The Listeners (2024) s01e02 Episode Script

1
So this is a place where we listen,
share our experiences and
try and gain a deeper understanding
of what this is together.
And can I?
How How long have you
been running this group?
Around five years now.
What do you? What do you mean?
CLAIRE SCOFFS
You're telling me that
you've all been hearing
this sound for five years?
LAUGHTER
No. No? No! No, no.
Good. OK.
I'm glad to hear that.
Seema, how long have
you been listening?
About three months.
This is my third meeting.
Tom and Emily?
Same. About three months.
This is just the second
time we've been here.
So we're newbies, too, aren't we?
Yeah.
And, Damien?
I've been I've been hearing
it for just over a year
and coming here for a few months.
And, Teresa?
Listening and coming
here for over three years.
And, Jo?
Five years.
And I've been listening
for decades now.
All right.
CLAIRE SCOFFS
During that time,
people come and go.
We try to
When they leave, is it because
they stopped hearing it?
No, they move or
You know, what we did here
just didn't quite work for them.
Well, what are you doing about it?
Just, erm, living with it?
Accepting it?
No! No, no. No, I agree with you.
This is madness. I want it gone.
Yeah. Me too.
It's a point of discussion
but, yes, I live with the hum,
and I accept it very much.
But that's insane.
No, I'm sorry.
OMAR CHUCKLES
It is, right? It's an entirely
It's OK. ..natural
reaction, Claire. Yeah.
I think we all felt the
same at the beginning.
And now you all feel like it's
..something you value?
No. No, no, no.
I mean, not Not all.
Omar's a bit more advanced
than the rest of us, I think.
I think for me, you know,
in my experience,
fighting the hum wasn't
good for my mental health.
I was I was in a bad place
before I found this group.
Is that something
that you can relate to, Kyle?
Uh, yeah.
Well, w-what is it?
Do you know?
Again, that's something we
discuss in these meetings. Mm-hm.
I don't want to bombard
you and start
No, please, bombard me.
I want to I want to be bombarded.
I I can't sleep. I'm.
I'm having nightmares
and nosebleeds, and
And everybody says that it's the
menopause or it's anxiety or stress.
Yeah, and we all have
quite differing ideas
of what's behind all of this but
..you know, the most
important thing is to
To take things slowly.
And for you and Kyle -
and all of us, really - to remember
that the function of this group is,
is about support and finding
a way to, at first,
cope with the sound,
and then live with it,
and then maybe even find
what the hum might do for you.
And there are a few things
that we do insist upon, though.
We We eat together and we
clean up and we wash up together,
and we breathe together,
and we all listen together.
I know it sounds
It's a bit of a strange ask,
but Omar and I have actually
THEY LAUGH
Yeah.
You know, the breathing
You know, breathing
together is actually,
it's one of the things
that can really help
if the sound is becoming
a little bit overwhelming.
And exhale
Two, three, four.
EXHALING
And inhale
INHALING
Two, three, four.
And exhale
EXHALING
And inhale
Two, three, four.
And exhale
Bye. Nice to meet you.
Thank you. Bye.
Thank you so much. OK. OK.
Well, that was, uh
Yeah. The hum.
Seema seemed OK, though.
Though she clearly thinks
the rest of them lost the plot.
Oh, my God. That couple I know.
I wanted to be, like,
"Blink twice if you need rescuing."
SHE CHUCKLES
I don't know.
I'm not sure that lentil soup
and yoga breathing
is going to get me through this.
Is it mad to think that
it might actually help, though?
DISTANT GOODBYES
No.
How are you getting home?
Thanks, everyone.
Bye-bye, now. Bye-bye.
Claire
..think you'll go again?
Maybe, yeah.
Good.
Yeah.
Other people
OK, look. Erm, other people
OK. Other people Look
OK, look. There are other people
Other people can hear the thing
that I'm hearing in our area.
And I went to a meeting.
MUSIC PLAYING
What?
Yeah.
Well, how'd you find them?
It's, like, an online thing.
Like a You know, one of
the local Facebook page things.
Yeah, it was bizarre.
But, yeah, there are
seven other people,
and they all hear it, and they've
all had physical reactions, so
Yeah.
What, so, it's a kind
of support group?
Yeah. Yeah.
So you just lied to us?
No, I didn't lie to you, I just
Look, I was just
I just wanted to see what it
was for myself. Is that OK?
Well, so, are you going to go again?
I mean, does it seem
like it's going to help?
I don't know, maybe.
I mean, it was not not-weird.
I don't think the guy who
spent years in the Marines
is going to be my new best friend.
But, look, it was nice to be
in a room with other people
who were having
the same experience as me.
How do you know you're, like,
hearing the same thing?
Do they know what it is?
Maybe, maybe.
What, they did and
they didn't tell you?
No, there was just a lot
to talk about. Well, like, what?
Like Why do I feel like
I'm being interrogated?
Well, I'm just trying
to figure it out.
Yeah, well, you weren't there.
I would love to be there.
OK. I I'm I'm not
I-I-I'm serious.
Are you going to go back?
I don't know. Maybe
I mean, probably!
Great. So, we'll come with you.
Yeah, no, I'm I'm good.
No. We can do this
as a family, right?
Sometimes, when I lie in bed,
I try to picture it.
Like, what it might be.
Sometimes it comes from this
..sort of
..dark, sinister house
at the edge of town.
FAINT BIRDSONG
But when I find it
LOW HUM
..it's like this
..small little thing
that you never expect.
And I
I smash it.
Mm.
Has it struck you this
might be an outlet of sorts?
A manifestation?
You mentioned your anxiety
about Ashley moving away.
That's a big change.
Yeah, sure,
but the sound feels real.
Psychosomatic phenomenon are real.
It's just the sources in our brains.
Now, I understand that, but
..if the sound is just in my
brain, then it isn't real.
Yes, it is.
The brain is
extremely powerful, Claire.
No, but other people hear it.
OK, let's talk about that.
Can you tell me a little bit
more about this group?
What kind of support
are they offering you?
SCHOOL BELL RINGS
Bye, Miss. Bye.
Bye. Bye.
I have a favour to ask you.
Oh, yeah?
Why are you reading that?
Why am I reading a book?
No, just It's Bataille.
It's a It is a strong choice.
I mean, I was really
into Bataille at uni.
It worked for my, erm,
"I'm a very serious
and cultured person" vibe.
THEY CHUCKLE
There's expression
Ecstatic and intolerable.
That's what Bataille called it.
Yeah, I remember.
Transcendence only possible
in the shattering of
the body's physical limits.
To be pushed to
the brink of one's being.
Mm.
So
..this favour, it's a little tricky,
but it's about the next meeting.
Paul and Ashley want to come.
So OK. That'sweird.
Yeah, I know.
I tried to dissuade them,
but he won't
I thought you weren't even sure
that you were going to come back.
Yeah, but it'll just be this once.
And how do you know they
won't want to keep coming?
Because I'm not going
to let that happen.
But you're letting this happen.
Kyle, I'm really sorry, but
How are you going
to make it up to me?
Kyle
FAINT CHATTER
Anyway, I just want
to say "thank you" again
for letting me bring them today.
Of course, they're most welcome.
But, you know, they're just trying
to get things back to normal.
That's all.
FAINT CHATTER
I must say, I find it beautiful.
You coming here,
supporting Claire like this.
Thanks. It felt important.
FAINT LAUGHTER
This is a one-off, though, Paul.
This space is for people
who hear what we hear.
If could ask you to
be a guest, to listen.
Allow others this time to share.
FAINT LAUGHTER
My God!
MUFFLED APPLAUSE
Wow!
WHOOPING, CHEERING
That's good!
No, that was
That was very shaky.
I'm not even warmed up.
Jo, that's incredible!
How could you do that, Omar?
Oh, she taught me, actually.
Yes. Yes.
SHE CHUCKLES
Three billion lightning strikes
a year, all over the world.
That's around
44 every single second.
Building up a huge electromagnetic
charge in the atmosphere
..which resonates
and creates actual sound.
This generates a very, very low hum,
at a frequency of 7.83Hz.
Sorry, just to
Just to clarify.
So you're saying that lightning
causes the atmosphere to hum?
It's called the Schumann resonance.
We've known about it
since the early '50s.
Schumann resonance? Yes.
And it's, like, humming
all the time, or?
Exactly.
AIR WHOOSHING
The space inside of this bottle
has a specific resonant frequency
which we all can hear.
Yes? Yes. Yes.
Lightning, in the Earth's case,
is like the breath over the bottle.
Constant global electromagnetic
resonances in the ionosphere
I'm sorry. This is a sound
You suggest we're hearing
a hum from the sky?
Do you know that every single animal
on this planet that migrates
uses the Schumann resonance?
Whales
Butterflies. Insects, birds.
And it affects us, too.
The vast majority of people
cannot hear sounds
below the frequency of 20Hz
..but we believe that there are a
select few of us who actually can.
And how do you know about this?
He was the director of
the School of Geosciences
at the University
of Rosyth for 18 years.
Look, no offence, mate,
but we've lived
in this neighbourhood
for going on 20 years now
and we've never heard
anything like this.
This noise is something new.
It's obviously some kind
of industrial noise pollution.
I used to think that at first,
too, Tom, but it just isn't.
For those of us
who've experienced this
No, no. I'm sorry. It just
literally has no scientific merit.
We need to reach out to the
council about this. Yeah. Yeah.
We need to start applying
some pressure.
The council?
They're not going to be interested.
This is bigger. Much bigger.
"Bigger"?
What do you mean, "Bigger"?
Just look online. The
HE SCOFFS
The hum's affecting people all over,
but there's only a few
of us that are clued in.
Damien. Right? No, no.
Havana syndrome.
Right? Those diplomats,
that hotel in Cuba.
OK. No, they need to hear this, Jo.
I worked in military
intelligence for nine years. OK?
This This suppression,
the government, this
This could even be deep
state for all we know.
"Deep state"?
Can someone tell me
what he's doing here?
Cos he can't even hear
the hum, can he?
This is rubbish.
Government-controlled,
weaponised lightning, is it?
No, I didn't say that.
If it is natural It's not!
..then why wouldn't we have
heard it all our lives?
Why is it that, suddenly,
we can all hear this now?
This is a very good question.
And this is what we
should be discussing here.
Or it's just something
really simple.
Like a few months ago,
they put up new wind turbines
along Hackett Bridge.
And how do you explain
my experience, then?
What triggered it for me?
Or for Jo or Omar, or for any of us?
Yeah. See, I don't know.
But I'm sure that there is
a perfectly logical reason.
Let's just
Let's just take five, OK?
I'll put on the kettle.
I know everyone's coming at
this from different places.
We work quite hard to make sure
everyone feels heard, and
But I think it just comes
across like, you know,
we're right, and No.
..we're just waiting for
everyone to agree with us.
But, you know, the problem with
being a bit further ahead is that,
of course, we've explored
so many of the ideas
that are new to others.
The things that that
Tom and Seema are suggesting
are just provably not true. So
But, you know, everyone's
on their own journey.
SHE CHUCKLES LIGHTLY
Do you know Do you know
why Kyle didn't come today?
I'm sorry, what?
Kyle.
The boy from the last meeting,
I Yeah, yeah.
You came together.
You knew each other.
Kyle Francis?
Uh, well, I just
I just wanted to make sure
we didn't scare him away.
Talking to him on the
phone at midnight.
Going to random
people's homes together.
Ash, look, we're just trying
to get to the bottom of this.
Yeah, yeah. This, Mum?
This is the bottom.
You've hit it, OK?
All right, all right. Fair.
That's fair.
Look, Ash, this is extremely
sensitive, and I
I need to be able to
trust you with this.
I'm obviously not going
to say anything, but
Come on.
Everything all right?
I'll handle it, I promise. OK?
Hey, what's going on?
I don't want to talk about it.
I just want to go.
Yeah, it's She's
You take her. I'll get a car. Fine.
Uh, I'll I'll
No, everything's fine.
I'll I'll talk to
you when you get home.
Yeah. Ashley?
FAINT BIRDSONG
CLAIRE SIGHS
LOW HUM
CLAIRE EXHALES
It can be hard for the families.
I'm impressed they came.
How are you and your husband doing?
He's fine. We're OK.
So you and Omar, you met
doing the - the humming?
The hum group.
He was my thesis supervisor.
Oh, right.
And you were Mm-hm.
We were, yeah.
He was quite the radical thinker.
Oh?
THEY CHUCKLE
And the administration
just made his life hell.
And watching him go through that,
I just thought, you know,
the academia is not for me.
Huh. That's when I started
my bodywork practice.
Right, right.
I just have to ask. You
You and Kyle do know each other.
I picked up on that, right?
Uh, yes.
Yeah, he's actually a
He's actually a student of
mine at Pirethorn Academy.
Oh, OK. Mm.
That's interesting.
Mmm.
I'm I I'd prefer that
people didn't know just bec
Oh, my God. Absolutely.
CLAIRE CHUCKLES
Yeah.
So, he just invites you
all over to lecture to you?
CLAIRE GRUNTS
I just
Omar is a very intelligent,
very sincere sort of person.
I never said he wasn't intelligent.
And can you?
Can you just let me finish?
Firstly, can you acknowledge
that there was a roomful of other
people who can hear the hum?
I have.
No, you haven't.
OK. I hereby acknowledge
After weeks and weeks of telling
me that it was in my head.
I never said that.
Oh, piss off! Excuse me!
SHE SIGHS
I'm just
I feel so muchbetter.
So much You feel
less crazy being around
Mr "Deep State is out
to get you" guy?
Damien? Yeah.
OK. I admit, he was crazy.
Crazy?
And what about that, erm,
piece of gammon
Tom? Yeah.
I mean, I was worrying that he was
coming across as the sensible one.
Mm-hm. And by sensible,
you mean completely dismissive
of everyone else's ideas.
Oh, yeah.
I mean, to be fair, I don't
think he's going to be back.
He had another massive row
in the break. Jesus.
CLAIRE SIGHS HEAVILY
But, look, on the whole
On the whole,
I think in situations like this,
where people
are so obviously vulnerable,
I just get worried that
What, you think I'm vulnerable?
..people like
Yeah. I mean, you said so yourself.
That's the only reason why I came.
Uh-huh. Well, no.
Technically, you invited yourself.
KEYS CLACK
..cloudy afternoon
on the whole.
Rain is expected by
the early evening.
Feeling cooler than yesterday
and breezy with highs of 22 Celsius.
RADIO JINGLE PLAYS
SCHOOL BELL RINGS
I hope you baked it.
Mm, I did.
Who did? I found it.
You baked it yourself?
You found it on the street?
Mm-hm, mm-hm. I did.
Actually, someone brought it in
for you. Thank you very much!
Oh, that's so kind. Alley-oop!
LAUGHTER DROWNS OUT WORDS
PA SYSTEM CHIMES
Can Miss Kutty please
report to the Headteacher's office?
So aggressive.
What have you done now?
I've got no idea.
Save some of the
cake for me, will you?
Mm!
Unlikely.
Hi, Claire.
Thanks for joining us. Erm
This is Kyle's mother, Mrs Francis.
I think you've met.
We've met, yes. Hi.
What the hell are you
doing with my son?
Wait, erm Well, your son
came to me a few weeks ago
because he had been
distracted in class and
And not sleeping, so I asked him
Erm, take a seat.
Yeah. Yes. Sorry. Yeah.
You've been seeing my son
outside of class, haven't you?
Going on drives with you
in your car to some group.
When the whole time
that he's telling me
that he's out with his mates.
Is this true, Claire?
Oh.
Erm
It's, erm
The thing is, we both hear
this, uh, sound Oh, God.
Claire, it's a yes or no question.
Yes, I know. It's, erm
Yes, we have gone on a few drives,
erm, outside of class, yes.
How many?
Maybe six or seven.
Right.
CLAIRE SIGHS
Have you ever taken my
son back to your house?
No! I can assure you,
Mrs Francis No, Mum
Do I look assured to you?
Mum, I told you.
You didn't tell me a goddamn thing
until I forced it out of you!
It's only thanks to your daughter
MRS FRANCIS SNORTS
Give me the phone.
Unlock it.
"Stop"
"Stop seeing my mum.
"Like, what the fuck?
"We're going through
"We're going
through the same thing.
"She could get fired,
for fuck's sake."
I have the greatest respect
for you as a teacher, Claire,
but I'm afraid I have no option
than to open a formal review.
There'll be
an investigating officer.
She'll want to speak with you,
Kyle, all the staff, students,
and a decision will be reached as
to whether or not to allow you back.
FAINT HEARTBEATS
It wasn't You've been seeing
a student outside of school?! Sh!
What the fuck?
I know.
What were you thinking?
Look, he came to me
with a problem, and I
And he's a student,
so I just
I just
I wanted to help him.
But he can hear what
I hear, and it's
It's only ever been about that.
It's not specific to him.
It's a really fucking
romantic story, Claire.
Oh, come on, Paul! Really, really
Please.
Have Have you got
feelings for him?
CLAIRE LAUGHS HOPELESSLY
Don't you fucking laugh at me.
No. No.
Fucking hell.
I should have been honest with you.
No, you shouldn't have done it.
You shouldn't have done any of it.
LOW HUM
Hey.
I messaged Kyle
because I was scared for you.
Yeah, I know.
And now people are saying
all kinds of shit.
Least you can hide out here.
I'm the one who has to
face them all tomorrow.
I-I'm sorry for
fucking everything up.
I I didn't mean to.
No. Come here,
come here. Come
Hey, come here.
No.
You didn't fuck anything up.
Have a good day. Thanks.
Miss Kutty seems to have texted
you first. Is that correct?
Yeah, but I did it.
Like, I asked for her phone
number and she said, "No,"
so I took her phone
and texted myself from it.
That That's actually
what happened.
What happened on these drives?
Erm, nothing.
We were just trying to take
measurements, you know,
like readings of decibel levels.
We were We were trying to find
out what this sound is, that's all.
But why so clandestine?
The late night calls,
secluded locations.
Yeah, it wasn't like It
There was nothing.
It wasn't like that. It w
On Thursday, the
Thursday the 18th at 11:45pm,
Miss Kutty called you.
Is that correct?
Yeah.
Did you ask him No. ..not to
tell anyone what you were doing?
No. No, of course I didn't. No.
Your texts indicate you
gave him rules to follow.
Yes. When and how you
should contact each other.
Because I was trying
to set boundaries.
Look, nothing happened.
And I don't know what
more to tell you.
Nothing happened.
You're not in trouble, Kyle.
LOW HUM
Hi.
What are you doing?
It was so intense.
CLAIRE SIGHS
They were asking me
all sorts of questions.
No, stop. Stop talking.
You can't tell me these things.
You can't call me.
I I tried to explain,
but they didn't care.
I know, I understand
I really want to see you.
No. OK?
Absolutely not.
You can't see me. Please.
You can't call me.
Please, just stop it. All right?
Please.
I'm sorry.
I have to go.
LINE BEEPS
PA SYSTEM JINGLE
Good afternoon.
For those on prom committee,
we are meeting at 8:45am tomorrow
morning in the common room.
The meeting is no
longer in the library.
An email has also been sent.
But please pass the message
on to committee members.
Good morning.
MARCHING DRUMS ON VIDEO
So, did you know?
Well, what did you hear exactly?
Oh, I just heard some stuff.
MUTTERING, LAUGHTER
LOW HUM
CUTLERY GRATING,
LOW HUM INTENSIFIES
PHONE LINE RINGS
Hello, it's Claire.
Leave a message after the beep.
Call me if you hear anything.
Of course.
FRONT DOOR OPENS
FRONT DOOR SLAMS
BIRDSONG
SHE HUMS
VIBRATING
SHE CONTINUES HUMMING
Claire?
Hey, love.
Sorry, I can't really hear you.
Are you OK?
What did Paul say?
Mm.
I'll tell him when he gets home.
CLAIRE SIGHS
He'll be pissed off that I'm here.
But
Because Kyle's here?
Or maybe because he comes here?
Or us? Or what? What?
I don't know, probably both.
Right.
He has been trying to help.
JO HESITATES
But What, by isolating you
and cutting you off from
any kind of support network?
No I know you love him
more than anything,
but for you to be the mother,
and the wife, that you want to be,
you really need to find
your way back to yourself.
Because you're really
You have the chance to
make some real progress.
Yeah. Yeah.
I mean, during the investigation,
I was so scared and
And I guess now,
now that it's happened,
now that I've been sacked
Yeah. I mean, fuck it.
What else have I got to lose?
Oh, you actually have
a lot to lose, Claire.
I mean, the chance toto
..find the truth.
It's OK.
It's OK.
I know.
Erm, yeah.
Yeah. I will.
Tune in to yourself.
Let the outside melt away.
Try to listen.
Focus inside.
Deep within.
Hear the blood circulating
inside of your body.
The hum is there.
LOW HUM
Inside the deepest part of you.
LOW HUM
The very middle of you.
Find it.
LOW HUM
What do you hear?
My breath. Yes.
Mm-hm.
My back cracking.
When I breathe in,
there's a little whistle in my nose.
Probably get that checked out.
SOFT CHUCKLING
OK.
My mouth.
My tongue inside my mouth.
My saliva.
Swallowing.
My heart.
LOW GROANING
Try to travel deeper
inside of your body.
LOW DRONE
Can we listen to our bodies?
Listen to the other
bodies in the space.
LOW HUM
That was lovely, everyone.
HE GROANS
Well done.
You can open your eyes now.
Come back.
So
..I hope that
..some of you
..are beginning to process
that the hum is not your enemy.
It's not a curse, or a weapon,
or a problem to solve.
MUSIC PLAYS ON RADIO
What if it is a gift?
A profound gift
that only the luckiest few of us
have the fortune to hear.
RADIO TURNS OFF
PHONE VIBRATING
I'm so sorry. Sorry.
Sorry about last night.
No, I I shouldn't have called.
Have you, erm
Have you heard yet?
Mm-hm.
Fuck.
Yeah.
I feel terrible.
No, don't.
Stop.
Paul and Ashley don't even know yet.
I suppose being here is, erm
I'm assuming that your mum
doesn't know that you're here.
HE CHUCKLES
Are you kidding? She'd crucify me.
That, just now, that listening
..being in it, not fighting it
..felt really fucking good.
It's like most things -
you only really get
out what you put in.
Sometimes I wonder, you know,
if more people used to hear it.
Like different cultures,
throughout time.
It's like the world has
gotten louder but we
..I think,
have forgotten how to listen.
SHE GULPS
Ha. Ha-ha!
Oh!
DOORBELL RINGS
Is that your husband?
KNOCKING AT DOOR
Yeah. Hold on.
I'll just go see what he wants.
KNOCKING AT DOOR
Hey.
What's going on? What are you doing?
I've come to take you home, Claire.
Well, you don't come and collect me.
I'm not a child.
I'll come home when I'm ready.
No.
No? What do you mean, no?
No. I mean, "No."
SHE SIGHS
I wanted to tell you in person.
I wasn't going to
You have to choose to
come home to your family now.
What are you talking about?
Is he in there?
Come on!
This is fucking insane.
Why are you here, Claire?
Because I needed some support, Paul.
From him? I
From these people?
From these fucking strangers?
They're not strangers.
What about us?
What about your family?
Look, I'm sorry
that you are hurting.
You don't have to apologise
for my feelings, Claire.
On the front of the house
where your daughter lives,
someone has spray-painted
the word "Paedo"!
And you're here with
this fucking kid.
Have you any idea how that looks?
Hi.
Claire?
We're just having a conversation.
I'm trying to have
a conversation with my wife.
Doesn't feel like a conversation.
Could you just give us a second?
It sounds like you're
shouting at her. OK
Erm I think
she'd like you to leave.
Will you just fuck off?
Fuck off from my own doorway?
Claire, get your shoes,
get your jacket - we're going.
OK, you need to stop now. OK?
Is this about him? Stop
Is this about him?
It doesn't fucking matter!
It fucking matters!
How can you not see
that it fucking matters?
Paul, don't.
Take your hands away.
Take your fucking hands off me.
OK, so I think you should just go.
OK? Just go.
It didn't have to be like this.
Get the fuck out of here.
You're not welcome here.
You hear me?
You're not fucking welcome!
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You OK?
Come on.
It's OK.
Will you have to move?
Yeah, I don't know.
I need to get the fuck
out of here, though.
America?
I'd settle for Birmingham.
VIBRATING
You have one new message.
ANSWERPHONE BEEPS
Hey. It's me.
Erm, where are you?
I've been texting you.
Listen, everything's fine,
but I'm not going to
be home tonight, so
Yeah, can you call me
when you get this?
Mum?
Love you.
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