Rite of the Shaman (2022) Movie Script
Kai?
Kai, is that you son?
Thank you. Thank you.
Welcome home son.
How was school today?
Ah, I see that smile
on your face.
You went up the mountains.
So tell me,
did you see anything wonderful?
Ah, the Great Lady
was surveying her domain.
Ah...
I miss the sound of your--
of your voice my son.
Don't look sad.
Remember, everybody
grieves in their own way.
And losing your father
and your grandfather
is an awful lot
for any heart to carry.
Remember, the doctor said
that you will find your voice.
And when you're ready,
I can't wait to hear it.
But I will admit, I listen
to your voice all the time.
You do sound like
a five-year-old in my mind,
but you know, that's...
I wonder what
your voice sounds like.
I'll bet it's rich
and deep like your father's.
I miss him.
Do you remember all of
the hikes that we would take?
Do you remember when
we would go up the mountains
just to get away
from the things of men?
I remember...
your little legs
would be trying so hard
to keep up and you just
couldn't do it.
You would reach your arms up
to us.
We would lift you up
on our shoulders.
I miss those hikes,
all of the adventures.
Do you remember the things
that your father
would talk to us about?
All about balance,
all about nature.
We had some really good times,
didn't we?
But the one who really--
understood that was
your grandfather, Ronan.
I swear he knew
every tree and rock by name.
And he was on a first-name
basis with all of the animals.
Isn't she beautiful?
In your mother's native
language of Gaelic,
she is called.
She represents wisdom,
and she helps us
to find those hidden truths
and bring them to light.
In my heritage,
my Viking heritage,
she is called ugla.
She helps us see
in the spiritual dark.
Hey, all done with homework?
Uh, yeah, I just finished
up the English essay
and now I'm going to finish up
this biology thing.
-Do you need any help or...?
-Nope. Kai helped me.
Okay.
Well, I'm gonna head to bed.
-Don't stay up too late.
-Okay.
-Okay. Goodnight.
-Goodnight.
Haley!
Hey, Haley.
See what I did there?
Uh, welcome.
Glad you could make it.
Um, vascular plant.
All right.
So this date's back
about 420 million years, okay.
So it's been
around for a while.
Um, vascular plants, have--
they have a built in
transportation system,
all right?
So they're really good at--
at, uh, conducting energy
and bringing fluid
and transporting nutrients.
They even actually will, uh,
enlist like other organisms,
which sounds really gross,
but... okay.
So they're amazingly
resourceful.
Okay, so...
dermal is like the skin, right?
And vascular is like...
the veins.
So ground
is like the fat cells?
Cool.
Who knows what chlorophyll is?
- Plant's food.
- Kind of.
So chlorophyll is, um,
you can buy it at that
health food store.
Like, uh, it's like that green
disgusting drink.
You guys know
what I'm talking about?
Don't know if your parents
ever make you drink it.
Uh, yeah, go ahead.
Hey, guys, I will be in my
office Tuesday, not Wednesday.
Just review
the, uh, study material, okay?
I promise it's not that hard,
but--
Hey Kai,
can you hold back just one sec?
Are you planning on doing
the science fair?
Yeah? Okay. They got a really
good scholarship opportunity
and I actually
signed this already for you.
So-- see you, John, sorry.
Um, um, I hope you'll-
I hope you'll do it.
It'd be good for you.
Sorry, Brian, um--
You gonna ask me if
I'm gonna do the science fair?
Yeah, absolutely.
Um, but on that note,
like, man, what's going on
with your grades?
A tender and kindling
the log of the evening
A bird to the night
And the mind
at the darkness hour
In search of the spark
so bright and alive
Where the root
and the stem
The leaf
in a house of green
Well,
if it isn't Dr. Kai Leigh.
How are you today?
So I wanted to thank you
for your help
with that paphiopedilum.
Your suggestion
saved that plant.
So in thanks,
we want to offer you
a 50% discount
for the entire year.
How's your mom doing
by the way?
Good then.
I may be up for promotion.
So I'm excited about that.
So please say hi to your mom
for me. We're good here.
It's good to see you again,
Kai.
Dr. Leigh.
The wings of the owl
grow sorrow and frightened
Into the grass
that becomes
The wronged and the raged
turn corner at meeting
The root and the stem
The leaf in
a house of green
The root and the stem
The leaf in
a house of green
The root and the stem
The leaf in
a house of green
The root and the stem
The leaf in
a house of green
There's that mute freak.
All right,
let's go have a talk.
- You need a walk, boy?
- Hi.
The mute freak.
Probably can't hear me either.
Kai.
Hold up a sec.
So where's the snake?
Didn't it need a walk too?
Man, my mom said you used
to be able to talk.
Ah, seem a little
broken though, huh?
Losing your dad
and grandpa do that to you?
Man, that must have
done a number on you boy.
Hi, defective.
Maybe your daddy was a snake.
Come on boys.
Let's go.
Life is not easy.
We must all work hard
to support one another
and support our world.
That is life
and life is connection.
Life is a circle.
From dust we come
and to dust we will go.
So Kai, how was your day today?
You didn't go to
the mountains, did you?
Of course, I can tell.
You seem off.
Is everything okay?
Sorry. Sorry.
I'll back off.
You know, Kai,
I heard a story once
about a carrot,
an egg, and a tea leaf.
Well, they were each
gathered by the farmer
and each of them saw
the farmer set the fire,
put the pot on the fire,
and put the water in the pot.
As they watched
that water begin to boil,
the carrot was unafraid.
Fruit was strong
and it knew that its strength
would protect it
from this challenge.
The egg knew that it was
soft and tender inside,
but it counted on its shell to
protect it from the challenge.
The tea leaf,
the tea leaf was flexible
and it knew it would
face this challenge.
And into the water
went all of them.
What do you think happened when
they came out of that water?
Did the carrot's
strength protect it?
That carrot came out
and all of its strength
had been sapped out of it
from that challenge.
And it was weak and mushy.
What about the egg?
When that egg was opened up,
that once soft interior
was now hardened
by that challenge.
But what about that tea leaf?
What happened with it?
The tea leaf did something
completely unique.
It changed the water
and it turned it into tea.
I don't know what challenges
you're facing right now,
but you have to decide
what are you.
Are you a carrot that's
going to trust your strength
and then be weakened
by the challenge?
Are you gonna be the egg
and have your tender heart
absolutely hardened by it?
Or are you gonna be the tea
leaf and change the world?
You are acting as
the sacred fire
keeper tonight.
So you are responsible for
this space and for the fire.
Kai, the native people of
this land and your ancestors
have great wisdom in their
love and respect for nature.
And we are wise if we learn
from them and listen.
I miss your father too.
I feel all those same things.
And it is okay to feel
the things you feel.
It is okay to cry.
Your mind
and heart are so heavy.
Let them rest,
breathe in the air and let go.
Feel the earth beneath you.
Listen closely and hear
nature's voice singing.
In many cultures around
the world people use dance
to express feelings
that are too deep for words.
Dance lets us
connect to ourselves
and the earth in special ways.
It doesn't change the world,
but it lets us
clear our hearts.
Yeah, your worthless kid.
-My kid.
-Your, your worthless kid.
-My worthless.
-He can't even mow this lawn.
If you want him to grow up
an emotional cripple,
go ahead and keep
coddling him then.
I am not coddling him.
He'll- he'll be fine.
He'll get his grades up.
Of course, yeah.
You say this every year.
Every year. He should
just quit and get a job.
At least then he'd be
doing something useful.
No. No. This is the year
he will find his path.
-I know he will.
-Yeah.
-This... Is hard for me.
-Really.
Really? Yeah. Yeah.
You know, you're always
make excuses for him.
He's just a kid.
He has challenges.
He's just learning.
-I'm supposed to be his dad.
-Yeah.
So yeah. So I should
have some say in this too.
-You should.
-Yeah.
And-- But you don't act
like a dad.
When have you ever
listened to him?
-When have you ever?
-I try. I-- I try.
-I try.
-No, you've not.
He treats me worse
than he treats you.
He shows me no respect at all.
If I'd treated my dad that way
he would have kicked out.
-Your dad.
-Yeah, my dad.
Great. Yeah,
let's talk about your dad.
No, you have never once done
anything to earn his respect.
Why should he respect you?
Hey, I want my dinner
ready when I get back, okay?
This is hot garbage.
It's so sad.
All right guys.
So yesterday
we were talking
about cell structure.
Now, I know you all found
that incredibly exciting.
Um, but today we're
gonna be moving into DNA.
Okay. Um, who knows
what DNA stands for?
Go ahead.
Um, deoxyribonucleic acid.
Deoxyribonucleic acid. Yeah.
So, uh, we're actually
gonna be extracting
DNA from a strawberry.
Um, we're not cloning
to dinosaurs, I'm sorry.
It's not as--
not that exciting,
but um, you're gonna be doing
the same extraction
process that they do
in labs and everything.
How this works is we take
what's called saline solution
and this is just
soap and saltwater.
And what it actually does
is it's gonna break down
the cell wall and once
that's broken down,
you can actually go in
and extract the DNA. Okay.
Um, the salt
is kind of important.
This is on the quiz too.
So write this down, whatever.
Um, it will actually
pull out the, uh, the-
Or provides, I'm sorry.
Provides a positive
light, okay.
And that allows them to
pull out the negative DNA
out of the solution once
you've completed this.
So, uh, you all have
your instructions.
It's all pretty
straightforward.
But if you have questions,
please ask.
Okay?
Oh, Kai.
Thank you for dinner.
Sit down, sit down.
How was your day?
Everything all right?
Kai, what's going on?
Hey, listen.
There's gonna be a really
cool show on later.
Do you wanna watch it with me?
It's about plants
in the Amazon.
Kai, I'm worried about you.
Oh, Kai.
Kai, I love you.
Okay. So I think I finally
understand, do you think
they're gonna make us like
dissect a frog or something?
God, how cool would that be?
I mean, what do you think
the inside of it looks like?
Maybe we could look--
look at its brains.
Do you think it looks
like a human brain,
all the ridges and everything?
Because I think it would
be quite similar
because I heard that
frogs are really intelligent.
-So I was thinking--
- Kai, let's have a talk.
Don't you know
you're just petty case,
just a project for her?
What do you see in
this freak, Aspen?
You know,
he's a real retard, right?
Just don't listen to them.
Oh hell, um.
Let's go, Smily. Both of you.
That's twice this week.
Let's go.
Both of you now. Office.
Kai, you watch your back.
Kai! Kai!
Yeah, no, honestly, I'm just
a little worried about him.
He seems kind of withdrawn
and his grades just are-
they're not good.
Um, he was actually
supposed to come meet with-
you know what,
he actually just walked in.
Okay. Yep.
I- I'll let him know. Bye.
Hey, Kai.
Mom wants to talk.
How are you doing?
No. Hey, man I wasn't
trying to bother her.
We were just -- Look I'm--
I'm just concerned about you.
I'll just say it.
Um, you know, the work
you're doing it's--
it's not your best.
And--
Okay. That-- that's fine.
Um, at the end of the day,
you still have to do the work
just like everyone else,
you know?
Are you-- Look, are you sure
there's nothing else going on?
You can tell me.
Kai. Kai, come on.
What's up?
It seems there's been
an allegation against you.
And because of the seriousness
of the allegation,
I'm afraid I needed
to contact the union.
So you're going to have
a representative
and a lawyer come here
and I need to know
if you wanna
come speak with--
What allegation?
I'm so sorry.
We'll discuss it all
in the principal's office,
but you need to come
with me right now.
Somebody will come in
and take care of your class.
Okay. You just--
Let's sit down there.
I'm so sorry.
Dr. Leigh, we haven't
seen you for a while.
How have you been?
Hey, how's your--
how's your mom?
Uh, uh, okay.
I'll ring you up.
So I was wondering
if I could get your help
with one of our middle
Middlemist rose, red roses?
I-- It's just that you're-
it's just you're so good at it.
Um, is there anything
I can do for you, Kai?
Hey, Kai hold up.
Look, I'm-- I'm sorry
I-- I'm concerned about you.
I-- I-- It's just really
you haven't been yours--
Bills, bills, bills.
It's okay.
I can just get a third
or maybe even a fourth job.
Hell, I could just
work all the time.
That boy, if he isn't gonna
graduate, he should work too.
Someone's gotta pay
the bills around here.
Knock it off, Al.
I don't know why it happened.
I don't know what happened.
It just happened.
Just it doesn't help
to get mad about it.
Do not tell me
how to feel in my own home.
I can't work
any harder than I do.
It's the government's fault.
No. Would you please
stop blaming them?
Everyone thinks you're
crazy when you say that.
-Don't call me crazy.
-Mm.
So, so no,
I'm just on probation
until the end of the year.
And it-- it all came from
that one anonymous review,
but I don't know.
The-- the school's
just doing it
to cover themselves
and the district.
I mean, of course,
they are, right?
But I don't know.
I feel like a criminal.
I didn't do anything wrong.
Wait, how can they do that?
It's based on rumor
and hearsay. It's just crazy.
I mean, I know that you give
everything to those students.
Do you know
who could've done it?
No, I have no idea.
Come in. I'm okay.
I'm okay.
Listen to your ancestors, Kai.
They live within you.
The souls of Shaman
from thousands of generations
whisper to you.
Let them guide you
claim your right.
Kai! Oh, Kai. Kai.
Kai, I'm so sorry.
I'm so sorry.
I know you found my papers.
I'm trying to fix it.
I'll fix it I promise.
I was so scared.
I thought I lost you forever.
I thought you've run away.
Kai, I know things
are hard right now.
And I can't fix them
the way I want to.
And I can't promise
that it'll be better soon,
but it will get better.
Kai, darling. Please live.
Please let me help you
get the help you need.
Okay?
Oh, just hold my hands, son.
-Please just hold my hands.
-Mama.
Oh, Kai. Kai.
You just made a s--
-Did you just speak?
-I love you, mama.
Oh, Kai.
You found your voice.
What will you do with it?
Yeah, we won!
All right, man.
Good job, buddy.
Yeah. All right. Whoa!
Hey, freak.
Did you put any of
these on my locker?
Freak, you put this
on my locker?
-Yeah.
-Talking now.
Hey, freak--
Kai...
why?
Because it's true.
Um...
Uh, it's actually really cool.
Uh, could I help with that?
Thanks.
Hey, what's yours say?
-Um, says you are bright.
-Nice. And you?
- Mine says you are ready.
- What's your say?
I'm, uh,
I'm worth fighting for.
-That's cool.
-Um, here. For you.
Y'all have a good day.
Hey, Mr. Dewitt.
Hey Bryan. What's up?
I didn't call for you, did I?
- No, this was my idea.
- Oh, yeah.
I was gonna say,
'cause I don't--
There's no-- there's no report
for you so Ms. Anderson,
-didn't kick you out again.
-No, this-- this is my idea.
Are you saving
the school officer
sometime today or what's up?
What's going on?
It's shocking but last time
I was in here
you said that there was still
a chance I could graduate.
-Really?
-I mean it, yeah.
Yes.
You're pretty far off track
for graduation though.
Okay.
Now, Bryan, I'm gonna tell you
it's not gonna be easy.
Uh, now it's gonna take a lot
of hard work and no joke,
commitment from you.
-Gimme those.
-Sorry, Mr. Dewitt.
I've seen a lot of students
in your situation
and they quit
because they can't meet
all the requirements.
My-- my mom and my dad,
they didn't graduate
high school.
They haven't gone to college.
Quitting is no longer
an option. I wanna walk.
Good.
Let's work on this pack, okay?
Okay.
So first I'm gonna
need you to get
your teachers
to sign these letters.
I'm gonna print 'em out
for you.
-Okay?
-Okay.
Now what?
You are loved.
Hmm.
All right.
You're way too old
to be like that.
No, if I say no,
the answer is no.
Go get in the car.
No, leave your shoes on.
Today not worse.
Are you kidding?
Kids, can we start over?
Let's go home.
Hey, um...
I don't--
There's really nothing
I can say but these flowers
aren't nearly
as beautiful as you are.
-Thank you, honey.
-Yeah.
Work on some of these
bills together
before they come
and get everything.
Oh, and you know,
Bryan, he really is a good kid.
I'm gonna--
I'm gonna do better.
I, uh, I'm gonna try
a little harder.
Both of you.
I got a lot of stuff that are--
I gotta work on myself.
And none of its either
of you guys' faults.
-I love you.
-I love you too.
If this has a nucleus,
then what type of cell
is it not?
Uh, that is not nucleus?
These are
the ones that do have them.
So like bacteria,
for example, right?
Always think about that.
So a cell in your body, right?
They're all gonna have
the nucleus whereas
like something like
bacteria is not, right?
So something--
All cells photosynthesize,
right?
We-- Yeah. But that's
kind of the different--
that's-- that's going back to
the lesson we talking before,
this is more focused
on what's gonna be coming up.
I came here for you
Is this even worth
it at this point?
No, here-- Okay.
Now you're making me feel bad.
It's kind of a trick question.
You were right.
Look, viruses contain DNA,
but not much else.
So you not remembering
is actually a good thing.
-Oh, okay!
-Let's put that one right!
See it does.
No, you're fine though.
But seriously, that--
that was the question.
Wendy is the best
employee I've ever seen.
She deserves a bonus
and a promotion.
She encourages me
to learn about plants
and challenges me
to bring them back to life.
Congratulations, Sunny.
Looks like you guys
are having a good time
over here.
-How was everything?
-Great.
How about some dessert, huh?
Keep those smiles going.
We have a beautiful
peanut butter cheesecake
and our chef did an absolutely
amazing tiramisu this evening.
-What do you think?
-Let's do both of them.
-Both?
-Yeah.
You know, what,
tonight it's on the house.
-Hey, thanks.
-Yeah, of course.
Well, you guys,
I love you so much.
Love you.
So I just-- all I have to do
is get my GED,
and then I can get
some more promotions.
And then I can-- They said
they might help with college.
I might get some help.
Hey, Aspen.
Look, I'm so sorry.
Everyone looks so chipper,
please.
My goodness.
Sorry, Mr. B.
My gift to you.
Hope it's a gift.
Three, two, one...
What? No way.
Yeah, let's go.
I mean, it's not all of it.
It's far from all of it,
but that's a C.
That's a C.
See you Mr. B.
I gotta go.
Hello, Dr. Petin.
This is Rebekah Leigh.
I've just decided I'm not
quite ready to give up.
Next week.
I'll see you then.
Getting into
multicellular organisms.
These are all developed
from single cell.
Okay. This is very common in
all kind of cellular reactions.
It comes from,
uh-- It's called a zygote.
This comes from the Greek
word yolk and--
and it's called a zygote.
Hey Mrs. Shelley, what's up?
I'm sorry for the interruption,
Mr. Browning
but I wanted to come
share the news
with you and celebrate
with your students.
-Congratulations.
-For what?
You've been named teacher
of the year for our school.
And you're a finalist for
the state teacher of the year.
You found your voice.
What will you do with it?
It's never easy to
try to make it through
Sometimes you gotta go
your own way
The world will
break you down
Until you level out
So take the punches it
don't matter what they say
Hold on
And don't you
ever back down
Yeah, I will build you up
Though the mountain's
tough
Keep on climbin'
and don't you look back down
There'll be some stumblin'
There'll be some crumblin'
Pick up the pieces
and put 'em back down now
Hold on
Light the fire within
You've got that fire
You've got the fire within
C'mon and light it up
show your stuff
Tell 'em
what you're dreaming of
This is how
your story begins
You've got that fire
Fire
Fire
You've got that fire
Fire
Go out and see the world
Make a million friends
Don't let 'em tell you
you can't do it your way
Go out and make mistakes
Yeah, you will learn
from them
Another lesson that's
the price we pay just
Hold on
And light the fire within
You've got that fire
You've got the fire within
C'mon and light it up
show your stuff
Tell 'em
what you're dreaming of
This is
how your story begins
You've got that fire
Fire
Fire
You've got that fire
Fire
We all have scars,
we fight so hard
You'll feel it burn
down deep in your heart
Now let it burn
Burn Burn Burn
You've got that fire
You've got the fire within
C'mon and light it up
show your stuff
Tell' em
what you're dreaming of
This is how your
story begins
You've got that fire
Fire
Fire
You've got the fire within
You've got that fire
Fire
Fire
You've got the fire within
You've got that fire
Kai, is that you son?
Thank you. Thank you.
Welcome home son.
How was school today?
Ah, I see that smile
on your face.
You went up the mountains.
So tell me,
did you see anything wonderful?
Ah, the Great Lady
was surveying her domain.
Ah...
I miss the sound of your--
of your voice my son.
Don't look sad.
Remember, everybody
grieves in their own way.
And losing your father
and your grandfather
is an awful lot
for any heart to carry.
Remember, the doctor said
that you will find your voice.
And when you're ready,
I can't wait to hear it.
But I will admit, I listen
to your voice all the time.
You do sound like
a five-year-old in my mind,
but you know, that's...
I wonder what
your voice sounds like.
I'll bet it's rich
and deep like your father's.
I miss him.
Do you remember all of
the hikes that we would take?
Do you remember when
we would go up the mountains
just to get away
from the things of men?
I remember...
your little legs
would be trying so hard
to keep up and you just
couldn't do it.
You would reach your arms up
to us.
We would lift you up
on our shoulders.
I miss those hikes,
all of the adventures.
Do you remember the things
that your father
would talk to us about?
All about balance,
all about nature.
We had some really good times,
didn't we?
But the one who really--
understood that was
your grandfather, Ronan.
I swear he knew
every tree and rock by name.
And he was on a first-name
basis with all of the animals.
Isn't she beautiful?
In your mother's native
language of Gaelic,
she is called.
She represents wisdom,
and she helps us
to find those hidden truths
and bring them to light.
In my heritage,
my Viking heritage,
she is called ugla.
She helps us see
in the spiritual dark.
Hey, all done with homework?
Uh, yeah, I just finished
up the English essay
and now I'm going to finish up
this biology thing.
-Do you need any help or...?
-Nope. Kai helped me.
Okay.
Well, I'm gonna head to bed.
-Don't stay up too late.
-Okay.
-Okay. Goodnight.
-Goodnight.
Haley!
Hey, Haley.
See what I did there?
Uh, welcome.
Glad you could make it.
Um, vascular plant.
All right.
So this date's back
about 420 million years, okay.
So it's been
around for a while.
Um, vascular plants, have--
they have a built in
transportation system,
all right?
So they're really good at--
at, uh, conducting energy
and bringing fluid
and transporting nutrients.
They even actually will, uh,
enlist like other organisms,
which sounds really gross,
but... okay.
So they're amazingly
resourceful.
Okay, so...
dermal is like the skin, right?
And vascular is like...
the veins.
So ground
is like the fat cells?
Cool.
Who knows what chlorophyll is?
- Plant's food.
- Kind of.
So chlorophyll is, um,
you can buy it at that
health food store.
Like, uh, it's like that green
disgusting drink.
You guys know
what I'm talking about?
Don't know if your parents
ever make you drink it.
Uh, yeah, go ahead.
Hey, guys, I will be in my
office Tuesday, not Wednesday.
Just review
the, uh, study material, okay?
I promise it's not that hard,
but--
Hey Kai,
can you hold back just one sec?
Are you planning on doing
the science fair?
Yeah? Okay. They got a really
good scholarship opportunity
and I actually
signed this already for you.
So-- see you, John, sorry.
Um, um, I hope you'll-
I hope you'll do it.
It'd be good for you.
Sorry, Brian, um--
You gonna ask me if
I'm gonna do the science fair?
Yeah, absolutely.
Um, but on that note,
like, man, what's going on
with your grades?
A tender and kindling
the log of the evening
A bird to the night
And the mind
at the darkness hour
In search of the spark
so bright and alive
Where the root
and the stem
The leaf
in a house of green
Well,
if it isn't Dr. Kai Leigh.
How are you today?
So I wanted to thank you
for your help
with that paphiopedilum.
Your suggestion
saved that plant.
So in thanks,
we want to offer you
a 50% discount
for the entire year.
How's your mom doing
by the way?
Good then.
I may be up for promotion.
So I'm excited about that.
So please say hi to your mom
for me. We're good here.
It's good to see you again,
Kai.
Dr. Leigh.
The wings of the owl
grow sorrow and frightened
Into the grass
that becomes
The wronged and the raged
turn corner at meeting
The root and the stem
The leaf in
a house of green
The root and the stem
The leaf in
a house of green
The root and the stem
The leaf in
a house of green
The root and the stem
The leaf in
a house of green
There's that mute freak.
All right,
let's go have a talk.
- You need a walk, boy?
- Hi.
The mute freak.
Probably can't hear me either.
Kai.
Hold up a sec.
So where's the snake?
Didn't it need a walk too?
Man, my mom said you used
to be able to talk.
Ah, seem a little
broken though, huh?
Losing your dad
and grandpa do that to you?
Man, that must have
done a number on you boy.
Hi, defective.
Maybe your daddy was a snake.
Come on boys.
Let's go.
Life is not easy.
We must all work hard
to support one another
and support our world.
That is life
and life is connection.
Life is a circle.
From dust we come
and to dust we will go.
So Kai, how was your day today?
You didn't go to
the mountains, did you?
Of course, I can tell.
You seem off.
Is everything okay?
Sorry. Sorry.
I'll back off.
You know, Kai,
I heard a story once
about a carrot,
an egg, and a tea leaf.
Well, they were each
gathered by the farmer
and each of them saw
the farmer set the fire,
put the pot on the fire,
and put the water in the pot.
As they watched
that water begin to boil,
the carrot was unafraid.
Fruit was strong
and it knew that its strength
would protect it
from this challenge.
The egg knew that it was
soft and tender inside,
but it counted on its shell to
protect it from the challenge.
The tea leaf,
the tea leaf was flexible
and it knew it would
face this challenge.
And into the water
went all of them.
What do you think happened when
they came out of that water?
Did the carrot's
strength protect it?
That carrot came out
and all of its strength
had been sapped out of it
from that challenge.
And it was weak and mushy.
What about the egg?
When that egg was opened up,
that once soft interior
was now hardened
by that challenge.
But what about that tea leaf?
What happened with it?
The tea leaf did something
completely unique.
It changed the water
and it turned it into tea.
I don't know what challenges
you're facing right now,
but you have to decide
what are you.
Are you a carrot that's
going to trust your strength
and then be weakened
by the challenge?
Are you gonna be the egg
and have your tender heart
absolutely hardened by it?
Or are you gonna be the tea
leaf and change the world?
You are acting as
the sacred fire
keeper tonight.
So you are responsible for
this space and for the fire.
Kai, the native people of
this land and your ancestors
have great wisdom in their
love and respect for nature.
And we are wise if we learn
from them and listen.
I miss your father too.
I feel all those same things.
And it is okay to feel
the things you feel.
It is okay to cry.
Your mind
and heart are so heavy.
Let them rest,
breathe in the air and let go.
Feel the earth beneath you.
Listen closely and hear
nature's voice singing.
In many cultures around
the world people use dance
to express feelings
that are too deep for words.
Dance lets us
connect to ourselves
and the earth in special ways.
It doesn't change the world,
but it lets us
clear our hearts.
Yeah, your worthless kid.
-My kid.
-Your, your worthless kid.
-My worthless.
-He can't even mow this lawn.
If you want him to grow up
an emotional cripple,
go ahead and keep
coddling him then.
I am not coddling him.
He'll- he'll be fine.
He'll get his grades up.
Of course, yeah.
You say this every year.
Every year. He should
just quit and get a job.
At least then he'd be
doing something useful.
No. No. This is the year
he will find his path.
-I know he will.
-Yeah.
-This... Is hard for me.
-Really.
Really? Yeah. Yeah.
You know, you're always
make excuses for him.
He's just a kid.
He has challenges.
He's just learning.
-I'm supposed to be his dad.
-Yeah.
So yeah. So I should
have some say in this too.
-You should.
-Yeah.
And-- But you don't act
like a dad.
When have you ever
listened to him?
-When have you ever?
-I try. I-- I try.
-I try.
-No, you've not.
He treats me worse
than he treats you.
He shows me no respect at all.
If I'd treated my dad that way
he would have kicked out.
-Your dad.
-Yeah, my dad.
Great. Yeah,
let's talk about your dad.
No, you have never once done
anything to earn his respect.
Why should he respect you?
Hey, I want my dinner
ready when I get back, okay?
This is hot garbage.
It's so sad.
All right guys.
So yesterday
we were talking
about cell structure.
Now, I know you all found
that incredibly exciting.
Um, but today we're
gonna be moving into DNA.
Okay. Um, who knows
what DNA stands for?
Go ahead.
Um, deoxyribonucleic acid.
Deoxyribonucleic acid. Yeah.
So, uh, we're actually
gonna be extracting
DNA from a strawberry.
Um, we're not cloning
to dinosaurs, I'm sorry.
It's not as--
not that exciting,
but um, you're gonna be doing
the same extraction
process that they do
in labs and everything.
How this works is we take
what's called saline solution
and this is just
soap and saltwater.
And what it actually does
is it's gonna break down
the cell wall and once
that's broken down,
you can actually go in
and extract the DNA. Okay.
Um, the salt
is kind of important.
This is on the quiz too.
So write this down, whatever.
Um, it will actually
pull out the, uh, the-
Or provides, I'm sorry.
Provides a positive
light, okay.
And that allows them to
pull out the negative DNA
out of the solution once
you've completed this.
So, uh, you all have
your instructions.
It's all pretty
straightforward.
But if you have questions,
please ask.
Okay?
Oh, Kai.
Thank you for dinner.
Sit down, sit down.
How was your day?
Everything all right?
Kai, what's going on?
Hey, listen.
There's gonna be a really
cool show on later.
Do you wanna watch it with me?
It's about plants
in the Amazon.
Kai, I'm worried about you.
Oh, Kai.
Kai, I love you.
Okay. So I think I finally
understand, do you think
they're gonna make us like
dissect a frog or something?
God, how cool would that be?
I mean, what do you think
the inside of it looks like?
Maybe we could look--
look at its brains.
Do you think it looks
like a human brain,
all the ridges and everything?
Because I think it would
be quite similar
because I heard that
frogs are really intelligent.
-So I was thinking--
- Kai, let's have a talk.
Don't you know
you're just petty case,
just a project for her?
What do you see in
this freak, Aspen?
You know,
he's a real retard, right?
Just don't listen to them.
Oh hell, um.
Let's go, Smily. Both of you.
That's twice this week.
Let's go.
Both of you now. Office.
Kai, you watch your back.
Kai! Kai!
Yeah, no, honestly, I'm just
a little worried about him.
He seems kind of withdrawn
and his grades just are-
they're not good.
Um, he was actually
supposed to come meet with-
you know what,
he actually just walked in.
Okay. Yep.
I- I'll let him know. Bye.
Hey, Kai.
Mom wants to talk.
How are you doing?
No. Hey, man I wasn't
trying to bother her.
We were just -- Look I'm--
I'm just concerned about you.
I'll just say it.
Um, you know, the work
you're doing it's--
it's not your best.
And--
Okay. That-- that's fine.
Um, at the end of the day,
you still have to do the work
just like everyone else,
you know?
Are you-- Look, are you sure
there's nothing else going on?
You can tell me.
Kai. Kai, come on.
What's up?
It seems there's been
an allegation against you.
And because of the seriousness
of the allegation,
I'm afraid I needed
to contact the union.
So you're going to have
a representative
and a lawyer come here
and I need to know
if you wanna
come speak with--
What allegation?
I'm so sorry.
We'll discuss it all
in the principal's office,
but you need to come
with me right now.
Somebody will come in
and take care of your class.
Okay. You just--
Let's sit down there.
I'm so sorry.
Dr. Leigh, we haven't
seen you for a while.
How have you been?
Hey, how's your--
how's your mom?
Uh, uh, okay.
I'll ring you up.
So I was wondering
if I could get your help
with one of our middle
Middlemist rose, red roses?
I-- It's just that you're-
it's just you're so good at it.
Um, is there anything
I can do for you, Kai?
Hey, Kai hold up.
Look, I'm-- I'm sorry
I-- I'm concerned about you.
I-- I-- It's just really
you haven't been yours--
Bills, bills, bills.
It's okay.
I can just get a third
or maybe even a fourth job.
Hell, I could just
work all the time.
That boy, if he isn't gonna
graduate, he should work too.
Someone's gotta pay
the bills around here.
Knock it off, Al.
I don't know why it happened.
I don't know what happened.
It just happened.
Just it doesn't help
to get mad about it.
Do not tell me
how to feel in my own home.
I can't work
any harder than I do.
It's the government's fault.
No. Would you please
stop blaming them?
Everyone thinks you're
crazy when you say that.
-Don't call me crazy.
-Mm.
So, so no,
I'm just on probation
until the end of the year.
And it-- it all came from
that one anonymous review,
but I don't know.
The-- the school's
just doing it
to cover themselves
and the district.
I mean, of course,
they are, right?
But I don't know.
I feel like a criminal.
I didn't do anything wrong.
Wait, how can they do that?
It's based on rumor
and hearsay. It's just crazy.
I mean, I know that you give
everything to those students.
Do you know
who could've done it?
No, I have no idea.
Come in. I'm okay.
I'm okay.
Listen to your ancestors, Kai.
They live within you.
The souls of Shaman
from thousands of generations
whisper to you.
Let them guide you
claim your right.
Kai! Oh, Kai. Kai.
Kai, I'm so sorry.
I'm so sorry.
I know you found my papers.
I'm trying to fix it.
I'll fix it I promise.
I was so scared.
I thought I lost you forever.
I thought you've run away.
Kai, I know things
are hard right now.
And I can't fix them
the way I want to.
And I can't promise
that it'll be better soon,
but it will get better.
Kai, darling. Please live.
Please let me help you
get the help you need.
Okay?
Oh, just hold my hands, son.
-Please just hold my hands.
-Mama.
Oh, Kai. Kai.
You just made a s--
-Did you just speak?
-I love you, mama.
Oh, Kai.
You found your voice.
What will you do with it?
Yeah, we won!
All right, man.
Good job, buddy.
Yeah. All right. Whoa!
Hey, freak.
Did you put any of
these on my locker?
Freak, you put this
on my locker?
-Yeah.
-Talking now.
Hey, freak--
Kai...
why?
Because it's true.
Um...
Uh, it's actually really cool.
Uh, could I help with that?
Thanks.
Hey, what's yours say?
-Um, says you are bright.
-Nice. And you?
- Mine says you are ready.
- What's your say?
I'm, uh,
I'm worth fighting for.
-That's cool.
-Um, here. For you.
Y'all have a good day.
Hey, Mr. Dewitt.
Hey Bryan. What's up?
I didn't call for you, did I?
- No, this was my idea.
- Oh, yeah.
I was gonna say,
'cause I don't--
There's no-- there's no report
for you so Ms. Anderson,
-didn't kick you out again.
-No, this-- this is my idea.
Are you saving
the school officer
sometime today or what's up?
What's going on?
It's shocking but last time
I was in here
you said that there was still
a chance I could graduate.
-Really?
-I mean it, yeah.
Yes.
You're pretty far off track
for graduation though.
Okay.
Now, Bryan, I'm gonna tell you
it's not gonna be easy.
Uh, now it's gonna take a lot
of hard work and no joke,
commitment from you.
-Gimme those.
-Sorry, Mr. Dewitt.
I've seen a lot of students
in your situation
and they quit
because they can't meet
all the requirements.
My-- my mom and my dad,
they didn't graduate
high school.
They haven't gone to college.
Quitting is no longer
an option. I wanna walk.
Good.
Let's work on this pack, okay?
Okay.
So first I'm gonna
need you to get
your teachers
to sign these letters.
I'm gonna print 'em out
for you.
-Okay?
-Okay.
Now what?
You are loved.
Hmm.
All right.
You're way too old
to be like that.
No, if I say no,
the answer is no.
Go get in the car.
No, leave your shoes on.
Today not worse.
Are you kidding?
Kids, can we start over?
Let's go home.
Hey, um...
I don't--
There's really nothing
I can say but these flowers
aren't nearly
as beautiful as you are.
-Thank you, honey.
-Yeah.
Work on some of these
bills together
before they come
and get everything.
Oh, and you know,
Bryan, he really is a good kid.
I'm gonna--
I'm gonna do better.
I, uh, I'm gonna try
a little harder.
Both of you.
I got a lot of stuff that are--
I gotta work on myself.
And none of its either
of you guys' faults.
-I love you.
-I love you too.
If this has a nucleus,
then what type of cell
is it not?
Uh, that is not nucleus?
These are
the ones that do have them.
So like bacteria,
for example, right?
Always think about that.
So a cell in your body, right?
They're all gonna have
the nucleus whereas
like something like
bacteria is not, right?
So something--
All cells photosynthesize,
right?
We-- Yeah. But that's
kind of the different--
that's-- that's going back to
the lesson we talking before,
this is more focused
on what's gonna be coming up.
I came here for you
Is this even worth
it at this point?
No, here-- Okay.
Now you're making me feel bad.
It's kind of a trick question.
You were right.
Look, viruses contain DNA,
but not much else.
So you not remembering
is actually a good thing.
-Oh, okay!
-Let's put that one right!
See it does.
No, you're fine though.
But seriously, that--
that was the question.
Wendy is the best
employee I've ever seen.
She deserves a bonus
and a promotion.
She encourages me
to learn about plants
and challenges me
to bring them back to life.
Congratulations, Sunny.
Looks like you guys
are having a good time
over here.
-How was everything?
-Great.
How about some dessert, huh?
Keep those smiles going.
We have a beautiful
peanut butter cheesecake
and our chef did an absolutely
amazing tiramisu this evening.
-What do you think?
-Let's do both of them.
-Both?
-Yeah.
You know, what,
tonight it's on the house.
-Hey, thanks.
-Yeah, of course.
Well, you guys,
I love you so much.
Love you.
So I just-- all I have to do
is get my GED,
and then I can get
some more promotions.
And then I can-- They said
they might help with college.
I might get some help.
Hey, Aspen.
Look, I'm so sorry.
Everyone looks so chipper,
please.
My goodness.
Sorry, Mr. B.
My gift to you.
Hope it's a gift.
Three, two, one...
What? No way.
Yeah, let's go.
I mean, it's not all of it.
It's far from all of it,
but that's a C.
That's a C.
See you Mr. B.
I gotta go.
Hello, Dr. Petin.
This is Rebekah Leigh.
I've just decided I'm not
quite ready to give up.
Next week.
I'll see you then.
Getting into
multicellular organisms.
These are all developed
from single cell.
Okay. This is very common in
all kind of cellular reactions.
It comes from,
uh-- It's called a zygote.
This comes from the Greek
word yolk and--
and it's called a zygote.
Hey Mrs. Shelley, what's up?
I'm sorry for the interruption,
Mr. Browning
but I wanted to come
share the news
with you and celebrate
with your students.
-Congratulations.
-For what?
You've been named teacher
of the year for our school.
And you're a finalist for
the state teacher of the year.
You found your voice.
What will you do with it?
It's never easy to
try to make it through
Sometimes you gotta go
your own way
The world will
break you down
Until you level out
So take the punches it
don't matter what they say
Hold on
And don't you
ever back down
Yeah, I will build you up
Though the mountain's
tough
Keep on climbin'
and don't you look back down
There'll be some stumblin'
There'll be some crumblin'
Pick up the pieces
and put 'em back down now
Hold on
Light the fire within
You've got that fire
You've got the fire within
C'mon and light it up
show your stuff
Tell 'em
what you're dreaming of
This is how
your story begins
You've got that fire
Fire
Fire
You've got that fire
Fire
Go out and see the world
Make a million friends
Don't let 'em tell you
you can't do it your way
Go out and make mistakes
Yeah, you will learn
from them
Another lesson that's
the price we pay just
Hold on
And light the fire within
You've got that fire
You've got the fire within
C'mon and light it up
show your stuff
Tell 'em
what you're dreaming of
This is
how your story begins
You've got that fire
Fire
Fire
You've got that fire
Fire
We all have scars,
we fight so hard
You'll feel it burn
down deep in your heart
Now let it burn
Burn Burn Burn
You've got that fire
You've got the fire within
C'mon and light it up
show your stuff
Tell' em
what you're dreaming of
This is how your
story begins
You've got that fire
Fire
Fire
You've got the fire within
You've got that fire
Fire
Fire
You've got the fire within
You've got that fire