Nuptials (2026) Movie Script
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[crashing waves]
[Voices overlapping] -[Hannah]
The nerves are bad tonight.
[Stephen] The sky has echoes.
-[Stephen] Your ears have...
-[Hannah] Do not place your habits
next to the dishes, dear.
-[Stephen] Of whom do you speak?
-[Hannah] And yet our speech
is awash in becoming.
-Of what matter is a thought?
-[Stephen] Quit the forge dear and continue...
-[Hannah] In silent moments, I split upon myself...
-[Stephen] That I have read
-that we are inside a rats nest...
-[Hannah] ...a self that has
-in itself a self of another self...
-[Stephen] It has been said
-that the dead lose their bones.
-[Hannah] To this word
-this...
-[Stephen] Are we living amongst them
-[Hannah] this word...
-[Stephen] ...or are we living amongst them?
-But how can we proceed...
-[Hannah] Of the matter of our vivid souls
that has yet to be solidified
on the windowpane.
are we not cellmates?
[dramatic music plays]
[Hannah] It felt like I was in a grave.
Like, I had woken up in a grave.
The weight of the Earth
weighed in on me on either side.
But I could feel the outline
of the coffin with my hands.
And scarier still, the sense
that on the outside of the coffin,
there was a million tons of dirt
and mud pushing against me.
I could hear the worms
moving in the ground.
But I couldn't be sure of that because
there seemed to be some aspect
of the worms that resonated
from inside my own head.
Like, they were making sounds inside of me
and not outside in the
ground, beneath the cemetery.
I imagine there must be a cemetery, right?
It's all very hard to describe.
[tense music plays]
[rain pattering]
[thunder rumbling]
[dramatic music plays]
You're late.
Darling! Is it dinner time?
It was dinner time at 6:15,
which is when we agreed to meet back here.
Back here.
Hardly feels like I've been gone,
you know, painting so immersive.
How was your day?
I've been waiting here for
you for an hour and a half.
I've been waiting for you my whole life.
Don't try that shit with me.
I told you, dear, not to get
in the way of my painting.
And I haven't.
You were gone for most of
the day, and I didn't complain.
I didn't say anything
about you and your painting.
But what I do take issue
with is the fact that you think
you can just waltz in
here an hour and a half late
on our honeymoon no less and expect me
to take it all in stride.
This is our honeymoon,
even though you seem
to want to forget that.
I haven't forgotten.
Why did you come here?
To marry you.
Sometimes I believe that,
and sometimes I don't.
I think you came here to paint.
I also think you married me
out of some misplaced notion
of social convention.
Social convention?
Your term, not mine.
You walk around going on
and on about social convention.
It's all you ever talk about.
You're always worried
about offending others
based on some neurotic
idea of social convention.
Yet, at the same time,
you seem dead set to kill
all social convention.
Meaning?
You walked in here wearing a pig's mask.
Yeah, I don't see your point.
How long have you been
wearing this damn thing?
All day.
-Did you paint with it on?
-Yes.
That's crazy.
I don't see why.
Then that's fucking crazy.
I usually paint with a mask on.
Yeah, you and all your ski masks.
You know I don't like people
watching me while I paint.
You seem tense.
You know what my dad used to say about you?
No, what?
He said that you had all
the markers of a normal man.
But you aren't.
I'm not?
Dad says you try to fool everyone
into thinking that you're a man.
Let's face it,
you aren't a typical man.
You're a painter.
All you read is poetry.
You're not into fitness.
Or sports. Or sex.
You don't even like cars.
I didn't know you were this conventional.
And I can't believe this is happening.
This is our honeymoon.
It is.
How did this all start?
What? Us?
You know what I mean.
How did we get here... and where is here?
What?
Don't you have the sense that there's
something strange about this place?
Strange how?
Well I feel like something
in this room is watching us.
-Watching us?
-Yes, it feels like this room has eyes.
Nothing is watching us.
I wonder if we're not fully alone here.
We aren't. Most of my
family is in this hotel with us.
-That's not what I mean.
-What do you mean?
I mean, I feel like this room
is like a third wheel on our honeymoon.
-My mom was right.
-[Stephen] Right about what?
What you just said is crazy.
Come on, it's not crazy.
There's been a lot of research
about spaces and the ways
in which they have memories
of their own, you know?
Spaces aren't passive.
Spaces breathe... spaces watch.
[Hannah] They breathe and they watch?
Yes!
[Hannah] They breathe and they watch what?
Us.
So you're saying that this room,
this very room right here
is somehow... what? Living?
Okay, not living per se.
I'm saying...
I'm saying there's a system
of surveillance in place.
What? How? What the hell?
I'm saying there are forces
at play that are watching us.
I'm saying this room
might somehow be bugged.
Bugged?
-[Stephen] Yes.
But how?
You know, I've... I've... read
extensively on paramilitary tactics
-and the strategies of MK Ultra.
-Not this again.
Yes. Remember when I was
posting on my "Wag The Puppy" blog?
-[Hannah] Yes.
-Well, I was posting on the happenings
of the U.S. military's
MK Ultra experiments.
And then when I started making the
connection between those experiments
and their continuation, that's
when they started to surveil me.
Who was surveilling you?
The government.
The government was surveilling you?
The government is
surveilling me to this day.
I had assumed that my blog
had been hijacked by Anonymous,
but I later realized it
was the government itself.
No, okay.
It's... it's okay.
[Stephen] What is?
It's okay that you were late,
but I needed to tell you
how your lateness hurt me.
It sometimes feels intentional.
I'm not joking. I think
something is watching us.
There's nothing watching us.
You think we're safe?
Let's just have dinner.
What is it?
What is what?
When I came back, you
were frustrated with me.
I was. I still am.
[Stephen] You said I was late.
You were.
You said a lot of mean things to me.
[Hannah] I know.
You said a lot of things that
hurt me, hurt me very deeply.
I know
I was trying to hurt you.
What you did, it hurt me.
When you're like that,
-I could... I could just...
-[Hannah] Just what?
Nothing.
Now, let's eat.
-We should toast.
-[Stephen] Alright.
[Hannah] What should we toast to?
I don't know, what do newlyweds toast to?
Love?
Health?
Nah, come on, I hate both those toasts.
What should we toast to then?
We should toast to the
fact that we're not related.
That's an unconventional toast.
Yeah, that's true.
But it's a legitimate toast and it's
very good that we're not related.
That's true. But what
made you say that now?
Well, there have been numerous
stories of siblings and half siblings,
you know, separated by oceans,
not knowing about each other.
But then they meet and they
fall in love, and get married,
and then they don't realize
they're related until much later.
Okay then, here's to not being related.
To not being related.
You know, my original
question still stands.
And what was your original question?
Where are we?
And how did we get here?
Can you actually remember?
Well, he's been acting
rather strange lately.
[Alice] Strange how?
He seems pretty sullen most of the time,
and he keeps talking about how he
came here to paint his masterpiece.
[Alice] Really? He says that?
Yeah, but I'm sure he doesn't mean it.
[Alice] It's your honeymoon! It's
his honeymoon! How inconsiderate.
Hannah, I had talked
to you about him before.
You remember how he was at Thanksgiving?
That strange behavior with the dog?
You were all just making
way too big of a deal out of it.
[Alice] It scared the kids.
Dear, we are all worried about you.
Some of us don't think
you're safe to be around him.
That's nonsense. Stephen
is perfectly trustworthy.
He's never hurt me.
[Alice] There was that one
time that he bruised your arm.
He just grabbed me too quickly, that's all.
He didn't mean to hurt me.
He just grabbed me too fast.
[Alice] And why did he grab you?
Oh, mom.
[Alice] No. Seriously, why did he grab you?
He said there was a helicopter
monitoring us from the sky.
[Alice] And? Was there a helicopter?
Well I didn't see one.
[Alice] And no one can hear one either.
That happened at Easter.
He gets nervous at family functions.
[Alice] He gets nervous
as our family functions.
Well, I get nervous
at his family functions.
[Alice] With good
reason. His family is crazy.
His family is not crazy,
you're being unfair.
[Alice] Not crazy? Really?
I'm simply suggesting that maybe
you should have reconsidered
this entire enterprise.
You can still get an annulment.
Mom, I just got married.
You were there, so, you know, it's crazy
that I should even be
considering getting an annulment.
[Alice] Well it isn't like
this is all a surprise is it?
Your father and I have been
saying this from the beginning.
And yet you insisted on being stubborn.
You used to listen to your parents.
You're so dramatic. This is not
as serious as you're making it.
[Alice] What if he follows his
mother and has a breakdown
and attacks you in a delusional episode?
You don't have to worry about that anymore.
-It's my problem now.
-[Alice] Yes, dear.
That's what worries me.
[dramatic music plays]
[Bellhop] Welcome to the bridal suite.
The patio is over there.
It has excellent views over the ocean.
The bedroom is over there.
The minibar is in the corner.
You have a full entertainment
system with surround sound.
Bed sheets of the highest thread count.
If you need anything, you can
just ring down to the main desk
and they will send you whatever you want.
Thanks so much.
We want you to have so much
fun over the stay of your wedding
and honeymoon that a part of you will
never want to leave this exquisite spot.
Never want to leave?
We want you to return here
regularly for your celebrations
that will no doubt proceed
from this successful union.
Thanks.
[door closes]
[ominous music plays]
Ah, young love.
Oh, wow.
You have to see this bathroom.
This hotel is amazing.
Remember the reception is in an hour.
[Stephen] Right. And I can't
believe your uncle Jonas decided
to show up.
The last time you saw him was...
[Hannah] Yeah, you're right.
And Martin.
Martin wouldn't have
missed this for anything.
He never seemed to like me.
Neither did mom.
Yeah.
I still don't understand
what it is about me
she finds so disagreeable.
She's a conservative.
I don't know what that means.
She's never met someone like you.
A communist?
An artist.
[Stephen] And what is it about
artists that she finds so unnerving?
It's not the artist quality. You just
have some quirks she finds surprising.
Like what?
You wore a cape to family dinner.
Okay, that was my classic Victorian cape.
-I know.
-It's a completely functional cape.
-I know.
-It's the same cape that Charcot wore
at evening functions.
-I know.
At the time I was working
on that series of paintings...
Hystrie -...that explored
the embodied forms of hysteria.
You had all those disembodied
limbs hanging around the exhibit.
[Stephen] They were made to look real.
I know, but you had those
cinema to graph reenactments.
I think after that, mom just started
to have some issues with you.
Why?
You had all those women masturbating.
[Stephen] But it was black and white.
Well, I think... It's just
a little strange for mom.
Okay. Yeah, but you see,
this is why I find the whole
notion of marriage hypocritical.
Essentially, marriage
is the public presentation
of two people's sexuality.
I mean it. Historically speaking,
marriage is the public acknowledgment
of two people's sexuality,
a sexuality that was prohibited
prior to their "holy union."
In a church, before the eyes of God,
two people, a man and a
woman commit to a sexual union.
I'm pretty sure that's wrong.
Marriage is traditionally the
patrilineal transfer of property.
It has nothing to do with
the lifting of some prohibition.
Marriage has nothing to do with
sex. It has to do with property.
It's about men handing
over land to other men
and using the passive construction
of femininity as an excuse.
Well, I think it still has to do with sex.
It doesn't.
[Stephen] Part of the purpose of
the wedding ceremony is to be vetted
in the eyes of God by a
certified vetter of the church
that you and your
betrothed, are ideal fits.
Genetically, spiritually, and in
as straight a way as possible.
No, you're still wrong.
But for the sake of argument, I'll bite.
What does this vetting achieve?
It achieves the lifting of the prohibition,
the sex that was once prohibited
suddenly becomes permitted. Okay?
And in front of the whole social order,
all of these people now know that you
and this other person will be fucking away
in the evenings or at least on that
very first evening after the marriage,
and that all of this fucking will
hopefully produce a little mewling human
who will grow up, become a member of
the church, and do its own little fucking.
Instead of fucking can we say lovemaking?
[chuckles]
Dear, that's just a semantic distinction.
I don't think that it is.
It is.
No it's not. They describe very
different experiences for the person.
How so?
There's a distinct difference
between making love, fucking,
or being fucked.
-Yeah, but the act remains the same.
-I don't think it does.
-I do.
-The very word fucked suggests some sort of violence,
doesn't it? It sounds violent.
Fuck.
Also, from my perspective as a woman
and soon to be wife,
I think there is a very big
difference depending on which side
of the equation you fall. For me: I
am fucked. And for you: You fuck.
This is not a simplistic difference.
Okay, yeah, that might be true.
But I do have to say that
there is a difference in power
between the terms "fucking" or
"making love." Both parties can make love.
There is not one active
participant or one passive recipient.
Okay, but I think you'll agree
that distinction does not
transfer to the real world.
How so?
Well, uhm, your distinction
is primarily a semantic one.
And sex is often a wordless activity.
That is so not true.
Ah, I know what you're thinking.
-You're thinking about talking dirty.
-Yeah, I am.
Which is something
you never do, by the way.
It makes me uncomfortable.
It takes me out of the moment.
I find it exciting.
Yeah, well, for me, it
feels like I'm put on the spot
as though I'm expected to create
some sort of coherent fantasy narrative
that both you and I can fit into.
Whoa, what?
Well, it's not like I can
just say something like,
"Hey, baby, I want to
strangle you hard while I... ."
Why not?
Because seeing something
like that, as a man,
means I would be immediately
implicated in a larger power differential.
You know, saying something
like that would be reenacting
thousands of years of female repression.
Whoa, are you
misinterpreting sexual fantasy?
How do you mean?
Well it's supposed to be a
fantasy, that's what it does.
It reenacts a fantasy, that's it.
It does, however, change if you
actually want to do those things to me
in real life.
In real life?
Yeah. Outside of the fantasy.
Those are different realms.
You just have to think it through.
The fact that you possibly feel guilty for
thinking or feeling these things means that,
at some level you actually have
violent intentions towards me.
That is completely untrue.
Then why did you sneak
a gun into our hotel room?
[suspense music plays]
[knock at the door]
[Clarissa] Oh, there you are.
Oh, you're not ready.
What do you mean, "I'm not ready"?
The rehearsal's in an hour.
But it's a rehearsal.
It is.
Okay. I don't understand.
Why aren't you dressed?
I am not going to wear my actual
wedding dress for the rehearsal.
Wait, do brides usually wear their
wedding dress for the rehearsal?
Of course you're not
wearing your actual dress,
but you need to wear
something more than that.
Okay, well, I think my maid of
honor has something white for me.
[Clarissa] Okay, well, call her.
I'll call her shortly.
When?
Soon.
Why soon? What are you waiting for?
You said it's in an hour.
[Clarissa] I did, but I'm surprised
at this laissez faire attitude.
I don't have a laissez faire attitude.
[Clarissa] Yes, you do.
You were excited leading up to
this weekend, what's happening now?
Nothing's happening now.
Okay, the rehearsal is happening soon,
which would put an
end to the nothing that...
-That's not what I mean.
-Okay, what? What do you mean?
This whole thing is a
kind of nothing, isn't it?
-Dear, you're not making any sense.
-And this place is a kind
of nothing?
It is most definitely a something.
Like the idea of marriage...
It's kind of a nothing.
It is a very important something.
I think you're spending too
much time with that fianc of yours.
He talks like this and it's catching.
Nothing is catching.
[Clarissa] Oh, something is catching.
I'm fine.
[Clarissa] You're not fine.
You need to get dressed.
Okay, that may be true, but
like, I'm okay. Everything's okay.
If everything were okay you wouldn't
be falling into this depressive abyss.
I'm not falling in a depressive abyss.
[Clarissa] Darling, It's okay.
Everybody gets cold feet.
I don't have cold feet.
Or, at least, I don't
think I have cold feet.
You don't "think?" Well,
something is going on.
Nothing is going on.
Did you and Stephen have a fight?
-No.
-[Clarissa] So you did.
No, if we did, I would have said we did.
[Clarissa] Okay, then what was it?
A conversation.
-A conversation?
-Yeah, a conversation.
[Clarissa] About what?
About marriage.
What about marriage?
That it's like kind of nothing.
-Oh my... Not this again!
-No, seriously.
Like the whole thing
is just kind of like
a nothing nothing.
Or we said it was like a
something nothing or nothing some...
Oh, I don't know, we
didn't clear that part...
These are the things
that you guys talk about?
We talk about a lot of things.
[Clarissa] But at your own wedding,
this is the discussion that you're having?
We talk about other things as well.
-Oh, like what?
-I'd rather not say.
Oh, why not? It can't be more than nothing.
It's private.
Oh, so it's something romantic then?
It's more of a nothing that's romantic.
[suspense music plays]
[Clarissa] I can't believe he
didn't show up to his own rehearsal.
Unbelievable.
At least I know what's going to happen.
You're far too understanding of that man.
Stephen doesn't like rehearsals.
Oh, and he's had a lot of
experience with rehearsals, has he?
He says that "life isn't a
rehearsal." This is just linked to that.
Guys, he's going to
show up for the wedding.
I'm glad one of us is sure of that.
I'm certainly not convinced
that he will show up tomorrow.
I agree. Where on earth was he today?
He was probably painting
and it slipped his mind.
He came here to get married, not to paint.
He can paint any place, any time.
No, actually, he can't.
He needs that spark of inspiration.
Since coming here he's found
a surge of creative energy.
Well, that may be, but I
think it is unconscionable
for a groom to not show
up to his own rehearsal.
We all have a rough idea of
how wedding ceremonies go.
-[Clarissa] Your mother was very annoyed.
-[Hannah] Yeah, so was my dad.
So was, like well, everyone.
She's never liked Stephen.
-[Clarissa] Who does?
-[Melody] Well, it's not like he's...
Right.
Like who?
-[Melody] Like Adam.
He had class -And wit.
-And those eyes.
-Those eyes were so dreamy.
It was like he was
staring right into your soul.
Too bad you had to mess that up.
I did not mess that up.
-Then what happened?
-Actually, you never really did talk much about that.
He just wasn't right for me.
And Stephen is?
I don't think anyone is
really "right" for anyone.
Oh, I can't believe what I'm hearing.
On the eve of your wedding no less...
Yeah, I don't know. I'm
going to get some sleep.
-[Clarissa] Is he in there?
-[Melody] Oh, can we see?
No. Guys, just go get some sleep.
We all need it for tomorrow.
[door opens and shuts quietly]
Well, you're back early.
From what?
Oh, from wherever you were.
Where was I?
[Stephen] Well,
certainly an other location.
One that, I'm positive, was not here.
How do you know I'm early?
Pardon me?
[Hannah] You said I was "early."
What am I back early from?
Ah, confusing question.
When was I supposed to be back?
Why are you speaking in riddles?
[Hannah] No, really. When
was I supposed to be back?
[Stephen] Well, certainly not now.
When is now?
Now is now. Now is certainly now.
Okay, what time is it then?
What time is now? I can
only answer the question,
"What time is now?" If I
have a sense of what time is.
And I can only answer "what
time is" if I know for me what time is.
[Hannah] What time is?
-Exactly.
-[Hannah] For you?
-Yes.
-What time is it then?
Well, that's an unfair question.
But you brought it up.
No, you brought it up.
How did I bring it up?
By coming back early.
[Hannah] Where did I come back early from?
I'm not sure, but you seem
rather evasive about it.
[Hannah] Evasive?
Yes. Like you're trying to goad me
into some larger discourse about time.
But I warn you, I'm not going to bite.
Okay, ah, new tactic:
What was today?
-[Stephen] What was today?
Well, can we ever be sure
that a day is really a thing?
Stephen! Today was important.
Why was it important?
Today was a Friday.
Yeah. Today was a Friday,
but it wasn't just any Friday, was it?
You're saying that there is
something about this particular Friday
that's lacking in some essential
aspect of "Fridayness...?"
Hey, no, just...
Today was our wedding rehearsal.
Wedding rehearsal.
[Hannah] Yup. Our wedding rehearsal.
[Stephen] Is it over?
It's most definitely over.
Finished almost 20 minutes ago.
And I missed the whole thing.
[Hannah] Yeah, you somehow
managed to miss the whole thing.
[Stephen] I can't believe this happened.
Neither can I.
How did this happen?
You're not going to like my answer.
I'm certain there isn't
an answer I would like.
[Stephen] I was painting.
My therapist tells me that I should
be more honest with my feelings.
It's a part of self-care, and
apparently I don't practice it enough.
In fact, I know I don't practice
it enough because it seems
as if my feelings are almost
unconsidered by the ones I love.
Besides you.
This goes beyond my family and whatnot.
But the real problem here is you.
The real problem here is me?
Yep, the real problem here today is you.
Okay. I can sense that
you're feeling troubled.
[Hannah] I'm not troubled.
You're concerned about my absence today.
[Hannah] I am most definitely
concerned about your absence today.
But what worries me more is
the general lackadaisical approach
you have to this whole thing.
-Well, you know what they say?
-[Hannah] What?
-Life isn't a rehearsal...
-[Hannah] No, that's what you say.
True, but I heard it from somewhere.
You hurt me a lot and you
don't seem to really care.
-[Stephen] I've never hurt you.
-You hurt me today.
That would be the most recent example.
Your approach to this
wedding has been deplorable.
Deplorable?
-[Hannah] Deplorable.
-That's a strong word.
-[Hannah] It is.
I don't think there's any need
to use such strong language.
The fact that I'm not beating your head in
with a hammer should be taken as a blessing.
Whoa, whoa, whoa!
Well, I'm not actually beating your
head and with a hammer, but if I was,
I'm sure there would be a ton of
people who would support my position.
There's no need to resort to violence.
[Hannah] But sometimes
violence is oh so necessary.
Okay, now wait a minute.
I'm tired of waiting.
[Stephen] What are you going to do?
I think I'm going to express
my frustration viscerally.
[Stephen] What does that mean?
I think you need to be taught a lesson.
[Stephen] What kind of lesson?
You need to learn how to respect others,
especially your fianc and
future wife, future as in tomorrow.
[Stephen] But I do respect you.
You don't seem to respect
this whole wedding process.
Okay, honestly, you haven't
seemed fully invested yourself.
I've been invested in my own way.
As have I!
I don't think that's true.
Okay, look, I'm very sorry
about what happened today.
And what happened?
-A very important event.
-[Hannah] Which was?
[Stephen] Our wedding rehearsal.
-And what happened?
-Well, I'm not sure: I wasn't there...
You missed it.
Yes, and I'm very sorry
about this whole mess.
[Hannah] Are you going to miss the wedding?
When is the wedding?
[moans]
[tense music plays]
Have we missed the rehearsal dinner?
No, it just started.
Maybe we should head down?
You actually want to go?
Of course.
Then why didn't you
show up for the rehearsal?
Come on, let's not start
that again, okay? Come on.
Let's just go. Let's go down.
[emotional music plays]
[Hannah laughs]
Wait.
Can you go into the bedroom
and get me my laptop?
Now?
Yes.
Okay.
Where is it?
It's by the window.
-[Stephen] Okay, got it.
-Great.
Can you hook it up to the TV?
[Stephen] Seriously?
Yes.
[Stephen] Okay.
All right. Where's your video cable?
Oh, it's back in the bedroom.
Alright.
Where is it?
It's also by the window.
[Stephen] Um...
-Got it.
-Great.
Can you hook it up to the TV?
[Stephen] Of course.
Alright.
Now what?
You see that video file on the desktop?
[Stephen] This one?
It says "SandH" with underscores.
No, no...
-Yeah.
-[Stephen] Okay, got it.
What is this?
You'll see.
What is it?
Is this a porn?
Is that us?
[Hannah] Yep.
When did we make a porn film?
I filmed it on your birthday.
You said you'd want that little surprise,
so I thought you might
want it saved for posterity.
But why didn't you ask my permission?
Permission?
You can't just randomly film somebody
having sex without their consent!
Well, we have that
conversation a few years prior.
[moaning sounds from the video] -How many?
[Hannah] Hard to remember.
Rough estimate.
Two maybe?
Two years.
What did I say?
You said that you wanted to maybe
someday make a sex tape with me.
[moaning continues louder]
I see.
I don't... I don't remember
the conversation at all.
Well, you were drunk.
I was drunk!
And you consider that consent
enough to make a sex tape?
Yeah, was that a bad conclusion?
Yeah, I'd say it's a fairly bad conclusion.
Why didn't you just
remind me on my birthday?
[Hannah] I didn't want
to belabor the issue.
Well, it's a big issue.
I know, I'm sorry.
I just thought it would be a nice surprise.
It's a surprise.
I feel very surprised.
Well, is it a nice surprise?
It's... a surprise.
There's my ass.
Oh. Yeah, this part it's
zoomed in on your ass for a bit.
We're on top of my pants. I
had the remote with the zoom,
so it's like this for the
next 20 minutes or so.
You filmed 20 minutes of my ass zoomed in?
Not intentionally.
Ah, jeez. This is really not sexy.
I think I need some air.
Do you want me to pause it?
No, just let it... just
let it run. I'll be back.
[Hannah] Where are you going?
[Stephen] I just need some air.
[TV beeps off]
-[movie sound stops]
[ocean waves crash on the shore]
[emotional music plays]
Do you think that we make a good couple?
What's a "good couple?"
Do you think that we improve each other?
Depends what you mean by "improve."
Well, I always think the best couples
are the ones who ache for each
other and improve each other,
so that, if each person has
negative personality traits,
those traits are re-cast
in a positive light.
Honestly, that sounds
a little utopian to me.
Thank God! Usually you
find everything so dark.
I don't find anything dark.
I just focus on the
reality of the situation.
I really would not put you and
reality in the same sentence.
Okay, I can see why you'd say that.
I don't think that you do.
Well, either way, we're married now.
What should we cheers to?
I don't know.
We should cheers to Damien Hirst.
You want to cheers to Damien Hirst?
Kidding.
I wanted to get a rise out of you.
Mission accomplished.
[Stephen] My love is as a fever,
longing still for that which
longer nurseth the disease,
feeding on that which
doth preserve the ill.
The uncertain sickly appetite to please.
My reason, the physician to my love.
Angry that his prescriptions are not kept.
Hath left me, and I desperate now approve.
Desire is death, that physic did except.
Past cure I am,
my reason is past care,
And frantic-mad with evermore unrest.
My thoughts and my
discourse as is madmen's are,
At random from the truth vainly expressed:
For I have sworn thee
fair, and thought thee bright,
Who art as black as hell, as dark as night.
[Hannah] That's beautiful.
But are you saying that I'm
"black as hell and dark as night"...?
[Stephen] Well, I'm not.
So Shakespeare is...?
Well, yeah, but he
didn't write it about you.
Well, you chose to say it for me.
[Stephen] Well, it seemed appropriate.
Why? Because I'm "black
as hell" and "dark as night?"
I think you're focusing
too much on that last line.
[Hannah] Well, it's the last line.
It's a key one.
[Stephen] Yeah, but it's the volta.
I hate that band, I don't know
why you like them so much.
No, the volta is the turn at the end of...
[Hannah] I know. I'm kidding.
I know what the "volta" is.
Well, then you know that the
volta can't be taken seriously.
[Hannah] That's wrong.
The volta determines
the meaning of the poem,
it retroactively colors
everything that came before.
It's indispensable in the poem's meaning.
[Stephen] So what are you saying?
[Hannah] There is something very
telling in that last line. Something
a sort of darkness.
I don't feel any darkness.
Well, that doesn't explain
why you chose that sonnet.
You could have memorized another one.
I have more than one
Shakespearean sonnet memorized.
-Prove it.
-[Stephen] You're being silly.
I'm not.
[Stephen] Let's change the subject.
I don't think we should. I
think we should get to the root
of this "darkness" problem.
I still don't know what
you mean by "darkness."
I don't think you're fully
committed to this marriage.
Well, even if that were the case,
it's a little late to be
discussing this now.
Yeah, it is.
So there's nothing
"dark" in your love for me?
[Stephen] No, not at all. Of course not.
That doesn't sound convincing.
What would you find convincing?
Maybe an original poem?
You're kidding.
How about an original painting?
I'd settle for an original painting.
Well then, you, my dear, have an
original painting coming your way.
Have I ever told you about "mirror rim?"
[music swells]
[tense music plays]
You shouldn't be here.
Have you ever heard of "mirror rim?"
[Alice] "Mirror rim?"
-Yeah, "mirror rim."
[Alice] No, I certainly have not.
Neither have I.
[Alice] Why do you ask?
Stephen mentioned something about it.
[Alice] What did he say?
He said that the mystery of our marriage
is contained in the word "mirror rim."
[Alice] "Mirror rim" is one
word? I thought it was two...
But, what does it mean?
That's the thing. I don't know.
It's just a word he's been
obsessing over for the entire wedding
and honeymoon so far.
He said it first came to
him on the plane ride over.
[Alice] What do you mean?
[Hannah] He said he had been
thinking about the marriage,
he'd been thinking about
being married to me "forever,"
for the rest of our lives
and the term "mirror rim" came to mind.
[Alice] It came to his mind?
[Hannah] Yeah, like a
flash of light, he said.
Like a light bulb went off and
the only thing he could see were
two illuminated words: "mirror rim."
[Alice] That's interesting.
-I don't know.
-[Alice] I wonder what it is.
Me too.
[Alice] Well, the rim of a mirror
would be the wooden frame
that sits around a mirror. Wouldn't it?
I guess.
[Alice] But I don't see what the rim of
a mirror has to do with your marriage.
-Not at all.
-I asked him what it meant,
but he didn't have a really good answer.
[Alice] A "good answer?"
He didn't have any answer at all.
[Alice] Maybe...
-Yes?
-[Alice] Maybe the mirror is how a marriage is,
in the best circumstances,
a reflection of two people
where two people reflect the best
personality traits of the other person.
And a bad marriage would
reflect the negative traits?
[Alice] I guess.
Okay, no, but this is good.
A mirror is a reflective surface.
In some ways, a marriage
is also a reflective surface.
It does reflect the traits
of two people, you're right.
So maybe a marriage is just
the complicated negotiation
of two reflections?
Or mirror images?
[Alice] They also say that
when you look into a mirror,
you don't see yourself as you really are.
You are looking at the inverted
image of who you really are
so that your right side is on
your left and your left on your right.
In this sense, and maybe marriage
as a mirror image can only reflect back
who you really aren't for the other person.
Who you really aren't?
[Alice] Yes, maybe marriage is an
inverted mirror image for both people.
Neither one sees the real person.
That makes sense.
They would only see the
fantasy of the other person
or how they would want
the other person to be.
This lines up with a lot of the stuff
that Stephen's interested about:
Like Freud and Lacan and
all that psychoanalysis stuff.
[Alice] Psychoanalysis stuff?
Yeah, he's obsessed
with psychoanalysis stuff.
He says his paintings
are an attempt to capture
the unconscious on canvas.
[Alice] That must have been done before.
Yeah, by the Dadaists and the Surrealists,
but Stephen says that not a
lot of people know about them
so his work seems pretty original.
[Alice] But he's just ripping off the
what did you call them?
Dadaists and Surrealists?
Okay, but back to "mirror rim."
So you think that this phrase
is a metaphor for marriage itself,
in the way that marriage
mirrors two people,
but mirrors them in an inverted way?
[Alice] I don't know
if I'd put it that way.
But if you do mean it that way...
And if Stephen means it that way,
maybe he means it that way unconsciously.
[Stephen] I'm not sure
how to tell you this.
I think I may have
come here to kill myself.
But... I think I may have...
I think I may have already killed myself.
[Hannah] You think you
have already killed yourself?
[Stephen] Yes.
I feel like I'm already dead.
I think I may have killed
myself here, on our honeymoon,
and everything that is happening now,
everything, is only an
extended memory of my life
as it once was, combined with a
fantasy of what it could have been.
[Hannah] But... Everything is okay.
You're here with me.
We're safe in this room.
[Stephen] Yes, but don't you
find it strange that we can't seem
to leave this room anymore?
It seems like people can't come in either.
[Hannah] People have been coming in here.
[Stephen] Have they?
I feel like people have not
been coming into this room.
[Hannah] I haven't really thought about it.
[Stephen] But I think I may have
killed myself earlier this afternoon.
[Hannah] What makes you say that?
[Stephen] Well, I was painting
today. Early in the morning.
I was outside the room, of
course, but for some reason
it felt like it would be the last
time I would be outside of the room.
-[Hannah] The last time?
-[Stephen] Yes, the last time.
[Hannah] So what happened?
After you finished painting?
[Stephen] Well, I had my supplies
and I went down to the beach.
It was a beautiful morning.
I could smell the water.
Everything seemed to be at peace.
Then I saw a boy playing in the sand.
-[Hannah] A boy?
-[Stephen] Yes, a little boy. He was about eight or so.
[Hannah] Okay. And what happened?
[Stephen] We had a conversation.
[Hannah] About what?
[Stephen] Well, I had
brought the gun with me.
[Hannah] You had?
-[Stephen] Yes.
[Hannah] I don't think I
want to hear anymore.
-[Stephen] But you have to.
-[Hannah] No, I don't.
You wanted to kill yourself
two days after our wedding.
[Stephen] It wasn't because of the wedding.
[Hannah] Why then?
[Stephen] It was because of me.
[Hannah] You?
-[Stephen] Yes, me.
[Hannah] Why did you want to kill yourself?
[Stephen] That's a longer conversation.
[Hannah] Well, let's have it.
[Stephen] What's more important
right now is my conversation
with the little boy, with Peter.
[Hannah] Okay. And what
did you two talk about?
[Stephen] It's really hard to say.
I asked him how he was
and what he was doing here.
He said he was on holiday with his parents.
He talked about how his dad was a broker
and his mom taught high school.
He talked about how much he loved his mom.
[Hannah] Okay.
[Stephen] Then I asked him what
he thought the meaning of life was...
[Hannah] Oh, Stephen, you didn't...
[Stephen] I did.
[Hannah] And, what did he say?
[Stephen] He seemed
puzzled by the question.
[Hannah] I don't blame him.
[Stephen] But he was
able to answer the question.
[Hannah] He was?
-[Stephen] He was.
[Hannah] And what did he say?
[Stephen] He said that the
meaning of life was ice cream.
-[Hannah] Ice cream?
-[Stephen] Yeah, ice cream.
Then he thought about it some more,
and he mentioned some TV
show that I had never heard of.
And then I realized that I couldn't come up
with two things that made life meaningful.
[Hannah] You couldn't?
[Stephen] No. But I
thought about it for a while,
and I realized that I wanted
to add painting to my list,
but even painting, I realized, was a
way for me to hold something at bay.
-[Hannah] Hold something at bay?
-[Stephen] Yes.
[Hannah] What?
[Stephen] Sometimes I
feel this yawning emptiness
that approaches from all sides.
A sort of deep emptiness
that is coming for me.
It comes from the trees,
the ground, the sky.
And there is nowhere to run.
[Hannah] You feel this a lot?
[Stephen] Certain things keep it at bay.
Painting.
And you.
[Hannah] Me? I keep this feeling at bay?
[Stephen] Of course you do.
I guess I was wondering while
I was there, talking to Peter,
what it is that keeps people
together and then I realized something.
[Hannah] What?
-[Stephen] It's love.
[Hannah] Love?
-[Stephen] Yes, love.
[Hannah] I don't think I've
ever heard you talk about love.
I think you once said something
like "Assuming all of these
provisions, I therefore love you..."
[Stephen] I remember. It
was very hard for me to say.
I always thought it was
too easy for you to say.
[Hannah] But you're wrong.
It's hard for me as well.
-[Stephen] I didn't know that.
-[Hannah] It is.
[Stephen] Maybe it's hard for everyone.
[Hannah] Maybe it's too easy.
[Stephen] But I realized that what
keeps people together is "love,"
but then I also realized that "love"
isn't what most people think it is.
-[Hannah] It isn't?
-[Stephen] No. Love isn't some excess of emotion
that comes out when you are with someone.
-[Hannah] It isn't?
-[Stephen] No. I don't think so.
Love is the name of a particular
sense of keeping that abyss at bay.
So, I love you because
there is something in you,
in the ways that we intersect
that help keep that feeling at bay.
Essentially, you make me feel healthier.
I think that's really what "love" is.
[Hannah] That's sweet.
I think.
But we started this
conversation with you telling me
that you had decided to
kill yourself that afternoon.
[Stephen] Yes, and I'm pretty sure I did.
-[Hannah] You did what?
-[Stephen] Kill myself.
And then that feeling I was
talking about washed over me.
That feeling, that
terrifying sense of doom.
I still can't describe it. It's so scary.
I saw, in Peter, my entire life and yours,
and I saw our future together
and I saw our own child.
[Hannah] Our child? Like a premonition...?
[Stephen] A premonition in Technicolor.
And I left Peter and I knew
I was going to kill myself.
So I left the beach and
I came back to the hotel
and the entire time I felt
awful for what I was about to do.
I didn't want to hurt you,
but I knew this would hurt you.
Especially because I
chose to do it at our wedding
and I didn't want you to blame yourself.
But right at the moment of shooting
myself a thought flew threw my head.
[gunshot]
I hadn't left a suicide note.
I hadn't left any indication
of why this was happening,
and I didn't want you to
feel in any way responsible
for my decision.
That's why I think I'm still here,
I must somehow leave an explanation behind.
[Hannah] Have you written the note?
Stephen?
Have you written the note?
[gunshot echoes]
[tense music plays]
[voices played in reverse]
[ocean waves crashing] -[birds singing]
Morning.
How did you sleep?
I heard you get up in
the middle of the night.
Yeah, I did. I'm sorry if I woke you.
Still not sleeping well?
Not yet.
It seems I wake up at four a.m.
It doesn't matter what
happens, I'm just up at four.
But you seem good.
You seem happier than
I've seen you in a while.
Yeah, well, you know,
the wedding is finished
and I think we're falling
into our rhythm here.
I think so too.
How'd you sleep?
I had a bad dream.
Oh no! A bad dream?
-Yeah, it started off as a good dream.
-[Stephen] Oh.
But then, so strange,
it transitioned halfway through.
What happened?
Well, I was who I am now,
but you were... a child.
You were a little boy.
You were on the beach building
a sand castle with a little girl.
That sounds nice.
Yeah, but then the little
girl stood up and she
stomped all over your sand castle.
She stomped all over my sand castle?
Yeah, and you were so distraught,
but you had noticed that
she was already distraught.
[Stephen] Why was she already distraught?
I don't know. Something "Dream
You" must have done to make her angry.
Okay, then what happened?
[Hannah] You seem nervous.
-I'm not nervous.
-You look it.
There's no reason for me to be nervous.
Well, you seem fairly nervous.
Well, now I'm getting nervous
because you keep saying
that word and your emphasis
on it is making me a little nervous.
-So now you're nervous.
-[Stephen] Yeah.
Now I'm getting nervous.
-But you weren't before?
-No, not at all.
[Hannah] You sure?
Pretty sure.
What's this about?
Nothing, I just, I thought
if you were nervous,
I would ease your mind.
OK, well, we've determined
that I'm not nervous. So please.
I thought you said you were nervous now.
Fine. Now I'm nervous.
Come on. Let's hear your dream.
[Hannah] Your sandcastle had been
destroyed and you were distraught.
Okay.
You saw me and you recognized me.
So, I went over to you. I
picked you up and I rocked you.
-[Stephen] Did that help?
-No.
You ordered me to kill the little girl.
I ordered you to kill the little girl?
Yeah, and I was so mad that you did that,
so I put you down and I scolded you.
You scolded me?
Yeah, but then I felt
bad for scolding, you so...
I did what you asked
and I killed the little girl.
[Stephen] You killed the little girl?
Yeah, and it feels so
real now that I'm saying it.
Was that the end of the dream?
No.
What happened next?
Well, you disappeared.
I felt guilty for killing the girl.
I felt as if the authorities were after me.
Where they?
Well, I couldn't see anyone. I
had a feeling someone was coming.
Who?
Well, over the hill there...
I recognized my ex.
Your ex?
-[Hannah] Yeah.
-Adam?
[Hannah] Yeah. Yeah, Adam.
All right.
He just kept walking towards me.
I thought he wanted to talk but he...
He didn't make eye contact.
He just kept going and
going until...
He was in the water and I
couldn't see him anymore.
You couldn't see him anymore?
He was just swallowed up by the waves.
Was that the end of your dream?
Yeah, but it was so scary.
Right.
[tense music plays]
But why Adam?
Why Adam?
Why was he in your dream?
It wasn't the real Adam.
Okay. Why was "Dream-Adam" in your dream?
What is wrong with you?
[panting]
-What are you doing?
-Nothing. Nothing.
You're painting?
Can't you just leave me alone?
-[Hannah] You want me to leave you alone?
-Yes!
You're being unfair.
You know I hate it when you bring him up.
Why do you hate it so much? I married you.
I know you did, but why did you?
I wouldn't be here if I didn't want to.
But why did you want to?
[Hannah] Everything is okay.
You're here with me.
We're safe in this room.
[knock at the door]
Who is it?
-[Melody] It's Melody.
Right now is not a good time.
[Melody] What's going on?
[through tears] Everything's broken down.
[Melody] What's happened?
I shouldn't have come here.
I don't think anyone should have come here.
-[Melody] Why?
-Don't you think
that there is something unspeakable
about this place? Something sinister?
[Melody] Something "sinister?"
What are you talking about?
I'm talking about this place!
Don't you think there's something...
I don't know, off about it?
The only thing off about
this place is her husband.
Shush...
Hannah?
Clarissa's here with me. You
need to tell us what's going on.
You need to explain why you
won't come out of this room.
I can't go outside anymore.
Everything is changed now.
[Clarissa] Why don't you let us in then?
I can't do that either. It's not...
It's not safe in here.
[Clarissa] Where is Stephen?
Can I talk with Stephen?
[Hannah sobs]
-No... no you can't...
You can't.
[Clarissa] Just get Stephen.
Why don't you let us in then?
I can't do that. It won't work.
[Clarissa] Hannah,
dear, just open the door.
[tense music plays]
[Stephen] I wouldn't
be here if I didn't want to.
[Alice] Then why did you come?
[Stephen] I needed to
see... and know the truth.
[Alice] "Truth?" The "truth" of what?
[Stephen] I need to
know the truth of... of...
[Alice] Try to put it into words.
[Stephen] I don't know how to explain it.
-I...
-[Alice] Yes?
[Stephen] I...
[Hannah] I knew I could never trust him.
[Alice] I've been saying
that to you for years, dear.
He's a dangerous person.
[Hannah] But he loves me.
[Alice] Yes, he loves you,
but what does his love consist of?
Not everyone's love is
made of the same stuff.
Everyone's love is composed of differences.
Differences in mood, rhythm,
texture, and commitment.
[Hannah] You think that his love
for me isn't as deep as it should be...
[Alice] I don't think he
really knows what love is.
[Hannah] But what is
love in the first place?
I don't even know if I love
him enough or in the right way.
[Alice] No one loves
in the "right way," dear.
We all just give what
we are capable of giving.
This amount is different for
every person, every union.
[Hannah] I think I really loved Adam.
I think maybe I always have.
[Alice] Dear, despite everything,
I think you want to love Adam,
but I think your stubbornness
keeps you stuck to Stephen like glue.
[Hannah] But Mom... What
is the secret of how to love?
I've been wondering if
weddings are acts of desperation.
"Acts of desperation?"
Yeah, I mean, I've been
wondering if people get married
because something happens,
you know, a line gets crossed
and that line depends on
time, not on a depth of
feeling or commitment.
And then the expectation becomes,
you know you get a shared house.
A little dog, a picket fence.
A child or children.
It does seem written
in the stars, doesn't it?
But that's just it, I don't know if it is.
I mean.
I know I love you.
I just don't know if I love you
in the way that I'm supposed to.
You know, like...
How can we be sure that we love somebody
in the way that we should or in
the way that they should be loved?
I think you're overthinking this.
Love is an emotion.
And all the socially expected behaviors
to that emotion are secondary.
Yeah, that seems right.
It is.
But then how do we know
that we're with the right person?
I mean.
Isn't love partly dependent on geography?
I mean.
You were born in the
same city that I was born in.
We happened to go to the same university.
We took some of the same classes
and we bonded over our
enjoyment of those classes.
Yeah.
But what if we were
born in different cities
and went to different universities
and took different classes and...
I mean, what would have happened then?
We still would have met somehow.
You honestly believe that?
Sometimes.
But then how do you know that the person
you're with is your "soulmate?" I mean...
What if there are... say twenty
"soulmates" in the entire world.
Right. I mean, there's a world
population of what? Seven billion?
In seven billion people there
could be a hundred "soulmates?"
I prefer the number twenty or... one.
All right, well, let's go with
twenty then I think it would be
in the hundreds but, all right, for
this, for the sake of this, twenty.
Even then, how would you know that
the person you're with is one of these
one of these "soulmates?" I mean, there would
have to be the corresponding geographical
and social connections.
How would you ever know
that the person you're with
is one of these "soulmates?"
Well, I guess that part requires
a leap of faith, doesn't it?
A "leap of faith?"
Yeah, a leap of faith.
But all your conclusions
only make sense if we accept
your argument for a
few hundred "soulmates."
Right.
But what if the whole thing is just random?
How do you mean?
But what if there are no "soulmates?"
Not one. Not twenty. Not a hundred.
Not a few hundred. None.
Then the whole thing would just
be through random connection.
No, no, no, no. That idea scares me.
I like the idea of a few hundred
"soulmates" running around.
Why? So you can have
backup if this doesn't work out?
No, no, no, no, no, no, not at all.
Of course not.
Good.
I'm just thinking about how we know that,
the person we're with is the
person we're supposed to be with.
I mean, how do you know you're
not supposed to be with Adam?
We don't need to talk about Adam.
-No, I mean.
-No, seriously,
we don't need to talk about Adam.
No, it's a serious question. I mean.
You just always get agitated
whenever we bring him up.
Oh.
Okay. Well, I won't get agitated this time
I brought him up.
Okay, it just... it just, it
wouldn't have worked out.
Why?
It... it's just a feeling.
It's just a feeling?
Well, it's an important feeling.
Sometimes you just know.
You just know?
And you just know?
Yeah?
Don't you?
[tense music plays]
See anything you like?
Do I really look like that when I wear it?
Well, you don't look like this.
[Stephen] Why are you wearing that?
Just want to be someone else.
Someone else? Like who? Me?
Yeah. Maybe.
[Stephen] Why?
Haven't you ever wanted to be someone else?
I've always felt like someone else.
But you're saying that as "Stephen"...
Haven't you ever wanted to
get away from being "Stephen?"
Most of the time I'm
just trying to be Stephen.
You're just trying to be Stephen?
Yeah.
Most of the time I'm trying to
figure out who Stephen is and
this...
That search alone is exhausting,
not to mention trying to be someone else.
I know who you are.
Oh, really? Who am I?
You're a pig.
[Stephen laughs]
I am not.
[Hannah] Yeah, I think you're a pig.
Well, if I'm a pig, then so are you.
Well, that goes without saying.
Do you ever want to be someone else?
Well, sometimes it feels like I'm acting
all the time. It feels as if
I'm forced into playing a role
and I don't know who it's for.
I don't know if it's a
role or if it's really real.
[Stephen] And you feel this way a lot?
Sometimes I just feel like Hannah.
Why "just" Hannah?
Because sometimes it feels
like Hannah isn't enough.
Well, I think she's more than enough.
No, like, Hannah isn't completely Hannah.
It's like who she is for
you is not who she is
for her mother or father or bridesmaids.
And who she is for herself
is completely different
than who she really is.
[Stephen] Is there
someone you "really are?"
I think so, but with you,
those rules become muddy.
[Stephen] "Rules?"
Who you are, in a large part,
defines who I am and who I can be.
Different people offer different horizons.
[Stephen] Like, who?
Who?
-[Stephen] Who.
Uhm, like my mother?
[Stephen] No.
Like Uncle Jonas?
No. I mean like Adam.
Adam would offer different horizons,
but I'm not sure they would be any better.
[Stephen] How?
Well, we're a man and a woman
lying on this bed for eternity.
And
any man and women would have the
same sort of norms associated to them.
All right, so you're
saying if I was an alien
and you were a polar bear,
there'd be different norms.
Yeah, completely.
Yeah, I think that's fair.
You know, there's
another mask in the drawer.
Oh, really?
Maybe you should put it on?
[Stephen] Maybe I should.
Then maybe we could...
[tense music plays]
[painful squeal]
[spitting]
Stephen, what's wrong with us?
Stephen?
Stephen.
[tense music plays]
[bartender] You shouldn't be here.
I've been telling you all along.
You shouldn't be here.
[waves crashing]
[Tense music plays]
-Is this mirror rim?
-Is what?
[Hannah] This place.
[Stephen] You think mirror rim is a place?
[Hannah] What else could it be?
[Stephen] I was never really sure.
I didn't know if it was
a place or a riddle,
or a person.
Or whether it was real or unreal.
It's real. This place is real.
This place does not seem like mirror rim.
[Hannah] What were you expecting?
[Stephen] I don't know.
Maybe a person?
A person somehow disfigured...
[Hannah] Disfigured?
Monstrous.
What if mirror rim is a symbol?
A symbol?
Yeah, of the monstrosity of possession?
I don't follow.
Our own monstrous
possession over each other.
As if we haunt each other's waking world
and dreaming world.
[Stephen] You think we're monstrous?
[strange knocking]
-There is a knocking...
You hear that too.
[strange knocking continues twice more]
[tense music plays]
[Hannah] I'd settle
for an original painting.
[Stephen] Well then you, my dear,
have an original painting coming your way.
[sounds of water and thunder]
[tense music plays]
[strange knocking returns]
[suspense music plays]
[Hannah] The nerves are bad tonight.
[Stephen] The sky has echoes.
[Hannah] Do not place your
habits next to the dishes, dear.
[Stephen] Your ears have
enlightened the disquiet.
[Hannah] And yet our
speech is awash in becoming.
[Stephen] Of whom do you speak?
[Hannah] Of what matter is thought?
[Stephen] You mean of what matter?
[Hannah] In silent
moments, I split upon myself
a self that has in itself
a self of another self...
[Stephen] Quit the
forge dear and continue...
-[Hannah] To this word...
-[Stephen] ...That I have read, we are inside a rat's nest.
It has been said that
the dead lose their bones.
[Hannah] This... this word...
[Stephen] Are we living amongst
them or are we living amongst them?
But how can we proceed in this miasma?
[Hannah] Of the matter of our vivid souls
that has yet to be solidified
on the windowpane
are we not cellmates?
[Stephen] Soulmates?
[sound of wet, peeling flesh]
[tense music plays]
["Forever" by Cherry Blue]
[crashing waves]
[Voices overlapping] -[Hannah]
The nerves are bad tonight.
[Stephen] The sky has echoes.
-[Stephen] Your ears have...
-[Hannah] Do not place your habits
next to the dishes, dear.
-[Stephen] Of whom do you speak?
-[Hannah] And yet our speech
is awash in becoming.
-Of what matter is a thought?
-[Stephen] Quit the forge dear and continue...
-[Hannah] In silent moments, I split upon myself...
-[Stephen] That I have read
-that we are inside a rats nest...
-[Hannah] ...a self that has
-in itself a self of another self...
-[Stephen] It has been said
-that the dead lose their bones.
-[Hannah] To this word
-this...
-[Stephen] Are we living amongst them
-[Hannah] this word...
-[Stephen] ...or are we living amongst them?
-But how can we proceed...
-[Hannah] Of the matter of our vivid souls
that has yet to be solidified
on the windowpane.
are we not cellmates?
[dramatic music plays]
[Hannah] It felt like I was in a grave.
Like, I had woken up in a grave.
The weight of the Earth
weighed in on me on either side.
But I could feel the outline
of the coffin with my hands.
And scarier still, the sense
that on the outside of the coffin,
there was a million tons of dirt
and mud pushing against me.
I could hear the worms
moving in the ground.
But I couldn't be sure of that because
there seemed to be some aspect
of the worms that resonated
from inside my own head.
Like, they were making sounds inside of me
and not outside in the
ground, beneath the cemetery.
I imagine there must be a cemetery, right?
It's all very hard to describe.
[tense music plays]
[rain pattering]
[thunder rumbling]
[dramatic music plays]
You're late.
Darling! Is it dinner time?
It was dinner time at 6:15,
which is when we agreed to meet back here.
Back here.
Hardly feels like I've been gone,
you know, painting so immersive.
How was your day?
I've been waiting here for
you for an hour and a half.
I've been waiting for you my whole life.
Don't try that shit with me.
I told you, dear, not to get
in the way of my painting.
And I haven't.
You were gone for most of
the day, and I didn't complain.
I didn't say anything
about you and your painting.
But what I do take issue
with is the fact that you think
you can just waltz in
here an hour and a half late
on our honeymoon no less and expect me
to take it all in stride.
This is our honeymoon,
even though you seem
to want to forget that.
I haven't forgotten.
Why did you come here?
To marry you.
Sometimes I believe that,
and sometimes I don't.
I think you came here to paint.
I also think you married me
out of some misplaced notion
of social convention.
Social convention?
Your term, not mine.
You walk around going on
and on about social convention.
It's all you ever talk about.
You're always worried
about offending others
based on some neurotic
idea of social convention.
Yet, at the same time,
you seem dead set to kill
all social convention.
Meaning?
You walked in here wearing a pig's mask.
Yeah, I don't see your point.
How long have you been
wearing this damn thing?
All day.
-Did you paint with it on?
-Yes.
That's crazy.
I don't see why.
Then that's fucking crazy.
I usually paint with a mask on.
Yeah, you and all your ski masks.
You know I don't like people
watching me while I paint.
You seem tense.
You know what my dad used to say about you?
No, what?
He said that you had all
the markers of a normal man.
But you aren't.
I'm not?
Dad says you try to fool everyone
into thinking that you're a man.
Let's face it,
you aren't a typical man.
You're a painter.
All you read is poetry.
You're not into fitness.
Or sports. Or sex.
You don't even like cars.
I didn't know you were this conventional.
And I can't believe this is happening.
This is our honeymoon.
It is.
How did this all start?
What? Us?
You know what I mean.
How did we get here... and where is here?
What?
Don't you have the sense that there's
something strange about this place?
Strange how?
Well I feel like something
in this room is watching us.
-Watching us?
-Yes, it feels like this room has eyes.
Nothing is watching us.
I wonder if we're not fully alone here.
We aren't. Most of my
family is in this hotel with us.
-That's not what I mean.
-What do you mean?
I mean, I feel like this room
is like a third wheel on our honeymoon.
-My mom was right.
-[Stephen] Right about what?
What you just said is crazy.
Come on, it's not crazy.
There's been a lot of research
about spaces and the ways
in which they have memories
of their own, you know?
Spaces aren't passive.
Spaces breathe... spaces watch.
[Hannah] They breathe and they watch?
Yes!
[Hannah] They breathe and they watch what?
Us.
So you're saying that this room,
this very room right here
is somehow... what? Living?
Okay, not living per se.
I'm saying...
I'm saying there's a system
of surveillance in place.
What? How? What the hell?
I'm saying there are forces
at play that are watching us.
I'm saying this room
might somehow be bugged.
Bugged?
-[Stephen] Yes.
But how?
You know, I've... I've... read
extensively on paramilitary tactics
-and the strategies of MK Ultra.
-Not this again.
Yes. Remember when I was
posting on my "Wag The Puppy" blog?
-[Hannah] Yes.
-Well, I was posting on the happenings
of the U.S. military's
MK Ultra experiments.
And then when I started making the
connection between those experiments
and their continuation, that's
when they started to surveil me.
Who was surveilling you?
The government.
The government was surveilling you?
The government is
surveilling me to this day.
I had assumed that my blog
had been hijacked by Anonymous,
but I later realized it
was the government itself.
No, okay.
It's... it's okay.
[Stephen] What is?
It's okay that you were late,
but I needed to tell you
how your lateness hurt me.
It sometimes feels intentional.
I'm not joking. I think
something is watching us.
There's nothing watching us.
You think we're safe?
Let's just have dinner.
What is it?
What is what?
When I came back, you
were frustrated with me.
I was. I still am.
[Stephen] You said I was late.
You were.
You said a lot of mean things to me.
[Hannah] I know.
You said a lot of things that
hurt me, hurt me very deeply.
I know
I was trying to hurt you.
What you did, it hurt me.
When you're like that,
-I could... I could just...
-[Hannah] Just what?
Nothing.
Now, let's eat.
-We should toast.
-[Stephen] Alright.
[Hannah] What should we toast to?
I don't know, what do newlyweds toast to?
Love?
Health?
Nah, come on, I hate both those toasts.
What should we toast to then?
We should toast to the
fact that we're not related.
That's an unconventional toast.
Yeah, that's true.
But it's a legitimate toast and it's
very good that we're not related.
That's true. But what
made you say that now?
Well, there have been numerous
stories of siblings and half siblings,
you know, separated by oceans,
not knowing about each other.
But then they meet and they
fall in love, and get married,
and then they don't realize
they're related until much later.
Okay then, here's to not being related.
To not being related.
You know, my original
question still stands.
And what was your original question?
Where are we?
And how did we get here?
Can you actually remember?
Well, he's been acting
rather strange lately.
[Alice] Strange how?
He seems pretty sullen most of the time,
and he keeps talking about how he
came here to paint his masterpiece.
[Alice] Really? He says that?
Yeah, but I'm sure he doesn't mean it.
[Alice] It's your honeymoon! It's
his honeymoon! How inconsiderate.
Hannah, I had talked
to you about him before.
You remember how he was at Thanksgiving?
That strange behavior with the dog?
You were all just making
way too big of a deal out of it.
[Alice] It scared the kids.
Dear, we are all worried about you.
Some of us don't think
you're safe to be around him.
That's nonsense. Stephen
is perfectly trustworthy.
He's never hurt me.
[Alice] There was that one
time that he bruised your arm.
He just grabbed me too quickly, that's all.
He didn't mean to hurt me.
He just grabbed me too fast.
[Alice] And why did he grab you?
Oh, mom.
[Alice] No. Seriously, why did he grab you?
He said there was a helicopter
monitoring us from the sky.
[Alice] And? Was there a helicopter?
Well I didn't see one.
[Alice] And no one can hear one either.
That happened at Easter.
He gets nervous at family functions.
[Alice] He gets nervous
as our family functions.
Well, I get nervous
at his family functions.
[Alice] With good
reason. His family is crazy.
His family is not crazy,
you're being unfair.
[Alice] Not crazy? Really?
I'm simply suggesting that maybe
you should have reconsidered
this entire enterprise.
You can still get an annulment.
Mom, I just got married.
You were there, so, you know, it's crazy
that I should even be
considering getting an annulment.
[Alice] Well it isn't like
this is all a surprise is it?
Your father and I have been
saying this from the beginning.
And yet you insisted on being stubborn.
You used to listen to your parents.
You're so dramatic. This is not
as serious as you're making it.
[Alice] What if he follows his
mother and has a breakdown
and attacks you in a delusional episode?
You don't have to worry about that anymore.
-It's my problem now.
-[Alice] Yes, dear.
That's what worries me.
[dramatic music plays]
[Bellhop] Welcome to the bridal suite.
The patio is over there.
It has excellent views over the ocean.
The bedroom is over there.
The minibar is in the corner.
You have a full entertainment
system with surround sound.
Bed sheets of the highest thread count.
If you need anything, you can
just ring down to the main desk
and they will send you whatever you want.
Thanks so much.
We want you to have so much
fun over the stay of your wedding
and honeymoon that a part of you will
never want to leave this exquisite spot.
Never want to leave?
We want you to return here
regularly for your celebrations
that will no doubt proceed
from this successful union.
Thanks.
[door closes]
[ominous music plays]
Ah, young love.
Oh, wow.
You have to see this bathroom.
This hotel is amazing.
Remember the reception is in an hour.
[Stephen] Right. And I can't
believe your uncle Jonas decided
to show up.
The last time you saw him was...
[Hannah] Yeah, you're right.
And Martin.
Martin wouldn't have
missed this for anything.
He never seemed to like me.
Neither did mom.
Yeah.
I still don't understand
what it is about me
she finds so disagreeable.
She's a conservative.
I don't know what that means.
She's never met someone like you.
A communist?
An artist.
[Stephen] And what is it about
artists that she finds so unnerving?
It's not the artist quality. You just
have some quirks she finds surprising.
Like what?
You wore a cape to family dinner.
Okay, that was my classic Victorian cape.
-I know.
-It's a completely functional cape.
-I know.
-It's the same cape that Charcot wore
at evening functions.
-I know.
At the time I was working
on that series of paintings...
Hystrie -...that explored
the embodied forms of hysteria.
You had all those disembodied
limbs hanging around the exhibit.
[Stephen] They were made to look real.
I know, but you had those
cinema to graph reenactments.
I think after that, mom just started
to have some issues with you.
Why?
You had all those women masturbating.
[Stephen] But it was black and white.
Well, I think... It's just
a little strange for mom.
Okay. Yeah, but you see,
this is why I find the whole
notion of marriage hypocritical.
Essentially, marriage
is the public presentation
of two people's sexuality.
I mean it. Historically speaking,
marriage is the public acknowledgment
of two people's sexuality,
a sexuality that was prohibited
prior to their "holy union."
In a church, before the eyes of God,
two people, a man and a
woman commit to a sexual union.
I'm pretty sure that's wrong.
Marriage is traditionally the
patrilineal transfer of property.
It has nothing to do with
the lifting of some prohibition.
Marriage has nothing to do with
sex. It has to do with property.
It's about men handing
over land to other men
and using the passive construction
of femininity as an excuse.
Well, I think it still has to do with sex.
It doesn't.
[Stephen] Part of the purpose of
the wedding ceremony is to be vetted
in the eyes of God by a
certified vetter of the church
that you and your
betrothed, are ideal fits.
Genetically, spiritually, and in
as straight a way as possible.
No, you're still wrong.
But for the sake of argument, I'll bite.
What does this vetting achieve?
It achieves the lifting of the prohibition,
the sex that was once prohibited
suddenly becomes permitted. Okay?
And in front of the whole social order,
all of these people now know that you
and this other person will be fucking away
in the evenings or at least on that
very first evening after the marriage,
and that all of this fucking will
hopefully produce a little mewling human
who will grow up, become a member of
the church, and do its own little fucking.
Instead of fucking can we say lovemaking?
[chuckles]
Dear, that's just a semantic distinction.
I don't think that it is.
It is.
No it's not. They describe very
different experiences for the person.
How so?
There's a distinct difference
between making love, fucking,
or being fucked.
-Yeah, but the act remains the same.
-I don't think it does.
-I do.
-The very word fucked suggests some sort of violence,
doesn't it? It sounds violent.
Fuck.
Also, from my perspective as a woman
and soon to be wife,
I think there is a very big
difference depending on which side
of the equation you fall. For me: I
am fucked. And for you: You fuck.
This is not a simplistic difference.
Okay, yeah, that might be true.
But I do have to say that
there is a difference in power
between the terms "fucking" or
"making love." Both parties can make love.
There is not one active
participant or one passive recipient.
Okay, but I think you'll agree
that distinction does not
transfer to the real world.
How so?
Well, uhm, your distinction
is primarily a semantic one.
And sex is often a wordless activity.
That is so not true.
Ah, I know what you're thinking.
-You're thinking about talking dirty.
-Yeah, I am.
Which is something
you never do, by the way.
It makes me uncomfortable.
It takes me out of the moment.
I find it exciting.
Yeah, well, for me, it
feels like I'm put on the spot
as though I'm expected to create
some sort of coherent fantasy narrative
that both you and I can fit into.
Whoa, what?
Well, it's not like I can
just say something like,
"Hey, baby, I want to
strangle you hard while I... ."
Why not?
Because seeing something
like that, as a man,
means I would be immediately
implicated in a larger power differential.
You know, saying something
like that would be reenacting
thousands of years of female repression.
Whoa, are you
misinterpreting sexual fantasy?
How do you mean?
Well it's supposed to be a
fantasy, that's what it does.
It reenacts a fantasy, that's it.
It does, however, change if you
actually want to do those things to me
in real life.
In real life?
Yeah. Outside of the fantasy.
Those are different realms.
You just have to think it through.
The fact that you possibly feel guilty for
thinking or feeling these things means that,
at some level you actually have
violent intentions towards me.
That is completely untrue.
Then why did you sneak
a gun into our hotel room?
[suspense music plays]
[knock at the door]
[Clarissa] Oh, there you are.
Oh, you're not ready.
What do you mean, "I'm not ready"?
The rehearsal's in an hour.
But it's a rehearsal.
It is.
Okay. I don't understand.
Why aren't you dressed?
I am not going to wear my actual
wedding dress for the rehearsal.
Wait, do brides usually wear their
wedding dress for the rehearsal?
Of course you're not
wearing your actual dress,
but you need to wear
something more than that.
Okay, well, I think my maid of
honor has something white for me.
[Clarissa] Okay, well, call her.
I'll call her shortly.
When?
Soon.
Why soon? What are you waiting for?
You said it's in an hour.
[Clarissa] I did, but I'm surprised
at this laissez faire attitude.
I don't have a laissez faire attitude.
[Clarissa] Yes, you do.
You were excited leading up to
this weekend, what's happening now?
Nothing's happening now.
Okay, the rehearsal is happening soon,
which would put an
end to the nothing that...
-That's not what I mean.
-Okay, what? What do you mean?
This whole thing is a
kind of nothing, isn't it?
-Dear, you're not making any sense.
-And this place is a kind
of nothing?
It is most definitely a something.
Like the idea of marriage...
It's kind of a nothing.
It is a very important something.
I think you're spending too
much time with that fianc of yours.
He talks like this and it's catching.
Nothing is catching.
[Clarissa] Oh, something is catching.
I'm fine.
[Clarissa] You're not fine.
You need to get dressed.
Okay, that may be true, but
like, I'm okay. Everything's okay.
If everything were okay you wouldn't
be falling into this depressive abyss.
I'm not falling in a depressive abyss.
[Clarissa] Darling, It's okay.
Everybody gets cold feet.
I don't have cold feet.
Or, at least, I don't
think I have cold feet.
You don't "think?" Well,
something is going on.
Nothing is going on.
Did you and Stephen have a fight?
-No.
-[Clarissa] So you did.
No, if we did, I would have said we did.
[Clarissa] Okay, then what was it?
A conversation.
-A conversation?
-Yeah, a conversation.
[Clarissa] About what?
About marriage.
What about marriage?
That it's like kind of nothing.
-Oh my... Not this again!
-No, seriously.
Like the whole thing
is just kind of like
a nothing nothing.
Or we said it was like a
something nothing or nothing some...
Oh, I don't know, we
didn't clear that part...
These are the things
that you guys talk about?
We talk about a lot of things.
[Clarissa] But at your own wedding,
this is the discussion that you're having?
We talk about other things as well.
-Oh, like what?
-I'd rather not say.
Oh, why not? It can't be more than nothing.
It's private.
Oh, so it's something romantic then?
It's more of a nothing that's romantic.
[suspense music plays]
[Clarissa] I can't believe he
didn't show up to his own rehearsal.
Unbelievable.
At least I know what's going to happen.
You're far too understanding of that man.
Stephen doesn't like rehearsals.
Oh, and he's had a lot of
experience with rehearsals, has he?
He says that "life isn't a
rehearsal." This is just linked to that.
Guys, he's going to
show up for the wedding.
I'm glad one of us is sure of that.
I'm certainly not convinced
that he will show up tomorrow.
I agree. Where on earth was he today?
He was probably painting
and it slipped his mind.
He came here to get married, not to paint.
He can paint any place, any time.
No, actually, he can't.
He needs that spark of inspiration.
Since coming here he's found
a surge of creative energy.
Well, that may be, but I
think it is unconscionable
for a groom to not show
up to his own rehearsal.
We all have a rough idea of
how wedding ceremonies go.
-[Clarissa] Your mother was very annoyed.
-[Hannah] Yeah, so was my dad.
So was, like well, everyone.
She's never liked Stephen.
-[Clarissa] Who does?
-[Melody] Well, it's not like he's...
Right.
Like who?
-[Melody] Like Adam.
He had class -And wit.
-And those eyes.
-Those eyes were so dreamy.
It was like he was
staring right into your soul.
Too bad you had to mess that up.
I did not mess that up.
-Then what happened?
-Actually, you never really did talk much about that.
He just wasn't right for me.
And Stephen is?
I don't think anyone is
really "right" for anyone.
Oh, I can't believe what I'm hearing.
On the eve of your wedding no less...
Yeah, I don't know. I'm
going to get some sleep.
-[Clarissa] Is he in there?
-[Melody] Oh, can we see?
No. Guys, just go get some sleep.
We all need it for tomorrow.
[door opens and shuts quietly]
Well, you're back early.
From what?
Oh, from wherever you were.
Where was I?
[Stephen] Well,
certainly an other location.
One that, I'm positive, was not here.
How do you know I'm early?
Pardon me?
[Hannah] You said I was "early."
What am I back early from?
Ah, confusing question.
When was I supposed to be back?
Why are you speaking in riddles?
[Hannah] No, really. When
was I supposed to be back?
[Stephen] Well, certainly not now.
When is now?
Now is now. Now is certainly now.
Okay, what time is it then?
What time is now? I can
only answer the question,
"What time is now?" If I
have a sense of what time is.
And I can only answer "what
time is" if I know for me what time is.
[Hannah] What time is?
-Exactly.
-[Hannah] For you?
-Yes.
-What time is it then?
Well, that's an unfair question.
But you brought it up.
No, you brought it up.
How did I bring it up?
By coming back early.
[Hannah] Where did I come back early from?
I'm not sure, but you seem
rather evasive about it.
[Hannah] Evasive?
Yes. Like you're trying to goad me
into some larger discourse about time.
But I warn you, I'm not going to bite.
Okay, ah, new tactic:
What was today?
-[Stephen] What was today?
Well, can we ever be sure
that a day is really a thing?
Stephen! Today was important.
Why was it important?
Today was a Friday.
Yeah. Today was a Friday,
but it wasn't just any Friday, was it?
You're saying that there is
something about this particular Friday
that's lacking in some essential
aspect of "Fridayness...?"
Hey, no, just...
Today was our wedding rehearsal.
Wedding rehearsal.
[Hannah] Yup. Our wedding rehearsal.
[Stephen] Is it over?
It's most definitely over.
Finished almost 20 minutes ago.
And I missed the whole thing.
[Hannah] Yeah, you somehow
managed to miss the whole thing.
[Stephen] I can't believe this happened.
Neither can I.
How did this happen?
You're not going to like my answer.
I'm certain there isn't
an answer I would like.
[Stephen] I was painting.
My therapist tells me that I should
be more honest with my feelings.
It's a part of self-care, and
apparently I don't practice it enough.
In fact, I know I don't practice
it enough because it seems
as if my feelings are almost
unconsidered by the ones I love.
Besides you.
This goes beyond my family and whatnot.
But the real problem here is you.
The real problem here is me?
Yep, the real problem here today is you.
Okay. I can sense that
you're feeling troubled.
[Hannah] I'm not troubled.
You're concerned about my absence today.
[Hannah] I am most definitely
concerned about your absence today.
But what worries me more is
the general lackadaisical approach
you have to this whole thing.
-Well, you know what they say?
-[Hannah] What?
-Life isn't a rehearsal...
-[Hannah] No, that's what you say.
True, but I heard it from somewhere.
You hurt me a lot and you
don't seem to really care.
-[Stephen] I've never hurt you.
-You hurt me today.
That would be the most recent example.
Your approach to this
wedding has been deplorable.
Deplorable?
-[Hannah] Deplorable.
-That's a strong word.
-[Hannah] It is.
I don't think there's any need
to use such strong language.
The fact that I'm not beating your head in
with a hammer should be taken as a blessing.
Whoa, whoa, whoa!
Well, I'm not actually beating your
head and with a hammer, but if I was,
I'm sure there would be a ton of
people who would support my position.
There's no need to resort to violence.
[Hannah] But sometimes
violence is oh so necessary.
Okay, now wait a minute.
I'm tired of waiting.
[Stephen] What are you going to do?
I think I'm going to express
my frustration viscerally.
[Stephen] What does that mean?
I think you need to be taught a lesson.
[Stephen] What kind of lesson?
You need to learn how to respect others,
especially your fianc and
future wife, future as in tomorrow.
[Stephen] But I do respect you.
You don't seem to respect
this whole wedding process.
Okay, honestly, you haven't
seemed fully invested yourself.
I've been invested in my own way.
As have I!
I don't think that's true.
Okay, look, I'm very sorry
about what happened today.
And what happened?
-A very important event.
-[Hannah] Which was?
[Stephen] Our wedding rehearsal.
-And what happened?
-Well, I'm not sure: I wasn't there...
You missed it.
Yes, and I'm very sorry
about this whole mess.
[Hannah] Are you going to miss the wedding?
When is the wedding?
[moans]
[tense music plays]
Have we missed the rehearsal dinner?
No, it just started.
Maybe we should head down?
You actually want to go?
Of course.
Then why didn't you
show up for the rehearsal?
Come on, let's not start
that again, okay? Come on.
Let's just go. Let's go down.
[emotional music plays]
[Hannah laughs]
Wait.
Can you go into the bedroom
and get me my laptop?
Now?
Yes.
Okay.
Where is it?
It's by the window.
-[Stephen] Okay, got it.
-Great.
Can you hook it up to the TV?
[Stephen] Seriously?
Yes.
[Stephen] Okay.
All right. Where's your video cable?
Oh, it's back in the bedroom.
Alright.
Where is it?
It's also by the window.
[Stephen] Um...
-Got it.
-Great.
Can you hook it up to the TV?
[Stephen] Of course.
Alright.
Now what?
You see that video file on the desktop?
[Stephen] This one?
It says "SandH" with underscores.
No, no...
-Yeah.
-[Stephen] Okay, got it.
What is this?
You'll see.
What is it?
Is this a porn?
Is that us?
[Hannah] Yep.
When did we make a porn film?
I filmed it on your birthday.
You said you'd want that little surprise,
so I thought you might
want it saved for posterity.
But why didn't you ask my permission?
Permission?
You can't just randomly film somebody
having sex without their consent!
Well, we have that
conversation a few years prior.
[moaning sounds from the video] -How many?
[Hannah] Hard to remember.
Rough estimate.
Two maybe?
Two years.
What did I say?
You said that you wanted to maybe
someday make a sex tape with me.
[moaning continues louder]
I see.
I don't... I don't remember
the conversation at all.
Well, you were drunk.
I was drunk!
And you consider that consent
enough to make a sex tape?
Yeah, was that a bad conclusion?
Yeah, I'd say it's a fairly bad conclusion.
Why didn't you just
remind me on my birthday?
[Hannah] I didn't want
to belabor the issue.
Well, it's a big issue.
I know, I'm sorry.
I just thought it would be a nice surprise.
It's a surprise.
I feel very surprised.
Well, is it a nice surprise?
It's... a surprise.
There's my ass.
Oh. Yeah, this part it's
zoomed in on your ass for a bit.
We're on top of my pants. I
had the remote with the zoom,
so it's like this for the
next 20 minutes or so.
You filmed 20 minutes of my ass zoomed in?
Not intentionally.
Ah, jeez. This is really not sexy.
I think I need some air.
Do you want me to pause it?
No, just let it... just
let it run. I'll be back.
[Hannah] Where are you going?
[Stephen] I just need some air.
[TV beeps off]
-[movie sound stops]
[ocean waves crash on the shore]
[emotional music plays]
Do you think that we make a good couple?
What's a "good couple?"
Do you think that we improve each other?
Depends what you mean by "improve."
Well, I always think the best couples
are the ones who ache for each
other and improve each other,
so that, if each person has
negative personality traits,
those traits are re-cast
in a positive light.
Honestly, that sounds
a little utopian to me.
Thank God! Usually you
find everything so dark.
I don't find anything dark.
I just focus on the
reality of the situation.
I really would not put you and
reality in the same sentence.
Okay, I can see why you'd say that.
I don't think that you do.
Well, either way, we're married now.
What should we cheers to?
I don't know.
We should cheers to Damien Hirst.
You want to cheers to Damien Hirst?
Kidding.
I wanted to get a rise out of you.
Mission accomplished.
[Stephen] My love is as a fever,
longing still for that which
longer nurseth the disease,
feeding on that which
doth preserve the ill.
The uncertain sickly appetite to please.
My reason, the physician to my love.
Angry that his prescriptions are not kept.
Hath left me, and I desperate now approve.
Desire is death, that physic did except.
Past cure I am,
my reason is past care,
And frantic-mad with evermore unrest.
My thoughts and my
discourse as is madmen's are,
At random from the truth vainly expressed:
For I have sworn thee
fair, and thought thee bright,
Who art as black as hell, as dark as night.
[Hannah] That's beautiful.
But are you saying that I'm
"black as hell and dark as night"...?
[Stephen] Well, I'm not.
So Shakespeare is...?
Well, yeah, but he
didn't write it about you.
Well, you chose to say it for me.
[Stephen] Well, it seemed appropriate.
Why? Because I'm "black
as hell" and "dark as night?"
I think you're focusing
too much on that last line.
[Hannah] Well, it's the last line.
It's a key one.
[Stephen] Yeah, but it's the volta.
I hate that band, I don't know
why you like them so much.
No, the volta is the turn at the end of...
[Hannah] I know. I'm kidding.
I know what the "volta" is.
Well, then you know that the
volta can't be taken seriously.
[Hannah] That's wrong.
The volta determines
the meaning of the poem,
it retroactively colors
everything that came before.
It's indispensable in the poem's meaning.
[Stephen] So what are you saying?
[Hannah] There is something very
telling in that last line. Something
a sort of darkness.
I don't feel any darkness.
Well, that doesn't explain
why you chose that sonnet.
You could have memorized another one.
I have more than one
Shakespearean sonnet memorized.
-Prove it.
-[Stephen] You're being silly.
I'm not.
[Stephen] Let's change the subject.
I don't think we should. I
think we should get to the root
of this "darkness" problem.
I still don't know what
you mean by "darkness."
I don't think you're fully
committed to this marriage.
Well, even if that were the case,
it's a little late to be
discussing this now.
Yeah, it is.
So there's nothing
"dark" in your love for me?
[Stephen] No, not at all. Of course not.
That doesn't sound convincing.
What would you find convincing?
Maybe an original poem?
You're kidding.
How about an original painting?
I'd settle for an original painting.
Well then, you, my dear, have an
original painting coming your way.
Have I ever told you about "mirror rim?"
[music swells]
[tense music plays]
You shouldn't be here.
Have you ever heard of "mirror rim?"
[Alice] "Mirror rim?"
-Yeah, "mirror rim."
[Alice] No, I certainly have not.
Neither have I.
[Alice] Why do you ask?
Stephen mentioned something about it.
[Alice] What did he say?
He said that the mystery of our marriage
is contained in the word "mirror rim."
[Alice] "Mirror rim" is one
word? I thought it was two...
But, what does it mean?
That's the thing. I don't know.
It's just a word he's been
obsessing over for the entire wedding
and honeymoon so far.
He said it first came to
him on the plane ride over.
[Alice] What do you mean?
[Hannah] He said he had been
thinking about the marriage,
he'd been thinking about
being married to me "forever,"
for the rest of our lives
and the term "mirror rim" came to mind.
[Alice] It came to his mind?
[Hannah] Yeah, like a
flash of light, he said.
Like a light bulb went off and
the only thing he could see were
two illuminated words: "mirror rim."
[Alice] That's interesting.
-I don't know.
-[Alice] I wonder what it is.
Me too.
[Alice] Well, the rim of a mirror
would be the wooden frame
that sits around a mirror. Wouldn't it?
I guess.
[Alice] But I don't see what the rim of
a mirror has to do with your marriage.
-Not at all.
-I asked him what it meant,
but he didn't have a really good answer.
[Alice] A "good answer?"
He didn't have any answer at all.
[Alice] Maybe...
-Yes?
-[Alice] Maybe the mirror is how a marriage is,
in the best circumstances,
a reflection of two people
where two people reflect the best
personality traits of the other person.
And a bad marriage would
reflect the negative traits?
[Alice] I guess.
Okay, no, but this is good.
A mirror is a reflective surface.
In some ways, a marriage
is also a reflective surface.
It does reflect the traits
of two people, you're right.
So maybe a marriage is just
the complicated negotiation
of two reflections?
Or mirror images?
[Alice] They also say that
when you look into a mirror,
you don't see yourself as you really are.
You are looking at the inverted
image of who you really are
so that your right side is on
your left and your left on your right.
In this sense, and maybe marriage
as a mirror image can only reflect back
who you really aren't for the other person.
Who you really aren't?
[Alice] Yes, maybe marriage is an
inverted mirror image for both people.
Neither one sees the real person.
That makes sense.
They would only see the
fantasy of the other person
or how they would want
the other person to be.
This lines up with a lot of the stuff
that Stephen's interested about:
Like Freud and Lacan and
all that psychoanalysis stuff.
[Alice] Psychoanalysis stuff?
Yeah, he's obsessed
with psychoanalysis stuff.
He says his paintings
are an attempt to capture
the unconscious on canvas.
[Alice] That must have been done before.
Yeah, by the Dadaists and the Surrealists,
but Stephen says that not a
lot of people know about them
so his work seems pretty original.
[Alice] But he's just ripping off the
what did you call them?
Dadaists and Surrealists?
Okay, but back to "mirror rim."
So you think that this phrase
is a metaphor for marriage itself,
in the way that marriage
mirrors two people,
but mirrors them in an inverted way?
[Alice] I don't know
if I'd put it that way.
But if you do mean it that way...
And if Stephen means it that way,
maybe he means it that way unconsciously.
[Stephen] I'm not sure
how to tell you this.
I think I may have
come here to kill myself.
But... I think I may have...
I think I may have already killed myself.
[Hannah] You think you
have already killed yourself?
[Stephen] Yes.
I feel like I'm already dead.
I think I may have killed
myself here, on our honeymoon,
and everything that is happening now,
everything, is only an
extended memory of my life
as it once was, combined with a
fantasy of what it could have been.
[Hannah] But... Everything is okay.
You're here with me.
We're safe in this room.
[Stephen] Yes, but don't you
find it strange that we can't seem
to leave this room anymore?
It seems like people can't come in either.
[Hannah] People have been coming in here.
[Stephen] Have they?
I feel like people have not
been coming into this room.
[Hannah] I haven't really thought about it.
[Stephen] But I think I may have
killed myself earlier this afternoon.
[Hannah] What makes you say that?
[Stephen] Well, I was painting
today. Early in the morning.
I was outside the room, of
course, but for some reason
it felt like it would be the last
time I would be outside of the room.
-[Hannah] The last time?
-[Stephen] Yes, the last time.
[Hannah] So what happened?
After you finished painting?
[Stephen] Well, I had my supplies
and I went down to the beach.
It was a beautiful morning.
I could smell the water.
Everything seemed to be at peace.
Then I saw a boy playing in the sand.
-[Hannah] A boy?
-[Stephen] Yes, a little boy. He was about eight or so.
[Hannah] Okay. And what happened?
[Stephen] We had a conversation.
[Hannah] About what?
[Stephen] Well, I had
brought the gun with me.
[Hannah] You had?
-[Stephen] Yes.
[Hannah] I don't think I
want to hear anymore.
-[Stephen] But you have to.
-[Hannah] No, I don't.
You wanted to kill yourself
two days after our wedding.
[Stephen] It wasn't because of the wedding.
[Hannah] Why then?
[Stephen] It was because of me.
[Hannah] You?
-[Stephen] Yes, me.
[Hannah] Why did you want to kill yourself?
[Stephen] That's a longer conversation.
[Hannah] Well, let's have it.
[Stephen] What's more important
right now is my conversation
with the little boy, with Peter.
[Hannah] Okay. And what
did you two talk about?
[Stephen] It's really hard to say.
I asked him how he was
and what he was doing here.
He said he was on holiday with his parents.
He talked about how his dad was a broker
and his mom taught high school.
He talked about how much he loved his mom.
[Hannah] Okay.
[Stephen] Then I asked him what
he thought the meaning of life was...
[Hannah] Oh, Stephen, you didn't...
[Stephen] I did.
[Hannah] And, what did he say?
[Stephen] He seemed
puzzled by the question.
[Hannah] I don't blame him.
[Stephen] But he was
able to answer the question.
[Hannah] He was?
-[Stephen] He was.
[Hannah] And what did he say?
[Stephen] He said that the
meaning of life was ice cream.
-[Hannah] Ice cream?
-[Stephen] Yeah, ice cream.
Then he thought about it some more,
and he mentioned some TV
show that I had never heard of.
And then I realized that I couldn't come up
with two things that made life meaningful.
[Hannah] You couldn't?
[Stephen] No. But I
thought about it for a while,
and I realized that I wanted
to add painting to my list,
but even painting, I realized, was a
way for me to hold something at bay.
-[Hannah] Hold something at bay?
-[Stephen] Yes.
[Hannah] What?
[Stephen] Sometimes I
feel this yawning emptiness
that approaches from all sides.
A sort of deep emptiness
that is coming for me.
It comes from the trees,
the ground, the sky.
And there is nowhere to run.
[Hannah] You feel this a lot?
[Stephen] Certain things keep it at bay.
Painting.
And you.
[Hannah] Me? I keep this feeling at bay?
[Stephen] Of course you do.
I guess I was wondering while
I was there, talking to Peter,
what it is that keeps people
together and then I realized something.
[Hannah] What?
-[Stephen] It's love.
[Hannah] Love?
-[Stephen] Yes, love.
[Hannah] I don't think I've
ever heard you talk about love.
I think you once said something
like "Assuming all of these
provisions, I therefore love you..."
[Stephen] I remember. It
was very hard for me to say.
I always thought it was
too easy for you to say.
[Hannah] But you're wrong.
It's hard for me as well.
-[Stephen] I didn't know that.
-[Hannah] It is.
[Stephen] Maybe it's hard for everyone.
[Hannah] Maybe it's too easy.
[Stephen] But I realized that what
keeps people together is "love,"
but then I also realized that "love"
isn't what most people think it is.
-[Hannah] It isn't?
-[Stephen] No. Love isn't some excess of emotion
that comes out when you are with someone.
-[Hannah] It isn't?
-[Stephen] No. I don't think so.
Love is the name of a particular
sense of keeping that abyss at bay.
So, I love you because
there is something in you,
in the ways that we intersect
that help keep that feeling at bay.
Essentially, you make me feel healthier.
I think that's really what "love" is.
[Hannah] That's sweet.
I think.
But we started this
conversation with you telling me
that you had decided to
kill yourself that afternoon.
[Stephen] Yes, and I'm pretty sure I did.
-[Hannah] You did what?
-[Stephen] Kill myself.
And then that feeling I was
talking about washed over me.
That feeling, that
terrifying sense of doom.
I still can't describe it. It's so scary.
I saw, in Peter, my entire life and yours,
and I saw our future together
and I saw our own child.
[Hannah] Our child? Like a premonition...?
[Stephen] A premonition in Technicolor.
And I left Peter and I knew
I was going to kill myself.
So I left the beach and
I came back to the hotel
and the entire time I felt
awful for what I was about to do.
I didn't want to hurt you,
but I knew this would hurt you.
Especially because I
chose to do it at our wedding
and I didn't want you to blame yourself.
But right at the moment of shooting
myself a thought flew threw my head.
[gunshot]
I hadn't left a suicide note.
I hadn't left any indication
of why this was happening,
and I didn't want you to
feel in any way responsible
for my decision.
That's why I think I'm still here,
I must somehow leave an explanation behind.
[Hannah] Have you written the note?
Stephen?
Have you written the note?
[gunshot echoes]
[tense music plays]
[voices played in reverse]
[ocean waves crashing] -[birds singing]
Morning.
How did you sleep?
I heard you get up in
the middle of the night.
Yeah, I did. I'm sorry if I woke you.
Still not sleeping well?
Not yet.
It seems I wake up at four a.m.
It doesn't matter what
happens, I'm just up at four.
But you seem good.
You seem happier than
I've seen you in a while.
Yeah, well, you know,
the wedding is finished
and I think we're falling
into our rhythm here.
I think so too.
How'd you sleep?
I had a bad dream.
Oh no! A bad dream?
-Yeah, it started off as a good dream.
-[Stephen] Oh.
But then, so strange,
it transitioned halfway through.
What happened?
Well, I was who I am now,
but you were... a child.
You were a little boy.
You were on the beach building
a sand castle with a little girl.
That sounds nice.
Yeah, but then the little
girl stood up and she
stomped all over your sand castle.
She stomped all over my sand castle?
Yeah, and you were so distraught,
but you had noticed that
she was already distraught.
[Stephen] Why was she already distraught?
I don't know. Something "Dream
You" must have done to make her angry.
Okay, then what happened?
[Hannah] You seem nervous.
-I'm not nervous.
-You look it.
There's no reason for me to be nervous.
Well, you seem fairly nervous.
Well, now I'm getting nervous
because you keep saying
that word and your emphasis
on it is making me a little nervous.
-So now you're nervous.
-[Stephen] Yeah.
Now I'm getting nervous.
-But you weren't before?
-No, not at all.
[Hannah] You sure?
Pretty sure.
What's this about?
Nothing, I just, I thought
if you were nervous,
I would ease your mind.
OK, well, we've determined
that I'm not nervous. So please.
I thought you said you were nervous now.
Fine. Now I'm nervous.
Come on. Let's hear your dream.
[Hannah] Your sandcastle had been
destroyed and you were distraught.
Okay.
You saw me and you recognized me.
So, I went over to you. I
picked you up and I rocked you.
-[Stephen] Did that help?
-No.
You ordered me to kill the little girl.
I ordered you to kill the little girl?
Yeah, and I was so mad that you did that,
so I put you down and I scolded you.
You scolded me?
Yeah, but then I felt
bad for scolding, you so...
I did what you asked
and I killed the little girl.
[Stephen] You killed the little girl?
Yeah, and it feels so
real now that I'm saying it.
Was that the end of the dream?
No.
What happened next?
Well, you disappeared.
I felt guilty for killing the girl.
I felt as if the authorities were after me.
Where they?
Well, I couldn't see anyone. I
had a feeling someone was coming.
Who?
Well, over the hill there...
I recognized my ex.
Your ex?
-[Hannah] Yeah.
-Adam?
[Hannah] Yeah. Yeah, Adam.
All right.
He just kept walking towards me.
I thought he wanted to talk but he...
He didn't make eye contact.
He just kept going and
going until...
He was in the water and I
couldn't see him anymore.
You couldn't see him anymore?
He was just swallowed up by the waves.
Was that the end of your dream?
Yeah, but it was so scary.
Right.
[tense music plays]
But why Adam?
Why Adam?
Why was he in your dream?
It wasn't the real Adam.
Okay. Why was "Dream-Adam" in your dream?
What is wrong with you?
[panting]
-What are you doing?
-Nothing. Nothing.
You're painting?
Can't you just leave me alone?
-[Hannah] You want me to leave you alone?
-Yes!
You're being unfair.
You know I hate it when you bring him up.
Why do you hate it so much? I married you.
I know you did, but why did you?
I wouldn't be here if I didn't want to.
But why did you want to?
[Hannah] Everything is okay.
You're here with me.
We're safe in this room.
[knock at the door]
Who is it?
-[Melody] It's Melody.
Right now is not a good time.
[Melody] What's going on?
[through tears] Everything's broken down.
[Melody] What's happened?
I shouldn't have come here.
I don't think anyone should have come here.
-[Melody] Why?
-Don't you think
that there is something unspeakable
about this place? Something sinister?
[Melody] Something "sinister?"
What are you talking about?
I'm talking about this place!
Don't you think there's something...
I don't know, off about it?
The only thing off about
this place is her husband.
Shush...
Hannah?
Clarissa's here with me. You
need to tell us what's going on.
You need to explain why you
won't come out of this room.
I can't go outside anymore.
Everything is changed now.
[Clarissa] Why don't you let us in then?
I can't do that either. It's not...
It's not safe in here.
[Clarissa] Where is Stephen?
Can I talk with Stephen?
[Hannah sobs]
-No... no you can't...
You can't.
[Clarissa] Just get Stephen.
Why don't you let us in then?
I can't do that. It won't work.
[Clarissa] Hannah,
dear, just open the door.
[tense music plays]
[Stephen] I wouldn't
be here if I didn't want to.
[Alice] Then why did you come?
[Stephen] I needed to
see... and know the truth.
[Alice] "Truth?" The "truth" of what?
[Stephen] I need to
know the truth of... of...
[Alice] Try to put it into words.
[Stephen] I don't know how to explain it.
-I...
-[Alice] Yes?
[Stephen] I...
[Hannah] I knew I could never trust him.
[Alice] I've been saying
that to you for years, dear.
He's a dangerous person.
[Hannah] But he loves me.
[Alice] Yes, he loves you,
but what does his love consist of?
Not everyone's love is
made of the same stuff.
Everyone's love is composed of differences.
Differences in mood, rhythm,
texture, and commitment.
[Hannah] You think that his love
for me isn't as deep as it should be...
[Alice] I don't think he
really knows what love is.
[Hannah] But what is
love in the first place?
I don't even know if I love
him enough or in the right way.
[Alice] No one loves
in the "right way," dear.
We all just give what
we are capable of giving.
This amount is different for
every person, every union.
[Hannah] I think I really loved Adam.
I think maybe I always have.
[Alice] Dear, despite everything,
I think you want to love Adam,
but I think your stubbornness
keeps you stuck to Stephen like glue.
[Hannah] But Mom... What
is the secret of how to love?
I've been wondering if
weddings are acts of desperation.
"Acts of desperation?"
Yeah, I mean, I've been
wondering if people get married
because something happens,
you know, a line gets crossed
and that line depends on
time, not on a depth of
feeling or commitment.
And then the expectation becomes,
you know you get a shared house.
A little dog, a picket fence.
A child or children.
It does seem written
in the stars, doesn't it?
But that's just it, I don't know if it is.
I mean.
I know I love you.
I just don't know if I love you
in the way that I'm supposed to.
You know, like...
How can we be sure that we love somebody
in the way that we should or in
the way that they should be loved?
I think you're overthinking this.
Love is an emotion.
And all the socially expected behaviors
to that emotion are secondary.
Yeah, that seems right.
It is.
But then how do we know
that we're with the right person?
I mean.
Isn't love partly dependent on geography?
I mean.
You were born in the
same city that I was born in.
We happened to go to the same university.
We took some of the same classes
and we bonded over our
enjoyment of those classes.
Yeah.
But what if we were
born in different cities
and went to different universities
and took different classes and...
I mean, what would have happened then?
We still would have met somehow.
You honestly believe that?
Sometimes.
But then how do you know that the person
you're with is your "soulmate?" I mean...
What if there are... say twenty
"soulmates" in the entire world.
Right. I mean, there's a world
population of what? Seven billion?
In seven billion people there
could be a hundred "soulmates?"
I prefer the number twenty or... one.
All right, well, let's go with
twenty then I think it would be
in the hundreds but, all right, for
this, for the sake of this, twenty.
Even then, how would you know that
the person you're with is one of these
one of these "soulmates?" I mean, there would
have to be the corresponding geographical
and social connections.
How would you ever know
that the person you're with
is one of these "soulmates?"
Well, I guess that part requires
a leap of faith, doesn't it?
A "leap of faith?"
Yeah, a leap of faith.
But all your conclusions
only make sense if we accept
your argument for a
few hundred "soulmates."
Right.
But what if the whole thing is just random?
How do you mean?
But what if there are no "soulmates?"
Not one. Not twenty. Not a hundred.
Not a few hundred. None.
Then the whole thing would just
be through random connection.
No, no, no, no. That idea scares me.
I like the idea of a few hundred
"soulmates" running around.
Why? So you can have
backup if this doesn't work out?
No, no, no, no, no, no, not at all.
Of course not.
Good.
I'm just thinking about how we know that,
the person we're with is the
person we're supposed to be with.
I mean, how do you know you're
not supposed to be with Adam?
We don't need to talk about Adam.
-No, I mean.
-No, seriously,
we don't need to talk about Adam.
No, it's a serious question. I mean.
You just always get agitated
whenever we bring him up.
Oh.
Okay. Well, I won't get agitated this time
I brought him up.
Okay, it just... it just, it
wouldn't have worked out.
Why?
It... it's just a feeling.
It's just a feeling?
Well, it's an important feeling.
Sometimes you just know.
You just know?
And you just know?
Yeah?
Don't you?
[tense music plays]
See anything you like?
Do I really look like that when I wear it?
Well, you don't look like this.
[Stephen] Why are you wearing that?
Just want to be someone else.
Someone else? Like who? Me?
Yeah. Maybe.
[Stephen] Why?
Haven't you ever wanted to be someone else?
I've always felt like someone else.
But you're saying that as "Stephen"...
Haven't you ever wanted to
get away from being "Stephen?"
Most of the time I'm
just trying to be Stephen.
You're just trying to be Stephen?
Yeah.
Most of the time I'm trying to
figure out who Stephen is and
this...
That search alone is exhausting,
not to mention trying to be someone else.
I know who you are.
Oh, really? Who am I?
You're a pig.
[Stephen laughs]
I am not.
[Hannah] Yeah, I think you're a pig.
Well, if I'm a pig, then so are you.
Well, that goes without saying.
Do you ever want to be someone else?
Well, sometimes it feels like I'm acting
all the time. It feels as if
I'm forced into playing a role
and I don't know who it's for.
I don't know if it's a
role or if it's really real.
[Stephen] And you feel this way a lot?
Sometimes I just feel like Hannah.
Why "just" Hannah?
Because sometimes it feels
like Hannah isn't enough.
Well, I think she's more than enough.
No, like, Hannah isn't completely Hannah.
It's like who she is for
you is not who she is
for her mother or father or bridesmaids.
And who she is for herself
is completely different
than who she really is.
[Stephen] Is there
someone you "really are?"
I think so, but with you,
those rules become muddy.
[Stephen] "Rules?"
Who you are, in a large part,
defines who I am and who I can be.
Different people offer different horizons.
[Stephen] Like, who?
Who?
-[Stephen] Who.
Uhm, like my mother?
[Stephen] No.
Like Uncle Jonas?
No. I mean like Adam.
Adam would offer different horizons,
but I'm not sure they would be any better.
[Stephen] How?
Well, we're a man and a woman
lying on this bed for eternity.
And
any man and women would have the
same sort of norms associated to them.
All right, so you're
saying if I was an alien
and you were a polar bear,
there'd be different norms.
Yeah, completely.
Yeah, I think that's fair.
You know, there's
another mask in the drawer.
Oh, really?
Maybe you should put it on?
[Stephen] Maybe I should.
Then maybe we could...
[tense music plays]
[painful squeal]
[spitting]
Stephen, what's wrong with us?
Stephen?
Stephen.
[tense music plays]
[bartender] You shouldn't be here.
I've been telling you all along.
You shouldn't be here.
[waves crashing]
[Tense music plays]
-Is this mirror rim?
-Is what?
[Hannah] This place.
[Stephen] You think mirror rim is a place?
[Hannah] What else could it be?
[Stephen] I was never really sure.
I didn't know if it was
a place or a riddle,
or a person.
Or whether it was real or unreal.
It's real. This place is real.
This place does not seem like mirror rim.
[Hannah] What were you expecting?
[Stephen] I don't know.
Maybe a person?
A person somehow disfigured...
[Hannah] Disfigured?
Monstrous.
What if mirror rim is a symbol?
A symbol?
Yeah, of the monstrosity of possession?
I don't follow.
Our own monstrous
possession over each other.
As if we haunt each other's waking world
and dreaming world.
[Stephen] You think we're monstrous?
[strange knocking]
-There is a knocking...
You hear that too.
[strange knocking continues twice more]
[tense music plays]
[Hannah] I'd settle
for an original painting.
[Stephen] Well then you, my dear,
have an original painting coming your way.
[sounds of water and thunder]
[tense music plays]
[strange knocking returns]
[suspense music plays]
[Hannah] The nerves are bad tonight.
[Stephen] The sky has echoes.
[Hannah] Do not place your
habits next to the dishes, dear.
[Stephen] Your ears have
enlightened the disquiet.
[Hannah] And yet our
speech is awash in becoming.
[Stephen] Of whom do you speak?
[Hannah] Of what matter is thought?
[Stephen] You mean of what matter?
[Hannah] In silent
moments, I split upon myself
a self that has in itself
a self of another self...
[Stephen] Quit the
forge dear and continue...
-[Hannah] To this word...
-[Stephen] ...That I have read, we are inside a rat's nest.
It has been said that
the dead lose their bones.
[Hannah] This... this word...
[Stephen] Are we living amongst
them or are we living amongst them?
But how can we proceed in this miasma?
[Hannah] Of the matter of our vivid souls
that has yet to be solidified
on the windowpane
are we not cellmates?
[Stephen] Soulmates?
[sound of wet, peeling flesh]
[tense music plays]
["Forever" by Cherry Blue]