Red 11 (2019) Movie Script
Hello, I'm Red 11
and welcome to my experiment.
I'm also known as
Robert Rodriguez,
and over 25 years ago,
I started my career
with El Mariachi.
It's a film I made
with a $7,000 budget,
a borrowed camera, and no crew.
So for its 25th anniversary,
I decided to try it again
with the film you're
about to see, Red 11,
a thriller based
on my experiences
in a research hospital,
where I sold my body
to finance El Mariachi.
Throughout my entire career,
I found that those low
budget filmmaking limitations
fueled my creativity.
There's something magical
about stripping everything away
and seeing what you can do
with nothing more than you,
a camera, and your imagination.
Red 11 is a film I made
with only my son
Racer Max as my crew,
in only 14 days,
with a budget of
less than $7,000.
I had a separate camera crew
document the entire process
beginning to end so
that you could see
how you could write,
direct, photograph, light,
edit an entire film yourself.
That became a docuseries
called Rebel Without a Crew:
The Robert Rodriguez
Film School,
which, depending on how
you're now viewing Red 11,
it might be already
included in the extras
or as a separate component.
Find it, because it will
complete this whole experience
and blow your mind
at how resourceful
the film Red 11 actually is.
I wanted artists
everywhere to see
that they don't need to wait
for a bunch of resources
in order to get out
there and start creating.
That six-part documentary
series will help you
get the most out of this movie
with the kind of lessons
they don't even teach
in film schools.
We've now presented Red 11
along with the
Film School series
in film festivals
from Paris to Bogota
and audiences from
all over the world
have found its lessons
extremely useful
and inspiring for
their own projects.
And I hope you find it just
as helpful and inspiring
for your own endeavors.
So seek out that docuseries
Rebel Without a Crew:
The Robert Rodriguez
Film School.
And for now, please
enjoy Red 11.
- Hey man, wake up, we're
here, you really wanna do this?
- Yeah, I don't have
much of a choice.
- There are much easier
ways of making money.
- Yeah, says the guy who
owes more money than I do.
Yeah, what do you want?
- Yeah, I'm just
dropping off my friend
at the medical research
hospital, he's checking in.
- Great.
- The collector told me I
can make easy money here.
Get room, board,
it's exciting work.
You just do drugs and
meet interesting people.
You should join me.
- When are you gonna learn
that quick fixes are
never the answer?
- Quick fixes,
a quick fix can't
be quick enough,
not when you owe money
to the wrong people.
- Hey, it won't be
me picking you up.
It'll be the collectors.
You come out, you hand
your paycheck right over.
- Okay, I got it.
- I mean it.
I'm working on my
part of the money.
Don't even be five
minutes late with yours.
These guys aren't
screwing around anymore.
- Yeah, well, can you just
like wait a couple minutes?
Not everyone that applies
gets into the group.
- Well then,
you better make
sure that you do.
- Welcome, potential lab rats.
I say "potential"
because some of you
may not qualify for this study
or even be interested once
you hear all of the details.
You were no doubt
attracted to this study
because of the high
rate of pay in relation
to the short amount of time
you'd be in here, correct?
The reason for the higher pay
rate is the pain threshold.
Other studies that are
drug tests and blood draws
are the norm and they pay less.
This study is unique.
There will be surgery involved.
There will be scarring.
This is still a
Phase Four study.
Phase Four means the
experimental stage is over.
They're not just putting
two chemicals together,
that would be a Phase One study.
You don't wanna
be a part of that.
This drug is in its final
stages of testing, yeah?
- So what's the drug?
- Your group will be testing
a speed healer drug.
- And how do you test that?
- We wound you.
I'm actually not joking.
That's why this study pays more.
Upon admittance, subjects
will undergo a punch
biopsy surgical procedure.
You will then remain in
our care for two weeks,
at which point,
the sections of arm
will be removed
for further testing
and you will be
surgically repaired.
Upon full completion
of this study,
you will be given $7,000.
You each have a consent contract
in front of you, read it.
- "Your life may be
inadvertently threatened
"by our experiment," promising.
- If you accept, sign
it and bring it forward.
There are 13 applicants
but only 12 spots open.
If you want to be considered,
sign your forms and
bring them to me.
- Our group is issued
scrub pants and red t-shirts.
They say it's how they can
tell what drug study we're in.
- Red Five, Red Six,
Red Seven, Red Eight,
Red Nine, Red 10,
Red 11, Red 12.
- We're lined up in
order and each given a number.
- Follow the timings
on your clipboard.
You must all do the
same thing the same way
at your required intervals.
It's all a part of measuring
results accurately,
and it's a part of your job.
If you mess with our procedure,
we mess with your paycheck.
Follow me.
You get docked for
every variance,
you get docked twice,
we'll make you paint walls,
you get docked three times,
we'll eject you from the study
and send your home with no pay.
This is where you're going
to be eating all your meals,
you are required to eat
everything on your plate.
The Teal Blue group
is on a low fat diet,
so they're not as eager to
eat their food as the others.
But all food will get
eaten just the same.
All food must be eaten
within 20 minutes
from the moment you begin.
So you better get
to it Mr. Blue,
unless you wanna
get docked, again.
- What the hell are
you looking at, Red?
- Teal Blue Five,
you just got docked $50,
food waste and fighting.
Pick it up and eat
it, make back 20.
- Grow eyes in the
back your head, Red.
- You guys won't
have any trouble.
You're on a high fat diet.
Recreation room, this way.
Here we have the rec room
where you can watch TV,
play pool, foosball,
you're free to converse,
mingle with anyone, so
long as no specifics
are shared about the testing
you're being subjected to.
- What if someone
starts talking to us
about their study specifics?
- Ask them to stop.
If somebody shares their drug
studies specifics with you,
you're both going to be docked.
So if you have a headache,
keep it to yourself, yeah?
- There's nothing
but dudes in here.
Will there be females
like in the other studies?
- You've been here before?
- Many times.
- Then you'd know that we
don't usually have females.
- Yeah but why, isn't
that kinda sexist?
- Their cycle sometimes
affect the results.
So unless there's a drug
specifically made for females,
our sponsors usually
prefer baseline subjects.
That being said, there
will be a group of females
coming through here
over the next few days.
And as a reminder, sex
of any kind with anyone,
even yourselves, is not
allowed, throws off the results.
- But what about if
you have a dream?
And you don't mean to, but?
- Please stop interrupting.
We have a lot of information
to cover, okay, dude?
- Gotcha, not a peep.
- Okay, thank you.
- Oh, one more thing.
- What?
- Who's that guy?
- Black Shirt.
You'll notice he is
the only Black Shirt.
He is not to be conversed with.
He is the only one in his group.
He is part of another
study entirely.
- What's he on?
- No one's business.
You're not to talk to him or
ask about him, you understand?
- He's probably on a placebo.
- Any questions?
No questions, good, let's
go get you all cut up.
- We're each called in.
One healthy red goes in...
- You're gonna love this.
- One wounded
red comes out.
- Next.
Come in.
- The sight of blood
makes me queasy.
- Come on, you look like a big
tough guy, probably
into football, huh?
Play football with your friends?
- I try not to look.
- There we go, all
right, that's good,
that's a good cut
there, all right, chief.
- The procedure
is brutally simple.
- This
side is usually--
- A stab of anesthetic,
followed by a
trephine cutter used
to rotate down through
the epidermis and dermis.
- There we go,
we need it one more time
just to make sure we got it.
One, two, three, there we go.
Oh, that's bleeding,
let's get him taped up.
- And into the
subcutaneous fat.
- See that's
just a punch biopsy,
the real scars come from
when I cut those
sections off your arm
at the end of the
study for analysis,
and then I sew you back up.
But they're minimal
permanent scars, all done.
- Or at least that's what
they tell me as they slice.
- Next.
- What, hey, where are we?
- Can't be passing out like
that, it freaks 'em out.
You're already way off baseline.
- I don't like the
sight of blood.
- Well, if you don't see any
green, you'll start loving red.
See we, at the lowest level
of the extremely lucrative
legal drug business,
we're the lab rats.
Walk with me, fast,
you're late for your piss.
A day in the life
of the human lab
rat, you wake up
and the first thing you
need to do is piss in a cup.
You miss your piss,
you get docked.
For you, Red 11, that's
two minutes before Red 12
and two minutes after Red 10.
You take your medicine
at a precise time, and you drop
your load, all on the clock.
You have a shit job, sweetheart.
Tick, tock, tick.
At the exact time you
begin your breakfast,
and at even more
exact time, you stop,
a friendly anal retentive
coordinator's there
with a stopwatch for everything.
It's all routines,
blood draws, mealtimes,
piss and shit times,
heart monitors, EKGs,
even more freakin' blood draws.
Some drug studies I've been in,
they've had so many blood draws,
you were pincushion
by the end of it.
They'd barely get
the tourniquet on
and blood would be shooting out
of all the different
holes in your arms.
I nicknamed her Vampira,
never hits the
vein, check it out.
Stab, what, no blood?
Let me just dig
around 'til I find it.
Avoid her if you can.
You'll be covered with bruises
from all the internal bleeding.
- How many times
you been in here?
- I'm going full career, it's
the best job in the world.
I take drugs professionally.
I'm in here every other month.
And I'd be in here more often
if they didn't make you
wash out before you reapply.
Free food, free digs,
make good money,
and I can write my novel.
- You're writing a novel?
- It's about the connection
between the legal drug business
and the illegal drug business,
'cause it's connected.
Why are you in here?
- Just, I owe a bunch
of money to some people.
- Are you nervous about it?
You look nervous.
- I'm not that nervous.
- Good,
'cause they're
strapping heart
monitors onto us.
- What's this for?
- Possible side effect
for the speed healer
is heart palpitations.
So we need to keep
you monitored.
Just stay calm.
- If you get worked up
for outside reasons,
you trigger an alert
and they dock your pay.
So stay cool if you
want that money.
Sounds like you'll
need every penny.
- One thing you
notice after a while
is that the different color
groups tend to stick together,
Reds with Reds,
Lilacs with Lilacs.
Nobody even talks
to the Teal Blues.
You only hang out with
members of your shirt color
and instantly don't care about
anyone outside of the group.
Somehow we still have
that same basic need
to think we're better
than the next guy.
- Shh, so this debt
you're in, it's bad?
- Yeah, it's pretty bad.
My friend James and
I, we borrowed $7,000
so we can make this
independent horror film
for the Spanish market.
And then, it ends up the
investors were a cartel.
- Whoa.
- Yeah.
- B4.
- Poof, yeah, then
the film fell through.
And now they want all
the money back, C4?
- I mean, it sucks
that the money leaves your
hands as soon as you touch it,
but you're making
7,000 in here, right?
So at least you'll
be in the clear, C4.
- Poof, yeah, not exactly.
They added 45,000
dollars in interest.
Yep, in pain in the ass fee
or some shit, I don't know,
they hired these collectors
to chase us down, B4.
- Shh, oh, shit.
Where are you gonna get
the other 45,000 from?
- D4, my buddy James is
taking care of that part
from the outside since
this was all his idea.
Once I pay off my bit, I'm free.
His stake is so much bigger.
I have no idea how he's gonna
pull off that miracle, F5.
- Well, may your
friend have better luck
than you've had
in this game, E4.
- Thank you, you have
sunk my destroyer.
- Teal Blues.
I'm calling you monkeys out.
I have officially beaten
every red shirt, so
which one of you wants
to try your luck for
only 20 bucks a ship?
- Fuck off, Red, stick
to your own kind.
- Well, you've got a point
there, Blue, I have noticed
that a certain group
mentality tends
to take over each
designated color.
The Red Shirts, probably 'cause
I'm the dominant personality
of the group, are
freakin' cool as hell.
The Lilacs are debaters,
conspiracy theorists.
Canary Yellows are depressives.
Magentas, well, let's just hope
they're all super friendly.
And Teal Blues are chickenshit.
Right?
You okay?
- I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
- Hey, does he get sent
home with full pay?
I heard if you get sick, you
get ejected with full pay.
- That's none of your business.
- He's full of shit.
Last time I was in here,
a group was on a
narcotic painkiller,
they all got violently sick.
All sent home, all
full pay, 3,500 bucks.
- That's just if you go
to an actual hospital.
Most sicknesses are
taken care of in-house.
- An idea is brewing.
- Can you knock off
the elevator music!?
I'm trying to think.
- Hey, sorry.
I'm practicing composition.
- For what?
- Scoring.
For TV, movies, video
games, life in general.
I wanna be a composer.
- I'm a filmmaker.
- What?
- Yeah, you should write
something for one of my movies.
- I'll start right now.
I'm Red Three, but you can
call me Score, nice, I know.
The thing is about composing,
you start by setting
the foundation for
the scene, curiosity,
trepidation,
attraction?
Then you add a simple theme.
Right, just a few notes
for the new character.
And then,
a character theme emerges.
Something you return to anytime
this character reappears
throughout your story.
Then you switch
the lead instrument
and find what lead instrument
speaks best for the character,
then I add a backbeat.
But be ready for
the mood to change
because every good
scene has a button.
Oh shit.
Mm, wow, she really
did a number on you.
This is the first time I've
seen you not look constipated.
Cheer up,
things are looking up.
- Red 11, you have a phone call.
- I spoke too soon.
- Hello?
- Rob, I'm in deep shit,
they're right on my ass.
- James, where the hell are you?
- I can't shake these guys.
- What do you mean shake them?
I thought you were
working on the money.
- 45 grand, are you kidding?
I'm just trying to get
the hell out of this town.
But these guys are like
freaking bloodhounds.
I didn't tell
anyone about my plan
for leaving, not even you.
But somehow they knew.
How did they know, Rob ?
- What plan?
Where the hell are you going?
- Mexico.
But it's too late for me,
you can, you have to run.
- I'm broke, man.
How the hell do I run?
- Take your seven grand and
run, run, run to Canada,
run to Mexico, anywhere
you can disappear.
- What about you?
- Hey.
- I'm gonna die, either
my way or their's.
- Jesus Christ, James.
Don't do anything stupid,
don't do anything stupid.
- You're way off
your charts here.
And if you can't calm down,
we'll have to eject you
from the study entirely.
- I'm sorry, I had a
distressing phone call.
It's not gonna happen again.
- You're supposed
to be baseline,
we can't have your heart
monitor bouncing around
because you're on
some personal call.
- Okay, I got it,
I will calm down.
- Calm down.
- I'll calm.
- Calm.
- I'll calm
down, I'm calm.
- Now, I can't let
you leave this room
until you're baseline.
- I'm calm.
- Keep it in check, Red.
- Okay.
- I mean it.
- James?
- Hello.
- Where the hell is James?
- I see people scraping
him off their shoes.
He made quite a mess when
he finally hit the sidewalk.
- Listen man, I'm gonna have
your money in three days.
- All 52,000?
- 52,000?
No, no, my portion is 7,000.
James said he was
gonna pay the rest.
- Well, James is dead.
You're gonna have to
cover his portion.
- I can't make
that much in here.
- I'll consider your
7,000 as a down payment.
I'll give you a window
so you can find the rest.
I promise I won't waste you,
unless you give me no choice.
- How will I ever square that?
You keep adding
fucking interest.
That's how this shit works,
right, I'll never pay it off.
- We'll figure all of
that out in three days
when I visit you.
- Shut the fuck up.
At least I know they
can't see me in here.
I need cash and wheels
but I'm surrounded by penniless
patients with non-problems.
- Hey Knives,
what's with that thingamajig?
- Forgot I was wearing it.
They didn't tell
me to take it off.
Forged it myself.
Triple layer Japanese steel.
I call it Little Badass.
Listen.
It's so sharp it sings.
- What's that sound?
- It's just the air being
sliced, crying for mercy.
- You better
put that thing away,
they'll confiscate it.
- I'd like to see them try.
- What if life
was just an experiment
and we were all human
lab rats being tested?
Ever felt like that?
I feel like that all the time.
- You've got mustard
coming out of your nose.
- .
- A second
person got sick today.
- Bet he's
getting out with full pay.
- How do you know?
- You blow chunks like that?
You better be getting
out with full pay.
- People are getting
sick, people that shouldn't be.
So why should I care?
The moment I leave this place,
I'm gonna have to turn over
my earnings to the collectors.
- What are you watching?
- "Sea of Love".
- Yeah?
It's not her.
- What?
- Yeah, the whole movie,
they make it look like
Ellen Barkin is the killer,
but it's not, it's
actually her ex-husband,
but you never figured that out
because they only
mentioned him like once.
- You're a fucking bastard.
- Oh, I'm sorry .
- Then it hits me.
If I can get sick, I can
get out early, full pay,
and make a run for it.
Two out of seven Teals
have gotten sick.
Teal One dropped yesterday,
then Teal Three today.
The drug is supposed to
be administered in order,
so Teal Two should have
gotten sick already.
Sure as hell,
Teal Two is taking
his again right now.
Which means either
he's on placebo
or he's not taking the drug.
I found my way out.
- Red 11, I see you've
met my favorite knife.
Made from the sharpest
Japanese steel,
laminated onto a softer steel.
The perfect balance of
sharpness and strength,
that'll bite down to the bone.
Right now I have it pressed
against your carotid artery.
Just to tease its blood lust.
'Cause once unsheathed, it
has to cut, so talk fast.
- I was just trying to
steal one of your pills.
- Why?
- Because I'm trying
to get sick, man, I
wanna get outta here.
- This
isn't prison, Red.
You can walk out any time.
- I need the money too.
I'm trying to get sick.
Because that's the only way
you get outta here with both.
- All right, you live.
I was holding onto these
babies as evidence.
I guess I could spare one.
I support anyone who
sticks it to the man.
- Wait, so you haven't
taken any of them?
- I spit 'em out.
I don't wanna puke my
guts out, shit the pants.
Did you see those guys?
- Wouldn't they know?
- It's a double blind test,
so not even they know who's
on the drug and who's not.
They'll just think
I'm on placebo.
Here.
One condition.
You like this knife?
- Yeah, okay.
I got the pill, but he made
me buy a knife I didn't want.
There's another $400 I owe.
Then the craziest
thing happened.
A red shirt went down.
We thought the
sickness was caused
by the drug that the
Teal Blues were taking.
But our own Red Seven
got sick the same way.
- They ain't laughing now.
- Is this "Crying Game"?
- Yeah, it is, no, and
don't say shit either
because not everyone's
seen this yet.
- Well, I'll tell ya.
- You'd better shut
the hell up right now.
- She's got a dick.
- You son of a bitch.
- Kevin Spacey, yeah,
he's Keyser Soze,
Bruce Willis is dead
and a ghost in
"The Sixth Sense",
Nicole Kidman is dead and
a ghost in "The Others".
"Jacob's Ladder"?
- Shut the hell up,
you spoiler piece of shit.
- Fucking dead too.
- Leo's a patient
in "Shutter Island".
Pitt and Norton's
the same guy in "Fight Club".
- I'm gonna fucking kill you.
- Fuck you
and your stupid movies.
- You Carrot Top looking
motherfucker, I will
fucking kill you.
I'll fucking kill you.
- This is it, an
ambulance ride to a hospital
where I'll kick and
scream for my pay,
and then I'm going
to Mexico, I'm free.
So why the suspicion that
this is all far from over?
- Take him downstairs.
- Where are we going?
I thought we were
going to the hospital.
Aren't we going to the hospital?
- I need to let Jen here
get a little extra practice
doing the blood draws, do
you mind if she takes over?
- No problem, doc.
But I don't think you're
gonna get much practice here.
This guy's got monster veins.
The kind you could
hit in the dark.
- Hold still.
- Oh, I think you
missed the vein.
Ow, yeah ow, that's still
not, it's still not.
Yeah, ow bitch, you're not--
- Hold still.
- Ow, you're nowhere
near it, argh.
- Where are you going?
- Red 11, Red 11.
Red 11, man, you didn't wake up.
- Oh, Vampira stabbed
the shit out of me.
I guess I was just--
- Dreaming?
- Where have you been?
I saw you get sick, they said
they took you to the hospital.
- They did, I'm not really here.
Come on, it's dinner time.
- What's for dinner?
- Red 11.
- How you feeling, son?
- Okay, better.
Can I go back with the group?
- Not yet.
We need to observe you
a little bit longer.
You remember what happened
yesterday, back in the hallway?
- No.
- I see.
- Didn't anyone else get sick?
I mean, there's no
one else in here.
- You gave us a pretty
good scare there.
But everything's good now.
- I'm kind of in a hurry.
I mean I need to be
outta here by the 15th
when the study ends,
that's two days from now.
- It's highly unlikely
that we'll be able
to release you that early.
There's some friends of mine
that are gonna
wanna talk to you.
It's important that
you remain at ease.
- But I can't...
- Have a good rest.
- I guess everything
is different down here,
wherever the hell down here is.
- My boys haven't seen you
in days, you're hiding.
- No, they moved me.
- So you want me
to come find you.
- No, that's not what I meant.
- See you in two days.
- Black Shirt, the Black Shirt
is in his own experiment.
What are you looking for?
- Something good.
- How do you know what's good
if you don't stop to watch it?
- I sense things.
- What got you locked up in ICU?
- I heard the
food's better here.
- You're saying you got
into ICU on purpose?
How did you do that?
- I cheated, same as you.
- What made you decide to
become a human lab rat?
You need the money
for something?
- What makes you
think I need money?
- Well, I don't know,
this isn't really the type
of job people do for fun.
- I'm researching
to write an expose.
- Okay, great, then
that's cool if it's true.
- I need the money so I
can backpack across Europe.
- Okay, that's a
little more plausible.
- Actually, I'm a
product of the lab.
I was raised here,
I can never leave.
- Are any of those
actually true?
- One of them is.
I'm also just trying to
get this damn scar removed.
- Yeah I noticed that, I just
didn't wanna say anything.
How did you get it?
- I don't wanna talk about
it so much that I relive it,
but let's just say it
involved a switchblade,
an alleyway, and a scary guy
who looked a lot like you.
- Just you don't wanna talk
about it, right, got it.
- Hey Red, wanna have a laugh?
- Yeah, sure.
- Let's switch shirts.
- Are you serious?
- No, I'm a clown.
- They dock your pay for
screwing around like that.
- They wouldn't know, are
you kidding, these zombies?
- Why would you risk it?
- Because they have
the Magenta group on
a low calorie diet
and it's killing me.
The red shirts, that's you,
get a burger on Wednesdays,
so I say we switch shirts.
I eat your food, you eat mine,
and then we switch
back, a laugh.
- I can't afford to get caught.
Seriously, they dock your pay
if you mess up their results.
- Buck, buck, buck, buck,
buck, buck, buck, buck, buck,
buck, buck, buck, buck, buck.
- God, okay, how about this,
if I get a burger, I
will give you half.
That way it only screws up your
results and not mine, deal?
- I want the whole burger, Red.
- What if I say I can't?
- Then you get a scar
that looks just like mine.
- Deal.
- What are you looking for?
- A tech, so I can see
how much longer I
have to be down here.
- They don't know
anything, they're idiots.
Besides, it's your own
fault you're down here.
- How did you know I cheated?
- Because you puked a red river.
Only the Teal Blues have
been getting sick like that.
So you either took the meds
or you're way off baseline.
Which means you're probably
gonna kick you out anyways.
- The Doc will know.
Hey, Doc, Doc, can I
talk to you for a second?
I know I shouldn't
be snooping around,
but there's something here.
What am I doing?
I can't afford to get caught,
no matter how weird...
- Can I help you?
- Yeah, I was just, yeah,
I was just checking in.
Do you know how much longer
I have to be down here?
- Resistant Red 11.
Says here that you're
an aspiring filmmaker.
That's interesting, you know,
I love action and
suspense thrillers.
Especially ones
with ironic endings.
- Cool.
- Yeah I'm a big fan.
- Listen, can I get outta
here soon, I feel much better?
- Not according to
your tests here.
Everything is elevated still.
Just try to relax and
maybe you'll be cleared
by next week.
- Next week?
No Doc, I need to be
outta here by tomorrow.
- And I need you to relax, huh?
You're not going
anywhere, are we clear?
- Clear.
- You know, I have
quite the collection
of movie posters
and movie props.
Some of them quite rare.
You'd love 'em, being a
filmmaker and all .
- I hear something
familiar coming
from up the hallway.
It can't be.
No way, Score?
- Oh, hey, buddy.
- What the hell happened?
- Oh, I got sick.
- I figured.
What did it sound like?
- Oh, musically?
Here, let me show you.
I always keep this baby in
record because you never know
when magic is gonna flow
through these fingertips.
Here, check it out.
Yeah, my puke hit the keyboard.
- Knives,
you're here too?
- Yeah, they caught me
not swallowing the pill.
- What did they do?
- Made me swallow it.
- Hey, you're gonna
hurt yourself.
- Actually,
I've never lifted
this much before.
I don't know if it's
me, the drugs, or what.
- It's definitely the drugs.
Check this out.
- What the fuck?
Is any of this real,
are we dreaming?
- What, all of us in the
same fever dream, how?
- I don't know.
We're all just hallucinating?
- Do you call this
a hallucination?
We're below the main floor,
this has to be experimental.
Those of us who've been
on the drug the longest
have more potent effects.
- Yeah, good for them, what?
None of this is helping me
get outta here any faster
with my money.
- Unless we steal the drug.
This drug has side effects
that causes heightened senses,
and this shit works.
We know that drugs
are a huge business.
So, I say we steal the drug,
and then we sell
it on the outside.
- Yeah, except these
aren't burgers we're talking
about, this is heavy shit.
- The burger was just a test.
Now I know you're
not chickenshit.
So help me steal.
- Why do you know all this,
huh, what's your angle?
I know you got
one, who sent you?
- Ever heard of
Pharmaceutical?
- Oh yeah, I did a study there.
It's shit compared
to this place.
- I worked there.
They need a drug like
this to get them back
in the high stakes business.
What I mean is I have a buyer.
People who would trade a
box of this shit for this.
You help me steal it
and I'll give your cut
to whoever is coming to collect.
- Yeah, that'd be great,
if you were telling the truth.
- I mean it.
- You still haven't even
given me a straight answer
as to why you're here.
- I just did.
I worked for
Pharmaceutical.
- That is such bullshit,
that is such bullshit.
You, this whole study,
these freaky ass powers,
it's all bullshit.
For all I know, all you
guys are hallucinations.
What did you just say to me?
- I didn't say anything.
- No, I heard you in my head.
- Yeah, I heard it too.
- Yeah, like a
whisper in my ear.
- I mean it, this shit works
and they pay a lot
more than 7,000.
Add a few zeros to
the end of that.
Getting you out of debt
would be like buying gum.
- I heard that too.
- P.S., you don't have any.
- Shake it,
with a straight face and I'll
help you steal it right now.
- Thanks.
- Mm,
you've been busy.
Still wounded, good,
101, that's normal.
- That's normal?
- It is around here.
You're a little sicky boy.
- There's been some really
weird shit going on down here.
- Weird shit, rule of thumb,
you see something strange
or just out of the
ordinary around here,
try to remember it's
just a side effect
of the very heavy dose
of experimental medicine
that you are on.
I mean, that makes sense, right?
- I don't know
what's real anymore.
- It's not the hospital, it's
not the staff, side effects.
See that?
That is a used needle, gross.
How many times have
I told my staff not
to leave their dirty, filthy
needles just lying around?
Too many times.
- Oh, what the fuck?
- That hurts, doesn't it?
And yet, there's nothing there.
It's just the paper
covering your straw.
- Side effects?
- Just side effects.
So you know the difference,
that was real, hang in there.
- Jesus.
What is this black
shit you're giving me?
- Not giving, taking.
Just draining the extra fluids.
Good morning, everyone.
We've made a breakthrough
thanks to your cooperation.
We've isolated the cause
of all your illnesses
to some rogue reactions that
we have witnessed to the drug.
And we have found a
way to neutralize it.
Now some of you may have been
experiencing hallucinations
and these will all disappear
with this antidote.
Now we do need to
administer it via the I.V.
for faster absorption
and fast relief.
There will be side effects
that you may encounter.
So it is important that
you wear the restraints
until the antidote has run
its course, and Godspeed.
- Hey, check it out,
that guy's asleep
and he's still getting drugged.
- Oh shit.
- Remember me, Red?
No one's leaving 'til you're
all taking what I'm taking.
Take the drugs.
Uh, uh, uh, you're
cheating again, Red.
Join us, man, feels great.
Here, I'll help you.
- Fuck.
- You're hallucinating
again, Red.
Take your drugs, all of you.
It's the only way to stop
what you think you're seeing.
- Score.
Shit.
What the fuck?
- I told you, Red, your dead.
- You never could
hit a vein, Vampira.
- What the hell's going on here?
Why are they giving a virus?
Are they trying to take
away our powers, kill us?
- Turn us on each other.
What happened?
- Vampira got me, but
I took care of it.
- What about there?
- Oops, I didn't see that one.
- Get into the elevator,
we're busting out of this place.
- Wait, wait, you ain't
going anywhere, Red.
- Magenta?
- Shit.
- Where's Score?
- Oh, shit.
Okay, theme, what's the theme?
Trepidation, fear,
the tragic end to a
beloved character.
Okay, something's not right.
That was too easy.
It needs a complication, it's
ooh, a twist ending
that nobody sees coming.
Yeah, rhythmically
that works, okay, doom?
Salvation.
Doom.
- This is the Doc's office.
He collects movie props,
we'll need weapons.
- But wouldn't he
keep it locked?
What good are movie
props, they're fake?
- No, not necessarily.
Some filmmakers demand
realism on their sets
so they create
real working props.
Doc strikes me as the kinda guy
that would collect
the real thing.
Oh shit.
I think George Clooney
handled this one.
- Day in the life
of a human lab rat,
you get your ass kicked
by me, tick, tock.
- Tick.
- You know how your
movie ends, Red?
You die.
- It's different every time.
- Right about now,
they're plotting their
escape, just like clockwork.
- Let them go.
- Yes sir.
- Why are they
keeping us in here?
- They're messing
with our heads.
It's all part of the experiment.
- Oh my God, what experiment?
This is supposed to
be a Phase Four study.
- That's upstairs, down here,
it's Phase One, experimental.
- Experimental, yeah
well, it's Wednesday.
This is the day I was supposed
to originally be outta here,
which means those collectors,
they're already on their way.
And when they don't
find me up there
with their money, I'm dead.
- Try focusing your
hand down to one finger.
Make your push even more potent.
- That wasn't me.
- Come one.
It'll take us up.
- No, that's too easy.
- I like easy, come on.
- I can't just leave.
I can't go up
there empty handed.
- Let's just go.
- I'm screwed in here
and I'm screwed out
there, I want my 7,000.
- How?
- Go back to your plan.
We steal the drug.
- What time do the
collectors get here?
- Three o'clock.
- I'm not
giving, taking.
- This is the shit
that the Doc was
draining for me.
This green pill, did
you take this too?
- Yeah.
- Do you think they
were fabricating
these high stress scenarios?
- To create a reaction.
- That's why they
were giving this shit
to the Teal Blues first because
they're the most aggressive.
I mean, I wasn't supposed to
get my hands on this shit,
and then I did, and I had
the strongest reaction.
That's why they're
draining me to make this.
They're trying to
sell these abilities.
I'm gonna sell it too.
Does this look
like $7,000 worth?
- Probably 70,000.
What, are you
just gonna sell it to
them and go to Mexico?
- Is that not the plan?
- What about Score, what
about Knives, Red Seven?
What about me?
- I do not have
time for this shit.
- Every time with
you it's always about
saving your own ass.
- Yeah, because it's
my ass on the line.
- You could do the right
thing, Rob, but you never do.
- Wait, how do you know my name?
I haven't told anyone
in here my name.
I said how do you know my name?
- And where is my money?
- I don't have the cash.
But I have this.
- Excuse my children,
they're still learning
the family business.
Now what's that shit?
- It's experimental,
but it works
and it's worth a
lot more than 7,000.
- I got plenty of that shit.
- No, you don't, this is new.
It's better, comes
out of me, tell him.
- I don't know
what he's talking about,
that shit doesn't work.
He's scamming you.
- Don't make me use this.
- I could say the same shit.
Time to use real weapons.
- Dad, he shot your car.
- Shit, don't kill him,
shoot him in the leg.
- How the hell
did you do that?
- I don't know.
- They're never gonna let
you go now, follow me.
- Hey, hey.
- Get him.
- Wait, what's the point?
Pancho is shot and this
little shit is too strong.
- You want him to sell his
juice to the Belasco cartel?
Then we're gonna
be really done for.
- But not today.
- Good girl, now find them
and bring them to
me in one piece.
I wanna laugh when I
shoot his eyes out.
Then we can drain his
ass for all he's got.
- Was this your plan all along?
You're acting like you need
this money more than I do.
- This is our only
chance to get out.
- Stop, give it to me, now.
- Trust me.
- Look what you boy
tried to sell me.
I thought you didn't
have anything in here.
- I just extracted it, I
wanted to surprise you.
- Well, I'm surprised, now
I have a surprise for you.
- Trust me,
you don't wanna do
that, we still need him.
Well son, you made a whole mess
of things again, haven't you?
- What do you mean again?
- Red, listen to me,
you have to remember.
Remember, Red.
- I do remember.
You were telling me the
truth that time, weren't you?
You're a product of this
lab, you're an experiment.
You were born here.
She's how you make this stuff.
You're the real black shirt.
That's the only thing
that makes sense.
- Product of the lab,
born here, can never leave.
But it's not just me, it's you,
and Knives, Score, Red Seven,
we've all been part of the same
experiment our whole lives.
- Prove it.
- You wanted to know
where I got this scar.
- Careful Magenta, your
words could break him.
- I got it from you, Red.
- More mind games, it has to be.
I've never been here before.
I make movies, make believe.
I'm not a full-time patient,
a permanent lab rat.
What did you mean when you
said I gave you the scar?
- It was from an
earlier experiment,
before your reset last time.
Everything went wrong.
It always goes wrong.
- So you're saying I've been
in here with you before?
- You ask me that every time.
- I'm asking you again.
Why do you keep
trying to help me?
- I wouldn't listen to her, son,
she's not right in the head.
- Why do you keep
calling me son?
- Hell of a story, isn't it?
It's not every day that
your reality shatters
before your eyes.
- What the hell's going on here?
- You're an experiment, son.
Our first successful extraction.
- Street drugs are for punks.
The real money is in
the legal drug business.
Trillion dollar a year industry.
And this is gonna
set us right on top.
We like addiction, we
need addiction to survive.
- The lab upstairs
is actually real.
It's what helps
fund this lower lab.
The rest comes from
our cartel friends.
- You know, there's this theory
that if you started
your life over again,
you'd run into the same people
who are important in your life
and you always turn on them.
Every time we erase your
memory, start you over again,
you find a way to screw your
friends over for your own skin.
It's your flaw, son.
Your shirt keeps changing,
but you never do.
It's taught me that you
can't change your destiny
or your fate.
- They're
draining my abilities.
I'll have to start from
scratch again, be reset.
Go back to being a vegetable.
I have to fight it.
The Black Shirt, it
all makes sense now.
Who he is.
It was right there in
front of me all along.
The Black Shirt is in
his own experiment.
Aren't we all?
The Black Shirt is
the most powerful.
- You find a way
to screw your friends over
for your own skin.
- You wanna know
your movie ends, Red?
You don't make it out.
- Thanks for the heads up.
- Did you spoil another ending?
- Don't move.
- So very Ennio.
- The song's not over yet.
- Yeah.
- Score, Knives, Red Seven,
it's payback time.
- Oh, we're breaking out?
Oh yeah, I got just the thing.
- So we're all
products of the lab.
- Yeah, now we're
taking it back.
- It's time to
stick it to the man.
- Hell, yeah.
We got to get you a red shirt.
- Hey asshole, I see you've
met my favorite knife.
- You came back, for all of us.
- Enough, I can get by
with one less test subject.
- Fight him, Magenta.
- She has no power
except what she gets from the
drug and that faded long ago.
- You okay?
- I was always okay.
I just needed you to
make the right choice
'cause only assholes can
create this kind of power.
And you're not an asshole, Red.
You don't even need the drug.
All the power comes from
you and he knows it.
- You really think
this is happening, huh?
That you could actually shoot
from your finger, pu, pu, pu?
That there's really
Zombies chasing you, mm?
That she loves you?
- Then let them go
and I'll never resist again,
I'm the only black
shirt you need.
Let them go right now
and I'll never leave.
Either that or you try your best
to scoop my abilities
off this fucking floor.
And give them
the money you owe me, $7,000.
- Sure, son.
- I don't believe it,
getting us out with full pay.
- That reminds me.
No one talks to the black shirt.
He's in his own experiment.
- Remember
me, Red, remember us.
- Life is an experiment.
And we are its lab rats.
But how it all turns out
is within our own power.
and welcome to my experiment.
I'm also known as
Robert Rodriguez,
and over 25 years ago,
I started my career
with El Mariachi.
It's a film I made
with a $7,000 budget,
a borrowed camera, and no crew.
So for its 25th anniversary,
I decided to try it again
with the film you're
about to see, Red 11,
a thriller based
on my experiences
in a research hospital,
where I sold my body
to finance El Mariachi.
Throughout my entire career,
I found that those low
budget filmmaking limitations
fueled my creativity.
There's something magical
about stripping everything away
and seeing what you can do
with nothing more than you,
a camera, and your imagination.
Red 11 is a film I made
with only my son
Racer Max as my crew,
in only 14 days,
with a budget of
less than $7,000.
I had a separate camera crew
document the entire process
beginning to end so
that you could see
how you could write,
direct, photograph, light,
edit an entire film yourself.
That became a docuseries
called Rebel Without a Crew:
The Robert Rodriguez
Film School,
which, depending on how
you're now viewing Red 11,
it might be already
included in the extras
or as a separate component.
Find it, because it will
complete this whole experience
and blow your mind
at how resourceful
the film Red 11 actually is.
I wanted artists
everywhere to see
that they don't need to wait
for a bunch of resources
in order to get out
there and start creating.
That six-part documentary
series will help you
get the most out of this movie
with the kind of lessons
they don't even teach
in film schools.
We've now presented Red 11
along with the
Film School series
in film festivals
from Paris to Bogota
and audiences from
all over the world
have found its lessons
extremely useful
and inspiring for
their own projects.
And I hope you find it just
as helpful and inspiring
for your own endeavors.
So seek out that docuseries
Rebel Without a Crew:
The Robert Rodriguez
Film School.
And for now, please
enjoy Red 11.
- Hey man, wake up, we're
here, you really wanna do this?
- Yeah, I don't have
much of a choice.
- There are much easier
ways of making money.
- Yeah, says the guy who
owes more money than I do.
Yeah, what do you want?
- Yeah, I'm just
dropping off my friend
at the medical research
hospital, he's checking in.
- Great.
- The collector told me I
can make easy money here.
Get room, board,
it's exciting work.
You just do drugs and
meet interesting people.
You should join me.
- When are you gonna learn
that quick fixes are
never the answer?
- Quick fixes,
a quick fix can't
be quick enough,
not when you owe money
to the wrong people.
- Hey, it won't be
me picking you up.
It'll be the collectors.
You come out, you hand
your paycheck right over.
- Okay, I got it.
- I mean it.
I'm working on my
part of the money.
Don't even be five
minutes late with yours.
These guys aren't
screwing around anymore.
- Yeah, well, can you just
like wait a couple minutes?
Not everyone that applies
gets into the group.
- Well then,
you better make
sure that you do.
- Welcome, potential lab rats.
I say "potential"
because some of you
may not qualify for this study
or even be interested once
you hear all of the details.
You were no doubt
attracted to this study
because of the high
rate of pay in relation
to the short amount of time
you'd be in here, correct?
The reason for the higher pay
rate is the pain threshold.
Other studies that are
drug tests and blood draws
are the norm and they pay less.
This study is unique.
There will be surgery involved.
There will be scarring.
This is still a
Phase Four study.
Phase Four means the
experimental stage is over.
They're not just putting
two chemicals together,
that would be a Phase One study.
You don't wanna
be a part of that.
This drug is in its final
stages of testing, yeah?
- So what's the drug?
- Your group will be testing
a speed healer drug.
- And how do you test that?
- We wound you.
I'm actually not joking.
That's why this study pays more.
Upon admittance, subjects
will undergo a punch
biopsy surgical procedure.
You will then remain in
our care for two weeks,
at which point,
the sections of arm
will be removed
for further testing
and you will be
surgically repaired.
Upon full completion
of this study,
you will be given $7,000.
You each have a consent contract
in front of you, read it.
- "Your life may be
inadvertently threatened
"by our experiment," promising.
- If you accept, sign
it and bring it forward.
There are 13 applicants
but only 12 spots open.
If you want to be considered,
sign your forms and
bring them to me.
- Our group is issued
scrub pants and red t-shirts.
They say it's how they can
tell what drug study we're in.
- Red Five, Red Six,
Red Seven, Red Eight,
Red Nine, Red 10,
Red 11, Red 12.
- We're lined up in
order and each given a number.
- Follow the timings
on your clipboard.
You must all do the
same thing the same way
at your required intervals.
It's all a part of measuring
results accurately,
and it's a part of your job.
If you mess with our procedure,
we mess with your paycheck.
Follow me.
You get docked for
every variance,
you get docked twice,
we'll make you paint walls,
you get docked three times,
we'll eject you from the study
and send your home with no pay.
This is where you're going
to be eating all your meals,
you are required to eat
everything on your plate.
The Teal Blue group
is on a low fat diet,
so they're not as eager to
eat their food as the others.
But all food will get
eaten just the same.
All food must be eaten
within 20 minutes
from the moment you begin.
So you better get
to it Mr. Blue,
unless you wanna
get docked, again.
- What the hell are
you looking at, Red?
- Teal Blue Five,
you just got docked $50,
food waste and fighting.
Pick it up and eat
it, make back 20.
- Grow eyes in the
back your head, Red.
- You guys won't
have any trouble.
You're on a high fat diet.
Recreation room, this way.
Here we have the rec room
where you can watch TV,
play pool, foosball,
you're free to converse,
mingle with anyone, so
long as no specifics
are shared about the testing
you're being subjected to.
- What if someone
starts talking to us
about their study specifics?
- Ask them to stop.
If somebody shares their drug
studies specifics with you,
you're both going to be docked.
So if you have a headache,
keep it to yourself, yeah?
- There's nothing
but dudes in here.
Will there be females
like in the other studies?
- You've been here before?
- Many times.
- Then you'd know that we
don't usually have females.
- Yeah but why, isn't
that kinda sexist?
- Their cycle sometimes
affect the results.
So unless there's a drug
specifically made for females,
our sponsors usually
prefer baseline subjects.
That being said, there
will be a group of females
coming through here
over the next few days.
And as a reminder, sex
of any kind with anyone,
even yourselves, is not
allowed, throws off the results.
- But what about if
you have a dream?
And you don't mean to, but?
- Please stop interrupting.
We have a lot of information
to cover, okay, dude?
- Gotcha, not a peep.
- Okay, thank you.
- Oh, one more thing.
- What?
- Who's that guy?
- Black Shirt.
You'll notice he is
the only Black Shirt.
He is not to be conversed with.
He is the only one in his group.
He is part of another
study entirely.
- What's he on?
- No one's business.
You're not to talk to him or
ask about him, you understand?
- He's probably on a placebo.
- Any questions?
No questions, good, let's
go get you all cut up.
- We're each called in.
One healthy red goes in...
- You're gonna love this.
- One wounded
red comes out.
- Next.
Come in.
- The sight of blood
makes me queasy.
- Come on, you look like a big
tough guy, probably
into football, huh?
Play football with your friends?
- I try not to look.
- There we go, all
right, that's good,
that's a good cut
there, all right, chief.
- The procedure
is brutally simple.
- This
side is usually--
- A stab of anesthetic,
followed by a
trephine cutter used
to rotate down through
the epidermis and dermis.
- There we go,
we need it one more time
just to make sure we got it.
One, two, three, there we go.
Oh, that's bleeding,
let's get him taped up.
- And into the
subcutaneous fat.
- See that's
just a punch biopsy,
the real scars come from
when I cut those
sections off your arm
at the end of the
study for analysis,
and then I sew you back up.
But they're minimal
permanent scars, all done.
- Or at least that's what
they tell me as they slice.
- Next.
- What, hey, where are we?
- Can't be passing out like
that, it freaks 'em out.
You're already way off baseline.
- I don't like the
sight of blood.
- Well, if you don't see any
green, you'll start loving red.
See we, at the lowest level
of the extremely lucrative
legal drug business,
we're the lab rats.
Walk with me, fast,
you're late for your piss.
A day in the life
of the human lab
rat, you wake up
and the first thing you
need to do is piss in a cup.
You miss your piss,
you get docked.
For you, Red 11, that's
two minutes before Red 12
and two minutes after Red 10.
You take your medicine
at a precise time, and you drop
your load, all on the clock.
You have a shit job, sweetheart.
Tick, tock, tick.
At the exact time you
begin your breakfast,
and at even more
exact time, you stop,
a friendly anal retentive
coordinator's there
with a stopwatch for everything.
It's all routines,
blood draws, mealtimes,
piss and shit times,
heart monitors, EKGs,
even more freakin' blood draws.
Some drug studies I've been in,
they've had so many blood draws,
you were pincushion
by the end of it.
They'd barely get
the tourniquet on
and blood would be shooting out
of all the different
holes in your arms.
I nicknamed her Vampira,
never hits the
vein, check it out.
Stab, what, no blood?
Let me just dig
around 'til I find it.
Avoid her if you can.
You'll be covered with bruises
from all the internal bleeding.
- How many times
you been in here?
- I'm going full career, it's
the best job in the world.
I take drugs professionally.
I'm in here every other month.
And I'd be in here more often
if they didn't make you
wash out before you reapply.
Free food, free digs,
make good money,
and I can write my novel.
- You're writing a novel?
- It's about the connection
between the legal drug business
and the illegal drug business,
'cause it's connected.
Why are you in here?
- Just, I owe a bunch
of money to some people.
- Are you nervous about it?
You look nervous.
- I'm not that nervous.
- Good,
'cause they're
strapping heart
monitors onto us.
- What's this for?
- Possible side effect
for the speed healer
is heart palpitations.
So we need to keep
you monitored.
Just stay calm.
- If you get worked up
for outside reasons,
you trigger an alert
and they dock your pay.
So stay cool if you
want that money.
Sounds like you'll
need every penny.
- One thing you
notice after a while
is that the different color
groups tend to stick together,
Reds with Reds,
Lilacs with Lilacs.
Nobody even talks
to the Teal Blues.
You only hang out with
members of your shirt color
and instantly don't care about
anyone outside of the group.
Somehow we still have
that same basic need
to think we're better
than the next guy.
- Shh, so this debt
you're in, it's bad?
- Yeah, it's pretty bad.
My friend James and
I, we borrowed $7,000
so we can make this
independent horror film
for the Spanish market.
And then, it ends up the
investors were a cartel.
- Whoa.
- Yeah.
- B4.
- Poof, yeah, then
the film fell through.
And now they want all
the money back, C4?
- I mean, it sucks
that the money leaves your
hands as soon as you touch it,
but you're making
7,000 in here, right?
So at least you'll
be in the clear, C4.
- Poof, yeah, not exactly.
They added 45,000
dollars in interest.
Yep, in pain in the ass fee
or some shit, I don't know,
they hired these collectors
to chase us down, B4.
- Shh, oh, shit.
Where are you gonna get
the other 45,000 from?
- D4, my buddy James is
taking care of that part
from the outside since
this was all his idea.
Once I pay off my bit, I'm free.
His stake is so much bigger.
I have no idea how he's gonna
pull off that miracle, F5.
- Well, may your
friend have better luck
than you've had
in this game, E4.
- Thank you, you have
sunk my destroyer.
- Teal Blues.
I'm calling you monkeys out.
I have officially beaten
every red shirt, so
which one of you wants
to try your luck for
only 20 bucks a ship?
- Fuck off, Red, stick
to your own kind.
- Well, you've got a point
there, Blue, I have noticed
that a certain group
mentality tends
to take over each
designated color.
The Red Shirts, probably 'cause
I'm the dominant personality
of the group, are
freakin' cool as hell.
The Lilacs are debaters,
conspiracy theorists.
Canary Yellows are depressives.
Magentas, well, let's just hope
they're all super friendly.
And Teal Blues are chickenshit.
Right?
You okay?
- I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
- Hey, does he get sent
home with full pay?
I heard if you get sick, you
get ejected with full pay.
- That's none of your business.
- He's full of shit.
Last time I was in here,
a group was on a
narcotic painkiller,
they all got violently sick.
All sent home, all
full pay, 3,500 bucks.
- That's just if you go
to an actual hospital.
Most sicknesses are
taken care of in-house.
- An idea is brewing.
- Can you knock off
the elevator music!?
I'm trying to think.
- Hey, sorry.
I'm practicing composition.
- For what?
- Scoring.
For TV, movies, video
games, life in general.
I wanna be a composer.
- I'm a filmmaker.
- What?
- Yeah, you should write
something for one of my movies.
- I'll start right now.
I'm Red Three, but you can
call me Score, nice, I know.
The thing is about composing,
you start by setting
the foundation for
the scene, curiosity,
trepidation,
attraction?
Then you add a simple theme.
Right, just a few notes
for the new character.
And then,
a character theme emerges.
Something you return to anytime
this character reappears
throughout your story.
Then you switch
the lead instrument
and find what lead instrument
speaks best for the character,
then I add a backbeat.
But be ready for
the mood to change
because every good
scene has a button.
Oh shit.
Mm, wow, she really
did a number on you.
This is the first time I've
seen you not look constipated.
Cheer up,
things are looking up.
- Red 11, you have a phone call.
- I spoke too soon.
- Hello?
- Rob, I'm in deep shit,
they're right on my ass.
- James, where the hell are you?
- I can't shake these guys.
- What do you mean shake them?
I thought you were
working on the money.
- 45 grand, are you kidding?
I'm just trying to get
the hell out of this town.
But these guys are like
freaking bloodhounds.
I didn't tell
anyone about my plan
for leaving, not even you.
But somehow they knew.
How did they know, Rob ?
- What plan?
Where the hell are you going?
- Mexico.
But it's too late for me,
you can, you have to run.
- I'm broke, man.
How the hell do I run?
- Take your seven grand and
run, run, run to Canada,
run to Mexico, anywhere
you can disappear.
- What about you?
- Hey.
- I'm gonna die, either
my way or their's.
- Jesus Christ, James.
Don't do anything stupid,
don't do anything stupid.
- You're way off
your charts here.
And if you can't calm down,
we'll have to eject you
from the study entirely.
- I'm sorry, I had a
distressing phone call.
It's not gonna happen again.
- You're supposed
to be baseline,
we can't have your heart
monitor bouncing around
because you're on
some personal call.
- Okay, I got it,
I will calm down.
- Calm down.
- I'll calm.
- Calm.
- I'll calm
down, I'm calm.
- Now, I can't let
you leave this room
until you're baseline.
- I'm calm.
- Keep it in check, Red.
- Okay.
- I mean it.
- James?
- Hello.
- Where the hell is James?
- I see people scraping
him off their shoes.
He made quite a mess when
he finally hit the sidewalk.
- Listen man, I'm gonna have
your money in three days.
- All 52,000?
- 52,000?
No, no, my portion is 7,000.
James said he was
gonna pay the rest.
- Well, James is dead.
You're gonna have to
cover his portion.
- I can't make
that much in here.
- I'll consider your
7,000 as a down payment.
I'll give you a window
so you can find the rest.
I promise I won't waste you,
unless you give me no choice.
- How will I ever square that?
You keep adding
fucking interest.
That's how this shit works,
right, I'll never pay it off.
- We'll figure all of
that out in three days
when I visit you.
- Shut the fuck up.
At least I know they
can't see me in here.
I need cash and wheels
but I'm surrounded by penniless
patients with non-problems.
- Hey Knives,
what's with that thingamajig?
- Forgot I was wearing it.
They didn't tell
me to take it off.
Forged it myself.
Triple layer Japanese steel.
I call it Little Badass.
Listen.
It's so sharp it sings.
- What's that sound?
- It's just the air being
sliced, crying for mercy.
- You better
put that thing away,
they'll confiscate it.
- I'd like to see them try.
- What if life
was just an experiment
and we were all human
lab rats being tested?
Ever felt like that?
I feel like that all the time.
- You've got mustard
coming out of your nose.
- .
- A second
person got sick today.
- Bet he's
getting out with full pay.
- How do you know?
- You blow chunks like that?
You better be getting
out with full pay.
- People are getting
sick, people that shouldn't be.
So why should I care?
The moment I leave this place,
I'm gonna have to turn over
my earnings to the collectors.
- What are you watching?
- "Sea of Love".
- Yeah?
It's not her.
- What?
- Yeah, the whole movie,
they make it look like
Ellen Barkin is the killer,
but it's not, it's
actually her ex-husband,
but you never figured that out
because they only
mentioned him like once.
- You're a fucking bastard.
- Oh, I'm sorry .
- Then it hits me.
If I can get sick, I can
get out early, full pay,
and make a run for it.
Two out of seven Teals
have gotten sick.
Teal One dropped yesterday,
then Teal Three today.
The drug is supposed to
be administered in order,
so Teal Two should have
gotten sick already.
Sure as hell,
Teal Two is taking
his again right now.
Which means either
he's on placebo
or he's not taking the drug.
I found my way out.
- Red 11, I see you've
met my favorite knife.
Made from the sharpest
Japanese steel,
laminated onto a softer steel.
The perfect balance of
sharpness and strength,
that'll bite down to the bone.
Right now I have it pressed
against your carotid artery.
Just to tease its blood lust.
'Cause once unsheathed, it
has to cut, so talk fast.
- I was just trying to
steal one of your pills.
- Why?
- Because I'm trying
to get sick, man, I
wanna get outta here.
- This
isn't prison, Red.
You can walk out any time.
- I need the money too.
I'm trying to get sick.
Because that's the only way
you get outta here with both.
- All right, you live.
I was holding onto these
babies as evidence.
I guess I could spare one.
I support anyone who
sticks it to the man.
- Wait, so you haven't
taken any of them?
- I spit 'em out.
I don't wanna puke my
guts out, shit the pants.
Did you see those guys?
- Wouldn't they know?
- It's a double blind test,
so not even they know who's
on the drug and who's not.
They'll just think
I'm on placebo.
Here.
One condition.
You like this knife?
- Yeah, okay.
I got the pill, but he made
me buy a knife I didn't want.
There's another $400 I owe.
Then the craziest
thing happened.
A red shirt went down.
We thought the
sickness was caused
by the drug that the
Teal Blues were taking.
But our own Red Seven
got sick the same way.
- They ain't laughing now.
- Is this "Crying Game"?
- Yeah, it is, no, and
don't say shit either
because not everyone's
seen this yet.
- Well, I'll tell ya.
- You'd better shut
the hell up right now.
- She's got a dick.
- You son of a bitch.
- Kevin Spacey, yeah,
he's Keyser Soze,
Bruce Willis is dead
and a ghost in
"The Sixth Sense",
Nicole Kidman is dead and
a ghost in "The Others".
"Jacob's Ladder"?
- Shut the hell up,
you spoiler piece of shit.
- Fucking dead too.
- Leo's a patient
in "Shutter Island".
Pitt and Norton's
the same guy in "Fight Club".
- I'm gonna fucking kill you.
- Fuck you
and your stupid movies.
- You Carrot Top looking
motherfucker, I will
fucking kill you.
I'll fucking kill you.
- This is it, an
ambulance ride to a hospital
where I'll kick and
scream for my pay,
and then I'm going
to Mexico, I'm free.
So why the suspicion that
this is all far from over?
- Take him downstairs.
- Where are we going?
I thought we were
going to the hospital.
Aren't we going to the hospital?
- I need to let Jen here
get a little extra practice
doing the blood draws, do
you mind if she takes over?
- No problem, doc.
But I don't think you're
gonna get much practice here.
This guy's got monster veins.
The kind you could
hit in the dark.
- Hold still.
- Oh, I think you
missed the vein.
Ow, yeah ow, that's still
not, it's still not.
Yeah, ow bitch, you're not--
- Hold still.
- Ow, you're nowhere
near it, argh.
- Where are you going?
- Red 11, Red 11.
Red 11, man, you didn't wake up.
- Oh, Vampira stabbed
the shit out of me.
I guess I was just--
- Dreaming?
- Where have you been?
I saw you get sick, they said
they took you to the hospital.
- They did, I'm not really here.
Come on, it's dinner time.
- What's for dinner?
- Red 11.
- How you feeling, son?
- Okay, better.
Can I go back with the group?
- Not yet.
We need to observe you
a little bit longer.
You remember what happened
yesterday, back in the hallway?
- No.
- I see.
- Didn't anyone else get sick?
I mean, there's no
one else in here.
- You gave us a pretty
good scare there.
But everything's good now.
- I'm kind of in a hurry.
I mean I need to be
outta here by the 15th
when the study ends,
that's two days from now.
- It's highly unlikely
that we'll be able
to release you that early.
There's some friends of mine
that are gonna
wanna talk to you.
It's important that
you remain at ease.
- But I can't...
- Have a good rest.
- I guess everything
is different down here,
wherever the hell down here is.
- My boys haven't seen you
in days, you're hiding.
- No, they moved me.
- So you want me
to come find you.
- No, that's not what I meant.
- See you in two days.
- Black Shirt, the Black Shirt
is in his own experiment.
What are you looking for?
- Something good.
- How do you know what's good
if you don't stop to watch it?
- I sense things.
- What got you locked up in ICU?
- I heard the
food's better here.
- You're saying you got
into ICU on purpose?
How did you do that?
- I cheated, same as you.
- What made you decide to
become a human lab rat?
You need the money
for something?
- What makes you
think I need money?
- Well, I don't know,
this isn't really the type
of job people do for fun.
- I'm researching
to write an expose.
- Okay, great, then
that's cool if it's true.
- I need the money so I
can backpack across Europe.
- Okay, that's a
little more plausible.
- Actually, I'm a
product of the lab.
I was raised here,
I can never leave.
- Are any of those
actually true?
- One of them is.
I'm also just trying to
get this damn scar removed.
- Yeah I noticed that, I just
didn't wanna say anything.
How did you get it?
- I don't wanna talk about
it so much that I relive it,
but let's just say it
involved a switchblade,
an alleyway, and a scary guy
who looked a lot like you.
- Just you don't wanna talk
about it, right, got it.
- Hey Red, wanna have a laugh?
- Yeah, sure.
- Let's switch shirts.
- Are you serious?
- No, I'm a clown.
- They dock your pay for
screwing around like that.
- They wouldn't know, are
you kidding, these zombies?
- Why would you risk it?
- Because they have
the Magenta group on
a low calorie diet
and it's killing me.
The red shirts, that's you,
get a burger on Wednesdays,
so I say we switch shirts.
I eat your food, you eat mine,
and then we switch
back, a laugh.
- I can't afford to get caught.
Seriously, they dock your pay
if you mess up their results.
- Buck, buck, buck, buck,
buck, buck, buck, buck, buck,
buck, buck, buck, buck, buck.
- God, okay, how about this,
if I get a burger, I
will give you half.
That way it only screws up your
results and not mine, deal?
- I want the whole burger, Red.
- What if I say I can't?
- Then you get a scar
that looks just like mine.
- Deal.
- What are you looking for?
- A tech, so I can see
how much longer I
have to be down here.
- They don't know
anything, they're idiots.
Besides, it's your own
fault you're down here.
- How did you know I cheated?
- Because you puked a red river.
Only the Teal Blues have
been getting sick like that.
So you either took the meds
or you're way off baseline.
Which means you're probably
gonna kick you out anyways.
- The Doc will know.
Hey, Doc, Doc, can I
talk to you for a second?
I know I shouldn't
be snooping around,
but there's something here.
What am I doing?
I can't afford to get caught,
no matter how weird...
- Can I help you?
- Yeah, I was just, yeah,
I was just checking in.
Do you know how much longer
I have to be down here?
- Resistant Red 11.
Says here that you're
an aspiring filmmaker.
That's interesting, you know,
I love action and
suspense thrillers.
Especially ones
with ironic endings.
- Cool.
- Yeah I'm a big fan.
- Listen, can I get outta
here soon, I feel much better?
- Not according to
your tests here.
Everything is elevated still.
Just try to relax and
maybe you'll be cleared
by next week.
- Next week?
No Doc, I need to be
outta here by tomorrow.
- And I need you to relax, huh?
You're not going
anywhere, are we clear?
- Clear.
- You know, I have
quite the collection
of movie posters
and movie props.
Some of them quite rare.
You'd love 'em, being a
filmmaker and all .
- I hear something
familiar coming
from up the hallway.
It can't be.
No way, Score?
- Oh, hey, buddy.
- What the hell happened?
- Oh, I got sick.
- I figured.
What did it sound like?
- Oh, musically?
Here, let me show you.
I always keep this baby in
record because you never know
when magic is gonna flow
through these fingertips.
Here, check it out.
Yeah, my puke hit the keyboard.
- Knives,
you're here too?
- Yeah, they caught me
not swallowing the pill.
- What did they do?
- Made me swallow it.
- Hey, you're gonna
hurt yourself.
- Actually,
I've never lifted
this much before.
I don't know if it's
me, the drugs, or what.
- It's definitely the drugs.
Check this out.
- What the fuck?
Is any of this real,
are we dreaming?
- What, all of us in the
same fever dream, how?
- I don't know.
We're all just hallucinating?
- Do you call this
a hallucination?
We're below the main floor,
this has to be experimental.
Those of us who've been
on the drug the longest
have more potent effects.
- Yeah, good for them, what?
None of this is helping me
get outta here any faster
with my money.
- Unless we steal the drug.
This drug has side effects
that causes heightened senses,
and this shit works.
We know that drugs
are a huge business.
So, I say we steal the drug,
and then we sell
it on the outside.
- Yeah, except these
aren't burgers we're talking
about, this is heavy shit.
- The burger was just a test.
Now I know you're
not chickenshit.
So help me steal.
- Why do you know all this,
huh, what's your angle?
I know you got
one, who sent you?
- Ever heard of
Pharmaceutical?
- Oh yeah, I did a study there.
It's shit compared
to this place.
- I worked there.
They need a drug like
this to get them back
in the high stakes business.
What I mean is I have a buyer.
People who would trade a
box of this shit for this.
You help me steal it
and I'll give your cut
to whoever is coming to collect.
- Yeah, that'd be great,
if you were telling the truth.
- I mean it.
- You still haven't even
given me a straight answer
as to why you're here.
- I just did.
I worked for
Pharmaceutical.
- That is such bullshit,
that is such bullshit.
You, this whole study,
these freaky ass powers,
it's all bullshit.
For all I know, all you
guys are hallucinations.
What did you just say to me?
- I didn't say anything.
- No, I heard you in my head.
- Yeah, I heard it too.
- Yeah, like a
whisper in my ear.
- I mean it, this shit works
and they pay a lot
more than 7,000.
Add a few zeros to
the end of that.
Getting you out of debt
would be like buying gum.
- I heard that too.
- P.S., you don't have any.
- Shake it,
with a straight face and I'll
help you steal it right now.
- Thanks.
- Mm,
you've been busy.
Still wounded, good,
101, that's normal.
- That's normal?
- It is around here.
You're a little sicky boy.
- There's been some really
weird shit going on down here.
- Weird shit, rule of thumb,
you see something strange
or just out of the
ordinary around here,
try to remember it's
just a side effect
of the very heavy dose
of experimental medicine
that you are on.
I mean, that makes sense, right?
- I don't know
what's real anymore.
- It's not the hospital, it's
not the staff, side effects.
See that?
That is a used needle, gross.
How many times have
I told my staff not
to leave their dirty, filthy
needles just lying around?
Too many times.
- Oh, what the fuck?
- That hurts, doesn't it?
And yet, there's nothing there.
It's just the paper
covering your straw.
- Side effects?
- Just side effects.
So you know the difference,
that was real, hang in there.
- Jesus.
What is this black
shit you're giving me?
- Not giving, taking.
Just draining the extra fluids.
Good morning, everyone.
We've made a breakthrough
thanks to your cooperation.
We've isolated the cause
of all your illnesses
to some rogue reactions that
we have witnessed to the drug.
And we have found a
way to neutralize it.
Now some of you may have been
experiencing hallucinations
and these will all disappear
with this antidote.
Now we do need to
administer it via the I.V.
for faster absorption
and fast relief.
There will be side effects
that you may encounter.
So it is important that
you wear the restraints
until the antidote has run
its course, and Godspeed.
- Hey, check it out,
that guy's asleep
and he's still getting drugged.
- Oh shit.
- Remember me, Red?
No one's leaving 'til you're
all taking what I'm taking.
Take the drugs.
Uh, uh, uh, you're
cheating again, Red.
Join us, man, feels great.
Here, I'll help you.
- Fuck.
- You're hallucinating
again, Red.
Take your drugs, all of you.
It's the only way to stop
what you think you're seeing.
- Score.
Shit.
What the fuck?
- I told you, Red, your dead.
- You never could
hit a vein, Vampira.
- What the hell's going on here?
Why are they giving a virus?
Are they trying to take
away our powers, kill us?
- Turn us on each other.
What happened?
- Vampira got me, but
I took care of it.
- What about there?
- Oops, I didn't see that one.
- Get into the elevator,
we're busting out of this place.
- Wait, wait, you ain't
going anywhere, Red.
- Magenta?
- Shit.
- Where's Score?
- Oh, shit.
Okay, theme, what's the theme?
Trepidation, fear,
the tragic end to a
beloved character.
Okay, something's not right.
That was too easy.
It needs a complication, it's
ooh, a twist ending
that nobody sees coming.
Yeah, rhythmically
that works, okay, doom?
Salvation.
Doom.
- This is the Doc's office.
He collects movie props,
we'll need weapons.
- But wouldn't he
keep it locked?
What good are movie
props, they're fake?
- No, not necessarily.
Some filmmakers demand
realism on their sets
so they create
real working props.
Doc strikes me as the kinda guy
that would collect
the real thing.
Oh shit.
I think George Clooney
handled this one.
- Day in the life
of a human lab rat,
you get your ass kicked
by me, tick, tock.
- Tick.
- You know how your
movie ends, Red?
You die.
- It's different every time.
- Right about now,
they're plotting their
escape, just like clockwork.
- Let them go.
- Yes sir.
- Why are they
keeping us in here?
- They're messing
with our heads.
It's all part of the experiment.
- Oh my God, what experiment?
This is supposed to
be a Phase Four study.
- That's upstairs, down here,
it's Phase One, experimental.
- Experimental, yeah
well, it's Wednesday.
This is the day I was supposed
to originally be outta here,
which means those collectors,
they're already on their way.
And when they don't
find me up there
with their money, I'm dead.
- Try focusing your
hand down to one finger.
Make your push even more potent.
- That wasn't me.
- Come one.
It'll take us up.
- No, that's too easy.
- I like easy, come on.
- I can't just leave.
I can't go up
there empty handed.
- Let's just go.
- I'm screwed in here
and I'm screwed out
there, I want my 7,000.
- How?
- Go back to your plan.
We steal the drug.
- What time do the
collectors get here?
- Three o'clock.
- I'm not
giving, taking.
- This is the shit
that the Doc was
draining for me.
This green pill, did
you take this too?
- Yeah.
- Do you think they
were fabricating
these high stress scenarios?
- To create a reaction.
- That's why they
were giving this shit
to the Teal Blues first because
they're the most aggressive.
I mean, I wasn't supposed to
get my hands on this shit,
and then I did, and I had
the strongest reaction.
That's why they're
draining me to make this.
They're trying to
sell these abilities.
I'm gonna sell it too.
Does this look
like $7,000 worth?
- Probably 70,000.
What, are you
just gonna sell it to
them and go to Mexico?
- Is that not the plan?
- What about Score, what
about Knives, Red Seven?
What about me?
- I do not have
time for this shit.
- Every time with
you it's always about
saving your own ass.
- Yeah, because it's
my ass on the line.
- You could do the right
thing, Rob, but you never do.
- Wait, how do you know my name?
I haven't told anyone
in here my name.
I said how do you know my name?
- And where is my money?
- I don't have the cash.
But I have this.
- Excuse my children,
they're still learning
the family business.
Now what's that shit?
- It's experimental,
but it works
and it's worth a
lot more than 7,000.
- I got plenty of that shit.
- No, you don't, this is new.
It's better, comes
out of me, tell him.
- I don't know
what he's talking about,
that shit doesn't work.
He's scamming you.
- Don't make me use this.
- I could say the same shit.
Time to use real weapons.
- Dad, he shot your car.
- Shit, don't kill him,
shoot him in the leg.
- How the hell
did you do that?
- I don't know.
- They're never gonna let
you go now, follow me.
- Hey, hey.
- Get him.
- Wait, what's the point?
Pancho is shot and this
little shit is too strong.
- You want him to sell his
juice to the Belasco cartel?
Then we're gonna
be really done for.
- But not today.
- Good girl, now find them
and bring them to
me in one piece.
I wanna laugh when I
shoot his eyes out.
Then we can drain his
ass for all he's got.
- Was this your plan all along?
You're acting like you need
this money more than I do.
- This is our only
chance to get out.
- Stop, give it to me, now.
- Trust me.
- Look what you boy
tried to sell me.
I thought you didn't
have anything in here.
- I just extracted it, I
wanted to surprise you.
- Well, I'm surprised, now
I have a surprise for you.
- Trust me,
you don't wanna do
that, we still need him.
Well son, you made a whole mess
of things again, haven't you?
- What do you mean again?
- Red, listen to me,
you have to remember.
Remember, Red.
- I do remember.
You were telling me the
truth that time, weren't you?
You're a product of this
lab, you're an experiment.
You were born here.
She's how you make this stuff.
You're the real black shirt.
That's the only thing
that makes sense.
- Product of the lab,
born here, can never leave.
But it's not just me, it's you,
and Knives, Score, Red Seven,
we've all been part of the same
experiment our whole lives.
- Prove it.
- You wanted to know
where I got this scar.
- Careful Magenta, your
words could break him.
- I got it from you, Red.
- More mind games, it has to be.
I've never been here before.
I make movies, make believe.
I'm not a full-time patient,
a permanent lab rat.
What did you mean when you
said I gave you the scar?
- It was from an
earlier experiment,
before your reset last time.
Everything went wrong.
It always goes wrong.
- So you're saying I've been
in here with you before?
- You ask me that every time.
- I'm asking you again.
Why do you keep
trying to help me?
- I wouldn't listen to her, son,
she's not right in the head.
- Why do you keep
calling me son?
- Hell of a story, isn't it?
It's not every day that
your reality shatters
before your eyes.
- What the hell's going on here?
- You're an experiment, son.
Our first successful extraction.
- Street drugs are for punks.
The real money is in
the legal drug business.
Trillion dollar a year industry.
And this is gonna
set us right on top.
We like addiction, we
need addiction to survive.
- The lab upstairs
is actually real.
It's what helps
fund this lower lab.
The rest comes from
our cartel friends.
- You know, there's this theory
that if you started
your life over again,
you'd run into the same people
who are important in your life
and you always turn on them.
Every time we erase your
memory, start you over again,
you find a way to screw your
friends over for your own skin.
It's your flaw, son.
Your shirt keeps changing,
but you never do.
It's taught me that you
can't change your destiny
or your fate.
- They're
draining my abilities.
I'll have to start from
scratch again, be reset.
Go back to being a vegetable.
I have to fight it.
The Black Shirt, it
all makes sense now.
Who he is.
It was right there in
front of me all along.
The Black Shirt is in
his own experiment.
Aren't we all?
The Black Shirt is
the most powerful.
- You find a way
to screw your friends over
for your own skin.
- You wanna know
your movie ends, Red?
You don't make it out.
- Thanks for the heads up.
- Did you spoil another ending?
- Don't move.
- So very Ennio.
- The song's not over yet.
- Yeah.
- Score, Knives, Red Seven,
it's payback time.
- Oh, we're breaking out?
Oh yeah, I got just the thing.
- So we're all
products of the lab.
- Yeah, now we're
taking it back.
- It's time to
stick it to the man.
- Hell, yeah.
We got to get you a red shirt.
- Hey asshole, I see you've
met my favorite knife.
- You came back, for all of us.
- Enough, I can get by
with one less test subject.
- Fight him, Magenta.
- She has no power
except what she gets from the
drug and that faded long ago.
- You okay?
- I was always okay.
I just needed you to
make the right choice
'cause only assholes can
create this kind of power.
And you're not an asshole, Red.
You don't even need the drug.
All the power comes from
you and he knows it.
- You really think
this is happening, huh?
That you could actually shoot
from your finger, pu, pu, pu?
That there's really
Zombies chasing you, mm?
That she loves you?
- Then let them go
and I'll never resist again,
I'm the only black
shirt you need.
Let them go right now
and I'll never leave.
Either that or you try your best
to scoop my abilities
off this fucking floor.
And give them
the money you owe me, $7,000.
- Sure, son.
- I don't believe it,
getting us out with full pay.
- That reminds me.
No one talks to the black shirt.
He's in his own experiment.
- Remember
me, Red, remember us.
- Life is an experiment.
And we are its lab rats.
But how it all turns out
is within our own power.