Oblivium (2025) Movie Script
1
[]
[footsteps]
[woman breathing]
[woman]
Don't look away.
Don't turn your back.
Don't close your eyes,
not even for a second.
Blink and you'll miss it.
Don't forget.
No matter what happens,
don't forget us.
[]
[waves crashing]
[seagulls calling]
Where am I?
[]
[whooshes]
[]
[people laughing]
[whooshes]
[]
[vocalizing]
[vocalizing continues]
[gasps]
[thuds]
[]
[woman panting]
What happened?
Is there something there?
No, I don't think so.
Then why are you panting?
Yeah, you were running.
No, I-- I wanted
to tell you something.
Now what did I want to tell you?
Calm down. It's not a big deal.
You'll remember later, just--
[]
[machines beeping]
[woman] Sky?
My grandpa
used to always say
that stories are where memories
go to be forgotten.
Geez, I'm acting like
he's already dead.
[woman]
Sky, this can wait.
-I don't want
to be insensitive.
-You're not.
I promised we'd do this.
Let's go.
Hello.
My name is Liz Oswald,
nursing student
at New York University.
Um, for my thesis,
I am doing a real life
analysis
of the experiences
of an Alzheimer's patient.
This film is just as much
an exploration
into the effects the disease
has on the patient's families.
Introduce yourself and then
tell the story of your family.
Okay. Um...
I'm Sky Song.
I'm 21 years old.
Art student
at New York University.
[Liz]
Tell us a bit
about your family.
How long has your
grandmother had Alzheimer's?
No siblings.
I grew up
in Holloway, California.
But I live in New York now.
[Liz]
Is your grandmother aware
that your grandfather is ill
in the hospital currently?
Well, my parents
live abroad and--
[Liz]
Sky, talk about
your grandmother, please.
[alarm beeping]
[machines beeping rapidly]
Someone get a doctor!
[Liz]
I got it.
[nurse]
Fluctuations are normal,
given his state.
Is he in any pain?
He's heavily sedated,
and he's going to be out
all through the night.
If anything should happen,
we'll be alerted.
[]
[Sky]
How do you turn
this damn thing off?
What the...
-Don't leave her alone!
-Grandpa.
Claire!
Claire! She needs you.
She sees the dead,
but she forgets.
Don't forget the dead.
Okay, let's just calm down.
-Let's get a doctor.
-You-- no, you'll--
You'll see them, too,
but you'll forget.
-What do you mean?
-Listen!
Look beneath
the flower po--
-[mutters, indistinct]
-Grandpa.
Grandpa, are you okay?
Grandpa!
[priest]
The Lord is my shepherd,
I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down
in green pastures.
He leadeth me beside
the still waters.
He restoreth...
[Liz]
The passing of Walter Song
was very difficult on Sky.
But she's glad we were able
to make it from New York
in time to see him.
I will fear no evil...
[Liz]
Our subject, Claire Song,
isn't present
at the funeral.
[priest]
Thou preparest a table...
[Liz]
No one from the family
has told her
of her husband's death.
[priest]
...my head with oil;
my cup...
[Liz]
With her condition...
[priest]
Surely goodness and mercy
shall follow me...
[Liz]
...it's not yet clear
whether she'd be able to
comprehend the situation.
[priest]
Ye everlasting doors,
and the King of glory
shall come in.
Who is this King of glory?
The Lord of Hosts.
He is the King of glory.
[]
[elevator door opens]
[]
[water running]
[Liz]
This is a family photo album
I got at the funeral.
Brought it back to the hotel.
Sky, her grandfather, Walter
and her grandmother,
Claire.
Looks like they did everything
together.
That's Adrian, Sky's cousin
and grandson to Claire.
He's a neuro... neurologist.
[laughing]
Oh, my God!
That hair!
[lauging]
[Sky]
What are you doing?
[Liz]
What?
Uh, nothing.
Re--research.
I was originally planning
on just interviewing Sky
and her parents,
but nothing would be better
than to experience
an Alzheimer's patient
firsthand.
I-I do have mixed feelings
about this.
I'm going to need
to be sensitive,
which... [sighs]
...I'm realizing now
is going to be near impossible.
-[doorbell rings]
-[chuckles] So.
Some of grandpa's stuff.
Figured your parents
want to see it.
Glad you're still here.
And what does that mean?
Uh, I'm driving up to Grandma's
tonight, so have a safe flight.
I'm actually not flying back.
I'm going to go
to Grandma's, too.
-Seriously?
-Uh-huh.
Why?
Sky, you're a smart girl--
Okay, anything else you say
will be offensive.
She needs a professional
with her.
We are literally going
to visit her
-at the nursing home.
-She's not at the nursing home.
She went back
to her house.
Yeah, you're not here.
You wouldn't know.
What? So she's alone?
She had a caretaker
stay with her.
He quit yesterday.
I'm going to find somebody else.
Why did the caretaker quit?
Again, you're not here.
Fine, I will stay with her,
and we will go find
someone else--
While I find someone else,
as her doctor, I--
And who are you
to be making these decisions?
Who do I have to be?
What is going on here exactly?
I don't know.
You tell me, Doctor.
Why do you care so much
that I go or not?
Are you doing this
just to spite me?
Okay, well...
just remember that
the Claire that you recall
is not the same person anymore.
-I know.
-No, you know you don't.
You may as well
be visiting a stranger.
[Liz]
Sky, can we go eat?
[grunts]
Uh...
Oh, yikes.
I don't know
if I touched it or not.
So I'm really trying to make
a difference with this project.
At any time...
six-- over six million
Americans
are afflicted
with Alzheimer's disease.
[Sky]
Right.
There's not enough focus on...
the patients...
[indistinct]
Liz, you haven't even asked
one single question.
-Can you please just--
-Alzheimer's affects women
more than it affects men
I mean,
what if I was able
to break new ground
in this field? I mean,
can you imagine how inspiring
that would be for young girls
around the world?
Speak even plainer.
[]
I think
there's an opportunity for us
to explore your grandmother's
situation firsthand,
if you let me film her.
-I am here to support you
100 percent.
-So much for speaking plainly.
Or I could just leave
a camera rolling,
and I would keep-- we would
keep our distance. I promise.
-Liz, the last thing you've
ever done in your life
-I promise.
is keep your distance.
Distance is relative.
[drumsticks tapping]
[upbeat Christmas music
playing]
[Liz] Sky wears yoga pants
because she thinks
it burns calories.
[Liz chuckles]
So, um...
Could you tell me
what you and Adrian
were so calmly discussing?
Well...
my parents traveled for work.
His parents got divorced.
His dad ended up moving
to Spain after the divorce,
so, the only person
that was there was my Grandma.
She basically raised us
as siblings.
But...
things change.
Yea.
Things do that.
What was he saying
about your Grandma earlier?
She shouldn't be alone.
Aw, Sky, that's incredible.
Who is it?
She shouldn't be alone.
So irresponsible.
[Christmas music]
It says I'm "The Scream"
By the way, Liz,
you only get
one bathroom break.
[engine starts]
-[Christmas music playing over
radio]
[Liz]
All right, for the viewers,
We are on our way
to Holloway, California.
Sky made me sign a contract
saying that
I would not get too close
to her grandmother.
-So...
-Okay, I made you promise
that you'd be sensitive
to her condition.
[crickets chirping]
We're about an hour and a half
away from my Grandma's.
Liz is...
gracefully asleep.
So here is the nursing home
that my Grandma used to stay at
before she went back
to her house.
[]
Liz, wake up.
Liz!
-[objects clashing]
-[Liz] What! What
what happened?
[Sky breathing heavily]
Nothing. Nothing.
So why did you just...
[mumbles, indistinct]
Did I scream?
Yes.
[Liz]
We are now entering the
town of Holloway, California,
named after Louise Holloway,
one of the few West Coast
women accused of witchcraft.
That's right.
It wasn't just in Salem.
Early 1700s,
Louise Holloway was tried
and killed.
Can we guess why, Sky?
Hm?
Math.
She was a brilliant
mathematician.
You know, Euler's formula?
He stole it from her.
So they called her a witch,
chained a rock around her waist
and tossed her in a lake.
Oh, yeah.
That's the story they told us
when we were younger
about a witch who drowned
in the lake behind
my grandmother's house.
Me and Adrian
used to dare each other
to go swimming there at night
and look for her body.
Crazy stuff, folks.
It's up here.
And the adventure begins.
[sighs]
[]
Shall we?
[Liz]
No key.
She kept losing them.
I'm going to go find a place
to plug in my camera.
Grandma?
Grandma?
Looks like your Grandma's
caretaker left her file.
Medications, injections,
MRI scans.
I'll handle this stuff.
You handle dinner.
Don't you think we should
wait for my Grandma to eat?
Your Grandma could be
asleep until tomorrow.
I'm not not eating
until tomorrow.
Looks like your Grandma was
getting pretty violent.
That's why she was kicked
out of the facility.
Doesn't say anything about
why her caretaker left, though.
Raj Anand.
This guy went to Johns Hopkins.
3.9 GPA, Jesus.
Look at his skin.
Wonder what kind of moisturizer
he uses.
Sky, do you need help with that?
No, I got it.
Come on, let me help you.
I got it.
Sky, you're gonna burst
a blood vessel--
I said I got it!
Are you making dinner or
cleaning up the kitchen?
Can't rely on you for anything.
Liz, are you serious?
[muffled screams]
Stay here.
-What did I just say?
-I'll just stay behind--
She doesn't know you.
She won't know you either.
Liz, please.
Just stay here.
I'm not a dog.
Here, take the camera.
So rude.
Grandma?
[]
[]
Get out of my house.
Get out.
Grandma?
You're not supposed to be here.
You'll lose yourself.
Get out.
No!
[gasps]
Oh, my God.
[water running]
Jesus.
What's your Wifi password here?
What? You can't last one night
without your stalking?
I have to decompress at night.
Okay?
I do that by scrolling through
social media and hating people.
Sounds super healthy.
The hate keeps me warm.
Liz, don't be shallow.
You can't pull it off.
Just go to sleep.
Liz, where's my tea?
You weren't drinking tea.
[]
[door lock clicks]
[]
Ugh.
Liz said that this film
is as much about me
as it is about Claire.
Um... Well...
I paint every day.
Sometimes when I'm trying
to draw from memory,
I just close my eyes,
recreate the surroundings,
and then I remember.
[Claire]
I don't want to!
I don't want to!
I won't!
No, you can't.
You burn in hell!
Grandma?
Who are you talking to?
Talking?
Nobody.
Where's Walter?
Not here right now.
Are you hungry?
We can go inside.
I can make you
some french toast.
You love that.
Where did you come from?
Grandma, it's me.
It's Sky.
Grandma, it's me.
It's Sky.
Come on, let's go inside
and make some french toast.
Why do we talk out loud
when we're alone?
Because we know we're not.
Chase the dead
and you'll lose yourself.
Chase the dead
and you'll lose yourself.
[woman]
Uh-huh, I'll have him
send it over. Yes.
Hi.
I'm looking for
Dr. Song?
He is--
Are you a patient of his?
Um...
-I'm a relative.
-Oh.
-Let me ping him for you.
-Thank you.
What are you doing?
I really have to pee.
Why don't you go pee?
Can you hold this stuff
really quickly?
No, go put it down.
[sighs]
-[doctor] Hey.
-[nurse] Hey.
[doctor]
What's the status on 280?
[nurse]
We, uh, just lost her
a half hour ago.
[doctor]
Jesus, what happened?
[nurse]
I guess
she was a YouTube vlogger.
She tried to cut out
her own larynx.
[doctor]
That's the third bullying one
this month.
Look...
[sighs]
[camera clicks]
[woman, indistinct]
Adrian.
-Hey.
-[Sky] Hey.
Um, this is my friend.
I remember her.
[Liz]
Oh. [chuckles] Uh...
I've been Liz Oswald,
nursing student at NYU.
Nice to meet you.
Oh, I'm sorry
about your grandpa.
So what's going on?
Uh, can we go talk somewhere?
Yeah.
[]
[Sky]
We found these MRI scans
in the file
left from the last nurse.
I figured you could read them?
PET.
Do what?
Positron emission tomography.
Uses a chemical tracer.
Wow, you're really smart.
The hippocampus is diminished.
Smaller than it should be.
Leads to cognitive impairment.
So, textbook Alzheimer's.
[sighs]
So, what type of symptoms can
a person normally expect to see?
No, there's--
there's no expecting, okay?
It could be anything.
Aphasia, for example,
understanding language, uh,
speaking, reading, writing.
Agnosia,
deteriorating perception,
bumping into things,
not recognizing people.
Adrian...
Apraxia,
basic motor skills,
walking, standing,
sitting down, getting dressed.
[Adrian] Catastrophic reactions
to minor-
[Sky] Okay! We get it!
This isn't a goddamn flu.
You can't expect reactions.
You can't expect anything.
And you guys can't help.
She needs professional
treatment.
What about, um, hallucinations?
Paranoia, maybe,
that, you know,
someone's out to get you.
Or delusions,
like your spouse
is in love with someone else.
I'm not saying hallucinations
are impossible.
They're just very rare.
Well, she's definitely seeing
something.
And every time I try to snap her
out of it, she ends up
forgetting.
As if she's completely forgot
whoever or whatever
she was talking to.
Yeah.
I'm sorry.
Was that your
complete medical diagnosis?
-Yeah?
-[Adrian] Look,
this isn't a surprise
to anybody.
There was a mental digression.
We all saw it happen.
And Claire wasn't exactly
helping prevent
-any of this from happening--
-You can't prevent it!
There's no cure for Alzheimer's.
Right.
But, unlike Claire, you can
do certain things
-to try to inhibit--
-Don't!
[Liz]
No, no, no, wait.
Inhibit it how?
Look, there's--there's something
called amyloid beta plaques.
They're like toxins
that build up in the brain.
That buildup
is what causes Alzheimer's.
Okay, so what do you do?
You flush out the toxins,
right? You exercise.
That makes blood run through,
flushing out the toxins.
You get good sleep,
that regulates the blood flow,
flushing out the toxins.
You read
or learn something new,
makes the brain more elastic,
flushes out toxins.
Okay? That's science.
That's how it works.
Claire never did
any of these things.
She never cracked a book
Grandma read every night.
Yeah, the Bible.
Book she'd memorized.
You want to give your brain
exercise,
you have to give it
new information.
You don't always have a choice
to what happens to you.
Right. But Claire had a choice.
And she chose to depend on
grandpa for every single thing.
Don't.
Preventable or not,
you still take care of family.
I'm her freaking doctor.
You keep telling yourself that.
I may have left Adrian.
But you're a goddamn coward.
Sky.
How do you figure?
There are more ways than one
for you to abandon a person.
In your case,
you hide behind the whole
doctor thing so you don't
get emotionally involved
She should mean a lot more
than a patient to you.
Can I say something?
I have no idea
why you're here.
People make mistakes.
Sorry.
Hey! Hey, wait up.
What's wrong with you?
Are you okay?
I'm fine.
You don't seem fine.
Liz. I'm fine.
What? What are you doing?
I'm trying to get
a shot of you leaving--
Why do you have that out?
I need this--
-[metal clanks]
-[crying sound]
[crying sound]
Hey.
[crying sound intensifies]
[Liz]
Are you okay?
Can we get some help
over here?
Anyone?
Hey, hey,
are--are you with someone?
Are--are you--
[gasps]
[]
[Liz screams]
[thuds]
[]
[Liz]
Jesus! Here it is!
I must have dropped it.
Can you believe that?
[Sky]
Whatever,
let's get out of here.
[muffled TV sound]
I swear...
a circular food served
in a square box
cut into triangles.
It just absolutely brilliant.
You know your shapes.
I'll give you that much.
[muffled TV sound]
Did you hear that?
She's just watching TV upstairs.
Sky. Relax, okay?
It's just the TV.
-It's not the TV.
-No? Why not?
Because there's no TV
upstairs.
[ticking sound]
[sinister noise]
We should call the police.
[sinister yell]
[]
[Liz]
Sky...
No, what was that?
Sky. What are you doing?
Grandma, what is going on?
Hey!
-[screams]
-[gasps]
Get out of my house!
I'll call the police!
Leave!
You okay?
Of course I'm okay.
Do you think it's still
safe for us to be here?
I'm a lot less concerned
for our safety
and more concerned
on who we heard upstairs.
Maybe it's just the neighbors.
It's not the neighbors.
[]
[soft sinister voice]
[sighs]
[crickets chirping
in distance]
[]
[]
We say hello.
Yeah I'm just surprised
to see you.
Is there a problem?
No I'm--I'm just off today
and...
there is this festival going on,
Totally your speed--
We're in.
We need to get out
of this house.
Someone's got a case
of the Mondays.
It's Thursday, you idiot.
So you guys down ?
["Now I think I know"
by Daniel Siletzky playing]
Oh, uh... Hey.
Excuse me.
We're doing a film
on Alzheimer's.
Would you mind if I ask
you a couple of questions?
Do you happen to know
anyone who has Alzheimer's?
Um, my experience
with Alzheimer's
is a little removed.
But my great grandpa has it.
How did it affect you,
knowing that?
But it does worry me
a little bit.
Why is that?
Just in case it's genetic.
[Adrian]
I think you mean hereditary.
-Genetic is a little bit
different.
-Adrian!
So my experience
with Alzheimer's are
with my grandfather.
He eventually stops
recognizing all of us.
My experience with Alzheimer's
is that it's really dreadful.
One's personality,
one's character
are formulated
by one's memories.
If they lose their memories,
they lose themselves.
So, do either one of you have
an experience with Alzheimer's?
Yeah, it's the skin disease,
right?
No, man,
it's not the skin disease.
-Yeah.
-No.
Alzheimer's is
when your brain goes off.
You can't think
anymore.
Kim Kardashian has it.
Kim K has it.
Why does she--
How does she have it?
On her legs and stuff.
[]
[Adrian]
Can I get a vanilla, too?
[background chatter]
[]
Before cars existed,
countries used to use ships
to trade with each other.
And sometimes they would, like,
you know, get stuck in the ice,
so they'd have to
get in little boats,
sail out and...
break the ice.
And on that note.
Adrian, what was sky like
as a kid?
Honestly? Not much different
than she is now.
So she wasn't like
a crazy trouble maker
or anything like that?
That's exactly how she
was.
I'm sorry, was I the one
with a permanent seat
in the principal's office?
Really?
It was a few years
of acting out.
Grandma was on a first
name basis
with the superintendent
for bailing him out.
[Liz laughing]
[door creaks]
Grandma.
Come sit.
Grandma, are you hungry?
You haven't eaten
since yesterday.
Yesterday?
Yesterday.
What happened yesterday?
Do you remember something
that happened?
Yesterday...
On the stair...
I met a man who wasn't there.
He wasn't there again today.
I wish...
I wish he'd go away.
Grandma...
Hey, so...
Did Grandma or Grandpa
ever say anything to you
about flowers by chance?
I mean there's flowers
in the front and the back.
They never mentioned them.
Why?
Nothing.
She's just really different now.
No.
She's not the same person.
Aw, look at you two.
Actually talking
like real people.
Water under the dam, huh?
Under the bridge?
It's both, right?
Under the bridge. Over the dam.
Can't be both.
Thank you, Liz.
I'm going to check on Grandma.
You guys are going to be okay.
Merry Christmas, huh?
[door closes]
[]
[beeping sound]
[grandpa]
Listen!
Look beneath the--the--
-the--the--
-Grandpa.
-[wheezes]
-[Sky, indistinct]
[gasps]
[panting]
My experience with Alzheimer's
is with my grandmother
Claire Song.
She was my best friend,
but now I don't recognize her.
I'm not afraid of dying.
It seems...
Doesn't make sense
to be afraid of something
that's inevitable.
But...
absolutely horrified,
terrified of getting sick,
losing my mind.
All of my memories.
I'm not afraid of death.
I'm afraid of growing old.
That's what Alzheimer's
has done to me.
[grunting]
I don't even know
what we're supposed
to be looking for?
How about we look for a shovel?
-Liz?
-Yeah?
Shut up.
I'm going to go see what
we can find in the garage.
[child laughing]
[crow cawing]
[child laughing]
What's he doing?
He's gonna get hit.
[crows cawing]
Hello?
You shouldn't be running
in the street.
It's not safe.
[in deep, croaky voice]
I told you.
[Liz gasps]
I told you,
don't run in the street
Now look what happened.
[]
[whispers]
Behind you.
[engine revving]
[Sky screams]
[Liz]
Sky?
[footsteps running]
Sky, what happened?
Sky!
[female dispatcher]
911 emergency response.
Are you hurt?
What's your emergency?
[Liz]
Sky, are you on the phone
with the police right now?
-[Sky] Sorry.
-[dispatcher] Miss?
[Sky]
This was a mistake call.
[Liz]
What is going on
with you?
[Sky]
Liz, I definitely
saw something.
I don't understand that.
There's gaps in my memory.
I don't remember
calling the police,
but I swear I saw something.
Saw what?
I don't know, but
something's not right.
I feel like I'm going crazy.
I gotta go.
Where are you going?
Raja Anand.
[level crossing signals]
I just-- I don't think
my grandma's caretaker
just quit.
Something had to have happened.
Something like what?
I'm not sure,
but it can't be a coincidence.
I mean, I'm around my Grandma
and suddenly I just have
memory gaps?
So it's about being around your
grandma?
Why aren't I
having memory problem?
Would you remember if you did?
[train horn]
For the record, let me just
say again, I don't think
this is a good idea.
Noted.
This is the address.
Come on.
Sky, I think we should go.
[Raj] Who is
Mr. Anand, this is Sky Song.
Can we talk for a little bit?
Are--are--are you
with pest control?
No, sir.
We just wanna ask you
about your work.
Seems pleasant.
W--wait. Where is it?
Where the hell--
where the hell was it?
Where'd that damn thing
go?
It--it was right here.
I-I swear to God.
[classical music]
Sit.
This guy went to Johns Hopkins?
Mr. Anand.
Raj.
Raj, um,
you work at Crescent Hospital.
You're a caretaker there,
correct?
Mhm. Mhm. Mhm. Mhm.
Mhm. Mhm. Mhm. Mhm.
Mhm. Mhm.
But you don't anymore.
[clears throat]
Anyone see my smokes?
I can't find them
anywhere!
[phone ringing]
Who is it?
Adrian.
Shouldn't you pick that up?
I can't deal with him right now.
Do you think we should go?
No, I'm not leaving
without at least getting
some answers.
Raj!
You nursed my Grandma,
Claire Song.
Do you remember her?
Sky.
Raj, what happened to you?
Why did you leave Claire?
You need to leave now.
Raj, I'm sorry, I didn't mean--
Get out!
[]
It's not a good time.
We need to talk.
Is that Grandma's file?
What are these?
Oh, I found those
in the garage.
Uh...
Thought that'd be interesting
to include in her file
since she drew.
What's the problem?
So you remember
how I used to
scatter ashes
with Grandpa during
some of my summers?
So one summer, this family comes
in and they bring their dead
mom.
Except she hasn't been
cremated yet.
Family said
it was too expensive.
So in comes this corpse.
So we cremate her.
Actually, her bag of ashes
is still in the garage
till this day.
And... uh...
It wasn't the best sight.
The lady found out
that her husband
was cheating on her.
So she decides the best way
to move on with her life
is to burn him alive.
So she does, and she gets part
of her face burnt off
before she suffocates
to death.
Um...
I was ten years old.
And...
that lady with half
of her face burnt off,
charred skin peeling.
It stayed with me
every single day.
[]
Adrian, I am so sorry.
That is horrible you
had to go through that.
I wanted to.
I insisted on it, actually.
I-- um...
felt that I owed my Gransmother.
So... Grandma drew her.
She's probably affected
by the corpse, same as you.
I mean, she's an artist.
That's how she expresses
herself.
No, Grandma never saw her.
No one saw her
but me and grandpa.
But what--what do you mean?
No one saw the burnt woman.
But someone knew all about her.
The only person I told
as a young kid.
The only person I trusted.
You, Sky.
I told you all about it.
Sky, you knew about this?
Sky, you mentioned something
about Grandma
seeing hallucinations?
Yeah, I mean, she talks to them,
and every time I try to snap
her out of it, she...
Wait, why are you asking?
Do you ever see anything?
You gotta be kidding me.
Adrian, are you saying
that Sky can be at risk
of A--
At risk?
Are you serious, Liz?
Sky, calm down.
You called the cops and then
you couldn't remember...
You called the police?
[Liz, indistinct]
It was Grandma, obviously.
Was it?
[Sky]
Who the hell else
would it be?
Adrian, this isn't me, okay?
Seems to only be you.
Yeah, well,
what about Raj Anand?
How do you know Raj?
We, uh, went to see him today.
Yeah, and he's mentally insane.
And that's what happen
when you live in this house.
Okay, so I picked
the wrong caretaker.
Okay, that's on me.
But I doubt it's because
Grandma's Alzheimer's
is contagious.
That's not what anyone's saying.
Sky, you're my cousin
and I'm concerned for you.
I think maybe
you should be seen.
Don't talk to me like
I'm other people, ever.
[sighs]
[door creaks]
[breathing heavily]
[exhales]
[door creaks]
[breathing heavily]
[]
[bed springs creaking]
[loud grunting]
[bed springs creaking
[panting]
[]
[panting]
[]
[music stops]
I think Grandpa saw them.
And Grandma sees them now.
[clock ticking]
And I think we're seeing them,
too.
We, like,
am I seeing them?
Sky, honey, what do you mean?
We're seeing them, but we
forget.
Like, our minds can't
hold on to their memory.
Just us?
So, like, this phenomenon
just lives in this family?
What about Liz?
No, it's not just us.
And I think we've all seen them
before.
Just more around Grandma and
Grandpa.
Why?
I don't know.
We all just started
experiencing this
this week.
No, we've always seen
them.
As long as there has been
something in the corner
of your eye, or...
creaking on the floorboards
or breathing down your neck.
[]
It's like
when you pass by a door
and you think, you--you
swear it, you swear
you saw someone,
and when you go back,
no one's there.
Or when you walk into a room
and...
you completely forget
why you were there
in the first place.
You swear you feel like
someone is standing
right behind you.
Adrian, listen.
What exactly is it
you think we're seeing?
[]
[Sky screams]
[Liz gasps]
Oh, my God.
[Adrian]
Jesus.
I-I think we just saw it.
Okay. What's going on?
We just saw a ghost.
I feel so strange.
Why do I feel so strange?
Maybe because
you're trying to kill me.
[Sky]
Oh, my God.
[thud]
-[Liz] Sky...
-What are you doing?
What the hell?
I didn't do this.
I didn't even grab the knife.
Why are you holding
a knife to me?
Adrian, you know
you felt something too.
-Sky--
-We saw one, Adrian.
Every time someone says
you look like
you'd seen a ghost,
we just saw one.
It's literally why
we're doing all these things.
Got it. I-I get it, okay?
I really do.
You do?
First we lost Grandpa.
I know how much he meant to you.
And Grandma has Alzheimer's.
We know
we're going to lose her too.
But this isn't the solution.
That's not what's happening.
It all makes sense.
Don't forget the dead.
First you abandoned your family
because you couldn't fix it.
[mumbling, indistinct]
...it's like every time you---
Grandpa died. You feel guilty.
-So you're overcompensating...
-You forget, and you lose
your memory.
...with Grandma
before she dies too.
And you're creating
this whole delusion.
-Why--why are you saying this?
-Because no one wants to be
reminded of death, Sky.
[Adrian] You don't realize it,
but it's the ultimate dread
behind everything we fear.
And when someone close to you
dies, you sit down
and you really think about it.
But it makes you realize
that there is no escape.
It's going to happen.
And it scares all of us.
But this isn't the solution
To--to believe that you can
come back is just wrong.
We studied cases of early onset
Alzheimer's, but even then,
the patients...
were in their thirties.
And I don't--
I don't know--
I don't know if that's
what's happening to Sky now.
[]
Liz, are you--
are you seeing these?
I don't think so.
Those weren't with
the ones in the garage.
What about this one?
Mm-hmm.
Where did these come from?
They weren't here before.
I mean, you--
There's no possible way
you don't know
what's going on right now.
I mean,
we're literally missing time.
Sky.
[]
Sky.
Sky!
I think it's really important
that we listen to
what Adrian has to say, okay?
If we catch this early
enough, then it's possible-
When people say you look like
you've just a ghost,
it's because we just did
downstairs.
Sky, I...
I-- um...
I just-- I don't know.
I don't know how to help you
anymore.
Well, it's not like
you've been
that big of a help anyway.
Liz, look at me!
[]
Who-who are you?
[panting]
[In Liz's voice] You are not
seeing the dead.
[In Liz's voice]
Sky, what is going on with you?
Are you okay?
[]
[Liz groans]
[Adrian]
So it was Liz,
but looked like someone else?
No, I-I don't know
if it was Liz.
Oh, it was me, love.
I have the bump
on the back of my head
to prove it.
And just for the record here,
you're still convinced
this is because you're seeing
ghosts.
And then we are forgetting.
You remember seeing Liz.
Hey, that was different.
This time the ghost...
was inside her.
Jesus.
Where'd you find these?
Right here.
Right next to my bed.
So you drew them?
I don't remember drawing them.
but yes, I drew the ghost,
like, to remind us
like a warning.
Just like downstairs.
Don't forget the dead.
Why are you being like this?
Hey, I have no problem admitting
that there are things
that happen
that we can't explain.
That is enough, Adrian.
-But right here, now,
-What are you talking about?
there's a very sick old lady
that is seeing things
that don't exist.
Stop talking to me like that.
Like what?
[Sky]
Like I'm a patient
that needs a doctor.
And her granddaughter
who shares her blood
is also seeing thing.
And you want me to jump
to the conclusion
that there are ghosts?
[]
Where's my cousin?
He's been right here.
[Sky scoffs]
Where have you been?
Wait a minute.
Can we test your theory?
[sighs]
Yes.
How do we do that?
I have an idea.
[clicks]
Nice TV.
All right, so w--where am I
pulling up?
Like when?
I don't know.
When did you feel odd?
[Sky]
There was outside, in the front.
Sky?
We play this
and we find nothing.
I'll drop it.
And you'll leave.
[sped-up playback noise]
I'm gonna go see
what we can find in the garage.
[static noise]
I don't--
I don't know what's going on.
Okay, when else?
So here is the nursing home
that my Grandma used to stay at
before she went back
to her house.
Adrian.
How many more times
do you have to see?
Adrian.
Okay, let's be pragmatic.
Logically speaking,
this can't be a coincidence.
Logically speaking, no...
but still, people see
what they want to see.
That's exactly my point.
Okay.
[]
If we're seeing things
but we're forgetting,
problem of how do we remember
what we're forgettin
It... it would mean that we have
pockets of time missing.
But we have to test your theory.
And how do you plan
on doing that?
Carefully.
We see anything remotely
strange, we call each other.
But if you look away from it,
you'll forget.
Then we don't look away.
We leave voicemails,
detailed voicemails
of everything that we've seen.
But how are we supposed to leave
voicemails if you don't
know we'll have enough time?
I'm open to other ideas.
-How are we...
-[phone dings]
[Liz over phone]
Oh my God! Oh my God!
[Adrian over phone]
Shh! Quiet.
[Sky on phone]
She's right outside.
[Liz on phone, indistinct]
[Adrian on phone]
Sky, when we hang up
the call, touch my shoulder.
[Adrian on phone]
Just do it...
[unintelligible,
struggled speech]
[female voice]
I'm sorry, I can't speak now...
[sinister laughs]
[sinister laugh continues]
I... I don't understand.
[mumbles]
-Adrian...
-Hang on.
Just give me a second.
-Adrian, come on--
-Hang on, please!
This has this, like,
post hypnotic suggestion
that what we see, when we see
them, they can make us
do things.
But if the ghosts
are all about control,
why would they want that?
Maybe it's just that.
To control us.
To make us do things,
to remind us.
Remind us of what?
Nobody wants to be forgotten
even after they're dead.
[]
[faint sobbing]
[scraping sounds with chain]
[Sky breathing heavily]
[Adrian]
Turn the lights off. Quickly.
Quickly.
Guys, we have to get out
of here now!
Where... where is?
[whooshes]
Wait, wait,
what's happening?
What's happening?
We were leaving, but...
Why I can't remember?
Goddamnit!
Sjy, were you drawing?
Adrian, this is going to
keep happening.
We're going to keep forgetting
Uh, I think, guys,
we have to
keep repeating it.
Repeating what?
There is a ghost.
I'm seeing a ghost.
Don't forget
we are seeing ghosts.
Guys, to the door.
We have to leave right now.
Don't forget the dead.
Don't forget the dead.
Let's go, [indistinct]
What are you guys talking about?
There are three ghosts.
Three of them.
There's the pilgrim ghost.
[voice singing
song of the pilgrims]
[singing continues]
[pilgrim ghost]
If I would confess,
I would save my life!
[door slams]
Come on...
Save me.
I am wholly innocent.
God knows I am innocent.
I can deny all accusations
of wicked
Please, please save me.
It's Louise Holloway.
Don't forget me!
Adrian!
Your name is Louise Holloway.
You were wrongfully accused
of [stuttering] witchcraft
and you were wrongfully
murdered.
The city is named after you.
You were not forgotten.
[Liz grasping for air]
[Liz sobs]
[screaming]
[sobbing, laughing]
You two go.
I gotta go get grandma.
Are you serious?
Adrian, she's in danger.
I can't leave here up there.
Come on! We have to go!
Just go-- just go to the car,
I'll be right there.
[Liz sobbing]
[teeth ticking sounds]
Leave me alone!
[engine sputtering]
[breathing heavily]
[sighs]
[]
Sky!
We came after
What the hell happened?
I don't know.
You said
you were getting Grandma.
We--we can't get out.
We're trapped.
We're not trapped, Sky.
You never left.
I was just driving.
You know what?
I'll prove it to you.
Stay here.
[waves crashing]
[Adrian]
What happened?
What-- [stuttering]
what happened?
Nothing happened.
I-I-I-I was running
in the middle of the street.
You never moved.
Look, we need to stay together,
you guys, okay?
It's not a good idea
for us to split up.
We should--
Adrian!
Sky!
Sky! Sky! Sky, please.
I can't-- I can't be--
I can't be alone.
I can't be alone.
I can't--I can't be alone.
[breathing heavily]
[]
[doorknob rattles]
[]
Grandma?
Hi.
Grandma, we have to get out
of here. We have to leave.
It's not safe.
We have to find a way out.
I've tried, sweetheart.
I've tried for so long,
but there is no way out.
I'm so sorry.
I'm so sorry I left you.
Sky, you can't blame yourself.
It was difficult.
Of course it was.
And I never wanted to,
not even for a minute.
But when you got sick
and all of a sudden,
you stopped remembering and--
Wait, Grandma,
what is happening here?
How are you remembering this?
I don't have to run anymore.
No, no, no, no, no!
No! No!
[Sky sobs]
[crickets chirping
in distance]
[chains clinking]
[Louis]
I have not been impure.
I did not make
contracts with Satan...
[indistinct]
I-I [stuttering] I know. I know.
I'm just a woman
with mind and soul.
I am a woman of mind and soul.
[Liz sobbing]
[Liz screams]
[grunts]
[screams]
You need to go now.
But you're gone.
And I'm gonna forget.
Finally, I'm with you
after all these years.
And then,
right when I turn my back,
I'm just gonna forget
everything.
Take Adrian.
Take your friend and go.
After all these years,
you're still thinking about us.
I have a duty of care.
Look beneath the flowers.
Beneath the flowers.
I need you to go now.
I can't--I can't leave.
Close your eyes.
Sometimes you have to close
your eyes to really see.
Go now.
I don't wanna go,
I just got you back.
You don't have me, sweetheart.
Go.
Don't forget the dead,
Sky.
Don't forget the dead.
[teeth ticking sound]
[]
They can't catch you now.
You're safe, child.
Be at peace.
Don't forget the dead.
Don't forget the dead.
[]
[muffled screams]
[]
[]
It's hard.
I don't know where to start,
or where to end, I guess.
Claire Song passed away
nearly a month ago.
While we got some insight into
how she lived and suffered,
the effects on her family
are perhaps...
ongoing.
It's possible that they
never really go away.
We all left the house
feeling unsettled.
Some days we felt depressed
or scared.
It's hard to remember it all.
Not sure why.
All in all, we left
with a lot more questions
than answers.
If there is an effect,
one we can't fully describe,
that we've all somehow...
changed
We still don't know
everything about Alzheimer's.
Causes, prevention.
Still a lot to learn.
But what I do know is that...
when we forget the dead,
we lose a part of ourselves.
So...
If I can leave you
with one thing...
Don't forget the dead.
[]
[kid shouting]
Sky.
[]
[]
[footsteps]
[woman breathing]
[woman]
Don't look away.
Don't turn your back.
Don't close your eyes,
not even for a second.
Blink and you'll miss it.
Don't forget.
No matter what happens,
don't forget us.
[]
[waves crashing]
[seagulls calling]
Where am I?
[]
[whooshes]
[]
[people laughing]
[whooshes]
[]
[vocalizing]
[vocalizing continues]
[gasps]
[thuds]
[]
[woman panting]
What happened?
Is there something there?
No, I don't think so.
Then why are you panting?
Yeah, you were running.
No, I-- I wanted
to tell you something.
Now what did I want to tell you?
Calm down. It's not a big deal.
You'll remember later, just--
[]
[machines beeping]
[woman] Sky?
My grandpa
used to always say
that stories are where memories
go to be forgotten.
Geez, I'm acting like
he's already dead.
[woman]
Sky, this can wait.
-I don't want
to be insensitive.
-You're not.
I promised we'd do this.
Let's go.
Hello.
My name is Liz Oswald,
nursing student
at New York University.
Um, for my thesis,
I am doing a real life
analysis
of the experiences
of an Alzheimer's patient.
This film is just as much
an exploration
into the effects the disease
has on the patient's families.
Introduce yourself and then
tell the story of your family.
Okay. Um...
I'm Sky Song.
I'm 21 years old.
Art student
at New York University.
[Liz]
Tell us a bit
about your family.
How long has your
grandmother had Alzheimer's?
No siblings.
I grew up
in Holloway, California.
But I live in New York now.
[Liz]
Is your grandmother aware
that your grandfather is ill
in the hospital currently?
Well, my parents
live abroad and--
[Liz]
Sky, talk about
your grandmother, please.
[alarm beeping]
[machines beeping rapidly]
Someone get a doctor!
[Liz]
I got it.
[nurse]
Fluctuations are normal,
given his state.
Is he in any pain?
He's heavily sedated,
and he's going to be out
all through the night.
If anything should happen,
we'll be alerted.
[]
[Sky]
How do you turn
this damn thing off?
What the...
-Don't leave her alone!
-Grandpa.
Claire!
Claire! She needs you.
She sees the dead,
but she forgets.
Don't forget the dead.
Okay, let's just calm down.
-Let's get a doctor.
-You-- no, you'll--
You'll see them, too,
but you'll forget.
-What do you mean?
-Listen!
Look beneath
the flower po--
-[mutters, indistinct]
-Grandpa.
Grandpa, are you okay?
Grandpa!
[priest]
The Lord is my shepherd,
I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down
in green pastures.
He leadeth me beside
the still waters.
He restoreth...
[Liz]
The passing of Walter Song
was very difficult on Sky.
But she's glad we were able
to make it from New York
in time to see him.
I will fear no evil...
[Liz]
Our subject, Claire Song,
isn't present
at the funeral.
[priest]
Thou preparest a table...
[Liz]
No one from the family
has told her
of her husband's death.
[priest]
...my head with oil;
my cup...
[Liz]
With her condition...
[priest]
Surely goodness and mercy
shall follow me...
[Liz]
...it's not yet clear
whether she'd be able to
comprehend the situation.
[priest]
Ye everlasting doors,
and the King of glory
shall come in.
Who is this King of glory?
The Lord of Hosts.
He is the King of glory.
[]
[elevator door opens]
[]
[water running]
[Liz]
This is a family photo album
I got at the funeral.
Brought it back to the hotel.
Sky, her grandfather, Walter
and her grandmother,
Claire.
Looks like they did everything
together.
That's Adrian, Sky's cousin
and grandson to Claire.
He's a neuro... neurologist.
[laughing]
Oh, my God!
That hair!
[lauging]
[Sky]
What are you doing?
[Liz]
What?
Uh, nothing.
Re--research.
I was originally planning
on just interviewing Sky
and her parents,
but nothing would be better
than to experience
an Alzheimer's patient
firsthand.
I-I do have mixed feelings
about this.
I'm going to need
to be sensitive,
which... [sighs]
...I'm realizing now
is going to be near impossible.
-[doorbell rings]
-[chuckles] So.
Some of grandpa's stuff.
Figured your parents
want to see it.
Glad you're still here.
And what does that mean?
Uh, I'm driving up to Grandma's
tonight, so have a safe flight.
I'm actually not flying back.
I'm going to go
to Grandma's, too.
-Seriously?
-Uh-huh.
Why?
Sky, you're a smart girl--
Okay, anything else you say
will be offensive.
She needs a professional
with her.
We are literally going
to visit her
-at the nursing home.
-She's not at the nursing home.
She went back
to her house.
Yeah, you're not here.
You wouldn't know.
What? So she's alone?
She had a caretaker
stay with her.
He quit yesterday.
I'm going to find somebody else.
Why did the caretaker quit?
Again, you're not here.
Fine, I will stay with her,
and we will go find
someone else--
While I find someone else,
as her doctor, I--
And who are you
to be making these decisions?
Who do I have to be?
What is going on here exactly?
I don't know.
You tell me, Doctor.
Why do you care so much
that I go or not?
Are you doing this
just to spite me?
Okay, well...
just remember that
the Claire that you recall
is not the same person anymore.
-I know.
-No, you know you don't.
You may as well
be visiting a stranger.
[Liz]
Sky, can we go eat?
[grunts]
Uh...
Oh, yikes.
I don't know
if I touched it or not.
So I'm really trying to make
a difference with this project.
At any time...
six-- over six million
Americans
are afflicted
with Alzheimer's disease.
[Sky]
Right.
There's not enough focus on...
the patients...
[indistinct]
Liz, you haven't even asked
one single question.
-Can you please just--
-Alzheimer's affects women
more than it affects men
I mean,
what if I was able
to break new ground
in this field? I mean,
can you imagine how inspiring
that would be for young girls
around the world?
Speak even plainer.
[]
I think
there's an opportunity for us
to explore your grandmother's
situation firsthand,
if you let me film her.
-I am here to support you
100 percent.
-So much for speaking plainly.
Or I could just leave
a camera rolling,
and I would keep-- we would
keep our distance. I promise.
-Liz, the last thing you've
ever done in your life
-I promise.
is keep your distance.
Distance is relative.
[drumsticks tapping]
[upbeat Christmas music
playing]
[Liz] Sky wears yoga pants
because she thinks
it burns calories.
[Liz chuckles]
So, um...
Could you tell me
what you and Adrian
were so calmly discussing?
Well...
my parents traveled for work.
His parents got divorced.
His dad ended up moving
to Spain after the divorce,
so, the only person
that was there was my Grandma.
She basically raised us
as siblings.
But...
things change.
Yea.
Things do that.
What was he saying
about your Grandma earlier?
She shouldn't be alone.
Aw, Sky, that's incredible.
Who is it?
She shouldn't be alone.
So irresponsible.
[Christmas music]
It says I'm "The Scream"
By the way, Liz,
you only get
one bathroom break.
[engine starts]
-[Christmas music playing over
radio]
[Liz]
All right, for the viewers,
We are on our way
to Holloway, California.
Sky made me sign a contract
saying that
I would not get too close
to her grandmother.
-So...
-Okay, I made you promise
that you'd be sensitive
to her condition.
[crickets chirping]
We're about an hour and a half
away from my Grandma's.
Liz is...
gracefully asleep.
So here is the nursing home
that my Grandma used to stay at
before she went back
to her house.
[]
Liz, wake up.
Liz!
-[objects clashing]
-[Liz] What! What
what happened?
[Sky breathing heavily]
Nothing. Nothing.
So why did you just...
[mumbles, indistinct]
Did I scream?
Yes.
[Liz]
We are now entering the
town of Holloway, California,
named after Louise Holloway,
one of the few West Coast
women accused of witchcraft.
That's right.
It wasn't just in Salem.
Early 1700s,
Louise Holloway was tried
and killed.
Can we guess why, Sky?
Hm?
Math.
She was a brilliant
mathematician.
You know, Euler's formula?
He stole it from her.
So they called her a witch,
chained a rock around her waist
and tossed her in a lake.
Oh, yeah.
That's the story they told us
when we were younger
about a witch who drowned
in the lake behind
my grandmother's house.
Me and Adrian
used to dare each other
to go swimming there at night
and look for her body.
Crazy stuff, folks.
It's up here.
And the adventure begins.
[sighs]
[]
Shall we?
[Liz]
No key.
She kept losing them.
I'm going to go find a place
to plug in my camera.
Grandma?
Grandma?
Looks like your Grandma's
caretaker left her file.
Medications, injections,
MRI scans.
I'll handle this stuff.
You handle dinner.
Don't you think we should
wait for my Grandma to eat?
Your Grandma could be
asleep until tomorrow.
I'm not not eating
until tomorrow.
Looks like your Grandma was
getting pretty violent.
That's why she was kicked
out of the facility.
Doesn't say anything about
why her caretaker left, though.
Raj Anand.
This guy went to Johns Hopkins.
3.9 GPA, Jesus.
Look at his skin.
Wonder what kind of moisturizer
he uses.
Sky, do you need help with that?
No, I got it.
Come on, let me help you.
I got it.
Sky, you're gonna burst
a blood vessel--
I said I got it!
Are you making dinner or
cleaning up the kitchen?
Can't rely on you for anything.
Liz, are you serious?
[muffled screams]
Stay here.
-What did I just say?
-I'll just stay behind--
She doesn't know you.
She won't know you either.
Liz, please.
Just stay here.
I'm not a dog.
Here, take the camera.
So rude.
Grandma?
[]
[]
Get out of my house.
Get out.
Grandma?
You're not supposed to be here.
You'll lose yourself.
Get out.
No!
[gasps]
Oh, my God.
[water running]
Jesus.
What's your Wifi password here?
What? You can't last one night
without your stalking?
I have to decompress at night.
Okay?
I do that by scrolling through
social media and hating people.
Sounds super healthy.
The hate keeps me warm.
Liz, don't be shallow.
You can't pull it off.
Just go to sleep.
Liz, where's my tea?
You weren't drinking tea.
[]
[door lock clicks]
[]
Ugh.
Liz said that this film
is as much about me
as it is about Claire.
Um... Well...
I paint every day.
Sometimes when I'm trying
to draw from memory,
I just close my eyes,
recreate the surroundings,
and then I remember.
[Claire]
I don't want to!
I don't want to!
I won't!
No, you can't.
You burn in hell!
Grandma?
Who are you talking to?
Talking?
Nobody.
Where's Walter?
Not here right now.
Are you hungry?
We can go inside.
I can make you
some french toast.
You love that.
Where did you come from?
Grandma, it's me.
It's Sky.
Grandma, it's me.
It's Sky.
Come on, let's go inside
and make some french toast.
Why do we talk out loud
when we're alone?
Because we know we're not.
Chase the dead
and you'll lose yourself.
Chase the dead
and you'll lose yourself.
[woman]
Uh-huh, I'll have him
send it over. Yes.
Hi.
I'm looking for
Dr. Song?
He is--
Are you a patient of his?
Um...
-I'm a relative.
-Oh.
-Let me ping him for you.
-Thank you.
What are you doing?
I really have to pee.
Why don't you go pee?
Can you hold this stuff
really quickly?
No, go put it down.
[sighs]
-[doctor] Hey.
-[nurse] Hey.
[doctor]
What's the status on 280?
[nurse]
We, uh, just lost her
a half hour ago.
[doctor]
Jesus, what happened?
[nurse]
I guess
she was a YouTube vlogger.
She tried to cut out
her own larynx.
[doctor]
That's the third bullying one
this month.
Look...
[sighs]
[camera clicks]
[woman, indistinct]
Adrian.
-Hey.
-[Sky] Hey.
Um, this is my friend.
I remember her.
[Liz]
Oh. [chuckles] Uh...
I've been Liz Oswald,
nursing student at NYU.
Nice to meet you.
Oh, I'm sorry
about your grandpa.
So what's going on?
Uh, can we go talk somewhere?
Yeah.
[]
[Sky]
We found these MRI scans
in the file
left from the last nurse.
I figured you could read them?
PET.
Do what?
Positron emission tomography.
Uses a chemical tracer.
Wow, you're really smart.
The hippocampus is diminished.
Smaller than it should be.
Leads to cognitive impairment.
So, textbook Alzheimer's.
[sighs]
So, what type of symptoms can
a person normally expect to see?
No, there's--
there's no expecting, okay?
It could be anything.
Aphasia, for example,
understanding language, uh,
speaking, reading, writing.
Agnosia,
deteriorating perception,
bumping into things,
not recognizing people.
Adrian...
Apraxia,
basic motor skills,
walking, standing,
sitting down, getting dressed.
[Adrian] Catastrophic reactions
to minor-
[Sky] Okay! We get it!
This isn't a goddamn flu.
You can't expect reactions.
You can't expect anything.
And you guys can't help.
She needs professional
treatment.
What about, um, hallucinations?
Paranoia, maybe,
that, you know,
someone's out to get you.
Or delusions,
like your spouse
is in love with someone else.
I'm not saying hallucinations
are impossible.
They're just very rare.
Well, she's definitely seeing
something.
And every time I try to snap her
out of it, she ends up
forgetting.
As if she's completely forgot
whoever or whatever
she was talking to.
Yeah.
I'm sorry.
Was that your
complete medical diagnosis?
-Yeah?
-[Adrian] Look,
this isn't a surprise
to anybody.
There was a mental digression.
We all saw it happen.
And Claire wasn't exactly
helping prevent
-any of this from happening--
-You can't prevent it!
There's no cure for Alzheimer's.
Right.
But, unlike Claire, you can
do certain things
-to try to inhibit--
-Don't!
[Liz]
No, no, no, wait.
Inhibit it how?
Look, there's--there's something
called amyloid beta plaques.
They're like toxins
that build up in the brain.
That buildup
is what causes Alzheimer's.
Okay, so what do you do?
You flush out the toxins,
right? You exercise.
That makes blood run through,
flushing out the toxins.
You get good sleep,
that regulates the blood flow,
flushing out the toxins.
You read
or learn something new,
makes the brain more elastic,
flushes out toxins.
Okay? That's science.
That's how it works.
Claire never did
any of these things.
She never cracked a book
Grandma read every night.
Yeah, the Bible.
Book she'd memorized.
You want to give your brain
exercise,
you have to give it
new information.
You don't always have a choice
to what happens to you.
Right. But Claire had a choice.
And she chose to depend on
grandpa for every single thing.
Don't.
Preventable or not,
you still take care of family.
I'm her freaking doctor.
You keep telling yourself that.
I may have left Adrian.
But you're a goddamn coward.
Sky.
How do you figure?
There are more ways than one
for you to abandon a person.
In your case,
you hide behind the whole
doctor thing so you don't
get emotionally involved
She should mean a lot more
than a patient to you.
Can I say something?
I have no idea
why you're here.
People make mistakes.
Sorry.
Hey! Hey, wait up.
What's wrong with you?
Are you okay?
I'm fine.
You don't seem fine.
Liz. I'm fine.
What? What are you doing?
I'm trying to get
a shot of you leaving--
Why do you have that out?
I need this--
-[metal clanks]
-[crying sound]
[crying sound]
Hey.
[crying sound intensifies]
[Liz]
Are you okay?
Can we get some help
over here?
Anyone?
Hey, hey,
are--are you with someone?
Are--are you--
[gasps]
[]
[Liz screams]
[thuds]
[]
[Liz]
Jesus! Here it is!
I must have dropped it.
Can you believe that?
[Sky]
Whatever,
let's get out of here.
[muffled TV sound]
I swear...
a circular food served
in a square box
cut into triangles.
It just absolutely brilliant.
You know your shapes.
I'll give you that much.
[muffled TV sound]
Did you hear that?
She's just watching TV upstairs.
Sky. Relax, okay?
It's just the TV.
-It's not the TV.
-No? Why not?
Because there's no TV
upstairs.
[ticking sound]
[sinister noise]
We should call the police.
[sinister yell]
[]
[Liz]
Sky...
No, what was that?
Sky. What are you doing?
Grandma, what is going on?
Hey!
-[screams]
-[gasps]
Get out of my house!
I'll call the police!
Leave!
You okay?
Of course I'm okay.
Do you think it's still
safe for us to be here?
I'm a lot less concerned
for our safety
and more concerned
on who we heard upstairs.
Maybe it's just the neighbors.
It's not the neighbors.
[]
[soft sinister voice]
[sighs]
[crickets chirping
in distance]
[]
[]
We say hello.
Yeah I'm just surprised
to see you.
Is there a problem?
No I'm--I'm just off today
and...
there is this festival going on,
Totally your speed--
We're in.
We need to get out
of this house.
Someone's got a case
of the Mondays.
It's Thursday, you idiot.
So you guys down ?
["Now I think I know"
by Daniel Siletzky playing]
Oh, uh... Hey.
Excuse me.
We're doing a film
on Alzheimer's.
Would you mind if I ask
you a couple of questions?
Do you happen to know
anyone who has Alzheimer's?
Um, my experience
with Alzheimer's
is a little removed.
But my great grandpa has it.
How did it affect you,
knowing that?
But it does worry me
a little bit.
Why is that?
Just in case it's genetic.
[Adrian]
I think you mean hereditary.
-Genetic is a little bit
different.
-Adrian!
So my experience
with Alzheimer's are
with my grandfather.
He eventually stops
recognizing all of us.
My experience with Alzheimer's
is that it's really dreadful.
One's personality,
one's character
are formulated
by one's memories.
If they lose their memories,
they lose themselves.
So, do either one of you have
an experience with Alzheimer's?
Yeah, it's the skin disease,
right?
No, man,
it's not the skin disease.
-Yeah.
-No.
Alzheimer's is
when your brain goes off.
You can't think
anymore.
Kim Kardashian has it.
Kim K has it.
Why does she--
How does she have it?
On her legs and stuff.
[]
[Adrian]
Can I get a vanilla, too?
[background chatter]
[]
Before cars existed,
countries used to use ships
to trade with each other.
And sometimes they would, like,
you know, get stuck in the ice,
so they'd have to
get in little boats,
sail out and...
break the ice.
And on that note.
Adrian, what was sky like
as a kid?
Honestly? Not much different
than she is now.
So she wasn't like
a crazy trouble maker
or anything like that?
That's exactly how she
was.
I'm sorry, was I the one
with a permanent seat
in the principal's office?
Really?
It was a few years
of acting out.
Grandma was on a first
name basis
with the superintendent
for bailing him out.
[Liz laughing]
[door creaks]
Grandma.
Come sit.
Grandma, are you hungry?
You haven't eaten
since yesterday.
Yesterday?
Yesterday.
What happened yesterday?
Do you remember something
that happened?
Yesterday...
On the stair...
I met a man who wasn't there.
He wasn't there again today.
I wish...
I wish he'd go away.
Grandma...
Hey, so...
Did Grandma or Grandpa
ever say anything to you
about flowers by chance?
I mean there's flowers
in the front and the back.
They never mentioned them.
Why?
Nothing.
She's just really different now.
No.
She's not the same person.
Aw, look at you two.
Actually talking
like real people.
Water under the dam, huh?
Under the bridge?
It's both, right?
Under the bridge. Over the dam.
Can't be both.
Thank you, Liz.
I'm going to check on Grandma.
You guys are going to be okay.
Merry Christmas, huh?
[door closes]
[]
[beeping sound]
[grandpa]
Listen!
Look beneath the--the--
-the--the--
-Grandpa.
-[wheezes]
-[Sky, indistinct]
[gasps]
[panting]
My experience with Alzheimer's
is with my grandmother
Claire Song.
She was my best friend,
but now I don't recognize her.
I'm not afraid of dying.
It seems...
Doesn't make sense
to be afraid of something
that's inevitable.
But...
absolutely horrified,
terrified of getting sick,
losing my mind.
All of my memories.
I'm not afraid of death.
I'm afraid of growing old.
That's what Alzheimer's
has done to me.
[grunting]
I don't even know
what we're supposed
to be looking for?
How about we look for a shovel?
-Liz?
-Yeah?
Shut up.
I'm going to go see what
we can find in the garage.
[child laughing]
[crow cawing]
[child laughing]
What's he doing?
He's gonna get hit.
[crows cawing]
Hello?
You shouldn't be running
in the street.
It's not safe.
[in deep, croaky voice]
I told you.
[Liz gasps]
I told you,
don't run in the street
Now look what happened.
[]
[whispers]
Behind you.
[engine revving]
[Sky screams]
[Liz]
Sky?
[footsteps running]
Sky, what happened?
Sky!
[female dispatcher]
911 emergency response.
Are you hurt?
What's your emergency?
[Liz]
Sky, are you on the phone
with the police right now?
-[Sky] Sorry.
-[dispatcher] Miss?
[Sky]
This was a mistake call.
[Liz]
What is going on
with you?
[Sky]
Liz, I definitely
saw something.
I don't understand that.
There's gaps in my memory.
I don't remember
calling the police,
but I swear I saw something.
Saw what?
I don't know, but
something's not right.
I feel like I'm going crazy.
I gotta go.
Where are you going?
Raja Anand.
[level crossing signals]
I just-- I don't think
my grandma's caretaker
just quit.
Something had to have happened.
Something like what?
I'm not sure,
but it can't be a coincidence.
I mean, I'm around my Grandma
and suddenly I just have
memory gaps?
So it's about being around your
grandma?
Why aren't I
having memory problem?
Would you remember if you did?
[train horn]
For the record, let me just
say again, I don't think
this is a good idea.
Noted.
This is the address.
Come on.
Sky, I think we should go.
[Raj] Who is
Mr. Anand, this is Sky Song.
Can we talk for a little bit?
Are--are--are you
with pest control?
No, sir.
We just wanna ask you
about your work.
Seems pleasant.
W--wait. Where is it?
Where the hell--
where the hell was it?
Where'd that damn thing
go?
It--it was right here.
I-I swear to God.
[classical music]
Sit.
This guy went to Johns Hopkins?
Mr. Anand.
Raj.
Raj, um,
you work at Crescent Hospital.
You're a caretaker there,
correct?
Mhm. Mhm. Mhm. Mhm.
Mhm. Mhm. Mhm. Mhm.
Mhm. Mhm.
But you don't anymore.
[clears throat]
Anyone see my smokes?
I can't find them
anywhere!
[phone ringing]
Who is it?
Adrian.
Shouldn't you pick that up?
I can't deal with him right now.
Do you think we should go?
No, I'm not leaving
without at least getting
some answers.
Raj!
You nursed my Grandma,
Claire Song.
Do you remember her?
Sky.
Raj, what happened to you?
Why did you leave Claire?
You need to leave now.
Raj, I'm sorry, I didn't mean--
Get out!
[]
It's not a good time.
We need to talk.
Is that Grandma's file?
What are these?
Oh, I found those
in the garage.
Uh...
Thought that'd be interesting
to include in her file
since she drew.
What's the problem?
So you remember
how I used to
scatter ashes
with Grandpa during
some of my summers?
So one summer, this family comes
in and they bring their dead
mom.
Except she hasn't been
cremated yet.
Family said
it was too expensive.
So in comes this corpse.
So we cremate her.
Actually, her bag of ashes
is still in the garage
till this day.
And... uh...
It wasn't the best sight.
The lady found out
that her husband
was cheating on her.
So she decides the best way
to move on with her life
is to burn him alive.
So she does, and she gets part
of her face burnt off
before she suffocates
to death.
Um...
I was ten years old.
And...
that lady with half
of her face burnt off,
charred skin peeling.
It stayed with me
every single day.
[]
Adrian, I am so sorry.
That is horrible you
had to go through that.
I wanted to.
I insisted on it, actually.
I-- um...
felt that I owed my Gransmother.
So... Grandma drew her.
She's probably affected
by the corpse, same as you.
I mean, she's an artist.
That's how she expresses
herself.
No, Grandma never saw her.
No one saw her
but me and grandpa.
But what--what do you mean?
No one saw the burnt woman.
But someone knew all about her.
The only person I told
as a young kid.
The only person I trusted.
You, Sky.
I told you all about it.
Sky, you knew about this?
Sky, you mentioned something
about Grandma
seeing hallucinations?
Yeah, I mean, she talks to them,
and every time I try to snap
her out of it, she...
Wait, why are you asking?
Do you ever see anything?
You gotta be kidding me.
Adrian, are you saying
that Sky can be at risk
of A--
At risk?
Are you serious, Liz?
Sky, calm down.
You called the cops and then
you couldn't remember...
You called the police?
[Liz, indistinct]
It was Grandma, obviously.
Was it?
[Sky]
Who the hell else
would it be?
Adrian, this isn't me, okay?
Seems to only be you.
Yeah, well,
what about Raj Anand?
How do you know Raj?
We, uh, went to see him today.
Yeah, and he's mentally insane.
And that's what happen
when you live in this house.
Okay, so I picked
the wrong caretaker.
Okay, that's on me.
But I doubt it's because
Grandma's Alzheimer's
is contagious.
That's not what anyone's saying.
Sky, you're my cousin
and I'm concerned for you.
I think maybe
you should be seen.
Don't talk to me like
I'm other people, ever.
[sighs]
[door creaks]
[breathing heavily]
[exhales]
[door creaks]
[breathing heavily]
[]
[bed springs creaking]
[loud grunting]
[bed springs creaking
[panting]
[]
[panting]
[]
[music stops]
I think Grandpa saw them.
And Grandma sees them now.
[clock ticking]
And I think we're seeing them,
too.
We, like,
am I seeing them?
Sky, honey, what do you mean?
We're seeing them, but we
forget.
Like, our minds can't
hold on to their memory.
Just us?
So, like, this phenomenon
just lives in this family?
What about Liz?
No, it's not just us.
And I think we've all seen them
before.
Just more around Grandma and
Grandpa.
Why?
I don't know.
We all just started
experiencing this
this week.
No, we've always seen
them.
As long as there has been
something in the corner
of your eye, or...
creaking on the floorboards
or breathing down your neck.
[]
It's like
when you pass by a door
and you think, you--you
swear it, you swear
you saw someone,
and when you go back,
no one's there.
Or when you walk into a room
and...
you completely forget
why you were there
in the first place.
You swear you feel like
someone is standing
right behind you.
Adrian, listen.
What exactly is it
you think we're seeing?
[]
[Sky screams]
[Liz gasps]
Oh, my God.
[Adrian]
Jesus.
I-I think we just saw it.
Okay. What's going on?
We just saw a ghost.
I feel so strange.
Why do I feel so strange?
Maybe because
you're trying to kill me.
[Sky]
Oh, my God.
[thud]
-[Liz] Sky...
-What are you doing?
What the hell?
I didn't do this.
I didn't even grab the knife.
Why are you holding
a knife to me?
Adrian, you know
you felt something too.
-Sky--
-We saw one, Adrian.
Every time someone says
you look like
you'd seen a ghost,
we just saw one.
It's literally why
we're doing all these things.
Got it. I-I get it, okay?
I really do.
You do?
First we lost Grandpa.
I know how much he meant to you.
And Grandma has Alzheimer's.
We know
we're going to lose her too.
But this isn't the solution.
That's not what's happening.
It all makes sense.
Don't forget the dead.
First you abandoned your family
because you couldn't fix it.
[mumbling, indistinct]
...it's like every time you---
Grandpa died. You feel guilty.
-So you're overcompensating...
-You forget, and you lose
your memory.
...with Grandma
before she dies too.
And you're creating
this whole delusion.
-Why--why are you saying this?
-Because no one wants to be
reminded of death, Sky.
[Adrian] You don't realize it,
but it's the ultimate dread
behind everything we fear.
And when someone close to you
dies, you sit down
and you really think about it.
But it makes you realize
that there is no escape.
It's going to happen.
And it scares all of us.
But this isn't the solution
To--to believe that you can
come back is just wrong.
We studied cases of early onset
Alzheimer's, but even then,
the patients...
were in their thirties.
And I don't--
I don't know--
I don't know if that's
what's happening to Sky now.
[]
Liz, are you--
are you seeing these?
I don't think so.
Those weren't with
the ones in the garage.
What about this one?
Mm-hmm.
Where did these come from?
They weren't here before.
I mean, you--
There's no possible way
you don't know
what's going on right now.
I mean,
we're literally missing time.
Sky.
[]
Sky.
Sky!
I think it's really important
that we listen to
what Adrian has to say, okay?
If we catch this early
enough, then it's possible-
When people say you look like
you've just a ghost,
it's because we just did
downstairs.
Sky, I...
I-- um...
I just-- I don't know.
I don't know how to help you
anymore.
Well, it's not like
you've been
that big of a help anyway.
Liz, look at me!
[]
Who-who are you?
[panting]
[In Liz's voice] You are not
seeing the dead.
[In Liz's voice]
Sky, what is going on with you?
Are you okay?
[]
[Liz groans]
[Adrian]
So it was Liz,
but looked like someone else?
No, I-I don't know
if it was Liz.
Oh, it was me, love.
I have the bump
on the back of my head
to prove it.
And just for the record here,
you're still convinced
this is because you're seeing
ghosts.
And then we are forgetting.
You remember seeing Liz.
Hey, that was different.
This time the ghost...
was inside her.
Jesus.
Where'd you find these?
Right here.
Right next to my bed.
So you drew them?
I don't remember drawing them.
but yes, I drew the ghost,
like, to remind us
like a warning.
Just like downstairs.
Don't forget the dead.
Why are you being like this?
Hey, I have no problem admitting
that there are things
that happen
that we can't explain.
That is enough, Adrian.
-But right here, now,
-What are you talking about?
there's a very sick old lady
that is seeing things
that don't exist.
Stop talking to me like that.
Like what?
[Sky]
Like I'm a patient
that needs a doctor.
And her granddaughter
who shares her blood
is also seeing thing.
And you want me to jump
to the conclusion
that there are ghosts?
[]
Where's my cousin?
He's been right here.
[Sky scoffs]
Where have you been?
Wait a minute.
Can we test your theory?
[sighs]
Yes.
How do we do that?
I have an idea.
[clicks]
Nice TV.
All right, so w--where am I
pulling up?
Like when?
I don't know.
When did you feel odd?
[Sky]
There was outside, in the front.
Sky?
We play this
and we find nothing.
I'll drop it.
And you'll leave.
[sped-up playback noise]
I'm gonna go see
what we can find in the garage.
[static noise]
I don't--
I don't know what's going on.
Okay, when else?
So here is the nursing home
that my Grandma used to stay at
before she went back
to her house.
Adrian.
How many more times
do you have to see?
Adrian.
Okay, let's be pragmatic.
Logically speaking,
this can't be a coincidence.
Logically speaking, no...
but still, people see
what they want to see.
That's exactly my point.
Okay.
[]
If we're seeing things
but we're forgetting,
problem of how do we remember
what we're forgettin
It... it would mean that we have
pockets of time missing.
But we have to test your theory.
And how do you plan
on doing that?
Carefully.
We see anything remotely
strange, we call each other.
But if you look away from it,
you'll forget.
Then we don't look away.
We leave voicemails,
detailed voicemails
of everything that we've seen.
But how are we supposed to leave
voicemails if you don't
know we'll have enough time?
I'm open to other ideas.
-How are we...
-[phone dings]
[Liz over phone]
Oh my God! Oh my God!
[Adrian over phone]
Shh! Quiet.
[Sky on phone]
She's right outside.
[Liz on phone, indistinct]
[Adrian on phone]
Sky, when we hang up
the call, touch my shoulder.
[Adrian on phone]
Just do it...
[unintelligible,
struggled speech]
[female voice]
I'm sorry, I can't speak now...
[sinister laughs]
[sinister laugh continues]
I... I don't understand.
[mumbles]
-Adrian...
-Hang on.
Just give me a second.
-Adrian, come on--
-Hang on, please!
This has this, like,
post hypnotic suggestion
that what we see, when we see
them, they can make us
do things.
But if the ghosts
are all about control,
why would they want that?
Maybe it's just that.
To control us.
To make us do things,
to remind us.
Remind us of what?
Nobody wants to be forgotten
even after they're dead.
[]
[faint sobbing]
[scraping sounds with chain]
[Sky breathing heavily]
[Adrian]
Turn the lights off. Quickly.
Quickly.
Guys, we have to get out
of here now!
Where... where is?
[whooshes]
Wait, wait,
what's happening?
What's happening?
We were leaving, but...
Why I can't remember?
Goddamnit!
Sjy, were you drawing?
Adrian, this is going to
keep happening.
We're going to keep forgetting
Uh, I think, guys,
we have to
keep repeating it.
Repeating what?
There is a ghost.
I'm seeing a ghost.
Don't forget
we are seeing ghosts.
Guys, to the door.
We have to leave right now.
Don't forget the dead.
Don't forget the dead.
Let's go, [indistinct]
What are you guys talking about?
There are three ghosts.
Three of them.
There's the pilgrim ghost.
[voice singing
song of the pilgrims]
[singing continues]
[pilgrim ghost]
If I would confess,
I would save my life!
[door slams]
Come on...
Save me.
I am wholly innocent.
God knows I am innocent.
I can deny all accusations
of wicked
Please, please save me.
It's Louise Holloway.
Don't forget me!
Adrian!
Your name is Louise Holloway.
You were wrongfully accused
of [stuttering] witchcraft
and you were wrongfully
murdered.
The city is named after you.
You were not forgotten.
[Liz grasping for air]
[Liz sobs]
[screaming]
[sobbing, laughing]
You two go.
I gotta go get grandma.
Are you serious?
Adrian, she's in danger.
I can't leave here up there.
Come on! We have to go!
Just go-- just go to the car,
I'll be right there.
[Liz sobbing]
[teeth ticking sounds]
Leave me alone!
[engine sputtering]
[breathing heavily]
[sighs]
[]
Sky!
We came after
What the hell happened?
I don't know.
You said
you were getting Grandma.
We--we can't get out.
We're trapped.
We're not trapped, Sky.
You never left.
I was just driving.
You know what?
I'll prove it to you.
Stay here.
[waves crashing]
[Adrian]
What happened?
What-- [stuttering]
what happened?
Nothing happened.
I-I-I-I was running
in the middle of the street.
You never moved.
Look, we need to stay together,
you guys, okay?
It's not a good idea
for us to split up.
We should--
Adrian!
Sky!
Sky! Sky! Sky, please.
I can't-- I can't be--
I can't be alone.
I can't be alone.
I can't--I can't be alone.
[breathing heavily]
[]
[doorknob rattles]
[]
Grandma?
Hi.
Grandma, we have to get out
of here. We have to leave.
It's not safe.
We have to find a way out.
I've tried, sweetheart.
I've tried for so long,
but there is no way out.
I'm so sorry.
I'm so sorry I left you.
Sky, you can't blame yourself.
It was difficult.
Of course it was.
And I never wanted to,
not even for a minute.
But when you got sick
and all of a sudden,
you stopped remembering and--
Wait, Grandma,
what is happening here?
How are you remembering this?
I don't have to run anymore.
No, no, no, no, no!
No! No!
[Sky sobs]
[crickets chirping
in distance]
[chains clinking]
[Louis]
I have not been impure.
I did not make
contracts with Satan...
[indistinct]
I-I [stuttering] I know. I know.
I'm just a woman
with mind and soul.
I am a woman of mind and soul.
[Liz sobbing]
[Liz screams]
[grunts]
[screams]
You need to go now.
But you're gone.
And I'm gonna forget.
Finally, I'm with you
after all these years.
And then,
right when I turn my back,
I'm just gonna forget
everything.
Take Adrian.
Take your friend and go.
After all these years,
you're still thinking about us.
I have a duty of care.
Look beneath the flowers.
Beneath the flowers.
I need you to go now.
I can't--I can't leave.
Close your eyes.
Sometimes you have to close
your eyes to really see.
Go now.
I don't wanna go,
I just got you back.
You don't have me, sweetheart.
Go.
Don't forget the dead,
Sky.
Don't forget the dead.
[teeth ticking sound]
[]
They can't catch you now.
You're safe, child.
Be at peace.
Don't forget the dead.
Don't forget the dead.
[]
[muffled screams]
[]
[]
It's hard.
I don't know where to start,
or where to end, I guess.
Claire Song passed away
nearly a month ago.
While we got some insight into
how she lived and suffered,
the effects on her family
are perhaps...
ongoing.
It's possible that they
never really go away.
We all left the house
feeling unsettled.
Some days we felt depressed
or scared.
It's hard to remember it all.
Not sure why.
All in all, we left
with a lot more questions
than answers.
If there is an effect,
one we can't fully describe,
that we've all somehow...
changed
We still don't know
everything about Alzheimer's.
Causes, prevention.
Still a lot to learn.
But what I do know is that...
when we forget the dead,
we lose a part of ourselves.
So...
If I can leave you
with one thing...
Don't forget the dead.
[]
[kid shouting]
Sky.
[]