Playing Gracie Darling (2025) s01e03 Episode Script

1
[eerie ambient music plays]
[birds twittering]
[people chattering]
[Zarah] Time for your session,
Joni.
We're gonna do
something else today.
Are you okay with that, Joni?
I thought we might try something
a little bit different.
I've been doing some reading
on how seances work.
Could you show me
how you did it?
Do you think it's safe?
I think so.
Okay.
First, we have to, um
invite a spirit.
Close your eyes.
[mutters indistinctly]
Okay.
Now we ask a question.
My name is Zarah, with a Z.
What's your name?
Hi, Levi.
[Joni breathing shakily]
Levi, can you play a game
with us?
Okay.
Now
I wonder
will Levi still be able
to move the glass?
How will we know
what he's trying to tell us?
[switches camcorder on]
Shall we continue?
Okay.
Are you still there, Levi?
Okay.
Is there something
you'd like to ask?
Levi
where is Gracie?
[glass sliding]
[sliding stops]
[Zarah] Okay.
Okay.
[camcorder whirrs]
[camcorder whirring]
[glass sliding
on video recording]
[Zarah] What do you see, Joni?
Does it make any sense?
Huh.
[eerie rhythmic music plays]
[music fades out]
[Pattie] Have you slept?
No, not really.
Bob said there was some
excitement during the night.
That's an understatement.
- I slept like a baby.
- [Joni] Oh.
[tap running]
Well, I'm dying to hear
Mina's version of events.
I'm sure you'll tell it better.
Well, you're coming with me to
the Darlings, and then I think
you and me should sit down
and have a bit of a chat.
[sarcastically] Great.
I love our chats.
You know sarcasm is the lowest--
Lowest form of humour.
Yeah, I know.
[whispering] Lulu wet the bed.
Oh, did she? I can do those.
No, I've got
I said I've got it.
Okay.
Hey, babe. Are you all right?
Did you have a bad night
last night?
I had a bad dream.
Can you tell me about it?
There was something scary.
In the forest.
We're gonna go home really soon.
Okay? I promise.
[kisses]
[kissing repeatedly]
[unsettling music plays]
Why do I have to do this?
Well
think about it as part of the
consequences from last night.
[scoffs]
Punitive justice is bullshit.
I don't even know James Darling.
He's just some random old man.
He's not random. Okay?
He meant a lot, growing up.
- To you.
- To the town, Mina.
He helped a lot of people,
through the church,
getting jobs
- Then you do it.
- [curtly] Oh, yep!
You need to learn to care
for your community, Mina.
The world doesn't revolve
around you.
I do care.
But this is not my community.
- You need to stop pushing me--
- What?!
Mina, I am so close
to losing it right now.
Fine!
But I'm only doing it
this one time.
And I'm not putting in
any expression.
[narration playing on TV]
[Moira] Dad?
[speaking loudly] Joni's here.
And she brought
her daughter Mina.
To read to you.
[TV continues playing]
Dad, I said it's Joni with--
Oh, don't shout, Moira.
I heard you the first time.
He's been reading this
together with Frankie.
Dad, you enjoyed this.
[gruffly] Yes, yes, yes!
[switches TV off]
Um
[reads in deadpan voice]
"The trickling water
"had made a pool,
deep and beautiful.
"And delicate ferns
had crept tenderly
"to fringe its edge.
"The black swan built
among the grass-like reeds.
[reading with expression]
"The wild duck
"made frequent dark zigzag lines
against the sky.
"From the trees, the bell-bird,
the coach-whip, the tewinga
"filled the air with sound,
if not with music.
[fading out]
"And the black snake,
"the brown snake, the whip,
"the diamond,
and the death adder
"glided gently among
the fallen leaves and grasses,
"and held themselves
"in cheerful readiness
for intruders."
[lawnmower powers down]
[Gracie] I swear, Peter only
mows the grass when you're here.
[Young Joni] What? Why?
[Gracie]
Duh, he's showing off for you.
[Young Joni] Don't be stupid.
He's hot, yeah?
Ew, he's your cousin.
[laughs] Well, you admit it,
he's hot, though.
He always looks so sad.
Tell me how his parents died, again?
[loudly] Why don't you
ask him yourself?
Gracie!
Ask me what?
Go on, ask him.
He doesn't mind.
[Peter] What don't I mind?
Nothing.
Just don't listen
to her teasing.
[footsteps stomping]
[Young Ruth] You took my locket!
Piss off, Ruth.
Mum gave it to me.
- Liar!
- [Gracie] Don't touch me!
- Give it back!
- [Gracie] Ow! What the fuck?!
- [girls grunting]
- [Peter] Stop. Stop!
Ruth! Stop.
Just stop.
I'm fucking bleeding, bitch!
[James] Hey!
- She started it.
- [Gracie] No, I didn't.
[James]
You better go home, Joni.
All right, what happened?
Well?
[Ruth] She keeps
stealing my locket.
[unsettling music plays]
[girls inhaling sharply]
[James] Do your penance.
[both] Forgive me, Lord,
for my sins.
Forgive the sins of my soul
and the sins of my body.
Our secret
and our whispering sins,
the sins we have done
to please ourselves,
and the sins we have done
to please others.
Sins
I hate you.
Forgive me, Lord, for my sins
I'm gonna fucking kill you.
[both continue praying]
[Ruth]
Forgive the sins of my soul
and the sins of my body.
Our secret
and our whispering sins,
the sins we have done
to please ourselves,
and the sins we have done
to please others
- [praying continues]
- [unsettling music swells]
[music fades out]
[handbrake cranks]
Thank you.
[people laughing and chattering
faintly]
[Lulu] Grandpa,
what are you doing?
[Bob] All aboard!
[Lulu giggles]
[Lulu giggles]
Hey!
[Joni] What's going on?
Bob's taking us for gelati.
Via the scenic route.
Nan said I can get
a double-scoop.
[Joni] Double?!
Was it torture, darling?
It was fine.
He was actually quite nice.
Well, well, well.
The mysteries of dementia.
Though some people say
it makes people a little more
Careful, Pattie!
tolerable.
You coming for gelati?
Well
Mina's supposed to be
feeling the consequences.
Quality mother-daughter time, eh?
Well, I won't get in the way
of your plans.
Go on.
[Pattie] You sit back there
and hold on tight.
[Bob] That's the way.
[Joni] I'm gonna go out for
a bit, so I'll see you later.
- Good girl, Lu. Hold on.
- [Bob] Okay, off we go.
[Mina] Bye, Mum.
[Pattie] Here we go,
this is fun.
[Lulu laughs]
[Joni] Can you tell me again
what happened in the forest?
[Raffy] I already told you.
So the killer - Levi -
he got out of the game
and he possessed your friends.
You'd believe it if you saw it.
I believe you saw something
truly frightening out there.
I do.
But there's a perfectly rational
explanation.
Explain it to me, then.
You can't, can you?
Because it wasn't just me.
Mina saw it as well.
And what about Caitlyn
and Sienna and the others,
who were actually playing?
Talk to them, you'll see.
I'd like to. I will.
I really want to understand
what's going on.
[sighs deeply]
Bye.
Um, anything new?
No.
I promised her that I would
speak with the other kids,
and I would like to do that.
- Can you set that up for me?
- That's gonna be a tough sell.
I mean, you know who
Caitlyn's mum is, right?
Well lucky you're not afraid
of the Samanthas anymore.
Hm.
Okay.
- Send me some contacts?
- Yeah.
[engine idles]
[switches engine off]
- [doorbell chimes]
- [dogs yap]
Fussies! Fussies!
Stay there. Back, back, back!
Hi, Samantha. Um
- Joni!
- Yes.
- So nice to see you.
- Yeah.
Um, Jay has actually asked if I
could just come and speak with
the other kids after the party
last night.
Yeah, Caity said they were
holding a vigil. Bless.
How's she feeling today?
Bit of over-excitement,
that's all.
[whispering]
Caitlyn doesn't do drugs.
Could I have a quick word
with her?
Aw, hon,
I don't know if that would be
appropriate?
Oh.
I don't mean to be rude, but
Caity's still upset
since her dad left.
I don't want anyone
upsetting her more.
I didn't know that. I'm sorry.
It wasn't another woman, if
that's what you were thinking.
- [whispering] Pokies.
- Ah.
Hey, um, are you Lewis?
I'm not talking
to any more cops.
I'm not a cop. Actually,
I'm a friend of Frankie's.
Have you ever had
a hallucination before?
I mean, yeah.
Once on liquid acid
I saw a dragon in some moss,
pixies, normal shit, you know.
But what happened at the party,
that was different.
Really? What happened?
Well, we were all playing -
just for laughs, you know.
Then Caitlyn started,
like, fitting.
I thought she was faking
at first, but
then it hit me too.
You think there's a chance
it was just a bad trip?
Maybe. But half the girls
didn't take anything, so
Any of you had anything
traumatic happen
in your lives recently?
Like a car accident or a loss?
More traumatic than
our best friend going missing
and a burnt fucking skeleton
showing up?
[uneasy music plays]
- [Mina] Hey.
- Hey.
I'm grounded.
Yeah, my mum's more into
guilt tripping.
You know, like, "Do you feel
like you've let yourself down?"
Could be worse, I guess.
She's also making me read
to the elderly.
James Darling?
- Yeah.
- Frankie used to do that.
He thought she was Gracie
half the time. So creepy.
I don't know,
kind of sweet. And sad.
Your mum's been talking to
Caitlyn and the others.
She's freaking everyone out.
Sorry.
You know they were doing
a seance
the night Gracie disappeared?
What?
But Mum doesn't
believe in that stuff.
Caitlyn's mum told her
they had to lock your mum up
in a lunatic asylum.
God, what is Caitlyn's problem?
I mean, I told her
it was bullshit, but
[Mina scoffs]
[uneasy music plays]
[officer over radio]
You there, Jay?
Yeah, go ahead.
Ruth Darling's been spotted
out on the old fire trail.
Can you check she's okay?
Uh yeah, copy that.
[insects chirping, buzzing]
Hello?
[uneasy music plays]
[wood clunking]
- Hey.
- [Ruth gasps]
Christ!
- [Jay] Sorry.
- You scared me.
[Ruth] You gonna help?
Mum was so good.
She never gave up hope
Gracie was alive.
Never stopped looking,
campaigning,
telling anyone who'd listen.
You're a good mum.
- There's still every chance.
- Mum prayed every day.
Wore the carpet bare.
Begging God
to bring Gracie home.
Every day for 27 years.
Her body was less than 5 kays
away the whole time.
What kind of a God?
[eerie music plays]
[music fades out]
Can we play Truth or Dare?
Dare!
Truth.
Is it true that
Mum and Gracie
used to do seances?
Oh, I see.
That's what everyone's saying.
It was a tragedy
what happened to Gracie.
A horrible crime.
There's rumours that they
were messing with spirits.
You believe in that stuff, right?
I believe there are
forces out there,
things that we
don't totally understand.
So you do?
Spirits didn't take Gracie away.
No. A man did that.
How do you know
it was a man?
Statistics.
So did mum go to
an insane asylum?
That's an unkind way
of putting it.
Who told you that?
Caitlyn's mum told Caitlyn,
and then she told Raffy.
[inhales]
Your mother was traumatised.
I tried to help her,
but, in this town
gossip, the reminders
She didn't stand a chance.
[chopping]
[footsteps approaching]
- Ah, your first one was--
- Hello.
Um, where is Pattie?
Out the back.
[sighs] Have you eaten?
- [Lulu and Mina] Yeah.
- Okay.
Well, dishwasher and teeth -
now.
Teeth now, please.
Excuse me.
Hey, how are you feeling?
What?
I know you don't now, but
did you used to believe in
all that stuff?
Like spirits and
No. I mean
[sighs]
Don't believe everything
that Pattie says, okay?
You remember what
her cure for warts was.
[laughs]
Yeah - put a sixpence
on a crossroad at midnight.
Yeah, exactly.
Bedtime for Lulu.
Bedtime, please.
Okay.
Good girl. Thank you.
Go brush your teeth
and I'll see you in a second.
- Okay, Mummy.
- I love you. [kisses]
[tape whirring]
[Sgt. Murchison on tape]
The night Gracie disappeared
you ran from the shack,
leaving the girls there?
Yeah. I I left them there.
[Sgt. Murchison]
And then where did you go?
To Anita's.
[Sgt. Murchison]
And she'll verify that?
[sternly] Speak up.
Yeah, she'll verify that.
[indistinct
police radio chatter]
Joni.
[phones ringing]
I need to tell you something.
Um
[yelling, commotion]
[officer 1] Come on, Billy.
Stop fucking around.
Joni. Jay.
Please, please, please tell them
I didn't do anything to Gracie.
Please.
Please, please, please, please!
Fuck off! Get the fuck off--!
[officer 2] Keep moving.
Keep moving.
[Billy groaning in distance]
Please!
Please! Jay!
[gasps softly]
[uneasy music swells]
[huffs]
[Jay] So, what are the kids
saying happened?
They think during the game
that they released
an evil spirit -
Gracie's killer -
who possessed them all
and showed them visions
of Gracie's death.
And the professional opinion?
Well, I mean, most of them
have recent trauma, right?
Deaths, parental breakups.
Which makes sense
on an individual level,
but it also
makes them vulnerable
for a thing called
mass sociogenic illness.
Right, okay. [chuckles]
So, what's that
in layman's terms?
Um have you ever heard
of Girlstown?
So Girlstown was
a boarding school in Mexico.
Hundreds of girls start showing
signs of "possession", right?
You've got, uh,
pain in their legs, paralysis,
visions of dead babies.
They send in a doctor,
but there's nothing
medically wrong with them.
They send in a psychiatrist
who does some digging,
and of course
they've all got recent trauma.
Uh, broken homes, abuse.
Uh and right at this time,
they're all playing with seances
and black magic, yeah?
So the psych basically puts
all the pieces together
and realises it's a case
of MSI.
You know, it's basically
maladaptive empathy.
You know, we start to mirror
somebody else's
physical experience, right?
- Right.
- You yawn,
which makes me yawn.
I say that I'm sick, and all
of a sudden you feel unwell.
Yeah, all right.
So, profile fits.
What's the treatment?
I mean, cases like this
usually resolve on their own
when the heat comes out of it.
- Watch and wait?
- Mmm.
My professional recommendation
is we keep the kids separated,
no communication,
basically until Frankie
turns up.
["Two Weeks" by Grizzly Bear
plays over stereo]
Save up ♪
[Jay chuckles] Wow.
Misspent youth.
Ha. Probably better spent
than mine.
Anita swept me along
on all of her mad crazes.
Really? Really? Like what?
Mushroom growing.
Um composting toilets.
[Joni laughs]
Tantric sex.
Ooh, I had no idea you were
into that sort of thing!
I wasn't.
Well, maybe the sex.
- You?
- Uh, just normal sex for me.
[both laugh]
I meant relationships.
Um
well, yeah, I may have made
some bad choices.
Mina's dad turned out to have
a real nasty streak, actually.
And Lulu's dad just
he just wasn't really interested
in being a dad.
Harsh.
I never would have imagined
that you and Anita
would have ended up together.
Well, we haven't ended up
together, have we?
[Joni] Right.
Who did you imagine
I'd end up with?
I dunno.
I mean, it
it's not like you ever
would have gone out with me.
Wouldn't I have?
Um, it's not like
you've ever asked me.
God, no, how stupid
would that have been?
Yeah. So stupid.
Um
- I didn't mean--
- [Anita] Hello.
- Hi, Anita.
- Joni.
[clears throat] Jay.
Heard you were doing
the rounds today.
Yeah, I-I thought
I'd better check in and--
Yeah, look, I'm sure
you're doing your own research,
but if you need
any additional resources
I can point you
in the right direction.
[coughing] YouTube.
We're bringing a civil suit
against the Darlings.
Symptoms living
close to turbines -
dizziness, vertigo,
hallucinations
Sound familiar?
Yeah. That's really interesting.
I'll have to look it up.
Maybe you can
send me some links.
Yes. Yeah, I will.
I can show you some now
if you like
No, no, no. You know what?
I should actually
get back to the kids.
So I'm gonna go.
Bye, Anita.
This town is sick.
I was just thinking how little
this town has changed.
[Ruth] Fuck!
You all right, Ruth?
[Ruth] Huh? Yeah.
Can't find my damn keys.
[train rattling]
I'll give you a lift.
Find them in the morning.
It's left up here.
Uh yep, I know the way
to your place, Ruth.
What are you doing here?
Well
I just thought if I
you know, if I could help you
and your mum,
then I I should.
You know, you and Gracie
were always
And I never thought Frankie
would turn out like that.
Like, um like what?
Wild.
As soon as she turned 13,
she turned into
a little monster.
Mmm.
Teenagers.
Who'd have 'em?
Sorry.
They say teenage girls are
their mother's punishments.
- [door knob rattling]
- [Ruth] Fuckin' thing.
Ta.
[tense music plays]
[handbrake cranks]
[James praying indistinctly]
- [praying continues]
- [tense music builds]
Forgive the sins that I remember
and the sins we have forgotten--
Mr. Darling?
- [James continues praying]
- [tense music swells]
Mr. Darling? James?
sins that I can remember and--
It's Joni.
Is it enough?
- Oh, no [mutters]
- Okay.
Let's get you back up
and inside the house, okay?
Are you okay? Can you stand?
- [vehicle approaching]
- Uh
[car door closes]
[footsteps approaching]
Grandpa?
[mutters]
- Joni?
- Hi. I
I gave Ruth a ride home
and I saw that he was
- I'm so sorry.
- [stammering] I just
- Come on. You're all right.
- It's all right, it's okay.
[Peter] Come on, Grandad,
let's get you home.
Watch your step.
[Joni] Oh, you're right.
I've got it. You're all good.
[uneasy music plays]
Yes, yes, all right.
[James mutters]
- Ohh
- In you go.
[James groans]
I'm not a child, you know!
I know you're not a ch--
Can you get in the back
with him?
- Yeah.
- There it is.
Yeah, yeah, sure.
You right?
It's all right. It's all right.
[car door closes]
[James] I'm all right.
I'm all right.
- See you tomorrow.
- [Moira] Come on.
- [James] Don't worry about it.
- [Moira] Get you into bed.
[door closes]
All good?
[sighs] Yeah.
Thank you, Joni.
It's fine. It's not a problem.
So, you gonna stay around
for the funeral?
The funeral? The the funeral.
Yes. Of course.
[sighs]
Moira's been having me
digitise all these old photos.
Ah.
There's a bunch of you in there.
- Really?
- I scanned 'em all.
You should have 'em.
Oh, no, you should keep them.
They're yours.
I'd love you to have 'em.
Oh
Yeah, okay. Sure. Thanks.
- I'll run you up and back.
- Yeah. Perfect.
[engine starts up]
Welcome.
So
Here they are.
- Are you sure?
- Yeah.
Yeah, no,
I want you to have 'em.
Thanks.
Drink?
Um
Sure.
Whiskey okay?
Mm-hm.
Take a seat.
So what was he doing -
your grandfather -
in the shed, do you think?
["For Emma" by Bon Iver
plays softly over stereo]
Penance.
[Joni exclaims softly]
We used to have to kneel
on chicken grits.
- Are you serious?
- Yep.
It's a family tradition.
[Joni groans]
[glasses clink]
Mmm.
[Joni chuckles]
[Joni] Ah
Hmm. That was probably Ruth.
God, they used to fight.
I remember.
Gracie was just so
fearless.
No matter what punishment
they doled out, just
just bounced off her.
Yeah, why not?
Why not indeed,
at this point?
[pours drink]
How come you
never moved away?
I thought about it.
Someone has to
look after the farm.
Mmm.
And you -
who who looks after you?
This okay?
Is this you and me
doing our penance?
Yeah. Yeah, maybe.
[Joni moans]
[moaning]
[song fades out]
[soft unsettling music plays]
[unsettling music swells]
[distorted soundscape]
- [screams]
- [unsettling music escalates]
- [gasps]
- [music, soundscape cease]
[pants softly]
[breathing shakily]
[cattle lowing]
[Peter] Morning.
You want to stay for breakfast?
Uh, I'd better get
back to the kids.
Okay.
[exhales]
[groans softly]
[vehicle approaching]
[uneasy music builds]
[uneasy music swells]
[music fades]
[mysterious ambient music plays]