True Dark (2024) Movie Script
1
(heavy breathing)
(scared breathing)
(intense music)
So I figure you guys have some questions.
Who are you? Where am I?
Am I going to murder you? Right.
But look, I'm not gonna
answer those questions okay.
'Cause I don't want to, and
because I don't need to.
The sooner that you guys
understand the dynamic here,
the sooner that we can
get through all the shit
that we have to get through.
All right?
Okay.
(door opening, footsteps)
And now you have another question,
but this one I'll answer.
It's called interim.
It has many uses.
You'll find out about them shortly.
(injecting noise)
All right, now that that's
outta the way, let's begin.
Ah, what the fuck is going on here?
Okay. Okay. This is crazy.
I don't know who you people are,
but you need to let us go right now.
Right now, right, right Now,
Why did you only inject them?
And what was it? What did,
what did you inject us with?
Can you, can, can you answer us?
No, I don't. I don't.
Is this real
Aisha baby? Are you okay?
Listen, everything's
gonna be fun, all right.
Oh, that's, that's real funny to you, huh?
Making people cry as funny.
How about you let me outta here
and I'll, I, I, I, I, I I'll wipe
that little smug ass grin off your little
bitch ass face more.
No, no. I can't stand
to look at his face any fucking
longer. Let's just go, bro. Why?
If you just calm down, Let's just go.
You're not, let's go see That. Let's go
Quiet.
(silence)
We are beginning.
Yeah. All right. Uh,
prepare yourselves, folks.
You're not gonna like this
Shit.
What?
What are we beginning Your memory?
(wind chimes)
(wind chimes getting louder)
Oh, shit. (wind chimes stopping)
Did I scare you, bro? Yeah.
Just the absolute shit outta me.
You didn't hear me knocking
outside for like five minutes?
Yeah. There's no way you
were doing any kind of knocking,
Bro. Seriously? I,
what the hell is
that? What are you talking about?
It's art. That's not art, bro.
This is, is it a joke or something? Like
It's abstract.
Well, that's a word for it.
I mean, horrifying would be nothing.
Anyway, here, man, this
is, uh, Kylie's present.
Yeah. Thanks. Mm-Hmm.
Uh, speaking of, that's all you
plan on doing for a birthday.
I mean, Jesus, Brian, I'm
glad I'm not your girlfriend.
You don't even have balloons, bro.
You gotta have balloons. Balloons are sick.
Jesus Christ. Lamar,
what are you taking for,
there's birthday stuff
in the bag over there.
Balloons? Yes. Balloons. Okay.
Well, nice then. Shit,
let's get this stuff set up
before Kylie and Aisha get here.
Aisha's coming. Uh,
I thought she had to work or something.
Yeah, I don't know. She caught out sick.
Um, okay.
That's okay. Yeah, Yeah, yeah. Of course.
All right. So first big
birthday dating Kylie.
You got anything special planned?
No. Nah, you know, you know Kylie,
she likes to keep things low key.
Yeah, man. That's what
we, were all just friends.
But you're the boyfriend now.
We got bigger responsibilities.
No, no, man.
She doesn't care about things like this.
It's fine.
Yeah. Yeah. Okay.
Yeah, I guess I'm just used to Isha, man.
You know how she gets around
her birthdays or anniversaries?
Shit. Come to think about it.
I gotta figure out something to get her,
Um, balloons now.
Yeah. Uh, for sure. First, do
you have any, uh, beer, bro?
Do I have beer in? Call me. Oh,
Amen. No,
but seriously though, you
guys are good, you and Kylie.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, definitely. We're great.
How, uh, how are you guys? Ah,
You know, same old, same old.
Actually, it's not true.
Things are good with us,
but Aisha's been acting real fucking
weird for like a week or so.
Really? Yeah,
she, shit, bro.
I don't know why I did that.
These are my new kick around shoes, man.
Jesus Christ. Um, anyway. Why is that?
You shit been acting so weird.
Like, she, she's just been
real skittish with me,
and Aisha just does the most random shit,
like, okay.
The other night we're
watching a movie together
and she just randomly
starts turning off the TV
and I'm looking at her like,
what the fuck are you doing?
And she just kind of
shrugs at me, you know?
And then sometimes, man,
like I, I swear she's seeing shit.
Like, she'll just be looking in a corner
and not looking at nothing.
Like she sees something there, you know?
You've been hanging with her.
Have you seen anything?
Brian, you good?
(bottle smash followed by complete silence)
Fuck Aisha. Something's going on. Brian.
I think he's going deaf or I'm
just gonna call 911. All right. Just
Relax, Don. No. Little more don't,
don't. I can hear again.
I'm okay. You're okay. What?
What the fuck, bro? Is this some sort
Of joke? I, I, I
don't know what that was,
but I'm, I'm fine now.
I'm fine, man. This is so fucked up, bro.
What the hell? Aisha, are you okay?
Oh, sorry, Kylie, what happened?
And, um, happy birthday, my dear.
Uh, I'm sorry we didn't decorate the place.
You guys kind of came early.
Thanks my dear. Yeah,
It's okay. I don't
care. But I was walking
with Aisha here talking
about some pretty serious stuff,
and she just started
sprinting away from me.
I mean, you honestly freaked me out.
What was that?
You know, I was feeling a
little bloated, thought going.
One nice little jog would help.
All right, weirdo. Okay.
I'm, um, gonna go to the bathroom.
Lamar, you okay? You're
looking a little off.
Yeah, I am a little off right now.
Uh, your boyfriend here almost gave me
a fucking heart attack, so
You did?
Yeah. I don't know what happened.
I couldn't, I couldn't hear
for like 30 seconds. Wait,
Wait. What?
Yeah. Are you okay?
Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. It's all good.
You're fine. You're good, right?
I thought you were having
a fucking brain aneurysm.
I've never been more scared, bro.
Oh, I'm so touched. You care so much.
Well, you can get over that
and go fuck yourself too.
Are you really sure you're okay?
Yeah. Yeah, I'm good.
Okay. Go to your room for a second.
Uh, Jesus, Kylie, happy birthday.
Shut up. Yeah, let's go.
Well, all I know is
y'all better just keep it
real quiet back there.
All right. I'm gonna come over here
and finish putting up the decorations or
Whatever. You
still have that fricking
thing on your wall.
It's not funny anymore, Right?
I don't know what you people
are on about, about the
Painting. It was
never even funny. It was just weird.
You know what? It's true.
What they say good art isn't appreciated
In its time. Oh my
God.
So What's up?
It's my birthday.
Uh, I'm aware.
I'm,
I'm 28.
I'm officially in my late twenties.
And you, you're, you're pretty
firmly in your early twenties.
I don't know. I, I guess his birthday has
just been making me think a lot.
What have you been thinking about, Kylie?
You're still young and
I'm just not anymore.
And that's, that's okay.
I don't, I don't give
a shit about all that.
It's just the whole date.
A bunch of people face
of your early twenties.
I'm done with it.
(gentle music)
And you might not be, and that's okay,
because lately you just,
you seemed really far away.
I guess I just wanted to, to check in.
Are you serious about this,
Kylie?
It's,
It's okay.
Let's just, let's just
go back out to the party
and I'm all in. (wind chimes)
I'm in love with you, Kylie.
I'm all in on us.
(slapping noise) Should we
go check on that? They're fine.
(music fades, replaced
by growing static noise)
(static gets louder)
You hear that? What? It's ecstatic.
I don't hear
God. Oh, Jesus. (static
gets extremely loud)
Oh,
oh, you
Guys, Come on.
Please. Just say, say something
Guys. Get outta here,
Aisha baby, please. Just calm down.
Just relax. Come on. It
took you guys long enough.
Come on. I don't know what's happening.
Come on, God. Damn it Aisha.
I don't think she can see or hear us. Mom.
It's okay. What's she doing?
Come on, please step out. You please.
I don't know.
You should wait. You should wait with her.
Fuck no. shit.
Fuck Aisha. It's okay. It's okay.
Let go. What? Cry? I'm sorry.
Sorry. I'm sorry.
I don't know what to do.
Wait. Oh, oh, shit.
She's gonna leave. No, no. What?
No, no, no, no, no, no.
No. shit. Stop.
What is she doing? What she doing?
What the, come on.
It's okay.
(raining)
Just Snap outta me.
Come on.
(engine revs)
(tires screeching)
Gonna fucking killed out.
Oh my God. Aisha,
welcome back.
Aisha.
Oh, shit.
Everything. Look, I just got you, okay.
Oh shit.
Oh my fucking God.
God damn it man. I'm sorry for scaring me.
God. Damn it.
I think we need to go to the hospital.
The shit that's been happening with you
and Brian is some fucked
up shit, like schizophrenic
paranoid, taking a double
dose of LSD type of fucked up.
So, no, we're going to the hospital
to get your brains checked out.
No, no more. I'm not doing that.
I'm good now. No, I'm good.
It was, it was probably just
stress or a momentary snap
or whatever, but it's over.
What is this rationalization?
Aisha, you are speaking gibberish. No,
Lamoine enough. I'm
not going to the hospital. A
I don't know. I think the
hospital isn't a bad idea.
No, I mean, you could have
a brain tumor or something.
Guys. Aisha, come on.
We're going to the hospital, obviously
just not tonight.
Brian. Dude, Listen,
whatever's going on in our
brains is gonna be there in the morning.
Let's just let celebrate
Kylie's birthday. Oh my. No.
About that. No, no, none of that.
But I got you an ice cream cake
and we're all going to eat it, okay?
Okay.
This is a weird night, dude.
(eery happy birthday music)
Yeah, This one's for me, my dear.
Oh, thank you, my dear.
Gotta sound like you've been married
for 50 years, my dear.
My dear.
How the heck did you remember Brian?
How the heck did I forget?
Thank you. It was so, so
special about this book.
It, uh, I read it
for a homework assignment in
high school. (Creole Song Begins)
It seriously screwed up my brain,
but it's also what made me
want to study philosophy so much.
My life changed. 'cause one
assignment in high school.
It's crazy.
Well, I am glad you like it, my dear.
Thank you. I'm, uh,
I'm gonna get me another piece of cake.
Anybody want some?
No,
Brian.
(Brian groans)
Brian, Something's happening, isn't it?
Can't move. Alright, that's it.
I'm calling 911.
We're going to the fucking
hospital right now. That's it.
That's a good idea.
(Aisha screaming; sounds
of violence and commotion)
shit, Aisha. What the fuck are you doing?
Awaken.
Interesting.
That's interesting, isn't it?
What was that?
That was Brian's memory,
His perspective. Supplicated
by your memory and Aisha's
and uh, right. What was your name again?
Fuck off.
Yeah. fuck off's memory.
Why, why, why do you
care about our memories?
They're the ones fucking
with Brian and Aisha's minds.
I still don't, why? I I still don't get it.
I'm so sorry. Do you want
me to just take a beat
so I can explain everything for you?
Would you like that? Alright, now, uh,
I need some answers from
your boy Brian here.
I'm Not giving you any
answers until you tell us exactly
What the hell is going on.
You guys ever wanna get out of here? Huh?
Do you wanna get outta those wheelchairs?
Do you want your freedom
back? People stop spouting shit
and just do whatever the
fuck I tell you to do.
Okay? All right. Brian answers please.
When you were in the
kitchen with the bottle
of beer in your hand, what did it feel
like before you dropped it?
It was, I don't
know. It's hard to describe.
I'm gonna need better than that man.
Use your big boy words.
I guess when I dropped the first bottle,
it, it just sort of happened.
Okay. What about the second time
when you smashed the bottle?
You know, when you're in an elevator
and you kind of wanna
press the button a bunch
of times it was like that.
It was just an impulse.
But then, then it became an itch
way in the back of my head.
And the itch grew until
it wasn't an itch anymore.
It was a pounding every muscle
and nerve was screaming
for me to drop that bottle.
And I tried to fight it, but
Yeah, You know,
you probed into my fucking
head, so, you know.
All right. Alright.
What about when you were
in the bedroom with Kylie?
Did you feel the same
pounding in your head?
No. No, I didn't.
And what about the figure
that you saw in the corner of that room?
Had you ever seen that before?
No. Never.
What about you, Aisha?
Many times I,
What's interesting about
those side effects, isn't it?
Yes. Temporary deafness,
hearing music when there isn't any.
That's, it's really weird.
Yes. And you know what
else tickles my curiosity?
How two different people are
experiencing the same side effect.
I mean, they're seeing
the exact same figure on
different, separate occasions.
That shouldn't be possible, should it?
Do you remember what you said to me,
what you promised me when I agreed
to join your little mind fucking operation?
I do. Yeah. Bang,
Guys. Come on. We gotta
get outta these fucking things. Kylie.
You got small hands. You should
be able to just slip right on now.
More than stop it. We're not
getting outta here until they let us out.
No, I'm not just gonna
give up just like that.
That was crazy, Brian,
which, what you went through,
like in the bedroom, the thing you saw
that was messed up.
Yeah. But, um,
everything before that.
You meant what you said, right?
Yeah. Yeah. Kylie. Of course I did.
Are you sure? Are you okay?
Yeah. Yeah. I'm great. Are you sure?
All right. Here we go. Aisha's memory.
Everyone ready? Wait. Yeah.
I don't give a fuck.
(tapping noise)
(ocean waves crashing)
(leaves blowing in wind)
(sirens)
(phone ringtone)
Aisha: Hey, Kylie. What do you mean?
I am here?
Where are you? Why are you there?
I'm at the, you know, I am at the bench.
(phone vibrating) Just, um, Kylie,
sorry. I got another call coming in.
Just, um, come to the bench. Okay.
Hello? Yes, this is she.
Okay. Okay.
Okay. And you're, um,
you're a hundred percent sure because,
because when I did the test myself.
Right. Okay.
I just don't get, I know
this is what everyone says,
but I, I don't get how it's even possible.
I've been on the pill and everyone,
and everyone I've been with has worn.
Yeah,
(ominous music)
yeah.
No, I know I have.
(ocean waves crashing)
Okay. Well, I,
(muffled) Aisha, Aisha, Aisha.
Aisha.
Aisha. Aisha. A Aisha.
Are you okay?
Yep. Sorry.
I was just,
oh my God.
It's your birthday.
Happy birthday. Beautiful.
Do you Feel in control of your life?
No.
I mean, I, I feel like we
can control small decisions.
We can control our perspectives,
but, um, the big trajectory
of our lives, I think that's fate.
But I'm Libra so of course I think that
What do you think?
Um, yeah,
honestly, I feel like I have
complete control over my
life. It's kind of the problem.
What do you mean? I mean,
I, I keep making choices
and they always end up
being the wrong choices.
And so I keep fucking up my life.
And so I would really love
it if the stars were making all
my choices and I could
blame everything on them.
(ominous music)
Do you think I'm making a
mistake by dating Brian?
What? Are you not happy with him?
I'm definitely happy with him. He's great.
But, um, sometimes I just
feel like I'm dating a little boy.
How? Um, I mean,
he hates doing the dishes.
He hates vacuuming. He's fine.
Just turning his underwear inside out
and calling it good, you know?
Yeah. I dunno. No, that's true.
But it's also incredibly sweet
and funny and passionate.
You know's. Kind of more
important, don't you think?
Um, Yeah.
Um, I know that. Oh my God.
(LOUD STATIC)
Who is that?
I,
I don't know, Kylie. I don't know.
I
(LOUD STATIC)
What the fuck,
(DISTANT STATIC)
Brian? What the fuck
is going on, dude? fucking me.
I can't hear.
He, I can't hear fucking jab.
Brian. Just breathe. Man.
Fuck. Look at me. Look at me. fuck Brian.
Should I call 911?
Okay, relax bro. Up.
Aisha, fuck, something's
going on with Brian.
I'm gonna hold on one, just breathe, man.
All right.
No, no, no. I can't hear.
(ocean waves crashing)
fuck. Is this some sort of joke?
What the hell, Aisha? Are you okay?
I'm sorry, Kylie. What
happened? Also,
Happy birthday made dear.
I'm sorry we didn't get to finish.
Put up putting up the decorations.
Uh, she guys came early.
Thanks, my dear. It's, I don't care.
I, but I was walking with
Aisha talking about some kind
of serious stuff
and she just started
sprinting away from me.
Honestly, you kind of freaked me out.
What was that?
I was, I was feeling a little bloated,
thought I'd go on a little jog. Might help.
Alright. Darn all.
Um, anyways, I, I need to use the bathroom.
(metronome, slowly quickening)
(metronome stops)
(metronome begins)
(intense music)
Brian: I'm all in.
I'm in love with
you, Kylie.
I'm all in on us.
Hey girl.
There we go. Let's get the balloon.
All right.
Alright, You uh,
gonna start blowing anytime soon.
You all right?
Yeah, I'm good. Yeah.
Why aren't you being
honest with me anymore?
What the fuck? Aisha.
Aisha,
I'm sorry. I'm sorry.
I'm so sorry. I don't know.
I don't know why I just did that.
I'm sorry.
I don't know why I did that. I'm sorry.
Just The hell man.
Look,
Look, no.
Warm, warm.
Look, you're not an easy person
to deal with. I know that.
I've always known that, but I didn't care
because you were real and you were honest.
Honest about what you wanted
and honest about how you were feeling.
But now you're still not easy
to deal with (clock ticking)
and you're also not being honest anymore.
(clock ticking slower)
So I'm gonna give you another
chance, girl. Be honest.
(clock slowing down more)
What is going on?
(fan slowing down)
Lamorne (voice slowing down):
Aisha what is... what is going on?
(time freezes)
(waves crash with hallucinatory music
Come on,
Lord.
Step out of it.
(sound of glass shattering
freezes and stretches)
Hello. Hello.
Welcome back.
(Creole Song Begins)
And what's so special about this book?
You know, I read it in high school.
I was like 15 or something.
Seriously messed up my brain.
But it's also what made me
want to study philosophy.
It's crazy. So much of
my life changed from this
one homework assignment in high school.
I am glad you like it, my dear.
I'm gonna cut myself another
piece of cake. Anybody want some?
No. Thanks
Brian.
Brian, Something's happening, isn't it? No,
I Can't fucking move. Alright,
that's it.
I'm calling 911 and we're
going to the fucking hospital.
That's it. Aisha, you okay?
Aisha? What are you, what are
you doing with that, Aisha?
No shit. What the fuck are you doing?
Get the knife. Get the
knife outta her hand. fuck.
I'm sorry, God. Damn it Isa, let it go.
Let the fucking knife go.
Nurse. Can I have you come remove
two of the subjects for me?
Thank you,
Aisha, you're pregnant.
I shall, my God. Why didn't you tell me?
Yes, Nurse, these two. Thank you.
No leave. Leave me here.
Where are you? Where are you taking this?
What's going on? Where are we go,
Aisha, don't worry.
Your pretty little heads. Okay?
I need to talk to these two
in private for a second.
(lights flickering)
I can't believe she didn't tell me
Either. One of them
Are being honest, even
before all this shit.
Okay? Brian, you tried to fight the urge
to break that bottle, right?
Yes. And when you, you know,
you couldn't move your body and,
and Aisha here was trying
to stab you in the face.
Did you try to fight that?
Of course, I,
But you failed.
Ah, I tried to fight against
Benjamin And you failed. Okay.
What about you, Aisha?
And you had that impulse
to, to empty all the shampoo
and soap into Brian's bathroom.
Did you try to resist that at all?
No. What about when you
slapped Lamoine here
or you were trying to murder Brian?
You didn't try to fight that urge?
No. Why not?
I dunno. Look,
you guys both suffered some really strange
side effects, okay?
That's just your brain trying
to calibrate with the interim.
That's, it's normal.
But what's really not
fucking normal is this figure
that you both keep seeing.
When the world was frozen,
none of it felt real.
It felt like it was all in my head.
And that was what was so scary about it.
'Cause it felt like I was going crazy.
But the figure, I never thought I
was going crazy 'cause it felt real
and it felt like someone
was really watching me.
She's right. There is
something different about it.
Okay, Paris, you can Bring
the other two back in.
Thank you. Are we
Ever getting out of here?
Honestly, I don't know,
baby, is it?
I dunno. Brian, I don't know anything.
I think we're good. Brian.
He tried to resist the interim.
He couldn't do it.
And the other one, Aisha,
she just sort of rolled with it.
So it seems like whether or
not a host is complacent,
the the interim is going to win.
Those are the results
that you wanted, right?
Yes. And what about the, the side effects?
You know that those glitches,
Our engineers have
already fixed the issues.
The interim has been updated.
I was thinking back to
when I first recruited you,
how far we've come, how close
we are to the finish line.
We missed when the job is done.
Thanks. The job's not done.
So what are next steps?
We, we could go into
Lamoine or Kylie's memory,
but I don't, I don't
think we'd find anything.
I mean, maybe we could, uh, cut them loose.
No, your memory, What?
We're going into your memory.
They have to know exactly what's going on.
Only then will we know
interim is truly infallible.
I, I don't,
I don't think I like that.
(piano plays elegant music)
Aisha Dhar, Brian Lowell
Lamorne Johnson.
Kylie Jacques
you all have questions.
Here are the answers.
Stop. Stop.
You got to find a silent
and you can say, can attorney for attorney
Seth Cole, in
and out of juvie, his entire
adolescent life been in
and out of jail the rest of his life.
Grand larceny, grand theft, auto
aggravated assault, burglary.
Seth Cole seems to have made
all the wrong choices in life.
Or maybe not. Maybe
Seth Cole grew up in one
of the worst neighborhoods in Los Angeles.
Maybe Seth Cole had parents
who cared more about heroin than him.
Maybe Seth Cole didn't
make all the wrong choices.
Maybe Seth Cole didn't have choices.
Maybe Seth Cole was powerless.
You're not a cop. No.
Are you my lawyer? No.
And who are you?
Seth Cole received a 1470 on his SAT.
Seth Cole could have gone to college.
Instead, Seth Cole
managed to circumvent some
of the best security
systems, steal from some
of the nicest homes in Hollywood.
Seth Cole likely would've evaded most
of his arrests had it not
been for the incompetence
of the people he worked with.
Seth Cole has potential.
Who in the fuck are you?
I'm someone who is very, very powerful,
but I'm someone who wants, who needs to be
far more powerful.
And I believe you Seth Cole
can help me achieve this goal.
Okay? In return,
I will give you something
you have never had
power and choice.
And here's the first
choice I will provide you.
Go to lockup, then go to jail
for six, maybe nine months,
or come with me now and accept the job.
I haven't been booked yet and
bail hasn't even been set.
I don't think you
understand how powerful. I'm
All right. What's this job?
(silence)
I can't tell you. I have to show you.
Okay, Then show me.
What is this place
I just gave you? Verbal
control. Tell her to do something.
Wait, what? I'm showing you the job.
Tell her to do something. Anything.
Okay? Um, I don't know. Say hi.
Hi. No, tell her to do something
She wouldn't normally do.
Something she wouldn't
do in front of people.
I don't know what, um, okay, hang on.
Um, hey, pick your nose now.
Jesus. Is this, what is this? Now?
Tell her to stop. Uh, yeah.
Go ahead and stop now.
No, tell her to do something bad,
something extreme.
Something she would never do.
You know what? No, that's all right.
I get the point. So that's fine. No,
You don't.
True power transcends all ethicality.
Morality, legality, true
power is all there is.
If you do not issue a command,
I will tell her to attack you.
Make your choice. What?
Okay, just fucking hang on a second.
I don't, I don't know. Um,
may make yourself throw up.
(gagging and vomiting noises)
Stop.
All right.
Look, I don't know what kind
of shit you think I'm into.
I, I didn't like that one bit.
That's a lie. You liked it quite a bit.
The power?
What? No. What is that?
What, what is this? Who,
who the hell are you That
Was in Trump?
An advice I created.
So what it, it like controls people's minds
Among other functions.
Interim can make the subject
do simple physical acts like
what you had the nurse do in there.
Interim can make the subject see
and feel things that aren't there
and interim can allow us
to peer inside the memories
of the subject to exist
within their consciousness.
And soon in rum will allow us to plant
fake memories.
Erase real ones, sow ideas,
inspirations, impulses.
There could be a future where we can twist
and shift and shape the subject personality
and mind into whoever we want them to be.
Do you understand?
Nothing like this has ever existed
in the history of the universe.
Nothing. Do you
understand Seth Cole?
Yes. So you are taking the job.
I I don't look, I still
have no fucking idea
what the job is.
Over the next year, you will
aid me in numerous trials
to bring interim through
its final testing phases.
Twilight Midnight deep night,
and then a final diagnostic
where we bring interim out
of this place into the real
world, a final test to prove
that interim is ready for the next step.
What are the next steps?
Next step is domination.
True, dark. The final phase.
Okay, look, I I don't,
I don't think I'm the
right person for this. You
Will be paid 25,000
monthly if you take the job.
Just so you know. Set.
Cole, what?
25,000 monthly?
Huh? Okay.
If I accept this job, I just want you
to promise me something.
All this mind fucking shit.
I'll do that to whoever. Okay?
For 25,000. I really don't give a fuck.
But I want you to promise me, promise
that you don't fuck with my brain.
Okay? No mind control, no interim nothing.
Deal.
That is a deal. Is that cool?
(Beethoven Music)
(keys jiggling in lock)
How do you have a key to this place?
I own a building. Which one?
Pick a number one to 55.
What? That cannot be how
you're choosing this.
This building has families, young couples,
students recently divorced.
The point of this final
diagnostic is to prove that interim
can and will work on
anyone in any situation.
So pick a number one to 55.
Okay, fine. Uh, 23.
So What's the procedure here?
I'll inject the subject
or subjects you bug every
room, then hang the painting
somewhere prominent.
What do you end up choosing?
The acrylic painting
of the penis with an eyeball.
And what they're just gonna see like a
bowl of fruit or something.
They'll see whatever
art speaks to them most.
Hey, Hey. Wait, wait, wait
a fucking second here.
What, what if they're not
sleeping or they wake up when
You need to? There's chloroform in
the bag.
Go to sleep.
It's done.
So now,
now we wait.
We need the right setting
for the final test.
What are you gonna know
when it's the right setting?
I'll know
(static growing)
What the fuck is it?
I know you did it. I know
you fucking injected me.
(STATIC BLAST)
Oh fuck.
(phone vibrates)
Hello.
Really?
Okay.
Okay. Test one.
A simple physical command
of your observation
of second party is a
go drop bottle of beer.
Lamorne: Actually, that's not
true. Things are good with us,
but I think she's been acting real fucking
weird for like a week or so.
Brian: Really? Lamorne: Yeah, she, shit.
Brian.
Seth: Okay. Test one. A success.
You want me to proceed to two A?
Well,
okay, two A then
repeated physical command
under continued observation
of second party drop beer bottle.
Lamorne: Like, okay,
the other night we're
watching a movie together
and she just randomly
starts turning off the TV
and I'm looking at her like,
what the fuck are you doing?
And she just kind of shrugs at me,
You know?
And then sometimes man, like I, I swear
She's seeing shit. Like she'll
Just be looking in a corner
And not looking at nothing.
Like she sees something there. You know,
what the fuck?
Lamorne: Are you, are you good?
Man? Brian: I can't hear anything.
Lamorne: What do you mean
you can't hear anything?
Brian: I can't hear anything.
Lamorne: Are you deaf? fuck.
Test two A is a success,
but, uh, no delayed
compliance from subject A.
So mark for later questioning.
I'm going out for a sec.
Subject A is experiencing a side effect.
After resisting interim, the subject seems
to have lost all ability to hear.
Make a note for the viewing.
Yep.
Where do you go?
Where do I go? Yeah.
Sometimes it's like you
don't even see me or hear me.
It's like your,
your mind is somewhere
totally different than your body.
I have many things on my mind.
Yeah, sure.
I don't think I trust you.
Trust me. Seth Cole,
why would you trust me?
What happened? Couldn't I couldn't hear
Like 30 seconds.
Wait, what? Are you okay?
Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine.
It's all good. Where is subject be?
Bathroom, I think
Proceed with test three B,
Right? Uh,
test three B.
Simple physical command
in isolation as we go.
Uh, What
Did we put in the bathroom?
Oh yeah. Empty all shampoo
and other bottles in shower.
Test three B is a success.
Go back to subject A. We
need to start pushing intro.
I'm officially in my late twenties
and you, you're, you're pretty
firmly in your early twenties.
What test were you thinking here?
Seven. A Complex communicative
and emotional command.
All right, I guess we're
skipping some steps.
Keep listening to subject aid for an in.
Switch me back to the bathroom. Feed
subject B is glitching.
Make a note.
He Just felt
Really Far away.
Are you serious about this
Or
Tightly?
You love this woman? Tell her let's
Just go back out to the party.
I'm all in.
I'm in love with you, Kylie.
I'm all in on us.
Seven A is a success.
Good. Subject B is side effects of past
proceed with six B and 10 B,
Right? 10 B already.
Yes.
And rum is ready. I can feel it True.
Dark is coming.
Okay.
Hey girl.
And you want me to do
six B before 10 B? Right?
Okay, fine. Proceeding with test six B.
Extreme physical act
against known third party.
I don't you be honest with anymore.
What the fuck? ISA
And six B is a success.
Hey. Hey,
Where are you?
Hey, where
Are you?
Hey, this is your final test.
Where in the fuck are you?
Do you hear that? What?
It's like, it's like static.
I don't hear anything. Brian.
What the hell is oh,
Oh God.
Oh Jesus. Oh, wait, wait. What's wrong? Oh.
All right. Test 10 B
complex hallucinatory and sensory event.
Here we go.
Activate simulation. 2, 3, 7, 2.
(clock ticking normally)
So I'm gonna give you another chance.
Be honest, what's going on?
What's wrong?
Come on. What is, what is this? Okay
guys, get out here.
Something's wrong with Aisha.
10 B is a success.
No, we don't know that yet.
It could be a glitch.
She has to be experiencing
the exact simulation.
We won't know for sure what
the subject is actually
experiencing until we take
her to the viewing room.
Yeah. Uhhuh, right? My bad.
Do you know why I hired you? What?
You have no qualifications.
You are a convicted criminal.
And I pay you very well.
Plenty of people would kill for this job.
So why did I hire you?
You hired me because I had no choice.
I'd just been arrested.
So it was either take the
job or go back to jail.
And even if I did the jail
time, I was always destined
to be a convict or going back
to work in shitty minimum
wage jobs or going back to crime.
So I had no choice and
that's why you hired me.
You knew you'd have total control over me.
And because you're fucking
addicted to power and control.
That is correct. Seth Cole,
what part of that makes you
think you are irreplaceable?
Shit. Stop.
(running footsteps, shouting)
Should we, uh, end the simulation?
No.
What? Uh, what, what are you
Doing?
Wait, what the fuck are you doing
Testing in from in the face of death?
What? No. Hold on, hold on, hold on.
Don't, don't do this.
(engine screaming)
(sound of a sprinkler)
You stopped the simulation.
Yep. What you were doing.
That wasn't part of the job.
The job Seth Cole is to
do whatever I tell you.
Yeah. Well, you should
probably fire me then.
This isn't that kind of job.
(car approaching)
You know, I've, uh,
I've been thinking a lot
about what you've said to me.
When we first met
after I got arrested, you said that maybe
I didn't make all the wrong
choices in life, that maybe
I didn't have choices,
that I was powerless.
And it's funny too, you know,
because that's exactly
how I used to look at it.
Victim of circumstance, you
know, dealt a bad hand, right?
All that shit I stole and I fought
and I got high because
I didn't have a choice.
But god damn, that is the
biggest load of bullshit
because everyone has a choice.
You know, even if it's
choosing between death
or continuing your shitty existence.
But what we're doing with
interim, it's erasing choice.
It is murdering free will something
that humans have had since
the dawn of fucking time.
Don't you, don't you think that's evil?
Okay?
(Creole Music Begins)
Are you a fucking pussy?
Seth Colt.
What? Morality is a game
for children and pussies.
Proceed with nine a and 11 a.
Ask them the final questions.
I call the nurses in, they'll
take care of the rest,
Right?
Okay. Um, I need you guys
to answer the, the
following questions with it.
Yes or no? Do you,
to the best of your abilities
understand what interim is.
Yes. Yes. Yeah. Yes.
And knowing what you
now know about interim,
do you think you could resist its commands?
Its its power.
No. No.
Brian, you think you can resist interim?
No. Right?
Do you know what Aristotle
thought about free will Seth,
unlike Leni, who thought
free will was a fantasy
that all the choices someone makes in life
are predetermined at birth.
Aristotle believed we simply have the power
to do or not to do.
And it's those choices
that make us who we are.
I always like the Aristotle side
more, but who knows?
Maybe there is no free will.
Maybe we're born and, and there's a path.
And no matter what we do,
we can't leave that path.
I, I don't know.
But what I do know is that
I don't want that person
out there determining the
path my life takes to you.
Fuck, no,
(intense music)
Kylie. I, um,
I think, I think let's not, Okay.
You guys wanna get outta those wheelchairs,
Please. God.
Here
Free everyone else.
Fuck you. Come on.
Let's get the shit outta here.
Stop. You
can't tell me what to do anymore.
I quit.
What are you gonna do?
Shoot me.
No, Seth Cole.
They are,
Sorry. P
that's not how this story's ending.
You're not in control and
you have no fucking power.
I destroyed Interim. You colossal ass.
You destroyed Interim. Yes, I fucking did.
And you're never getting a true dark.
(sound of static)
I hear, I hear it too.
I'm sorry, Seth Cole.
But you are mistaken.
You may have destroyed what
you think is in interim,
but Intrum is not some metal cube.
What are you talking about?
I am Intrum. (static rises)
Oh fuck
Shoot him.
(GUNSHOT)
No, please Don't. Don't
(GUNSHOT)
Motherfucker.
Okay. Okay. Please, please
don't, look, I I won't quit.
Okay? You can, you can do
whatever you want. Just
Stop. The Person: I'm afraid there
is no room for you here anymore.
Now that we have reached True Dark,
but I appreciate all your hard work,
Cole. It will
be remembered.
Resist it, Brian.
I know you can do it. fucking resist it.
Shoot him in the leg. I want
to perform one last test.
Shoot him. Shoot him now.
Brian, don't you do it.
I know you're more...
(GUNSHOT)
when did you do it?
When did you inject me?
The night you agreed to the job.
What are you doing? The
Person: Do you want to kill me?
Seth Cole?
Yes. Then take the gun.
Let's see who is more powerful.
Don't shoot,
I
Now blow your brains out.
(sound of sprinklers)
Let us begin. True dark.
(ominous, melancholic music begins)
Oh God.
Yeah.
Hey, what's up dude? Oh
Yeah. How much shit we drink
last night?
Oh, honestly, I don't
remember drinking anything,
which probably means a fuck ton.
Oh, what the hell happened to my face? Oh
Wow.
Oh, I've never been blackout before.
This is kind of crazy.
I have been, but it did not feel like this.
What did we like, like wash
a bunch of mushrooms down
with Absinthe
Maybe, honestly. Good birthday, my dear?
Oh. Yeah. From,
from what I can remember I guess.
Well, shit, it's 1130 guys.
I gotta get home, shower
and head to the gym.
It's 1130.
Oh, I should go
thank you.
Yeah, I think I'm gonna
head out too Brian. Yeah.
Yeah. But thanks for what
I'm sure was a epic birthday.
Yeah, of course my dear.
You guys, see you soon. Yes.
Thanks so much for having us.
Absolutely. Catch you later. Mm-Hmm.
Oh, Kylie. Um.
Thanks my dear.
See you guys.
(Creole Song Begins)
(heavy breathing)
(scared breathing)
(intense music)
So I figure you guys have some questions.
Who are you? Where am I?
Am I going to murder you? Right.
But look, I'm not gonna
answer those questions okay.
'Cause I don't want to, and
because I don't need to.
The sooner that you guys
understand the dynamic here,
the sooner that we can
get through all the shit
that we have to get through.
All right?
Okay.
(door opening, footsteps)
And now you have another question,
but this one I'll answer.
It's called interim.
It has many uses.
You'll find out about them shortly.
(injecting noise)
All right, now that that's
outta the way, let's begin.
Ah, what the fuck is going on here?
Okay. Okay. This is crazy.
I don't know who you people are,
but you need to let us go right now.
Right now, right, right Now,
Why did you only inject them?
And what was it? What did,
what did you inject us with?
Can you, can, can you answer us?
No, I don't. I don't.
Is this real
Aisha baby? Are you okay?
Listen, everything's
gonna be fun, all right.
Oh, that's, that's real funny to you, huh?
Making people cry as funny.
How about you let me outta here
and I'll, I, I, I, I, I I'll wipe
that little smug ass grin off your little
bitch ass face more.
No, no. I can't stand
to look at his face any fucking
longer. Let's just go, bro. Why?
If you just calm down, Let's just go.
You're not, let's go see That. Let's go
Quiet.
(silence)
We are beginning.
Yeah. All right. Uh,
prepare yourselves, folks.
You're not gonna like this
Shit.
What?
What are we beginning Your memory?
(wind chimes)
(wind chimes getting louder)
Oh, shit. (wind chimes stopping)
Did I scare you, bro? Yeah.
Just the absolute shit outta me.
You didn't hear me knocking
outside for like five minutes?
Yeah. There's no way you
were doing any kind of knocking,
Bro. Seriously? I,
what the hell is
that? What are you talking about?
It's art. That's not art, bro.
This is, is it a joke or something? Like
It's abstract.
Well, that's a word for it.
I mean, horrifying would be nothing.
Anyway, here, man, this
is, uh, Kylie's present.
Yeah. Thanks. Mm-Hmm.
Uh, speaking of, that's all you
plan on doing for a birthday.
I mean, Jesus, Brian, I'm
glad I'm not your girlfriend.
You don't even have balloons, bro.
You gotta have balloons. Balloons are sick.
Jesus Christ. Lamar,
what are you taking for,
there's birthday stuff
in the bag over there.
Balloons? Yes. Balloons. Okay.
Well, nice then. Shit,
let's get this stuff set up
before Kylie and Aisha get here.
Aisha's coming. Uh,
I thought she had to work or something.
Yeah, I don't know. She caught out sick.
Um, okay.
That's okay. Yeah, Yeah, yeah. Of course.
All right. So first big
birthday dating Kylie.
You got anything special planned?
No. Nah, you know, you know Kylie,
she likes to keep things low key.
Yeah, man. That's what
we, were all just friends.
But you're the boyfriend now.
We got bigger responsibilities.
No, no, man.
She doesn't care about things like this.
It's fine.
Yeah. Yeah. Okay.
Yeah, I guess I'm just used to Isha, man.
You know how she gets around
her birthdays or anniversaries?
Shit. Come to think about it.
I gotta figure out something to get her,
Um, balloons now.
Yeah. Uh, for sure. First, do
you have any, uh, beer, bro?
Do I have beer in? Call me. Oh,
Amen. No,
but seriously though, you
guys are good, you and Kylie.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, definitely. We're great.
How, uh, how are you guys? Ah,
You know, same old, same old.
Actually, it's not true.
Things are good with us,
but Aisha's been acting real fucking
weird for like a week or so.
Really? Yeah,
she, shit, bro.
I don't know why I did that.
These are my new kick around shoes, man.
Jesus Christ. Um, anyway. Why is that?
You shit been acting so weird.
Like, she, she's just been
real skittish with me,
and Aisha just does the most random shit,
like, okay.
The other night we're
watching a movie together
and she just randomly
starts turning off the TV
and I'm looking at her like,
what the fuck are you doing?
And she just kind of
shrugs at me, you know?
And then sometimes, man,
like I, I swear she's seeing shit.
Like, she'll just be looking in a corner
and not looking at nothing.
Like she sees something there, you know?
You've been hanging with her.
Have you seen anything?
Brian, you good?
(bottle smash followed by complete silence)
Fuck Aisha. Something's going on. Brian.
I think he's going deaf or I'm
just gonna call 911. All right. Just
Relax, Don. No. Little more don't,
don't. I can hear again.
I'm okay. You're okay. What?
What the fuck, bro? Is this some sort
Of joke? I, I, I
don't know what that was,
but I'm, I'm fine now.
I'm fine, man. This is so fucked up, bro.
What the hell? Aisha, are you okay?
Oh, sorry, Kylie, what happened?
And, um, happy birthday, my dear.
Uh, I'm sorry we didn't decorate the place.
You guys kind of came early.
Thanks my dear. Yeah,
It's okay. I don't
care. But I was walking
with Aisha here talking
about some pretty serious stuff,
and she just started
sprinting away from me.
I mean, you honestly freaked me out.
What was that?
You know, I was feeling a
little bloated, thought going.
One nice little jog would help.
All right, weirdo. Okay.
I'm, um, gonna go to the bathroom.
Lamar, you okay? You're
looking a little off.
Yeah, I am a little off right now.
Uh, your boyfriend here almost gave me
a fucking heart attack, so
You did?
Yeah. I don't know what happened.
I couldn't, I couldn't hear
for like 30 seconds. Wait,
Wait. What?
Yeah. Are you okay?
Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. It's all good.
You're fine. You're good, right?
I thought you were having
a fucking brain aneurysm.
I've never been more scared, bro.
Oh, I'm so touched. You care so much.
Well, you can get over that
and go fuck yourself too.
Are you really sure you're okay?
Yeah. Yeah, I'm good.
Okay. Go to your room for a second.
Uh, Jesus, Kylie, happy birthday.
Shut up. Yeah, let's go.
Well, all I know is
y'all better just keep it
real quiet back there.
All right. I'm gonna come over here
and finish putting up the decorations or
Whatever. You
still have that fricking
thing on your wall.
It's not funny anymore, Right?
I don't know what you people
are on about, about the
Painting. It was
never even funny. It was just weird.
You know what? It's true.
What they say good art isn't appreciated
In its time. Oh my
God.
So What's up?
It's my birthday.
Uh, I'm aware.
I'm,
I'm 28.
I'm officially in my late twenties.
And you, you're, you're pretty
firmly in your early twenties.
I don't know. I, I guess his birthday has
just been making me think a lot.
What have you been thinking about, Kylie?
You're still young and
I'm just not anymore.
And that's, that's okay.
I don't, I don't give
a shit about all that.
It's just the whole date.
A bunch of people face
of your early twenties.
I'm done with it.
(gentle music)
And you might not be, and that's okay,
because lately you just,
you seemed really far away.
I guess I just wanted to, to check in.
Are you serious about this,
Kylie?
It's,
It's okay.
Let's just, let's just
go back out to the party
and I'm all in. (wind chimes)
I'm in love with you, Kylie.
I'm all in on us.
(slapping noise) Should we
go check on that? They're fine.
(music fades, replaced
by growing static noise)
(static gets louder)
You hear that? What? It's ecstatic.
I don't hear
God. Oh, Jesus. (static
gets extremely loud)
Oh,
oh, you
Guys, Come on.
Please. Just say, say something
Guys. Get outta here,
Aisha baby, please. Just calm down.
Just relax. Come on. It
took you guys long enough.
Come on. I don't know what's happening.
Come on, God. Damn it Aisha.
I don't think she can see or hear us. Mom.
It's okay. What's she doing?
Come on, please step out. You please.
I don't know.
You should wait. You should wait with her.
Fuck no. shit.
Fuck Aisha. It's okay. It's okay.
Let go. What? Cry? I'm sorry.
Sorry. I'm sorry.
I don't know what to do.
Wait. Oh, oh, shit.
She's gonna leave. No, no. What?
No, no, no, no, no, no.
No. shit. Stop.
What is she doing? What she doing?
What the, come on.
It's okay.
(raining)
Just Snap outta me.
Come on.
(engine revs)
(tires screeching)
Gonna fucking killed out.
Oh my God. Aisha,
welcome back.
Aisha.
Oh, shit.
Everything. Look, I just got you, okay.
Oh shit.
Oh my fucking God.
God damn it man. I'm sorry for scaring me.
God. Damn it.
I think we need to go to the hospital.
The shit that's been happening with you
and Brian is some fucked
up shit, like schizophrenic
paranoid, taking a double
dose of LSD type of fucked up.
So, no, we're going to the hospital
to get your brains checked out.
No, no more. I'm not doing that.
I'm good now. No, I'm good.
It was, it was probably just
stress or a momentary snap
or whatever, but it's over.
What is this rationalization?
Aisha, you are speaking gibberish. No,
Lamoine enough. I'm
not going to the hospital. A
I don't know. I think the
hospital isn't a bad idea.
No, I mean, you could have
a brain tumor or something.
Guys. Aisha, come on.
We're going to the hospital, obviously
just not tonight.
Brian. Dude, Listen,
whatever's going on in our
brains is gonna be there in the morning.
Let's just let celebrate
Kylie's birthday. Oh my. No.
About that. No, no, none of that.
But I got you an ice cream cake
and we're all going to eat it, okay?
Okay.
This is a weird night, dude.
(eery happy birthday music)
Yeah, This one's for me, my dear.
Oh, thank you, my dear.
Gotta sound like you've been married
for 50 years, my dear.
My dear.
How the heck did you remember Brian?
How the heck did I forget?
Thank you. It was so, so
special about this book.
It, uh, I read it
for a homework assignment in
high school. (Creole Song Begins)
It seriously screwed up my brain,
but it's also what made me
want to study philosophy so much.
My life changed. 'cause one
assignment in high school.
It's crazy.
Well, I am glad you like it, my dear.
Thank you. I'm, uh,
I'm gonna get me another piece of cake.
Anybody want some?
No,
Brian.
(Brian groans)
Brian, Something's happening, isn't it?
Can't move. Alright, that's it.
I'm calling 911.
We're going to the fucking
hospital right now. That's it.
That's a good idea.
(Aisha screaming; sounds
of violence and commotion)
shit, Aisha. What the fuck are you doing?
Awaken.
Interesting.
That's interesting, isn't it?
What was that?
That was Brian's memory,
His perspective. Supplicated
by your memory and Aisha's
and uh, right. What was your name again?
Fuck off.
Yeah. fuck off's memory.
Why, why, why do you
care about our memories?
They're the ones fucking
with Brian and Aisha's minds.
I still don't, why? I I still don't get it.
I'm so sorry. Do you want
me to just take a beat
so I can explain everything for you?
Would you like that? Alright, now, uh,
I need some answers from
your boy Brian here.
I'm Not giving you any
answers until you tell us exactly
What the hell is going on.
You guys ever wanna get out of here? Huh?
Do you wanna get outta those wheelchairs?
Do you want your freedom
back? People stop spouting shit
and just do whatever the
fuck I tell you to do.
Okay? All right. Brian answers please.
When you were in the
kitchen with the bottle
of beer in your hand, what did it feel
like before you dropped it?
It was, I don't
know. It's hard to describe.
I'm gonna need better than that man.
Use your big boy words.
I guess when I dropped the first bottle,
it, it just sort of happened.
Okay. What about the second time
when you smashed the bottle?
You know, when you're in an elevator
and you kind of wanna
press the button a bunch
of times it was like that.
It was just an impulse.
But then, then it became an itch
way in the back of my head.
And the itch grew until
it wasn't an itch anymore.
It was a pounding every muscle
and nerve was screaming
for me to drop that bottle.
And I tried to fight it, but
Yeah, You know,
you probed into my fucking
head, so, you know.
All right. Alright.
What about when you were
in the bedroom with Kylie?
Did you feel the same
pounding in your head?
No. No, I didn't.
And what about the figure
that you saw in the corner of that room?
Had you ever seen that before?
No. Never.
What about you, Aisha?
Many times I,
What's interesting about
those side effects, isn't it?
Yes. Temporary deafness,
hearing music when there isn't any.
That's, it's really weird.
Yes. And you know what
else tickles my curiosity?
How two different people are
experiencing the same side effect.
I mean, they're seeing
the exact same figure on
different, separate occasions.
That shouldn't be possible, should it?
Do you remember what you said to me,
what you promised me when I agreed
to join your little mind fucking operation?
I do. Yeah. Bang,
Guys. Come on. We gotta
get outta these fucking things. Kylie.
You got small hands. You should
be able to just slip right on now.
More than stop it. We're not
getting outta here until they let us out.
No, I'm not just gonna
give up just like that.
That was crazy, Brian,
which, what you went through,
like in the bedroom, the thing you saw
that was messed up.
Yeah. But, um,
everything before that.
You meant what you said, right?
Yeah. Yeah. Kylie. Of course I did.
Are you sure? Are you okay?
Yeah. Yeah. I'm great. Are you sure?
All right. Here we go. Aisha's memory.
Everyone ready? Wait. Yeah.
I don't give a fuck.
(tapping noise)
(ocean waves crashing)
(leaves blowing in wind)
(sirens)
(phone ringtone)
Aisha: Hey, Kylie. What do you mean?
I am here?
Where are you? Why are you there?
I'm at the, you know, I am at the bench.
(phone vibrating) Just, um, Kylie,
sorry. I got another call coming in.
Just, um, come to the bench. Okay.
Hello? Yes, this is she.
Okay. Okay.
Okay. And you're, um,
you're a hundred percent sure because,
because when I did the test myself.
Right. Okay.
I just don't get, I know
this is what everyone says,
but I, I don't get how it's even possible.
I've been on the pill and everyone,
and everyone I've been with has worn.
Yeah,
(ominous music)
yeah.
No, I know I have.
(ocean waves crashing)
Okay. Well, I,
(muffled) Aisha, Aisha, Aisha.
Aisha.
Aisha. Aisha. A Aisha.
Are you okay?
Yep. Sorry.
I was just,
oh my God.
It's your birthday.
Happy birthday. Beautiful.
Do you Feel in control of your life?
No.
I mean, I, I feel like we
can control small decisions.
We can control our perspectives,
but, um, the big trajectory
of our lives, I think that's fate.
But I'm Libra so of course I think that
What do you think?
Um, yeah,
honestly, I feel like I have
complete control over my
life. It's kind of the problem.
What do you mean? I mean,
I, I keep making choices
and they always end up
being the wrong choices.
And so I keep fucking up my life.
And so I would really love
it if the stars were making all
my choices and I could
blame everything on them.
(ominous music)
Do you think I'm making a
mistake by dating Brian?
What? Are you not happy with him?
I'm definitely happy with him. He's great.
But, um, sometimes I just
feel like I'm dating a little boy.
How? Um, I mean,
he hates doing the dishes.
He hates vacuuming. He's fine.
Just turning his underwear inside out
and calling it good, you know?
Yeah. I dunno. No, that's true.
But it's also incredibly sweet
and funny and passionate.
You know's. Kind of more
important, don't you think?
Um, Yeah.
Um, I know that. Oh my God.
(LOUD STATIC)
Who is that?
I,
I don't know, Kylie. I don't know.
I
(LOUD STATIC)
What the fuck,
(DISTANT STATIC)
Brian? What the fuck
is going on, dude? fucking me.
I can't hear.
He, I can't hear fucking jab.
Brian. Just breathe. Man.
Fuck. Look at me. Look at me. fuck Brian.
Should I call 911?
Okay, relax bro. Up.
Aisha, fuck, something's
going on with Brian.
I'm gonna hold on one, just breathe, man.
All right.
No, no, no. I can't hear.
(ocean waves crashing)
fuck. Is this some sort of joke?
What the hell, Aisha? Are you okay?
I'm sorry, Kylie. What
happened? Also,
Happy birthday made dear.
I'm sorry we didn't get to finish.
Put up putting up the decorations.
Uh, she guys came early.
Thanks, my dear. It's, I don't care.
I, but I was walking with
Aisha talking about some kind
of serious stuff
and she just started
sprinting away from me.
Honestly, you kind of freaked me out.
What was that?
I was, I was feeling a little bloated,
thought I'd go on a little jog. Might help.
Alright. Darn all.
Um, anyways, I, I need to use the bathroom.
(metronome, slowly quickening)
(metronome stops)
(metronome begins)
(intense music)
Brian: I'm all in.
I'm in love with
you, Kylie.
I'm all in on us.
Hey girl.
There we go. Let's get the balloon.
All right.
Alright, You uh,
gonna start blowing anytime soon.
You all right?
Yeah, I'm good. Yeah.
Why aren't you being
honest with me anymore?
What the fuck? Aisha.
Aisha,
I'm sorry. I'm sorry.
I'm so sorry. I don't know.
I don't know why I just did that.
I'm sorry.
I don't know why I did that. I'm sorry.
Just The hell man.
Look,
Look, no.
Warm, warm.
Look, you're not an easy person
to deal with. I know that.
I've always known that, but I didn't care
because you were real and you were honest.
Honest about what you wanted
and honest about how you were feeling.
But now you're still not easy
to deal with (clock ticking)
and you're also not being honest anymore.
(clock ticking slower)
So I'm gonna give you another
chance, girl. Be honest.
(clock slowing down more)
What is going on?
(fan slowing down)
Lamorne (voice slowing down):
Aisha what is... what is going on?
(time freezes)
(waves crash with hallucinatory music
Come on,
Lord.
Step out of it.
(sound of glass shattering
freezes and stretches)
Hello. Hello.
Welcome back.
(Creole Song Begins)
And what's so special about this book?
You know, I read it in high school.
I was like 15 or something.
Seriously messed up my brain.
But it's also what made me
want to study philosophy.
It's crazy. So much of
my life changed from this
one homework assignment in high school.
I am glad you like it, my dear.
I'm gonna cut myself another
piece of cake. Anybody want some?
No. Thanks
Brian.
Brian, Something's happening, isn't it? No,
I Can't fucking move. Alright,
that's it.
I'm calling 911 and we're
going to the fucking hospital.
That's it. Aisha, you okay?
Aisha? What are you, what are
you doing with that, Aisha?
No shit. What the fuck are you doing?
Get the knife. Get the
knife outta her hand. fuck.
I'm sorry, God. Damn it Isa, let it go.
Let the fucking knife go.
Nurse. Can I have you come remove
two of the subjects for me?
Thank you,
Aisha, you're pregnant.
I shall, my God. Why didn't you tell me?
Yes, Nurse, these two. Thank you.
No leave. Leave me here.
Where are you? Where are you taking this?
What's going on? Where are we go,
Aisha, don't worry.
Your pretty little heads. Okay?
I need to talk to these two
in private for a second.
(lights flickering)
I can't believe she didn't tell me
Either. One of them
Are being honest, even
before all this shit.
Okay? Brian, you tried to fight the urge
to break that bottle, right?
Yes. And when you, you know,
you couldn't move your body and,
and Aisha here was trying
to stab you in the face.
Did you try to fight that?
Of course, I,
But you failed.
Ah, I tried to fight against
Benjamin And you failed. Okay.
What about you, Aisha?
And you had that impulse
to, to empty all the shampoo
and soap into Brian's bathroom.
Did you try to resist that at all?
No. What about when you
slapped Lamoine here
or you were trying to murder Brian?
You didn't try to fight that urge?
No. Why not?
I dunno. Look,
you guys both suffered some really strange
side effects, okay?
That's just your brain trying
to calibrate with the interim.
That's, it's normal.
But what's really not
fucking normal is this figure
that you both keep seeing.
When the world was frozen,
none of it felt real.
It felt like it was all in my head.
And that was what was so scary about it.
'Cause it felt like I was going crazy.
But the figure, I never thought I
was going crazy 'cause it felt real
and it felt like someone
was really watching me.
She's right. There is
something different about it.
Okay, Paris, you can Bring
the other two back in.
Thank you. Are we
Ever getting out of here?
Honestly, I don't know,
baby, is it?
I dunno. Brian, I don't know anything.
I think we're good. Brian.
He tried to resist the interim.
He couldn't do it.
And the other one, Aisha,
she just sort of rolled with it.
So it seems like whether or
not a host is complacent,
the the interim is going to win.
Those are the results
that you wanted, right?
Yes. And what about the, the side effects?
You know that those glitches,
Our engineers have
already fixed the issues.
The interim has been updated.
I was thinking back to
when I first recruited you,
how far we've come, how close
we are to the finish line.
We missed when the job is done.
Thanks. The job's not done.
So what are next steps?
We, we could go into
Lamoine or Kylie's memory,
but I don't, I don't
think we'd find anything.
I mean, maybe we could, uh, cut them loose.
No, your memory, What?
We're going into your memory.
They have to know exactly what's going on.
Only then will we know
interim is truly infallible.
I, I don't,
I don't think I like that.
(piano plays elegant music)
Aisha Dhar, Brian Lowell
Lamorne Johnson.
Kylie Jacques
you all have questions.
Here are the answers.
Stop. Stop.
You got to find a silent
and you can say, can attorney for attorney
Seth Cole, in
and out of juvie, his entire
adolescent life been in
and out of jail the rest of his life.
Grand larceny, grand theft, auto
aggravated assault, burglary.
Seth Cole seems to have made
all the wrong choices in life.
Or maybe not. Maybe
Seth Cole grew up in one
of the worst neighborhoods in Los Angeles.
Maybe Seth Cole had parents
who cared more about heroin than him.
Maybe Seth Cole didn't
make all the wrong choices.
Maybe Seth Cole didn't have choices.
Maybe Seth Cole was powerless.
You're not a cop. No.
Are you my lawyer? No.
And who are you?
Seth Cole received a 1470 on his SAT.
Seth Cole could have gone to college.
Instead, Seth Cole
managed to circumvent some
of the best security
systems, steal from some
of the nicest homes in Hollywood.
Seth Cole likely would've evaded most
of his arrests had it not
been for the incompetence
of the people he worked with.
Seth Cole has potential.
Who in the fuck are you?
I'm someone who is very, very powerful,
but I'm someone who wants, who needs to be
far more powerful.
And I believe you Seth Cole
can help me achieve this goal.
Okay? In return,
I will give you something
you have never had
power and choice.
And here's the first
choice I will provide you.
Go to lockup, then go to jail
for six, maybe nine months,
or come with me now and accept the job.
I haven't been booked yet and
bail hasn't even been set.
I don't think you
understand how powerful. I'm
All right. What's this job?
(silence)
I can't tell you. I have to show you.
Okay, Then show me.
What is this place
I just gave you? Verbal
control. Tell her to do something.
Wait, what? I'm showing you the job.
Tell her to do something. Anything.
Okay? Um, I don't know. Say hi.
Hi. No, tell her to do something
She wouldn't normally do.
Something she wouldn't
do in front of people.
I don't know what, um, okay, hang on.
Um, hey, pick your nose now.
Jesus. Is this, what is this? Now?
Tell her to stop. Uh, yeah.
Go ahead and stop now.
No, tell her to do something bad,
something extreme.
Something she would never do.
You know what? No, that's all right.
I get the point. So that's fine. No,
You don't.
True power transcends all ethicality.
Morality, legality, true
power is all there is.
If you do not issue a command,
I will tell her to attack you.
Make your choice. What?
Okay, just fucking hang on a second.
I don't, I don't know. Um,
may make yourself throw up.
(gagging and vomiting noises)
Stop.
All right.
Look, I don't know what kind
of shit you think I'm into.
I, I didn't like that one bit.
That's a lie. You liked it quite a bit.
The power?
What? No. What is that?
What, what is this? Who,
who the hell are you That
Was in Trump?
An advice I created.
So what it, it like controls people's minds
Among other functions.
Interim can make the subject
do simple physical acts like
what you had the nurse do in there.
Interim can make the subject see
and feel things that aren't there
and interim can allow us
to peer inside the memories
of the subject to exist
within their consciousness.
And soon in rum will allow us to plant
fake memories.
Erase real ones, sow ideas,
inspirations, impulses.
There could be a future where we can twist
and shift and shape the subject personality
and mind into whoever we want them to be.
Do you understand?
Nothing like this has ever existed
in the history of the universe.
Nothing. Do you
understand Seth Cole?
Yes. So you are taking the job.
I I don't look, I still
have no fucking idea
what the job is.
Over the next year, you will
aid me in numerous trials
to bring interim through
its final testing phases.
Twilight Midnight deep night,
and then a final diagnostic
where we bring interim out
of this place into the real
world, a final test to prove
that interim is ready for the next step.
What are the next steps?
Next step is domination.
True, dark. The final phase.
Okay, look, I I don't,
I don't think I'm the
right person for this. You
Will be paid 25,000
monthly if you take the job.
Just so you know. Set.
Cole, what?
25,000 monthly?
Huh? Okay.
If I accept this job, I just want you
to promise me something.
All this mind fucking shit.
I'll do that to whoever. Okay?
For 25,000. I really don't give a fuck.
But I want you to promise me, promise
that you don't fuck with my brain.
Okay? No mind control, no interim nothing.
Deal.
That is a deal. Is that cool?
(Beethoven Music)
(keys jiggling in lock)
How do you have a key to this place?
I own a building. Which one?
Pick a number one to 55.
What? That cannot be how
you're choosing this.
This building has families, young couples,
students recently divorced.
The point of this final
diagnostic is to prove that interim
can and will work on
anyone in any situation.
So pick a number one to 55.
Okay, fine. Uh, 23.
So What's the procedure here?
I'll inject the subject
or subjects you bug every
room, then hang the painting
somewhere prominent.
What do you end up choosing?
The acrylic painting
of the penis with an eyeball.
And what they're just gonna see like a
bowl of fruit or something.
They'll see whatever
art speaks to them most.
Hey, Hey. Wait, wait, wait
a fucking second here.
What, what if they're not
sleeping or they wake up when
You need to? There's chloroform in
the bag.
Go to sleep.
It's done.
So now,
now we wait.
We need the right setting
for the final test.
What are you gonna know
when it's the right setting?
I'll know
(static growing)
What the fuck is it?
I know you did it. I know
you fucking injected me.
(STATIC BLAST)
Oh fuck.
(phone vibrates)
Hello.
Really?
Okay.
Okay. Test one.
A simple physical command
of your observation
of second party is a
go drop bottle of beer.
Lamorne: Actually, that's not
true. Things are good with us,
but I think she's been acting real fucking
weird for like a week or so.
Brian: Really? Lamorne: Yeah, she, shit.
Brian.
Seth: Okay. Test one. A success.
You want me to proceed to two A?
Well,
okay, two A then
repeated physical command
under continued observation
of second party drop beer bottle.
Lamorne: Like, okay,
the other night we're
watching a movie together
and she just randomly
starts turning off the TV
and I'm looking at her like,
what the fuck are you doing?
And she just kind of shrugs at me,
You know?
And then sometimes man, like I, I swear
She's seeing shit. Like she'll
Just be looking in a corner
And not looking at nothing.
Like she sees something there. You know,
what the fuck?
Lamorne: Are you, are you good?
Man? Brian: I can't hear anything.
Lamorne: What do you mean
you can't hear anything?
Brian: I can't hear anything.
Lamorne: Are you deaf? fuck.
Test two A is a success,
but, uh, no delayed
compliance from subject A.
So mark for later questioning.
I'm going out for a sec.
Subject A is experiencing a side effect.
After resisting interim, the subject seems
to have lost all ability to hear.
Make a note for the viewing.
Yep.
Where do you go?
Where do I go? Yeah.
Sometimes it's like you
don't even see me or hear me.
It's like your,
your mind is somewhere
totally different than your body.
I have many things on my mind.
Yeah, sure.
I don't think I trust you.
Trust me. Seth Cole,
why would you trust me?
What happened? Couldn't I couldn't hear
Like 30 seconds.
Wait, what? Are you okay?
Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine.
It's all good. Where is subject be?
Bathroom, I think
Proceed with test three B,
Right? Uh,
test three B.
Simple physical command
in isolation as we go.
Uh, What
Did we put in the bathroom?
Oh yeah. Empty all shampoo
and other bottles in shower.
Test three B is a success.
Go back to subject A. We
need to start pushing intro.
I'm officially in my late twenties
and you, you're, you're pretty
firmly in your early twenties.
What test were you thinking here?
Seven. A Complex communicative
and emotional command.
All right, I guess we're
skipping some steps.
Keep listening to subject aid for an in.
Switch me back to the bathroom. Feed
subject B is glitching.
Make a note.
He Just felt
Really Far away.
Are you serious about this
Or
Tightly?
You love this woman? Tell her let's
Just go back out to the party.
I'm all in.
I'm in love with you, Kylie.
I'm all in on us.
Seven A is a success.
Good. Subject B is side effects of past
proceed with six B and 10 B,
Right? 10 B already.
Yes.
And rum is ready. I can feel it True.
Dark is coming.
Okay.
Hey girl.
And you want me to do
six B before 10 B? Right?
Okay, fine. Proceeding with test six B.
Extreme physical act
against known third party.
I don't you be honest with anymore.
What the fuck? ISA
And six B is a success.
Hey. Hey,
Where are you?
Hey, where
Are you?
Hey, this is your final test.
Where in the fuck are you?
Do you hear that? What?
It's like, it's like static.
I don't hear anything. Brian.
What the hell is oh,
Oh God.
Oh Jesus. Oh, wait, wait. What's wrong? Oh.
All right. Test 10 B
complex hallucinatory and sensory event.
Here we go.
Activate simulation. 2, 3, 7, 2.
(clock ticking normally)
So I'm gonna give you another chance.
Be honest, what's going on?
What's wrong?
Come on. What is, what is this? Okay
guys, get out here.
Something's wrong with Aisha.
10 B is a success.
No, we don't know that yet.
It could be a glitch.
She has to be experiencing
the exact simulation.
We won't know for sure what
the subject is actually
experiencing until we take
her to the viewing room.
Yeah. Uhhuh, right? My bad.
Do you know why I hired you? What?
You have no qualifications.
You are a convicted criminal.
And I pay you very well.
Plenty of people would kill for this job.
So why did I hire you?
You hired me because I had no choice.
I'd just been arrested.
So it was either take the
job or go back to jail.
And even if I did the jail
time, I was always destined
to be a convict or going back
to work in shitty minimum
wage jobs or going back to crime.
So I had no choice and
that's why you hired me.
You knew you'd have total control over me.
And because you're fucking
addicted to power and control.
That is correct. Seth Cole,
what part of that makes you
think you are irreplaceable?
Shit. Stop.
(running footsteps, shouting)
Should we, uh, end the simulation?
No.
What? Uh, what, what are you
Doing?
Wait, what the fuck are you doing
Testing in from in the face of death?
What? No. Hold on, hold on, hold on.
Don't, don't do this.
(engine screaming)
(sound of a sprinkler)
You stopped the simulation.
Yep. What you were doing.
That wasn't part of the job.
The job Seth Cole is to
do whatever I tell you.
Yeah. Well, you should
probably fire me then.
This isn't that kind of job.
(car approaching)
You know, I've, uh,
I've been thinking a lot
about what you've said to me.
When we first met
after I got arrested, you said that maybe
I didn't make all the wrong
choices in life, that maybe
I didn't have choices,
that I was powerless.
And it's funny too, you know,
because that's exactly
how I used to look at it.
Victim of circumstance, you
know, dealt a bad hand, right?
All that shit I stole and I fought
and I got high because
I didn't have a choice.
But god damn, that is the
biggest load of bullshit
because everyone has a choice.
You know, even if it's
choosing between death
or continuing your shitty existence.
But what we're doing with
interim, it's erasing choice.
It is murdering free will something
that humans have had since
the dawn of fucking time.
Don't you, don't you think that's evil?
Okay?
(Creole Music Begins)
Are you a fucking pussy?
Seth Colt.
What? Morality is a game
for children and pussies.
Proceed with nine a and 11 a.
Ask them the final questions.
I call the nurses in, they'll
take care of the rest,
Right?
Okay. Um, I need you guys
to answer the, the
following questions with it.
Yes or no? Do you,
to the best of your abilities
understand what interim is.
Yes. Yes. Yeah. Yes.
And knowing what you
now know about interim,
do you think you could resist its commands?
Its its power.
No. No.
Brian, you think you can resist interim?
No. Right?
Do you know what Aristotle
thought about free will Seth,
unlike Leni, who thought
free will was a fantasy
that all the choices someone makes in life
are predetermined at birth.
Aristotle believed we simply have the power
to do or not to do.
And it's those choices
that make us who we are.
I always like the Aristotle side
more, but who knows?
Maybe there is no free will.
Maybe we're born and, and there's a path.
And no matter what we do,
we can't leave that path.
I, I don't know.
But what I do know is that
I don't want that person
out there determining the
path my life takes to you.
Fuck, no,
(intense music)
Kylie. I, um,
I think, I think let's not, Okay.
You guys wanna get outta those wheelchairs,
Please. God.
Here
Free everyone else.
Fuck you. Come on.
Let's get the shit outta here.
Stop. You
can't tell me what to do anymore.
I quit.
What are you gonna do?
Shoot me.
No, Seth Cole.
They are,
Sorry. P
that's not how this story's ending.
You're not in control and
you have no fucking power.
I destroyed Interim. You colossal ass.
You destroyed Interim. Yes, I fucking did.
And you're never getting a true dark.
(sound of static)
I hear, I hear it too.
I'm sorry, Seth Cole.
But you are mistaken.
You may have destroyed what
you think is in interim,
but Intrum is not some metal cube.
What are you talking about?
I am Intrum. (static rises)
Oh fuck
Shoot him.
(GUNSHOT)
No, please Don't. Don't
(GUNSHOT)
Motherfucker.
Okay. Okay. Please, please
don't, look, I I won't quit.
Okay? You can, you can do
whatever you want. Just
Stop. The Person: I'm afraid there
is no room for you here anymore.
Now that we have reached True Dark,
but I appreciate all your hard work,
Cole. It will
be remembered.
Resist it, Brian.
I know you can do it. fucking resist it.
Shoot him in the leg. I want
to perform one last test.
Shoot him. Shoot him now.
Brian, don't you do it.
I know you're more...
(GUNSHOT)
when did you do it?
When did you inject me?
The night you agreed to the job.
What are you doing? The
Person: Do you want to kill me?
Seth Cole?
Yes. Then take the gun.
Let's see who is more powerful.
Don't shoot,
I
Now blow your brains out.
(sound of sprinklers)
Let us begin. True dark.
(ominous, melancholic music begins)
Oh God.
Yeah.
Hey, what's up dude? Oh
Yeah. How much shit we drink
last night?
Oh, honestly, I don't
remember drinking anything,
which probably means a fuck ton.
Oh, what the hell happened to my face? Oh
Wow.
Oh, I've never been blackout before.
This is kind of crazy.
I have been, but it did not feel like this.
What did we like, like wash
a bunch of mushrooms down
with Absinthe
Maybe, honestly. Good birthday, my dear?
Oh. Yeah. From,
from what I can remember I guess.
Well, shit, it's 1130 guys.
I gotta get home, shower
and head to the gym.
It's 1130.
Oh, I should go
thank you.
Yeah, I think I'm gonna
head out too Brian. Yeah.
Yeah. But thanks for what
I'm sure was a epic birthday.
Yeah, of course my dear.
You guys, see you soon. Yes.
Thanks so much for having us.
Absolutely. Catch you later. Mm-Hmm.
Oh, Kylie. Um.
Thanks my dear.
See you guys.
(Creole Song Begins)