Queen of Bones (2024) Movie Script
1
- What are you doing?
- Get those flowers
out of your hair.
We gotta go check the traps.
We got one.
What happened?
- Sam!
Sam, have you seen
that old symbol before?
- No, we've never been back
that far.
- I ain't seen anything
like it.
- Don't say it.
You sound ignorant.
This depression has
deepened by events from abroad,
but you're beyond the control
of either or our citizens
or our government.
Although it is
but a passing incident...
- Did I hear a rifle shot?
- There was a wolf.
- How's that?
- He came right up on us
when we were checking the traps.
- You got anything
you wanna tell me?
Mm-hmm.
Go clean that rifle.
That's enough!
You should wash up now
for dinner.
It's wonderful.
What do you think, Sam?
- Wonderful.
- I used flour to thicken it,
and there's starch
from the potatoes.
- And with a single rabbit,
she made a birthday feast.
You sound just like your mother.
- Really?
Please, Father, tell us
how she played.
- You know how she played.
- Well, I forget
how she played.
- Well, when your mother played
her violin,
you could hear all the beauty
and sorrow
that words cannot describe,
a little like when you two
were born.
So...
...14 years ago today,
your mother, Isobel,
went into labor.
And for more than a day
and a night,
she fought to deliver you
into this world.
By the time she drew
her last breath,
the doctors were standing
in her blood.
Then...
...they commenced to cutting
you two out,
first you, Lily, then you.
And they placed you both
in my arms.
And you were beautiful.
For in the midst of death,
there is life.
- Have mercy upon me,
O God,
according to
Your loving kindness,
according to the multitude
of Your tender mercies,
blot out my transgressions,
for my sin is always before me.
- Amen.
- Amen.
- Sammy.
Sammy, come on.
Samuel!
Up! Down! Left! Right!
- What's wrong?
- Nothing.
- I can hear you.
- I didn't say anything.
- You're loud when you're quiet.
- Don't you notice his story
changes every year?
And why keep telling us that?
- It's important.
To remember.
- Like we could ever forget.
- Our mother died
so that we might live.
- He's hiding something.
Did you see that?
- Ain't nothing you can do
about the wind.
- What are you doing?
Can you get ready
for Mr. Jensen, please?
- Of course, Papa.
- Good girl.
Bravo.
Thank you, my dear.
Mr. Jensen.
- She really is something.
- Yes, the soundboard
is spruce, of course.
- I was speaking
of your daughter,
Mr. Brass.
The bridge is maple, I see.
And the pegs, are they...
are they ebony?
- Yes, special order.
- Exquisite craftsmanship.
And the rosin is made from...
- From right here.
Organ pine.
- Ah.
Our conservatory in Portland
always has room for a talent
such as your daughter.
- Oh, you're very kind.
- I'm not being polite,
Mr. Brass.
There was a time when I openly
impugned the privileged,
but I'm getting old,
tired and humbled
by an extravagance of...
of suffering.
- Mm-hmm.
- The machinery is broke,
I think,
but our spirits are not yet.
Music...
Music is vital to the fight.
I believe your daughter
can contribute.
- She's not safe.
- Excuse me?
- How many violins
would you like, Mr. Jensen?
- We have many young students
in the conservatory.
I assure you, she will be
very well cared for.
- With respect, sir,
it is a father's concern.
I'll be sending her
to the convent very soon.
Now, how many violins
will we be needing, Mr. Jensen?
- Oh, we...
...we wouldn't need
more than six or...
or seven instruments.
I can have an invoice sent over
within a week.
- Quit spying.
It was a pleasure
to make your acquaintance.
Thank you.
- My apologies for...
overstepping, sir.
- Think nothing of it.
- Respectfully.
- Ah.
- Morning, ma'am.
- Good morning, Samuel.
Lily.
- Ma'am.
- Hi, Lily.
- George.
- Happy belated birthday,
twins.
We brought you some socks.
To keep you warm.
- Thank you, Miss Clemens.
- You didn't have to do that.
- Nonsense.
This is a special day.
- Morning, Miss Clemens.
- Morning.
- Lily.
I like the way you look.
I'd have thought summer
had come early.
That's sweet of you, George.
You read that in a book,
somewhere?
- Actually, I did.
- Hey, Pinky,
come on, quit jawin'
and hand me those groceries.
- You know, I really wish
you didn't call me that.
- And I wish it wasn't
so hot out,
but you don't see me
hollering at the sun.
George, don't...
don't mind him.
He's just...
He's just jealous
he don't have white hair.
- Bacon, and I...
threw in a few bricks
of my sweet cream butter.
- Oh. You didn't have
to do that, Ida.
I know you're struggling
to make ends meet.
- No, no, no.
There's nothing like butter
to make a house a home.
Oh, George, I told you to wait!
On that,
you know, I swear
that boy is touched.
- I... sorry!
And then,
there's his complexion.
My God, how he suffers
affliction.
But at least, he'll be able
to run a grocery one day.
- What is all that?
- What he needs is a father.
I see it every day.
Take that rear tire,
it's been leaking all summer,
but damn if I know enough
to show him how to patch it.
- Ida May. What's in the trunk?
- Isobel's old clothes.
The priest sent them over.
- Hmm.
Uh, Lily, darling?
What don't you fix Miss Clemens
a cup of coffee?
- Thank you, Lily.
I take it sweet.
She is certainly
growing up fast.
- Why did you bring
that trunk here?
- They were among
your father-in-law's things
stored at the church.
- Mm-hmm.
- He was killed yesterday.
A tree came down on him.
The funeral is tomorrow.
I know you swore off seeing
your mother-in-law, but...
why else would she send
that trunk along,
if not as a gesture of truce?
Blessed are the peacemakers,
Malcolm.
- Sam.
Take that trunk.
Put it in the cellar.
Bring these keys straight back.
- Good housekeeping?
Shit, Pinky.
- Yeah. I wish you didn't
call me that.
- And I wish you'd bring
the right magazine.
I told you: Motor Mechanics,
Popular Mechanics,
anything with cars.
- I told you: I need something
I can trade the other boys for.
I don't mean no dried turd
this time.
- That was a buffalo chip.
Indians use them
for their fires.
It made
my hands stink.
What's this?
What is that?
We saw this. This symbol.
Carved on the post in the woods.
Maybe it's a witch book.
- There's no such thing.
- What about the Witch
of the Woods?
That's just a story.
The Witch of the Woods
is real,
the Mad Scourge, the...
- Queen of Bones.
- Says who? Kids in town?
Christ, you're gullible.
- Hey, don't take
the Lord's name.
Yeah, I heard
some guys know a witch.
- Drykkur.
It says, "Witch's truth potion."
Is that Mother's handwriting?
Lily?
Is the coffee ready?
- All right. They're waiting
on the coffee.
Go.
Go.
- It's a strange thing.
One book, buried in a trunk
full of clothes,
like Mother was hiding it.
I think Father's been lying
about her.
- You don't know if it's
even hers.
It is.
Besides, who else would it
belong to?
- I don't know.
- Who else would have etched
that rune in the woods?
- I don't know.
But what I do know
is that she died
and left us here with him.
And nothing changes that.
- Well, if Papa hasn't told us
something,
there's probably
a reason for it.
- Then what else do you need
to know?
The truth.
I want to know the truth.
The truth about what?
- About why we're going
into town.
- Where did you hear that?
- It's your shoulders.
You were talking
to Miss Clemens
and your shoulders were...
sad.
- Your grandad passed.
His funeral is tomorrow,
so be ready to go
by sun up. Okay?
- Let's get dressed early
and go to the cellar.
Sam.
- Do not defile yourself
by any animal or bird
or anything that moves
along the ground.
You have set me apart
from the nations to be my own.
A man or woman who is a medium
or spiritualist among us
must be put to death.
- This is the shawl
from the photo.
Do you think
the witch gave her this?
- It's strange.
Our mother writes in your hand.
- Since when do you notice
my writing?
- I see all the misspellings.
- Shh. Look.
Why would Mother draw
these animals on that symbol?
Hmm!
A toad, a wolf's skull
and an owl feather.
We collect all three
and take them to the witch.
She'll make a potion
that somehow reveals
the hidden truth.
- How are we gonna find a witch?
- George says some kids in town
may know.
- What about the potion?
Who's gonna drink it?
- I will.
- Look at that.
It's a 15 GMC flatbed
for hauling.
You know, someday,
I'm gonna work in a garage
in the city.
I've been studying on it.
Nothing more American
than a car.
It gives you the freedom
to go anywhere.
- Now, what do I tell you?
- We're not to speak
unless spoken to.
- You know, she disowned
your mother.
- How's the coffee?
- It's hot.
- Not bad, huh?
I told you.
She's coming of age.
That's what worries me.
It needn't.
But I can reach out
to Saint-Mary's if you'd like.
- Mmh. Yes, perhaps it's time.
Lois.
Can we speak in private?
- You have something to say?
Say it.
- I'm sorry.
- You need to speak up.
I said I'm sorry
for your loss.
- My husband lived
a decent life,
if this lot's any indication.
Though it sorrows me we haven't
a pint to see him off proper.
But I'll tell you, Malcolm.
What sorrows me most...
...you, coming here,
of all the days.
- But you... you made a gesture.
- A gesture?
- Mm-hmm. The trunk.
- Your husband always said
when he passed
he'd want Isobel's old things
to go to her children,
including the trunk of clothes.
There you have it.
Good intentions.
- Maybe.
Your daughter would want us
to make our peace.
- It's a sin to speak
for the dead.
You want peace?
Then ask forgiveness.
- I've done nothing wrong.
- You moved with her
to those woods.
Away from her family.
- Well, she couldn't
walk through the valley
just by sitting in church.
- She wasn't walking,
for Christ's sake,
she was wandering the shadows
that reside under the pines,
her head full of those goddamn
witch books!
- Lois.
- It was up to you, Malcolm...
...to keep her on the path.
To keep her safe.
- And I tried.
- So you say.
- These are forged
in the belly of the Earth.
- Forged?
- Made in a fire?
- Made out of lava rock.
Obsidian.
- Sam!
- Pinky, goddamn it!
- Uh, sorry.
Someone knows a witch.
Let's see if they go for it.
- Here he is, Arvin.
- Thanks, Pinky. Now, get lost.
- His name's George.
- My mistake.
- Get out of here.
It's a Model TT.
125-inch wheelbase.
Gearbox for hill climbing.
It looks like a... 1925.
- Man knows his cars.
- But does he know who we are?
- I've heard the rumours.
- I've heard of you too.
Sam Brass, lover of automobiles
and peddler of dried
coyote turds.
- You mean buffalo chips.
- As far as I'm concerned,
you can hustle, Sam.
You just need...
a better product.
- Are you talking about
bootlegging?
- Me and Studs could use a hand
moving product to Portland.
Help us on this next shipment
and I can help you.
I heard you're looking
for a witch.
- What witch?
- An old hag, living in the back
of the woods.
- Just some kind of alchemist.
- No, a real witch
is what I heard.
- The mad scourge?
- Whatever she is,
she's half mad and blind
as night.
She told me once she prefers
the dark.
I say, "What in the hell for?"
She says, "If you look into
the darkness long enough,
you can see things there
no one else can see."
So, wanna see her?
Then you gotta help us
move this liquor.
- Okay.
How are we gonna do this?
That's good news.
But after
he takes us to the witch,
I have to move booze.
You mean bootlegging?
- He knows where she lives.
- Why should we believe him?
- His kin's been in these woods
longer than anyone.
He'd know.
Papa?
Papa.
Papa.
- Hmm. Yeah?
- Is it true what Grandma Lois
was saying about my mother?
- No.
No, of course not.
No, she's grieving, and...
grief makes people cruel.
Grief can...
...infect whole towns,
whole nations.
That's why we live out here,
away from all that.
Goodnight.
Lily.
- Yes?
- Say your prayers.
- Yes, Papa.
- What did he say?
- He's definitely hiding
something.
- So let's go see
the witch then, tomorrow.
- And ask her what?
We have to do it right.
Remember? It's all in that book.
Where's that page
with the animals on it?
Hmm.
- Hide.
The candle.
Back upstairs.
Did you open that window?
- What happened to you?
- Went on a walk.
- Where did you get that shawl?
- From the cellar.
- Wait.
How?
- I took the keys
from your room.
- Lily, I will not tolerate
disobedience.
If you wanna sneak around
in the dark, that is fine,
take the rest of the day...
- No, wait!
- ...and the night.
- No! No!
- Is it in you?
Is it in you?
Is it in you?
- Please, Papa, how long
am I to stay down here?
- Hide with the snakes.
- No!
- And the beasts of the field.
- No!
- If that is what you mean!
Papa!
No!
- Stack the rest of that wood.
Papa!
Sam!
Sam, please!
Sam!
Sam!
Sam!
- Is everything all right?
- Your sister's behaviour,
it's not like her.
If you knew anything,
would you tell me?
- Yes, sir.
- Yes you'd tell me
or yes you know something?
Samuel.
- I'd tell you.
I just--
- Are you keeping secrets?
- If I say no,
would you believe me?
Focus, deeper
your spirit towards the wind.
- And Lily needs our strength.
She's changing,
she's becoming a woman.
And this affects
her temperament.
Now, it would be impolite
to acknowledge such things,
like staring at a cripple.
But...
...we can set an example.
- Yes, sir.
- Keep her on the path.
Only our faith
will hold the darkness at bay.
The toad and the wolf
speak the hidden truth.
Play this melody on your strings
to rouse a feather from the owl.
To get your wish,
write these staves on calfskin.
Write this on parchment
and keep it with you always.
Or the elements of water
and earth and sky.
- For he that troubleth
his own house shall inherit...
Focus, deeper your spirit
towards the wind.
The words and divine within
to harness the elements.
The skull of a wolf...
to tame others of its kind.
Did you get the toad?
- It's safe.
- Thank you.
Remember the wolf carcass
we saw in the woods last week?
- We can't go through
with this.
He knows something's wrong.
- Well then,
we're on the right path.
- After what he just did to you?
- He only hurts us
because he loves us.
- It's probably what Isaac
thought...
- Just listen.
- ...when Abraham tried
to sacrifice--
- It doesn't matter
what Isaac thought.
- Sure, there's no commitment
that speaks of honouring like--
- Goddamn you, will you
just listen to me?
This is the reason
we're closer to her
than we've ever been before,
finding out what she believed.
If we stop now,
we won't ever know who she was.
And we won't ever know
who we are.
- Did you just take
the Lord's name?
- Yes, I believe I did.
Come on.
Blessed are those
who wash their robes,
that they may have the right
to the tree of life
and they may enter
the city by the gates.
Do not defile yourselves
by any animal or bird
or anything that moves
along the ground.
You have set me apart
from the nations to be my own.
A man or woman who is a medium
or spiritualist among us
must be put to death.
- Stay back.
- Forgive those who trespass
against us,
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
- Get back!
- Bring the flame.
I said, "Get back!"
Get back!
Be gone.
Be gone.
- Good morning.
- Morning.
- It's important
that you understand,
everything that I do,
everything,
is for your protection.
- From what?
- The world,
my darling, the world.
It's full of wolves.
And you're just a lamb.
- Like Mother was.
- Oh, she was a Saint,
you know that.
- Do I?
To me and Sam, she's just
an idea that we pray to,
but we don't really know
who she was
or what she really felt.
- You've been putting ideas
in your head?
- I think I've had plenty
of time down here
to form my own opinion, Father.
- You know, I taught you violin
so that you could know
your mother in a way
that neither Sam nor I
ever could.
Play the music she loved. Hmm?
That'll teach you
everything you need to know.
- Right.
- Lily.
- May I go?
- Hi, Lily!
Hey, honey,
go get the seed from the trunk.
- Ida.
- I'm sorry to stop by
unannounced.
- No. No need to be sorry.
- Sam.
Would you mind helping George?
I brought some seed.
- What?
- For the garden.
- Oh. It's... very kind.
Huh...
Lily?
Would you bring some coffee
to the workshop?
- Yes, Father.
- Please.
Go into my...
my workshop here.
- I just wanted to apologize.
I really thought the old woman
had changed.
- Oh, yes.
I was optimistic too.
- I'm so sorry.
- Would you quit being sorry?
Thank you, Lily.
Leave us, please.
We'll help ourselves.
- Are you all right?
You seem...
- Mm-hmm.
I have been a little distracted.
- Don't let that old woman
curdle your cream.
She has always been hateful.
- She's right about one thing.
There is a curse on this place.
I mean, in the walls,
under the floor boards,
among the pines,
the same ones that killed
the old man, and...
brought that trunk back here.
A current of evil.
And now, it's infected
my daughter.
- You're certain?
- It started on her birthday.
Just little things, at first,
just like her mother.
The lying and the...
sneaking around, and...
fits of anger.
- I told you.
She's coming of age.
- It's more insidious than that.
- I feared as much.
I did reach out to Saint-Mary's.
They're expanding their school.
You were right.
If you wanna keep Lily
on the path,
she belongs with the sisters.
I can take her there for you.
As early as tonight.
I just want
to protect her.
You will be.
Don't worry.
You will never be alone.
- Ida...
- So...
So I can take her?
- Yes. Take her!
- Thank you.
For the coffee.
Lily.
- What?
- You think that I'm here
to compete with you
for your father's affection.
Why would I do that?
- Because you need him.
Because business is slow.
- A year from now,
it'll still be a man
running this country.
My money is on that governor
from New York, Roosevelt.
We can wash their pants, Lily,
but we will never wear them.
The truth is your mother
was too free-spirited
to accept that and it hurt her.
And it hurt your father.
So be a good girl.
And be gracious.
For all that he has given you.
- Are you okay, sweetie?
What happened?
That woman.
I saw her putting her hands
all over him like a...
snake, with her...
- Quails.
- Come on. You should have
seen him.
And that's not even
the worst of it.
They're sending me
to the convent, Sam.
- When?
- Tonight.
- Shit.
- We have to go now.
To see the witch.
- What do you need that for?
- You'll see.
- Which way are we headed?
- She carved a rune over there
where we found the wolf.
And down there with the toad.
- So it's like a compass.
- So the owl is...
- North.
- Sam.
Sam.
- What are you doing?
- Where are they going?
- Probably waiting on a steamer.
Near the Portland limit,
it's got a salon, library
and a barber shop.
Now, that's a 4-8-2
Mountain Type engine.
"Next time, try the train,
travel while you sleep."
But then, they'll be jumping
a rusty, old boxcar
right in the rails.
- Sam.
- Hmm?
- I love you.
No matter what.
- Why are you
telling me this?
We're not gonna die.
Don't be silly.
- Hey, Sam.
- Hey.
- And you must be Lily.
- Hi.
- Didn't think yous were coming.
- The witch up this way?
- Through the fallen trees.
Leave your violin here.
You look real nice.
After you, Miss Lily Brass.
- Hello?
- Hello?
Excuse us.
- The door was open.
- Two hounds and a bitch.
What brings such a litter
my way?
- It's Arvin.
I brought some business.
- We heard tell you're a witch.
- I've been called
lots of things.
- And that you make potions.
- That depends on what for.
- For the hidden truth.
- A potion will cost you.
- How much?
- First time buyers?
One silver dollar.
- After we get what we came for.
- That's not how it works.
- Well, it has to.
- Who are you?
- That's what I wanna find out.
- Follow me.
Lay your victuals there.
- My father is Malcolm Brass.
He married a woman named Isobel.
Did you know her?
- I know lots of people.
- What do you know?
- Hush now. And see.
You wanna know the truth?
I'm more than just
an old witch, Lillian.
- How do you know my name?
- I was there
when she named you.
It was me who pulled you,
screaming, from her guts.
She even gave me
your umbilicals as a keepsake.
- You're lying.
- Your daddy come to me.
Said he don't want no doctor
from town knowing about Isobel.
Said I was capable enough.
- But she died.
- No one died on my watch,
Samuel.
I was good at midwifing,
even without my eyes.
Your mama was alive and well
when I left her.
But no doctor,
no one would ever believe
an old hag like me.
- Why would Father lie?
- That's something you're gonna
have to ask him yourself.
Arvin!
- Ma'am.
- Stay with Lillian here,
in case she gets sick.
Let her get her wits together.
Sam, come on!
I'll show you
how to load up the crates.
- Are you gonna be okay, Lily?
- Hurry up, Sam.
- She'll be fine.
- Sam.
- I brought you the witch
and now you're gonna
move liquor.
- Seven runs through that still
makes us eight gallons
of pure liquor,
but that's high shots
till we cut it with water,
putting our final yield
at 12 gallons
of good clean whiskey.
You follow?
What's wrong?
Do you need to lie down?
- It's hard work,
stacking dozens of these,
but you and Lily
come from a tough family, Sam.
I admire your resolve.
You know, Arvin told me
she was pretty too.
Explains why he was eyeing her
in there.
What the hell?
- Lily!
Lily, where are you?
- Get the hell out of here!
- Sam...
- Ungrateful little bastard!
- Come on, stay with me!
- I will show you!
Lily!
- Don't be afraid.
- I'll show you!
- You okay?
What is it?
Hello?
- Oh!
I didn't hear you come in.
- What are you doing here?
- The Lord's good work,
Lily.
I wanna help you.
George and I are driving you
to the convent,
but he's out back,
he's laying seed.
- I don't wanna go
to Saint-Mary's.
- Oh, it's for the best,
trust me.
I packed up your suitcase.
Now, go gather up the rest
of your things like a good girl.
- Yes, ma'am.
It's a long road, though.
Allow me to fix you
a cup of coffee before we go.
- Oh, no, that's alright.
- She makes a decent cup,
Miss Clemens.
- Oh, fine, then.
- Where's my father?
Um, out in the workshop.
- The coffee's on the top shelf.
I can't reach. Do you mind?
- Um...
I'm not seeing it.
- Maybe at the bottom?
- Ah!
- Thank you.
- What are you doing?
- Making space for the devotion
of prayer
to stay the advance of darkness.
- What darkness?
- The darkness that you...
...brought into this house.
It was your job, Sam,
to keep her on the path.
- He did.
All the way
to the midwife's house.
- The midwife?
All right, you...
...you can't understand.
- What did you do to our mother?
- I loved her.
Her quietude, her music...
That's not true.
- The darkness had gotten
into her at a young age.
I didn't know it
until we moved out here,
when she started to change,
to stray from the path.
- And that book?
- The Galdrabk?
Black Books of Elverum.
She spent more and more time
in those woods alone,
just reading and reading.
I burned every one
that I could find,
yet still she talked with beasts
and carved pagan symbols
in the trees.
- So she was the Witch
of the Woods.
- People began to suspect.
- The Queen of Bones.
- Did you hurt her?
- No, Sam, I did not.
- She came down with the flu
when she was eight months along
with you two.
When the blind hag
delivered you,
I took you both in my arms.
Your mother insisted on nursing,
but the flu was like a plague.
That year, it was still killing
people then.
I knew it was the will of God,
and that is why I refused
the doctors
and locked her in the cellar.
She died a week later.
Though, I do believe she atoned.
- How could you?
- How could I not?
I ensured that neither darkness
nor madness
found a foothold here.
And they wouldn't have,
until you went looking.
My God, Lily,
on you go.
And may God have mercy on you.
- Where is she buried?
- What?
- Her bones, where are they?
- I burned her.
The wolves took the rest.
Now, go on.
Get out of here.
- Malcolm.
- Take her away, please.
Ida!
Ida.
Ida? Ida? Look at me.
Look at me.
Ida. Ida.
Dear God.
What have you done?
- Let us go.
- What have you done?
- Please. Please, put that down.
- By Christ, I will not
allow darkness in this place!
- Stay back!
- That, I cannot do, Samuel.
Now, look upon your sins
and allow me to help.
I love you both.
But this will stop!
And it will stop now!
May God help us all!
- Father.
Father.
Blessed are the merciful.
- For they shall receive mercy.
Which way do you wanna go?
- Portland.
Rose City Conservatory.
- Then what?
- Let's see where the wind
blows.
- What are you doing?
- Get those flowers
out of your hair.
We gotta go check the traps.
We got one.
What happened?
- Sam!
Sam, have you seen
that old symbol before?
- No, we've never been back
that far.
- I ain't seen anything
like it.
- Don't say it.
You sound ignorant.
This depression has
deepened by events from abroad,
but you're beyond the control
of either or our citizens
or our government.
Although it is
but a passing incident...
- Did I hear a rifle shot?
- There was a wolf.
- How's that?
- He came right up on us
when we were checking the traps.
- You got anything
you wanna tell me?
Mm-hmm.
Go clean that rifle.
That's enough!
You should wash up now
for dinner.
It's wonderful.
What do you think, Sam?
- Wonderful.
- I used flour to thicken it,
and there's starch
from the potatoes.
- And with a single rabbit,
she made a birthday feast.
You sound just like your mother.
- Really?
Please, Father, tell us
how she played.
- You know how she played.
- Well, I forget
how she played.
- Well, when your mother played
her violin,
you could hear all the beauty
and sorrow
that words cannot describe,
a little like when you two
were born.
So...
...14 years ago today,
your mother, Isobel,
went into labor.
And for more than a day
and a night,
she fought to deliver you
into this world.
By the time she drew
her last breath,
the doctors were standing
in her blood.
Then...
...they commenced to cutting
you two out,
first you, Lily, then you.
And they placed you both
in my arms.
And you were beautiful.
For in the midst of death,
there is life.
- Have mercy upon me,
O God,
according to
Your loving kindness,
according to the multitude
of Your tender mercies,
blot out my transgressions,
for my sin is always before me.
- Amen.
- Amen.
- Sammy.
Sammy, come on.
Samuel!
Up! Down! Left! Right!
- What's wrong?
- Nothing.
- I can hear you.
- I didn't say anything.
- You're loud when you're quiet.
- Don't you notice his story
changes every year?
And why keep telling us that?
- It's important.
To remember.
- Like we could ever forget.
- Our mother died
so that we might live.
- He's hiding something.
Did you see that?
- Ain't nothing you can do
about the wind.
- What are you doing?
Can you get ready
for Mr. Jensen, please?
- Of course, Papa.
- Good girl.
Bravo.
Thank you, my dear.
Mr. Jensen.
- She really is something.
- Yes, the soundboard
is spruce, of course.
- I was speaking
of your daughter,
Mr. Brass.
The bridge is maple, I see.
And the pegs, are they...
are they ebony?
- Yes, special order.
- Exquisite craftsmanship.
And the rosin is made from...
- From right here.
Organ pine.
- Ah.
Our conservatory in Portland
always has room for a talent
such as your daughter.
- Oh, you're very kind.
- I'm not being polite,
Mr. Brass.
There was a time when I openly
impugned the privileged,
but I'm getting old,
tired and humbled
by an extravagance of...
of suffering.
- Mm-hmm.
- The machinery is broke,
I think,
but our spirits are not yet.
Music...
Music is vital to the fight.
I believe your daughter
can contribute.
- She's not safe.
- Excuse me?
- How many violins
would you like, Mr. Jensen?
- We have many young students
in the conservatory.
I assure you, she will be
very well cared for.
- With respect, sir,
it is a father's concern.
I'll be sending her
to the convent very soon.
Now, how many violins
will we be needing, Mr. Jensen?
- Oh, we...
...we wouldn't need
more than six or...
or seven instruments.
I can have an invoice sent over
within a week.
- Quit spying.
It was a pleasure
to make your acquaintance.
Thank you.
- My apologies for...
overstepping, sir.
- Think nothing of it.
- Respectfully.
- Ah.
- Morning, ma'am.
- Good morning, Samuel.
Lily.
- Ma'am.
- Hi, Lily.
- George.
- Happy belated birthday,
twins.
We brought you some socks.
To keep you warm.
- Thank you, Miss Clemens.
- You didn't have to do that.
- Nonsense.
This is a special day.
- Morning, Miss Clemens.
- Morning.
- Lily.
I like the way you look.
I'd have thought summer
had come early.
That's sweet of you, George.
You read that in a book,
somewhere?
- Actually, I did.
- Hey, Pinky,
come on, quit jawin'
and hand me those groceries.
- You know, I really wish
you didn't call me that.
- And I wish it wasn't
so hot out,
but you don't see me
hollering at the sun.
George, don't...
don't mind him.
He's just...
He's just jealous
he don't have white hair.
- Bacon, and I...
threw in a few bricks
of my sweet cream butter.
- Oh. You didn't have
to do that, Ida.
I know you're struggling
to make ends meet.
- No, no, no.
There's nothing like butter
to make a house a home.
Oh, George, I told you to wait!
On that,
you know, I swear
that boy is touched.
- I... sorry!
And then,
there's his complexion.
My God, how he suffers
affliction.
But at least, he'll be able
to run a grocery one day.
- What is all that?
- What he needs is a father.
I see it every day.
Take that rear tire,
it's been leaking all summer,
but damn if I know enough
to show him how to patch it.
- Ida May. What's in the trunk?
- Isobel's old clothes.
The priest sent them over.
- Hmm.
Uh, Lily, darling?
What don't you fix Miss Clemens
a cup of coffee?
- Thank you, Lily.
I take it sweet.
She is certainly
growing up fast.
- Why did you bring
that trunk here?
- They were among
your father-in-law's things
stored at the church.
- Mm-hmm.
- He was killed yesterday.
A tree came down on him.
The funeral is tomorrow.
I know you swore off seeing
your mother-in-law, but...
why else would she send
that trunk along,
if not as a gesture of truce?
Blessed are the peacemakers,
Malcolm.
- Sam.
Take that trunk.
Put it in the cellar.
Bring these keys straight back.
- Good housekeeping?
Shit, Pinky.
- Yeah. I wish you didn't
call me that.
- And I wish you'd bring
the right magazine.
I told you: Motor Mechanics,
Popular Mechanics,
anything with cars.
- I told you: I need something
I can trade the other boys for.
I don't mean no dried turd
this time.
- That was a buffalo chip.
Indians use them
for their fires.
It made
my hands stink.
What's this?
What is that?
We saw this. This symbol.
Carved on the post in the woods.
Maybe it's a witch book.
- There's no such thing.
- What about the Witch
of the Woods?
That's just a story.
The Witch of the Woods
is real,
the Mad Scourge, the...
- Queen of Bones.
- Says who? Kids in town?
Christ, you're gullible.
- Hey, don't take
the Lord's name.
Yeah, I heard
some guys know a witch.
- Drykkur.
It says, "Witch's truth potion."
Is that Mother's handwriting?
Lily?
Is the coffee ready?
- All right. They're waiting
on the coffee.
Go.
Go.
- It's a strange thing.
One book, buried in a trunk
full of clothes,
like Mother was hiding it.
I think Father's been lying
about her.
- You don't know if it's
even hers.
It is.
Besides, who else would it
belong to?
- I don't know.
- Who else would have etched
that rune in the woods?
- I don't know.
But what I do know
is that she died
and left us here with him.
And nothing changes that.
- Well, if Papa hasn't told us
something,
there's probably
a reason for it.
- Then what else do you need
to know?
The truth.
I want to know the truth.
The truth about what?
- About why we're going
into town.
- Where did you hear that?
- It's your shoulders.
You were talking
to Miss Clemens
and your shoulders were...
sad.
- Your grandad passed.
His funeral is tomorrow,
so be ready to go
by sun up. Okay?
- Let's get dressed early
and go to the cellar.
Sam.
- Do not defile yourself
by any animal or bird
or anything that moves
along the ground.
You have set me apart
from the nations to be my own.
A man or woman who is a medium
or spiritualist among us
must be put to death.
- This is the shawl
from the photo.
Do you think
the witch gave her this?
- It's strange.
Our mother writes in your hand.
- Since when do you notice
my writing?
- I see all the misspellings.
- Shh. Look.
Why would Mother draw
these animals on that symbol?
Hmm!
A toad, a wolf's skull
and an owl feather.
We collect all three
and take them to the witch.
She'll make a potion
that somehow reveals
the hidden truth.
- How are we gonna find a witch?
- George says some kids in town
may know.
- What about the potion?
Who's gonna drink it?
- I will.
- Look at that.
It's a 15 GMC flatbed
for hauling.
You know, someday,
I'm gonna work in a garage
in the city.
I've been studying on it.
Nothing more American
than a car.
It gives you the freedom
to go anywhere.
- Now, what do I tell you?
- We're not to speak
unless spoken to.
- You know, she disowned
your mother.
- How's the coffee?
- It's hot.
- Not bad, huh?
I told you.
She's coming of age.
That's what worries me.
It needn't.
But I can reach out
to Saint-Mary's if you'd like.
- Mmh. Yes, perhaps it's time.
Lois.
Can we speak in private?
- You have something to say?
Say it.
- I'm sorry.
- You need to speak up.
I said I'm sorry
for your loss.
- My husband lived
a decent life,
if this lot's any indication.
Though it sorrows me we haven't
a pint to see him off proper.
But I'll tell you, Malcolm.
What sorrows me most...
...you, coming here,
of all the days.
- But you... you made a gesture.
- A gesture?
- Mm-hmm. The trunk.
- Your husband always said
when he passed
he'd want Isobel's old things
to go to her children,
including the trunk of clothes.
There you have it.
Good intentions.
- Maybe.
Your daughter would want us
to make our peace.
- It's a sin to speak
for the dead.
You want peace?
Then ask forgiveness.
- I've done nothing wrong.
- You moved with her
to those woods.
Away from her family.
- Well, she couldn't
walk through the valley
just by sitting in church.
- She wasn't walking,
for Christ's sake,
she was wandering the shadows
that reside under the pines,
her head full of those goddamn
witch books!
- Lois.
- It was up to you, Malcolm...
...to keep her on the path.
To keep her safe.
- And I tried.
- So you say.
- These are forged
in the belly of the Earth.
- Forged?
- Made in a fire?
- Made out of lava rock.
Obsidian.
- Sam!
- Pinky, goddamn it!
- Uh, sorry.
Someone knows a witch.
Let's see if they go for it.
- Here he is, Arvin.
- Thanks, Pinky. Now, get lost.
- His name's George.
- My mistake.
- Get out of here.
It's a Model TT.
125-inch wheelbase.
Gearbox for hill climbing.
It looks like a... 1925.
- Man knows his cars.
- But does he know who we are?
- I've heard the rumours.
- I've heard of you too.
Sam Brass, lover of automobiles
and peddler of dried
coyote turds.
- You mean buffalo chips.
- As far as I'm concerned,
you can hustle, Sam.
You just need...
a better product.
- Are you talking about
bootlegging?
- Me and Studs could use a hand
moving product to Portland.
Help us on this next shipment
and I can help you.
I heard you're looking
for a witch.
- What witch?
- An old hag, living in the back
of the woods.
- Just some kind of alchemist.
- No, a real witch
is what I heard.
- The mad scourge?
- Whatever she is,
she's half mad and blind
as night.
She told me once she prefers
the dark.
I say, "What in the hell for?"
She says, "If you look into
the darkness long enough,
you can see things there
no one else can see."
So, wanna see her?
Then you gotta help us
move this liquor.
- Okay.
How are we gonna do this?
That's good news.
But after
he takes us to the witch,
I have to move booze.
You mean bootlegging?
- He knows where she lives.
- Why should we believe him?
- His kin's been in these woods
longer than anyone.
He'd know.
Papa?
Papa.
Papa.
- Hmm. Yeah?
- Is it true what Grandma Lois
was saying about my mother?
- No.
No, of course not.
No, she's grieving, and...
grief makes people cruel.
Grief can...
...infect whole towns,
whole nations.
That's why we live out here,
away from all that.
Goodnight.
Lily.
- Yes?
- Say your prayers.
- Yes, Papa.
- What did he say?
- He's definitely hiding
something.
- So let's go see
the witch then, tomorrow.
- And ask her what?
We have to do it right.
Remember? It's all in that book.
Where's that page
with the animals on it?
Hmm.
- Hide.
The candle.
Back upstairs.
Did you open that window?
- What happened to you?
- Went on a walk.
- Where did you get that shawl?
- From the cellar.
- Wait.
How?
- I took the keys
from your room.
- Lily, I will not tolerate
disobedience.
If you wanna sneak around
in the dark, that is fine,
take the rest of the day...
- No, wait!
- ...and the night.
- No! No!
- Is it in you?
Is it in you?
Is it in you?
- Please, Papa, how long
am I to stay down here?
- Hide with the snakes.
- No!
- And the beasts of the field.
- No!
- If that is what you mean!
Papa!
No!
- Stack the rest of that wood.
Papa!
Sam!
Sam, please!
Sam!
Sam!
Sam!
- Is everything all right?
- Your sister's behaviour,
it's not like her.
If you knew anything,
would you tell me?
- Yes, sir.
- Yes you'd tell me
or yes you know something?
Samuel.
- I'd tell you.
I just--
- Are you keeping secrets?
- If I say no,
would you believe me?
Focus, deeper
your spirit towards the wind.
- And Lily needs our strength.
She's changing,
she's becoming a woman.
And this affects
her temperament.
Now, it would be impolite
to acknowledge such things,
like staring at a cripple.
But...
...we can set an example.
- Yes, sir.
- Keep her on the path.
Only our faith
will hold the darkness at bay.
The toad and the wolf
speak the hidden truth.
Play this melody on your strings
to rouse a feather from the owl.
To get your wish,
write these staves on calfskin.
Write this on parchment
and keep it with you always.
Or the elements of water
and earth and sky.
- For he that troubleth
his own house shall inherit...
Focus, deeper your spirit
towards the wind.
The words and divine within
to harness the elements.
The skull of a wolf...
to tame others of its kind.
Did you get the toad?
- It's safe.
- Thank you.
Remember the wolf carcass
we saw in the woods last week?
- We can't go through
with this.
He knows something's wrong.
- Well then,
we're on the right path.
- After what he just did to you?
- He only hurts us
because he loves us.
- It's probably what Isaac
thought...
- Just listen.
- ...when Abraham tried
to sacrifice--
- It doesn't matter
what Isaac thought.
- Sure, there's no commitment
that speaks of honouring like--
- Goddamn you, will you
just listen to me?
This is the reason
we're closer to her
than we've ever been before,
finding out what she believed.
If we stop now,
we won't ever know who she was.
And we won't ever know
who we are.
- Did you just take
the Lord's name?
- Yes, I believe I did.
Come on.
Blessed are those
who wash their robes,
that they may have the right
to the tree of life
and they may enter
the city by the gates.
Do not defile yourselves
by any animal or bird
or anything that moves
along the ground.
You have set me apart
from the nations to be my own.
A man or woman who is a medium
or spiritualist among us
must be put to death.
- Stay back.
- Forgive those who trespass
against us,
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
- Get back!
- Bring the flame.
I said, "Get back!"
Get back!
Be gone.
Be gone.
- Good morning.
- Morning.
- It's important
that you understand,
everything that I do,
everything,
is for your protection.
- From what?
- The world,
my darling, the world.
It's full of wolves.
And you're just a lamb.
- Like Mother was.
- Oh, she was a Saint,
you know that.
- Do I?
To me and Sam, she's just
an idea that we pray to,
but we don't really know
who she was
or what she really felt.
- You've been putting ideas
in your head?
- I think I've had plenty
of time down here
to form my own opinion, Father.
- You know, I taught you violin
so that you could know
your mother in a way
that neither Sam nor I
ever could.
Play the music she loved. Hmm?
That'll teach you
everything you need to know.
- Right.
- Lily.
- May I go?
- Hi, Lily!
Hey, honey,
go get the seed from the trunk.
- Ida.
- I'm sorry to stop by
unannounced.
- No. No need to be sorry.
- Sam.
Would you mind helping George?
I brought some seed.
- What?
- For the garden.
- Oh. It's... very kind.
Huh...
Lily?
Would you bring some coffee
to the workshop?
- Yes, Father.
- Please.
Go into my...
my workshop here.
- I just wanted to apologize.
I really thought the old woman
had changed.
- Oh, yes.
I was optimistic too.
- I'm so sorry.
- Would you quit being sorry?
Thank you, Lily.
Leave us, please.
We'll help ourselves.
- Are you all right?
You seem...
- Mm-hmm.
I have been a little distracted.
- Don't let that old woman
curdle your cream.
She has always been hateful.
- She's right about one thing.
There is a curse on this place.
I mean, in the walls,
under the floor boards,
among the pines,
the same ones that killed
the old man, and...
brought that trunk back here.
A current of evil.
And now, it's infected
my daughter.
- You're certain?
- It started on her birthday.
Just little things, at first,
just like her mother.
The lying and the...
sneaking around, and...
fits of anger.
- I told you.
She's coming of age.
- It's more insidious than that.
- I feared as much.
I did reach out to Saint-Mary's.
They're expanding their school.
You were right.
If you wanna keep Lily
on the path,
she belongs with the sisters.
I can take her there for you.
As early as tonight.
I just want
to protect her.
You will be.
Don't worry.
You will never be alone.
- Ida...
- So...
So I can take her?
- Yes. Take her!
- Thank you.
For the coffee.
Lily.
- What?
- You think that I'm here
to compete with you
for your father's affection.
Why would I do that?
- Because you need him.
Because business is slow.
- A year from now,
it'll still be a man
running this country.
My money is on that governor
from New York, Roosevelt.
We can wash their pants, Lily,
but we will never wear them.
The truth is your mother
was too free-spirited
to accept that and it hurt her.
And it hurt your father.
So be a good girl.
And be gracious.
For all that he has given you.
- Are you okay, sweetie?
What happened?
That woman.
I saw her putting her hands
all over him like a...
snake, with her...
- Quails.
- Come on. You should have
seen him.
And that's not even
the worst of it.
They're sending me
to the convent, Sam.
- When?
- Tonight.
- Shit.
- We have to go now.
To see the witch.
- What do you need that for?
- You'll see.
- Which way are we headed?
- She carved a rune over there
where we found the wolf.
And down there with the toad.
- So it's like a compass.
- So the owl is...
- North.
- Sam.
Sam.
- What are you doing?
- Where are they going?
- Probably waiting on a steamer.
Near the Portland limit,
it's got a salon, library
and a barber shop.
Now, that's a 4-8-2
Mountain Type engine.
"Next time, try the train,
travel while you sleep."
But then, they'll be jumping
a rusty, old boxcar
right in the rails.
- Sam.
- Hmm?
- I love you.
No matter what.
- Why are you
telling me this?
We're not gonna die.
Don't be silly.
- Hey, Sam.
- Hey.
- And you must be Lily.
- Hi.
- Didn't think yous were coming.
- The witch up this way?
- Through the fallen trees.
Leave your violin here.
You look real nice.
After you, Miss Lily Brass.
- Hello?
- Hello?
Excuse us.
- The door was open.
- Two hounds and a bitch.
What brings such a litter
my way?
- It's Arvin.
I brought some business.
- We heard tell you're a witch.
- I've been called
lots of things.
- And that you make potions.
- That depends on what for.
- For the hidden truth.
- A potion will cost you.
- How much?
- First time buyers?
One silver dollar.
- After we get what we came for.
- That's not how it works.
- Well, it has to.
- Who are you?
- That's what I wanna find out.
- Follow me.
Lay your victuals there.
- My father is Malcolm Brass.
He married a woman named Isobel.
Did you know her?
- I know lots of people.
- What do you know?
- Hush now. And see.
You wanna know the truth?
I'm more than just
an old witch, Lillian.
- How do you know my name?
- I was there
when she named you.
It was me who pulled you,
screaming, from her guts.
She even gave me
your umbilicals as a keepsake.
- You're lying.
- Your daddy come to me.
Said he don't want no doctor
from town knowing about Isobel.
Said I was capable enough.
- But she died.
- No one died on my watch,
Samuel.
I was good at midwifing,
even without my eyes.
Your mama was alive and well
when I left her.
But no doctor,
no one would ever believe
an old hag like me.
- Why would Father lie?
- That's something you're gonna
have to ask him yourself.
Arvin!
- Ma'am.
- Stay with Lillian here,
in case she gets sick.
Let her get her wits together.
Sam, come on!
I'll show you
how to load up the crates.
- Are you gonna be okay, Lily?
- Hurry up, Sam.
- She'll be fine.
- Sam.
- I brought you the witch
and now you're gonna
move liquor.
- Seven runs through that still
makes us eight gallons
of pure liquor,
but that's high shots
till we cut it with water,
putting our final yield
at 12 gallons
of good clean whiskey.
You follow?
What's wrong?
Do you need to lie down?
- It's hard work,
stacking dozens of these,
but you and Lily
come from a tough family, Sam.
I admire your resolve.
You know, Arvin told me
she was pretty too.
Explains why he was eyeing her
in there.
What the hell?
- Lily!
Lily, where are you?
- Get the hell out of here!
- Sam...
- Ungrateful little bastard!
- Come on, stay with me!
- I will show you!
Lily!
- Don't be afraid.
- I'll show you!
- You okay?
What is it?
Hello?
- Oh!
I didn't hear you come in.
- What are you doing here?
- The Lord's good work,
Lily.
I wanna help you.
George and I are driving you
to the convent,
but he's out back,
he's laying seed.
- I don't wanna go
to Saint-Mary's.
- Oh, it's for the best,
trust me.
I packed up your suitcase.
Now, go gather up the rest
of your things like a good girl.
- Yes, ma'am.
It's a long road, though.
Allow me to fix you
a cup of coffee before we go.
- Oh, no, that's alright.
- She makes a decent cup,
Miss Clemens.
- Oh, fine, then.
- Where's my father?
Um, out in the workshop.
- The coffee's on the top shelf.
I can't reach. Do you mind?
- Um...
I'm not seeing it.
- Maybe at the bottom?
- Ah!
- Thank you.
- What are you doing?
- Making space for the devotion
of prayer
to stay the advance of darkness.
- What darkness?
- The darkness that you...
...brought into this house.
It was your job, Sam,
to keep her on the path.
- He did.
All the way
to the midwife's house.
- The midwife?
All right, you...
...you can't understand.
- What did you do to our mother?
- I loved her.
Her quietude, her music...
That's not true.
- The darkness had gotten
into her at a young age.
I didn't know it
until we moved out here,
when she started to change,
to stray from the path.
- And that book?
- The Galdrabk?
Black Books of Elverum.
She spent more and more time
in those woods alone,
just reading and reading.
I burned every one
that I could find,
yet still she talked with beasts
and carved pagan symbols
in the trees.
- So she was the Witch
of the Woods.
- People began to suspect.
- The Queen of Bones.
- Did you hurt her?
- No, Sam, I did not.
- She came down with the flu
when she was eight months along
with you two.
When the blind hag
delivered you,
I took you both in my arms.
Your mother insisted on nursing,
but the flu was like a plague.
That year, it was still killing
people then.
I knew it was the will of God,
and that is why I refused
the doctors
and locked her in the cellar.
She died a week later.
Though, I do believe she atoned.
- How could you?
- How could I not?
I ensured that neither darkness
nor madness
found a foothold here.
And they wouldn't have,
until you went looking.
My God, Lily,
on you go.
And may God have mercy on you.
- Where is she buried?
- What?
- Her bones, where are they?
- I burned her.
The wolves took the rest.
Now, go on.
Get out of here.
- Malcolm.
- Take her away, please.
Ida!
Ida.
Ida? Ida? Look at me.
Look at me.
Ida. Ida.
Dear God.
What have you done?
- Let us go.
- What have you done?
- Please. Please, put that down.
- By Christ, I will not
allow darkness in this place!
- Stay back!
- That, I cannot do, Samuel.
Now, look upon your sins
and allow me to help.
I love you both.
But this will stop!
And it will stop now!
May God help us all!
- Father.
Father.
Blessed are the merciful.
- For they shall receive mercy.
Which way do you wanna go?
- Portland.
Rose City Conservatory.
- Then what?
- Let's see where the wind
blows.