Project MKHEXE (2025) Movie Script

1
(group sings)
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday, dear Sean
- Happy birthday to you
- (gasps)
- (kisses)
- [Gloria] Aw, my boys.
- (tender music playing)
- [Gloria] Sean was always
such a curious child.
[Donald]
Inquisitive, good-natured.
- [Heather] Kind, caring.
- [Jake] Reliable, funny.
[David] A class clown,
bit of a show-off.
[Jake] But mostly,
Sean was fearless.
- [Gloria] He loved stories...
- (Young Sean grunts, screams)
...he loved adventure,
he loved learning
about the world.
[Donald]
Always asking questions.
[Gloria] Always with his nose
in a book.
[Donald] Always tinkering
with stuff,
always tearing things apart.
Like that alarm clock.
[Gloria] He was our own
little miracle, our angel.
Sean was...
Sorry, it's hard. (sniffles)
It still feels unreal.
I just keep going over it
again and again in my head.
Like, why didn't he
say anything?
It's terrible and confusing
and I'm still trying
to figure it out
and how I feel about it.
God gave him to us
for only a moment...
and when the time came,
God called him home.
Jesus, Tim,
I don't know. (scoffs)
I mean... (inhales)
...why does anybody do anything?
I mean, you can't know...
what somebody is going through
and why they do things
that drastic.
And this little documentary,
it's not gonna help you
figure it out.
It's gone, he took it with him.
[Tim] When we were kids,
my brother Sean and I
made movies together.
I won't tell you anything!
We already know everything,
Mr. Torrance.
We are everywhere.
[Tim] He was always willing
to do whatever I asked of him.
(groans)
(screams)
[Tim] No matter how silly...
You're out of bullets, comrade.
You can't win.
Then I'll die a hero.
- (grenade ticking)
- No!
[Tim] ...stupid...
- (Young Sean growls)
- (Young Tim screams)
[Tim] ...or dangerous.
Tell me where you hid
Alvarado's gold
or else you'll walk the plank!
Never! (spits)
- (screams)
- (laughs menacingly)
- (Sean choking)
- Sean? Sean!
I'll get help! Mom! Dad!
[Tim]
After the tree house incident,
I promised myself
that I'd be there for Sean
no matter what.
But on September 27th, 2013,
at 09:33 p.m.,
I ignored a call from him
because
I didn't feel like talking.
- An hour later, Sean was dead.
- (dial tone ringing)
[automated voice]
Please enter your pass--
(telephone beeping)
[automated voice]
You have one new voice message.
- First voice message.
- (telephone beeping)
(Sean breathing heavily
over recording)
(Sean over recording)
- (screams, yells indistinctly)
- (ominous music playing)
One, two. Check, one, two.
I'm Tim, Sean's brother.
[Nicole] Tim,
can you please rephrase
the question in your answer?
It'll help with the edit.
Sure, yeah. (inhales, sighs)
My name is Tim Wilson
and I'm Sean's older brother.
[Nicole] Tell me about Sean.
(foot tapping)
- Just...
- [Nicole] No? Okay.
- Please tell me...
- (sighs)
...why you're making
a documentary about him.
Because I wanna make
one last movie with him.
Because I owe him,
I owe Sean that much.
(breathes deeply)
[Nicole] Why do you feel like
you owe Sean?
Just...
Just ask me--
[Nicole] Tim, you have to
answer these questions.
Ask me
about the documentary, okay?
- [Nicole] Okay. Okay, fine.
- Great.
[Nicole] So, you think
Project MKHEXE is real?
His death doesn't make sense.
Look, if Sean was crazy
or depressed or whatever,
there'd be some
sort of precedent, right?
Some sort of sign.
People don't go crazy
like that overnight, okay?
They just don't.
He found something, okay?
And I believe
they killed him over it.
Don't you wanna find out
the truth?
Don't you wanna find out
who did this?
(melancholic music playing)
- (attendees murmuring)
- (indistinct chatter)
Of course, thank you.
- (sobbing) Oh!
- (attendee 1 sobbing)
Thank you for coming.
[Tim] I was only supposed
to film the funeral...
as a gift for my parents.
But I kept filming.
Would you put
that thing down, Tim?
- (indistinct chatter)
- You have friends here.
[Tim] 'Cause Sean's death
didn't make sense.
[Jake] It doesn't make sense.
[David] We're just shocked,
man, confused.
[Heather] If Sean had issues
or was upset or anxious
or whatever,
why didn't he say something?
[Tim] Didn't you guys hang out
with him this summer?
Me and Jake were out of town,
but we were still in touch
until Sean started
ghosting us, man.
I reached out
over and over again.
Trying to see him,
trying to hang out, trying to...
But he wouldn't answer.
Did he need us?
Did he need our help? (sniffles)
Did we let him down?
I'm sorry.
(ominous music playing)
[Owen] All right, guys.
Grab your shots.
[Tim] My friends,
Owen and Steve,
decided to give Sean
an Irish wake.
To Seanie, the best of us!
To Sean!
[group] To Sean!
[Tim] They thought
they were helping.
- Oh, yeah. Ooh!
- (attendee 2 coughs)
- Listen, man.
- Mm?
- [exclaims]
- [Owen] Family sucks, okay?
But it's not, like,
really their fault.
You know,
every terrible, horrible thing.
It's in our genes, man.
It's like been coded
since the dawn of time,
and we're all just spiraling
through a world
that we did not create,
put in situations
for which we have no control.
[Steve] It's like
we're all just souls
strapped to meat puppets,
moving through time.
[Owen] Yes, yes.
We're space meat.
- So, it's not your fault...
- (sneezes)
...it's not Seanie's fault
or your parents' fault.
It's just the bullshit
we've all inherited, man.
- Okay?
- (retches)
- Oh, shit-- (laughs)
- [Steve] Oh, dude! (laughs)
[Owen] Get the bucket, man!
- (laughs)
- (ominous music builds)
[Owen] Look at this fool!
He just threw up
all over himself!
No! No! No!
- (lighter flicking)
- (inhales deeply)
(chair rattling)
(toy gun wailing, zapping)
(groans, sniffles)
- (object clattering)
- (exhales deeply)
(whispers) Jesus, Sean.
- (soft thud)
- (metal creaking)
- [Tim] What the hell?
- (muffled thumping)
- (soft thud)
- Okay, that's weird.
(chair rattling)
(Tim groans)
- Okay. (grunts softly)
- (cellphone chimes)
(inhales, sighs, groans)
(breathes deeply)
- (sighs)
- (muffled indistinct chatter)
[Donald]
We'll get it cleaned up.
(Gloria sobbing) It's so dirty.
[Donald] We'll get everything
straightened away, don't worry.
- (Tim breathes heavily)
- [Gloria] It's all unclean.
(sobbing) My baby. My angel.
[Donald] Don't think
about that. Just relax.
(Gloria sobbing)
(Tim breathes deeply)
[Donald] All right,
let's get back in there
- and take care of her.
- (sinister music playing)
(crickets chirping)
[Tim] One question echoed
through my mind, "Why?"
Why did Sean
have all this stuff,
why were my parents
throwing it out,
and why didn't they give it
to the police?
Sean's death was ruled a suicide
in almost record time.
Police ignored
what was right in front of them.
No one attempted
to piece together
his final months.
No one even cared enough
to look on his computer,
or his phone.
It took me four hours
to unlock Sean's phone.
And what I found,
confused and disturbed me.
(static crackling over radio)
(garbled audio
playing over radio)
(feedback screeching over radio)
(static fades)
(distorted feedback
blaring over speaker)
- (computer buzzing)
- [Sean] Damn it!
(Sean breathes heavily)
I guess this is test one.
(entrancing music
blaring over speaker)
[Sean] It's working! (chuckles)
(distorted feedback echoing)
- (knocking on door)
- [Donald] Sean! Sean!
- Knock it off!
- [Sean] Sorry!
(music shuts off)
(breathes heavily) It worked!
(chuckling) It works!
- (cellphone chimes)
- (breathes deeply)
(gulps)
- (static buzzing)
- (distorted feedback echoing)
(retches)
(sobbing) Damn it! Fuck!
(whispers) I love you.
(swallows) Forgive me.
(breathes heavily)
Two cameras. A redundant system.
(mumbles indistinctly)
- (birds chirping)
- (crows cawing)
(tripod thuds)
(panting) Almost dawn.
(swallows) Hoping for a glimpse.
- (static buzzing)
- (gasps, breathes shakily)
(chuckling) Did you...
did you... did you see that?
It's real!
(entrancing music
playing over speaker)
(music distorts, fades)
[Sean] Shit, shit, shit,
shit, shit, shit!
(panting) Shit.
Shit!
(car engine rumbling)
- (knocking on window)
- (car window whirring)
[Nicole]
Were you just filming me?
No.
(Nicole hesitates)
I haven't heard from you.
Sorry?
[Nicole] What is all this stuff
that you've got--
Time's running out, Nicole,
I've gotta stop it.
I have to.
- [Nicole] Sean, don't--
- (sighs)
[Nicole]
Don't do anything, okay?
- Okay, no-- No! Sean! Sean!
- (door handle rattling)
- (crickets chirping)
- (breathes shakily)
(strains, groans)
(breathes heavily)
(strains, groans)
(entrancing music
playing over speaker)
- (static buzzing)
- (music distorts)
(distorted feedback screeching)
(screams)
(somber music playing)
[Tim] I watched
Sean's footage again and again,
trying to make sense of it.
What was on Sean's computer?
What was that machine
Sean built?
Who were those people
at the tree house?
And what was that...
that thing in the circle
of stones?
What happened to my brother?
And why was he so scared?
(spray hissing)
[Tim] Mom?
Hi, dear.
[Tim] Mom, what are you doing?
I'm cleaning, dear.
(drill whirring)
[Donald] What do you want?
[Tim] I'm-- I was just--
Is that Sean's computer?
Why are you filming me?
[Tim] Mom,
I need to know the truth
about what happened to him,
about his last few days.
Tim, what happened
to your brother was a tragedy.
It was a tragedy. All right?
It's time for us to move on.
Your brother was an angel.
And God called him home.
- [Tim] Dad?
- (drill whirring)
[Tim] Have a good night, Mom.
Sean was at the treehouse,
at our treehouse.
But I couldn't find it,
it wasn't where I remembered.
Desperate for answers,
I reached out
to the only person I knew
who saw Sean
on the day he died.
(dial tone ringing)
(sighs) Okay, what am I doing?
(cellphone ringing)
Oh boy.
Hello?
- (Nicole over phone) Hello?
- Nicole?
[Nicole] Who the hell is this?
This is Tim. Tim Wilson.
Sean's brother. Can we--
(line disconnects)
- Hello?
- (dial tone ringing)
[Nicole] Why would you call me
from a dead man's phone number?
- Please, we need to talk.
- [Nicole] Not over the phone.
Tomorrow at 10:30,
Warren G. Harding Park.
All right,
can you say that again?
- (line disconnects)
- Hello?
[Tim] Let's see.
Hey, thanks for meeting with me.
Sure.
And for going on camera.
- I appreciate it.
- Yeah.
Are you doing a documentary
on Sean?
[Tim] I'm just filming for now.
I really think you should.
I don't think you know
the full story
on what happened to him,
to Sean.
My name is Nicole Martin.
I went to high school with Sean.
We were in the AV
and film club together,
but we didn't really
hang out much back then.
[Tim] When did you guys
start hanging out?
I met Sean again at a party
in May or June
and seemed like
there was a lot on his mind,
so, I went to talk with him.
He made me laugh. (chuckles)
Your brother
was always very funny.
We got close for awhile.
And I started getting busy
with classes.
Sean kinda started withdrawing,
spending more time at home,
wouldn't come out,
wouldn't text back,
and when he would text back,
it'd be about, I don't know,
conspiracy theories
or urban legends.
Soon enough, Project MKHEXE,
and shadowy
government conspiracies
were all Sean ever talked
or texted about.
Eventually,
Sean told me that it was
a secret government project
about mind control,
or a quote, unquote,
"Nightmare machine."
And he sent me links,
but they didn't work.
And then he started to say stuff
- that was kind of scaring me.
- [Tim] Like what?
Like it wasn't safe
to talk... or text,
like he was being watched.
[Tim] Is that why
you didn't want to talk
- over the phone?
- I don't know...
I mean,
that sounds crazy, right?
Sean, all of us, we're nobodies.
We're no one important.
But then Sean showed me
the MiniDV tape.
Sean and I hadn't spoken
for a few days
because of... reasons.
And out of the blue,
a call from Sean
said he needed help
capturing it.
And you probably know,
unless you have a MiniDV camera
or capture deck,
you can't digitize it.
Sean asked
if the college had one,
and if I had access,
I did, and I helped.
We met up, went to my school.
We tried to capture it,
but the tape had, like,
serious time code errors.
[Tim] What was on the tape?
[Nicole] Fragments
of some sort of experiment.
I had to get to class.
So, I left Sean there,
and when I came back,
Sean was gone,
and so was the tape deck.
And we got
into a huge fight. (scoffs)
I said things
that I shouldn't have said.
So did he, and that...
that was the last time
I saw him.
- [Tim] Until?
- Until the day he died, yeah.
[Tim] Do you think
he was being followed?
Do you think he found something?
[Nicole] All I have
are questions.
I mean, who wouldn't
have questions about that?
If you are doing a documentary,
it would be easier
to do it together.
I'm training to be a journalist.
I can help,
and I have access to equipment.
I can edit.
I mean, don't you wanna know
if there was anything
we could have done to help Sean?
You know, he called me?
The day he died,
right before it happened,
he left me the strangest...
At 09:33 p.m.,
he left me a voicemail.
- You wanna hear the crazy part?
- [Nicole] Sure.
It's gone. I saved it,
I backed it up just in case.
And today, when I went
to go check my phone. Nothing.
And I swear to God, Nicole,
I did not delete it.
And if I didn't delete it,
someone did.
- But who?
- (suspenseful music playing)
And that's the thing, Nicole.
Every time I look for MKHEXE,
every time I try
to independently
verify my brother's...
his box of nightmares,
every Google search,
I come across something
for a moment,
and then it's gone.
Just disappears.
It's like someone's trying
to delete every trace of...
of whatever this is,
MXHEXE, off the internet.
It's like they're
covering it up.
And Sean was afraid of someone.
I mean, you said it yourself.
He was afraid of being watched,
afraid of being followed.
[Nicole] I said Sean believed
he was being followed.
Look, Sean left us a map.
He left us clues, his notes,
his evidence, his research.
Let's see where it goes.
Let's see what he found.
Worse comes to worst,
Sean found nothing, which...
(breathes deeply)
...which would mean he...
[Nicole] What if
he had lost his mind?
Sean wasn't crazy.
I knew him, I knew my brother.
Smart? Definitely. Gifted? Sure.
A pain in my ass? You bet.
But crazy? No.
I mean,
look at what we have here.
You have this guy who compiles
all this research,
all this evidence on some
urban legend that doesn't exist,
about some secret
government project.
He pieces it together,
commits suicide, and then
every trace of it
disappears off the internet?
Even off my phone?
That doesn't make sense.
Sean wasn't crazy.
Sean wasn't suicidal.
He found something, okay?
And I believe
they killed him over it.
Don't you wanna find out
the truth?
Don't you want to find out
who did this?
- [Nicole] Of course.
- Good.
Then let's find
the bastards who...
- (distorted audio screeching)
- ...killed my brother.
(thrilling synth music playing)
Disappearing hitchhikers,
a hook-handed killer,
alligators in our sewers.
Urban legends
are today's apocryphal fables
and folklore.
But are they nearly
modern day morality tales?
Or could they be true?
Join us as we take a detour
towards the weird,
the bizarre, and the uncanny.
- Tonight on Uncanny Fables.
- (tense music playing)
[Tim] Sean's box of nightmares,
105 drawings, 87 printed pages,
26 disposable camera photos,
13 exposed, 13 overexposed,
three audio cassette tapes,
a MiniDV tape, a hard drive,
a VHS tape, a notebook.
The sum total of Sean's research
into an urban legend
that doesn't exist,
Project MKHEXE.
[TV host] Urban legends
are contagious.
They're stories that happen
to a friend of a friend
or in the next town over,
making them feel real
and truthful.
But more often than not,
they aren't.
[Tim] According to
Sean's research,
this is the urban legend
of Project MKHEXE.
After the political
and civil unrest of the 1960s,
the United States government
was looking for a way
to implement mass mind control
through combining
hypnosis techniques,
subliminal messaging,
and the latest
in broadcast technology.
This secret government program
was called Project MKHEXE.
In the 1970s,
MKHEXE researchers
conducted their experiments
in secret on American citizens
at universities, hospitals,
and through
late night broadcasts
in small towns across America.
Unfortunately,
the experiments didn't work.
Instead of having
their minds controlled,
MKHEXE test subjects
were infected with nightmares
and insanity, leading to
horrific, violent outcomes
that were covered up
by the US government.
After a number of failures,
Project MKHEXE was shut down.
Its technology abandoned
and its research destroyed.
Except, many believe
that Project MKHEXE
is still out there,
lurking in the darkest corners
of the internet,
saved by an unseen group
for reasons unknown.
Some say that if you go looking
for Project MKHEXE,
you won't find it.
Instead,
Project MKHEXE finds you.
- (static buzzing)
- (eerie music playing)
Researchers
and modern day historians
have rarely found
the kernel of truth
at the heart of an urban legend.
And even if they are based
on true events,
urban legends have a tendency
to mutate in each retelling.
- (sinister music playing)
- [Tim] Problem is,
Project MKHEXE does not exist.
Searches on the internet
only lead to deleted pages,
broken images,
impressions indexed
but incomplete.
It isn't mentioned
in any history books
or news articles.
For all intents and purposes,
Project MKHEXE does not exist.
And yet,
somehow my brother, Sean,
a college freshman
on his summer vacation,
compiled all of this evidence
in only 106 days.
Sean's notebook,
a chronicle of his investigation
into Project MKHEXE
and our guide into understanding
what exactly happened to him
during the 106 days
between the first mention
of MKHEXE on June 13th
and his death on September 27th.
But why and how did Sean
become so obsessed
with an urban legend
in the first place?
- That wasn't the Sean I knew.
- (lighter flicks)
[Tim] To understand the truth
about Sean,
we needed to interview
those closest to him...
to find out what they knew...
and to remember him.
What's up, man? Thank you again
for taking the time
to talk with me.
I'm not sure everybody's
ready to talk about everything.
[Tim] Please, Dad. For me.
- For Sean.
- (sighs) All right. Fine.
Tim, this is such
a nice thing you're doing.
Remembering your brother.
- Remembering our Sean.
- [Tim] Here's a few things
you need to know
about my brother, Sean.
- Sean was the best.
- (pensive music playing)
He had his issues.
Sean loved to argue. Sorry.
He'd say he loved to debate.
He always put a high premium
on logic, facts.
And you could never accuse Sean
of being, like, a gentleman.
His farts could clear a room.
- (Tim laughing)
- (Jake laughs)
But Sean was great
where it counts.
We went to prom together
as friends.
He asked me out,
to give me the experience.
Your brother
was that kind of guy.
Sean was always talking
about how me and the group of us
were going places.
He got me to dream
of a better life and inspired me
to pursue my own dreams my way.
[Donald]
He always made good grades,
always kept us in the loop.
Never got the feeling
he was hiding stuff from us.
I mean, after your experience
in high school,
we were kind of worried, but--
[Tim] Wait, wait, wait.
What do you mean,
"After my experience
in high school"?
Tim, you know
you didn't make it easy on us.
[Tim] At the beginning
of the summer of 2013,
Sean returned home
to the suburbs north of L.A.
He had just finished
his first year of college
and was looking forward
to a relaxing summer
with old friends.
Except, that didn't happen.
Sean came back into town
early summer, maybe May or June.
We were able to hang out
as much as I could.
Well, Sean did seem a bit bummed
that I wasn't coming back
for the summer, but he got it.
I had an I-banking internship.
It was an opportunity,
and I'd be stupid to say no.
I had spent the summer
at my parents lake house,
even invited him out.
But Sean said
he couldn't make it.
And I was in
another shitty relationship
with another loser.
So, Sean and I hung out,
as much as I could,
which wasn't really much,
to be honest.
[Tim] And I wasn't there
for Sean either.
I had just graduated
from college
and was trying to make it work
as a freelancer in New York.
So, despite occasionally
hanging out with Nicole...
We got close for a while.
[Tim] ...Sean spent
most of his time at home...
with Mom and Dad.
[Donald]
Typical American family.
We wanted to provide
a safe childhood
for you guys,
and a nice environment.
I think we did that.
Christmas time!
What'd Santa get you?
[Young Sean] That's a dinosaur.
[Donald] Dinosaur, awesome!
- [Gloria] A dinosaur?
- [Donald roars]
- What about you, Tim?
- (tender music playing)
It's a camera?
(Gloria gasps)
It's an underwater camera!
[Tim] When did you guys decide
to have another kid?
(breathes deeply) We didn't.
Sean was our own
little happy accident.
Our miracle baby.
Sean decided to come
about three weeks too early.
He was so tiny, so fragile.
[Donald] And he was a fighter.
Tough. Full of spirit.
Nothing ever slowed him down.
Although your brother
did have a very strong spirit,
his body did fail him
from time to time.
[Donald] He was sick some.
Every kid gets sick some.
[Gloria] But it was my job
to take care of him
when that happened.
[Donald] Your mom panicked
over every little thing,
but there was no need to,
he was fine.
[Gloria] We got to spend
so much time together,
here at home, especially
when he wasn't feeling well.
[Tim] Is that why
he was your favorite child?
Oh, Tim.
I loved you both equally.
I'm your mother--
[Donald] You try to love
your kids the same.
You try to raise 'em the same.
But the second time around,
you're a different person.
The circumstances are different.
The environment's different.
Your kids are different people.
(grunts) Damn it, Tim!
- All right.
- (Young Sean laughs)
(Donald exclaims)
Catch! Oh, good try!
[Gloria] Good try, son.
I just wish you two
had gotten along better.
[Donald] You guys were always
at each other's throats.
It was exhausting.
[Gloria] And your movies,
when you included him,
oh, it was like Sean
was walking on sunshine.
What we want,
Mr. Robinson, is the truth.
The truth? I told you the truth.
I didn't hurt no one.
They're taking
all this so-called "evidence"
and they've woven a narrative.
But it's all just a flimflam.
In this kangaroo court,
there are no facts,
only interpretations!
Objection!
All right,
where are we at Nicole?
Right, we've assembled
and organized
- all of Sean's evidence in--
- In Sean's box of nightmares.
In the box of nightmares, yes.
And we've begun to establish
a chronology of events
and his investigation.
And what's your reaction
to it all?
It's a bit overwhelming.
The fact that Sean
was able to gather so much
in such a short period of time.
It's kind of... incredible.
So, do you think there's truth
to Sean's thesis
that Project MKHEXE was more
than just an urban legend
- or a conspiracy theory?
- Maybe.
We talked about this, "maybe."
Tim, we said we weren't gonna--
- Come on!
- Okay.
No wrong answers, okay?
Just say what you're thinking.
Why? (breathes sharply)
All the evidence aside...
Sean's notebook. It doesn't...
It doesn't look
like a sane person
would write that.
I'm sorry, but it's--
- So, you think Sean was crazy?
- No.
That's not what I'm saying.
Anything's possible.
I mean, "An absence of evidence
is not an evidence of absence."
- [brooding music playing]
- [Tim] Sean's notebook.
June 13th, 2013.
His first entry
on Project MKHEXE.
Maybe it was boredom
that drew him in.
Maybe it was loneliness.
But either way, Sean began
finding bits and pieces
about the MKHEXE urban legend
all across the internet.
Newspaper clippings
about strange
late-night broadcasts.
Blogs about secret
government projects.
Articles on strange
sound transmissions,
and online forms dedicated
to conspiracy theories.
Evidence I could not find
on my own.
Sean created
a lost and found log
of every mention, every website,
every version
of the urban legend
he could find.
Until he couldn't,
until they began to disappear.
Sometimes within days,
sometimes hours,
sometimes even within minutes
of finding them.
Websites would just vanish,
as if someone was deleting
every trace of Project MKHEXE
off the internet.
But who, and why?
In trying to answer
these questions,
Sean created
his own conspiracy theory.
But what about
conspiracy theories?
- (tense music playing)
- World events
shaped by sinister actors
working in the shadows.
In some ways,
it's easier to believe
that there's a man...
or men behind the curtain,
than to accept
that the world we live in
is one of chaos and confusion.
- (pensive music playing)
- [Tim] The problem is,
Sean wasn't the kind of person
who believed
in conspiracy theories.
He was always
about science and facts.
He hated pseudo-scientific
conspiracy theory bullshit.
Soon enough, Project MKHEXE
and shadowy government
conspiracies
were all Sean ever talked
or texted about.
[Tim] Sean theorized
that maybe Project MKHEXE
was related to another infamous
Cold War secret program,
- (tense music playing)
- [Tim] Project MKULTRA.
Beginning in 1953,
Project MKULTRA
was the CIA's attempt
to use mind control techniques
to create the perfect spy.
The word MKHEXE follows
the CIA's cryptonym pattern
with the letters "MK"
designating projects
run by the CIA's
Technical Services Staff,
the same people who ran MKULTRA.
But the meaning of "hex"
or "heksa" is even stranger.
In English, a hex is a curse.
In German,
"hexe" means witch or hag,
the folklore version
of sleep paralysis.
This led Sean to wonder
if Project MKHEXE
was somehow created
by ex-Nazi scientists
from Operation Paperclip,
who combined
ancient occult knowledge
with advanced
hypnosis techniques,
to create the ultimate
psychological weapon.
But why would Sean,
my left brained
science-minded brother,
believe in any of this?
According to a recent study,
almost 50 percent
of all Americans
believe in at least
one conspiracy theory.
- (muffled techno music playing)
- Okay, everyone's super nice.
[Nicole] Okay.
- Hey, what's up, buddy?
- [Tim] What's up, man?
- Who's this?
- [Tim] Everyone,
- this is my friend, Nicole.
- [Nicole] Hey.
I didn't know
you guys would be filming.
Let's give 'em something
to film, right?
Beers aren't gonna
drink themselves.
- (partiers laugh, applaud)
- Urban legends?
Yeah, man, I think
there's truth to some of those.
There's a little bit of truth
to every story, right?
Conspiracy theories
are such horseshit.
It's just a bunch
of paranoid rednecks
trying to make sense of a world
that just don't make sense.
Hell yeah, I think
the government's watching us.
Ain't you seen that shit?
That Snowden shit?
Life's...
way too complicated to worry
about these kind of things.
When has learning
anything secret
ever made anything better?
Seriously? You don't think
the government's listening on us
right now?
They are totally watching us
right now.
Yeah, I'm sure they really care
what we're up to.
We're already living in, like,
a boring dystopia, man.
You got politicians lying,
robbing us blind,
on both sides of the aisle.
We still got mass brainwashing.
Double speak, all that shit.
I mean, there's not much
we can do about it anyways,
so, you know... fuck it.
They want us dumb
and scared and divided.
My point is these
tinfoil hat wearing dudes
assume there's someone
in control,
when the truth is way,
way scarier.
[Owen]
And what's that, Ashleigh?
That there's no one in control.
That it's all just so random.
- [Steve] Boom!
- (laughs)
[Steve] That ain't random!
That's skill, baby.
Drink up! Whoo-hoo!
(eerie music playing)
Conspiracy theories
follow a circular reasoning
where evidence
and the lack thereof
reinforce the truth
of the conspiracy.
In conspiracy theories,
there are no coincidences.
- (tense music playing)
- [Tim] June 27th, 2013.
A list of so-called
relatively stable websites.
The Exoheretic Enclave,
a defunct conspiracy forum
from the early 2000s
that seemingly fell apart
after its users began
researching the urban legend.
JusticeforJudson.net,
a 1990s webpage about a man
who went missing in the 1970s.
A source that, at first,
seemed completely unrelated
to Sean's research.
And the Black Budget Compendium.
A folder directory
with declassified files
on secret government projects.
Inside the MKHEXE folder,
Sean found photos labeled,
"Subject 23"
and a memo
on a "Subproject 1101D."
Sean had finally found
actual photographic
and written evidence
about Project MKHEXE.
But that wasn't enough for Sean.
Sean tried to post
his findings online,
maybe in hopes
that others would help him
in his quest to prove
Project MKHEXE was real.
Except, every time Sean tried,
his posts
were almost immediately deleted.
But someone noticed.
Someone found him.
Belief in conspiracy theories,
known as,
"conspiracist ideation,"
can become pathological,
leading the believer
to become paranoid,
and even dangerous.
[Tim] By the beginning of July,
Sean's investigation
into Project MKHEXE
had become an obsession.
[Nicole] Sean kind of
started withdrawing.
I do remember something weird.
Around, like, the 4th of July.
I was going to a barbecue
and I wanted Sean to join me,
but he wasn't really
answering texts.
So, I stopped
by your parents' place.
But Sean didn't come
to the door.
Your mom did. Your mom said...
Sean couldn't come out
because he was sick.
The weird thing, man, is...
as I was walking back
to the car,
I looked up at Sean's room
and the blinds were shaking.
Like he had been there,
watching me.
I texted him, but nothing.
I didn't hear from Sean again.
Your brother had just had
a stressful first year,
and he needed to relax,
and to regain his strength.
(sinister music playing)
[Tim] But unbeknownst
to anyone else,
Sean had begun
to receive items in the mail
sent by a mysterious source.
Unfortunately,
Sean never found out
who sent him the stuff
or how they found him.
Maybe someone saw
his posts online.
But how they traced those back
to our home address
remains a mystery.
The only clue we have
is a single catalog envelope
with a strange sigil
as the return address.
On July, 3rd,
Sean received a VHS tape
with a barely playable recording
of an old video
of police interrogating
one Henry Baker Judson,
the missing man
from the Justice
for Judson website.
(audio rewinds)
Thank you. Thank you, thank you.
- [Det. Bryant] For what?
- For... (exhales)
(groans) For stopping me.
[Det. Bryant]
It would really help us, Henry,
to get an understanding
as to what happened.
It's those dreams, man.
It's those goddamn dreams.
[Det. Cameron] You wanna talk
to us about your dreams?
Missing time,
visions about those
goddamned experiments, okay?
It's been
following me, all right?
Look, I don't know
what you think I did to Allison
and Brett and Tony,
but it was not my fault.
They got into
my goddamned head, man.
[Tim] Then, Sean began receiving
strange drawings
throughout July,
all seemingly similar,
despite being drawn
by different hands.
- (brooding music playing)
- [Tim] On July 6th,
Sean received
26 disposable camera photos
he described as,
"Spring Break '99."
Thirteen were exposed,
13 were overexposed.
On July 9th, Sean received
an audio cassette,
the first of three
of what he called,
"The Tacoma Tapes,"
recorded by a man
who describes
a recurring nightmare.
(cassette tape clicks, whirs)
(man speaks over recording)
- (brooding music continues)
- [Tim] On July 11th,
Sean received a MiniDV tape
with what he called,
"The Chicago Experiments,"
recorded sometime in early 2007.
[Nicole]
Sean and I hadn't spoken
for a few days
because of reasons.
But then, Sean showed me
the MiniDV tape.
Hello, my name is Miriam Yildiz.
Abstract, although controversial
in modern science,
acoustic therapy
through brainwave entrainment
has a long ancient history of--
(gasps, shrieks)
Although, so-called
Solfeggio Frequencies
have gotten the credit,
this has been dismissed
and ridiculed
by closed-minded scientists
unwilling to... blah, blah.
Remapping of the vibrations.
Remapping--
Remapping of the sensations
of the vibrating
acoustic ecology of the world.
My conclusions show
that maybe there can be...
There are applications
of noninvasive
ultrasonic acoustic
procedures that are...
(speaking in foreign language)
(in English) I fear they'll see
through my results,
and all this...
(speaking in foreign language)
(Tim, in English)
And on July 16th,
Sean received an old hard drive
that was full of videos
made by a mommy blogger,
circa 2010.
Hey there, Moms and Momettes.
Vlog-A-Mama, Kim Eckles here.
And today we are talking
about how important it is
for all of you active mothers
out there
to catch some Z's.
(chuckles, inhales)
(yawns) See what I mean?
- (brooding music playing)
- [Tim] At first,
Sean wasn't sure
what these items had to do
with Project MKHEXE,
but for the rest of July
and into August, as he started
to make connections,
a narrative began to unfold.
[Det. Bryant]
What got into your head, Henry?
I was low on cash, so...
(inhales) ...I saw this flyer
for some sleep study. Okay?
At least that's what it said.
There was this scientist,
this ex-Nazi guy.
- [Det. Bryant] A Nazi?
- Yeah, man.
He had to be, okay?
Doctor Teufel, I think.
(distorted)
He experimented on us,
experimented on me.
[Det. Bryant]
What kinds of experiments?
They subjected us
to some weird shit, okay?
All right, they had these TVs
that weren't TVs,
and films
wouldn't actually be films.
One minute you'd be looking
at the screen,
and then another minute,
it's like you're waking up
from a bad dream.
It wasn't even worth it.
(breathes deeply)
[Det. Bryant]
Why is that, Henry?
Ah, the nightmares, man.
They infected my mind
with nightmares.
- (pensive music playing)
- [Tim] Was Henry's confession
proof that Project MKHEXE's
experiments were conducted
in secret at universities
across America?
Ahmet finally took me
to the tunnels under the Reg
and we found something...
something...
(speaking in foreign language)
(chuckles, in English)
Old Cold War tunnels.
Hundreds of boxes, artifacts.
(speaking in foreign language)
(in English)
Including this machine, this...
computer type device.
I'm talking about cathode tubes,
old-fashioned switches,
huge speakers!
And, Ahmet...
Well...
(speaking in foreign language)
(in English) So, I can't really
trust him anymore.
But I know
the way in now. (giggles)
(Meryem breathing heavily)
(wind howling)
- (objects clattering)
- (Meryem gasps)
(breathes heavily)
(speaking in foreign language)
(chuckles)
(panting, in English) Wow.
- (machine beeping)
- (Meryem) Hmm.
- (soft thud)
- (feedback screeching)
(speaking in foreign language)
(screeching grows louder)
(distorted feedback screeching)
(machine beeping, powers off)
(gasps, breathes heavily)
(chuckles, in English) What?
(laughs hysterically)
[Tim] Sean concluded
that Meryem had found
Project MKHEXE's
fabled nightmare machine.
He now had videographic evidence
of the government's
secret program.
(brooding music playing)
[Tim] But the MKHEXE
urban legend went beyond that.
There were rumors
of strange late night broadcasts
in small towns
across the country.
(man over recording)
[Tim] And Sean also believed
that someone had uploaded
the Project MKHEXE video
to the internet.
But who? And for what purpose?
I'll admit,
it's been a rough few nights.
Weird thoughts and weird dreams.
(inhales deeply)
And that stupid trickster
and his dumb hypnosis video.
(eerie music playing)
[Tim] And then,
there was evidence
that something even stranger
was going on.
What did the MKHEXE video
show its victims?
No one could remember.
One minute you'll be looking
at the screen,
and then another minute,
it's like you're waking up
from a bad dream.
(man over recording)
I don't know why,
but the universe
has given me a gift.
(speaking in foreign language)
(in English)
I need to document everything,
because when it turned on...
I can't quite remember.
I think what it sings...
it's hypnotic.
That's the best way to put it.
Possibly an induced alpha state.
Someone somehow got there first.
But that's not a problem.
If it fills in the gaps...
(speaking in foreign language)
(breathes deeply)
(in English)
My mind feels... open.
I am aware.
I see connections
between things.
I see what I was missing
in my research. (inhales)
(speaking in foreign language)
(in English) And I will go back.
- (ominous music playing)
- [Tim] And for whatever reason,
the MKHEXE video
couldn't be recorded.
(breathes heavily, sniffles)
23:45. February 7th, AV test 13.
(sniffles) Here we go.
(breathes deeply)
- (static buzzing)
- (distorted feedback echoing)
February 13th, AV test 21.
- (static buzzing)
- (distorted feedback echoing)
AV test 34.
- (static buzzing)
- (distorted feedback echoing)
Test 55.
- (static buzzing)
- (distorted feedback echoing)
(breathes shakily) Test 89.
- (static buzzing)
- (distorted feedback echoing)
All attempts to visually record
neuromodular
deployment mechanism
of Phobos Machine have failed.
As if something prevents it
from going on tape.
Sound records
successfully. (sighs)
(distorted feedback screeching)
- (sinister music playing)
- [Tim] Sean theorized
that the MKHEXE video
incorporated audio-based
brainwave entrainment techniques
to hypnotize its viewers.
But to what end?
(speaking in foreign language)
(Meryem, in English) Sound will
be clearer, hopefully.
(distorted feedback screeching)
[Meryem] Repeating
infrasonic expressions.
Here, one at 19 hertz,
one at 12.
That seemed
to induce not only an alpha,
but maybe even theta
or delta state in the brain.
But then there's this.
If transferred
to a Spectrogram...
- (keyboard clacking)
- (Meryem sighs)
(speaking in foreign language)
(Tim, in English) Sean noticed
that all of the MKHEXE victims
developed the same physiological
and psychological symptoms.
Symptoms that seem to get worse
with repeated exposure.
After the initial amnesia
of the video itself,
the first symptom
was an open mind.
- (tense music playing)
- My mind feels open.
(man over recording)
[Tim] Next, victims experienced
intense dreams and nightmares.
Weird thoughts and weird dreams.
They infected my mind
with nightmares.
[Tim] Sean wondered
if everyone experienced
- the same shared dream.
- (cassette player clicks)
[Tim] He turned
to the Tacoma Tapes for answers.
(man over recording)
[Tim] And for MKHEXE victims,
the dreams
were followed by paranoia.
(Meryem, speaking
in foreign language)
(speaking in foreign language)
(speaking in foreign language)
(in English)
Today's vlog is going to be
a little different
because, Momettes,
our house has been violated.
Someone intruded into my home.
I just don't know when.
I mean, I didn't hear
anything last night, but, oh,
there is a lot of evidence
that someone was here,
no matter what Carl says.
Oh, my God.
What?
(gasps) Oh, my God!
And the strangest thing?
I mean, the strangest thing,
Moms and Momettes,
is where I found the knives.
What the...
(bleep) ...is going on?
But it's fine,
Moms and Momettes.
A den mama's gotta do
what a den mama's gotta do
for her pups.
Am I right?
[Tim] The victims
would soon experience
missing time,
minutes and hours
that they couldn't remember.
And then it would start
to happen in the day,
the nightmares. One minute,
I'd be in class or in the shop,
and then the next,
I'd be in the nightmare.
[Det. Cameron] So,
nightmares made you do it?
(distorted) I don't know.
I don't remember how I was...
I don't know what exactly
happened, okay?
There'd be missing time,
there'd be gaps, okay?
(distorted) The nightmares,
they got worse.
They began to haunt me.
They began to follow me.
If I walked by a TV,
I would hear
that high-pitched whine,
and then broadcast, whatever,
it would start playing.
Look, Brett was mad
about the TV.
But I had to smash it, okay?
I had to destroy it.
I had to,
because if it infected me...
[Tim]
And as their minds decayed,
- their bodies soon followed.
- (brooding music playing)
[Meryem] There's a pattern.
A repeating pattern.
A pattern of communication.
(speaking in foreign language)
(in English) Perhaps one
that can be sequenced.
(muttering in foreign language)
- (static buzzes)
- (feedback screeching)
(gasps)
(in English) Hey there,
Moms and Momettes.
(sighs) Vlog-A-Mama here.
Pups are fine. House seems fine.
No more intruders.
Everyone's safe... (sighs)
...but Carl forgot to install
those damn Nanny Cams
like I asked.
So, I stole his credit card.
Den mama's gotta
watch the den. (chuckles)
Workers are coming to-mor-row.
I've been having
the wackiest dreams about...
a forest.
Went to bed last night
in my bed,
and I woke up here
in front of the TV. (scoffs)
It's the weirdest thing.
I've been testing out
a new makeup regimen
for the "exhausted mom."
You know who you are,
and hopefully, I--
- (static buzzes)
- (feedback screeching)
(gasps, breathes heavily)
- (sinister music playing)
- [Tim] But the thing
that bothered Sean the most
was where these
MKHEXE infections were heading.
[Det. Cameron] Is that why
you killed Brett?
(hesitates) No, no. That...
Look, between that
and the nightmares,
that's why I called 911.
That's why I wanted
to talk with you.
I was worried
something bad would happen.
[Det. Cameron]
Something bad did happen.
What has been bothering me
is why you arranged
the bodies in this order
and why you painted
Satanic symbols
on the walls in their blood.
I don't... I don't... I don't--
Don't give me that,
"I don't remember bullshit!"
Look at this, Henry.
Look at the photo, Henry!
And explain this
so I can understand.
Don't you see that this...
- this... this has happened.
- (static buzzing)
This is happening.
This will happen.
The sacrifices,
they open the gate,
and the nightmares
will be born anew in this world.
Please believe me!
Goddamn it, goddamn it!
Don't you see
that every moment we are in here
is another moment
they are out there? Please!
We have to stop them, please!
The Aberrants, they are coming!
They are com-- The Aberrants--
- (static buzzes)
- (feedback screeching)
(Kim gasps)
(mumbles indistinctly)
(mumbles indistinctly)
(mumbles indistinctly)
- (static buzzes)
- (feedback screeching)
(groans, distorted)
(knife clinking)
(knife scraping)
[Kim's daughter] Mommy? Mommy!
- (knife slashing)
- (Kim's daughter screaming)
- (unsettling music playing)
- [Carl] Kim?
- (brooding music playing)
- [Tim] Unfortunately,
we can't watch past this point.
Sean's notebook refers
to box of nightmares videos
that we can't see.
The footage is there,
but the files don't work.
It's like something
is preventing us...
- (distorted feedback echoing)
- ...from watching them.
And then a note
from late August. "It found me!"
Sean killing himself
doesn't make sense.
Where were the signs?
Aren't there usually signs
for this kind of thing?
[Tim] When did you notice
that there was something wrong
- with Sean?
- I didn't.
There was nothing wrong
with Sean.
[Tim] No difference
when he came home from school?
No signs of anxiety,
depression, nothing?
Nope.
Sean was just Sean.
I mean, he was around
the house a little too much.
Told him to go out
and get a job, find something,
get involved in life.
"Get out of the house, son.
"Get off the computer,
go do life."
[Tim] After the,
"It found me" note,
our timeline
of Sean's investigation
completely falls apart.
The notebook's middle pages
are torn out, missing,
and what follows are
the disjointed
fragments of a story.
Did Sean find Project MKHEXE?
I believe that he did.
And I believe
that it infected him.
(Sean over recording)
- (eerie music playing)
- [Tim] Sean's mind was open.
He finally understood
the purpose of Project MKHEXE.
And soon,
Sean was having nightmares
of a forest under strange stars
and a field of corpses
before an ancient pyramid.
- Sean's paranoia began to grow.
- (static buzzing)
[Tim] He was worried
that he was being watched
and that he was being followed,
but not by the government.
Sean was worried
about someone else.
Over and over again,
Sean wrote about
the Aberrants of Kzathguul.
The Aberrants, they are coming!
[Tim] An ancient
Akkadian cult focused
on the worship
of a forgotten God, Kzathguul.
Sean was convinced
that the Aberrants
were behind
Project MKHEXE being out there.
That they were using
the experiment
towards some unknown purpose.
The sacrifices,
they open the gate,
and the nightmares will be born
anew in this world.
Please believe me!
[Tim] Was the cult
using Project MKHEXE
to somehow summon Kzathguul?
(Sean over recording)
[Tim] And despite
his worsening symptoms,
my little brother had a plan.
(Sean over recording)
Time's running out, Nicole.
[Tim] Sean built a machine,
but its purpose eludes us.
Sean spent his last day on Earth
trying to put his plan
into action.
- I gotta stop it.
- [Nicole] Okay, no! Sean, Sean!
(Sean over recording)
- [Tim] And then, and then he...
- (music concludes)
- [Tim] Who found him?
- Your mother.
[Tim] How did you find out?
I heard her scream.
Look, are you gonna ask
your mom these questions?
Don't you think
she's had enough?
[Tim] What about the day
he killed himself?
(suspenseful music playing)
Tim, why would you ask me
about that?
Why can't we talk about
something nice?
[Tim] Did Sean ever reach out
to you and Dad for help?
What about Project MKHEXE?
What's that?
- Did Sean mention that?
- (ominous music playing)
[Tim] Did he mention
that people were following him?
Did he mention
that he felt unsafe? Anything?
Did Sean ever mention anything
to you about a Project MKHEXE?
No. What is that?
[Tim] What about Project MKHEXE?
No, what's that?
Is that some kind
of rip off of MKULTRA?
[Tim] Dad,
what is Project MKHEXE?
I don't know.
Look, I'm done with this.
[Tim] Why were you guys
throwing out
Sean's stuff
in the middle of the night?
I have answered enough
of your questions.
Your brother Sean was an angel.
- (tense music playing)
- He was our miracle baby.
[Tim] Do you blame yourself
for Sean's death?
No!
[Tim] That you didn't do enough
to save him?
God gave him to us
for only a moment.
And when the time came,
God called him home.
I love you, son. I love you.
But I dare you. I dare you.
We must live with that.
That is our burden.
- [Tim] Mom, I--
- Now... (sniffles)
...if you'll excuse me,
I have to get back
to cleaning. (breathes sharply)
'Cause this house is a mess.
Look, I'm done with this.
Tim, I love you, son.
But that's enough, understand?
That's too far! That's too far!
- [Tim] An open mind--
- (feedback screeching)
(somber music playing)
[Tim] Am I just going
over this again and again
because I just can't let
Sean go? (breathes heavily)
Because I won't let
myself feel it?
I mean, there's something here.
There's something right here.
Sean was onto it.
And nobody helped him.
Even if he was sick,
nobody helped him.
Not Mom, or Dad,
or Nicole, or his friends.
Or me. I mean,
those people in the videos
had to have come
from somewhere, right? But...
God, a nightmare machine?
- Really?
- (object clattering)
What now?
- (breathes deeply)
- (crickets chirping)
- [Tim] Mom?
- (glass crunching)
(Gloria whimpers)
All this glass.
What a mess.
[Tim] Dad,
what's wrong with Mom?
[Donald] Your mother's fine
if you'd stop bothering her.
[Tim] Excuse me? Bothering her?
[Donald] Have some respect
and turn that thing off.
(garage door whirring)
Right?
All right.
So, where are we at
with the documentary, Tim?
I don't know anymore.
- Sean was building a machine...
- Mm-hmm.
...apparently based off
Meryem's experiments.
Some sort of sound device, why?
Sean mentioned seeing
and hearing parts
of these videos
that we can't seem to watch.
Half of the Vlog-A-Mama
video files are corrupted.
Trying to play the Chicago
experiment's videos
freezes the computer,
trying to capture
the last moments of the tape,
shuts the computer down.
The last Tacoma Tape?
Mostly static.
And half of these Spring Break
photos are blown out.
Sean also filmed
those experiments
on your family's Hi8 camera,
- so, let's--
- Yeah, and where's that?
Where's that, Nicole?
Because that's missing too!
Can you just take
a breath really quick?
(sighs)
Like a real one?
- (breathes deeply)
- Okay.
Now what's your concern?
Besides having half a story?
Yes, besides having
half a story.
- Apophenia.
- What?
Apophenia.
Seeing patterns and connections
where there aren't any.
Maybe Sean had
apophenia or whatever,
and maybe he's been dragging us
into his messed up worldview
because we wanted there
to be something,
anything to explain
his... his...
At first,
I didn't know what to believe,
but lately, I have been leaning
towards the idea
that Sean was actually
onto something.
I believe
that there's something there,
and that scares
the shit outta me, okay?
So, let's see what we can do
for the documentary,
for Sean, for us, and just...
no matter where it leads to,
like we promised, okay?
(sighs)
Fine.
Mom, what happened
to your hands?
Oh, these? (breathes shakily)
Oh, it's just the winter, dear.
I miss your brother
with all that I am,
but it's... it's not my place
to question God's will.
So... I make do, the best I can.
Looking after you two
and making sure
the house is clean.
But I do worry
about your father.
[Tim] And why is that?
[sniffles, whispers]
Because Donald's
been drinking again.
[Tim] I didn't know you drank.
Yeah, well...
[Tim] So we're trying
to put together
some missing pieces
about Sean's last month.
Is there anything that you...
Didn't we already
talk about this?
Sean was a ghost.
Hung out in his room a lot.
Always at home,
but... just teenager stuff.
I mean, nothing...
nothing to be worried about.
(breathes shakily, sobbing)
Some little... trollop...
broke my angel's heart.
And so he returned to me.
He returned to his mother,
who loved him best.
[Tim] Mom.
This is Sean's journal.
There's a note in here
from late August
and he said that he spoke to you
or that he wanted
to speak to you.
- Here, look at it. Okay?
- (swallows, smacks lips)
When he told me
he was in trouble, when...
(sobbing) When he came
to me for help, I...
I just did
what any mother would.
I helped him.
[Tim] Mom took Sean
to a psychiatrist.
(breathes deeply)
Yeah. (sighs) Filled him
with a bunch of pills.
'Cause that's what we do
in this country, right?
Got a problem?
There's a pill for that.
Damn quacks.
[Tim] And you don't think
that medication
had anything to do
with Sean's suicide?
No.
[Tim] Mom, what kind of drugs
did you give him?
I... I don't know, dear.
Just whatever
the doctor prescribed.
[Tim]
Were they antidepressants?
They were whatever
my Sean needed.
[Tim] Because you know
that antidepressants
can increase the risk
of suicide, right?
What are you implying,
Timothy Andrew Wilson?
- [Tim] Mom, I'm not implying--
- [sobbing] How dare you!
[Tim] Mom, we need to look
into all possible--
(sobbing) Please, just...
(breathes shakily)
(sniffles, chuckles)
[Tim] How about a family history
of mental illness, Dad?
- How about that?
- (inhales sharply)
That's great.
(grunts) Unbelievable.
[Tim] What?
That you would find a way
to blame that,
- the death of our son, on us.
- [Tim] Well, if the shoe fits--
Sean was my son! My son!
I loved him more than anything.
Your mom too.
- Just like we love you.
- (Tim scoffs)
Well, you have a hell
of a way of showing it.
- [Nicole] Tim!
- (sighs, inhales)
- I was wrong.
- [Tim] Huh?
I thought
we'd raised you better,
but I was wrong. You're selfish.
You always have to have
somebody to point the finger at.
[Tim] I'm doing this
for Sean, for the truth--
No, Tim.
No, you're doing it for you.
You're trying to make you
the center of this story.
That's what you always do.
I need to get dinner ready...
(sobbing) ...and to...
- and to clean this kitchen now.
- [Tim] Okay.
- Now.
- [Tim] Okay, Mom.
(sobbing) Now!
Now!
Now!
(microphone shuffling)
We're done.
[Tim] Go have another beer.
Cheers.
Get the hell outta my house.
(foot tapping rapidly)
[Nicole] So, after
interviewing your parents,
what do you think?
What do I think?
I think they lied to me.
I think everyone lied to me.
They lied to me!
Sean was clearly sick.
He was clearly undergoing
some sort of mental episode.
I mean, they took him
to a goddamn shrink!
[Nicole] Your mother
took him to a hospital.
And how do we know
that didn't make him worse?
That him going to this hospital,
seeing this doctor
and taking this medication
didn't tip him over the edge
and make him suicidal?
I mean, Mom and Dad
practically admitted
our family is cursed.
We are cursed. We are cursed
with mental illness.
Dad's secret alcoholism
and depression.
Mom's Munchausen-by-Proxy
doting, all of it.
- (lighter flicking)
- (inhales deeply)
(breathes heavily)
I saw what I wanted to see.
I just didn't want
to face the facts.
[Nicole] Okay,
and what are those facts?
What are the facts for you?
(sighs, sobbing)
That my little brother, Sean,
he lost his mind...
and then he came
in this garage, and he...
and he killed himself
right here. (breathes deeply)
His investigation,
his obsession,
it was just an unwell mind
seeing connections
where there aren't any.
[Nicole] What about
the evidence, the things
- sent by a mysterious--
- Sent by a mysterious source?
Who saw Sean's posts online?
Nicole, did you ever think
for a moment,
maybe, that someone
was playing a prank on him?
That they were just
fucking around with him, huh?
You're the journalist,
the student journalist.
Did that miss
your scope of relativity
- or whatever you call it?
- [Nicole] Okay, me being
a student journalist
has nothing to do with this.
(sniffles, breathes deeply)
This is...
this is just a waste of time.
This is all...
this is all bullshit!
(sobs)
(sobbing) It was just waiting,
lurking, just...
in his genes, in our genes.
Just waiting
for that perfect moment
to grab him and just...
(swallows)
You.
[Nicole] What?
- What?
- You did this.
[Nicole] What?
Mom said...
- [Nicole] What'd your mom say?
- Cut the tape.
- [Nicole] No, what-
- I said cut the goddamn tape!
[Nicole] Tim, I wasn't!
[Tim] Tell me how you met
my brother, Sean.
We met in high school.
We went to high school together.
[Tim] I meant this summer.
Tell me about this summer.
Yes, we met at a party again
this last summer.
[Tim] And you guys
got close, right?
Yes.
[Tim] Jesus, Nicole,
please rephrase the question--
Yes! Okay, Sean and I
got close this last summer.
- [Tim] How close?
- Close.
We were friends.
We were new, close friends.
[Tim] Just friends?
Just friends.
[Tim] But you guys texted
every day all the time, correct?
We texted as often
as friends text.
[Tim] Did you guys
ever go out on a date?
We hung out.
[Tim] Would you consider
those "hangouts" dates?
- No.
- [Tim] Why?
No, I would not consider
those dates
because we both split
the bill at the end.
[Tim] That's your definition
of a date?
- The guy paying?
- Yes! Yes, sure it is.
Whatever, okay. (laughs)
[Tim] Did Sean
ever try to make a move?
Nicole, did Sean ever try
to make a move on you?
- Okay, Tim, that's--
- [Tim] Just answer
- the question!
- No, Tim, you were just the one
that were saying
you were making connections
that weren't actually there.
[Tim] Did Sean
ever make a move?
(sighs)
Yeah.
- [Tim] Why? Where? How?
- I don't... I don't know.
[Tim] Think, try to remember.
- Why?
- [Tim] Just do it, please!
(sobbing) Okay, sure.
Yeah, fine. Sean made a move
maybe around the middle
or the end of June.
I don't remember.
I mean, we were hanging out.
We went to the movies
and then dinner,
we took a walk around the block.
And then he...
he tried to kiss me at my door,
but I said no.
[Tim] Why did you say no?
Because we were friends.
Because... because we were
just friends, okay?
Sean was just lonely,
and I was,
I was taking school.
I was too busy
with school, okay?
And frankly, I wasn't looking
for a boyfriend,
and I just wasn't
that attracted to him!
Is that what you wanted to hear?
[Tim] Nicole,
Why did you push to make me
make this documentary?
(sobbing, chuckles)
You've gotta be kidding me!
- (sobs)
- [Tim] Why?
Just tell me the truth, Nicole.
Tim, don't do this, please.
[Tim] Was it
because you felt guilty?
Tim, that was not the reason
- that I wanted to make--
- [Tim] Was it because
you knew that your rejection
pushed Sean over the edge?
(breathes shakily)
(Tim scoffing) Or were you
so desperate for a goddamn story
that you used me?
That you used my pain,
my family,
my dead brother, for what?
A class project? Your amusement?
- What, Nicole?
- You know what?
I got what I needed,
so thank you.
[Tim] You're just
an opportunist, Nicole.
You use people. You're a liar!
You're just another liar!
(tripod rattling)
Two months. (breathes heavily)
Two goddamn months.
I don't know if I want this
to be Sean's last adventure.
- (coin jangles)
- Heads, I finish.
Tails, well...
(sighs)
(camera chimes)
[Tim] Mom?
Mom, what are you doing?
(Gloria sobbing)
What is all this?
[Tim] It's for our documentary.
[Gloria] It's such a mess.
(breathes heavily)
It's such a mess.
Everything is so unclean.
[Tim] Mom, Mom, that's Sean's.
- (sobs)
- [Tim] Mom, stop it!
- [Gloria] No!
- [Tim] Mom, please!
- It must be purged!
- [Tim] Mom, please!
- Please! Please!
- (sobbing) Can't you see?
For us, we must be cleansed!
We must become clean!
Leave your mother alone!
[Tim] Dad, do you see
what she's doing?
She's throwing everything out!
Jesus Christ, Tim!
You know what?
I think we've had about enough
of your bullshit.
- [Tim] Wait, what?
- You haven't changed a bit!
You're just as selfish as ever!
- [Tim] Are you serious?
- You come back here,
you live off of our generosity!
You take advantage of us!
You dig through our garbage!
You're upsetting your mother!
[Tim] Dad, she's sick,
she needs help!
We have given you everything!
And you're ungrateful
and you're selfish!
I think it's time
for you to get out!
- [Tim] You're serious?
- Yeah, I'm serious!
I am serious, out!
[Tim] Sean's dead,
I'm all you got left.
- Honey, what are you doing?
- (matchbox rustling)
(sobbing) If we're clean,
we can start again.
[Tim] Mom?
[Donald] Baby, baby,
baby, baby, baby.
Come over here, come over here.
Come over here.
Come over here, come over here.
- (fire crackling)
- (fire extinguisher hissing)
(Gloria sobbing)
Baby, baby, baby, baby.
You okay?
(sobbing) No. No.
Calm down, calm down.
Calm down, calm down.
Calm down. It's okay. It's okay.
It's okay. It's okay. It's okay.
(sobbing) No, it's not okay.
It will never be okay.
I want you out. Out!
[Tim] You were so right, Owen.
There are, like,
these huge, massive forces
that are way beyond our control,
controlling us,
controlling everything.
It's all coded.
It's all predetermined
in our goddamn genes
and in history and shit.
I mean, who the hell
do we think we are?
There's no choices.
There's nothing we can do.
(sobbing) There's nothing
we can ever do.
There's just nothing
we can ever do.
There's nothing we can do.
It's a pattern.
It's a pattern.
- (loud thud)
- (Tim sighs)
(crickets chirping)
(sobbing) Sean just called me.
- I don't know how.
- (cellphone ringing)
(gasps)
(sighs) He's calling back.
(cellphone continues ringing)
Hello, Sean?
- (static buzzing)
- (Sean's breathes heavily)
(mumbles indistinctly,
distorted)
I can't hear you, Sean.
(Sean mumbles indistinctly,
distorted)
What? The song?
(Sean shouts indistinctly,
distorted)
- (feedback screeching)
- (screams)
(sobs softly)
(breathes deeply, sobbing)
Oh, what is happening?
(screams)
(breathes heavily)
(entrancing music
playing in the distance)
(gasps, breathes heavily)
(owl hooting)
[Tim] What the...?
(whispers) Oh, shit. (pants)
(machine beeping, whirring)
- [Tim] Alvarado's gold.
- (machine chiming)
- (feedback screeching)
- (Tim screaming)
- (distorted feedback echoing)
- (Tim screaming)
(Tim panting) Okay, okay.
Okay, it was here.
Last night it was...
it was right here, but...
I found it.
I was there.
I was at the tree house.
I somehow ended up back here,
but I was there.
I found Sean's tape.
I have the footage.
Jesus, I'm not crazy.
Sean wasn't crazy.
MKHEXE does ex-
Of course, I doubted it.
How could I not?
I mean, any sane person
would doubt it.
It's just one of those things
that you have to see to believe.
And I saw it. I can't articulate
what it is I saw.
You know, it's like I...
there's this blank space
in my brain
whenever
I try to think about it.
I just-- I can't...
I can't find the words, or...
- or the thoughts.
- (static buzzing)
(unsettling music playing)
I had a nightmare.
I had the goddamn nightmare.
(sucks teeth) I have it.
Merry Christmas, Mom.
(breathes heavily) Oh, shit--
...fucking way!
Nicole.
Nicole, we need to--
Listen, I told you
to leave me alone.
Nicole, please, please,
we need to talk.
- Just go away, Tim, please!
- Look, I know I screwed up.
I know I was an asshole,
but this is important,
- I really need--
- Listen, I don't want to talk
to you anymore,
and I've made that very clear.
- So please just leave me alone.
- I found it!
MKHEXE.
I found it.
Nicole, please. I'm--
I... I don't know who else.
- I found it.
- Is that bullshit?
(Nicole sobbing, echoing)
(Tim, distorted) Come on!
We gotta get to the car!
Come on! (screams)
So you saw MXHEXE?
Yeah, and what do you think?
I don't remember it.
I... I... I don't remember
what it's like, or...
how I got home or what happened
to the tree house.
I... I just... I don't know.
But you saw my footage, right?
You saw
that the tree house was there?
Yes.
Okay, good.
Good.
- Nicole?
- [Nicole] Yeah?
- I'm--
- [Nicole] It's ready.
- What?
- It's ready, are you?
Yeah. Yeah, let's do it.
(entrancing music
playing over speaker)
(static crackling)
(music distorts)
(distorted voices muttering)
- (Sean screams, distorted)
- (distorted feedback echoing)
- (high-pitched droning)
- (eerie music playing)
(distorted voices muttering)
- (Sean) I will build the key.
- (distorted voices muttering)
(Sean) I will open the gate.
(distorted voices muttering)
(Sean) We offend It.
We shall be punished.
(distorted voices muttering)
(Sean yells, distorted)
Ya ir harmur!
Ya r'luhhor Kzathguul!
(distorted feedback echoing)
- We can't--
- No, we need to go
to the police.
We need to tell somebody--
Nicole, you saw the sign
that Sean filmed--
Okay, there are groups out there
and they might be able
to help you.
Who knows
who could be infected?
(sighs)
Nicole, I... I'm scared, okay?
(sighs) I've been dreaming.
Tim, we need to get you help.
No, we can't.
We gotta get out of here.
It isn't safe. And I don't know
how much time I...
- Tim? Tim?
- (distorted feedback echoing)
Look, we're just gonna go in,
we're gonna get the box,
the drives, all of it.
Then we're gonna get out, okay?
(crickets chirping)
Okay.
All right, let's go.
- (car alarm beeps)
- (car doors slam)
(dog barking in the distance)
- [Tim] You ready?
- [Nicole] Yeah, in and out.
(door creaking)
(static buzzing over TV)
[Tim] Hey, guys?
(floorboards creaking)
[Tim] Steve?
Owen?
You guys okay?
(Nicole whispers)
Just grab the box, Tim.
- (static buzzing over TV)
- (distorted feedback echoing)
[Nicole] Tim, grab the box.
Grab the box!
- (Owen roars, distorted)
- (Tim screams)
- (Steve roars, distorted)
- (Nicole screams, grunts)
- (Steven huffs, pants)
- (Nicole pants, whimpers)
- (Steve roars, distorted)
- (Nicole screams)
(objects clattering)
- (Steve roars, distorted)
- (screams, grunts)
- (Steve roars, distorted)
- (Tim screams)
- (Nicole shrieks)
- (glass shattering)
- [Nicole] Are you okay?
- (Tim panting) I'm fine.
[Nicole] Okay, let's go,
let's go, let's go!
No, no, no, get the stuff!
We gotta get the stuff!
- (Nicole grunts) Hurry!
- [Tim] It's all wet!
[Nicole] What the hell
was I supposed to do?
[Tim] Go, go, go!
- Is that everything?
- [Nicole] It better be!
Come on. Come on,
we gotta go, we gotta go!
- (Steve roars, distorted)
- (Owen roars, distorted)
[Nicole] Go, go! Go, go,
go, go, go! come on, come on!
(Steve roars, distorted)
You wanna explain that thing?
Yeah, I thought since
you've been exposed to MKHEXE
that it'd be good
to chronicle your symptoms.
- Insanity?
- Your symptoms, just in case.
We're gonna find
a way out of this, okay?
No, I still think
we should get out of here
and get out of town,
just go, run.
[Nicole] Tim,
I'm worried that if we go,
your symptoms
are only gonna get worse.
(sighs) Oh, God.
I was wrong.
Sorry?
I was wrong, Nicole.
I'm... I'm sorry.
Just get some rest, okay?
(ominous music playing)
[Tim] Nicole? Nicole?
Ew!
Wow.
- (static crackling)
- (feedback screeching)
(Tim groaning)
So I've been looking
through everything
and I think I found something.
Tim won't come in here.
Something about the monitor.
Listen to this.
[Henry] There's this scientist,
this ex-Nazi guy.
[Det. Bryant] A Nazi?
[Henry] Yeah, man,
he had to be, okay?
Doctor Teufel.
Teufel or Teufel, I think
I've heard that name before.
The so-called Subproject
1101D memo,
"Sincerely,
Dr. Viktor G. Teufel,
"Lead Scientist, Propaganda
Division, T.S.S."
Tim said he wasn't able
to find anything on this guy,
but surprise, surprise,
I think things are changing
because I found him, Dr. Teufel,
or at least one
Viktor Gerhardt Teufel
at an assisted living center
a few hours away from here.
- (static buzzing)
- (feedback screeching)
(distorted feedback echoing)
(upbeat hip-hop music
playing over radio)
Dude.
You don't like this song?
(radio channels changing)
(pop song playing over radio)
What is this?
You don't listen to this?
(laughs) I don't know
how you can eat that shit.
What do you mean?
It's delicious.
- It's nasty!
- No.
It's fake cheese.
(mumbles) I don't care
if it's fake cheese.
- Oh, come on, grab more.
- I'm grabbing.
- (munches)
- (Tim sighs)
- I've done that a lot.
- What?
Like, let fear run my life,
make choices for me.
You, the fearless
journalist in training?
- (laughs)
- Say it ain't so.
(laughs) Why?
You've never been afraid
of whatever?
(gentle pop song
playing over radio)
I am now.
Yeah.
"What we fear, we create."
Sean wrote that too, right?
Yeah, he did.
Have you ever heard of
the law of attraction?
What, that hippie
new age bullshit
about believe it
and make it so, that stuff?
Yeah, but more like
positive thoughts
lead to positive outcomes,
whereas negative thoughts--
Lead to negative outcomes,
yeah. What of it?
"What we fear, we create"
kind of sounds like that, right?
(stammers) It's a version of it.
Sure, maybe. I guess.
Anyways, people used to believe
in the power of names,
like old taboos,
things you couldn't say like,
we've forgotten the name
for the word "bear."
- You, you just said it.
- No, no, its real name.
"Bear" just means "brown."
Slavic people were afraid
to say its name,
its real name in fear
that it would conjure it.
"What we fear, we create."
It just, it sounds like--
- (feedback screeching)
- (Tim screaming)
- Tim!
- (tires screeching)
(feedback screeching)
His heart's racing
a mile a minute.
We gotta get a doctor.
(Henry screaming)
[Det. Cameron] Whoa,
Henry, Henry!
(screams) It's coming,
it's coming!
(gunshots)
(man over recording)
- (static crackling)
- (distorted feedback whining)
[Meryem] There's a pattern.
A repeating pattern.
- (distorted feedback echoing)
- Phobos language test one.
(entrancing music playing
over laptop)
(Meryem breathes heavily)
- (ominous music playing)
- It found me.
- (feedback screeching)
- (gasps)
- (high-pitched droning)
- (screams)
(static buzzing)
- [Kim] Don't take my babies.
- [Carl] This is for the best.
- (static buzzes)
- [Carl] Trust me,
this is for the best.
[Kim] You're not stealing
my children!
(vase shatters)
(Kim breathing heavily)
You crazy bitch!
(screaming) No, no, no!
- Ya r'luhhor Kzathguul.
- Baby?
Ya r'luhhor Kzathguul!
- (Carl groaning)
- (Kim grunting)
(man over recording)
(speaking in foreign language)
(man over recording, in English)
(speaking in foreign language)
(man over recording, in English)
- (static crackling)
- (feedback buzzing)
Are you okay?
Where... where are we?
Okay, we're at the closest
police station I could find.
What's your passcode?
- What?
- Your phone passcode?
84-44.
Why... why are we
at a police station?
Because we need help, Tim.
Okay? you need help.
(sighs)
They're not gonna help us.
Tim, we're gonna go, okay?
How long...
how long was I out for?
[Nicole] Just come here
for a second.
- Ready?
- [Tim] Yeah.
(Tim breathing heavily)
Can I help you?
[Nicole] Yes,
we need to talk to a cop,
police officer, detective.
Are you here to report a crime?
- [Nicole] Yeah, sure.
- What kind?
(Nicole stammers) Murder.
Conspiracy to commit murder.
We need to talk
to an officer now.
Okay, okay.
You need to fill out forms.
[Nicole] We don't. (laughs)
Is he okay?
Do you need medical attention?
[Nicole] No, no,
he's not all right.
Okay, please just let us
talk to someone who matters.
- Okay.
- [Nicole] Now, please,
- thank you.
- (Tim breathing heavily)
[Punk Bunny] Bullshit!
I know my rights!
I know the birds aren't real.
They're brainwashing our dogs!
(police radio chattering)
[Tim] Okay. (sighs)
So you're here
to report a homicide?
Yes, yes, potentially several.
- Several?
- [Nicole] Yes.
And we have evidence,
we have videos, photos,
written evidence
about these murders.
And we have reason to believe
that there will be more.
Okay, so let's slow down
and begin at...
at the beginning.
Tell me about this
first supposed homicide.
- [Tim] It was my brother.
- Your brother was murdered?
[Tim] Yes.
Was that tonight?
Is that what that blood is?
- [Nicole] No.
- [Tim] No, in... in September.
- Sean wasn't--
- In September?
[Tim] You guys said he was,
it was a suicide.
He, he was murdered.
He didn't kill himself.
Okay, so who killed him?
[Tim] If we tell you,
it will kill you.
- Really?
- Okay, yeah, what Tim means
to say, I think, is that we have
video evidence of these people,
of Sean, his brother acting
suspicious the night he died.
- [Tim] Yes, exactly.
- [Nicole] Not to mention
- questions about how--
- Let me just stop
- you right there.
- [Nicole] No,
but I haven't even gotten
to where I'm trying to say-
I know, but I know
where you're going.
Look, we've been getting
this a lot recently, okay?
The guys around the station
are calling it the,
hey, Chuny, What are
they calling that thing?
- [Chuny] True Crime, Sarge.
- [William] Yeah,
the true crime effect.
- Have you heard of this?
- [Tim] What?
It's all the podcasts
and the documentary shows.
You guys watch Uncanny Fables?
It's not bad, it's not bad.
We watch it here at the station.
Look, because of that,
we've got every armchair sleuth
and keyboard warrior
coming in here telling me
how to do my job.
[Nicole] True, what?
We... we have an...
we have evidence of a murder.
- A whole goddamn box.
- [Tim] Look, look!
Ma'am, I'm gonna need to ask
you to calm down right now.
[Nicole] I'm calm, I'm calm.
I'm calm, okay? I'm just scared.
Scared of what?
[Nicole] I'm scared
of the people
who have been following us,
of the people who may or may not
have killed his brother.
- Who's following you?
- [Nicole] We don't know!
- Excuse me?
[Tim] You need to believe us.
- Please listen.
- Okay.
- [Tim] Please.
- Here's what's gonna happen.
You two are gonna go see
Officer Chuny over there.
You're gonna fill out a report.
- (distorted feedback echoing)
- (static buzzing)
- [Tim] Close your eyes!
- What?
Close your eyes! Come on!
- (distorted feedback echoing)
- (static buzzing)
- [Tim] Come on! Let's go!
- Tim! Tim! What's happening?
- (distorted feedback echoing)
- (static buzzing)
(Nicole screams)
[Tim] You're all right.
You're okay.
- (Nicole sobbing)
- [Tim] Go!
(gasps, groans)
- (Nicole sobbing)
- (Tim groans)
- Shit!
- (Nicole screaming)
- (Sergeant grunting)
- (Tim grunting)
- (kicks thudding)
- Come on!
- (Nicole sobbing)
- (footsteps thudding)
(Nicole sobbing)
[Tim] We gotta get
to the car! Come on!
(Nicole sobbing)
(Sergeant roars, distorted)
- (sobs, screams)
- (grunts)
Tim, Tim, Tim, Tim!
- (metal clangs)
- (Tim grunts)
(punch thuds)
(sobbing)
(car engine revving)
There's more!
There's more coming!
- (pants)
- (engine revving)
Go, go, go, go, go! Go!
(tires screeching)
(pants, sobs)
- (distorted feedback echoing)
- (static buzzing)
We're gonna get you
to the hospital, okay?
- You're gonna be all right.
- No, no.
No, no, you have to go
to a hospital.
No, no, no. (stutters)
Just take me to the college.
- You're bleeding!
- Please! (panting)
We're gonna broadcast it.
We're gonna tell the world.
(breathing heavily)
- Push down.
- Okay
- You ready?
- Yes, yes. Just, just...
(pants)
One last interview
for old time's sake.
(Nicole gasps, groans)
[Tim] Nicole,
we don't have to do this.
Huh? Tim, I've got this, okay?
Just the world needs to know.
(breathes heavily)
Hi, America.
My name is Nicole Martin,
and you need to know
your government is lying to you.
During the Cold War,
the government tried to create
some kind of mass
mind control device,
Project MKHEXE.
(groans)
- [Tim] Nicole.
- No, no, no, no, no, no.
I've gotta finish.
Okay, okay. (pants)
Project MKHEXE.
The government failed
to control minds
in the way they wanted to.
Instead, they created
a nightmare machine.
- (static buzzing)
- [Tim] Nicole.
No. (breathes heavily)
They opened a door to something.
- (desk thuds)
- Something unbelievable.
Something that wants us dead.
Something that is using MKHEXE--
- (static crackling)
- (feedback buzzing)
- [Tim] Nicole!
- Damn it, Tim!
- Won't you let me just finish!
- [Tim] Don't look, don't!
- (distorted feedback echoing)
- (static buzzing)
(Nicole choking)
- (distorted feedback echoing)
- (static buzzing)
[Tim] Nicole?
Nicole?
Hey, hey, Nicole. Hey, wake up.
Nicole?
No, no, no, no, no, no, no.
Please, Nicole.
(static crackles)
I would never hurt her.
I would never do
anything like that.
- (distorted feedback echoing)
- (static buzzing)
Ya r'luhhor Kzathguul!
- (Tim groaning)
- (static buzzing)
(muffled scream)
[Tim] Mom?
[Gloria] There, there my baby.
There, there my child.
It's okay.
Why don't I make you a sandwich?
- (Tim breathes heavily)
- [Gloria] Okay?
- [Tim] Yeah.
- [Gloria] Okay?
[Tim] Thanks, Mom.
(yawns)
Mom, I love you and I love Dad.
And I love you guys.
[Gloria] Oh,
we love you too, honey.
Now go in
and put your feet up, okay?
[Tim] Okay.
(sniffles, sighs)
(static on TV)
(ominous music playing)
- (distorted feedback echoing)
- (static buzzing)
(breathes heavily)
(static crackling)
He needs to see someone.
Do you think a shrink
is gonna know our son
better than we do? His parents?
[Gloria] Maybe a therapist
can help him.
Lord knows we've tried.
He doesn't do anything but,
but sit in that room
and play on the internet.
[Donald] Well, if you
hadn't babied him so much.
- Yeah, here we go again.
- I'm serious, Gloria.
The kid's fragile, he's soft.
I didn't make him that way.
[Gloria] He's your son too.
You are just as guilty as I am.
Look, I'm just trying to say
that maybe a therapist is...
is the kind of doctor who
could help him with whatever--
- (knife swishes)
- [Donald] Our son's not crazy.
You don't need to be crazy
to see a therapist.
We just need someone
to talk to the kid
because he sure as hell
ain't talking to us.
(sighs) You're right.
It might help figure
out what's going on and...
and it could help him
plan for what's next.
Because where he is right now,
honey, I fear for him.
- [Donald] I do too.
- We need to try.
He's our angel.
- (static crackles)
- Ya r'luhhor Kzathguul!
(Sean speaking in Akkadian)
- (Sean speaking in Akkadian)
- No!
- (punches thudding)
- (Donald groaning)
(Gloria gasps, in English)
Oh, no, my God!
- Are you okay?
- (sobs) No.
(both grunting)
(Gloria sobbing) Please don't!
- (both grunting)
- (bone crunches)
Oh, God.
Oh, God.
No, no, no, no. No, no, no.
- (static crackles)
- (distorted feedback buzzes)
(door creaks)
- (Gloria) Oh, hi dear.
- What are you doing here?
- You killed him.
- (Donald) Excuse me?
You killed Sean!
[Donald] Don't do
anything stupid, son.
- (static crackles)
- (distorted feedback buzzes)
- Tim? Tim?!
- (Tim screaming)
- Over here!
- (Tim groaning)
Tim!
- You did it!
- Tim!
- (Tim screams)
- (static crackling)
(static crackling)
(breathes heavily)
(static crackles)
- (distorted feedback echoing)
- (static buzzing)
Sean is not sick.
He's not crazy.
Look, you don't have to be
crazy to see a therapist.
We just need someone
to talk to the kid.
- (distorted feedback echoing)
- (static buzzing)
(Sean screaming)
- (Sean gasps)
- (metal clangs)
Because he sure as hell
ain't talking to us.
(sighs) I know.
(Sean sobbing)
It might help figure out
whatever's going on.
It could help him plan
for what's next.
Because where he is right now,
honey, I fear for him.
I won't. I will not.
I... I am in control.
You offend me!
[Donald] Let's go to bed.
- [Gloria] Oh, I know that look.
- [Donald] What look?
[Gloria] Why don't you go
warm up the bed for me?
- (Sean gagging)
- (rope creaking)
[Gloria] 'Cause somebody
has to take out the garbage.
- [Donald] I can do that.
- [Gloria] No, no. I've got it.
(Sean gagging)
(door creaks)
Sean?
Sean!
(static buzzes)
Oh, no, oh, God!
Oh, my God! (sobs)
Mom. Dad. (sobs)
(sobs)
- (distorted feedback echoing)
- (static buzzing)
No, no, stop hearing,
stop hearing!
Stop seeing, stop hearing!
Stop hearing, stop seeing!
(ominous music playing)
- (screams)
- (static buzzes)
[Tim] Dawn approaches,
I can feel it.
They kept me here all night.
They want me to finish it.
They want me to broadcast it.
[Nicole]
We're gonna broadcast it.
[Tim] So that others
hear the song too.
I'm sorry for everything.
I take the blame,
even though it was inside me,
I did this.
I climbed the pyramid.
I gave them the key.
And It needs more.
"What we fear, we create."
Don't believe this.
Don't believe any of it.
Don't listen to this!
Don't listen to this!
Don't give It life!
Don't! Stop listening!
Just stop!
- (distorted feedback echoing)
- (static buzzing)
- (Morse code beeping)
- (dramatic music playing)
- (distorted feedback echoing)
- (static buzzing)
(static crackles)
(ominous music playing)
(music concludes)