you not burn her
from the insides?
You mean radiation?
That's so cruel of you to say.
How could you say something
like that?
It was our only choice.
Mychoice.
But...
Yeah, it was my only choice.
And I don't doubt it.
And you accepted that pain
without hesitation.
You accepted a vicious cure,
and it failed.
Well, my cure is painful, too.
Death is no fool.
It does not trick it
with kindness.
Do you understand?
I do.
This will help.
You ever noticed how,
whenever she's around,
there's flies everywhere?
It's 'cause she's full of shit.
They came caked in lime,
a powerful bane.
How they flaunted
their hypocrisy, cloaked in it,
shielding themselves
from the spells of the dead.
No! N-o-o-o!
No, no, no, no!
No-o-o-o!
No!
My baby, no!
Can I ask you something?
Yeah.
It's gonna work,
but what are you gonna do
if this doesn't work?
I might chase you.
I would've chased your mom
if you weren't around.
There's no way
I could let you drift off
into that darkness alone,
I just...
I'd have to chase you
and make sure you're okay.
Well, I guess I'll be dead,
so I can't stop you, but if you
did have to kill yourself,
how would you do it?
I know exactly
how I'd kill myself.
I would want to make sure
that the coroner had
a really fucking hard time.
So I would stand on the edge
of a really high bridge,
I'd put a noose around my neck,
I'd eat a ton of sleeping pills,
I'd cut my wrists,
and then drink a lot of alcohol,
and then I would shoot myself
in the head
so that I flew off the bridge
and the noose yanked on me,
hopefully break,
and then I'd fall all that way
so that when the coroner tried
to figure out how I died,
they'd have to come up with
seven causes of death.
Oh, my God,
that's so fucked up.
I think I could make it into
"The Guinness Book
of World Records" finally.
Well, let's hope that you don't
have to do a septa-suicide.
Air, breath...
which comes first?
I bend circles in my verse.
Earth weds air.
They make a fire.
Ash, death's petals
on the pyre.
Blood, flesh, bone equates.
Wind gulps ash,
it rests, separates.
Life, death...
which comes first?
I bend birth in reverse.
This smells really good.
Well, it looks like meat,
so thank you.
What kind of meat is it?
Venison.
Mm. Cool.
I've never had venison.
Please enjoy yourselves while
I prepare for tomorrow's labor.
Hey, don't you think
it's a little funny?
- What?
- Well, she never eats.
And no matter how much I eat,
I'm always starving.
Well...
I gotta admit,
I don't feel too well,
so it doesn't really bother me.
Well,
maybe you don't feel well
'cause of all this
Voodoo bullshit.
Dad, you know that's not why.
All right, that's fair.
But there's no stove.
There's no running water.
I mean...
how did she even cook this meat?
I mean, I'm so hungry,
I didn't even want to ask.
I have bigger things to worry
about than my stomach or yours.
Do you know
how we even got here?
Nope.
She came to me
through a dream.
Through a fucking dream.
Tongue of fire
in mouth of moon,
blood and seed
and cunt and bone.
River flowing, sapling growing,
stink of rabid vulture knowing.
When the veil of night
has flown,
hide in quiet, still as stone.
Okay, okay, okay.
Hey.
What are you guys doing?
None of your
fucking business.
Actually, it is my business.
I'm too high for this
right now.
Let's get out of here.
I don't want
to get out of here.
I still have a full drink.
This seems
kind of disrespectful.
To who?
To Solveig.
Let's get out of here.
Burn it down,
baby, burn it down
Burn it down,
burn it to the ground, yeah
Eat shit, fruitcake!
- Isn't my dad coming?
- No.
He needs a moment alone.
So, today is day three.
And it will be a long one.
Can I ask, is it working?
I feel like absolute shit,
but that means it's working, right?
I...
Just, how will I know
that it's gone?
You'll live, you'll love,
you'll grow old,
and then you'll die.
And all you lived
and all you loved
will make a home in your bones.
And they'll know.
What is it?
A good sign.
The blood is quickening.
Solveig...
Why are you doing this for me?
Because you asked.
So out of the kindness
of your heart?
No.
Then why?
I heard you,
and you heard me.
I don't understand.
Your curse is my gift.
Close your eyes.
Put your head back.
Think of nothing.
Open wide the legs of light.
Swallow deep the seed of night.
Thorn wound, spell unbound.
Wake in half light.
Time confound.
This has to stop.
You look terrible.
What did she do to you?
Okay.
I've been supportive of this...
fantasy of yours
for long enough.
There's no such thing as magic.
She's not gonna cure you.
I know you wanted to believe
this could work,
but the truth is, she's a fraud,
and she's been making
you look like a fool.
And, kid,
I've tried to play along,
but it's always been obvious
that this is bullshit.
All you've been doing is
making jokes this entire time,
not taking any of this
seriously.
And I don't want to die
because of you.
So I want you to go.
Go get a fucking hamburger.
Oh, what the fuck
do you want me to do?
What the fuck do you want
me to fucking do?
You want me
to just cry all the time?
I've done plenty of that.
I know this
was important to you.
But I'm your dad.
We're a team.
We're not a team.
I'm in this alone,
and you're in this alone.
So, go.
Leave! Go!
When the wind blows cold
And the sun grows old
You can hear the song
of the barren
Through the night we fly
Till the new bird cries
Are you loved?
Are you barren?
Fall so slowly
Will you hold me?
In your arms
When I'm barren
Fall so slowly
Will you hold me
In your arms
When I'm barren
Hello?
Hello?
Sorry. Couldn't hear you
over the music.
How can I help you?
Can I get a room for the night, please?
Sure.
Just need your ID
and your credit card.
- You here for fishing?
- No.
I came up here to...
see a healer with my kid.
You're in the right neck of
the woods for that kind of shit.
Apparently.
You ever heard of a lady
named Solveig?
Solveig the witch?
Yeah, everybody
around here knows her.
Well,
I didn't call her a witch,
but probably talking
about the same Solveig.
She's a witch, all right.
Necromancer.
- You know what that is?
- No, I don't.
- She can trick death.
- Trick death.
Yeah, even her own.
People have been putting stones
on her grave for years.
- What grave?
- Hergrave.
- But she's alive.
- Oh, yeah.
That's why we keep
throwing stones on her grave.
Keep that angry bitch down.
Yeah, it's a great party spot.
You know,
you go drink some beers,
you chuck some rocks on top.
It's called the Witch's Tit.
Okay.
What? What?
You know the witch's name,
but you don't know the story?
I guess not.
What's the story?
Okay.
A couple hundred years ago,
Solveig brought
a stillborn back from the dead
and kept it as her own.
Then the townspeople found out,
took her zombie baby,
and burned it.
And what happened
to this witch lady?
They buried her alive so she
could dig her own way to Hell.
But she just stayed there in the
dirt, screaming for her baby.
And that's
why people keep throwing stones
on top of the grave.
To keep that crazy mama down.
Is the Solveig
that you're talking about,
is she related to the Solveig
that lives in the house
- up on that hill?
- House?
No, there's no house
around there.
Do you want a double
or a single?
Nowhere to run to
Nowhere to hide
Nowhere to run to
Nowhere to hide
Nowhere to run to
Nowhere to hide
Nowhere to run to
Nowhere to hide
Sharpen your knife
Bring down the castles
on high
Cut through the ties
Cut through the moments
that bind you
Ooooooh
Can you see the time?
Can you feel the schism?
Can you see the rhyme?
Bouncing in the rhythm
For centuries,
I screamed and screamed
and suffered in the dirt,
alone, empty-armed.
Loveless.
For centuries, my screams
were answered with mockery,
piss and stones to keep me down.
And when finally my screams
were warmed to a whisper...
...you heard, you so...
so young in your bones
and yet so old,
slumped in the lap of death.
You let me...
You let me rise.
I take you a shadow.
You give me life.
You gave me...
You gave me...
You gave me...
Aaaaaaaah!
Mickey!
Mickey!
Mick...
Mick.
Oh, Mick.
Mick.
Oh, she took it!
She took it.
Life.
Life is wondrous.
It is fire
in all its wild spirit,
licking the air
like a drunken snake.
Color,
and the eyes to behold it.
Fingers to feel
the cold roughness of stone.
Cold, innocent stone.
The call of distant birds.
The hum of flies.
The anticipation of a thrill.
The small joy that brings
a smile to a borrowed face.
The flutter of an eye.
The blink of a life.
The comfort of love.
Hands to raise
to an empty, endless sky,
against the pool of the earth,
the weight of bones,
the roar of wind
and the smell of dirt,
the taste of metal
and fresh blood,
the tapestry of color
on an autumn day,
the rich smell
of fallen leaves,
the pressure of tiny grains
of sand wedged in a fingernail.
How good to rest in solace,
bones entwined,
wrapped in worms,
a crown of dirt,
a bed of nothing.
Well...
We're baffled.
There's no sign of cancer.
There is no sign
of radiation damage.
There is no sign
of chemical burns.
There's no sign of anything.
We've ordered
up a whole new round of tests
because, honestly, um,
with these results, we...
we just can't believe it.
No, I don't think that we
need to schedule any more tests.
We believe it.
There's a song in the river
Row away
Make a sound in the river
Row away