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CAYOM YEAR 6 - PART I - MOVIE SUBMISSION

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Endless Animation’s

                                   GATEWAYS

Studio: Endless Entertainment (through the Endless Animation division)

Genre: Animation/Fantasy/Adventure/Dramedy

Director: Pete Docter

Producers: Josh Cooley, Sebastian Peters and Rebecca Sugar (Chris McKay (executive) and Meg LeFauve (executive))

Writers: Pete Docter, Meg LeFauve and Josh Cooley

Composer: Michael Giannochio

 

 

Cast:

- McKenna Grace as Bailee

- Donald Glover as Levi

- Awkwafina as Magi

- Keanu Reeves as Brutus

- Christy Carlson Romano as Eeliab

- Jason Ritter as Finbar Frink 

- Jermaine Clement as Fido

- Kimiko Glenn as Suma

- Kelsey Grammar as Paul the Magnificent Charismatic Intelligent Leader of the Human Rebellion aka Paul

- Keith David as Cirque

- Whoopi Goldberg as Mrs. Fairweather

- Dee Bradley Baker as the sounds of Stripes

- Hugh Jackman as Stripes

- Christina Hendricks as Francesca

- Dan Castellanella as Ernest 

- Jack McBrayer as Tipo

- Brooklyn Prince as Marcy 

- Elizabeth Debincki as Alpha

 

Release Date: December 16th, Y6

Theater Count: 4,087

Format: 2D (2.39:1), 3D (2.39:1), and Dolby Cinema (2.39:1)

Budget: $190 million
MPAA Rating: PG for thematic elements, peril and rude humor

Running Time: 110 minutes
Animation: Done in house by Endless Animation with stop motion sequences done by Aardman, as Bones and South Park Studios are being used for additional animation sequences. Worldmeander is also used in the film.

 

Special thanks to @cookie

 

 

Plot:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ExW0NZZ7D3PZI_ADdy8EhUppDexyPzfFcXoLH1xPht0

Edited by YourMother the Edgelord
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IN THE AEROPLANE OVER THE SEA

 

Studio: New Journey Pictures Classics

Director: Bill Pohlad

Genre: Biopic/Music

Release Date: November 11th, Y6

Theater Count: 1,978

MPAA Rating: R for Language, Sexual Content, and Disturbing Images & Themes

Runtime: 2 hr 6 min

Production Budget: $26 Million

 

Major Cast:

 

Ross Lynch as Jeff Mangum

Haley Joel Osment as Robert Scheider

Rory Culkin as Julian Koster

Will Poulter as Jeremy Barnes

J. Michael Finley as Scott Spillane

and Joey King as Anne Frank

 

Abstract:

 

An independent songwriter is inspired to create one of the underground music scene's most influential albums after reading The Diary of Anne Frank and allowing his obsession with its writer to spiral out of control. Inspired by true events.

 

Spoiler

 

Amsterdam, Germany. August 4th, 1944. We watch a young girl’s pen write words into a diary. We cut from an over-the-shoulder shot to a shot of the girl in the room—unmistakably, this girl is Anne Frank (Joey King). Suddenly, she looks up from her diary in concern as thunderous stomps are heard in the floors below.

 

We cut to the floor below as Nazis storm into the room where the bookshelf is. They hit Miep Gies, the secretary who had hid the people in the “Secret Annex”, and they shove her out of the way. They move the bookshelf out of the way of the secret staircase passageway and storm up the stairs.

 

We cut to the secret apartment as people inside begin to panic. Anne Frank, wide-eyed, hides her diary in a drawer and runs to her family. They hold each other and embrace the inevitable. The Nazis storm into the room, grab the people one by one, and drag them down the stairs of the building. They walk them out into the street, a street punctuated by ironic daylight, and they shove them into a large truck. A look of terror manifests on Anne Frank’s face as the Nazis close the door of the truck.

 

Cut to black.

 

****

 

Ruston, Louisiana. 1994. We cut to a copy of The Diary of Anne Frank as it sits on the shelf of a small-town bookstore. Cut to the front door as a young man with medium-length brown hair and a large sweater—Jeff Mangum (Ross Lynch)—enters the bookstore. The owners and workers greet him by his first name. He peruses through the store, hunching his back and keeping his hands in his pockets as he walks. We watch his middle and pointer fingers as he walks them along a bookshelf, until he stops and the stares at the on-display copy of The Diary of Anne Frank. Wide-eyed, he stares at the book, picks up the book with both of his hands, and examines the front and back cover of the book. He hurries to the cashier, who is intrigued by Jeff’s selection.

 

Cashier: Have you ever read this before?

Jeff: No.

Cashier: Well, you totally should. It’s one of those books everyone should read. Incredibly important book.

Jeff: Yeah… Yes, that’s… I’ll be reading it, yes…

 

We cut to Jeff as he arrives his apartment. He sits down and examines the cover of The Diary of Anne Frank, hesitating before he flips to its first page. He blushes as he reads Anne Frank’s words—we can already see that he is greatly affected by the book.

 

To emphasize the passing of time, we cut to other items inside the apartment. A clock on the wall. Instruments and amps. A shelf of books. We cut to the book as it’s flipped to its last page, and we slowly tilt up to Jeff’s face as he stares down, bewildered, at the book. Tears fall from his eyes, and he begins to cry.

 

We cut to him crying himself to sleep during the nighttime. He is clutching the sheets and crying into his pillow.

 

We cut to a dream in which Jeff runs after the truck that is driving Anne Frank and her folks down the barren city road. Anne Frank stares out of the truck’s backdoor window as Jeff desperately runs toward the truck. We see that he reaches for the handle of the door, and he almost grabs it, but, alas, he’s just out of reach. The truck speeds up and leaves Jeff in the dust as Jeff falls to his knees and buries his hands in his face. A ringing cell phone enters the soundscape.

 

We cut to a slightly high-angle shot of Jeff rising up from his bed. One Year Later. He picks up the ringing cell phone on his nightstand and answers the call. The caller is Robert Schneider (Haley Joel Osment), Jeff’s best/childhood friend as well as someone who had immigrated to Ruston, Louisiana from South Africa at a young age.

 

Jeff: This is Jeff.

Robert: Of course it is, that’s why I called.

Jeff: Oh. Hey, Robert.

Robert: What’s up, Jeff? Your voice is scratchy.

Jeff: I… I’m just waking up, I… I had a dream where I tried to save Anne Frank…

Robert: …Again? Wow.

Jeff: Yeah.

Robert: Didn’t you read that book a year ago? And you’re still having dreams about that? Damn.

Jeff: Yeah.

Robert: I mean, I totally get it, dude. It’s tragic, what happened to her.

Jeff: Yeah.

Robert: …Yeah, I was just calling about On Avery Island.

Jeff: …Avery Island?

Robert: Your album, remember? You’re coming to Denver in a few weeks to record it.

Jeff: Right… Wait… What? We’re recording it? 

Robert: F**k yeah. I’d be producing it even if we weren’t already friends. This project—Neutral Milk Hotel—I’m telling you, it’s going places.

 

Jeff glances over at his instruments and amps.

 

Jeff: What should I bring?

Robert: It’s your album, dude. You want it, you bring it.

 

****

 

We cut to an outdoor diner. Jeff Mangum is having lunch with fellow Ruston musician Julain Koster (Rory Culkin). As they eat the food, Jeff tells Julian about how he’s going to record his album in Denver with Robert Schneider. Julian congratulates Jeff and comments on how lucky Jeff is to be a part of the music collective Elephant 6—to be a founder, no less. According to Julian, Jeff has the advantage of not having to deal with all the “stupid industry executives who don’t have a g** d*** clue what goes into making great music”. Julian wishes Jeff good luck with the recording.

 

We cut to a creative travel montage in which Jeff goes to the airport, gets on his plane, and flies from Ruston, Louisiana to Denver, Colorado. We cut to the door of the recording studio as Robert opens it and lets in Jeff, who is carrying with him more instruments and equipment than one should be carrying at a time.

 

Inside the recording studio, Jeff and Robert lay out the plan for recording the album. Jeff will play the parts for the guitar, drums, vocals, bells, and keyboards, while Robert will play the parts for the home organs and fuzz bass (as well as arrange parts for the horned instruments). They will both play parts for the air organ and xylophone. 

 

Jeff goes inside of the recording studio with his acoustic guitar as Robert stands behind the glass. As Robert listens with his hand over his chin, Jeff sheepishly sings his part for the song “Where You’ll Find Me Now”. We don’t see him perform the entire thing, but I’ve provided the whole thing below. Listen to it—you’ll get a feel for Jeff’s style.

[song]

 

We cut to Jeff and Robert as they stand near the computers and listen to the ending portion of the song. Robert tells Jeff that he’s really happy with how Beatlesque the song manages to sound—the Beatles are Robert’s favorirte. Jeff mumbles to himself that the guitar part needs to have more distortion. Robert asks Jeff what he had said, and Jeff reiterates that the guitar needs to be more distorted.

 

 

Robert: You want your listeners to hear the chords, Jeff.

Jeff: They’ll still hear them.

Robert: I mean, yeah, but they won’t understand them.

Jeff: Robert. I want the distortion.

Robert: (groans) …Fine.

 

We watch as he plugs the electric guitar into an amp and the turns the gain up—way up. We watch as Jeff plays the electric guitar part and Robert records it. We cut back to the computer as they assess the new sound, and Robert asks Jeff if he’s happy.Hr =

 

Jeff: More.

Robert: More?

Jeff: More.

Robert: Jeff, it’ll be borderline indiscernible.

Jeff: I am a borderline indiscernible individual.

Robert stares blankly at Jeff.

Jeff: I will not get across what I’m feeling to the listener if I do not have the distortion.

 

Robert sighs, and he relents. We get more quick cuts of Jeff playing the music, and they assess the new cut. Robert asks Jeff if he’s happy… Jeff takes a long enough time to answer that it casts uncertainty, but he finally says yes. Robert playfully jabs that he probably would’ve thrown his chair through the booth window if Jeff had asked for any more.

 

****

 

We cut to Jeff in his Denver apartment at night. He reads from a book, shuts it, and turns off the lamp. We then fade to another dream, where Jeff is standing in a square somewhere in Eastern Europe, a long time ago in the past, and he sees a musician playing the accordion for tips. He looks out over a stone bridge and watches saltwater ripple against the grey-brick canal. He glances to his right, and he sees a young girl with brown hair staring down at the same canal. Jeff walks close to her, and we see that the girl is Anne Frank. Jeff asks Anne why she’s there, and Anne grabs him by the hand, asking him to follow her. The song “In The Aeroplane Over The Sea” begins, and we are greeted by a dreamlike musical sequence in which Jeff and Anne spend the day (as well as the night) with each other in the Eastern European city. The sequence ends with them laying down on a hill watching fireworks, and Anne morphing into a ball of flame and shooting up into the sky where she explodes extravagantly as a firework would. After this, we cut to black as Jeff jolts up from the bed and turns on his lamp—his eyes glimmering with inspiration—and he grabs a notebook and a pen and begins to write down lyrics down on the page.

[song]

 

We cut to the final recording session for On Avery Island. Jeff and Robert welcome various guest musicians who are carrying Indonesian instruments. One of the musicians asks Jeff if he is okay—he seems a little out of it. Jeff tells the musician that he’s just lost in thought. Jeff stares down and ruminates as the musician walks past him into the studio.

 

 

We cut to Jeff and Robert as they assess the album in its compiled state. Robert praises their work; it’s definitely something different than anything else in the underground music scene, according to him.

 

Jeff: It’s no magnum opus, though.

Robert: (shrugs) Well. Debut albums are almost never the magnum opus of a band. Unless you’re Pearl Jam. Or The Cars. But this is a helluva debut, Jeff, don’t beat yourself up.

Jeff: Robert… I… I have… I have this idea…

Robert: Oh, no… Don’t tell me…

 

Jeff steps back and explains his idea for the next Neutral Milk Hotel album to a reluctant Robert. He emotes wildly with his hands, showing more excitement than we’ve seen thus far, telling Robert that the album would essentially be a concept album about Anne Frank.

 

Robert: What’s with you and Anne Frank, man? You sure you don’t need help or something?

Jeff: Bob, I swear to you, she is inside here (pokes furiously at top of head), and she is inside here (pokes furiously at the left of his chest), and I want to write about that. I have to. There's no other way I can write a masterpiece.

Robert: Come on, man. We just finish one album, and you’re already talking about the other? We can’t just start a new project immediately after the last. Plus, you have to promote Avery Island, you have to go on tour, you have to find musicians for that tour.

Jeff: Oh, I’ve thought about the musicians. Well, I’ve thought of one of them…

Robert: Well, at least you’ve thought of one musician , I’m breathing much easier now…

 

****

Back in Ruston, Julian opens the apartment mailbox, reaches in, and grabs a beige package out of it. He goes to his apartment—posters of 90s bands are littering the wall—and he pops the cassette into a small player. He begins to listen to an acoustic guitar and Jeff’s singing, and he smiles.

 

On the plane from Denver to Ruston, Jeff is sitting alone on the plane with nobody sitting beside him. The flight attendant comes by and offers him something to eat or drink. 

Jeff: Milk.

*The flight attendant nods her head and searches for milk.*

Jeff: You know, I'm a musician...

Flight Attendant: Oh, really? What kind of music?

Jeff: It's kind of hard to explain. It's... alternative.

*The flight attendant nods her head.*

Jeff: Jeff Mangum. That's my name. You should remember it; my album will be one of the best of all time.

*The flight attendant stares at Jeff for a moment.*

Flight Attendant: Well, here's your milk.

*She gives him the milk and pushes the cart forward.*

 

****

 

When Jeff arrives in Ruston, he meets up with Julian, and they discuss Jeff’s plans for new music—if Julian is willing to tour with Neutral Milk Hotel as the band’s bassist, he can be involved in Jeff’s ambitious plan for an album surrounding Anne Frank. Julian grins—“I thought you’d never ask, Jeff.” We Jeff asks Julian who else might be able to join the band, Julian tells him he has an idea, and he shows Jeff a letter sent from a student of DePaul University in Chicago.

 

We cut to Jeremy Barnes (Will Poulter) as he sits alone in a dorm room with abrasive sun rays shining down on him from the window. He is writing the letter that Jeff is reading, and we hear the letter as a voiceover from Jeremy—he basically talks about how he believes that he’s being led to live a different life than the one DePaul University would position him to live. Once Jeff is done reading the letter, the two decide to meet Jeremy in Chicago.

 

We see brief footage of Jeff and Julian meeting up with Jeremy outside in Chicago before cutting to a music room where Jeremy is sitting behind a drum set. Jeremy is asked by the others if he’s heard their demo tapes—he has, and he’s molded his audition based around those demo tapes. We’re given a scene in which Jeremy plays the drums, showing off a versatile amount of rhythms. Jeff, the visionary, nods his head to the beat of the drum—ever so subtly—his eyes transfixed on the drumsticks like a hawk. When Jeremy is finished, Jeff wholeheartedly welcomes him into the band.

 

We cut to the three of them discussing who the fourth member of the band should be. Jeff states that the band needs someone with an ability to play a wide range of brass instruments, and Julian tells him that he knows a guy who can fit that role, too. We cut to a pizza shop in Austin, Texas as Scott Spillane (J. Michael Finley) takes a finished pizza out of the oven. He widens his eyes when he sees Jeff and Julian walk into the shop—he’d been from Ruston before moving to Austin, and he knows he Jeff is. He can’t take a break from his work to talk to Jeff, so Jeff, determined to get Scott to join the band, decides to help Scott and the other pizza shop employees make pizzas, so that he can talk to Jeff during the work. As Jeff obsessively spreads marinara sauce onto pizza dough and Scott spins a sheet of pizza dough in the air, Jeff explains exactly why he wants a brass player in a lo-fi indie rock band. Safe to say, Scott accepts the offer.

 

****

 

Inside Jeff’s Ruston apartment, he is writing more songs in his journal when he checks his watch and decides that he needs to go to sleep. He lies down on his bed and stairs up at the ceiling for a moment. Then someone knocks on the bedroom door. The person knocking invites themselves into the room—it’s Anne Frank.

 

Jeff: (blushing) Hey, Anne.

Anne: (blushing) Hey, Jeff.

 

Anne softly closes the door behind her.

 

Anne: How are you?

Jeff: Well… heh heh… I’ve found all the band members for my music. We’re all gonna move to Julian’s grandmother’s house in a few days.

Anne: That’s good. I would’ve been a grandmother by now if I hadn’t of died.

Jeff: I’m sure of it.

Anne: …Jeff…

 

Anne takes a step towards Jeff. Jeff’s expression borders on the edge of depravity.

 

Anne: There’s something I wanted to experience when I was alive. But I was never able to experience it. I was… Too young. Too pure. Too innocent.

 

Jeff is overwhelmed by a type of personal desire that many would deem to be sickening.

 

Jeff: (speaking breathily) Oh? Really? What would that be?

 

We do not see her body, but we see her clothes dropping to the floor of the room. In a shot inspired by Blade Runner 2049, we cut to a close-up of Anne’s face as she steps closer and closer to Jeff, flashing her signature toothy smile.

 

****

 

Julian opens the door of his grandmother’s house and invites Jeff, Jeremy, and Scott inside of it. Julian tells them that this is where they will be rehearsing, and he encourages everyone to practice instruments that are out of their comfort zone—this is necessary for the tours of On Avery Island. For example, through a series of shots where the band members practice alone, we see that Jeremy learns to play the accordion, and Scott learns to play instruments he’s never played before.

We cut to Jeff sitting on a stool, slouching over a glass of alcohol. Robert sits with him and tells him that the recording process is going extremely well so far. Jeff doesn’t respond to him at first. Robert asks him if he’s alright, and Jeff tells him that “she left him”. Robert takes a moment and realizes who he’s talking about. In a friendly, tough-love sort of way, he criticizes Jeff for allowing a fictional fantasy relationship to affect him the way it has.

 

Jeff: It was real, Robert.

Robert: Jeff…

Jeff: My connection with her was real, and now she's gone away, and the music isn't gonna sound real anymore.

Robert: Jeff, please...

Jeff: (shaking his head) You would never understand.

 

Robert attempts to reason with him, but Jeff grabs his glass of alcohol and storms away from him.

 

We cut to Jeff as he sits alone in his bed, at night when the room is nearly pitch black, as his body is hunched over and his hands are clasping the sides of his head. As the song “Two Headed Boy” plays, we cut to home-footage (a super 8 camera is used for it) in which Jeff runs and plays freely as a child. One scene that’s included in this is Jeff chasing a young Robert with a wiffle ball bat. As the boys play, we see that a girl with brown hair—a girl their age—a very mysterious girl—is in the background. Watching them. Biding her time. Waiting patiently for Jeff to discover her.

The evening comes. The band convinces Scott to make a large pizza from scratch for the group to eat. Meanwhile, while everyone begins to drink alcohol, Julian sits beside Jeff and asks him how he’s doing. Jeff answers that he’s fine, but the answer seems fabricated. Julian suggests that he takes a break, but Jeff refuses to take a break—he’s recording his part for “Oh, Comely” tomorrow, after all.

 

Jeff: The whole album revolves around the song. I have to do it.

Julian: Dude. You don’t necessarily have to do it tomorrow. Give yourself some time to calm down. Rest for a moment.

Jeff stares down at the floor. Julian smirks, raises an eyebrow, and pats Jeff on the shoulder.

Julian: Tell you what. Why don’t you sleep on it? See how you feel tomorrow. 

 

****

 

We cut to Jeff alone in his dark room, lying under the covers of his bed. He stares up at the ceiling fan, which whirs and whirs and whirs. Eventually, he gives out to his weariness, and he slowly shuts his eyes.

 

The screen is black, but the sounds of crackling fire, angry shouting, and troubled voices enter the soundscape. We cut to a German concentration camp as a bewildered Jeff enters the frame. Throughout this scene, the camera does not cut—it follows Jeff with a shaky-cam style as he trudges through the camp and witnesses the horrors of the Holocaust. He is disgusted by the site of a Nazi beating a camp inmate with a baton. He is even more disgusted by the site of a starving man who reaches out to him as he lays on the ground dying. Jeff walks past him, but he looks to his left, and the camera pans left, and we see a large crowd gathered in front of a handful of people who are about to be hanged. The camera pans back to Jeff just as the lever is being pulled. Overwhelmed by it all, Jeff runs into a dark alleyway between two sheds.

 

In the alleyway, Jeff finds Anne, who is cowering in the alleyway. They embrace each other. They let go at the sound of hoarse screams. Anne tells Jeff that he needs to leave. Jeff asks Anne to come with him. Anne tearfully tells Jeff she cannot come with him. Suddenly, fire begins to consume the walls of the alleyway. Anne tells Jeff that she didn’t leave him for her own sake. She left him for his sake. Then fire consumes Anne. We cut to Jeff as he gasps in terror. Then fire spreads into the frame, and the fire latches onto Jeff. The surrounding becomes pitch black—only fire remains. The fire burns the skin and clothes off of Jeff. He does not wail in agony—he simply stares up at the black expanse above him, and the camera does the same.

 

We fade to an overhead shot of Jeff in his bed. He is wide-eyed, aghast, his hands clutching the bed-sheets tightly.

 

We cut to the next day as Jeff storms into the recording studio with his acoustic guitar. The band members prepare for the recording as Jeff sits down in a chair. He tunes his guitar, wipes tears from his eyes, and records his part for the following song in a single take.

We cut to the nighttime, sometime in the future, as Jeff walks into his apartment and locks the door. He opens the beige envelope in his hand and reads a memo that includes requests for live performances. Suddenly, someone knocks on the door.

 

Jeff: Come in.

 

Jeff’s eyes widen when he realizes that he had already locked the door. He turns toward the door and see that the individual who knocked on the door has opened the door as if it were unlocked. A look of sheer terror manifests on Jeff’s face.

 

The thing that has entered Jeff’s apartment is a grotesque, blackened, skeletal corpse.

 

Jeff: Who are you?!

The Corpse: (speaking with Anne’s voice) You should know who I am.

Jeff: No! It’s not true!

The Corpse: I came to inspire you. I left so that you could make more music after I was gone. And yet, you hold on to the memory of me.

Jeff: There’s nothing wrong with honoring you! The historians honor you!

The Corpse: And the historians move on, as history does.

Jeff: You’re lying to me! You’re a voice in my head! Get out of my head!

 

Jeff runs to his bedroom and locks the door. Someone tries to open the door of the bedroom, but to no avail. Jeff hides himself under the cover of his bed, and the camera dollies away from him… the camera continues to dolly, until the room becomes a box in the middle of the black void of the screen. Soon enough, the room disappears within the darkness.

 

****

 

Jeff holds a meeting with Robert and the other band members. He tells them about his mental breakdown—no… his spiritual breakdown—and he tells them that he can’t record under the Neutral Milk Hotel label anymore. This would obviously mean that the band ceases to make any more music. The band members, understanding while caught by surprise, gently plead with him to reconsider the decision. Jeremy tells Jeff that they could make even more great music if they wanted to. When Jeff insists that the band needs to disband, Robert walks up to him and gives him a hug.

 

Robert: We support you, Jeff. We’re sorry it had to come to this. Let us know if you ever want the band to come back together.

 

Jeff backs away from the group. He opens a door that leads him to the concrete stands of a large outdoor concert venue. He takes in his surroundings for a moment until he looks up at the top of the stands—a crowd of the band’s fans are standing at the very top, staring down at him. Jeff jogs up the steps and meets them.

 

Fan #1: Why won’t you make more music, Jeff?

 

Jeff turns towards the direction of the stage and sees the completely human Anne Frank standing on the stage, staring up at him with a stone-faced expression. Jeff turns back towards the crowd of fans.

 

Jeff: …I have nothing left to say. Why must I make more music, when I have nothing left to say?

 

We cut to Anne Frank, who flashes her signature toothy smile.

 

We cut back to the fans, who are devastated.

 

Fan #2: At least tell us… What are you saying, Jeff? What does it all mean?

 

Jeff smiles through a pained expression.

 

Jeff: My music means whatever you need it to mean.

 

The fans look down at him in sadness. In a final slow-motion shot, Jeff waves goodbye to his fans and walks down the steps of the stands towards Anne Frank to the tune of “Untitled”.

 

DISCLAIMERS:

  • One of my sources states that Jeff read The Diary of Anne Frank before recording On Avery Island, while another source states that he had read the book after recording that album. "Before" was the WikiPedia article, so I probably should've went with the "After" for more historical accuracy. But I had already started writing the "Before" storyline, and I was satisfied with it, so I kept it the way it was.

  • The plot summary does not portray the specifics of Jeff Mangum's lucid dreaming of Anne Frank. Jeff's interactions with Anne are a dramatic interpretation of the idea that Jeff interacted with the historical figure.

  • The plot summary does not 100% accurately represent the personalities and relationships of the real peoples involved. This plot summary is a loose representation of the events that 1) were known to take place, and 2) were said to take place--in other words, urban legend among fans may be in play.

  • Ross Lynch (age 23) and Joey King (age 19) were cast in their roles in order to frame their love story as a teenage romance, as well as to redirect the love relationship of the two characters away from the problematic representation of a relationship between an adult and a minor. In reality, while Jeff was in his later 20s when the album was released, Anne Frank passed away at the age of 16. Even though the relationship was never physically between the two figures, New Journey Pictures addresses this reality upfront to state that the company does not in any way support relationships between adults and minors as is suggested in the film as well as the factual accounts of the film's story.

 

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BIBLIOGRAPHY:

 

HERE IS AN EXAMPLE OF A LIVE PERFORMANCE:

Spoiler

 

 

Edited by SLAM!
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On 6/27/2019 at 7:56 PM, Reddroast said:

@Xillix can you move one piece 2 to September 2 keep the IMAX on the 21 and put hellsing there put invitation to Olympus on February 11

Invitation to Olympus can't be added to the schedule until it's done. Hellsing I'm willing to put in since you're swapping it into an IMAX reservation but you need to give the the genre and director to list at least, not gonna go dig for it.

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25 minutes ago, Xillix said:

Invitation to Olympus can't be added to the schedule until it's done. Hellsing I'm willing to put in since you're swapping it into an IMAX reservation but you need to give the the genre and director to list at least, not gonna go dig for it.

Hellsing: genre Horror/Action director Joe Cornish

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Wolves

Studio: Creatures Incorporated 

Release Date: 8/19/Y6

Genre: Nature Documentary
Director: Alistiar Fosthergil
Rating: G
Budget: $5M
Theater Count: 2,450
Runtime: 77 minutes
Narrator: Hugh Jackman

Composer: John Williams

 

Plot:

We follow the lives of American gray wolves as we center on the wolf cub dubbed Beta on his quest and journey to become a pack leader.

Edited by YourMother the Edgelord
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Irreplaceable 

Studio: Infinite Studios 

Release Date: 3/25/Y6

Genre: Concert 

Director: Bruce Hendricks

Original Song: “Goddess” by Beyoncé featuring Destiny’s Child

Rating: PG-13

Budget: $7M

Theater Count: 2,450

Format: 2D and 3D

Runtime: 98 minutes

 

Plot: Beyoncé does a concert with 3D and stuff. We also learn more about her as well as the debut of new song “Goddess” featuring her old band, Destiny’s Child. Nuff said.


 

Edited by YourMother the Edgelord
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Thawed

Studio: Infinite Studios 

Release Date: 12/21/Y6 

Genre: Horror/Thriller

Director: Jason Zada

Rating: R

Budget: $10M

Theater Count: 2,784

Format: 2D

Runtime: 100 minutes

Cast:

Unknowns

 

Plot:

Lacy and Brian are two teenagers who had a major breakup due to Brian's infedilities but the two are forced to play nice as a group of their friends are on a skiing trip forcing them to tag along. Unfortunate they're stranded in the mountains during a blizzard but the cold weather is the least of their concerns as they must face a duo of ravenous and hungry sabre toothed tiger, thawed out of the ice, who feasts on flesh and blood. Most of the teens die due to the predators but Lacy and Brian manage to kill one of the tiger using a trap as it culminates with a mountain chase against an avalanche against the tiger and their jetski, that kills Brian as he sacrifices himself to buy Lacy some time and stall the last tiger. Lacy survives and makes it back into civilization but so does the tiger...

 

Edited by YourMother the Edgelord
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Hoops 2

Studio: Infinite Studios 

Release Date: 7/22/Y6

Genre: Sports Drama

Director: Charles Stone III

Rating: PG-13 

Budget: $10M

Theater Count: 2,879

Format: 2D

Runtime: 100 minutes

Cast: 

Giannis Antetokounmpo as Troy

 

Taking place 5 years later, Troy, one of the players from the original returns to his hometown of Milwaukee after making a name for himself in the NBA, decides to give back to his community by helping a group of troubled youth with the power of basketball.

Edited by YourMother the Edgelord
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Bummer Camp

Studio: Infinite Studios 

Happy Madison Productions

Release Date: 6/30/Y6

Genre: Comedy

Director: Dennis Dugan

Composer: Rupert Gregson-Williams

Rating: PG-13 for crude material including suggestive references, language and some male rear nudity

Budget: $35M

Theater Count: 3,736

Format: 2D 

Runtime: 115 minutes

Cast: 

Adam Sandler as Warren Worcester III

Emma Fuhrmann as Maggie

Karen Barr as Aahan

JD McCracy as Rodney

Brooklyn Prince as Judy

Maya Rudolph as Cecilia

Andy Sandberg as Andrew Masteron

Kevin James as Ralphie

Chris Tucker as Smokey

Justin Prentice as Todd Masterson

Katherine Langford as Morgan

Yvette Nicole Brown as Judge Brown

 

Warren Worcester III is a pompous party animal immature millionaire who has relied on his parents’ fortune for decades and the fact he never had the chance to grow up but is unable to find long term love. Warren has also tried to get into the “Upper Crust”, a club of the most rich socialites (cameos by Keanu Reeves and Kanye West) including his rival and old bully from middle school, Andrew Masterson much to his ire as they deem Warren too immature. His best friends and fellow entourage of irresponsible millionaires, decide to go for a night of partying and debauchery doing immature stunts like letting rhinos run free at the zoo one of them owns, and ding-dong ditching Mark Ruffalo. However, after their largest escapade gets them into a drunk diving accident, and destroying an expensive landmark, the four are promptly arrested.

 

The other millionaires are able to avoid charges as they pin the blame on Warren as he was the driver responsible despite this being Warren’s third strike. Judge Brown offers a plea deal of 1,440 hours of community service or jail without bail. Warren reluctantly choose the former as he humorously has a tantrum in court. 

 

Warren is forced to work at Lake Succas Summer Camp as a counselor, where he meets his boss, Ralphie, a stout and jolly man as well as the head of the camp who may or may not have a criminal history overseas. Warren then meets his co-workers Smokey, the groundskeeper with a weed addiction and Cecilia the co-counselor whom Warren grows a crush on and tries to impress but Cecilia frankly states she doesn’t have time for manchildren.

 

On the first day of the job and the majority of the summer, Warren proves to be rather incompetent and lazy as well as struggling with the kids he’s in charge of watching in Cabin Pecker, like the 17 year old Maddie, a dour and sarcastic goth girl who has as much insults as she is on her phone, 16 year old tech whiz and nerd Aahan, 11 year old Rodney, troublemaker and prankster who becomes the thorn on Warren’s side, tormenting him by playing cruel jokes on him, and 8 year old Judy who’s bubbly and is surprisingly has slight precongition. 

 

During a canoe trip with his children, Warren then bumps into Andrew Masterson who’s running a summer camp nearby Stuffington Campedy, the more elitist and luxurious camp across the lake. The two rich man children get into a taunt off, miming explicit stuff but Andrew falls into the lake, pelted by hungry leeches. 

 

Determined to one up his rival, Warren decides to take camp more seriously, especially as he learns that through Judy that every year, Stuffington beats them every year in a massive camp competition called the Gauntlet. Warren tries various ways of helping the children in their day to day activities by being a drill sergeant like figure but fails miserably. Warren then has an idea thanks to advice from Cecilia, during a heart to heart conversation to try to relate to the children as Cecilia and John spend the whole day helping all of the campers at camp prepare themselves while John uses some of his money for something not selfish and help give the camp some additional funding (as he needs luxury) so the kids can have fun as well as slowly winning over Cecilia 

 

Warren also bonds with the children at Cabin Pecker as Warren learns that Maddie has a crush on Morgan, a girl from Stuffington and actually gives her good romantic advice to open and honest, as well as helping Aahan with his problem of being bullied by standing up for himself and rents him a bodyguard but more importantly have confidence in himself, Judy also is able to ride horses like she dream off but Rodney still refuses Warren has changed and pranks him by tying his underwear to the flagpole giving him a superwedgie. Rodney is punished but Warren checks on him as we learn that Rodney’s parents dump him here every summer which Warren sympathizes with as his parents were distant in his life as well, finally earning the respect of the troublemaker. 

 

Warren also goes on a late night walk with Cecilia, Smokey and Ralphie as they head towards a bar as they all bond singing karaoke and Warren and Cecilia share a moment. The two even have to drag home an inebriated Ralphie as Warren discovers Cecilia is also very lonely like he is and the two have some real chemistry and are about to kiss until they realize it’s almost morning.

 

As the day before the Gauntlet, the campers of Stuffington and Succas interact with one another as the kids surprisingly get along until the Stuffington kids are a bit too snobby. Romance blossoms between Maddie and Morgan who have a spark but are rudely interrupted by Todd Masterson, Andrew’s kid brother who is also interested in Morgan, taunts Maddie. 

 

Andrew and Warren also met up where Andrew taunts him but Warren ignores him, happy for once. Andrew then says his campers are pathetic which offends Warren as he grew close to his children. Andrew offers a deal as the rest of the members of the upper crust will be watching their kids and grandkids compete, if Warren’s camp wins, he’ll give him his position in the Upper Crust but if Andrew’s camp wins, Warren not only lose his fortune but he’ll tear down the poor camp. Warren vehemently refuses until Warren sees how rude the others are to his campers and agree. 

 

Cecilia learns about this deal and is ashamed of Warren’s childishness and cut ties as well as Smokey and Ralphie much to Warren’s sadness. The Gauntlet begins with an all out obstacle course, where the Stuffington kids decide to cheat to get the lead as Warren motivates the kids to act just as dirty, for the next part a canoe race which they win despite protests from Cecilia. The last part is a mountain hike and the first one to put their flag on the top wins. 

 

Due to his competitiveness with Andrew, Warren suggest they take a shortcut inside the cave. Andrew follows them and convinces Todd to help him sabotage them by causing a cave in using flares much to the horrors of Morgan who films them as the two teams race through the cave as Morgan and the rest of the campers of Stuffington try to stop them but fail as the cave in happens, Morgan goes inside just before to help them.

 

As the Succas campers try to get out, Warren is focused on winning finds an exit where a camper and him can leave but everyone else would be stuck. Cecilia chastises him for being as bad as Andrew and Judy gets injured by trying to escape as Warren realizes how much of an ass he’s been and apologizes to everyone realizing he’s not responsible and rather awful but decides to make a change. Morgan arrives much to the joy of Maddie as Morgan says they can escape if they make a hole big enough but the rocks will cause the interior to be crushed.

 

Using some firecrackers Rodney had as well as Aahan’s tech whiz and spare tools to create a makeshift bomb to blow open a hole but the cave is about to crumble. Warren and Cecilia help the kids escape but Judy is stuck forcing Warren to go back for her as he sacrifices himself to allow Judy sometime to escape. Cecilia and the other campers help save Warren who is unconscious and badly bruised, as they mourn for him Warren farts and admits that one was nasty as everyone is overjoyed he’s alive but has broken both of his legs.

 

The campers work together to get Warren down the mountain for help as Andrew’s team wins. Back on the surface, Andrew gloats and acts as a total ass which disgusts the Upper Crust who are also impressed at Warren’s character growth. Morgan also shows the Upper Crust, Andrew’s plot as Maddie contacts the police causing Andrew and Todd to be arrested and the former permanently kicked out of The Upper Crust

 

Warren declines a membership to the Upper Crust buts thanks them as Warren decides he needs time to work on himself. The next summer, it is revealed that Succas became the most popular camp as well as funded by and owned by Warren who has matured a great deal and begun dating Cecilia, Maddie and Morgan are dating, Aahan has become popular with confidence this time, Rodney still a prankster has mellowed and Judy is enjoying herself. Andrew and Todd work as janitors as part of community service and are caught in one of Rodney’s traps and gets covered in honey and swarmed by bees.

 

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Home Invasion: Part II: Abduction

Studio: Infinite Studios 

Release Date: 4/15/Y6

Genre: Action/Sci-fi/Thriller

Director: Joe Carnahan

Rating: PG-13 

Budget: $30M

Theater Count: 3,029

Format: 2D and 3D

Runtime: 110 minutes

Cast:

Jason Statham as Walter Peck

The rest are unknowns

 

Walter Peck was a former MI6 agent but retired due to an injury of losing an hand, as he is still coping with the loss of his hand but has the comfort of his family. However, one night, the same 8 feet tall aggressive reptilian like aliens searching to reproduce and dominate but take Walter Peck and abduct him after the Lewis debacle. Peck then fights his way through the UFO facing the predators and their booby-trapped ship as he attempts to get home and destroy the ship which he does and returns home and overcomes and accepts his hand loss. However the aliens now have his DNA which they have sinister notions for.

 

 

Edited by YourMother the Edgelord
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Yolanda Dreams of Yogurt

Studio: New Journey Pictures Nonfiction

Release Dates & Theater Counts:

July 1st (4 theaters)

July 8th (25 theaters)

July 15th (132 theaters)

July 22nd (525 theaters)

July 29th (1,249 theaters)

Genre: Documentary

Director: Morgan Neville

Rating: PG-13

Budget: $500K

Format: 2D

Runtime: 83 minutes

 

The director of 20 Feet from Stardom shines a spotlight on an African American woman named Yolanda who decided to start her very own frozen yogurt business. Yolanda is depicted as someone who is very passionate about frozen yogurt, who decides to start the business as a spur of the moment decision. The film chronicles the battles that Yolanda's frozen yogurt shop has with rival businesses that are nearby. Yolanda's flawed approach to business management and a finicky marketplace contribute to the unfortunate downfall of the business. Yolanda comments on the difficulties that lower class minorities face in their pursuit of the American Dream, and, through tears, she smiles and says that she has learned from her mistakes and that it was worth the effort in the end. Before the credits, it is revealed that Yolanda launched a GoFundMe campaign and was able to start a new business, and that many of her past employees had been rehired.

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Baseball Boy: The Base Thief

 

Director- Simon J Smith

Genre: Family/Animation

Release Date - September 23rd

Theatre Count: 3,100

Budget-  55M

Runtime: 85 minutes

Rating- G

 

Plot:

 

Spoiler

Baseball Boy: The Base Thief  

 

    We see the town from the first Baseball Boy movie. All is running smoothe. Teddy (Tom Holland) and his father Toby (Toby Magurie) are hard at work at their uber popular cafe/tattoo shop. Teddy is working avidly on a unicorn tattoo for a woman as she talks about an upcoming baseball game. Toby is making his world famous grilled cheese sandwich that he magically knew how to make after he got hit in the head with a baseball. Tommy (Andrew Garfield) shows up. He’s working as a delivery driver for the cafe. Toby criticizes Tommy for being too slow but Tommy preaches the importance of following the speed limit.

 

    The next day the whole town funnels into the Baseball stadium excitedly chattering about the event. Teddy warms up, practicing his swing. The crowd quickly quiets down as they realize that something is amiss. There’s no bases in the baseball diamond. The Umpire (Hailee Steinfeld) walks out and investigates sniffing the dirt. The Crowd is told not to leave as they are all considered potential suspects. Umpire calls the world famous detectives Abbott and Costello.

Abbot (Nicholas Cage) and Costello (John Mulaney) show up and begin to interview every single person in the crowd individually. Through the interviews we see that the town is very protective of their baseball stadium and is distraught that anyone would consider such a vile and evil action. Abbot and Costello seem mostly goofy and confused constantly asking “what?”,”who?” when ever they get a tidbit of potential evidence. 

 

When they get to interviewing Teddy they seem to have built up pretty good evidence that he is a potential suspect. As a result Abbot and Costello attempt to grill Teddy for information as they are convinced that he is involved. Abbott and Costello humorously step on each other's toes arguing who gets to say what in this interrogation. Teddy stand watching bewildered at both why he is being considered a suspect and what the heck Abbott and Costello are doing. Abbott and Costello Ask Teddy permission to look through his bag. Teddy thinking that he has nothing fears allows them to do so. Much to Teddy’s surprise Abbott and Costello pull all four bases out of Teddy’s bag..  Teddy is scared and confused and begins to run.

Teddy jumps out the window and lands in Tommy’s car. Tommy is oblivious to all the criminal events of the day as he has been working hard doing deliveries for the cafe. Teddy quickly explains the situation to Tommywho decides that they need to run away and leave town. Teddy is unconvinced as he knows that he is innocent and thinks that they can figure this out but Tommy convinces him otherwise. The two of them drive to the next town and attempt to blend in. They decide the best way to fit into any town is to try out for the baseball team. But ! it turns out that baseball isn’t a huge deal in this new town. Instead the big sport is water polo. There is a humerus of montage of Teddy and Tommy attempting and epically failing to try out for the water polo team .

 

Back in the baseball stadium Abbott and Costello return the bases to their proper places on the baseball diamond. As the baseball game begins Abbott and Costello arrest Toby assuming that he involved in the criminal act. Teddy’s team feels very gloomy without his presence there. They all know that Teddy was their best player and don’t believe that they stand a chance against the opponent without him.. Riley (Shameik Moore) stands up in front of the team and delivers a heartfelt motivational speech. He tells them that Teddywould want the team to go out their and try their best to beat their opponents even though they are out matched. In order to spiritually connect with Teddy they eat grilled cheese and and draw pictures. The team goes out and wins the game in extra innings. They go out and celebrate with ice cream afterwards. Riley feels uneasy though. He is worried about Teddy.

 

As time goes by Teddy and Tommy slowly get better and better at water polo. They’re still clearly the worst players in the two but they are beginning to have fun and they feel closer to one another then they ever have before. Teddy opens up an art studio in the town and teaches fun lessons their several nights a week. After a couple months or so Riley shows up at one of Teddy’s art lessons and informs him that his father has been arrested. Teddy is distraught and cancels the lessons much to the disappointment of his regular customers. Teddy and Riley go to find Tommy. Eventually they come across him practicing water polo with a couple other guys in the pool. Teddy frantically tells Tommy what has happened and Tommy steps dead in his tracks. Tommy begins crying and admits that he was the one who stole the bases. He confesses that he was ashamed that he didn’t have any talent like Teddy (who had all kinds of different talentts) or his father, who was the greatest grilled cheese cook on the entire planet. Teddy is destroyed by this revelation and goes back with Riley to attempt to explain to Abbott and Costello what happend but Tommy refuses to come along saying that he has finally found a place where he feels like he is at home. Teddy understands this and gives his brother a hug before he turns and leaves.

 

Abbot and Costello are seen practicing a very bad comedy sketch when Teddy and Riley show up. Abbot and Costello shoot up recognizing Teddy as an escaped criminal but forgetting from what case. They take turns guessing random bizarre criminal cases, none of which are the right one. Teddy and Riley explain everything that they know to a confused Abbott and Costello. Abbott and Costello accept this and let Toby go but say that they have to go find Tommy. Teddy tries to talk them out of it but Abbot and Costello explain that they are the only thing standing between this world and evil (Riley murmurs “lord help us all” ) 

 

Teddy and Riley follow Abbott and Costello to the waterpolo town where they hunt down Tommy.  Tommy understands that he should go to prison but Teddy steps up and says no. Teddy says that if Teddy and Tommy can beat Abbott and Costello at a game of water polo then Tommy will get to go free. Abbott and Costello agree to this deal  because they are secretly superstar water polo players. 

 

Abbott and Costello team gets an early lead but Teddy and Tommy are determined and get some help from Riley, Toby, and the Umpire. They channel all of their talents from, baseball, to drawing, grilled cheese making, and driving into the water polo game and manage to make an epic comeback. Abbott and Costello say that a deal is a deall and let Tommy go free and admit that their real dream is to be comedians instead of detectives. 

 

 

Previous Film gross: $14,379,540/52,035,381/97,225,081

Edited by Ethan Hunt
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All Kinds of Bull

 

Genre: Drama

Director: Glenn Ficarra and John Requa

Date: January 14th

Theatre Count: 2,900

Budget: 20M

Rating: R

Cast:

Brad Pitt

 

Plot: Based on a true story the film tells a tale of a widower (PItt) from the south in the 1880s who during some difficult times moves up to Michigan. He takes the position of a lighthouse keeper. After his first day on the job he goes to the house (which is a very nice h and rather large house) as he explores the grand house he discovers that in a room in the far end of the house he finds a sleeping bull. The man meets with the man who gave him the position and asks about the bull. He is told that he agreed to take care of any responsibilities that came along with the house and that includes the bull. At first the man does his best to keep his distance from the bull but often finds himself lonely being alone in such a large house.

 

One day when he comes home from the job, he sees the bull outside in the front yard. This is the first time that he has seen the bull outside of that one room. After observing the bull for a little while he notices that it is obviously limping. He attempts to seek around for medical attention for the bull but no one seems to want to assist an old frail bull. It is around this time that the man and the bull start to form a bond.

 

The man now begins to care for the bull in a nurturing way and he is happier than he's been in a long time. We see Him telling the bull much about his life story, about his childhood, about his wife, about the struggles he went through after his wife died.

 

One day when he comes home he finds the bull laying down in the room in which he originally found it. He doesn't pay much attention to it at first it but as the day goes on he realizes that the bull never gets up. He walks into the room and says to the bull “Do you want to go for a walk on the beach?" The bull just looks up at him. “Come on get up" no response from the bull. At this point he becomes emotionally intense screaming while a few tears trickle down his face “Come on get up! I want to for a walk on the beach!" The bull tries to get up but just collapses half way through the process. The man begins to sob violently now and sits down next to the bull.

 

He begins to work less and less hours at the lighthouse and instead dedicates his time to taking care of the bull. He spoonfeeds it, he reads the bull books and stories, ect. He received contact from some high up people upset with his lack of dedication to his work at the lighthouse. We see him building some kind of contraption. He goes into a meeting with the people upset over his lack of work. The meeting starts out fine but I'm the end it turns into screaming match and he leaves pissed off.

 

The contraption he was making is revealed to be a way for him to move the bull from the house to the beach. Using nhis contraption he takes the bull to the beach. They sit there and look out at the water silently for a long time. Finally he says “One of these days you're gonna go and I'm going to be alone again, but you're not. When you get up there I want you to find my wife, I want you to look out for her, and I want you to tell her that I'll be there soon, I've just got a few.things into do before I go... Can you do before that?" The two meet eyes. “I knew I could count in you."

 

He begins to spend his time more evenly between the lighthouse and his bull. He has another meeting with the same people in which they tell him that they are happy with his improved dedication and he tells them that bit has nothing to do with him. One day when he comes home from work he hears the bull crying. When he comes into the room he sees that bull looks to be in awful condition he sits there with the bull form the rest of the night. Crying he says “You can't be afraid to to go, I'll be fine." Later that night the bull dies. He digs a spot on the beach for the bull and buries him.

 

He spends the rest of his life working at the lighthouse and living in the same big empty house, but he doesn't feel as lonely knowing that his wife has a companion. Some years later he digs to more holes on either bsode of the bull. One for his wife (who's body isn't there but he puts some of her possessions in there ) and one for himself

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Green Arrow

Studio: Endless Entertainment 

DC Entertainment 

Genre: Superhero/Action/Thriller

Release Date: 5/27/Y6

Director: Chad Stahelski

Producer: Erica Lee

Writers: Derek Kolstad and Chris Collins

Score: Henry Jackman

Theater Count: 4,062

Budget: $80M

Format: 3D, Dolby Cinema and IMAX 2D

Rating: PG-13 for intense action sequences, language and thematic elements

Runtime: 116 minutes 

Cast:

Charlie Hunman as Oliver Queen/Green Arrow

Gemma Chan as China White

Tom Hardy as Hackett

Unknown as Taiana

 

 

Spoiler

We open in the mountains of the Himalayas as we see Oliver Queen, a narcissistic thrill seeking playboy alongside his best friend/bodyguard Hackett are scaling the mountains attempting to reach the top which they do but due to Ollie’s recklessness of attempting to perform some jumps to get their quicker causing an avalanche which the two barely escape as Hackett chastises his friend for his recklessness

 

 

Two days later, the two return to Star City where they appear at a charity auction fundraiser for the Star City Drug and Rehabilitation Center. Hackett suggest they get some rest and relaxation but Ollie wants to party amongst his return with a few socialite friends. Hackett vehemently disagrees as Ollie is a notorious drunk and shouldn’t party away his father’s fortune. Ollie snaps at him and exclaims he just wants some thrill in his life and promises not to drink and only be their for an hour. Ollie and Hackett join the party as we get a few cameos from famous celebrities such as Nicki Minaj and Elon Musk as the two have a good time until Ollie is goading into drinking and daubeachery by his peers which Hackett brings Ollie out as the two leave to the gala which they’re late for as Hackett tries to sober Ollie up. 

 

Ollie is still inebriated thoughand makes a spectacle of himself – particularly when he makes an outrageous bid for the prop bow used by archer Howard Hill in the film The Adventures of Robin Hood. Ollie takes the stage after the auction, and embarrasses himself by throwing up into a wastepaper basket.

 

The two leave, and Ollie is mortified over his behavior as he confides to Hackett he knows he was an ass, revealing that he is rather tired of life and is looking for purpose as well as him falling living up to his father. Hackett comforts him assuring his friend he’ll find his way. Ollie tells Hackett that he wishes to go with him on a business trip involving some of Queen's Industries offshore accounts. Hackett tries to talk him out of it, but Ollie insists on coming along. He cannot bear to be in the public spotlight after the fundraiser fiasco.

 

On the luxury ship The Pacific Queen, Ollie learns that Hackett has been embezzling money on behalf of a drug lord named China White after listening in on a phone call. He didn't want Ollie involved, but knew that his presence on the journey threatened to expose China White's operations. Hackett holds Queen at gunpoint, but Ollie knocks him down with a punch to the jaw. Hackett responds with a head-butt and Ollie collapses onto the deck. China White telephones Hackett and orders him to shoot Queen. Hackett doesn't want to murder Ollie in cold blood, so he knocks him out and dumps him overboard with a life boat.

 

 

Ollie washes up on the beach on one of the Fiji Islands, both tired and hungry. Ollie wanders around a nearby jungle as the sun burns down upon him. He comes upon the remains of a camp, along with a water pump and power generator, both of which, turn out to be useless however. Near the camp is a pit that leads down into a dark, dank shaft It is filled with the skeletal remains of human bodies – victims of apparent gunshot wounds.

 

Going back topside, Ollie finds a leaf-spring suspension blade and fashions it into a makeshift bow. He uses rusty nails, bamboo shoots and broken bottles to make arrows, and manages to eke out an existence for himself hunting fish, birds and monkeys, finding thrill in his life for once, discovering he’s a naturally gifted bowman. He takes a piece of sail canvas and uses it as a poncho to protect himself from the sun.

 

Several nights pass, and Ollie hears the sound of an airplane from off in the distance. He runs out from the camp and fires a signal flare arrow (made from burning rubber) in the plane's direction. As the plane angles itself in Ollie's direction, a gunman leans out the hatch and begins spraying machine gun fire at him

 

The gunman continues to fire at Ollie as he dodges the bullet, but Ollie manages to respond with two well-placed arrows. The pilot loses control and the plane crashes into the side of a mountain. Ollie scales the side of the mountain to inspect the wreckage and manages to acquire a pair of boots in the process and finds a radio as he attempts to send a signal to his location. We cut back to China White’s heroin field as it is filled with pirates and criminals using the natives of the island as slaves. We then cut to a few of her men on computers as they tell China that they have found a distress signal as China tells Hackett along with some men to track down the source. 

 

Wandering around the volcanic base of the mountain, Ollie finds tilled fields of poppy seed. He also meets a pregnant woman named Taiana who tells him that China White uses slave labor to cultivate the poppies for heroin. Disgusted at this and realizing that he was indirectly responsible for this as well as figuring there may be boats at the base, Ollie decides to help Taiana free her people. Hackett and his men arrive at the sight of the downed plane, as Ollie hides in the brush. China through phone call orders Hackett to find out who is responsible for the plane crash. She also has him and his men finish off the surviving crewmen.

 

As night falls, Oliver using a mask adorned from leaves, encounters Hackett in the jungle. Hackett and his men opens fire on him with his machine gun, but Ollie pins him to a tree with an arrow as well as injuring his men with his arrows. Hackett draws a handgun and tags Ollie in the shoulder. He then frees himself from the arrow as the two fight hand to hand in a brutal fist fight but Hackett gets the upper hand and grabs a grenade launcher, which he fires in Ollie's direction. The attack fails to produce the desired results however, and the tree falls down on top of Hackett and sends Ollie flying away. Ollie is bleeding profusely and collapses to the ground. Everything goes white.

 

When Ollie awakens, he finds Taiana kneeling over him and taking care of his broken arm and himself at a refugee camp for the natives. To deaden the pain, she begins feeding him opium. Ollie thanks Taiana for saving him as she introduces him to the natives on the island as Ollie asks where her husband is as Taiana explains he was killed by China’s men. Over the course of several days, Ollie helps the natives and free slaves from the camps under the name Green Arrow suggested by Taiana as he bonds with the natives and slowly grows a romantic relationship with Taiana as the two share tales of their lives as Taiana shows Ollie the simple ways of life as Ollie teaches Taiana how to use his bow as Ollie begins to feel true happiness for the first time in his life. However, Ollie slowly grows dependent on the opium while he heals from his injuries which causes him to be more rash and irritable. 

 

Meanwhile, Hackett reports back to China White. China is furious that Hackett didn't kill the Green Arrow and has been raiding their camps. She tells him to find Arrow and finish him off or else she will throw him away in a dungeon to be eaten by rats. However Hackett assures her they put a tracker on Green Arrow. 

 

Ollie and Taiana get into an argument as it is revealed that Ollie has been eating the opium even when he doesn’t need it as Ollie claims it makes him feel alive as well as having some kind of purpose as he reveals he accidentally caused this by funding them and almost hits Taiana in a rage until he realizes what he’s doing and storms off. Ollie then sleeps cliffside as we see his dream as Ollie is confronted and beaten his father, Hackett and other people in his life asking him who is he whilst tearing apart his flaws. Ollie then shouts that he doesn’t know as he wakes up to gunfire.

 

A short time later, China's gunmen, Hackett and China find the refugee camp and quickly round up the refugees. They open fire on him, but Ollie drives them off with several well-placed shots from his custom-made bow but China opens fire with a mini gun once more as Ollie tells Taiana to round up the natives and run handing her his bow to defend themselves as China tells Hackett to chase after the natives. Ollie fights China using daggers he’s fashioned well evading gunfire as the two fight each other as China pulls out a machete. China is much more skilled than Hackett as she is a skilled martial artist and know acrobatics as the two begin a brutal fight.

 

In the jungle, Taiana and the natives run from Hackett in his machine gun mounted Jeep and his men, Taiana unleashes a series of arrows at the Jeep’s wheels causing it to steer out of control, hitting a tree and exploding, but Hackett and a few of his men survive and fight Taiana as she gets the rest of the natives to hide as Taiana manages to kill two men and injure Hackett with the arrows but Hackett narrowly beats her in hand to hand combat but is hanged up by the natives forcing him to retreat. As the two exchange blows and slashed as both are injured, China gets the upper hand and stabs Ollie’s hand and pulls of his mask realizing that the Green Arrow is Oliver Quinn, but before she can kill him, Ollie hurls himself off the cliff.

 

 

Ollie rendezvous with the natives and Taiana and apologizes to the rest of the natives for indirectly causing this but tells them they must fight back as he gives them a rousing speech as Taiana hands him his mask as Ollie proudly admits he is Green Arrow, defender of the weak, and bringer of justice. Ollie teaches them combat skills as well as how to make their own bows and arrows of different kind, some with poisonous tips as well as swords, hammers and shields. Taiana goes to show Ollie what she found as she shows him his yacht, The Pacific Queen has washed up on the side of the island. Ollie goes inside to clean himself up and gather supplies. He finds the Howard Hill bow that he purchased at the auction, as he tells Taiana to keep his bow as Ollie round up the natives knowing that China’s compound is nearby sets fire to the ship to alert China White's mercenaries.

 

Back at China’s base, China berates Hackett for not only failing to capture the natives but letting Queen live and accuses him of treachery, but Hackett promises he’ll kill him as China says he has 24 hours otherwise he’s dead. One of the mercenaries finds the boat in flames as China realizes they’re here and tells Hackett it’s his last chance to prove himself.

 

As the mercenaries fan out the island, they’re swiftly taken down by the natives using guerilla tactics and he poisonous arrows as they rush to the base as Ollie and Taiana use smoke bombs to free the slaves and arm them as an all out brawl happens between the natives and the pirates. Ollie and Taiana use the commotion to break into safe house using the arrows and bows as a zip line in whilst fighting the criminals inside. Ollie sets the chemical burners to explode in hopes of setting a chain reaction to destroy China’s organization as Taiana goes to tie up and get the rest of the criminals.

 

Suddenly Hackett arrives and fights Ollie one last time as the two exchange blows as Hackett uses a stray arrow to stab Ollie but before Hackett can kill Ollie, Ollie implores his friend to redeem himself as Hackett ponders it but is killed by a bullet as China says she knows Hatchett didn’t have the guts. China tries to get Ollie to her side saying that he’ll get richer in return but Ollie says it was his old life as the two fight. China manages to get a few good blows and fire a shot in his shoulder but Ollie uses manage to defend himself with his daggers and getting a few good hits in return and then finally uses his arrows to pin her. China tells Ollie to finish her but Ollie refuses as China in one last bid of revenge kicks an arrowhead in a tanker starting a chain reaction. Ollie barely escapes with the unconscious China as the building explodes.

 

 

When the authorities arrived and China and the remainder of her goons arrested, Ollie downplayed the whole scenario. He sacrificed the credit of busting a drug ring in order to protect the lives of Taiana's people. The authorities give Ollie a ride home as Ollie asks if he can have an hour to collect his things which the allow. Ollie says goodbye to the natives and Taiana as the two part on good terms. Taiana and her people can defend themselves and live normally know as well as her duties as chief and Ollie knowing the whole world has injustice like this as the two kiss goodbye. 

 

Upon returning back to Star City, believing that it is not his style to bask in the limelight anymore, he chose to live a double-life as a brash socialite by day and by night, someone he never dreamed he would be, a hero. Upon his return to Star City, he crafted a costume and took the name Taiana gave him: Green Arrow.

 

Edited by YourMother the Edgelord
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LucIId

 

Director: Justin Lin

Genre: Sci-Fi/Action/Thriller

Release Date: December 9

Major Cast:

Henry Golding as David

Karl Urban as Mark (voice role)

Kyle Chandler as One

Ben Mendelsohn as Two

Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Zero

John Boyega as Paul Zane

 

Format: Scenes in italics are shot in 4:3 and are in black and white.

 

Theater Count:  3,892

MPAA Rating: PG-13 for intense sci-fi action, sensuality, strong violence, and language.

Runtime: 134 min
Production Budget: $105 million

Music by: Alan Silvestri

 

Previous Film: Lucid - 44.9M/144.3M/507.9M (OW/DOM/WW)

 

Plot Summary: Following the previous film, David must find Mark on four dream layers in order to finally wake up from this nightmarish dream.

 

Plot:

 

David is holding a newspaper in the airport. Everyone around him is looking at him weirdly, and then over the intercom, it is heard that the plane is now boarding. David smiles, realizing that everything was just a dream. However, he does not notice his phone beeping, revealing that he has five important messages from Mark. The phone begins ringing again, marked with urgent. David pulls out his phone, in the air tunnel, and picks it up. Mark is on the other end of the line, saying that David needs to get on the runway, now. David says that he’s about to get on a plane, and can’t do that. Mark sighs, and says “kumquat.” Suddenly, David’s mind is filled with memories of the previous dream, and David asks what’s going on. Mark says he’ll explain later; just get onto the runway. David nods his head in agreement and then heads toward a door leading outside. He opens it, and finds that the runaway is completely a starry sky, except for where the plane is sitting. Mark, as a flying donkey still, flies by and tells David to jump on his back. David complies.

 

Mark keeps flapping his wings at a constant flutter, and he has bad news for David. It turns out that hijacking the plane was just the beginning, or rather, the plane hijacking was the fifth layer of David’s dream. David asks to explain, and Mark sighs, saying he’s tired of explaining. Essentially, they are currently on layer four; they need to get through the first layer to wake David up without him slipping into a coma. Mark says the good news is that the first layer should be the hardest. David says it should be easy then, since the first layer proved to be no problem. Mark says that the final layer should be the only one where his reality bending powers would not cause a dream collapse. However, Mark must explain a very important part of the three layers that he must go through: Mark won’t be there to help him. David asks why, and Mark says that he is the trigger to bring David to the next layer. Once David finds him in a layer, then he’ll be able to wake up from that layer. Due to the increasing instability of the layers, David will have only one hour to find Mark in each layer, and each layer should get bigger as it progresses. David says it shouldn’t be that hard to find a donkey, but David grimaces, saying he’s not necessarily going to be a donkey in the layers. David asks why, but then Mark suddenly stops flying, and enters free-fall, entering David into layer three.

 

Mark and David are at college graduation. Never one for subtleness, Mark mentions he’d be surprised to see David for a while. David says they have the summer to hang out before they get jobs; after all, they’ve been best friends since childhood. However, Mark says he’s got a job at the Peace Corps. David says he shouldn’t waste his Psychology major in the Peace Corps, but Mark says that he’s certain he’ll be fine; after all, they call it the Peace Corps, not the War Corps. David chuckles at the terrible pun, and then shakes Mark’s hand, saying they’ll still be in touch. Mark smiles, saying that it’d be pretty crappy if he was a guy who, after four years of being David’s roommate, completely lost contact with him. David says that you never know.

 

LAYER THREE

 

David is working at a high-end restaurant. He is a waiter, and his former boss, Zero, has just arrived for a business meeting. David worries he won’t be able to impress Zero, but One, the chef, and Two, the sous chef, tell him not to worry, it should be fine. David smiles, and goes out to serve the meal. As he places down some delicious beef ragoutte and cheese soufflé, Zero glares at him. David asks him what’s wrong, and Zero points at him in anger, saying that this isn’t Hooters: why isn’t David wearing pants or a shirt? David looks down in shock, finding himself only in boxers. He runs off to the bathroom in embarrassment. He begins washing his face in order to hide the tears welling up from the epic embarrassment. However, he suddenly realizes he needs to use the toilet. He opens a door to a stall, and immediately, piles of fruit fall out of the stall. David looks around in shock, and then goes through the fruit, to try to get the toilet; since, after all, he does need to use the restroom. When he finally reaches an air pocket around the toilet, he looks down into the toilet water, finding a single kumquat. Immediately, memories of the last two dream layers reach his mind. David is shocked to suddenly remember One and Two as the two agents from layer five. He realizes he must find Mark to get out of this level. He quickly flushes the toilet, hearing an eerie moan. He shrugs it off as part of the dream. The toilet sucks in all the fruit, but leaves two giant bananas, which David picks up in bewilderment. He squeezes the stem, and out rapidly shoots seed-shaped bullets.

 

David, thinking for himself for once, figures that, since he’s higher up on the layers, if he kills One and Two on this level, then they won’t be around to bother him on later levels. However, he does remember that One and Two didn’t immediately try to kill him or capture him like they did on layer one. David figures that he only has twenty minutes to find Mark, and thus, must go out searching for him. Just to be safe though, David leaves the bathroom with one of the banana guns in his hands. He sees the restroom is completely empty, when suddenly, One kicks him in the head. The world shakes around for a bit, but David regains his footing, grabbing One’s arm, and flipping him. David then pulls out the banana gun and threatens to shoot One. However, the threat proven wasted, when Two jumps behind him, and grabs the second banana gun, shooting David in the arm. David screams in agony, and Two punches him face, as One on the ground kicks him in the groin. David can’t take the heat, and begins running away to try to get back to the bathroom. David figures he’s screwed and will fall into the coma, but regardless, he does not want to get beat up anymore. He runs into the bathroom, and back into the stall to hide. Moaning is still heard, and David gets out of his stall to check the other one.

 

He is not prepared for the surely surreal sight. The toilet in this stall has a mouth with teeth, and thus looks quite like a demonic toilet of nightmare. David pulls out the banana gun he still has in his pocket, and shoots one of the teeth clear off. Suddenly, the toilet yawns, and David screams in terror. The toilet says David’s name, and David realizes the toilet is Mark. Mark asks what he is, and David, failing to hide a smile, says that Mark is a toilet. Mark sighs at this, but then tells David what the unfortunate trigger must be; David has to use the bathroom on Mark. David refuses to do so, but Mark says he has to within a minute, or else he’ll fall into the coma. David sighs, and awkwardly sits on Mark’s mouth. The audience does not see the disgusting image of David pooping, but the implications are more than enough. The restaurant slowly fades around them into the starry night, and David and Mark begins free-falling again, into the next layer.

 

Two years after the Peace Corps, we see Mark has changed his job. What to, we don’t know. He is in a very confined room, answering questions about his friends from high school and college. The questions, voiced by an artificial voice, come to David. What are David’s worst fears? Where has David previously worked? What did David want to be when he was a child? Where did David live as a child? Mark doesn’t have answers for some of these, and some of these, he is extremely hesitant on answering. However, when the voice asks again, Mark can’t not respond; he is compelled to give an answer. Flight. Waiter at fancy restaurant. Astronaut. Chicago. When he is done answering the questions, gas enters the small room, knocking Mark out.

 

LAYER TWO

 

David has accomplished his dream job, astronaut. David is incredibly happy with his job, but it’s not all fun. In the year 11421, David is the last human being alive, having being frozen in carbon sleep during a nuclear war. Not only that, but his body is half robot, having a robotic leg, a robotic arm, and a robotic voice box instead of a mouth. However he does have a magic fridge, stocked with infinite amounts of dehydrated food; in order to eat, he must open up a door in his legs to make the rehydrated food fuel. David muses he’s tired of the flavor but he did go mad about two hundred years ago. The space station seems to let David live outside of time. In fact, we see David live here for another two years in a montage, but yet not falling into a coma. The space station exists merely outside of time, and David, although slightly insane couldn’t be happier. We move forward several years, as David keeps on losing more and more of his sanity. The year 11462 arrives, the date of the sun’s supernova. Indeed, the sun explodes, which should burn David and the space station to a crisp, but as the station exists outside of time, it instead generates four beings on board; two of them are astronauts, one of them is a dog, and another is a walking, talking potato. David refuses to name the dog, but the astronauts tell him the dog’s name is Mike, much to the dog’s barking protest, and the potato says it is Zero. The astronauts are One and Two, and David is overjoyed to finally have a family.

 

Years go by, without aging to be found, although the astronauts never take off their space suits. Mike takes a particular liking to David, often begging for food, and whimpering sadly at him. David often asks him what’s wrong, but Mike obviously cannot answer. However, one day, in the year 11480, everything changes. David goes to the magic fridge, and takes out... a dehydrated kumquat. When he rehydrates it and sees the full kumquat, the memories come back. David immediately freaks out, realizing that for one thing, One and Two are living with him, and for another, he’s been here for way longer than an hour. David tries to deduce why he is still alive and conscious, but cannot figure it out. One and Two then walk in the room, and see the kumquat. Immediately, they grab laser guns, and begin shooting at David. However, David’s dream body has lived in the layer much longer than One and Two, and thus, he finds himself invincible, since he himself exists outside of time. David grabs the kumquat and begins running through the space station, away from One and Two. One and Two then come up with a great plan; they’ll exit the space station, and repeatedly begin shooting holes into it with their lasers. This will cause the recycled air to be forever lost, and thus, David will suffocate to death.

 

Meanwhile, David has ran to the hallway to Mike’s room; essentially, a giant doghouse. Mike runs out towards David, and begins begging for the kumquat. David refuses to give it to him, thinking it will somehow help him find Mark. Mike won’t take no for an answer, and jumps up to eat the kumquat, and he swallows it whole. A huge explosion is heard and the film cuts to One and Two shooting up the space station. David yells bad dog to Mike and then braces himself, figuring that he is doomed. However, Mike begins talking, much to David’s surprise, and with Mark’s voice. Mark (who is Mike) says that the past eighteen years he’s been trying to get David to realize this, but the rules of the dream took away his ability to speak. Mark says they need to find his human body, which he is fairly certain either One or Two is using inside the space suit. David says there’s no rush, but Mark says that this world doesn’t exist outside of time; rather, it takes place in a slowed down version of time, where a minute in real time is a year in the dream time. David realizes he’s been in the world then for 59 minutes, and he needs to get out as soon as possible. Mark repeats that they need to find the body, and David says he knows how to find out which one.

 

The explosions continue through the halls, as One and Two continue their assault on the space station. David says they’re being stupid, since his robotic parts cause artificial air to be pumped into him regardless of environment. Mark replies that he himself does not have robot parts, so David rips off an emergency air pumper from the wall, and attaches it to Mark’s muzzle. They then arrive a room in the space station that David tried to never go into: a morgue full of bodies blown up into space thanks to advanced nuclear warfare. David explains that this was his job for a few years; cleaning up the atmosphere of the Earth from the bodies stuck up in orbit. Mark says that’s disgusting, and David shrugs, saying that it’s just an artificial memory; he shouldn’t remember it vividly when they’re out of the dream level. Mark agrees, but then the biggest explosion of all hits the space station, and Mark and David begin flying up. Mark asks what’s happening, and David says they must’ve hit the artificial gravity generator. All of the coffins in the ship begin to open up, and David quickly sees Zero’s body, shrugging it off, but then he sees Two’s body. We then cut to inside Two’s helmet, seeing Mark’s face, but when he speaks to One, saying that should do the trick, it is Two’s voice.

 

Mark turns to David, saying they need to capture Two without killing him, and then they’ll be able to move onto the final layer. David agrees, picks up Mark, and, using rocket boots, starts heading toward One and Two. Mark says he’ll distract One while David beats up and knocks out Two with his superior strength. David says he has a better idea. He tries hard, and finds Mark was wrong; they are close enough to layer one for him to reality-bend one object; a hand gun that looks like it’d be out of a 1950’s sci-fi movie. Mark asks what it will do, and David explains that if Mark and Two are fighting each other, and David shoots them, then they will switch bodies back, and that should instantly start the trigger into the next dream world. Mark says that the plan is so crazy, it just might work. They enact the plan, flying straight towards One and Two. One starts to raise his gun to shoot them, but Two stops him, saying that this should be settled with a fistfight. One looks at him quizzically, but Two tells him to trust him. One says fine, but then David tackles One, and they begin fighting. Thanks to his cyborg nature, David clearly has the upper hand, but Two guessed their plan correctly. As Mark runs away from Two (using air to propel places), Two just grabs him, while One, realizing David and Mark’s strategy, flips over David and grabs his gun. Two raises up Mark high, and One shoots Mark and David with the body-switching gun. Immediately, David’s body (now with Mark inside) realizes the failure of this strategy, while David inside Mark’s body begins squirming, completely not used to being in a quadruped’s body. Mark-in-David’s-body quickly grabs the gun, and flies straight toward Two. Two, realizing their mistake, swears as Mark shoots himself right next to Two. David’s body and One’s body quickly fade away, and Mark then tells David to wake up.

 

Mark is knocked out in the small confined room, when he suddenly wakes up. One and Two walk in, and say they’ll have to be his buddies in Project Lucid. Mark is utterly confused, and One and Two smile, but shimmer in quality. Zero’s voice booms over the room, saying it is time to begin Project Lucid. Mark doesn’t understand, but One and Two point at his hands, and he begins panicking, as his hands are slowly becoming hooves, and One and Two disappear, leaving only a cell phone with a single button on it for Mark. Mark quickly presses it in a panic, as he is slowly and grotesquely transforming into a donkey. Suddenly, Mark arcs back with a lightning bolt behind him, as his brain is suddenly hacked. All of the rules of the dream world are downloaded into his brain, with suddenly, memories of David being put to the front of his brain. We then cut to Zero, sitting at a desk, looking at the memories they are removing; namely, one of Mark teaching in a school in South Africa. Suddenly, the building explodes, and after all the rubble has fallen, One and Two nonchalantly walk in, and grab his body. Mark has died, but his brain still has activity. One and Two quickly hook up Mark to a machine, and download him to a neurodrive. Zero smiles, seeing that his project is off to a great start.

 

LAYER ONE

 

David wakes up in an apartment in Chicago. He is still a dog, which causes panic and for him to pass out. When he wakes up again about five minutes later, he is a human, and shrugs off being a dog as a weird dream. Suddenly, his twin brother, Two, walks in, and says that today is the day of the big job interview. David quickly runs off to the job interview, but he decides to stop at Starbucks on the way. When he’s there, he goes and looks at the specials, seeing they are having a kumquat Frappuccino today. Instantly, all the memories become flooding back, and David looks at his watch, and realizes, in terror, he has thirty seconds to find Mark and wake up, or else it’s the coma for him. However, David remembers this is the final layer, meaning he has his reality bending powers back. He quickly figures he can slow down time much like the space station layer, but he chooses to make it even slower, so now every second is a year. David looks at his watch, and sees he has slowed down time at the right second, it being two seconds until the hour is up. David then tries to figure out how to use his reality bending powers to find Mark. He then decides to make it so Mark just shows up right in front of him. Unfortunately, it backfires, and when David opens his eyes, everyone in the entire city has Mark’s body. David begins panicking and switches it back to normal; however, he cannot switch everyone back to normal, much to his dismay. David can’t figure out how many Marks are still out there, so he reality bends an oracle into existence. The oracle, who introduces himself as Zero, says that there are currently three Marks out there. One of them is the actual Mark, but the other two are One and Two.

 

David bends Zero out of existence, and then tries to figure out where to find the Marks. He suddenly remembers that when he was a child living in Chicago and he first met Mark, they hung out often at Navy Pier. David runs out of the Starbucks and toward Navy Pier. David then decides that, hey, this is the last level and he has unlimited reality bending powers, so why not just overuse them? David then decides to play with gravity a bit and he begins rotating Chicago up and down, left and right. As cars fly around, David hears Zero’s voice in his ear, asking if he’s ever wanted to be something else. David realizes this is true, and he can be whatever he wants to be. David quickly grows into a giant Godzilla-like monster and begins wrecking the city of Chicago, and remaking it for wreckage. Through a montage, we see in a horrendous fashion David abusing his reality-bending powers to make Chicago his own personal playground. Explosions galore occur, and he drops nukes on the city just to see what it’d be like to stand in the middle of a nuclear strike and live. He also floods the city in Coca-Cola, and then causes cotton candy clouds to fly in and rains chocolate milk onto the Chicagoans. He even causes buildings to come to life, and we see him get into a deep philosophical conversation with the Sears Tower, which he gives Mark’s voice. The Sears Tower tells him to wake up; isn’t this all fake? This snaps David out of the frenzy, and he looks at his time left. He has wasted nearly all of his time being drunk on the power that the reality-bending gave him; he has merely forty-five minutes left to find the real Mark. He quickly resets Chicago and begins flying to Navy Pier.

 

David arrives at Navy Pier, and enters a warehouse. David, becoming genre-savvy after the last few layers, realized that this is the type of place One and Two would keep Mark locked up. He guessed correctly, but unfortunately, One and Two have been ready for him. The second he walks in, his feet get caught in what appears to be a beartrap. One and Two, both looking like Mark but having their normal voices, begin to beat up David, telling they will put him in a coma. After a few hits at David, David looks at them like they’re crazy, and reality-bends his way out of the beartrap. David says that this is the last layer, so he’s pulling off all the stops to finally kill One and Two. One and Two look at each other in slight worry, asking what he’s going to do. David smiles, as the plane from the first film suddenly crashes into the warehouse. Immediately the scene changes to David in the cockpit of what looks to be a state-of-the-art fighter jet, with One and Two merely in planes from the 1940s. David begins shooting up their planes, and they begin free-falling into a restaurant. David is their waiter, and he asks them what they’d like to order. One grabs David by the neck, and asks him what he’s trying to accomplish here. David just smiles, and says he has the bananas right here. One doesn’t understand, but then David pulls out one of the banana machine guns and shoots One dead right there. Two’s eyes widen; he realizes that One is permanently dead in the dream. Two runs out of the restaurant, but into the space station with a space suit. Asteroids begin hitting the space station at deadly force, and David appears out of nowhere, shooting burning lasers at Two. Two realizes that he cannot keep this up anymore; David is going to achieve his goal. Two then promptly takes off his helmet, suffocating in the vacuum of space.

 

One and Two wake up in terror. They look at each other, and grab some tranquilizer darts. One grabs a machine gun as well, and they exit the compound they are in to find David’s sleeping body. Zero looks on his security camera footage to see One and Two do this, and he frowns, but then, after looking at another computer, he smiles. He begins laughing, saying they did it; they finally did it!

 

David then materializes back in the Navy Pier warehouse. He rips off the entire floorboard of the warehouse, revealing Mark, tied up and gagged. David unties Mark, and hugs him. They hug for a few seconds, and then David asks why the dream isn’t fading away. Mark says that the final dream must run out of the allotted time before Mark transports them back. Mark says he has bad news for David. David asks if there’s another dream layer, but Mark says no. Mark says the news is actually worse for himself. David asks what is wrong, and Mark says that in the real world, he is dead. David asks him what he means, and Mark says he doesn’t really know, but his last true memory before coming to this dream world was teaching in an African classroom but then a bomb went off and he’s pretty sure he died. David says he has to be kidding, and Mark says he really doesn’t know, but he wants David to know that he was stupid for cutting off contact with him after joining the Peace Corps. David begins crying, saying he doesn’t want Mark to die, and Mark cries too, and they hug one last time as the dream collapses for the final time.

 

David’s eyes open up. He looks around the room, seeing he is in a sterile hospital room. He sighs, realizing the dream is over. However, when he tries to get up, he sees that he is tied to the bed with incredibly strong rope. He rolls over, and sees a computer with wires connected to his brain. The computer reads “Download Complete.” David hears gunshots in the distance, as suddenly, a man barges into the room. He says he is Paul Zane, and he’s here to rescue David. David, still drowsy, can’t really argue as Paul unties him, and helps him up. Paul says to hide behind him, as One and Two storm the hospital, shooting everyone who gets in their way. Paul jumps out from under cover, and quickly shoots both One and Two in the shoulder, which knocks them out thanks to experimental drugs still in their system. Paul then carries David to his helicopter, which takes off promptly. Paul cheers, saying he’ll explain everything in a bit, but David is in shock. Standing in the back of the helicopter is Mark as a donkey, who is staring at him in shock too. They both ask each other at the same time what the hell is going on.

 

Edited by Blankments
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Okay, let's fucking dump this thing.

 

THE ACADEMY

Genre: Drama/Period/Sci-Fi/Romance/Action

Date: July 15t

Theaters: 2,781

Director: Garth Davis

Cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Jeremy), Dayo Okeniyi (Roger Steinman), Ed Skrein (George Jacobson), Kate Mara (Sandra), Miranda Otto (Becky), Cam Gigadnet (Billy), Jack Reynor (Peter), Harry Shum Jr. (Tony),  Cara Delevigne (Maya), Ellen Page (Penny), Jeremy Irvine (Elliott), Nicolas Cage (President Carson), Gabriel Byrne (James Thurgood)

Runtime: 139min (2hr, 19min)

Rating: R for violent content, some sexual content, use of drugs, and language

Budget: $60 million

 

Spoiler

The year is 2085. A boy is looking down at his (rather futuristic) cellphone, and he is surrounded by other students. All of them are seated in an auditorium, all wearing the same black and grey uniforms. He continues looking at his phone, until he is hit in the back by a man in a suit, who looks at him sternly. “Elliott, this is not okay.” Elliott nods fearfully, and he turns to face forward again. We see the headmaster of Griswell Academy, a 70-sometime man, come up to address the class. Everyone is in complete silence and upright position, and Elliott looks around and decides that he must match his peers. The man, who is introduced as James Thurgood, begins to speak in a strict voice. While He is speaking, though, it is actually a montage of 5 different headmasters of Griswell, one in 1848, 1916, 1966, Y6, and 2081, respectively. They are all speaking to classes of people in their early 20s, all wearing variations of similar uniforms. They all have the same design of black and gray. Note the still similar (and slightly gothic) setting with each time period.

 

 

“Obedience. Wisdom. Strength. Unity. These are the ideal values of all students of Griswell Academy. Ever since the dawn of the 19th century, we have made each student become so much more than they would at any other academy, by maximizing the potential of each student. We do understand that the human body is limited, and exceeding in one area must lead to decreases in others. Here at Griswell Academy, we sacrifice our own selfish, dark, desires in order to be excellent beings and live the most gratifying lives that all of us can. Some may believe that this is too much of a trade, but we digress.

 

Now that you have spent 20 years at this academy, from the approval of your families, we believe that you are ready to enter the world of reality and live to an optimal level. Using a very special elixir developed 200 years ago and fine tuned ever since, you will drink it and be able to have your best characteristics flourish. You are all to have this tonic every day, and we will send you new elixirs weekly. When you continue with this drink, you will find greatness within yourself, while adhering to the standards of contemporary society. While greatness is a virtue, we need not alienate ourselves from others. I am confident that you are all ready to become heroes to the world.”

 

The five speakers conclude their speech, but we focus on four people other than Elliott. There is Jeremy (1848), Sandra (1915), Peter (1967), and Maya (Y6). The students all applaud without any immature cheering and they all stand uniformly. There were around 100 to 150 of them for each time period. All of the students, save the discrepancies in facial appearance, all look like near clones of each other. We see Elliott clapping along less enthusiastically, and the camera fades to black.

 

1848

 

We see many people, all in the typical attire of the age, going about their business in Boston, Massachusetts.  The sets here are lavishly set up to create a distinct feel for the city. There is a horse drawn carriage driving down the street, with a 27-year old man and an older man sitting inside. The younger man, Jeremy, had been asked by the old man, whose name is George Jacobson, to act as a lawyer to him in a case of theft. George Jacobson has had many valuables stolen from his home, and he accused Roger Steinman, a young African American man who came to the streets of Boston to escape a life of slavery, of committing the crime. Jeremy is given a letter from George that fully explains the whole situation. George also promises that if he gets Roger arrested, he will pay him greatly. Jeremy is a little hesitant at first, but he decides that he will work with George, as money was hard to come by for him in recent times.

 

That night, George arrives at his home, which is a fairly nice place considering how he hasn’t made significant sums of money from his job yet. However, he is the only person living there, save the exception of his cat. He sometimes laments the fact that he must live alone, but he is confident that he will find someone to be with. . He takes a drink of the Griswell Elixir, and he continues to do his own personal work by examining the letter that George had given him.

 

1915

 

In San Francisco, California, we see a large group of women preparing to do a march on the city streets. They are all currently in the lobby of an elegant hotel, preparing their picket signs as they prepare to march down the street. They are all part of the historic campaign to secure women’s’ suffrage in the United States. We see one woman, a  43-year old girl named Becky, rallying the fellow activists to prepare for the march. She tells all of them that with their efforts, they may be able to create history through this movement, and that their fruits of labor will pay off soon. They all cheer for Becky, and one of the activists comes up to talk to her. Her name is Sandra, the girl who was at Griswell Academy. She is worried about the opposition that she will receive, and how some people are very opposed to the idea of women suffrage. Becky tells her that this is always the case, and how every movement faces some opposition, but she is confident that they will achieve a deserved victory at the end of it all. Sandra smiles at her, turning to herself once again.

 

Sandra has a flashback of the man whom she is living with, Billy. He is an aggressive man with bad drinking habits, and he was often a destructive person.  On a previous night, she got into a fight with him about this protest. Billy told her that women shouldn’t have the right to vote, and she ought to know her place. She lamented the fact that she was helpless and did very little at the time, but she knows the reason for this. She gets something out from the pocket of her jacket: a small bottle of the Griswell Elixir.

 

1967

 

We see a line of soldiers at a military base. Among them is Peter, the student mentioned earlier at Griswell Academy in 1964. He was drafted to go to war in Vietnam, being the only one in his class at Griswell Academy to do so. He and his fellow soldiers are met with a strict, intimidating military general, who tells them about what they will have to go through in Vietnam. Peter adheres to the many requests that the general throws at him, and while he is intimidated by the general slightly, he knows that he will impress him at one time or another. After the general dismisses them, telling them that they will move into Vietnam in one day’s time, everyone relaxes.

 

Peter is seen hanging out with some of the fellow soldiers at a lounge, and one of them is playing card tricks with the other. His name is Tony. Tony asks Peter if he wants to join their game, and he insists that he’s fine. Peter asks him again, trying to coax him to play with him, but Peter insists that he wants to get some early rest, having a drink of the Griswell Elixir. He then says to himself how he’s finally being able to live out his dream of serving in the armed forces and bringing safety to his nation, and how he would make his family proud.

 

Y6

 

We see the rush of busy cars all over New York City, and we see a beautiful girl, Maya, trying to run across the street. We can tell that she is running late for something, and she is clearly very nervous about it. We soon find out that she is working as an intern for a book publishing company to help pay for her living in New York City and go on to become a successful writer. She is treated well at work, but she doesn’t appear to have any special characteristics. She is just a generic worker, just like everyone else. She sometimes tries to do something funny or clever, but she always ends up restraining herself.

 

That night, she is seen going to a party at a large studio apartment. Many young people are there, getting moderately drunk and having a good time. At the party, she meets up with her best friend, Penny. The two have been smitten with each other ever since Maya came to the city, but Penny doesn’t know about Maya’s education. Penny may actually have some very deep feelings for Maya. Maya and Penny spend the night talking casually, and Penny tells Maya that she actually really likes her, but she might like her more than she imagined. Maya smiles, but she suddenly has a restraint of emotion. She soon says that she has to go, and she leaves the party. Penny tries to stop her and ask what’s wrong, but Maya tells her that she is fine, looking at the elixir in her pocket as she walks out of the door.

 

2081

 

We see a young man, recognized as Elliott, walking down the street of a very futuristic Chicago, along with many other people. All of them are wearing black, white, and grey clothing, and the streets are heavily guarded. We see a different man being beaten up by some of the guards, and he is being force fed the very same elixir that was drunken by the Griswell Academy students. There are large holographic ads covering the city, telling everyone to take their elixirs daily or be punished by law. Common in these ads is a photograph of President Carson, the cruel dictator of the land that was the United States. The holograph technology allows him to show his sinister voice, commanding the people below. In the 8 years since Elliott had left the academy, the nation was soon ruthlessly controlled by someone who became obsessed with the elixir, a former Griswell student, forcing the entire nation’s populace to take it as well and create his definition of an ideal society.

 

Elliott checks his cell phone, and there is a text message on it. “I’ve got the address. You’re welcome.” An address for some unidentified place soon follows, and Elliott smiles. However, in a few moments afterwards, Elliott is soon stopped by some of the guards, who wear masks that completely conceal their faces, giving blue light as they talk. The guard tells Elliott that he did not detect a trace of Griswell Elixir in his breath. Elliot, pausing for a moment, runs in the opposite direction, plowing through the general civilians until he is pursued and stopped by the aggressive guards, planted aggressively onto the ground. He is forced fed the elixir, and he is warned that if he is detected without having taken the elixir again, he will be arrested. Elliot says that he understands, and he walks off, as if his personality had greatly changed. Soon, we see Elliott walk into a corner, drinking a counter-elixir that he had produced with some of his friends, and he takes a motorcycle through the city alley, to an unspecified destination.

 

1915

 

The activists for women’s suffrage are all parading down the street, without m, all chanting, “One Three Five! Seven Nine! Women’s Suffrage - Now’s The Time!” As the women marched down the street of San Francisco, there were many enthusiastic women in the crowd, as well as many cheering progressives. However, there were also many critics in the crowd, who were booing as they walked by and some going so far as to throw things at them. Sandra looked at these people with much fear, but she tried very hard to keep her head strong and move forward. There are a variety of shots in these scenes, such as wide shots of the City Street and close-ups of Sandra.

 

The parade soon comes to an end, and everyone seems a bit exhausted. Becky tells them all that they did a very good job, but that there are still a lot of narrow minded people in this city. They need to bring them over to their side if they are to secure women the right to vote. Everyone soon disbands, including Sandra.

 

Y6

 

At a small club in the city, Maya is seen drinking casually with Penny. Maya is controlling herself and minimizing the amount that she drinks. Penny continues to talk to Maya casually, as if the two were sisters. Their conversation is rather humorous, with Penny and her friends making wisecracks throughout. Penny tells Maya that she’s moved into a lovely new apartment, and she wants Maya to be one of the first people to see it. She offers Maya the chance to go to this apartment. Maya looks at Penny, telling her that she would love to come and visit, and how they could leave right from here. However, Maya says that she needs to use the bathroom first.

 

Maya soon goes into the bar’s restroom, covered in writings and drawings on the wall. She pulls out the Griswell Elixir again, looking at it closely. She had true feelings for Penny, and she felt the same way about her. However, the Griswell Elixir’s strict code of living and conformity to societal standards would never allow her to take this. Still, she had been warned repeatedly that swaying from the elixir would lead to bad things happening. It was right then, that she decided that she was done living off what the world wanted of her. She was finally going to live for herself. She pours out the contents of the bottle into the sink, and she throws it away aggressively. This was going to be her first night of true freedom. Note that the sound of the bottle crashing creates a transition to a battlefield in 1960s Vietnam.

 

1967

 

We see a helicopter hovering over a grassy field in Vietnam, as Peter and his fellow soldiers are all inside, prepared to face the horrors of war. Peter is sitting next to Tony, who has become a good friend of his over his time leading up to the war. Peter has a drink of the bottle, believing that it will help him excel in combat, and he prepares the others to go into fight. He grabs his weapon as the helicopter hits the landing point, and the soldiers jump out. They wander around the jungle, waiting to find the Vietnamese forces, and they eventually come across their enemy, and an all-out battle soon unfolds.

 

The scene is very intense, with many quick shots of the violence in the battlefield. One key aspect of this scene is Peter’s surprising strength in battle. He is a skilled marksman, able to hit targets easily at far distances, and he is also proving to be a strong tactician, able to devise plans for battle and his men on the fly when the current strategies are not working. As the battle progresses, the men are able to hold their own, and a US victory in this battle seems very likely. However, Peter soon finds that Tony is caught in a dangerous place. He had been shot in the leg, and he needs medical assistance as soon as possible. Peter grabs Tony, and he tries to help him back up, requesting to the nearby camp to get medical assistance ready.

 

Using the strategies advised by Peter, the US forces are able to etch out a victory in the battle, and Peter had also managed to get Tony to the medical camp. The doctor says that Tony’s injury is quite bleak, but it can be fixed up using what they have. Right before a military doctor comes to work on him, he tells Peter, “Peter….you saved my life.” Peter nods and smiles at him, saying, “All in the day’s work of a soldier.”

 

1848

 

We see the gavel banging on a courtroom, where many people are watching an accusation of theft unfold. Jeremy stands with George Jacobson in the courtroom, opposite the man accused of the crime, Roger Steinman. He looks at Jeremy with a face of misery and sadness. He could see the tears coming down his face. The case soon commences, and Jeremy finds that he is being forced, within his own self as a result of the Griswell elixir, to remain steady in making the case against Roger. He soon stops with a cold breath once he has finished. The people in the room applaud Jeremy, but he actually feels rather upset and even uncomfortable.

 

Roger, on the other hand, is rather poor, and he cannot afford a decent lawyer. Rather, he insists tearfully that he was innocent, and that they have the wrong man. Still, it does very little, and Roger is convicted to a harsh jail sentence. After the trail and outside of the court that night, Jeremy is presented with a large check in compensation for his work, and he accepts it. However, he cannot shake this feeling that  Roger was an innocent man, and he did know that George Jacobson was known for being a racist man.

 

2081

 

In the outskirts of the futuristic Chicago, Elliott drives his motorcycle down the strip of a city alleyway, soon stopping it and getting off at a door. He walks up to it, performs an special knock on the door, and he says an elaborate password, “Hopscotch. Foxtrot. Everything ends today.” He is soon let in and greeted by a fellow youth, who welcomes him back to the club once again. Inside the door is a large group of young people, playing games and drinking, but they all stop once Elliott enters, soon cheering for his entry. Elliot soon gets up onto the table, telling everyone that the next meeting of the Valiance Movement is commencing. We soon find out that this is a movement of youth revolutionaries to overthrow the corrupt rule of President Carson and end the misery of the Griswell Elixir. These revolutionaries are known as The Individuals.

 

He tells everyone that an associate of his tells him that they will be able to find information about President Carson at the place where the horror began: Griswell Academy. Apparently, it was abandoned once President Carson took over, because now that everyone in the nation was under the control of the elixir, it served no purpose. However, there is still an archive of all students who attended Griswell in the school’s 250 year lifetime, and that he could find something to challenge Carson. He needs to create a team of five others to accompany him on this journey, and that they hope to find something critical. He easily gets 5 volunteers, as his leadership and charisma is truly leaving an impression on these students.

 

1967

 

The applause for Elliott soon transitions to cheering for Peter’s heroic leadership in the battle. His battling skill was unlike anything the soldiers have ever seen before, and that the military will consider promoting him to general if his skill keeps up. Peter tells everyone that he will always to the most that he can for the people close to him, and how the war of the age can be won. Peter soon returns to his private bunk, taking drinks of the elixir. Believing that his great skill comes from this bottle, he keeps drinking it, refusing to hold up.

 

Tony walks in on Peter drinking the elixir, and he asks about what he’s drinking. Peter insists that it’s just a bottle of soda that he brought in, trying hard not to lie to his friend. However, Tony suspects that he might be lying, and he asks again, but he insists that he is just curious. He’s not even going to tell the general if it’s something like alcohol. However, Peter becomes angry, telling him to forget about it, and that what he does is none of his concern. Tony is surprised and a bit worried about Peter, as he has never acted like this before. Peter tells Tony to go away out of seemingly uncontrolled anger, and Tony backs away slowly, feeling off-put by the behavior of his new friend. Peter looks at the bottle of the elixir once again, and he continues to drink. He didn’t want to scare off Tony, but he had become so obsessed with it that he wouldn’t let any other soul even know that he has it.

 

1915

 

Sandra arrives in her home with her boyfriend, Billy. Billy has been drinking, and he asks Sandra where she had been in a rather aggressive manner. Sandra, feeling not in control of what she is saying, admits that she was at that protest. After a pause, Billy soon loses his temper, telling Sandra that whatever she does, she’s never going to make her stupid dream a reality. That, and she lied about where she was going today. The social order in the world is there for a reason, and he can’t believe that he decided to be with someone who didn’t understand it at all. He hits Sandra, knocking her to the floor. There is a pause of complete silence.  In this pause, something snaps within Sandra. She was tired of putting up with her boyfriend.

 

Sandra, now starting to lose her temper as well, tells Billy that she is tired of how he can just tell her what to do at every situation, and how she wouldn’t take it anymore. The two get into a heated verbal argument after Sandra works her way back up, moving towards the kitchen. In their fight, she grabs a knife and drives it through Billy’s chest. Blood comes out of Billy’s shocked mouth, and he soon falls to the floor, struggling for air. Sandra, looking at Billy and covered in blood, looks at what she had done with an expression of pure horror. She was tired of his bigotry and abusiveness, but she was not ever convinced that he deserved to die for it. She had never done such a shocking thing before in her life, and it was a certainty that the police would find out and eventually sentence her to death. She drops the blood covered knife to the ground and as it lands, the noise transitions to the sound of a horse drawn carriage at night.

 

1848

 

George decides to invite Jeremy over for a feast, where he had decided to hold a party to celebrate the fact that justice has been delivered upon him. There are several elegant people present at the party, and Jeremy is able to socialize with a few of them. At the central feast of the evening, George decides to make this celebration a toast to a young man named Jeremy, someone who would find truth in any situation and be able to find the scum of the world, and there was a round of applause. After the meal however, Jeremy slips into George’s central quarters to examine a few things. Much to his relief, he is undetected in doing so.

 

He looks at the desk of George Jacobson, and he finds his personal journal in a box. He decides to take a look at some of the recent entries, but they all discuss how heartbroken George was to have his valuables stolen by some street urchin. Jeremy flips through the pages of the journal, but he finds nothing against George. This may have been in case some police officers wanted to do an additional search of evidence. What he does find, however, is a box accidentally left open, and a letter inside of it, and he decides to take it out. In this letter, George talks about how thrilled he is that he was able to set up Roger as a thief in order to get back at him for winning much money off of him at a gambling contest. He goes so far as to write about how he got a naïve and pathetic young lawyer to actually believe that he was truly guilty. Jeremy feels heartbroken and betrayed upon reading this. “Enjoying ourselves, are we?” A voice from behind calls out to Jeremy, who turns around to see this man, who opens the door to the study. It was none other than George Jacobson himself. George slams the door behind him, while another door opens in a modern city.

 

Y6

 

Immediately after, Penny opens the door to her beautiful new apartment, and she lets Maya inside. Penny begins to show her around, pointing out all of the cool things that she didn’t have before in her old apartment. She mainly likes how she has significantly more space than she did at her old place. Maya is pretty fascinated by the place, and she has a seat on Penny’s couch, who soon goes to join her after getting out a few hours d’ourves for the two to enjoy, setting her iPhone to play “Dancing In The Moonlight” in the background. They continue to sit on the couch and talk, while Maya soon decides that she wants to say something that she never had the courage to say for so long. “Penny…” Maya says nervously, “…I think I love you.”

 

Penny is surprised to hear this, as she was convinced that her personal love for her was one sided. Penny smiles, and tells Maya that the feeling was mutual. Maya is worried that neither of their parents are going to like this, but Penny places her fingers on her lips. “If we tried to conform to what the man to the left wants us to be, then we wouldn’t make any progress at all, now would we?” Maya nods, thinking about what Penny had just said. Maya then said, “I’m tired of trying to be someone I’m not, so I’m ending it all now.” She soon leans in to Penny’s lips, and she kisses her.  The two soon begin to embrace each other, kissing on the couch while “Dancing In The Moonlight” continues to play in the background. They continue to kiss passionately as Maya rubs her hands down Penny’s body, and they continue to embrace, feeling happier and freer than they have felt in a very long time.

 

2081

 

We see the music come to an intense stop on a heavily stormy day in a New England forest. We see a van pull up to the gates of an abandoned school, Griswell Academy, and we see a man in night vision goggles destroy the lock on the gate so that the van could proceed and get closer to the academy. The van soon pulls up to the academy, which is the same, somewhat gothic building that it always was. Elliott steps out of the van, telling the others to follow. They found a way inside the academy, and their new step was to locate the Griswell Archives.

 

The six revolutionaries walked through the halls of the academy, which can be seen covered in rain and dirt, almost like something from a post-apocalyptic movie. They stop when they hear someone breathing heavily in a nearby room. Elliott pulls out his gun and tells the others to wait outside of the room. He kicks the door open, and he sees candles lit around the room. He looks around the room, and he finds an old man sitting at a desk. He begs Elliott not to shoot him, and that he wants all of this to end as well. Elliott takes off his goggles and puts down his gun, believing that he can trust the man.

 

The old man introduces himself as James Thurgood, and Elliott, recognizing that he was the old headmaster of the academy, pulls his gun back, ready to fire. James insists that he has changed, begging to be spared, but Elliott is still cautious around him. James goes on to say that he now realizes that the idea of this academy was a true mistake, and he sincerely regrets the work that he had done here. “This was a place where we sacrificed individuality, dreams, and hopes, in order to great above-par people in contemporary society. We had believed that this trade off was worth it, but I was never so wrong in my life.”

 

It turns out that Andrew Carson was one of James Thurgood’s favorite students, and he believed in the Griswell ideals whole heartedly. He also believed that the world was a terrible place, full of selfish people who were destroying society. He soon realized that he had to take control of the nation, and he ruthlessly took power in a matter of years, becoming the ruthless leader who he is today. In the start of this reign of terror, I realized that with one student having gone too far, and that this entire academy was a mistake.” James continues on the verge of tears. “I knew many sad stories of students at this place.”

 

1848

 

Jeremy begins yell at George for having lied to him and convincing him to put an innocent man behind bars. George tells Jeremy that Roger was a bad person. “A gambler, a drunkard, and an unproductive worker. If only he had gone to Griswell, much like yourself.” It was at this moment when Jeremy realized that George was exploiting the fact that Jeremy would be a powerful conformist to society as a result of the elixir that he had taken. George had apparently been one of the few people to know about the academy. Jeremy confronts him, but George grabs his arm, forcing him to destroy the letter. Jeremy pauses, soon finding himself forced to obey. “As you wish, Mr. Jacobson.” Jeremy walks over to the fireplace in the study, throwing the letter into the fire.

 

Over the next few days, Jeremy is seen continuing to receive work as a lawyer to several clients, and no one had found out about the crime being a complete set up as a result of Mr. Jacobson’s narrow minded negative perception of Roger Steinman, who was now sitting in a prison cell with several other convicts, all of whom were more guilty and despicable than him. Even though the elixir allows him to live up to his upmost potential as a lawyer, he feels ashamed for doing nothing to bring to rest a cruel act of intolerance and deception.

 

1915

 

A woman being led down a prison hallway be several guards: Sandra. She is wearing a white dress, and there  is a blank expression on her face. She is brought to a hanging gallow, where he has been sentenced to death for the murder of Billy Simon. The other people waiting in the white room are the several officers of law and also Becky. Becky wishes to talk to Sandra one last time before she is hanged. She asks Sandra through her tears that it’s hard for her to truly by upset with Sandra, considering that Billy was a very abusive husband. Sandra tells her, with an upset tone of voice but without any crying, that she shouldn’t have done this. The two hug each other, just before Sandra is escorted to the gallow.

 

Moments before she is hung, Sandra thinks for a moment, about how she will finally break free with her death, and how she can finally be at peace. “The world will bring fortune to those who need and strive for it most,” she says in a confident, yet quiet, voice. The floor soon falls beneath her, and her feet are seen dangling at a close shot, showing no more of Sandra’s now lifeless body. We still, however, see a smile on Sandra’s face, indicating that she had died happily.

 

1967

 

The head general of Peter’s squadron find the bottle of elixirs inside Peter’s bag, and he suspects that it is alcohol. Peter is called into the office of the general, where he is implicitly yelled at. All that is shown are the many fellow soldiers of Peter waiting outside, worrying about what is happening to him. Tony, however, looks down in sadness, about how he was worried that he would get caught if something shady was in that bottle. Peter is ultimately relieved of duty, and he is escorted to a helicopter. On the helicopter ride, Peter looks outside, showing anger that no one understood what was in that bottle.

 

He continues to take the elixir heavily, although he does not find the results to be as satisfying. He ends up becoming a cold, cynical man, who alienated those around him. He was unable to find a decent job, eventually having to settle with a cheap paying job at a grocery store. Many of his co workers are scared of the unstable behavior of Peter, whose obsession with the elixir had turned him into the man that the elixir tried to protect himself from. Deep down, however, he is heartbroken at the loss of his chance of living his dream of being the nation’s most valiant soldier. But alas, that dream was no more.

 

Y6

 

The parents of Penny had found out about her relationship with Maya, and they are very furious about it. The parents talk to Penny at the restaurant with Maya, telling her that they will not let the two stay together. While Penny is upset and tries to reason with them, her dad will not listen, telling his daughter that he did not raise her to grow up like this. Maya, however, decides that she will not take it anymore, and she finally tells the two parents off. She starts off at a normal voice, criticizing the parents for their refusal to let the daughter choose how to live. The parents become annoyed, but Maya continues to defend Penny, but more aggressively. She curses in front of the whole restaurant in front of the parents, telling her that they’re killing the girl she wants to be.

 

This outburst just confirms the parents’ dislike of Maya, and the next scene actually shows Penny packing her bags. Her parents are making her move away to another city, one where “that crazed hippie bitch” won’t try to corrupt her. Penny tells Maya that she is sorry about all of this, and that her father was always a controlling person. Maya tells her that she can relate. Penny wants to know more, but Maya requests that they not get into it. The two soon kiss, and Penny soon goes to the apartment lobby to leave the city. As she drives away, she sees Maya, looking blankly at her, from the sidewalk. At work, she feels empty, lacking the energy she had before. The only solace that Maya has is that one night she abandoned her elixir, and how she truly loved Penny, but that didn’t matter now. She had another drink of her elixir, feeling emptier than before.

 

2081

 

Back inside the room where James and Elliott are, James gives Elliott a master key to all of the rooms in the academy to find information about Andrew Carson. As he finishes speaking, however, he is shot in the chest, with the bullet apparently coming from behind James. Elliott gasps in horror as James falls to the ground, and he sees a man accompanied by two armed bodyguards walk up to him. Elliott picks up his gun as he sees the man who arrives into the light. He is a fair haired man with a somewhat sinister appearance, and he also has a dark suit. “James Carson, at your service.”

 

Elliott points his gun at the president, while the president and his two bodyguards do the same for Elliott. “What the hell are you doing here?” Elliott asks the leader. “I’m afraid that’s none of your concern. Besides, I should be asking you the same question. Did you really think that I would remain blissfully unaware of a revolution that could destroy my entire empire? Yet, I am a reasonable man. I’d like to make a case as to why it would not be productive for me to simply send a bullet through your body at this very moment.”

 

The other five soon come into the room having heard the gunshot, but the two bodyguard aim their guns at them, as Cromwell tells them that they are close enough. “I know who you are,” said Elliott, “cynical, angry, heartless.” Carson corrects him, saying that he is destined to be the savior of humanity, and if sacrifices must be made to attain individual greatness, then so be it. Humans were absolutely conformist deep down, after all, so it isn’t like I’m taking away so much of our own lives. That certainly wasn’t what the parents of the children here were thinking.

 

Elliott tells him that he is wrong, and that there were so many tales of agony in the lives of Griswell students: injustice (Jeremy), violent opposition (Sandra),  dishonor (Peter), and heartbreak. (Maya) “Stop harboring the illusion that you’re making these lives better.” Carson remains unconvinced, telling him that he is immature, and that he will never learn. The unhappiness of these people was their own faults. Elliott soon looks at his gun and pulls it out, saying that he asked nicely. Elliott then shoots and kills Carson, although he is shot repeatedly by the two guards. As Carson and Elliott lay dead on the floor, a firefight erupts between the five revolutionaries and the two guards. The two guards are quickly defeated.

 

Before the five remaining revolutionaries move out, they mourn the fatal wounds that Elliott received. Elliott utters a few last words, pulling an explosive out of his pocket that James had given to him. “Destroy this place. Blow it to the sky,” are his last words. They all know what this means. The five of them go outside, a significant distance away from the academy, with the detonator for the bomb in hand. The one with the detonator says, “Hopscotch. Foxtrot. Everything ends today,” pressing the trigger of the bomb. With this sound, the bomb goes off at the academy, and the fire burns through the building in slow motion. One shot shows the fiery explosion coming over the bodies of Andrew Carson, Elliott, and James Thurgood. The five of them remain looking at the fire from afar.

 

We then see a montage of life in a matter of days, set to calm piano music, of the forceful screens showing propaganda in each city, shutting down, and large amounts of the Griswell Elixir coming down the sewers. The revolutionaries are celebrating in their private club, while also mourning the death of their leader, and people are seen celebrating and dancing in the streets. It was truly going to be a better day for all in the nation. There are also moments of the lives of Peter, Maya, Sandra, and Jeremy, before their lives began to deteriorate. These, after all, were just some of the hundreds of stories

 

James Thurgood, who narrated the monologue in the first scene, narrates the final monologue in the film:  “I have learned about just how incredible the human spirit truly is. For each person, it is a unique code that defines hopes, dreams, personalities, and more. Who are we to try and take what makes each person special away? To force them to protect themselves against the occasional harshness of society? Yes, we can alienate others and find that we make big mistakes, but what is important is that we don’t live how others tell us to. In fact, the true heroes are the world are the ones not afraid to set things right. Elliott was a hero, and I am ashamed to have taken so long to realize this. I was not open to the belief that we must decide for ourselves how to live our lives. But now, I know better.

 

As the monologue comes to an end, we return to the destruction of Griswell Academy. Back in the rainy forest a few days, the fire from the explosion was controlled, and all of the revolutionaries were satisfied. They are seen entering their van once again, which drives away. From the car window, we see one looking out at the camera, smiling as she sees the destroyed academy once more. The camera remains on eye level with the road, showing the car drive off through the lengthy strip of trees and a glorious sunrise.

 

Edited by Spaghetti
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The Blushing

Studio: New Journey Pictures

Directors: Jeremy Dyson & Andy Nyman

Genre: Horror

Release Date: April 29th, Y6

Theater Count: 2,852

MPAA Rating: R for Language, Disturbing Images, and Peril Throughout

Runtime: 1 hr 50 min

Production Budget: $35 Million

 

Cast

Aneurin Barnard as Gaël

Jessie Buckley as Daisy

David Oyelowo as Trevor

Carmen Ejogo as Jemima

Riz Ahmed as Liam

with Tobias Menzies as Arthur

and Rosamund Pike as Eleanor

 

Abstract: A horror film inspired by 28 Days Later in which the United Kingdom becomes overrun by an infection spread by physical contact that causes people to go mad--not with rage, but with delirious happiness.

 

Spoiler

 

The film begins with a little girl's birthday party, somewhere in a British suburban neighborhood. The children are having a lot of fun, while the parents are placing candles in a cake. While the parents are distracted by a conversation, one child sneaks over to the cake, touches the cake by collecting some of its icing on their finger, and eating the icing that is on their finger. The parents sit the children down at the table as one of them lights the candles, and everyone sings happy birthday as the cake is presented. The first slice is served to the birthday girl, and slices of cake are also served to the other children.

 

The children happily eat the cake, until one of the children falls out of their chair and has a violent seizure. The mother immediately goes to help the child, which proves to be a fatal mistake, as the child start laughing hysterically, and the mother's body contorts in an ugly way as she begins to laugh hysterically as well. The child tackles another child to the ground as the mother passes it on to the father. The birthday girl begins to cry as the scene devolves into a mixture of screaming, confusion, and delirious happiness.

 

A concerned neighbor, who has heard the commotion, opens the front door of the house, which had been unlocked for the party. This is what lets the people out of the house. The final shot of the sequence is a long shot that shows the infected party guests running into the neighborhood, towards anyone that can be seen or heard.

 

We abruptly cut to Gaël (Aneurin Barnard), who wakes up on a hospital bed. No one's around. He detaches himself from the IV and discovers a handwritten letter on a table near the bed. He opens it and examines its contents.

 

It reads:

 

DON'T LET THEM TOUCH YOU. 

- DAISY

 

When Gaël exits the room, he sees an infected indivual at the end of a long hallway. Gaël calls out to it, thinking it's someone who may be able to help. But the infected individual stumbles toward him... faster and faster... laughing all the way... with a big smile on face... and big red cheeks. Gaël, smart enough to get the hint, sprints in the opposite direction.

 

He finds himself on the littered city streets of London. He walks the streets alone until an empty can hits the pavement. He looks in the direction of the sound--it's a hand that's waving to him from the darkness of a cornestore.

 

We cut to the cornestore, where Trevor (David Oyelowo), Jemima (Carmen Ejogo), Liam (Riz Ahmed), Arthur (Tobias Menzies), Eleanor (Rosamund Pike), and Daisy (Jessie Buckley) argue about the decision to direct a stranger to their hideout. Jemima, the one who through the can, insists that it's more important to save lives. Arthur argues that he may be infected or that the sound could attract the infected, while Eleanor says the man could be a murderer. Trevor, Jemima's husband, tells her that what she did was reckless. Liam, the one looking through the window, says that he doesn't look infected, nor does he look like a murderer. When Gaël enters the room, Daisy begins to cry when she first sees him; she runs to Gaël and wraps her arms around him--despite Arthur telling her to wait because he might be a "carrier."

 

We cut to the survivors meeting together. Gaël reveals himself to be a French student studying at Oxford who happens to be Daisy's friend; he had fallen down the stairs and fallen into a coma--many months before the outbreak. Arthur reveals that the "Delirium" began ten days ago, and that society has already been shaken to its core by the outbreak. People are infected by physical contact, and they become monstrous beings with bloodshot eyes and a strange enthusiastic happiness. The beings don't thirst for water, hunger for food, or desire rest. They simply hunt for more people to infect.

 

Trevor explains that, through connections on his walkie-talkie, he knows two important things: that the United Kingdom is the only country affected, and that the cure is--believe it or not--contact with water of any sort.

 

Gaël states that the infection should be easy to eradicate if water is the cure. Eleanor explains that it hasn't rained in ten days, and that the infection is hard to spot on a newly infected individual until you've already came into physical contact with them. Therefore, while world authorities have treated the areas surrounding London, they are waiting to treat the big city of London, which is currently overrun with infected, until the rain comes. And, fortunately for them, rain is set to come later that day.

 

Gaël suggests to the other survivors that, if something as available as water is the cure, then, with something like a hose or a water cannon, they can go out and start curing people right away. They hold a vote to see if they should do that. Gaël, Daisy, Jemima, and Liam are votes for curing people, while Trevor, Arthur, and Eleanor are votes against it. Therefore, they go out to try and cure people as a group.

 

They sneak over to a store that sells water guns, and they arm themselves with the water guns. They go around London spraying people with water so that they're cured, and that's basically the entirety of the movie--though there's one part where Trevor, Jemima, Liam, Arthur, and Eleanor all die by falling down the same elevator shaft trying to escape a horde of the infected when they run out of water to shoot the infected with.

 

The climax of the movie is when Gaël allows himself to be infected by a mob of the "Delirious" so that Daisy can escape. Set to sad orchestra music, he runs with the other infected, infecting other people who are in the way, until an infected Gaël is running alone on an empty city street, and the rain comes, and his laughing turns to crying, and falls to his knees and weeps.

 

 

Edited by SLAM!
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Thermal

Release Date: March 18, Y6

Studio: Gold Crescent Pictures

Genre: Disaster

Director: Steven Quale

Theater Count: 3,812

Premium Formats: 3D, Dolby Cinema, IMAX & IMAX 3D
Shooting Format: 5.8K Digital (Arri Alexa 65 IMAX) (Native 3D)
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1, 1.90:1 (entire film in IMAX)
Release Image Formats: 4K DCP, 2K 3D DCP, 4K Dolby Vision DCP, 2K IMAX Digital DCP, 2K IMAX 3D Digital DCP, 4K IMAX with Laser DCP, 4K IMAX 3D with Laser DCP

Release Audio Formats: 5.1, 7.1, Dolby Atmos, DTS:X, IMAX 12-channel

Production Budget: $115 million
MPAA Rating: PG-13

Running Time: 97 minutes
Major Cast: Sophia Lillis (Sierra), Emilia Clarke (Dana), Teal Sherer (Megan), Zack Ward (Frank), O’Shea Jackson Jr. (Sean)

 

Plot Summary:

 

Spoiler

 

The film is set in the fictional town of Sunshine Lake, Pennsylvania. The former tourist town has seen a decline in recent years thanks, in large part, to the nearby activities of the energy company Ener-P. The mountains surrounding the town were subject to fracking under Ener-P, which was promised to bring cheaper power and industrial jobs to the community. While electricity bills have gone down and a few jobs have opened up for locals, all but the low-level work is done by people brought in from the outside and there have been severe environmental consequences. The area’s groundwater and Sunshine Lake itself became polluted, and the flow of tourists dried up.

 

In response to community concerns, Ener-P has chosen Sunshine Lake as their first site to convert to a secretive new process. The specifics are closely-guarded, but in lieu of fracking to retrieve natural gas, it is said to cleanly generate energy from certain highly-reactive minerals in the ground. It involves digging mine-like tunnels underground and exposing the minerals to a patented process in order to generate thermal energy that can be converted and stored as electricity. Ener-P claims the process is virtually pollution-free and just as efficient, and in what they claim is a good faith effort to win back the trust of the townspeople, they have hired hundreds more locals to help and even launched a largely-successful effort to clean up the lake.

 

The new developments aren’t without controversy, though. The company’s refusal to disclose the specifics of its new method, and the government’s refusal or inability to force them to, leads many to suspect they’re covering up some new risk factor. There has also been much concern over the fact that many of the new tunnels have been dug directly underneath the lake, leading to worries it will become re-contaminated or drain away into the underlying tunnels. Ener-P, of course, has offered vague assurances that everything will be fine – and lots and lots of lobbying money to local officials.

 

On the side of the company is Frank Whalen (Zack Ward), a 40-something man who previously worked as part of the fracking operation and has recently been transferred to the new facilities in the underground tunnels. This transfer has come with a raise, which has proven very helpful in supporting his family – his wife Megan, who uses a wheelchair and is unable to work ever since she was paralyzed from the waist down in a car crash, and their daughter Sierra (Sophia Lillis), who is about to graduate from high school and plans to attend college in Boston. Sierra is more liberal than her parents and has an environmentalist streak, placing her firmly in the anti-Ener-P camp and often causing her to butt heads with her father.

 

The movie opens on the day that the new facility is being put online for the first time. As Frank arrives at the entrance to the underground tunnels, he finds it blocked by a large group of protesters – and Sierra is one of them. The two get into a shouting match – Frank warning her the cops are surely going to be called, and that she needs to leave before they arrive, while she refuses to go. He insists that the company is trying to improve things and be environmentally-friendly and finds it ridiculous “you people” are still complaining, but Sierra is unwilling to take Ener-P at their word – after all, they promised the fracking would be safe, too. Frank claims Sierra shouldn’t resent him for just doing his job and says this work is his only option. Without the money from the job he wouldn’t be able to keep the household afloat, let alone send her to an out-of-state college.

 

The argument is interrupted when the police arrive to round up the protesters, who are trespassing on private property. When most of them refuse to leave, the cops begin to place them under arrest. Things escalate, several of the protesters resisting, leading to a mass pepper-spraying; in turn, some of the more passionate protesters retaliate by throwing rocks at the officers and the scene descends into chaos. Ultimately all of the protesters either flee or are arrested. Sierra is one of those taken to jail. She glares at her father angrily as she’s escorted into a cop car and he heads underground.

 

The new system goes online without a hitch; we don’t get to see the specifics of how it works, only what Frank does as part of his job. It’s largely menial mechanical work in a dark, hot machine room. Meanwhile, Sierra has to call her mother to come bail her out of jail. Megan, who has no car and can’t drive anyway, has to take the bus. She is not at all amused by this, saying she should try and understand her father’s position and not get herself in trouble. But Sierra complains his support for Ener-P is just another example of his reckless personality and that Megan “should know that better than anyone.” That cuts deep for some reason, and the two don’t talk at all on the way home.

 

The film moves forward to the day of Sierra’s graduation. By now the new facility has been operating for a bit more than a month with no apparent incidents. The activism against the facility has begun to cool down, and Sierra hasn’t had time to get involved with it again because of all the work she had to do for the end of her senior year. As such, the Whalen family has settled into a shaky truce of sorts. We see her graduate, embrace her family and friends, take photos and the like. Several of her friends and classmates arrange for a post-graduation party at the lake, which has become a popular spot again since the cleanup. Sierra agrees to go, but her parents are taking her out to dinner first, so she will have to show up late.

 

Meanwhile, at the local news station, the meteorologist, Dana MacInnis (Emilia Clarke), is becoming concerned. Ever since the new facility came online, the temperature in Sunshine Lake has been a degree or two higher than in the surrounding towns. It’s clear it has something to do with Ener-P’s new methodology, but so far the change has been insignificant enough that it hasn’t received significant attention. But today, her readings are showing that the local temperature is spiking. The air temperature in Sunshine Lake is currently ten degrees higher than in any of the adjacent communities, and it’s still rising. Not only that, but it’s rising faster and faster as the day goes on. She brings this up to her boss, who promises to call Ener-P to try and get a comment so they can run a story on it for the evening broadcast.

 

During their dinner at a chain restaurant, Frank gets a call from his boss at Ener-P. He is told he needs to come in immediately, and when he protests, his boss threatens to fire him. Despite Sierra’s insistence that he just quit – which only makes him more frustrated – he ultimately agrees to show up, even though he isn’t being told why he has to. This cuts the dinner short, forcing them to have their food boxed up so Frank can drop them off at home and then drive over to the facility with the family’s one car. It also means Sierra has to take the bus to the lake, further delaying her arrival.

 

At the newsroom, the producer’s calls to the energy facility and Ener-P’s corporate headquarters go unanswered. He tells Dana to head over to the lake and do a story on the heat there in front of all the swimmers, but not to point any fingers or speculate as to a cause yet – they can’t afford to be sued for libel by such a large and powerful company. Frustrated, she nevertheless agrees. And why isn’t Ener-P answering? Simple, as we glimpse when Frank arrives and heads to his workplace – they’re busy trying to contain some sort of unspecified major malfunction. Alarms are blaring in the subterranean tunnels, and the heat is so intense that Frank’s hands are scalded when he grabs onto his metal tools.

 

Sierra makes it to the lake shortly after Dana and her cameraman, Sean (O’Shea Jackson Jr.). Most of her friends are already in the water, with a few others sunbathing on the beach. She goes over to speak with a friend of hers who’s lying on a beach blanket not far from where Sean is setting up the shot for the broadcast. Dana overhears Sierra’s conversation, and her complaints about her father’s job and the fact he had to be urgently called in. This gives the meteorologist an idea, and she approaches Sierra to ask if she’d be willing to be interviewed about the heat on the air. At her friend’s urging, Sierra agrees.

 

When the interview begins, broadcasting live, Sierra is caught off-guard by Dana’s revelation that the temperature in Sunshine Lake is now sixteen degrees hotter than in any of the nearby towns. When asked what she thinks about this, Sierra immediately says it’s probably because of the Ener-P facility, even adding that something must be going on down there since her dad was summoned so suddenly. This, of course, is exactly what Dana was hoping for. At the station, the producer cuts off Dana’s feed – too late, of course – having the anchorman claim technical difficulties.

 

With the broadcast ended, Dana thanks Sierra and then gets a very angry phone call from her producer. But as he blows up at her, there are several literal explosions underground. We are not shown the origins of the blasts, but the tunnels in the Ener-P facility are quickly swallowed up by angry fireballs. Workers trying to evacuate are burnt alive in a flash – including Frank, who barely has time to react before being engulfed by the white-hot flames.

 

Back on the surface, the water in the lake heats up rapidly like a pot on a stovetop. The air is filled with agonized shrieks as the liquid begins to boil, bubbling and churning, cooking the swimmers inside alive, the carnage partially veiled by the heavy steam coming off of it. Those who try to jump or reach in to save others quickly fall victim to the immense heat and scalding mist; people run off of docks and piers with second and third-degree burns all over their bodies.

 

Sierra cries out the names of her friends helplessly as Sean begins recording the tragedy. Dana puts a stop to that quickly, rushing him back to drive the news van so that they can return to the station. Sierra spots them leaving and convinces them to give her a ride, as the station is partway back to her house. As they load up and roll out, she calls her mother in tears to inform her of what happened, and then tries to call her dad’s cell phone. Of course, there is no answer.

 

Dana manages to get in touch with her producer after a few tries – the newsroom is being flooded with calls about the lake disaster – and tells him to issue a severe storm warning immediately. He’s confused – there’s nothing on radar, and nothing in the forecast but the arrival of a cold front – but she explains that the lake boiling away will inevitably cause major problems. “You can’t put that kind of heat and moisture into the atmosphere all at once without serious consequences,” she says.

 

Sure enough, before the news van has even reached Sierra’s house, angry clouds are gathering in the sky. On her meteorological equipment, Dana tracks the conditions, and they aren’t good. Northern winds from the cold front are colliding with the damp, superheated air and generating rotational wind shear. A supercell is forming, “one that would make Oklahoma blush.” The winds pick up, thunder booming incessantly as rain begins to fall and quickly turns to large, damaging hail. As Sean is making a turn, the hail becomes so big and heavy it cracks the van’s windshield, causing it to crash and flip onto its side. The trio grab equipment from inside the van in order to shield their heads from the falling ice, then crawl out onto the street. The asphalt is burning hot. They’re only about a block from Sierra’s house, so she leads them there where they take refuge inside.

 

Megan, understandably, is panicked but relieved to see her daughter. She asks if she’s been able to contact Frank, but Sierra admits she hasn’t. Dana, not-so-tactfully, says something terrible has almost certainly happened below ground, with the clear implication that Frank is dead. This leads to a tense, tearful argument between her and Megan, with Sierra stuck in between. Megan screams for Dana and Sean to get out of the house, and Dana agrees to leave, but says they should too. With the rate at which the storm is intensifying, she’s not sure the house – or any house in town – will still be there for much longer. As if to emphasize her point, the power suddenly goes out.

 

Ultimately, Megan refuses to leave the house, and Sierra refuses to leave her mother. Dana and Sean choose to leave, managing to hotwire and steal and old truck from the neighbor’s driveway. Instead of heading to the station, they go the other way in an attempt to leave town, with Dana calling in to warn the employees of the station to leave as well. Most of them don’t listen.

 

We see shots of chaos around town as the storm worsens. The lake, still boiling, is at about half its previous water level, large portions of the basin exposed. The hail is smashing glass all over the place and has killed or knocked out several people who were caught outside without head protection. High winds have downed power and telephone lines, and the frequent lightning strikes have started several fires in the woods around town as well as setting some older wooden buildings ablaze. The two roads out of town are jammed with vehicles trying to leave, and one of them is already cut off by a serious traffic accident.

 

Dana and Sean arrive at the back end of the traffic jam on this cut-off route just as a tornado forms directly behind them. Dana honks her horn and screams to try and warn people as the vortex begins to rapidly approach the cluster of immobilized vehicles. Sean manages to drive the truck off-road and out of the way, escaping just in time. A few other cars also manage to slip away, but most of the people in the jam are stuck. Panicked hordes of people spill out of their cars – except for those trapped inside by adjacent vehicles – and try to run. But the quickly-growing twister races down the road like a ball down a bowling lane, ripping people and cars off the ground and tossing them to their doom.

 

Unfortunately for Sean and Dana, the only other road out of Sunshine Lake is on the other side of town. And even more unfortunately, as they turn around and attempt to make their way back there, they see that several more tornadoes are forming in front of them all throughout the town, some a good deal more formidable than the one they’d just avoided. The still-climbing heat is now so intense that even the large hailstones are melting into a downpour of heavy rain before hitting the ground, and many of the streets are beginning to flood.

 

We cut back and forth between Sean and Dana struggling to make their way through town and Sierra and Megan taking shelter in their house. The pair in the truck are shown navigating around twisters, fires, floods, other vehicles, and desperate people, some of whom try to flag the van down or even attempt to break into it while it’s moving. The mother and daughter see one of the tornadoes is on a course to hit their house, and Megan tells Sierra to go down into the basement. There is no way for Megan to get down there in her wheelchair, so Sierra tries to carry her. But she’s not strong enough, and they’re running out of time as the tornado approaches. Sierra is unwilling to leave her mother, so instead of going to the basement, she wheels her into a small, windowless closet in the center of the house and stays there with her.

 

Sean and Dana are T-boned by another truck at an intersection, knocking them into what was previously a small creek feeding the lake. Now it’s running wild with floodwater rushing back into the half-empty basin, and the truck is swept away with them inside. Dana manages to get out of the truck, but the current is much too strong for her to swim against, leaving her attempting to make it to the shore and find something to grab onto. Sean’s door has become stuck shut thanks to damage from the crash, and he can’t escape before the current flips the vehicle over, dunking the cabin down into the water and ultimately drowning him. Dana fails to get a hold on anything, and is helplessly swept back into the still-boiling lake, disappearing into the cloud of steam with a final pained wail.

 

Sierra and Megan are huddled together in the nearly pitch-black closet, the roar of the twister growing louder and closer by the second. Soon the entire house is shaking around them, the tornado ripping off the roof and tearing down several walls. Light floods into the small space from above, planks of wood and other debris shooting partway through the closet walls like spears. All around them are the deafening sounds of crashes, collapses, and shattering glass. Then, gradually, the roar fades. They are alive, all four walls of the closet still standing.

 

After several moments, Sierra steps out of the closet – the door was ripped off its hinges – and takes a look at what has happened. Miraculously, they barely avoided a direct hit from the twister, which merely sideswiped their house. Through the hole where most of their front wall used to be, Sierra can see that the homes on the other side of the street have been completely razed. Of course, the remnants of their house are no longer suitable as shelter, so Sierra gets to work trying to clear a path through the debris so that she can get her mother out.

 

As she is working at it, a menacing rumbling begins to sound from a nearby mountainside, the one where Ener-P had done all its fracking. That process had already destabilized it to some degree, and now the unyielding torrent of hot rain is soaking into the soil and causing a collapse. Almost the entire mountainside seems to break free, a titanic landslide racing down the slope, carrying mud, boulders, and a forest’s worth of trees. It buries the last remaining road out of town, crushing lines of cars and entombing the people inside. It becomes clear that it has enough force behind it that it will not stop before reaching Sierra’s wrecked house.

 

Megan yells for her daughter to run and find a way to get above it. Again, Sierra at first refuses to leave her mother, trying frantically to clear her a way through the wreckage, but Megan won’t take no for an answer. They exchange a tearful, rushed goodbye, Sierra trying to apologize for causing so many arguments and so much stress in the family. Megan hushes her, telling her it’s okay, and that she’s already forgiven everything. Finally, reluctantly, Sierra runs out of the house and down the street, the encroaching wave of dislodged earth closing the distance behind her.

 

Sierra can’t help but look back as the landslide barrels into her house behind her, flattening it with no signs of stopping its advance. She clearly can’t outrun it. Her only option is to climb up into a large, sturdy-looking tree. She barely makes it up into the canopy before the landslide hits, uprooting the tree almost instantly. It collapses into the landslide, taking her down with it, trapped between the snapping branches. She struggles to keep herself from being buried, but the shifting dirt and debris eventually begin to suck her down… fade to black.

 

We cut to a national news broadcast on the following day, detailing the aftermath of the disaster in Sunshine Lake. We learn the storm subsided quickly after the northern winds blew it out of town, but the underground tunnels are still burning and the exact cause has yet to be determined. Aerial shots of what used to be the lake show that all of the water has now evaporated, leaving an empty basin filled with corpses. The heat emanating from the ground is likely to have a serious effect on local weather patterns until the subterranean inferno can be doused somehow. The running death toll is already over 300 – and that’s likely just the tip of the iceberg.

 

A reporter is on the scene with rescue workers searching for survivors in the rubble. They’re searching through a landslide-covered area when a rescue dog makes a discovery near a familiar-looking collapsed tree. The film ends as Sierra, having survived within a partially-flooded air pocket overnight, is freed by the rescuers and gazes around at what is left of her town.

 

 

Edited by Xillix
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Shiverin’ Gulch

 

Director: Carlos López Estrada
Writers: Daveed Diggs & Rafael Casal and Alex Hirsch
Executive Producer: Alex Hirsch and George Miller
Genre: Horror/Western/Fantasy/Adventure
Release Date: October 7
Formats: IMAX and Dolby
Major Cast:
Elizabeth Debicki as Deputy Susan Burlap
Daveed Diggs as Hal
Isabela Moner as Rosa
McKenna Grace as Eliza Burlap
Caleb McLaughlin as Douglas
Rafael Casal as Sheriff Will
Alfred Molina as Governor Elias Nelson Conway
Utkarsh Ambudkar as Jagan
With Gil Birmingham as Howahkan
And Holly Hunter as Charlotte Burlap

 

Theater Count: 3,843
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for language, thematic elements, smoking, violence, and brief crude humor.
Runtime: 123 min
Production Budget: $75 million
Music by: Ludwig Göransson

 

Plot Summary: Six months prior to the Civil War, a small town in Arkansas deals with the paranormal disappearances of a local slave boy and the town sheriff.
 

Plot: 

 

The town of Shiverin’ Gulch, population 92, on the southern side of the Missouri-Arkansas border. The year is 1860, just six months prior to the Civil War began. Everyone is asleep, with the exception of a slave teenager, running the streets with his maid girlfriend. The girlfriend, Rosa, looks at the clock, which reads 11:30, and says they need to get back inside before the midnight curfew. The boy, Douglas, just laughs, saying that curfew doesn’t matter at all. Rosa says he’s being ridiculous and Douglas grabs something out of her hand. It’s a daguerreotype printed on paper of the two of them, something that Rosa saved up for them to take. Douglas smirks and says this was silly; they could’ve saved the money for something useful but Rosa shakes her head and against asks Douglas to come home. Douglas says they should stay out later, but Rosa, worried about her employers, won’t take that, and she leaves Douglas, saying that she’ll talk to him in the morning. Douglas is disappointed, but refuses to go back home. Instead, he hitches up his horse, leaves the town, just to see what is so bad about staying up past midnight. We see the town clock strike twelve: Low Midnight. Douglas and his horse, now quite a distance away from the town, hear a shudder. Douglas dismounts his horse, and as he walks towards where he heard the shudder, suddenly, something jumps in front of him. Douglas screams, and the picture flies off into the air to parts unknown. His horse runs away, back to the town, as opening credits begin. When the horse finally reaches the town’s welcome sign, the title is shown:

 

SHIVERIN’ GULCH

We see the hero of the story, the Deputy of Shiverin’ Gulch, Susan Burlap wake up. She gets ready for work, and puts on, with pride, her deputy badge. She stops in Eliza’s, her daughter, room, seeing she is still asleep. Susan smiles, and then tries to head out but is stopped by her mother, Charlotte. Charlotte complains that their maid, Rosa, came home just before curfew last night, and this is why she never wanted to hire a foreigner. Susan rolls her eyes at Charlotte and says that the whole point of curfew is that they need to be home by a certain time; ergo, if Rosa showed up before curfew, there’s no problem. Besides, if Eliza was late from curfew, there’d be a bigger problem than just Charlotte being angry. Charlotte grumbles, saying she doesn’t trust a horse whisperer anyway. Susan says that Rosa’s whispering helps both them and the town and tells Charlotte to calm down. Charlotte doesn’t, choosing then to complain about Susan’s job as deputy, but before she can really get her licks in, Susan leaves, hitching her horse to go to work. Rosa wakes up in her quarters, and remembering the events of the night before, really wants to go see Douglas. Unfortunately, when she’s about to leave, Eliza walks in and asks if she can walk her to school. Seeing Charlotte’s glare, Rosa agrees to take Eliza, believing Douglas to be at the school, working with his father, Hal.

Meanwhile, Susan and Sheriff Will are patrolling the town on their horses, getting ready for the arrival of Arkansas’s governor the next day. Will hopes for it to be a great visit, since the town needs funding for a new schoolhouse. Susan remarks that with him recently losing his re-election campaign, she doesn’t expect much help from the governor. Nevertheless, Will begins talking about his slave, Hal, and how annoying he has been recently about the need for funding. Will says that as his slave, Hal should be happy his master lets him teach. Susan says they were running low on teachers anyway but her kid loves Hal as a teacher. Will mutters that that scares him. Susan reveals herself to be an Abolitionist, but the Sheriff says that they are much too close of friends to let such a “petty” thing divide them.

Rosa and Eliza walk towards the school and see Hal out front welcoming the students in, but with a clear worry on his face. When Hal sees Rosa, he asks her if she knows where Douglas has been. Rosa stammers and Eliza gently teases her, saying that she thinks they’re gonna get married someday. This causes Rosa to start crying, as she explains all that happened the previous night. Hal doesn’t say much but he seems worried as well. Eliza says they should go get the Sheriff, and Hal says he’d rather take care of it himself. Rosa asks if he thinks he can take care of it himself, and Hal looks around and says begrudgingly no. He knows this won’t end well for him though.

Rosa and Eliza run to Susan and Will (Eliza knowing exactly where her mom would be from her bedtime stories), and tell them the whole story. Susan is concerned about it but Will looks annoyed. He orders Eliza onto her mother’s horse and Rosa to run behind them, and away they go to the school. When they get there, Will immediately gets off his horse, walks inside the school and smacks Hal in the face. As Rosa takes Eliza away from the scene, he berates him in front of his students for not being a responsible father, and more importantly, losing his property. Susan demands that Will stop and Will tells her she’s his deputy and she should realize how lucky she is for that. He could be doing the same thing to her as he’s doing to Hal right now. Susan glares at him but says nothing. Will goes back to screaming at Hal, about how he’s given Hal too long a leash and he can’t believe he lost his only son, especially when he was running off falooting with a Mexican girl. Hal doesn’t say anything in response, taking the abuse fully. Will complains about how now it's his job to clean up Hal’s shit, and Hal better hope they find Douglas alive or else Hal’s gonna wish he’s the one dead. Face bloodied, Hal keeps his composure as Will leaves. Susan tries to help Hal up but Will demands she leave her. Susan says sorry and Hal nods his head. He understands. 

Outside, Susan and Will take off, and Susan says Will didn’t have to do that. Will tells her to shut up, she wouldn’t be saying the same if it was her property gone. Susan just shakes her head but knows Will is insane. She asks what their first lead should be to find Douglas. Will just grumbles. Back at the school, Hal calls for a brief recess and as the kids run out terrified, Rosa runs up to him, and apologizes to him. She believes it’s her fault Douglas is missing and thus, her fault that Hal got beat. Hal shakes his head and says he doesn’t blame her at all for this, he’s just worried about Douglas. Eliza walks up to Hal with a piece torn from her skirt, saying he can use this to dab the blood. Hal looks at Eliza with great guilt, but Eliza shakes her head, saying she’s not an idiot and she knows how the world works. She also knows the world works wrongly. Hal smiles at this comment as he takes the cloth.

However, as soon as he takes it, Susan comes in the school. Susan apologizes again for Will and Hal grunts that he’s used to it. Susan says that Will realized that Hal would probably be the only one to know where Douglas was last night. Rosa offers her help too, saying that Douglas rode off on Hal’s horse last night. Hal says he already knew that and the horse ran back home late last night; it woke him up. Rosa says she could go talk to his horse about it. Hal agrees, saying that Rosa should go and speak to his horse. Will walks in, seemingly calmed down, and asks Susan and Hal what has been discussed. Hal says Rosa will go talk to his horse and ask if she has seen Douglas, and Will demands Hal goes with them, as it’s Hal’s biggest responsibility to look out for his son, and moreover, keep Will’s investment safe. Hal points out that someone will need to watch the children. Will volunteers Susan to sub the class, and this will work out well for everyone. After all, Hal will look for his son, and Susan will get to spend time with her daughter. Susan protests that it’s really necessary, but Hal tells her it would be easier if the kids didn’t miss a day of school. Susan sighs and agrees as Hal, Will and Rosa (on Susan’s horse) leave.

Susan teaches the class about Indian legends of the area. Eliza decides to take the opportunity to ask her mother about why the town has a curfew, and Susan has no answer, as she does not know. Meanwhile, Rosa speaks to the horse, and after receiving his answer, falls to the ground in tears. Will tells Rosa to get up and tell them what’s going on. Through her tears, she gives the news: Douglas has been eaten by a Wendigo. Hal’s face goes cold as he too barely keeps his composure. Will, confused, asks what a Wendigo is, and it cuts back to Susan teaching about the legend of the Wendigo, a monstrous creature that eats human beings. One of the kids ask if Wendigos kill, and Susan says that generally when you eat someone, that kills them. Susan then asks the kids why this is even on the curriculum, and the kids have no idea why. Susan continues the story, saying whoever kills a Wendigo becomes one, but then laughs it off as a lie.

Hal has just given the explanation of Wendigos to Will. Will doesn’t believe it at all, but Hal insists that it’s true. In fact, recently, there have been several reported Wendigo sightings from people all around Arkansas who visit Shiverin’ Gulch before heading into Missouri. Will says he thinks Hal is covering for Douglas in an attempt to run free, what with them being so close to Missouri. Rosa tells Will there’s no way Douglas would’ve done that but Will tells her to leave and take Susan’s horse back to her. Rosa looks at Hal, who tells her to go. Will reiterates his belief that Douglas was trying to escape. Will is gonna get his property back, no matter what lies Hal tells him. Will demands Hal to tell the horse to take them to where Douglas was supposedly eaten. Hal warns the Sheriff against this, saying he wants his son back too, but going Wendigo hunting will surely mean the death of them both. Will responds by pulling out two pistols and putting one to Hal’s head and the other to his heart. Hal stands firm but Will reminds him that he’s just a slave, and he will follow his orders. Left without a choice, Hal saddles his horse and talks to it. The horse gallops off into the direction of where Douglas went with Will keeping pacing with it..

Rosa arrives back home and begins cleaning around the house, clearly distracted by the tragic news. Charlotte talks to her for a bit, clearly putting her down but also hyping up the visiting governor. She might not approve of her daughter’s job but she’s very excited to meet the governor tomorrow morning and recognizes that she will only be able to because of her daughter’s connections. She then says that of course Rosa will not be allowed in the house at that time, but perhaps she could go hang out with her boyfriend. As long as she’s back from curfew of course. Rosa excuses herself to use the outhouse and Charlotte rolls her eyes. Outside, Rosa takes her horse and gallops off.

There is a montage of Will and Hal riding, without ever speaking to each other. They arrive at the area where Douglas was, which is in between railroad tracks and a cave. Hal says that it must be where the Wendigo lives, and tells that if Will wants him to go in the cave, he better get one of the pistols. Will still does not believe Hal, but he does believe that that is the best bet to find the body of Douglas. Although a bit suspicious, Will  tosses Hal a pistol, and the two of them go in. They sneak around a bit, and Hal tells Will to be quiet, as in natural environments, Wendigos sleep twenty-three hours a day, only waking up between midnight and 1AM. Will just laughs, and tells Hal to get over his superstition or leave. Hal warns Will again, and Will begins yelling for Douglas, just to annoy Hal. Hal walks away, but Will won’t take that. He turns around, and shoots Hal in the arm. Hal falls to the ground in shock, and Will tells Hal that no matter what happens, he needs to remember he is his property. A growl is heard and something jumps down behind Will. Hal’s eyes widen, and he stands up and runs away. Will looks behind himself, and he screams.

Back in the town, the school day has ended, and Susan and Eliza are back at home. Eliza is still annoyed with Susan for some reason, and Susan doesn’t have time for it. Susan asks Charlotte where Rosa is and Charlotte mutters that she ran off on the good horse again, probably to hang out with her boyfriend. Susan looks concerned and says maybe she could go look for her. Charlotte grabs her and tells her in no unclear terms that she is not to go out past curfew; she needs to set a good example for Eliza. Besides, Charlotte reasons that since Rosa is a weird horse whisperer, she should be fine on Susan’s horse. Susan doesn’t buy it, but knows better than to argue with her mother.

Long into the night, Rosa continues to ride, eventually coming across the cave by the railroad tracks. The horse gets nervous but Rosa tells it not to worry, she’s right there beside her. They ride into the cave and come across something sticking out from behind a stalagmite. Rosa unmounts her horse and approaches it. It’s Will’s amputated arm, still holding the pistol tightly. Rosa covers her mouth in shock, but, hearing a noise behind her, quickly moves to grab the pistol out of the arm. She then aims it behind her, but only sees her horse. She breathes a sigh of relief when suddenly, a brisk wind goes behind her, forcing her to the ground. A dark shadow appears over her and she screams.

The next morning, Susan wakes up, checks in on Eliza, and attempts to leave for work. Charlotte stops her on the way out, telling her that she’s supposed to meet the governor, and checks how Susan looks. Susan remarks that this is business for her and ergo, she doesn’t care too much how she looks. Charlotte snorts and remarks that as Conway is a rich bachelor, for Susan to remember that Eliza needs a father. Susan just glares at her mother, and leaves without saying a word. She looks around for her horse, but, running late on time, decides to saddle up Charlotte’s older horse. Susan rides to the train station. She is surprised when the governor, Elias Nelson Conway, walks out holding, in handcuffs, Hal. Conway introduces himself to Susan, and he explains that they stopped the train when they saw Hal, unconscious, on the tracks. They put him in handcuffs, and took him here. They also saw the Sheriff dead on the side of the road. Susan says that Hal was the Sheriff’s slave, and Conway is surprised, saying that they found Will’s pistol in Hal’s pocket. Conway says that Susan must now be the Sheriff, and that Hal must be hanged for his crimes. Susan thinks that something is suspicious, but has someone take Hal to the Sheriff’s office.

Susan takes Conway to the Sheriff’s old home, saying that this is where he will be staying. Susan apologizes for the suddenly macabre setting, and asks why Conway or his men didn’t bring home Will’s body for a proper burial, Conway remarks that Hal, with his savage ways, left barely anything left to bury. Susan remarks that Hal only had a pistol, and Conway reminds her that she is the deputy here. Susan doesn’t understand and Conway says he will be the new Sheriff. Susan is confused, and Conway explains that there’s no way a lady would be Sheriff, and that he will be the Sheriff for his two week stay, while looking for a suitable replacement. Susan tries to argue with Conway, saying that Will said she could be sheriff after his possible death or retirement, but Conway will not take it. Susan asks if Conway has more important things to attend to, and Conway remarks that after his recent loss in the election to his own cousin, he doubts there’s much for him to do for the state. Conway says he will meet her at the courthouse in one hour, to set a hanging time for Hal.

A bag is taken off of Rosa’s head and she stares into the face of a Native American man, surrounded by other men of many ethnicities. The leader introduces himself as Howahkan, leader of the Mutt Riders and apologizes for the theatricality of how she was brought to him. Rosa asks where she is and Howahkan says they are a couple hours away from Shiverin’ Gulch, in a cave, but not the same cave she was just in. Rosa demands her horse and Howahkan tells her not to worry, ordering his right-hand man, Jagan, to bring her horse. Rosa whispers to the horse that things will be okay and it’ll be fine. Howahkan notices this and asks if the horse can truly understand her. In spite of herself, Rosa smiles and says not only can the horse understand her, but Rosa can understand the horse. Howahkan gives a big grin back and Jagan remarks that their intel was right. Immediately suspicious, Rosa asks what they mean and Howahkan explains that he too is a whisperer. He then mumbles something and the gust of wind is felt in Rosa’s face.

Indeed, Howahkan is a wind whisperer. All of the Mutt Riders are whisperers; Jagan introduces himself as a fire whisperer, breathing fire briefly like a dragon. Rosa looks on in awe, saying she always thought the “horse whisperer” term was merely colloquial. Howahkan remarks that, like most things white men take for granted, the mystical magic within some humans is made utterly ordinary by them. Howahkan asks Rosa what she was doing in the cave where they found her, holding a pistol. He hands her the pistol back, saying that he understands the need for self-defense in the lawless world we live in. Rosa says she was looking for a friend of hers and Howahkan nods sadly, saying the cave is a place of death, haunted by a Wendigo. Rosa’s fears confirmed, she puts her head in her hands, but Howahkan tells her not to cry. Rosa looks at him with confusion and Howahkan explains that as an animal whisperer, she should be able to control the Wendigo. Rosa stares at him and laughs, saying she can only talk to horses, she can’t control anything. Howahkan chuckles back and tells her to follow him.

Back in Shiverin’ Gulch, Susan rides on back to her house, and Charlotte tells her she thinks Eliza is hiding something, perhaps a boy in her room. Susan asks for more details and Charlotte says she didn’t care frankly. She then asks Susan how she looks for the governor. Susan ignores her and bursts into Eliza’s room, asking her what’s going on. On her bed sits Hal, still unconscious. Eliza tells her to leave him alone, but Susan says she needs more answers than the governor has given her. She briskly wakes up Hal and asks him what has happened. In a panic, Hal explains that Douglas and Will were eaten alive by the Wendigo. Susan instantly believes him, knowing Hal to be a good man. However, she recognizes that even though the three of them believe in Wendigo, there’s a very solid chance that the big city governor will disagree with him and immediately hang him regardless. Hal thinks about it for a second and says if , but he says that if he can stay at Susan and Eliza’s house until 10PM, then he can take them to the Wendigo’s cave, while it is still asleep. Susan says she will go alone with Hal but Eliza insists to let them go with her. Hal tries to dissuade her, saying it’ll be dangerous but that just makes Eliza wanna go more. Susan still won’t let her, until Eliza threatens to tell Charlotte about Susan and Hal going out. Hal says she’s bluffing but regardless, Susan agrees to Eliza’s request, but demands she stick with them the whole time.

Susan then goes to the courthouse to talk to Conway. Conway is insistent on killing Hal before the day is over, but Susan asks to give Hal a day to live. Conway relents, and then heads off to the sign to change the population from 92 to 89. Susan says that only two people have died, and Conway says they might as well count Hal’s death right now. Susan grimaces, but then Conway says it’s time for his bed. Susan looks at the town clock, which reads 6PM. She looks back at Conway, but he has disappeared.

Back with the Mutt Riders, Rosa has followed Howahkan to a field full of wildlife, from every type of animal (that would be reasonably found in the American west/midwest). Howahkan explains the problem with being a whisperer is the name; it sounds like you’re supposed to be meek when you really need to command yourself. Rosa doesn’t follow and Howahkan tells her to think about something she truly loves and respects in her head, while also commanding the strongest animal to approach her. Rosa tells him this is dumb, but then he whispers quietly and a huge gust of wind right around them, swirling throughout the field. Rosa looks on in awe and Howahkan demands that she tries. Rosa closes her eyes and envisions Douglas. She then whispers and opens her eyes, discovering a coyote to be sitting in front of her. She smiles but then sees out of the corner of her eye Jagan running towards her and mumbling.

A pillar of fire comes rushing her way and the coyote jumps in front of her, getting its fur severely singed. Rosa looks in horror as Howahkan tells Jagan to stop. Jagan says he was just following his orders but Howahkan shushes him. Rosa asks what’s going on, and Howahkan, a bit annoyed with Jagan, says he’ll explain. Does Rosa know why the Mutt Riders were in that cave? Well, the Mutt Riders are scavengers, outcasts from society, similar to the Wendigo. They know the Wendigo will always need to feast upon human flesh, and they will be there to scavenge from the leftovers. Rosa asks what he means, and Jagan just outright says it: they harvest the scraps the Wendigo leaves. Howahkan says the Wendigo will always choose to eat someone who deserves it and it only makes sense to not let the waste go to waste. Rosa calls them cannibals, and Howahkan just stares at her. Jagan calls her an idiot, they don’t eat the humans. Howahkan tells her the Wendigo rarely ever leaves any part alive, but sometimes, they can get guns, ammunition, wagons, a variety of supplies that help them with their raids.

Briefly relieved for a second, Rosa asks what they mean by raids. Jagan tells her they’re the Mutt Riders; of course they raid people all throughout the south. Howahkan says this is merely to tip the balances more in their favor; the South wishes to keep anyone who isn’t white in slavery, and refuse to let any actual movement on the ladders of society. Rosa agrees with this, and Howahkan tells her she should join the Mutt Riders. With her on their side, the Wendigo could be theirs. The Wendigo, after all, is an animal, and if Rosa can control the Wendigo, she can make it so it only attacks those who most deserve it. Rosa looks around nervous. She says she doesn’t wanna kill anyone. Jagan sneers and asks her why she has a gun then, and Rosa has no answer. Howahkan yells at Rosa saying that it doesn’t matter what she wants, the Wendigo will kill nightly. If they can control who it kills, they can control the entire frontier. Rosa closes her eyes for a second and whispers. Susan’s horse begins to gallop to her, and Jagan begins to whisper, but Howahkan puts his hand over his mouth. Rosa quickly jumps onto the horse and rides off away from the field and towards Shiverin’ Gulch. Jagan asks what’s Howahkan’s deal is and Howahkan says they’ll visit her tomorrow one way or the other. Jagan says they still shouldn’t let her go and Howahkan whispers, allowing a paper to fly towards them. The paper floats in the air in front of them as Howahkan says he believes Rosa is still going to control the Wendigo, whether she wants to or not. The floating paper is shown: it’s the printed daguerreotype of Rosa and Douglas.

Back in Shiverin’ Gulch, it has become 10pm and Eliza and Susan try to smuggle Hal out the door, his shot arm having been put into a makeshift sling. However, Charlotte is not an easy obstacle to go by and catches them on the way out. When she sees Hal, she shrieks, saying that this is not okay, having heard earlier in the day about Hal killing Will. Hal insists to her that he didn’t do anything wrong and it was a Wendigo, but Susan, knowing her mother, simply knocks her out with the backside of her pistol. Eliza marvels at this, but Susan quickly rushes them on as Hal, feeling a little guilty, puts Charlotte’s head against a soft chair.

Susan takes Charlotte’s horse as Hal and Eliza also cram their way onto it. They slowly begin to canter their way to the cave, and Eliza points out it may have been faster to walk. Hal looks at the moon, and judging by its position in the sky, it’s 11:15 when they arrive at the cave. They go inside with a torch, and find absolutely nothing. Susan says to Hal that he has no proof, and he may have to be hung. Hal is desperate, but when they leave the cave, they find the horse gone. Eliza, worriedly, asks Hal what could’ve happened. Hal’s eyes widen, saying that in intense hunger, the Wendigo eats horse flesh to whet its appetite. A huge roar is heard, and we finally see the white Wendigo in all of its terrible glory.

The three begin running to the train tracks, where there is a mine cart. They quickly load onto it, with Hal using his one useful arm to propel the tracks. Eliza hides under the seats as Susan pulls out her pistol, and attempts to shoot the Wendigo. The Wendigo will not go down, and a mine cart chase ensues, with the Wendigo in hot pursuit. However, a few minutes into this chase, Rosa catches up to the minecart, and with Eliza’s help, she jumps from her horse into the cart safely. She had seen the Wendigo chasing them and she tells Susan she believes her whispering could stop it. Susan says the Wendigo is a little different from a horse, but Rosa goes to the back of the cart, turns to the Wendigo and closes her eyes, murmuring. The Wendigo laughs at this, and lunges for Rosa. Susan pushes Rosa back into the cart behind her and shoots the Wendigo dead in the eyes with her last two bullets. The Wendigo screams in horror as Hal stops the minecart, believing the Wendigo to be near dead. However, the Wendigo shrinks down, turning into a human form, revealing that he is Conway.

Susan drops her empty gun, staring at Conway. Conway stands on the railroad tracks, chuckling, and pointing out that while Susan is out of bullets, he had a gun hidden in his Wendigo fur. Conway pulls the gun out, aiming it dead at Susan, but then Hal steers the mine cart straight backwards, and before Conway can react, he is run over. Eliza asks if that has killed the Wendigo, but Hal’s only response is that the Wendigo will continue chasing them until its bloodlust has been satisfied. Rosa apologizes to them, believing to have failed them. Susan tells her that none of them expected the horse whisperer to be able to do anything with a Wendigo. Rosa is about to reply when instead she points in horror at Conway turning quickly back into the Wendigo. Susan turns to Hal and says that she will sacrifice herself as a Sheriff should. Hal just looks at her and grimaces. Hal says she still has a daughter but he does not have a son.

Susan looks at him in confusion as Hal pushes first Susan, then Rosa, and finally Eliza off the cart in quick succession. Hal yells at them to run back home. Susan nods at Hal, who gives her a sad smile in return. Susan runs, dragging Eliza as Eliza screams in horror. Rosa just stares in determination, murmuring to herself as Susan’s horse returns to grab her. Rosa gallops toward Hal and tosses her gun to him. She wants to give him a fighting chance. Hal smiles and thanks her as she gallops off. The Wendigo quickly looks between his three targets: Hal, Eliza and Susan, or Rosa, but Hal throws Susan’s gun at his head. The Wendigo chases Hal, who continues on the mine cart to a canyon. Hal cocks Rosa's gun and attempts to shoot the Wendigo in the heart. He misses, merely grazing a leg. The Wendigo winces but remains in close pursuit. The mine cart then runs off the canyon, down to his death. The Wendigo, refusing to lose its prey, jumps down into the canyon, where Hal cocks the gun again, and squints his eye. Hal shoots the Wendigo through the heart, killing it before Hal himself can die.

Rosa, having watched the whole thing from afar, quickly takes her horse and gallops down after Hal, hoping to recover the body. After all, the slayer of the Wendigo deserves a proper burial. Moreover, even if Douglas couldn’t get a proper funeral, perhaps his father could. However, when she reaches the bottom of the canyon, she quickly discovers something else down there: a smaller Wendigo. It looks at her in confusion, and lunges for Susan’s horse. Rosa quickly disembarks and tells the horse to run away. The horse does and the Wendigo whimpers as it goes away. It then looks at Rosa, clearly feral but confused by her. Rosa closes her eyes and whispers, “Douglas.” When she opens her eyes, the Wendigo clearly transforms into Hal, who falls to the ground, weak.

The next day, Susan and Eliza wake up, both in Susan’s bed. They wonder if it was all just a dream but then find Charlotte waiting for them downstairs, sitting at the table, staring at them. She tells Eliza to go back to her room since she needs to talk to Susan. Eliza, afraid of her grandmother, runs back and Charlotte tells Susan she’s bought the three of them tickets to New Orleans to meet a friend who can take care of the Wendigo problem. Susan looks at her confused and Charlotte explains that she asked around about what Wendigoes were after Hal mentioned them to her, and she has a friend who can take care of them. Susan says the problem has been taken care of, and Charlotte says they still need to escape Shiverin’ Gulch since she knows Susan and Eliza helped Hal, a convicted criminal. Charlotte’s a bit embarrassed by this but they’re still her family, so she booked the tickets for them. Susan tells her that Hal died saving them from the Wendigo and Charlotte does not buy it, saying no way would a slave be able to save them. Susan tells Charlotte if she wants to leave town and go to New Orleans, go right ahead. Susan’s the Sheriff of Shiverin’ Gulch now and that’s a responsibility she has. Charlotte begs her to go with her again, but Susan firmly says no. Showing a brief moment of weakness, Charlotte takes a breath and then says she’ll be missing the train if she doesn’t leave now, and thus, exits the house.

After having breakfast with Eliza, Susan then goes into town, where she is greeted by everyone as the new Sheriff. She calls everyone into the town square for an announcement about the previous night. The Wendigo that had haunted Arkansas has been vanquished in Shiverin’ Gulch, thanks to Hal’s sacrifice. Susan leads a bow in respect for Hal, always a well-appreciated member of the town from those willing to look past his skin color.

However, this solemn moment is interrupted by the arrival of a gang. Their leader dismounts his horse, introducing himself as Howahkan. See, the Mutt Riders aren’t ready for a new Sheriff but they’ll leave Shiverin’ Gulch alone if they hand over a certain maid. Susan is confused, and Howahkan asks for the one known as Rosa. Susan responds that Rosa never returned home last night. Jagan says that’s a likely story as he whispers and sets the podium behind her on fire. Susan looks at them in horror; she’s only heard stories of this magic. Howahkan whispers and sends a gust of wind to put out the fire, apologizing for Jagan’s “hot-headed-ness”. Susan does not appreciate the pun, but Howahkan offers her an ultimatum: hand over Rosa or an old-fashioned duel. After all, it wouldn’t be particularly fair for him to just blow her away. Susan agrees to the duel.

High Noon. Susan and Howahkan draw and Eliza watches in terror. The clock begins to chime, when suddenly, Susan’s horse rides in with no one on it. Howahkan recognizes it and grins, when out of the sky flies Rosa riding a Wendigo. The Wendigo lands right in front of Howahkan and grins. Howahkan grins back and says hello, thanking Rosa for bringing him the Wendigo. Rosa disembarks and says she isn’t controlling the Wendigo. Howahkan blinks and asks what she means. The Wendigo roars in Howahkan’s face, and jumps up towards the rest of the Mutt Riders. Jagan whispers, sending a pillar of fire towards the Wendigo, and the Wendigo responds by grabbing Jagan with his teeth and throwing him in the opposite direction. The Wendigo spits out an arm he accidentally tore off Jagan. Howahkan stares at the majestic horror of the Wendigo, but, seeing Jagan’s injury, orders a full retreat. He grabs Jagan onto their horses and they ride off, with the rest of the gang following them.

Susan has watched with utter horror, being terrified by the Wendigo. However, with the Mutt Riders gone, the Wendigo shrinks down into Hal. Hal explains that after killing the Wendigo, he woke up at the bottom of the canyon as one. Initially feeling the intense bloodlust of the Wendigo, Rosa whispered to him and allowed him to find himself within the beast. Rosa says that her powers let him quickly be able to repress the cannibalistic tendencies of a Wendigo, and  Hal remarks that as a Wendigo, he believes he can make it on by merely eating raw meat. However, nevertheless, Hal offers himself to Susan to burn at the stake. Susan asks why she would ever do that, and Hal says that if he were to kill himself at the stake burning, no one else would become a Wendigo. Susan tells him not to be ridiculous.

Susan then takes to the partially burned podium, announcing that Hal will be her deputy in town. As such, the minimal slave population remaining in Shiverin’ Gulch is freed. If anyone has a problem with this, they can deal with Hal. In a concluding montage, we see in the following week: Rosa whispering with the animals in the area, amusing children around her as she becomes the new schoolteacher; Eliza relieved, hanging out with Hal and Susan; Hal making a memorial to Douglas, with Rosa clenching his hand tightly; and Susan overlooking the entire town of Shiverin’ Gulch, riding with Hal over the hill overlooking the town. THE END.

During the credits, an original song titled “Typical Day in Shiverin’ Gulch” sung by Daveed Diggs plays.

Mid-credits scene: While digging in a graveyard, Howahkan talks to his posse, saying that he has often heard of the Wendigo taking human form, but has never seen one who could do it. Jagan, now clearly missing an arm, asks if him it’s possible to just kill Hal, and Howahkan says of course it is; but it’s not like any of them would want to become a Wendigo over a Whisperer. However, there is a way to end that cycle; self-sacrifice. If a Wendigo were to give his life force to another, that would make him human enough to permanently kill. Another posse member asks him how that would even work, and Howahkan says that everyone’s got a weakness as his shovel hits a coffin. He smiles as he looks as he shows the Mutt Riders the photo of Douglas and Rosa.

During the second part of the credits, “Old Town Road (Shiverin’ Gulch Remix)” by Lil Nas X ft. Daveed Diggs and Utkarsh Ambudkar plays.

Post-credits scene: Charlotte arrives in New Orleans and meets up with her contact, Reginald Coleman (Tim Roth). She tells her of her awful time in Shiverin’ Gulch and their apparent Wendigo infestation. Coleman’s eyes light up, as that was just the word he was looking for. After all, she called on him because he is infamous for savage hunting, and what could be more savage than a Wendigo?

 

Edited by Blankments
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