The Arborist (2025) Movie Script
1
- Shh!
Shh!
Please.
Shh! Please don't cry.
Please, please, please, please.
Shh, shh, please be quiet.
Please be quiet.
Please don't cry!
Please, please!
Please, please!
Shh!
- Just don't look at it.
Shh, shh, shh.
Shh!
Shh!
Please!
Please don't look!
Wyatt?
Rachel?
Rachel?
No.
No!
No!
- Picea abies.
Quercus alba.
Fraxinus americana.
- Norway spruce.
White oak.
American ash.
- Good.
And that one there?
- Betula papyrifera.
- Not quite.
European white birch.
You can tell by the bark.
Peels less.
Leaves are triangular.
The double serration
is more pronounced.
How did it start?
- Don't know.
- The caretaker said 11:30.
Maybe there's another
door we can try.
- Hi, Ellie.
This is Nicky Gallagher from the
bereavement group at Windsor.
I haven't seen you in a while.
I hope you're doing OK.
I just wanted to see if you
got the package I sent you.
It's for the photography
project I was telling you about.
I know it sounds weird,
but a lot of people
say it's very healing.
Anyway, I sent you a
link about it, and--
- Mr. Randolph?
Sorry, I-- I tried
the front door.
Ellie Grumman.
- And the boy?
- Excuse me?
- Your son assists
with the tree work.
Isn't that what my
caretaker told me?
- Yeah.
Wyatt's in the truck.
He got a bloody nose.
- Was there an accident?
- No, no.
Just a bloody nose.
- Hm.
- That's a beautiful
property you got.
Been here a long time?
- All my life.
Plus whatever's left of it.
- Well, if you want to
brief me on the job,
we can start right away.
Caretaker said it would
take about three days?
- Somewhat more, I should think.
Murray's away for the month.
He lives in town, anyway,
so the cottage is empty.
There's plenty of
space for you there.
See the footbridge?
- Sure.
- Beyond that, there's
a carriage road.
The trees are all marked.
Everything that's
marked gets destroyed.
- Destroyed?
- Felled and split for firewood.
15 inches for the
downstairs fireplace.
9 inches for the
stove in my bedroom.
Stack it in the basement.
- It's just firewood you need?
- Can't be any
longer than 9 inches,
otherwise it won't
fit in the stove.
There's a tractor and a
splitter in the garage.
Grind the stumps up.
- We don't have that equipment.
- Then just let it rot.
- Is there a problem?
- No.
No problem.
- Whoa, you OK?
Let's go settle
in at the cottage.
- Is there something else?
- I was wondering if
I could get a, um--
an advance, a-- a deposit.
- I can do the full amount.
Check OK?
- Check's fine.
- We should've
brought sleeping bags.
- I'm not sleeping under this.
- Well, you won't have to.
It won't get that cold.
- That pillow smells
like cat piss.
- Why couldn't we
just sleep at home?
- Because that's a couple
hundred bucks in gas.
And I'm not driving two hours
back and forth each day.
Besides, I thought
being away from home
might do us some good
this time of year.
- Place is in the
middle of nowhere.
Don't even get a signal.
- It belonged to my grandfather.
Cut from star magnolia.
Don't find that species anymore.
Anyone who says arboreal
extinction isn't real
hasn't gone looking
for Magnolia stellata.
- Hey, it's your tattoo.
How come you never
talked about him before?
Your grandfather.
- I barely remember him.
How many people live in
that mansion, you think?
- Just him.
- Just the old guy by himself?
- I guess so.
- Bet our whole apartment
building could fit in there.
- Hm.
- Should take over,
become squatters.
Think there's any
fish in that pond?
- I don't know.
Why?
- Maybe I'll try to catch one.
Fry it up for dinner.
- Yeah, I don't think so.
- You don't think
there's any fish?
- No, I don't think
you're going fishing.
We didn't come here for that.
What?
- Mix it with water
so I won't notice?
Is that about right?
Put it in a shot
glass or something.
Don't try to hide
it in a water bottle
that you wrap with duct tape
so you know which one it is.
Yeah, I thought so.
- And what's that
supposed to mean?
- What's the secret?
What's the secret?
- What are you doing?
- Just watching old videos.
- Why don't you go
get ready for bed?
- Why are you doing this to me?
You got a 9-to-5
So I'll take the night shift
And I'll never see you again
If I can help it
- Why are we scared?
How do we heal?
I asked these women to hold
the mirror as though they
were holding their child again.
Feel the weight.
Feel the longing.
When we share
stories of our loss,
we come to terms with our grief.
We realize we're not alone.
Children are not supposed
to die before their parents.
The world moves on.
But for us, life stops.
Time is frozen in its tracks.
A piece of ourselves
is forever missing now.
The mirror is a reflection
of that emptiness.
We hold it not to
heal, not to let go,
but to realize the hole that
will forever be a part of us
now.
"Portraits of Grief."
This project was created
to support each other,
share our stories, and
know that our journey is--
- Careful.
You'll fall through.
- What are those things?
- Lanterns.
Lights.
This must have been
some kind of theater.
- Off!
Turn that off!
What are you doing?
- What does it look like?
- Not like that!
How many times have I told you?
You start the saw on the
ground, one foot in the handle,
with the chain brake on.
You do it standing up like
that, it'll kick back.
- That's how you do it.
- It doesn't matter how I do it.
I have had years of practice.
You haven't.
- Whatever.
- Do not drop that.
Look at me.
I said look at me.
- What?
- This chain moves
at 85 miles per hour.
Do you have any idea what
that'll do to your leg?
It'll shred it.
Cut right through to the bone.
- I'm sorry.
Wyatt?
Wyatt?
Wyatt?
Wyatt!
- What are you doing?
You scared me.
- This is how I
want to be buried.
Leave me for the birds.
- Get up.
I need to get a bigger
saw from the truck.
- Wyatt!
Wyatt!
Oh, God!
No!
No!
Wyatt!
- Oh, my God.
Oh!
Oh, never do that to me again.
Don't ever do that to me again.
- From now on, Edward
stays away from that canoe.
Is that understood?
- It's Wyatt, but
yes, understood.
- Wyatt, yes, of course.
Is he all right?
- He's shaken up, but OK.
He lost his phone.
- Can I see him?
- He's asleep.
- This-- this was mine
when I was his age.
I used to fish for bluegills
off the bridge over there.
He'll-- he'll have to dig for
crawlers in the north garden.
They-- they like it over
there because of the shade.
So, um, here.
- Why did you hire me?
- I-- I didn't.
Murray, my caretaker, chose you.
- Why did you hire an arborist?
All you need is a
feller with a mill saw.
- It's all the same to me.
- But why those trees?
- Pardon me?
- They're perfectly healthy.
No sign of disease.
There's plenty of firewood
close to the house.
I used to take walks out there.
Recently, I collapsed,
became disoriented,
and barely found my
way back to the house.
- What is that place?
- Well, it's a
children's theater.
Happier days.
- None of my business, then.
Help, someone!
Help, help, please!
Help!
Please get me--
get me out.
Get me out.
- Wyatt?
- Ah!
Get me-- get me out!
- Hey, hey.
Hey, look at me.
You're OK.
You're OK.
Yeah?
- Well, you are a cord of
firewood and a paycheck now.
Life's a bitch.
--run away, come again--
- Do you remember the
dream you had last night?
- Not really?
- Is it the same dream?
The raven?
No.
I got locked inside
the closet again.
- You didn't get locked
inside the closet.
You hid in there with your
belt tied to the door.
- Whatever.
- Do you remember
why you did that?
- I was afraid, I guess.
- Afraid of what?
- That thing that killed Rachel.
- Nothing killed her.
Sudden infant death,
that's what they call it.
Basically, just shit luck.
- But I was supposed to
check on her that night.
So you could sleep.
- It wouldn't have
made any difference.
Bring that load to the house.
Dump it by the splitter.
"Nothing killed her."
"It wouldn't have
made a difference."
- Now feed the second rope
up through the first loop.
Mhm.
And then rest the working end
on top of its standing line.
All right, just pull it through.
Just like that.
Looks good.
Wanna try it again?
That tree is dying.
- What happened?
- Venturia saliciperda.
Willow blight.
That's only half the story.
You can still see where the
trunk was split a long time ago.
Probably before you were born.
- Split?
By lightning?
- Yeah.
Or maybe an ice storm.
See that dark,
glossy cambium tissue
coming from inside the cavity?
Looks almost volcanic.
That's the wound wood.
It heals up the tree
like scar tissue.
Only, in this case,
it stopped growing in.
- How come?
- Hard to say.
But it became
susceptible to fungus.
At this point, it's
basically killing itself.
- What killed her?
Rachel.
Rachel.
Rachel.
Rachel.
- Wyatt!
What's all this water?
What happened to the door?
- What door?
- The garage door.
- I have no idea.
- I saw something.
- There was nothing
under the canoe.
- I'm not talking
about the canoe.
- Shit.
Fuck.
- Something wrong?
- Like I said, you-- you need
a feller, not an arborist.
They'll bring a crew in
with the proper equipment.
They got a mill
saw, even better.
Those pines will give
you some quality lumber.
- I'm not interested in lumber.
- Then they'll haul it off.
Look, if all you
need is firewood,
there's a dead oak in the field.
It'll give you two
cords at least.
I could have that
done by tonight.
But after that, it's
best that we go.
- You've already been paid.
- Look, what's this
really all about?
- Our door got kicked in.
- There's somebody inside?
- Not that I know of, but
there were marks on the floor.
Water.
- Perhaps it was your son.
- Wyatt says it wasn't him.
- Perhaps he's not
telling the truth.
- Wyatt doesn't lie.
- He was inside this house.
- When?
- Today.
- That's not possible.
- Come in.
Where did you find this?
- In the parlor.
Must have forgotten
to lock my doors.
Boy needs rules.
Discipline.
Give 'em an inch,
they take a mile.
Like my brother, Victor.
Got kicked out of every
school we ever went to--
public, private, parochial.
My parents hired tutors.
Didn't take to them, either.
Threw his books in
the incinerator.
- Why did you call him Edward?
- Pardon me?
- Yesterday, you
called my son "Edward."
That was my grandfather's name.
My father's name, as well.
- I don't know.
- Well, thank you for the knife.
I'll see myself out.
- Have you been inside
Mr. Randolph's house?
- What?
- I'm asking if you've
been inside the house.
- No.
- Where'd you find that?
- Wyatt, please.
- I must have lost it when
I fell out of the canoe.
- Yeah, that
perfectly explains how
it got from the
bottom of the pond
to the inside of Mr.
Randolph's house.
- I didn't go in there!
- Stop it!
Stop lying to me!
I want you to fix that
door before you go to bed.
- I didn't do that.
- I don't care.
Just fix it.
- It followed us here.
- What?
- You know what.
- Enough.
- The raven.
It's the same one--
- Enough!
A goddamn bird in your closet
did not kill your sister.
It just happened.
That is all.
I'm sorry it was on your watch.
Stop it!
What are you doing?
- She has a name!
- Stop it!
- This is her name!
- Wyatt!
- Rachel!
Rachel!
Rachel!
Rachel!
Rachel!
Rachel!
Rachel!
Rachel!
- Wyatt!
- Stay away from me!
- Wyatt!
- Yeah.
- Please help me.
- How?
- I can't walk.
I can't feel my legs.
- Tell me what I'm
supposed to do.
- A baby doesn't just die.
I knew you could do it.
- What do you want from me?
- Your hands.
Your courage.
Wyatt-- I'm dying.
- Who's here?
Oh.
Oh, God.
- Show yourself, you!
Show yourself!
- What do you want from me?
- I-- I don't know.
- Get out of here.
- What have you done to me?
- Get your mother, pack
your trunk, and go.
Get out!
- Wyatt!
Oh, shit.
- Get in!
- No.
- We're leaving.
Come on!
We're going home.
- Not yet.
- Get in the truck.
Out!
Now!
Wyatt!
Wyatt!
Fuck!
Wyatt!
I just want my son back.
Whatever happened here all these
years ago, I really don't care.
- Perhaps you should.
- Who's this?
- My older brother,
Victor, and me.
He's the one in the vest.
- Jesus.
He
looks just like Wyatt
- Yeah.
And that was the estate's crest.
Coat of arms, my father called
it, back when that sort of thing
mattered.
- No, it's from an engraving
on my grandfather's knife.
- Your grandfather, Edward
Grumman, was my first cousin.
Son of Elizabeth Randolph,
my father's sister.
- What?
- He spent most of
his summers here.
That is, until the tragedy.
I gather you never spoke
to your family much.
Edward was more than my cousin.
- Why did you keep this from me?
- He was my best friend.
We-- we fell out of
touch over the years.
Things were never the
same after that summer.
- You lied to me.
- I wanted to know you first.
My bloodline is all gone.
You and your son
are all that's left.
Where are you?
Where are you!
Please!
You can't
make me do this!
- What were those
children doing here?
- They were orphans.
A new group came for
a week every summer.
All this open space where they
could just run and play and just
be happy kids.
My parents were dealt a
privileged hand in life.
They felt this was the
least they could do.
A pageant evolved,
a tradition inspired
by the pagan solstice
and the creatures
of these ancestral woodlands.
Songs recorded by
our music teachers.
Costumes stitched together
by my mother's maid.
My parents wanted to give them
something magical, transcendent.
Something that
defied the humdrum
of their orphanage, the
bleakness of their existence.
They slept in the parlor
after every forest pageant.
It was part of the fun.
And it was an evening
they never wanted to end.
But Victor-- there was
always something not right
about Victor.
I once heard my mother say
that he came out of the womb
with a knife in his boot.
The joy our parents
gave to those orphans,
it tortured his mind,
blackened his heart.
And that night was
colder than usual.
Victor knew he could make
it look like an accident.
He thought he was so
damn clever about it.
He even bragged it
to me afterwards.
He called them mangy strays.
No one will miss them, he said.
No one will cry.
- --the bodies
of our brothers and sisters,
that they may rejoice in
you with your saints forever
and ever.
We ask this through
Christ our Lord.
Amen.
- He said he'd kill me
if I ever told anyone.
So I didn't.
- What happened to him?
- I asked him to meet
me on the bridge.
- You drowned him.
- No, no.
I-- I-- I only pushed him.
The rock knocked him out.
And the water did the rest.
The police investigator
said he jumped.
Who was I to suggest otherwise?
- Wyatt!
Wyatt!
Wyatt!
Wyatt.
Stop!
Stop!
Stop!
- He made me do it!
He said I had to kill it.
I had to kill them all.
- OK, OK, calm down.
- It was right in front of me.
It was right there.
He said I had to kill them.
- Stop!
What are you talking about?
- No!
- Wha--
- If I have to
give another goddamn toothbrush
to these shits, if Daddy asks
me one more time to be polite,
share my toys,
and let them win--
no wonder their
mommies didn't want
them, the mangy fucking strays.
- I'm sorry.
Sound the alarms
The animal charms are
drifting in the air
The power beyond compare
Looking for it to dare
The otter is not swimming
'round in the water
Where are you today?
She swam down the
stream to the--
Sound the alarm
The animal charms--
- What's out there?
The raven?
- It's too dark.
I couldn't see.
- You won't eat.
You won't sleep.
Would you at least
drink some juice?
You take what's yours.
I don't want these things
in my house anymore.
Just take what's yours and
leave this place for good.
Just-- leave this place!
And the boy's not Victor.
You leave him alone!
You got no business here!
Don't you know I think of you?
I remember you.
I remember all of you.
Take me
instead, if you must.
There's nothing more
I can do for you.
- Kill him.
- He's not Victor.
- Soon.
It will be soon.
- Then do it yourself.
- How are you feeling?
Can you eat?
Your boots are still wet.
I-- I didn't want to
dry them last night
while you were sleeping.
- Why are my boots wet?
- Wyatt?
- No.
Stay here.
No!
Wyatt!
Help!
No!
No!
Wyatt!
Ah!
Shit!
- "And thou art dead.
As young and fair as
aught of mortal birth.
And form so soft.
And charmed so rare.
Too soon returned to Earth."
The priest proffered
those words,
but there was no
funeral for you.
Father was exhausted by
funerals that summer.
Your death was just a footnote
in a summer of unspeakable loss.
How dare you thieve on mourning
for those innocent children!
You jumped from the bridge.
How easily
they were all fooled.
You murdered seven
innocent children.
I have atoned for my sin.
Can you account for yours?
- Victor.
- Get him!
- Wyatt!
Wyatt?
Wyatt!
Where is he?
Wyatt!
- These weren't here before.
I've been in this room.
None of these
photographs were here.
- Yeah, but they were.
They've always been.
You just couldn't see 'em.
- I-- I don't understand.
- I didn't exactly collapse at
the children's theater that day.
I-- I fell to my knees.
I begged them, forgive
me, I beseech you.
That was about a year ago.
- A year ago?
- That's when I first
started noticing things.
Lanterns hung in the trees.
Footprints in the garden.
Sticks whittled to spears.
The smell of wet
fur after a rain.
I destroyed those
photos years ago.
And there they are,
still cursing me.
Mocking me.
The book says, "yet he does not
leave the guilty unpunished.
He punishes the children and
their children for the sin
of the parents to the third
and fourth generation."
You don't have much time.
Wyatt!
Wyatt!
Out in the water
Oh, where are you today?
Just ride down the street
to the neighbor's farm
To help him mend the fence
- You were the one that
had the idea for that song.
You sang it to the
sparrows, the wood frogs,
and whatever other little
critters you could catch
bare-handed--
before you cut their legs off,
gouged their eyeballs out,
burned them with a
magnifying glass.
Madness aside, you were
always the creative one.
Walk me to the pond.
- How could father
do that to you?
Every summer, bring
those orphans here,
shower them with his love.
He never even spoke to you.
He didn't know you.
He didn't even see you.
- Walk with me.
- It never should have happened.
The children with
poison in their lungs.
Water pushing into yours.
Me on the bridge.
Blood on my hands.
There hasn't been a day when I
haven't begged your forgiveness.
Or cursed your existence.
- This brother, this boy--
- Is no brother of yours.
Let him go.
The only thing that binds you
to him is this broken family.
Our forgotten past.
- Not our past.
Our secrets.
- It's not too late, Wyatt.
Unshackle yourself
while you still can.
I have
missed you, Victor.
Hm.
Wyatt!
Wyatt!
Wyatt.
Wyatt!
- Come on, come on.
- Mom, I got it.
- Well, hurry then.
You're freezing.
- Where are we going?
- We're just going.
- Wyatt?
Let's go.
- I'm practicing.
- What?
- Practicing!
- Practicing what?
- The saw!
Starting the saw, like
you always told me to do.
"Put the chain brake on,
test the chain brake.
Saw can't hurt you if the
chain brake's engaged.
One foot through the
handle to stabilize it.
You don't pull it standing.
You're too small.
The kickback alone
will knock you off your balance.
The goddamn chain moves
at 85 miles per hour.
You know what kind of damage
that'll do to your leg?
Do you have any goddamn idea
what kind of damage that'll do
to your leg?"
- Wyatt!
- Yes.
- Where is my son?
Floating in the pond.
Tangled in weeds, fish
pecking at his flesh.
- No.
I saved him.
- You lost him.
Your child is mine now.
Empty basket.
- Give me my son.
- For what?
- So he can lock himself
in the closet again.
Bite off his nails
and piss his pants?
- I'm not leaving, Wyatt.
I am not giving up on you!
Wyatt?
- Help!
Help!
Help me!
Please!
Please, help!
Help!
Help me!
Help, Mom!
Mom!
Somebody help!
Mom!
Mom, please, help me!
Please!
- Pull!
As hard as you can!
- They won't move!
- Stay calm.
I'm gonna get you out!
- I'm scared!
- I know.
- Please, put her back!
- What's in there?
What's behind you?
- Please, just make
her stop crying!
- No one's crying.
She's gone.
- No!
No!
No!
- I picked her up
from the crib--
because she was crying.
I thought she'd settle if I
just held her on the couch
for a little while.
I was careful with the
way I held her head,
like the way you showed me.
I watched her fall asleep.
It was so peaceful.
The whole house was quiet.
And I was happy.
But then I-- I guess--
- You fell asleep too.
- And when I woke up, she
was pinned under my arm
against the back of the couch.
Her skin was blue,
and she wouldn't move.
I didn't know what to do.
So I put her back in the crib,
but she wouldn't wake up.
I tried to go back
to sleep, but--
I'm sorry.
I'm so sorry!
I'm sorry!
I'm sorry!
- It's not your
fault. It's not your fault.
We're going to be OK now.
Aquilegia canadensis.
Thuja occidentalis.
- Canadian Columbine.
Northern white cedar.
- --immediately adjacent
to the structure.
I just have some documents
for you to sign--
inheritance disclaimer, the
title, insurance policy.
I suggest you file a copy of
each along with your property
deed.
- Look at this.
Probably the only thing
here is still in one piece.
Let me throw it as far as I can.
- OK.
Um, take a picture of me first.
- What?
- Take my picture.
I'll explain later.
- You ready?
Can I throw it now?
Don't hold your breath
Forget you ever
saw me at my best
You don't deserve
what you don't respect
Don't deserve what you say
you love and then neglect
Now bite your tongue
It's too dangerous
to fall so young
Take back what you said
Can't lose what you never had
I feel no need to forgive
But I might as well
But let me kiss your lips
So I know how it felt
Pay for my coffee and leave
before the sun goes down
Walk for hours in the
dark, feeling all hell
You've got a 9-to-5
So I'll take the night shift
And I'll never see you again
If I can help it
In five years, I hope the
songs feel like covers
Dedicated to new lovers
You got a 9-to-5
So I'll take the night shift
And I'll never see you again
If I can help it
In five years, I hope the
songs feel like covers
Dedicated to new lovers
You got a 9-to-5
So I'll take the night shift
And I'll never see you again
If I can help it
In five years, I hope the
songs feel like covers
Dedicated to new lovers
- Shh!
Shh!
Please.
Shh! Please don't cry.
Please, please, please, please.
Shh, shh, please be quiet.
Please be quiet.
Please don't cry!
Please, please!
Please, please!
Shh!
- Just don't look at it.
Shh, shh, shh.
Shh!
Shh!
Please!
Please don't look!
Wyatt?
Rachel?
Rachel?
No.
No!
No!
- Picea abies.
Quercus alba.
Fraxinus americana.
- Norway spruce.
White oak.
American ash.
- Good.
And that one there?
- Betula papyrifera.
- Not quite.
European white birch.
You can tell by the bark.
Peels less.
Leaves are triangular.
The double serration
is more pronounced.
How did it start?
- Don't know.
- The caretaker said 11:30.
Maybe there's another
door we can try.
- Hi, Ellie.
This is Nicky Gallagher from the
bereavement group at Windsor.
I haven't seen you in a while.
I hope you're doing OK.
I just wanted to see if you
got the package I sent you.
It's for the photography
project I was telling you about.
I know it sounds weird,
but a lot of people
say it's very healing.
Anyway, I sent you a
link about it, and--
- Mr. Randolph?
Sorry, I-- I tried
the front door.
Ellie Grumman.
- And the boy?
- Excuse me?
- Your son assists
with the tree work.
Isn't that what my
caretaker told me?
- Yeah.
Wyatt's in the truck.
He got a bloody nose.
- Was there an accident?
- No, no.
Just a bloody nose.
- Hm.
- That's a beautiful
property you got.
Been here a long time?
- All my life.
Plus whatever's left of it.
- Well, if you want to
brief me on the job,
we can start right away.
Caretaker said it would
take about three days?
- Somewhat more, I should think.
Murray's away for the month.
He lives in town, anyway,
so the cottage is empty.
There's plenty of
space for you there.
See the footbridge?
- Sure.
- Beyond that, there's
a carriage road.
The trees are all marked.
Everything that's
marked gets destroyed.
- Destroyed?
- Felled and split for firewood.
15 inches for the
downstairs fireplace.
9 inches for the
stove in my bedroom.
Stack it in the basement.
- It's just firewood you need?
- Can't be any
longer than 9 inches,
otherwise it won't
fit in the stove.
There's a tractor and a
splitter in the garage.
Grind the stumps up.
- We don't have that equipment.
- Then just let it rot.
- Is there a problem?
- No.
No problem.
- Whoa, you OK?
Let's go settle
in at the cottage.
- Is there something else?
- I was wondering if
I could get a, um--
an advance, a-- a deposit.
- I can do the full amount.
Check OK?
- Check's fine.
- We should've
brought sleeping bags.
- I'm not sleeping under this.
- Well, you won't have to.
It won't get that cold.
- That pillow smells
like cat piss.
- Why couldn't we
just sleep at home?
- Because that's a couple
hundred bucks in gas.
And I'm not driving two hours
back and forth each day.
Besides, I thought
being away from home
might do us some good
this time of year.
- Place is in the
middle of nowhere.
Don't even get a signal.
- It belonged to my grandfather.
Cut from star magnolia.
Don't find that species anymore.
Anyone who says arboreal
extinction isn't real
hasn't gone looking
for Magnolia stellata.
- Hey, it's your tattoo.
How come you never
talked about him before?
Your grandfather.
- I barely remember him.
How many people live in
that mansion, you think?
- Just him.
- Just the old guy by himself?
- I guess so.
- Bet our whole apartment
building could fit in there.
- Hm.
- Should take over,
become squatters.
Think there's any
fish in that pond?
- I don't know.
Why?
- Maybe I'll try to catch one.
Fry it up for dinner.
- Yeah, I don't think so.
- You don't think
there's any fish?
- No, I don't think
you're going fishing.
We didn't come here for that.
What?
- Mix it with water
so I won't notice?
Is that about right?
Put it in a shot
glass or something.
Don't try to hide
it in a water bottle
that you wrap with duct tape
so you know which one it is.
Yeah, I thought so.
- And what's that
supposed to mean?
- What's the secret?
What's the secret?
- What are you doing?
- Just watching old videos.
- Why don't you go
get ready for bed?
- Why are you doing this to me?
You got a 9-to-5
So I'll take the night shift
And I'll never see you again
If I can help it
- Why are we scared?
How do we heal?
I asked these women to hold
the mirror as though they
were holding their child again.
Feel the weight.
Feel the longing.
When we share
stories of our loss,
we come to terms with our grief.
We realize we're not alone.
Children are not supposed
to die before their parents.
The world moves on.
But for us, life stops.
Time is frozen in its tracks.
A piece of ourselves
is forever missing now.
The mirror is a reflection
of that emptiness.
We hold it not to
heal, not to let go,
but to realize the hole that
will forever be a part of us
now.
"Portraits of Grief."
This project was created
to support each other,
share our stories, and
know that our journey is--
- Careful.
You'll fall through.
- What are those things?
- Lanterns.
Lights.
This must have been
some kind of theater.
- Off!
Turn that off!
What are you doing?
- What does it look like?
- Not like that!
How many times have I told you?
You start the saw on the
ground, one foot in the handle,
with the chain brake on.
You do it standing up like
that, it'll kick back.
- That's how you do it.
- It doesn't matter how I do it.
I have had years of practice.
You haven't.
- Whatever.
- Do not drop that.
Look at me.
I said look at me.
- What?
- This chain moves
at 85 miles per hour.
Do you have any idea what
that'll do to your leg?
It'll shred it.
Cut right through to the bone.
- I'm sorry.
Wyatt?
Wyatt?
Wyatt?
Wyatt!
- What are you doing?
You scared me.
- This is how I
want to be buried.
Leave me for the birds.
- Get up.
I need to get a bigger
saw from the truck.
- Wyatt!
Wyatt!
Oh, God!
No!
No!
Wyatt!
- Oh, my God.
Oh!
Oh, never do that to me again.
Don't ever do that to me again.
- From now on, Edward
stays away from that canoe.
Is that understood?
- It's Wyatt, but
yes, understood.
- Wyatt, yes, of course.
Is he all right?
- He's shaken up, but OK.
He lost his phone.
- Can I see him?
- He's asleep.
- This-- this was mine
when I was his age.
I used to fish for bluegills
off the bridge over there.
He'll-- he'll have to dig for
crawlers in the north garden.
They-- they like it over
there because of the shade.
So, um, here.
- Why did you hire me?
- I-- I didn't.
Murray, my caretaker, chose you.
- Why did you hire an arborist?
All you need is a
feller with a mill saw.
- It's all the same to me.
- But why those trees?
- Pardon me?
- They're perfectly healthy.
No sign of disease.
There's plenty of firewood
close to the house.
I used to take walks out there.
Recently, I collapsed,
became disoriented,
and barely found my
way back to the house.
- What is that place?
- Well, it's a
children's theater.
Happier days.
- None of my business, then.
Help, someone!
Help, help, please!
Help!
Please get me--
get me out.
Get me out.
- Wyatt?
- Ah!
Get me-- get me out!
- Hey, hey.
Hey, look at me.
You're OK.
You're OK.
Yeah?
- Well, you are a cord of
firewood and a paycheck now.
Life's a bitch.
--run away, come again--
- Do you remember the
dream you had last night?
- Not really?
- Is it the same dream?
The raven?
No.
I got locked inside
the closet again.
- You didn't get locked
inside the closet.
You hid in there with your
belt tied to the door.
- Whatever.
- Do you remember
why you did that?
- I was afraid, I guess.
- Afraid of what?
- That thing that killed Rachel.
- Nothing killed her.
Sudden infant death,
that's what they call it.
Basically, just shit luck.
- But I was supposed to
check on her that night.
So you could sleep.
- It wouldn't have
made any difference.
Bring that load to the house.
Dump it by the splitter.
"Nothing killed her."
"It wouldn't have
made a difference."
- Now feed the second rope
up through the first loop.
Mhm.
And then rest the working end
on top of its standing line.
All right, just pull it through.
Just like that.
Looks good.
Wanna try it again?
That tree is dying.
- What happened?
- Venturia saliciperda.
Willow blight.
That's only half the story.
You can still see where the
trunk was split a long time ago.
Probably before you were born.
- Split?
By lightning?
- Yeah.
Or maybe an ice storm.
See that dark,
glossy cambium tissue
coming from inside the cavity?
Looks almost volcanic.
That's the wound wood.
It heals up the tree
like scar tissue.
Only, in this case,
it stopped growing in.
- How come?
- Hard to say.
But it became
susceptible to fungus.
At this point, it's
basically killing itself.
- What killed her?
Rachel.
Rachel.
Rachel.
Rachel.
- Wyatt!
What's all this water?
What happened to the door?
- What door?
- The garage door.
- I have no idea.
- I saw something.
- There was nothing
under the canoe.
- I'm not talking
about the canoe.
- Shit.
Fuck.
- Something wrong?
- Like I said, you-- you need
a feller, not an arborist.
They'll bring a crew in
with the proper equipment.
They got a mill
saw, even better.
Those pines will give
you some quality lumber.
- I'm not interested in lumber.
- Then they'll haul it off.
Look, if all you
need is firewood,
there's a dead oak in the field.
It'll give you two
cords at least.
I could have that
done by tonight.
But after that, it's
best that we go.
- You've already been paid.
- Look, what's this
really all about?
- Our door got kicked in.
- There's somebody inside?
- Not that I know of, but
there were marks on the floor.
Water.
- Perhaps it was your son.
- Wyatt says it wasn't him.
- Perhaps he's not
telling the truth.
- Wyatt doesn't lie.
- He was inside this house.
- When?
- Today.
- That's not possible.
- Come in.
Where did you find this?
- In the parlor.
Must have forgotten
to lock my doors.
Boy needs rules.
Discipline.
Give 'em an inch,
they take a mile.
Like my brother, Victor.
Got kicked out of every
school we ever went to--
public, private, parochial.
My parents hired tutors.
Didn't take to them, either.
Threw his books in
the incinerator.
- Why did you call him Edward?
- Pardon me?
- Yesterday, you
called my son "Edward."
That was my grandfather's name.
My father's name, as well.
- I don't know.
- Well, thank you for the knife.
I'll see myself out.
- Have you been inside
Mr. Randolph's house?
- What?
- I'm asking if you've
been inside the house.
- No.
- Where'd you find that?
- Wyatt, please.
- I must have lost it when
I fell out of the canoe.
- Yeah, that
perfectly explains how
it got from the
bottom of the pond
to the inside of Mr.
Randolph's house.
- I didn't go in there!
- Stop it!
Stop lying to me!
I want you to fix that
door before you go to bed.
- I didn't do that.
- I don't care.
Just fix it.
- It followed us here.
- What?
- You know what.
- Enough.
- The raven.
It's the same one--
- Enough!
A goddamn bird in your closet
did not kill your sister.
It just happened.
That is all.
I'm sorry it was on your watch.
Stop it!
What are you doing?
- She has a name!
- Stop it!
- This is her name!
- Wyatt!
- Rachel!
Rachel!
Rachel!
Rachel!
Rachel!
Rachel!
Rachel!
Rachel!
- Wyatt!
- Stay away from me!
- Wyatt!
- Yeah.
- Please help me.
- How?
- I can't walk.
I can't feel my legs.
- Tell me what I'm
supposed to do.
- A baby doesn't just die.
I knew you could do it.
- What do you want from me?
- Your hands.
Your courage.
Wyatt-- I'm dying.
- Who's here?
Oh.
Oh, God.
- Show yourself, you!
Show yourself!
- What do you want from me?
- I-- I don't know.
- Get out of here.
- What have you done to me?
- Get your mother, pack
your trunk, and go.
Get out!
- Wyatt!
Oh, shit.
- Get in!
- No.
- We're leaving.
Come on!
We're going home.
- Not yet.
- Get in the truck.
Out!
Now!
Wyatt!
Wyatt!
Fuck!
Wyatt!
I just want my son back.
Whatever happened here all these
years ago, I really don't care.
- Perhaps you should.
- Who's this?
- My older brother,
Victor, and me.
He's the one in the vest.
- Jesus.
He
looks just like Wyatt
- Yeah.
And that was the estate's crest.
Coat of arms, my father called
it, back when that sort of thing
mattered.
- No, it's from an engraving
on my grandfather's knife.
- Your grandfather, Edward
Grumman, was my first cousin.
Son of Elizabeth Randolph,
my father's sister.
- What?
- He spent most of
his summers here.
That is, until the tragedy.
I gather you never spoke
to your family much.
Edward was more than my cousin.
- Why did you keep this from me?
- He was my best friend.
We-- we fell out of
touch over the years.
Things were never the
same after that summer.
- You lied to me.
- I wanted to know you first.
My bloodline is all gone.
You and your son
are all that's left.
Where are you?
Where are you!
Please!
You can't
make me do this!
- What were those
children doing here?
- They were orphans.
A new group came for
a week every summer.
All this open space where they
could just run and play and just
be happy kids.
My parents were dealt a
privileged hand in life.
They felt this was the
least they could do.
A pageant evolved,
a tradition inspired
by the pagan solstice
and the creatures
of these ancestral woodlands.
Songs recorded by
our music teachers.
Costumes stitched together
by my mother's maid.
My parents wanted to give them
something magical, transcendent.
Something that
defied the humdrum
of their orphanage, the
bleakness of their existence.
They slept in the parlor
after every forest pageant.
It was part of the fun.
And it was an evening
they never wanted to end.
But Victor-- there was
always something not right
about Victor.
I once heard my mother say
that he came out of the womb
with a knife in his boot.
The joy our parents
gave to those orphans,
it tortured his mind,
blackened his heart.
And that night was
colder than usual.
Victor knew he could make
it look like an accident.
He thought he was so
damn clever about it.
He even bragged it
to me afterwards.
He called them mangy strays.
No one will miss them, he said.
No one will cry.
- --the bodies
of our brothers and sisters,
that they may rejoice in
you with your saints forever
and ever.
We ask this through
Christ our Lord.
Amen.
- He said he'd kill me
if I ever told anyone.
So I didn't.
- What happened to him?
- I asked him to meet
me on the bridge.
- You drowned him.
- No, no.
I-- I-- I only pushed him.
The rock knocked him out.
And the water did the rest.
The police investigator
said he jumped.
Who was I to suggest otherwise?
- Wyatt!
Wyatt!
Wyatt!
Wyatt.
Stop!
Stop!
Stop!
- He made me do it!
He said I had to kill it.
I had to kill them all.
- OK, OK, calm down.
- It was right in front of me.
It was right there.
He said I had to kill them.
- Stop!
What are you talking about?
- No!
- Wha--
- If I have to
give another goddamn toothbrush
to these shits, if Daddy asks
me one more time to be polite,
share my toys,
and let them win--
no wonder their
mommies didn't want
them, the mangy fucking strays.
- I'm sorry.
Sound the alarms
The animal charms are
drifting in the air
The power beyond compare
Looking for it to dare
The otter is not swimming
'round in the water
Where are you today?
She swam down the
stream to the--
Sound the alarm
The animal charms--
- What's out there?
The raven?
- It's too dark.
I couldn't see.
- You won't eat.
You won't sleep.
Would you at least
drink some juice?
You take what's yours.
I don't want these things
in my house anymore.
Just take what's yours and
leave this place for good.
Just-- leave this place!
And the boy's not Victor.
You leave him alone!
You got no business here!
Don't you know I think of you?
I remember you.
I remember all of you.
Take me
instead, if you must.
There's nothing more
I can do for you.
- Kill him.
- He's not Victor.
- Soon.
It will be soon.
- Then do it yourself.
- How are you feeling?
Can you eat?
Your boots are still wet.
I-- I didn't want to
dry them last night
while you were sleeping.
- Why are my boots wet?
- Wyatt?
- No.
Stay here.
No!
Wyatt!
Help!
No!
No!
Wyatt!
Ah!
Shit!
- "And thou art dead.
As young and fair as
aught of mortal birth.
And form so soft.
And charmed so rare.
Too soon returned to Earth."
The priest proffered
those words,
but there was no
funeral for you.
Father was exhausted by
funerals that summer.
Your death was just a footnote
in a summer of unspeakable loss.
How dare you thieve on mourning
for those innocent children!
You jumped from the bridge.
How easily
they were all fooled.
You murdered seven
innocent children.
I have atoned for my sin.
Can you account for yours?
- Victor.
- Get him!
- Wyatt!
Wyatt?
Wyatt!
Where is he?
Wyatt!
- These weren't here before.
I've been in this room.
None of these
photographs were here.
- Yeah, but they were.
They've always been.
You just couldn't see 'em.
- I-- I don't understand.
- I didn't exactly collapse at
the children's theater that day.
I-- I fell to my knees.
I begged them, forgive
me, I beseech you.
That was about a year ago.
- A year ago?
- That's when I first
started noticing things.
Lanterns hung in the trees.
Footprints in the garden.
Sticks whittled to spears.
The smell of wet
fur after a rain.
I destroyed those
photos years ago.
And there they are,
still cursing me.
Mocking me.
The book says, "yet he does not
leave the guilty unpunished.
He punishes the children and
their children for the sin
of the parents to the third
and fourth generation."
You don't have much time.
Wyatt!
Wyatt!
Out in the water
Oh, where are you today?
Just ride down the street
to the neighbor's farm
To help him mend the fence
- You were the one that
had the idea for that song.
You sang it to the
sparrows, the wood frogs,
and whatever other little
critters you could catch
bare-handed--
before you cut their legs off,
gouged their eyeballs out,
burned them with a
magnifying glass.
Madness aside, you were
always the creative one.
Walk me to the pond.
- How could father
do that to you?
Every summer, bring
those orphans here,
shower them with his love.
He never even spoke to you.
He didn't know you.
He didn't even see you.
- Walk with me.
- It never should have happened.
The children with
poison in their lungs.
Water pushing into yours.
Me on the bridge.
Blood on my hands.
There hasn't been a day when I
haven't begged your forgiveness.
Or cursed your existence.
- This brother, this boy--
- Is no brother of yours.
Let him go.
The only thing that binds you
to him is this broken family.
Our forgotten past.
- Not our past.
Our secrets.
- It's not too late, Wyatt.
Unshackle yourself
while you still can.
I have
missed you, Victor.
Hm.
Wyatt!
Wyatt!
Wyatt.
Wyatt!
- Come on, come on.
- Mom, I got it.
- Well, hurry then.
You're freezing.
- Where are we going?
- We're just going.
- Wyatt?
Let's go.
- I'm practicing.
- What?
- Practicing!
- Practicing what?
- The saw!
Starting the saw, like
you always told me to do.
"Put the chain brake on,
test the chain brake.
Saw can't hurt you if the
chain brake's engaged.
One foot through the
handle to stabilize it.
You don't pull it standing.
You're too small.
The kickback alone
will knock you off your balance.
The goddamn chain moves
at 85 miles per hour.
You know what kind of damage
that'll do to your leg?
Do you have any goddamn idea
what kind of damage that'll do
to your leg?"
- Wyatt!
- Yes.
- Where is my son?
Floating in the pond.
Tangled in weeds, fish
pecking at his flesh.
- No.
I saved him.
- You lost him.
Your child is mine now.
Empty basket.
- Give me my son.
- For what?
- So he can lock himself
in the closet again.
Bite off his nails
and piss his pants?
- I'm not leaving, Wyatt.
I am not giving up on you!
Wyatt?
- Help!
Help!
Help me!
Please!
Please, help!
Help!
Help me!
Help, Mom!
Mom!
Somebody help!
Mom!
Mom, please, help me!
Please!
- Pull!
As hard as you can!
- They won't move!
- Stay calm.
I'm gonna get you out!
- I'm scared!
- I know.
- Please, put her back!
- What's in there?
What's behind you?
- Please, just make
her stop crying!
- No one's crying.
She's gone.
- No!
No!
No!
- I picked her up
from the crib--
because she was crying.
I thought she'd settle if I
just held her on the couch
for a little while.
I was careful with the
way I held her head,
like the way you showed me.
I watched her fall asleep.
It was so peaceful.
The whole house was quiet.
And I was happy.
But then I-- I guess--
- You fell asleep too.
- And when I woke up, she
was pinned under my arm
against the back of the couch.
Her skin was blue,
and she wouldn't move.
I didn't know what to do.
So I put her back in the crib,
but she wouldn't wake up.
I tried to go back
to sleep, but--
I'm sorry.
I'm so sorry!
I'm sorry!
I'm sorry!
- It's not your
fault. It's not your fault.
We're going to be OK now.
Aquilegia canadensis.
Thuja occidentalis.
- Canadian Columbine.
Northern white cedar.
- --immediately adjacent
to the structure.
I just have some documents
for you to sign--
inheritance disclaimer, the
title, insurance policy.
I suggest you file a copy of
each along with your property
deed.
- Look at this.
Probably the only thing
here is still in one piece.
Let me throw it as far as I can.
- OK.
Um, take a picture of me first.
- What?
- Take my picture.
I'll explain later.
- You ready?
Can I throw it now?
Don't hold your breath
Forget you ever
saw me at my best
You don't deserve
what you don't respect
Don't deserve what you say
you love and then neglect
Now bite your tongue
It's too dangerous
to fall so young
Take back what you said
Can't lose what you never had
I feel no need to forgive
But I might as well
But let me kiss your lips
So I know how it felt
Pay for my coffee and leave
before the sun goes down
Walk for hours in the
dark, feeling all hell
You've got a 9-to-5
So I'll take the night shift
And I'll never see you again
If I can help it
In five years, I hope the
songs feel like covers
Dedicated to new lovers
You got a 9-to-5
So I'll take the night shift
And I'll never see you again
If I can help it
In five years, I hope the
songs feel like covers
Dedicated to new lovers
You got a 9-to-5
So I'll take the night shift
And I'll never see you again
If I can help it
In five years, I hope the
songs feel like covers
Dedicated to new lovers