We Go On (2016) Movie Script
(somber music)
(engine revving)
(tires squeal, glass shatters)
(ragged breathing)
(siren approaching)
(chatter on emergency radio)
(inhales deeply)
(on monitor)
My name is Ronald Coaltic,
and I am not an actor,
but I've owned my model H524...
H52... uh, um...
If you want me
to remember all this shit,
at least stop with all
the goddamn distractions.
I mean, what's going on
over there?
Well, look through
this microscope.
This is what's
actually happening
right under your toes.
(whimsical music)
(crowd cheering)
(engine revs, tires squeal,
glass shatters)
(gasping)
(line trilling)
(woman on phone)
Ads, this is Rachel.
Uh, I'd like to buy an ad.
Print, online, or both'?
Both.
Business name?
I don't have a business.
Oh, you want Classifieds.
Let me transfer you.
No, no, no, no, look.
How do I get the real thing?
Like a quarter page
in someplace prominent
on your site, hmm?
Your name?
Miles Grissom, O-M.
And what's this an ad for?
I'm, uh...
I'd like to offer $30,000
to the first person that
can show me definitive proof
of life after death,
like a ghost, or...
or something
I could never doubt.
30 grand to show you a ghost?
You know how every year or two,
there's a headline that
pops up about an asteroid
that's maybe on course
to crash into Earth
and kill us all, right?
And then they say,
"Oops, never mind.
"It'll miss us.
Death from space
is canceled."
Then we get that relief.
We go on about our lives
like there's no asteroid.
But that's insane,
because really there is
still an asteroid,
that we should be afraid,
because we all have one coming,
and it's on a 100% guaranteed
collision course with you.
Your world will end.
We don't get to know when,
all we know for sure
is that it never misses.
And look,
I know that most people
are gonna be full of shit,
but in this whole city,
I mean...
maybe I find one
who can prove it to me.
Just to know for sure.
It would change everything.
Hey.
Mom?
Okay.
Wait now, before you react,
I know you hate surprises,
and I know you want me to call
before heading
all the way here from...
It's really good
to see you, Mom.
I guess I thought or hoped
you wouldn't see it.
Oh, come on, it went viral.
You know, like crazy things do.
So it's what, a work thing?
Mom, I'm serious about this.
Okay, you're making a huge
face at me right now.
Relax your face.
Aunt Lily left that money
for you to help,
and here you go
spending half of it on...
All of it.
Paid the other half for the ad.
You what?
I can't...
We agreed to find you, like,
an actual professional.
Yeah, but wouldn't it be better
if this one simple thing
saved me, instead of, I don't
know, 12 years of therapy?
I mean, I'm in LA and I
can't even drive a car.
Well, that's different.
Not everyone lost their
father to these freeways.
Yeah?
I was 3.
You'd think by now, I'd be
able to ride more than a bike.
You actually think you're
going to find something?
Look at you.
You do, don't you?
This is nothing.
Most of it's online.
Don't tell me
you're not curious.
(man)
My tutorial will prove
that the devil
was worshiped on pages
but proof here in the Bible.
Sent from the Almighty God.
When I get flashed by a light,
I get possessed by this
German Nazi soldier.
I don't know why.
I've never spoken German,
I've never been to Germany...
(man) Okay, so I got my
sister out of the hospital
just for this.
She can... she can...
h' she focuses,
she can tell the...
She has to focus,
but she can tell you
what's going to happen...
(distorted computer voice)
Dirty cheaters.
Blah!
(woman)
She only comes in
when everyone but me is asleep,
because I'm the one
she likes best.
(distorted scream)
Fake.
Definitely.
Look.
Because I can talk
to dead people.
(man on voice-mail) So you
don't believe in ghosts, huh?
Well, you should.
They're everywhere.
I can show you, I think.
Yeah, I'm with one
right now, a dead lady,
who says you've seen her already
in the...
in the grandfather clock.
She died in that place.
If you're intrigued,
maybe we should meet, yeah?
Don't have a...
I say into the loony bin
with him.
Grandfather clock?
Actually, I say
we throw him
in the "Maybe" pile.
Why?
Well, it's the only
voice-mail reply
I got from an unknown caller.
Except I didn't
give my number out.
Okay, let's see.
We've got 1,067
responses, all told.
Uh, 493 unconvincings
or incompletes.
241 for Jesus Christ.
Amen.
97 definite fakes,
91 pranks,
uh, 65 solicitors,
26 just crazy nonsense,
and 12 people who want to be
my personal
psychedelic drug guide.
But there are three
that are interesting.
You forgot the Masturbators.
No, I counted them
as solicitors.
Of what?
Okay, three candidates.
We've got the scholar,
the medium,
and the entrepreneur.
The first guy
is Dr. Ben Ellison.
We create the world around us
with our consciousness,
and that is why adults
rarely see ghosts.
They've closed that door,
they've shut it up tight
with skepticism
and suspicious questioning.
But that door can be
opened again.
(Miles tapes keyboard)
Says he got a technique
that will guarantee
a supernatural encounter.
I just like the science angle.
Number two.
This is... the medium?
Yes, Josefina,
down in Inglewood.
Works in her family's
restaurant.
I cannot show you a ghost
that doesn't want to be seen.
No one can.
But one meditation with me,
and I can show you
your own death
and you can know
everything I know.
Okay, I believe she believes it,
sure, but that isn't...
Wait, wait, all of her
references vouched.
I mean, would you prefer
one of those
reality television
ghost hunter assholes?
Okay.
Third guy's the entrepreneur.
Sexy phone voice.
Yeah, you'll like
this one, I know.
Emmett Fromm.
I spent 30 years
of my life in pursuit
of the same treasure
you're digging for.
I wanted to know for sure,
I wanted
to live my life fearlessly.
I traveled the world,
I talked to mystics, monks,
and I finally found
what I was looking for
on the top of a mountain
in Tibet.
I paid the bulk
of my worth for it.
After I opened this box,
I knew it was worth every penny.
You will have to open yourself
and see what comes out.
Hmm!
Look at this beast.
I bet you run things over
and don't even know it.
You really doing this?
Yes.
I'm going to go see
the first guy this afternoon.
The science guy?
Mm-hmm. I don't trust that guy.
You taking the bus?
Yeah.
Get in.
It's sort of on my way.
Maybe I'll go inside with you,
make sure you don't
take any shit.
(Ellison) Well, I'm thrilled,
actually, that you called me.
I mean, if nothing else,
I get to see
who the hell it was
put up this ad.
Am I what you expected?
No.
(chuckles)
So what do you do, hmm?
A video editor.
Nothing special.
Industrial shorts,
paid programming,
that sort of thing.
(Charlotte) You know when you
wake up at 3:00 in the morning
and the TV's still on
and there are these
dead-eyed, plastic people
talking excitedly
about paring knives
and you want to
just quietly die?
Thank my son.
Yeah, it is an old,
old building.
I'm sorry, I didn't mean...
You told me you were
Amaxophobic,
classic agoraphobic,
but... Seplophobia,
was that...
Yeah, anything to do
with decay or rot,
or heights, planes, and trains,
Oh, and cars.
I really hate cars.
I guess it's all kind of
the same fear, isn't it?
Yes.
You would like not to die.
And I don't blame you,
I quite agree.
You suffer from heart defects?
Circulatory issues of any kind?
Hey, what is this?
Is he in line
for a roller-coaster?
Sort of, yes.
You see, I have
a responsibility to make sure
that he is fit
and capable, and credible.
You've gotta understand,
this ad is vague.
It's somewhat ambiguous.
I mean, I could...
I could show you God himself
and you could just... you could
deny it and just walk away.
Okay, this isn't a check.
It won't bounce.
And believe me, I want
to give this to you.
Let me see.
Plus expenses, travel,
equipment rentals, all included.
Regardless of the result.
Okay.
Now, I know about your fears,
but Phasmophobia,
fear of ghosts,
that's not one of them, right?
Right.
But you did fear ghosts.
I mean, we all did.
You mean when we were little?
Yes.
Like that, like a child feels.
That is the doorway
and that's what you've
gotta get back to.
That fear.
The borders between
these worlds start to blur
when you are paralyzed by fear.
When you're powerless
because of it, like a child,
then the door opens, and...
a spirit... can appear.
You're going to try to
scare the shit out me.
(chuckling)
Yes.
When can we go?
Tomorrow night.
Where are we going?
You do that homework
that I asked you to do?
Homework?
He asked me to think of
the scariest place
I knew from childhood.
To come in with
something in mind.
Mrs. Grissom,
where are we going?
St. Timothy Middle School,
goddamn Temecula.
(Ellison) Well, what is
it about this school?
What happened there?
(Miles) Kieran Saville
was in the sixth grade
when I was in seventh.
Smaller than he should
have been, and real quiet.
He always kept to himself.
He died.
(Ellison)
Tell me about his death.
(Miles)
He died inside locker 530.
(Charlotte)
He went missing in July.
Rode his bike from his house
and didn't come back.
They had search parties,
town meetings.
They dragged the river,
remember?
(Miles) When they pried
open the locker,
Kieran was inside.
It's a small place.
No summer school, no guards.
And someone shut him
in his locker,
way up by the woodshop
on the second floor,
where no one would
come till Fall.
Whoever did it never admitted it
and never got caught.
I wonder if they still call it
"The Coffin Locker."
(dog barking)
I done night shifts
two dozen years,
and this is
the weirdest shit ever.
You got one hour.
(computer beeps)
All right, Mr. Grissom,
would you lift your shirt
for me, please?
It's all right, this is
not going to hurt one bit.
There you are.
Okay, shirt down, thank you.
Give me your hand, please.
All right, now lick that,
like you do before you
take a shot of tequila.
He's not licking anything!
No, no, no, it's
Monosodium Glutamate,
it's a salt, an amino
acid crystallize.
It'll heighten
your fear receptors.
Look, we've all three been
together the whole time.
I haven't gone
into the building,
I'm not going into the building.
I don't know what the hell
is gonna happen.
My job, all this stuff,
it is to give you
your best chance
to see what you
came here to see.
It's safe.
(wipes off hand)
Now...
you put these on, please.
Do not take these off.
You promise me.
I promise.
All right.
(muffled)
Thank you.
Mr. Grissom,
can you hear me?
All right.
Now, I want you to walk
to your starting point,
Close your eyes, and breathe.
Just watch it, please.
You know what?
You watch it.
I carry a gun in here, okay?
I got a license
and everything, so- ...
Jesus Christ.
All I'm saying is
don't fuck with my son.
(machine beeps)
Are you there,
Mr. Grissom?
(Miles)
Yes.
Your eyes still closed?
Yes.
All right.
Open them.
Start walking.
Who are we here for,
Mr. Grissom?
Tell me his name.
Kieran.
(low electric humming)
What's that?
Sounds, Mr. Grissom,
I'm sending you sounds.
(static warble)
What are you thinking
about, Mr. Grissom?
I'm thinking about him.
Kieran Saville.
Dying in a small metal box,
alone.
Call him.
Kieran?
I can't hear you,
Mr. Grissom.
Kieran!
Go to the stairs.
(humming intensifies)
(breathing heavily)
Can I take
the headphones off, please?
No.
I don't think I can...
Yes, you can.
You're not gonna stop now.
Go to the locker.
(whispers)
I'm here.
Now again, call him.
Kieran?
Open the locker.
No, I can't It's locked.
Is it?
Try.
(static warbles)
I can't move.
I can't move anything.
I can barely...
Open it!
(distorted laughter)
(locker door closes)
It's incredible.
Look at you.
You're still shaking.
I just...
It'll take some time.
No.
You just have to...
You just have to let it
settle in, all right?
No, no, no it was him.
It was him.
I mean, that's gotta be...
No, no, that is proof.
But of what, exactly?
I can't wrap my mind
around this.
(Charlotte)
Hey!
I caught the ghost.
I'm a ghost catcher,
or whatever you call it.
(Miles)
Let's just go.
We'll just get in the car.
Mr. Grissom?
The boy was a failsafe.
He was a what?
A failsafe.
I told him to come out
of the wood shop if,
and only if, nothing
happened at the locker.
Those were his instructions,
I swear to you.
You thought it would work.
It did work, or it did with me.
It just...
It's...
It's just not foolproof.
Not yet.
(engine starts)
Drive slower.
(car thumps)
Mom, careful, please.
Are the child locks on?
It's stuck.
It's been stuck like that
for Christ knows how long.
I really like the back seat.
It makes me feel like
when I was really little.
Mmm.
I used to sit back here
and look between you two.
Jesus, this car is old as hell.
I was right here looking
between you and Dad.
(Charlotte)
You really remember that?
He'd drop me off at the cleaners
on his way to the factory.
The whole drive,
we'd have these
elaborate fake arguments
over which one of us got to
take you to work with them.
You both wanted me.
Yes.
Always.
You were the greatest baby.
And whoever came up with
the best lie
for why they needed you more,
they'd win you for the day.
I'll go see the medium tomorrow,
but don't worry, there's
a bus that goes right...
I'm not going anywhere.
It's not what you think,
I'm not staying
because I think it'll work.
It won't work.
It won't.
Somewhere in you,
you know that already.
What do I know?
That we go out like lights.
What else would we do?
What if you're wrong?
If I'm wrong?
Actually, the idea of more
doesn't exactly give me relief.
Really?
Really.
You don't hope
for anything else?
No.
So you wouldn't want to
see Dad again?
I think everything should end,
no matter how good.
Enough is enough.
It's ugly to beg for more.
(utensils clanking)
Josefina?
Uh, you answered my ad.
We tried to call ahead,
but your line was dead.
We didn't mean to scare you.
Honestly.
We thought the address
you gave us
was your home address.
It is.
Upstairs.
This way.
(whispering)
Should we...
Si.
Please, sit.
Sit, please, sit.
Can I ask, why were you
so surprised to see us?
I know there are many like me.
Spirit talkers, however you say.
(Charlotte)
There are.
And the good ones in Brentwood
charge 195 an hour.
Not that they wouldn't take
30 grand, don't get me wrong.
Why do you come to me instead?
Well, the others do it
for a living.
They always seem
very much about career.
Um, I... I never
saw my ability
as something with...
with money value, but then...
I did see
your advertisement... Oh!
Whoa.
Forgive me, please,
I'm sorry, I...
It's okay.
Look, I like that you're
not from a hipster office
in Venice Beach.
Everyone else is selling
the dead relative thing,
and I don't want messages.
They don't feel like proof.
Maybe just intuition,
but you're- ...
(Speaking Spanish)
Silencio!
Before, when she whispered
to you, what did she say?
She asked if I could
see you, too.
Why would she ask that?
Why do you think?
I'm sorry, I... I should
have offered a drink.
Um, tea?
(Charlotte)
Stop, honey.
You want to tell me
what you're on?
What?
I... I don't...
What drugs you're on.
No.
I don't do that.
Senor, you didn't say
there would be two of you.
Sorry, I was just
trying to help.
Well, she's my mother,
I'm sorry.
She must not be here
for our meditation.
A skeptic looking on
will spoil any chance...
He's a skeptic, too.
That's why he's here.
But he wants to believe.
The difference is everything.
No!
Hey, hey!
Hey!
Th... They are
really bad right now.
They don't like
that you're here.
Do you see more people
in here than I do?
I have many spirits
tethered to me.
You have...
Ghost.
Many ghost.
You never mentioned this
in your video...
I never mentioned.
A haunting is a lonely thing.
No one else can see
what you see,
even the people you love
would call you... crazy.
That's why I never mentioned,
because why tell
what I cannot show?
So you're going to show me
a vision of my own death?
Si.
But not your death in this life.
The last time you died.
How many times have I died?
Closer.
By looking at you,
I think... many.
When does it start?
It's happening already.
Breathe.
I will pass it to you.
Um, this feels
a little intimate.
What you're searching for
is an intimate thing.
Look at me.
(gasps) Oh, my
God, are you okay?
No!
Oh, no, no!
(Speaking Spanish)
They will not allow it.
Oh, my God.
There are so many.
(muttering)
Por favor!
Okay, I think... I think,
I think we're done.
Did she touch you?
What is going on?
Let's just go, let's just go.
(Josephine speaking Spanish)
It's over, hon.
It didn't work.
Who's Bill?
I don't know any Bills.
Yes, Bill.
He's showing me his neck.
He suffocated.
He's warning you
to stop your mission now.
My father was William,
but he didn't suffocate.
He died in car crash,
so I don't know why...
No one called him Bill, no one.
It isn't him, it isn't anyone.
Wait!
Don't go!
I really hope you get better.
Wait!
(horn blaring)
We can see
the third guy tomorrow.
Mr. World-Traveler
Sexy-Phone-Voice lives here?
We're early.
Hey, what are you doing?
That's private.
Looking for butter-scotches.
I don't have any.
Get out of there.
Holy shit!
Is that a tiny gun?
Do you have a tiny gun in here?
Wow.
This would be almost adorable
if it wasn't an instrument
of death in my mother's purse.
It's a purse gun.
What am I supposed to do?
Take shit...
Mom, wait... just...
Hold on a sec, Mom.
(seatbelt unbuckles)
I'll be right back.
Don't shoot anyone.
Brian?
Dude!
Oh!
I haven't seen you
since graduation.
How are you, brother?
I'm, uh, good.
You?
Yeah, I'm good, good.
Great, actually, yeah.
You still doing the...
The special effects, yeah,
I'm still in it.
I got my own little company,
and it's actually
not so little anymore.
So, do you live
around here or just...
Nah, once in a blue moon,
I get the opportunity
to do a real-life set up.
You mean like...
Yeah, real-life
special effects, man.
Real life scares.
I got all my holograms
back in here,
and this guy up the way
is paying some stacks
to do some real crazy stuff.
He's got this small box, right?
He's making it out
to be Tibetan...
It's good to see you.
(munching)
There are 12 still
in the "Maybe" category.
I say we wake up tomorrow,
we make pancakes...
No.
Why keep looking?
I mean...
Be happy.
Hmph.
This is what you wanted to find.
Or not find.
I don't know.
If there's nothing after we die,
well, I guess...
I always liked that it means...
no one's watching.
It means no one's been
watching this whole time.
It means no fate,
no destiny,
no... specific stuff
I was supposed to get done
while I was here.
Best of all...
no one waiting at the end,
you know, to...
judge me.
That's what really
scares me, Miles.
Because, um...
I'm ashamed of more stuff
than I'm proud of.
And I don't want to be
judged, I really don't.
That...
That scares me so bad.
I'd rather it all be a blip
that means nothing to no one.
Because I think I failed.
I know I failed him.
But hey, somewhere
along the way,
I guess your, uh, hope
is kind of catching.
It would be good
to see him again.
(Typing on keyboard)
(Ronald)
Welcome back.
I am just chomping
at the bit here
to share with you,
our very latest model,
the Vacu-Tak 80...
Ready.
(cell phone beeps)
(man on voice-mail) So you
don't believe in ghosts, huh?
Well, you should.
They're everywhere.
I can show you, I think.
Yeah, I'm with one
right now, a dead lady,
says you've seen her
already in the...
in the grandfather clock.
She died in that place.
(phone beeps)
(keys jangle)
(exhales)
(engine starts)
(gears shift loudly)
(brakes squeal)
(emergency brake ratchets)
(muttering)
Come on, come on.
Oh, come on, come on,
come on, come on.
Don't do this.
Don't do this, Miles.
Come on, man, you've got this.
You've got it.
Come on!
(breathing raggedly)
Okay.
Okay, Okay,
Okay.
Come on.
Um...
(gears shift)
(engine revs)
(man on voice-mail) If you're intrigued,
maybe we should meet, you know?
Don't have a phone.
Don't like them.
This one's actually
borrowed, but...
You can find me most mornings
in Vista Del Mar Park, near LAX.
I take my walks there
every day, 6:00 am.
(jet passing overhead)
Hello.
Hello?
(let approaching)
You get used to it!
It's hard to believe.
Do you work here?
Yeah.
I work the runways.
You know, clean the tarmac,
change the light bulbs.
Whatever shit needs doing,
have for years.
Yeah, better not.
I have a sniffle.
Sorry, I'm Nelson.
Miles.
I'm the guy who...
Actually, you're the guy.
I'm the guy-
Tell me how you know
about the woman
in the tape I'm cutting.
I already told you my message.
She told me.
Look, you wouldn't be here
if you didn't sort of
believe me, right?
Is she the ghost
you're gonna show me,
the clock woman?
Oh, no.
She's just someone
I came across.
Look, you'll understand after.
Once you see what
I'm gonna show you,
you're kind of gonna be
in the inner circle
on this thing, and...
well... you'll be
open to it.
To them.
Like, uh, you ever drop acid?
Once.
Yeah.
Then you know.
It's kind of like that.
A door gets opened,
it doesn't get closed again.
You still want to see?
Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
I won't survive jail.
Oh, don't worry.
Yeah, no one will come looking.
This is my territory.
I know the ins and outs.
Tell me what's over there first.
You're afraid.
Yes.
Your ad didn't make you
seem like you'd be afraid.
I guess I learned along the way.
Good.
That'll help.
You know, just think
of your lady.
That's what I do.
I think of my Alice.
You ought to meet her, really.
Now you got a lady?
Just tell me what's over there.
That over there
is called Surf Ridge.
In the '30s, like old
Hollywood times, right?
The well-offs came in
and nabbed this spot.
Real nice little
beach community.
Until the baby airstrip next
door started to grow, right?
And now, it's...
wait for it...
LAX!
Yeah, it's jet fuel raining
down, it's walls shaking.
Yeah, they went packing.
Went back to Beverly Hills
or... wherever.
The place weren't worth nothing
to nobody at that point,
so they built a fence,
left it a ghost town.
What houses are left
are used for no good.
I know guys on security detail
don't even bother
snooping around no more.
Let the worst of things
stay in the dark, you know?
Or maybe you don't know.
Eh, maybe me neither.
Maybe sick twists
like you and me
gotta go poking.
That's the place, isn't it?
Yep.
Something taking up in there
that ain't human.
Not nearly.
Not anymore, anyways.
What you thinking?
Honestly?
I'm at like a 68% chance
of being robbed
and killed and raped.
You really brought
the money with you?
Yeah.
You know what?
If this is some sort
of weird stick up,
take the money and...
save me the torture.
I really can't
handle that at all.
Pay what you want.
If you want.
After.
I mean, I just want
to share, you know?
I want to get you into
that inner circle, buddy,
just like you want, okay?
I see you getting your spine.
Whenever get yourself
a lady, like my lady.
Hey, you should meet my lady.
She'd say herself.
You don't got
any worries with me.
All right, I don't got
any guns or knives.
It's not me
you're scared of, huh?
You're scared of that house
and what's inside that house.
You already know this is real.
Is it dangerous?
Depends what you mean.
Better see for yourself.
Might want to hold your nose.
Lots of strays get in and shit
and die and God knows what.
I'm pretty used to it.
It's pretty ripe.
(Miles groans)
Hey.
First door on the left.
That's where he is.
(cat screeches)
Hmm.
Open it.
(chuckles)
(jet passing overhead)
(distorted)
Surprise.
Now we're together.
(plane flying overhead)
(muttering)
Oh, God, oh, Jesus, oh, Jesus.
(jet passing overhead)
(gasping)
Breathe, Miles,
breathe, breathe.
Breathe.
Oh, my God, you're okay.
You're okay.
You're okay,
you're okay, you're okay.
No, you're not.
You look like pure shit.
Do you know a guy named Nelson?
Yeah.
He's in Surf Ridge
in an abandoned house, upstairs.
Tell them that he's dead
in that place.
Oh, dear.
(laughing)
(jet passing overhead)
(engine starts)
(cell phone ringing)
Mom'?
Are you...
(Nelson)
Surprise.
(car radio turns on,
overlapping distorted voices)
(car horn blares)
(voices whispering)
(driver on PA)
Next stop, Robertson.
(distorted screaming)
(inhales deeply)
(driver)
Next stop, Crenshaw.
Crenshaw coming up.
(distorted voices whispering)
Mom! Mom!
Mom?
Mom?
Hi, baby boy...
Oh, Jesus!
Oh!
(Chokes)
You smell horrible!
Mom, wait...
Why do you smell
like shit and rot?
(static distortion)
Mom, shut off the TV, please.
It is off.
Miles, what were you
thinking driving alone?
I'm having...
You can't even walk
down the street by your...
I just saw a dead man...
I don't understand, just...
Listen!
Something terrible happened
and it hasn't stopped happening.
It's still happening.
What's wrong with your eyes?
I see terrible things
at the back of my eyelids
when I...
so I'm trying not to blink.
When I do... please don't
make me think about it,
because then it just happens.
Miles...
somebody dosed you.
What?
Somebody?
Dosed you!
Drugged you!
They did, didn't they?
Somebody... slipped
you something
and made you see God knows what,
and now you're on
a bad trip and...
Hey, Miles, you're
going to be fine.
You are.
You just... you have to
get cleaned up,
and, uh, we'll
take you to a Doctor...
My keys, my car...
where is it?
So, you met a man who...
took you to see his own ghost?
No.
I met a ghost who took me
to see his own dead body.
The man on the voice-mail
message we heard,
the unknown caller?
He's not a man.
Not a man, okay.
But, well, he called you, right?
Actually, no.
It never rang.
Never got a missed call.
It was just a message,
so that must mean...
Mr. Grissom.
(distorted hissing scream)
Please, please,
just try to relax, okay?
Oh, my God.
Okay!
Oh, my God, Mom, make it stop!
Make it stop, make it stop.
There's nothing there.
Honey, there's nothing there!
Oh, my God, Mom.
It's not in my blood.
It's not a bad trip, Mom.
I'm haunted!
I'm haunted, he's still here!
I believe you, I believe you.
It isn't drugs,
but it is in you.
Bill was afraid, too.
Bill?
Dad?
You called him that.
What happened to him?
I found him hanging.
After they said he...
suffocated because...
the neck didn't break
how he wanted
when the rope...
when it...
What you never knew
is that your father
was afraid all the time.
Afraid of ghosts?
No.
The world, like you,
when this started.
By then, it was heights
and cars, it was people,
it was fire and water
and it was just...
It was all closing
in around him.
The note he left said to lie.
That... that everyone
should lie.
I think he thought if you knew,
then you'd grow up
expecting it to happen.
She wasn't a fake.
Josefina was the real thing.
Oh, my God.
That was Dad in the room.
He was trying to
tell me something.
He's trying to warn me.
And you lied.
Stop, stop the bus!
How far you going?
Inglewood.
I don't know, man.
He don't exactly look normal.
You have to ride
in the back, fella.
(distorted scream)
Josefina, please!
Sir, we're closed.
You have to go.
Come.
Hey.
(Speaking Spanish)
His toy was stepped on,
and he's not sleepy yet.
But he will fix it, see?
Come on.
Don't let go.
Hey, and sit.
Don't look.
You can relax.
Hey.
Hey.
You're safe.
No.
Look.
Do you see him?
Si.
He's your ghost now,
and he's everywhere you are.
Don't think about him.
I can hold him back for a while.
I know how you suffer.
I know, I know.
He wants to kill me.
The last thing the spirit
wants is to kill you.
He did not intend to die.
If you die, he will
pass with you.
He cannot take you over.
He cannot kill you.
He's tethered to you,
it's what I call it,
but everybody knows about it.
I don't.
Si, you do.
When my Mama passed,
she tethered to my Dad.
She rode along with him
like a passenger in a car.
She rode with him
for a whole month.
And then one day
he felt her just... go.
Just don't die.
Lift off like a balloon.
There's someone in every family
who can tell the same story.
But your ghost was a man
who died unloved.
They need a willing
stranger to attach.
Did he bring you to the body?
I had one that took me
in that way.
So how do I get him off,
or out, or...
untethered?
He must choose to untie,
but he will never do that.
Never?
For him, the Light is like fire.
He will never go in.
Maybe he won't go alone.
What are you saying?
He was in love with a girl.
He told me about her
when we met.
Alice.
He shows her to me sometimes.
I think he wants me to find her.
You know what he's asking for.
Yes.
He wants me to kill her,
so that he can
take her with him.
Some of my tethers,
they want me to do
terrible things,
but if you want to
take a life to save your own,
now your life
is not worth saving.
When I bought that ad,
I was so sure
I'd be glad to find anything.
Now I know a little more
why Mom wants just wants
to go to sleep at the end.
You haven't heard
the good part yet.
What's the good part?
I will show you.
The ghost who haunts you
is proof only of what happens
when we are afraid
to leave this world.
But when we finally do,
what happens then
is another story.
It's like home.
Arms all around you.
It's like a whole other memory
that come flooding back,
that was in the tip of
your brain the whole time.
Remember now
what it was like to die...
and what came after.
Wow.
We get to be young again.
Josefina?
What stops you from ending it?
Ending it yourself and just
getting to the good part?
I will never do that.
And neither will you.
Promise.
If we do that, we miss
the entire point.
We are not in this life
to be comfortable
or to be satisfied.
We are here for the adventure.
Got any change?
God bless you!
I need it badly.
If you got anymore.
I was in a terrible fire.
Keep it together, dude.
(engine starts)
Keep it together, dude.
Keep it together, dude.
Keep it together, dude.
Keep it together, dude.
Oh, keep it together, dude.
Keep it together, dude.
Keep it together, dude.
Ahh!
Sorry.
Keep it together, dude.
(key jangles)
(tapping on window)
(door handle jiggles)
Got your car back.
I see that.
Thank you.
Miles...
I'm sorry.
Did you see her?
I saw Josefina.
She could see Nelson.
You mean...
My ghost.
I know you don't
believe a word...
Nelson Kinny.
LAX runway worker.
They found the body.
It was on the news, and...
He's here, now, isn't he?
Yes.
Do you see him?
No.
Well, for a second, I thought...
It's because you're
scared now, too.
You're starting to believe me.
I believe you.
I believe you.
What did she tell you?
I mean, is there
something we can do to...
Nothing.
There's nothing.
(static hissing)
There is something.
Don't lie to me.
Miles... tell me
what she said.
Oh!
I'm sorry.
It's okay, it's okay.
I just...
It's all right.
It's just an egg.
I'm going to fix it.
Here we go, no big deal.
So, this girl, Alice,
do you think you'd recognize
her face if we have...
Enough.
We're not talking
about her, you promised.
There's only one option here,
and it's not really
an option, so just...
Don't tell me
what my options are.
I never hurt anybody on purpose,
but when it comes to my son,
there's no such thing as morals,
no right and wrong.
I'd personally end innocent
lives by the goddamn dozens
if it meant...
you could be alive,
if it meant you could be happy.
I call that worth it.
I call that being a mother
and having a son.
(sighs)
(priest)
The virtuous man,
though he die before
his time, will find rest.
The length of days
is not what makes age honorable,
nor years
the true measure of life...
(Miles)
How many do you see?
Three plus a priest.
Not four?
(hissing)
He has sought to please God,
so God has loved him.
Your funeral's pathetic, Nelson,
you sad son of a bitch.
He has been taken up,
he has been carried off
so that evil may not
warp his understanding
or treachery seduce his soul,
for the fascination of evil
throws good things
into the shade,
and the whirlwind of desire
corrupts a simple heart.
Coming to perfection
in so short a time,
he achieved long life.
His soul being pleasing
to the Lord.
He is taken in quickly
from the wickedness around him.
It does not enter their heads
that grace and mercy
await the chosen of the Lord
and protection, his holy ones.
The Lord bless you and keep you.
The Lord make His face
shine upon you
and be gracious to you.
The Lord lift up
His countenance upon you
and give you peace.
Beautiful service.
(withering chuckle)
Hmph.
Hmm.
You're Alice.
Nelson told me about you.
I'm Miles.
I worked with him.
YOU?
Greasy runway rat?
Really?
Nelson described me so damn well
you could spot me like this?
Yeah.
I mean, no.
He had pictures.
He had pictures?
Son of a bitch.
I'm very sorry for your loss.
My loss?
I thought you said you knew him.
I did care for him.
A long time ago.
This one never did get it
straight in his head
how I'd never feel
what he felt, and...
well, he kept coming.
Never did stop.
Never did stop with
the needles, either.
When I heard he'd gone missing,
I already had it figured
for an OD'er.
OD'er?
As in "OD."
As in oh, dear,
you shot too much shit
and croaked, you stupid asshole.
I'm glad he's gone.
I shouldn't say that here.
I'm glad you're gone.
You see him?
I... I thought I did.
Tell me what is happening.
Now.
It's Nelson.
No.
Look, Alice...
Alice calm down, okay?
Calm down.
Alice, look at me, please.
Nelson is wherever I go.
He's haunting me.
He's my ghost.
Make this stop.
He can't hurt you.
But he wants to, doesn't he?
Only because he didn't
want to leave...
and he's scared to go alone.
He wants you to hurt me.
Alice...
Alice, I promise you,
I will live the rest of my life
making sure that Nelson
never gets what he wants.
I promise, you'll be safe.
You can say goodbye to him now.
And you can mean it.
(whispering indistinctly)
(gun cocks)
(Click)
(empty chamber clicking)
(screaming)
(sobbing)
Mom...
(sobbing loudly)
What the hell happens now?
Now?
Now I learn to live
with a ghost.
Maybe I'll be able to...
sleep through the night
every now and then.
Maybe I'll be able
to tell the dead ones
from the real ones on my own.
And if I have to drag
Nelson Kinny through my life
and never give him
what he really wants...
then maybe I can find
a few things
that make him happy.
I'll take him for his
6:00 a.m. walks by the airport,
let him hear the planes.
I think he likes the sound.
If I do that for him...
maybe he'll let me feel normal.
(laughing)
Just here and there.
Enough to justify going on.
(gasps)
Maybe I won't get better.
If I don't get better, then...
well...
If you die,
he will pass with you.
You're not ready, not yet.
I'll stay
for another day or two.
Mom, Mom, come on.
I'm ready.
Okay?
(sighs)
I have to try.
Oh, um, will you drop this off
for me on your way out of town?
Look, call to say
you made it fine.
(engine starts)
(clanking)
Excuse me, is Josefina here?
She can't see you today.
I have something I need
to give to her in person.
It's very important.
Josefina is very bad
with spirit today.
I understand, but, um...
Muy importante.
Si.
Come with us.
Thank you.
(airplane whooshing)
You looking for me...
or him?
You.
I was hoping not to see him.
I was thinking...
well, I was feeling
sorry for you.
Really?
Well, I guess you are
the only one who has any idea
what it's like to have
Nelson on your ass
every second of the day.
I've actually been
back there a few times.
To the grave.
Really?
Yeah.
Just I don't know,
talk to him, you know?
Make a bit of peace.
I told him he should let you go.
Told him I liked you
and you seem decent to me.
Wish it had worked.
You got a lady
in your life, Miles?
(airplane whooshing)
Seora...
your visitor is back.
Bill... he is
showing me his neck,
where he hung from the rope.
He's...
He's here?
Bill?
I can feel him.
What is he... please,
tell me what he's saying.
He say you turn around.
Turn around?
You turn your car around
and go back to your son!
Go! Go now!
(grunting)
(whispering)
Oh, my God.
Oh, Jesus...
I'm so sorry.
I would have never hurt you.
No, you would.
You don't get it.
Nelson, he wears you down.
That's what he does.
And eventually you'd have come.
I can't take
that chance, damn it.
I have a boy now.
I had a boy with another man,
and Nelson was so angry,
he told me he'd
bury my baby alive.
He said that... and...
Jesus, a mother
has to do something.
So I told him we could go
get high at the ghost town,
like the old days.
And I tainted his dose...
shot up three needles full.
(screaming)
I had to.
(airplane whooshing)
You gotta take him
out of here for good now.
Okay?
(weakly)
I will.
God bless you.
Nelson?
Do you hear me in there?
Burn in hell.
(whispering) There ls no hell.
(airplane whooshing)
(Young Charlotte) I think that
Miles has to come with me today
because he's so good at finding
all the buttons on
the floor, so I need him.
I need him today
at the dry-cleaners.
Uh-huh, that's good,
that's good, that's good.
I need him at work today
because he reattaches
my knee pads
every time I finish
with my lunch break.
He's the perfect height to
put those knee pads back on.
Yeah, I need him at work today.
Miles is the only one
who speaks Spanish.
That's ridiculous, I win.
(laughing)
Why don't we let him decide, Bill?
Mm.
Okay, Miles,
time to make a choice.
Do you want to go
with Dad today, or with Mom?
What'll it be?
Mom or Dad?
Mama!
(giggling)
Pulse check.
(coughing and gasping)
There we go.
We got him.
(police radio chatter)
(coughing) Oh, God.
Thank you, thank you.
Mama...
I died.
But you came back to me, kid.
And I came back alone.
(car alarm chirps)
(cell phone ringing)
(grunts)
(ringing continues)
(engine revving)
(tires squeal, glass shatters)
(ragged breathing)
(siren approaching)
(chatter on emergency radio)
(inhales deeply)
(on monitor)
My name is Ronald Coaltic,
and I am not an actor,
but I've owned my model H524...
H52... uh, um...
If you want me
to remember all this shit,
at least stop with all
the goddamn distractions.
I mean, what's going on
over there?
Well, look through
this microscope.
This is what's
actually happening
right under your toes.
(whimsical music)
(crowd cheering)
(engine revs, tires squeal,
glass shatters)
(gasping)
(line trilling)
(woman on phone)
Ads, this is Rachel.
Uh, I'd like to buy an ad.
Print, online, or both'?
Both.
Business name?
I don't have a business.
Oh, you want Classifieds.
Let me transfer you.
No, no, no, no, look.
How do I get the real thing?
Like a quarter page
in someplace prominent
on your site, hmm?
Your name?
Miles Grissom, O-M.
And what's this an ad for?
I'm, uh...
I'd like to offer $30,000
to the first person that
can show me definitive proof
of life after death,
like a ghost, or...
or something
I could never doubt.
30 grand to show you a ghost?
You know how every year or two,
there's a headline that
pops up about an asteroid
that's maybe on course
to crash into Earth
and kill us all, right?
And then they say,
"Oops, never mind.
"It'll miss us.
Death from space
is canceled."
Then we get that relief.
We go on about our lives
like there's no asteroid.
But that's insane,
because really there is
still an asteroid,
that we should be afraid,
because we all have one coming,
and it's on a 100% guaranteed
collision course with you.
Your world will end.
We don't get to know when,
all we know for sure
is that it never misses.
And look,
I know that most people
are gonna be full of shit,
but in this whole city,
I mean...
maybe I find one
who can prove it to me.
Just to know for sure.
It would change everything.
Hey.
Mom?
Okay.
Wait now, before you react,
I know you hate surprises,
and I know you want me to call
before heading
all the way here from...
It's really good
to see you, Mom.
I guess I thought or hoped
you wouldn't see it.
Oh, come on, it went viral.
You know, like crazy things do.
So it's what, a work thing?
Mom, I'm serious about this.
Okay, you're making a huge
face at me right now.
Relax your face.
Aunt Lily left that money
for you to help,
and here you go
spending half of it on...
All of it.
Paid the other half for the ad.
You what?
I can't...
We agreed to find you, like,
an actual professional.
Yeah, but wouldn't it be better
if this one simple thing
saved me, instead of, I don't
know, 12 years of therapy?
I mean, I'm in LA and I
can't even drive a car.
Well, that's different.
Not everyone lost their
father to these freeways.
Yeah?
I was 3.
You'd think by now, I'd be
able to ride more than a bike.
You actually think you're
going to find something?
Look at you.
You do, don't you?
This is nothing.
Most of it's online.
Don't tell me
you're not curious.
(man)
My tutorial will prove
that the devil
was worshiped on pages
but proof here in the Bible.
Sent from the Almighty God.
When I get flashed by a light,
I get possessed by this
German Nazi soldier.
I don't know why.
I've never spoken German,
I've never been to Germany...
(man) Okay, so I got my
sister out of the hospital
just for this.
She can... she can...
h' she focuses,
she can tell the...
She has to focus,
but she can tell you
what's going to happen...
(distorted computer voice)
Dirty cheaters.
Blah!
(woman)
She only comes in
when everyone but me is asleep,
because I'm the one
she likes best.
(distorted scream)
Fake.
Definitely.
Look.
Because I can talk
to dead people.
(man on voice-mail) So you
don't believe in ghosts, huh?
Well, you should.
They're everywhere.
I can show you, I think.
Yeah, I'm with one
right now, a dead lady,
who says you've seen her already
in the...
in the grandfather clock.
She died in that place.
If you're intrigued,
maybe we should meet, yeah?
Don't have a...
I say into the loony bin
with him.
Grandfather clock?
Actually, I say
we throw him
in the "Maybe" pile.
Why?
Well, it's the only
voice-mail reply
I got from an unknown caller.
Except I didn't
give my number out.
Okay, let's see.
We've got 1,067
responses, all told.
Uh, 493 unconvincings
or incompletes.
241 for Jesus Christ.
Amen.
97 definite fakes,
91 pranks,
uh, 65 solicitors,
26 just crazy nonsense,
and 12 people who want to be
my personal
psychedelic drug guide.
But there are three
that are interesting.
You forgot the Masturbators.
No, I counted them
as solicitors.
Of what?
Okay, three candidates.
We've got the scholar,
the medium,
and the entrepreneur.
The first guy
is Dr. Ben Ellison.
We create the world around us
with our consciousness,
and that is why adults
rarely see ghosts.
They've closed that door,
they've shut it up tight
with skepticism
and suspicious questioning.
But that door can be
opened again.
(Miles tapes keyboard)
Says he got a technique
that will guarantee
a supernatural encounter.
I just like the science angle.
Number two.
This is... the medium?
Yes, Josefina,
down in Inglewood.
Works in her family's
restaurant.
I cannot show you a ghost
that doesn't want to be seen.
No one can.
But one meditation with me,
and I can show you
your own death
and you can know
everything I know.
Okay, I believe she believes it,
sure, but that isn't...
Wait, wait, all of her
references vouched.
I mean, would you prefer
one of those
reality television
ghost hunter assholes?
Okay.
Third guy's the entrepreneur.
Sexy phone voice.
Yeah, you'll like
this one, I know.
Emmett Fromm.
I spent 30 years
of my life in pursuit
of the same treasure
you're digging for.
I wanted to know for sure,
I wanted
to live my life fearlessly.
I traveled the world,
I talked to mystics, monks,
and I finally found
what I was looking for
on the top of a mountain
in Tibet.
I paid the bulk
of my worth for it.
After I opened this box,
I knew it was worth every penny.
You will have to open yourself
and see what comes out.
Hmm!
Look at this beast.
I bet you run things over
and don't even know it.
You really doing this?
Yes.
I'm going to go see
the first guy this afternoon.
The science guy?
Mm-hmm. I don't trust that guy.
You taking the bus?
Yeah.
Get in.
It's sort of on my way.
Maybe I'll go inside with you,
make sure you don't
take any shit.
(Ellison) Well, I'm thrilled,
actually, that you called me.
I mean, if nothing else,
I get to see
who the hell it was
put up this ad.
Am I what you expected?
No.
(chuckles)
So what do you do, hmm?
A video editor.
Nothing special.
Industrial shorts,
paid programming,
that sort of thing.
(Charlotte) You know when you
wake up at 3:00 in the morning
and the TV's still on
and there are these
dead-eyed, plastic people
talking excitedly
about paring knives
and you want to
just quietly die?
Thank my son.
Yeah, it is an old,
old building.
I'm sorry, I didn't mean...
You told me you were
Amaxophobic,
classic agoraphobic,
but... Seplophobia,
was that...
Yeah, anything to do
with decay or rot,
or heights, planes, and trains,
Oh, and cars.
I really hate cars.
I guess it's all kind of
the same fear, isn't it?
Yes.
You would like not to die.
And I don't blame you,
I quite agree.
You suffer from heart defects?
Circulatory issues of any kind?
Hey, what is this?
Is he in line
for a roller-coaster?
Sort of, yes.
You see, I have
a responsibility to make sure
that he is fit
and capable, and credible.
You've gotta understand,
this ad is vague.
It's somewhat ambiguous.
I mean, I could...
I could show you God himself
and you could just... you could
deny it and just walk away.
Okay, this isn't a check.
It won't bounce.
And believe me, I want
to give this to you.
Let me see.
Plus expenses, travel,
equipment rentals, all included.
Regardless of the result.
Okay.
Now, I know about your fears,
but Phasmophobia,
fear of ghosts,
that's not one of them, right?
Right.
But you did fear ghosts.
I mean, we all did.
You mean when we were little?
Yes.
Like that, like a child feels.
That is the doorway
and that's what you've
gotta get back to.
That fear.
The borders between
these worlds start to blur
when you are paralyzed by fear.
When you're powerless
because of it, like a child,
then the door opens, and...
a spirit... can appear.
You're going to try to
scare the shit out me.
(chuckling)
Yes.
When can we go?
Tomorrow night.
Where are we going?
You do that homework
that I asked you to do?
Homework?
He asked me to think of
the scariest place
I knew from childhood.
To come in with
something in mind.
Mrs. Grissom,
where are we going?
St. Timothy Middle School,
goddamn Temecula.
(Ellison) Well, what is
it about this school?
What happened there?
(Miles) Kieran Saville
was in the sixth grade
when I was in seventh.
Smaller than he should
have been, and real quiet.
He always kept to himself.
He died.
(Ellison)
Tell me about his death.
(Miles)
He died inside locker 530.
(Charlotte)
He went missing in July.
Rode his bike from his house
and didn't come back.
They had search parties,
town meetings.
They dragged the river,
remember?
(Miles) When they pried
open the locker,
Kieran was inside.
It's a small place.
No summer school, no guards.
And someone shut him
in his locker,
way up by the woodshop
on the second floor,
where no one would
come till Fall.
Whoever did it never admitted it
and never got caught.
I wonder if they still call it
"The Coffin Locker."
(dog barking)
I done night shifts
two dozen years,
and this is
the weirdest shit ever.
You got one hour.
(computer beeps)
All right, Mr. Grissom,
would you lift your shirt
for me, please?
It's all right, this is
not going to hurt one bit.
There you are.
Okay, shirt down, thank you.
Give me your hand, please.
All right, now lick that,
like you do before you
take a shot of tequila.
He's not licking anything!
No, no, no, it's
Monosodium Glutamate,
it's a salt, an amino
acid crystallize.
It'll heighten
your fear receptors.
Look, we've all three been
together the whole time.
I haven't gone
into the building,
I'm not going into the building.
I don't know what the hell
is gonna happen.
My job, all this stuff,
it is to give you
your best chance
to see what you
came here to see.
It's safe.
(wipes off hand)
Now...
you put these on, please.
Do not take these off.
You promise me.
I promise.
All right.
(muffled)
Thank you.
Mr. Grissom,
can you hear me?
All right.
Now, I want you to walk
to your starting point,
Close your eyes, and breathe.
Just watch it, please.
You know what?
You watch it.
I carry a gun in here, okay?
I got a license
and everything, so- ...
Jesus Christ.
All I'm saying is
don't fuck with my son.
(machine beeps)
Are you there,
Mr. Grissom?
(Miles)
Yes.
Your eyes still closed?
Yes.
All right.
Open them.
Start walking.
Who are we here for,
Mr. Grissom?
Tell me his name.
Kieran.
(low electric humming)
What's that?
Sounds, Mr. Grissom,
I'm sending you sounds.
(static warble)
What are you thinking
about, Mr. Grissom?
I'm thinking about him.
Kieran Saville.
Dying in a small metal box,
alone.
Call him.
Kieran?
I can't hear you,
Mr. Grissom.
Kieran!
Go to the stairs.
(humming intensifies)
(breathing heavily)
Can I take
the headphones off, please?
No.
I don't think I can...
Yes, you can.
You're not gonna stop now.
Go to the locker.
(whispers)
I'm here.
Now again, call him.
Kieran?
Open the locker.
No, I can't It's locked.
Is it?
Try.
(static warbles)
I can't move.
I can't move anything.
I can barely...
Open it!
(distorted laughter)
(locker door closes)
It's incredible.
Look at you.
You're still shaking.
I just...
It'll take some time.
No.
You just have to...
You just have to let it
settle in, all right?
No, no, no it was him.
It was him.
I mean, that's gotta be...
No, no, that is proof.
But of what, exactly?
I can't wrap my mind
around this.
(Charlotte)
Hey!
I caught the ghost.
I'm a ghost catcher,
or whatever you call it.
(Miles)
Let's just go.
We'll just get in the car.
Mr. Grissom?
The boy was a failsafe.
He was a what?
A failsafe.
I told him to come out
of the wood shop if,
and only if, nothing
happened at the locker.
Those were his instructions,
I swear to you.
You thought it would work.
It did work, or it did with me.
It just...
It's...
It's just not foolproof.
Not yet.
(engine starts)
Drive slower.
(car thumps)
Mom, careful, please.
Are the child locks on?
It's stuck.
It's been stuck like that
for Christ knows how long.
I really like the back seat.
It makes me feel like
when I was really little.
Mmm.
I used to sit back here
and look between you two.
Jesus, this car is old as hell.
I was right here looking
between you and Dad.
(Charlotte)
You really remember that?
He'd drop me off at the cleaners
on his way to the factory.
The whole drive,
we'd have these
elaborate fake arguments
over which one of us got to
take you to work with them.
You both wanted me.
Yes.
Always.
You were the greatest baby.
And whoever came up with
the best lie
for why they needed you more,
they'd win you for the day.
I'll go see the medium tomorrow,
but don't worry, there's
a bus that goes right...
I'm not going anywhere.
It's not what you think,
I'm not staying
because I think it'll work.
It won't work.
It won't.
Somewhere in you,
you know that already.
What do I know?
That we go out like lights.
What else would we do?
What if you're wrong?
If I'm wrong?
Actually, the idea of more
doesn't exactly give me relief.
Really?
Really.
You don't hope
for anything else?
No.
So you wouldn't want to
see Dad again?
I think everything should end,
no matter how good.
Enough is enough.
It's ugly to beg for more.
(utensils clanking)
Josefina?
Uh, you answered my ad.
We tried to call ahead,
but your line was dead.
We didn't mean to scare you.
Honestly.
We thought the address
you gave us
was your home address.
It is.
Upstairs.
This way.
(whispering)
Should we...
Si.
Please, sit.
Sit, please, sit.
Can I ask, why were you
so surprised to see us?
I know there are many like me.
Spirit talkers, however you say.
(Charlotte)
There are.
And the good ones in Brentwood
charge 195 an hour.
Not that they wouldn't take
30 grand, don't get me wrong.
Why do you come to me instead?
Well, the others do it
for a living.
They always seem
very much about career.
Um, I... I never
saw my ability
as something with...
with money value, but then...
I did see
your advertisement... Oh!
Whoa.
Forgive me, please,
I'm sorry, I...
It's okay.
Look, I like that you're
not from a hipster office
in Venice Beach.
Everyone else is selling
the dead relative thing,
and I don't want messages.
They don't feel like proof.
Maybe just intuition,
but you're- ...
(Speaking Spanish)
Silencio!
Before, when she whispered
to you, what did she say?
She asked if I could
see you, too.
Why would she ask that?
Why do you think?
I'm sorry, I... I should
have offered a drink.
Um, tea?
(Charlotte)
Stop, honey.
You want to tell me
what you're on?
What?
I... I don't...
What drugs you're on.
No.
I don't do that.
Senor, you didn't say
there would be two of you.
Sorry, I was just
trying to help.
Well, she's my mother,
I'm sorry.
She must not be here
for our meditation.
A skeptic looking on
will spoil any chance...
He's a skeptic, too.
That's why he's here.
But he wants to believe.
The difference is everything.
No!
Hey, hey!
Hey!
Th... They are
really bad right now.
They don't like
that you're here.
Do you see more people
in here than I do?
I have many spirits
tethered to me.
You have...
Ghost.
Many ghost.
You never mentioned this
in your video...
I never mentioned.
A haunting is a lonely thing.
No one else can see
what you see,
even the people you love
would call you... crazy.
That's why I never mentioned,
because why tell
what I cannot show?
So you're going to show me
a vision of my own death?
Si.
But not your death in this life.
The last time you died.
How many times have I died?
Closer.
By looking at you,
I think... many.
When does it start?
It's happening already.
Breathe.
I will pass it to you.
Um, this feels
a little intimate.
What you're searching for
is an intimate thing.
Look at me.
(gasps) Oh, my
God, are you okay?
No!
Oh, no, no!
(Speaking Spanish)
They will not allow it.
Oh, my God.
There are so many.
(muttering)
Por favor!
Okay, I think... I think,
I think we're done.
Did she touch you?
What is going on?
Let's just go, let's just go.
(Josephine speaking Spanish)
It's over, hon.
It didn't work.
Who's Bill?
I don't know any Bills.
Yes, Bill.
He's showing me his neck.
He suffocated.
He's warning you
to stop your mission now.
My father was William,
but he didn't suffocate.
He died in car crash,
so I don't know why...
No one called him Bill, no one.
It isn't him, it isn't anyone.
Wait!
Don't go!
I really hope you get better.
Wait!
(horn blaring)
We can see
the third guy tomorrow.
Mr. World-Traveler
Sexy-Phone-Voice lives here?
We're early.
Hey, what are you doing?
That's private.
Looking for butter-scotches.
I don't have any.
Get out of there.
Holy shit!
Is that a tiny gun?
Do you have a tiny gun in here?
Wow.
This would be almost adorable
if it wasn't an instrument
of death in my mother's purse.
It's a purse gun.
What am I supposed to do?
Take shit...
Mom, wait... just...
Hold on a sec, Mom.
(seatbelt unbuckles)
I'll be right back.
Don't shoot anyone.
Brian?
Dude!
Oh!
I haven't seen you
since graduation.
How are you, brother?
I'm, uh, good.
You?
Yeah, I'm good, good.
Great, actually, yeah.
You still doing the...
The special effects, yeah,
I'm still in it.
I got my own little company,
and it's actually
not so little anymore.
So, do you live
around here or just...
Nah, once in a blue moon,
I get the opportunity
to do a real-life set up.
You mean like...
Yeah, real-life
special effects, man.
Real life scares.
I got all my holograms
back in here,
and this guy up the way
is paying some stacks
to do some real crazy stuff.
He's got this small box, right?
He's making it out
to be Tibetan...
It's good to see you.
(munching)
There are 12 still
in the "Maybe" category.
I say we wake up tomorrow,
we make pancakes...
No.
Why keep looking?
I mean...
Be happy.
Hmph.
This is what you wanted to find.
Or not find.
I don't know.
If there's nothing after we die,
well, I guess...
I always liked that it means...
no one's watching.
It means no one's been
watching this whole time.
It means no fate,
no destiny,
no... specific stuff
I was supposed to get done
while I was here.
Best of all...
no one waiting at the end,
you know, to...
judge me.
That's what really
scares me, Miles.
Because, um...
I'm ashamed of more stuff
than I'm proud of.
And I don't want to be
judged, I really don't.
That...
That scares me so bad.
I'd rather it all be a blip
that means nothing to no one.
Because I think I failed.
I know I failed him.
But hey, somewhere
along the way,
I guess your, uh, hope
is kind of catching.
It would be good
to see him again.
(Typing on keyboard)
(Ronald)
Welcome back.
I am just chomping
at the bit here
to share with you,
our very latest model,
the Vacu-Tak 80...
Ready.
(cell phone beeps)
(man on voice-mail) So you
don't believe in ghosts, huh?
Well, you should.
They're everywhere.
I can show you, I think.
Yeah, I'm with one
right now, a dead lady,
says you've seen her
already in the...
in the grandfather clock.
She died in that place.
(phone beeps)
(keys jangle)
(exhales)
(engine starts)
(gears shift loudly)
(brakes squeal)
(emergency brake ratchets)
(muttering)
Come on, come on.
Oh, come on, come on,
come on, come on.
Don't do this.
Don't do this, Miles.
Come on, man, you've got this.
You've got it.
Come on!
(breathing raggedly)
Okay.
Okay, Okay,
Okay.
Come on.
Um...
(gears shift)
(engine revs)
(man on voice-mail) If you're intrigued,
maybe we should meet, you know?
Don't have a phone.
Don't like them.
This one's actually
borrowed, but...
You can find me most mornings
in Vista Del Mar Park, near LAX.
I take my walks there
every day, 6:00 am.
(jet passing overhead)
Hello.
Hello?
(let approaching)
You get used to it!
It's hard to believe.
Do you work here?
Yeah.
I work the runways.
You know, clean the tarmac,
change the light bulbs.
Whatever shit needs doing,
have for years.
Yeah, better not.
I have a sniffle.
Sorry, I'm Nelson.
Miles.
I'm the guy who...
Actually, you're the guy.
I'm the guy-
Tell me how you know
about the woman
in the tape I'm cutting.
I already told you my message.
She told me.
Look, you wouldn't be here
if you didn't sort of
believe me, right?
Is she the ghost
you're gonna show me,
the clock woman?
Oh, no.
She's just someone
I came across.
Look, you'll understand after.
Once you see what
I'm gonna show you,
you're kind of gonna be
in the inner circle
on this thing, and...
well... you'll be
open to it.
To them.
Like, uh, you ever drop acid?
Once.
Yeah.
Then you know.
It's kind of like that.
A door gets opened,
it doesn't get closed again.
You still want to see?
Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
I won't survive jail.
Oh, don't worry.
Yeah, no one will come looking.
This is my territory.
I know the ins and outs.
Tell me what's over there first.
You're afraid.
Yes.
Your ad didn't make you
seem like you'd be afraid.
I guess I learned along the way.
Good.
That'll help.
You know, just think
of your lady.
That's what I do.
I think of my Alice.
You ought to meet her, really.
Now you got a lady?
Just tell me what's over there.
That over there
is called Surf Ridge.
In the '30s, like old
Hollywood times, right?
The well-offs came in
and nabbed this spot.
Real nice little
beach community.
Until the baby airstrip next
door started to grow, right?
And now, it's...
wait for it...
LAX!
Yeah, it's jet fuel raining
down, it's walls shaking.
Yeah, they went packing.
Went back to Beverly Hills
or... wherever.
The place weren't worth nothing
to nobody at that point,
so they built a fence,
left it a ghost town.
What houses are left
are used for no good.
I know guys on security detail
don't even bother
snooping around no more.
Let the worst of things
stay in the dark, you know?
Or maybe you don't know.
Eh, maybe me neither.
Maybe sick twists
like you and me
gotta go poking.
That's the place, isn't it?
Yep.
Something taking up in there
that ain't human.
Not nearly.
Not anymore, anyways.
What you thinking?
Honestly?
I'm at like a 68% chance
of being robbed
and killed and raped.
You really brought
the money with you?
Yeah.
You know what?
If this is some sort
of weird stick up,
take the money and...
save me the torture.
I really can't
handle that at all.
Pay what you want.
If you want.
After.
I mean, I just want
to share, you know?
I want to get you into
that inner circle, buddy,
just like you want, okay?
I see you getting your spine.
Whenever get yourself
a lady, like my lady.
Hey, you should meet my lady.
She'd say herself.
You don't got
any worries with me.
All right, I don't got
any guns or knives.
It's not me
you're scared of, huh?
You're scared of that house
and what's inside that house.
You already know this is real.
Is it dangerous?
Depends what you mean.
Better see for yourself.
Might want to hold your nose.
Lots of strays get in and shit
and die and God knows what.
I'm pretty used to it.
It's pretty ripe.
(Miles groans)
Hey.
First door on the left.
That's where he is.
(cat screeches)
Hmm.
Open it.
(chuckles)
(jet passing overhead)
(distorted)
Surprise.
Now we're together.
(plane flying overhead)
(muttering)
Oh, God, oh, Jesus, oh, Jesus.
(jet passing overhead)
(gasping)
Breathe, Miles,
breathe, breathe.
Breathe.
Oh, my God, you're okay.
You're okay.
You're okay,
you're okay, you're okay.
No, you're not.
You look like pure shit.
Do you know a guy named Nelson?
Yeah.
He's in Surf Ridge
in an abandoned house, upstairs.
Tell them that he's dead
in that place.
Oh, dear.
(laughing)
(jet passing overhead)
(engine starts)
(cell phone ringing)
Mom'?
Are you...
(Nelson)
Surprise.
(car radio turns on,
overlapping distorted voices)
(car horn blares)
(voices whispering)
(driver on PA)
Next stop, Robertson.
(distorted screaming)
(inhales deeply)
(driver)
Next stop, Crenshaw.
Crenshaw coming up.
(distorted voices whispering)
Mom! Mom!
Mom?
Mom?
Hi, baby boy...
Oh, Jesus!
Oh!
(Chokes)
You smell horrible!
Mom, wait...
Why do you smell
like shit and rot?
(static distortion)
Mom, shut off the TV, please.
It is off.
Miles, what were you
thinking driving alone?
I'm having...
You can't even walk
down the street by your...
I just saw a dead man...
I don't understand, just...
Listen!
Something terrible happened
and it hasn't stopped happening.
It's still happening.
What's wrong with your eyes?
I see terrible things
at the back of my eyelids
when I...
so I'm trying not to blink.
When I do... please don't
make me think about it,
because then it just happens.
Miles...
somebody dosed you.
What?
Somebody?
Dosed you!
Drugged you!
They did, didn't they?
Somebody... slipped
you something
and made you see God knows what,
and now you're on
a bad trip and...
Hey, Miles, you're
going to be fine.
You are.
You just... you have to
get cleaned up,
and, uh, we'll
take you to a Doctor...
My keys, my car...
where is it?
So, you met a man who...
took you to see his own ghost?
No.
I met a ghost who took me
to see his own dead body.
The man on the voice-mail
message we heard,
the unknown caller?
He's not a man.
Not a man, okay.
But, well, he called you, right?
Actually, no.
It never rang.
Never got a missed call.
It was just a message,
so that must mean...
Mr. Grissom.
(distorted hissing scream)
Please, please,
just try to relax, okay?
Oh, my God.
Okay!
Oh, my God, Mom, make it stop!
Make it stop, make it stop.
There's nothing there.
Honey, there's nothing there!
Oh, my God, Mom.
It's not in my blood.
It's not a bad trip, Mom.
I'm haunted!
I'm haunted, he's still here!
I believe you, I believe you.
It isn't drugs,
but it is in you.
Bill was afraid, too.
Bill?
Dad?
You called him that.
What happened to him?
I found him hanging.
After they said he...
suffocated because...
the neck didn't break
how he wanted
when the rope...
when it...
What you never knew
is that your father
was afraid all the time.
Afraid of ghosts?
No.
The world, like you,
when this started.
By then, it was heights
and cars, it was people,
it was fire and water
and it was just...
It was all closing
in around him.
The note he left said to lie.
That... that everyone
should lie.
I think he thought if you knew,
then you'd grow up
expecting it to happen.
She wasn't a fake.
Josefina was the real thing.
Oh, my God.
That was Dad in the room.
He was trying to
tell me something.
He's trying to warn me.
And you lied.
Stop, stop the bus!
How far you going?
Inglewood.
I don't know, man.
He don't exactly look normal.
You have to ride
in the back, fella.
(distorted scream)
Josefina, please!
Sir, we're closed.
You have to go.
Come.
Hey.
(Speaking Spanish)
His toy was stepped on,
and he's not sleepy yet.
But he will fix it, see?
Come on.
Don't let go.
Hey, and sit.
Don't look.
You can relax.
Hey.
Hey.
You're safe.
No.
Look.
Do you see him?
Si.
He's your ghost now,
and he's everywhere you are.
Don't think about him.
I can hold him back for a while.
I know how you suffer.
I know, I know.
He wants to kill me.
The last thing the spirit
wants is to kill you.
He did not intend to die.
If you die, he will
pass with you.
He cannot take you over.
He cannot kill you.
He's tethered to you,
it's what I call it,
but everybody knows about it.
I don't.
Si, you do.
When my Mama passed,
she tethered to my Dad.
She rode along with him
like a passenger in a car.
She rode with him
for a whole month.
And then one day
he felt her just... go.
Just don't die.
Lift off like a balloon.
There's someone in every family
who can tell the same story.
But your ghost was a man
who died unloved.
They need a willing
stranger to attach.
Did he bring you to the body?
I had one that took me
in that way.
So how do I get him off,
or out, or...
untethered?
He must choose to untie,
but he will never do that.
Never?
For him, the Light is like fire.
He will never go in.
Maybe he won't go alone.
What are you saying?
He was in love with a girl.
He told me about her
when we met.
Alice.
He shows her to me sometimes.
I think he wants me to find her.
You know what he's asking for.
Yes.
He wants me to kill her,
so that he can
take her with him.
Some of my tethers,
they want me to do
terrible things,
but if you want to
take a life to save your own,
now your life
is not worth saving.
When I bought that ad,
I was so sure
I'd be glad to find anything.
Now I know a little more
why Mom wants just wants
to go to sleep at the end.
You haven't heard
the good part yet.
What's the good part?
I will show you.
The ghost who haunts you
is proof only of what happens
when we are afraid
to leave this world.
But when we finally do,
what happens then
is another story.
It's like home.
Arms all around you.
It's like a whole other memory
that come flooding back,
that was in the tip of
your brain the whole time.
Remember now
what it was like to die...
and what came after.
Wow.
We get to be young again.
Josefina?
What stops you from ending it?
Ending it yourself and just
getting to the good part?
I will never do that.
And neither will you.
Promise.
If we do that, we miss
the entire point.
We are not in this life
to be comfortable
or to be satisfied.
We are here for the adventure.
Got any change?
God bless you!
I need it badly.
If you got anymore.
I was in a terrible fire.
Keep it together, dude.
(engine starts)
Keep it together, dude.
Keep it together, dude.
Keep it together, dude.
Keep it together, dude.
Oh, keep it together, dude.
Keep it together, dude.
Keep it together, dude.
Ahh!
Sorry.
Keep it together, dude.
(key jangles)
(tapping on window)
(door handle jiggles)
Got your car back.
I see that.
Thank you.
Miles...
I'm sorry.
Did you see her?
I saw Josefina.
She could see Nelson.
You mean...
My ghost.
I know you don't
believe a word...
Nelson Kinny.
LAX runway worker.
They found the body.
It was on the news, and...
He's here, now, isn't he?
Yes.
Do you see him?
No.
Well, for a second, I thought...
It's because you're
scared now, too.
You're starting to believe me.
I believe you.
I believe you.
What did she tell you?
I mean, is there
something we can do to...
Nothing.
There's nothing.
(static hissing)
There is something.
Don't lie to me.
Miles... tell me
what she said.
Oh!
I'm sorry.
It's okay, it's okay.
I just...
It's all right.
It's just an egg.
I'm going to fix it.
Here we go, no big deal.
So, this girl, Alice,
do you think you'd recognize
her face if we have...
Enough.
We're not talking
about her, you promised.
There's only one option here,
and it's not really
an option, so just...
Don't tell me
what my options are.
I never hurt anybody on purpose,
but when it comes to my son,
there's no such thing as morals,
no right and wrong.
I'd personally end innocent
lives by the goddamn dozens
if it meant...
you could be alive,
if it meant you could be happy.
I call that worth it.
I call that being a mother
and having a son.
(sighs)
(priest)
The virtuous man,
though he die before
his time, will find rest.
The length of days
is not what makes age honorable,
nor years
the true measure of life...
(Miles)
How many do you see?
Three plus a priest.
Not four?
(hissing)
He has sought to please God,
so God has loved him.
Your funeral's pathetic, Nelson,
you sad son of a bitch.
He has been taken up,
he has been carried off
so that evil may not
warp his understanding
or treachery seduce his soul,
for the fascination of evil
throws good things
into the shade,
and the whirlwind of desire
corrupts a simple heart.
Coming to perfection
in so short a time,
he achieved long life.
His soul being pleasing
to the Lord.
He is taken in quickly
from the wickedness around him.
It does not enter their heads
that grace and mercy
await the chosen of the Lord
and protection, his holy ones.
The Lord bless you and keep you.
The Lord make His face
shine upon you
and be gracious to you.
The Lord lift up
His countenance upon you
and give you peace.
Beautiful service.
(withering chuckle)
Hmph.
Hmm.
You're Alice.
Nelson told me about you.
I'm Miles.
I worked with him.
YOU?
Greasy runway rat?
Really?
Nelson described me so damn well
you could spot me like this?
Yeah.
I mean, no.
He had pictures.
He had pictures?
Son of a bitch.
I'm very sorry for your loss.
My loss?
I thought you said you knew him.
I did care for him.
A long time ago.
This one never did get it
straight in his head
how I'd never feel
what he felt, and...
well, he kept coming.
Never did stop.
Never did stop with
the needles, either.
When I heard he'd gone missing,
I already had it figured
for an OD'er.
OD'er?
As in "OD."
As in oh, dear,
you shot too much shit
and croaked, you stupid asshole.
I'm glad he's gone.
I shouldn't say that here.
I'm glad you're gone.
You see him?
I... I thought I did.
Tell me what is happening.
Now.
It's Nelson.
No.
Look, Alice...
Alice calm down, okay?
Calm down.
Alice, look at me, please.
Nelson is wherever I go.
He's haunting me.
He's my ghost.
Make this stop.
He can't hurt you.
But he wants to, doesn't he?
Only because he didn't
want to leave...
and he's scared to go alone.
He wants you to hurt me.
Alice...
Alice, I promise you,
I will live the rest of my life
making sure that Nelson
never gets what he wants.
I promise, you'll be safe.
You can say goodbye to him now.
And you can mean it.
(whispering indistinctly)
(gun cocks)
(Click)
(empty chamber clicking)
(screaming)
(sobbing)
Mom...
(sobbing loudly)
What the hell happens now?
Now?
Now I learn to live
with a ghost.
Maybe I'll be able to...
sleep through the night
every now and then.
Maybe I'll be able
to tell the dead ones
from the real ones on my own.
And if I have to drag
Nelson Kinny through my life
and never give him
what he really wants...
then maybe I can find
a few things
that make him happy.
I'll take him for his
6:00 a.m. walks by the airport,
let him hear the planes.
I think he likes the sound.
If I do that for him...
maybe he'll let me feel normal.
(laughing)
Just here and there.
Enough to justify going on.
(gasps)
Maybe I won't get better.
If I don't get better, then...
well...
If you die,
he will pass with you.
You're not ready, not yet.
I'll stay
for another day or two.
Mom, Mom, come on.
I'm ready.
Okay?
(sighs)
I have to try.
Oh, um, will you drop this off
for me on your way out of town?
Look, call to say
you made it fine.
(engine starts)
(clanking)
Excuse me, is Josefina here?
She can't see you today.
I have something I need
to give to her in person.
It's very important.
Josefina is very bad
with spirit today.
I understand, but, um...
Muy importante.
Si.
Come with us.
Thank you.
(airplane whooshing)
You looking for me...
or him?
You.
I was hoping not to see him.
I was thinking...
well, I was feeling
sorry for you.
Really?
Well, I guess you are
the only one who has any idea
what it's like to have
Nelson on your ass
every second of the day.
I've actually been
back there a few times.
To the grave.
Really?
Yeah.
Just I don't know,
talk to him, you know?
Make a bit of peace.
I told him he should let you go.
Told him I liked you
and you seem decent to me.
Wish it had worked.
You got a lady
in your life, Miles?
(airplane whooshing)
Seora...
your visitor is back.
Bill... he is
showing me his neck,
where he hung from the rope.
He's...
He's here?
Bill?
I can feel him.
What is he... please,
tell me what he's saying.
He say you turn around.
Turn around?
You turn your car around
and go back to your son!
Go! Go now!
(grunting)
(whispering)
Oh, my God.
Oh, Jesus...
I'm so sorry.
I would have never hurt you.
No, you would.
You don't get it.
Nelson, he wears you down.
That's what he does.
And eventually you'd have come.
I can't take
that chance, damn it.
I have a boy now.
I had a boy with another man,
and Nelson was so angry,
he told me he'd
bury my baby alive.
He said that... and...
Jesus, a mother
has to do something.
So I told him we could go
get high at the ghost town,
like the old days.
And I tainted his dose...
shot up three needles full.
(screaming)
I had to.
(airplane whooshing)
You gotta take him
out of here for good now.
Okay?
(weakly)
I will.
God bless you.
Nelson?
Do you hear me in there?
Burn in hell.
(whispering) There ls no hell.
(airplane whooshing)
(Young Charlotte) I think that
Miles has to come with me today
because he's so good at finding
all the buttons on
the floor, so I need him.
I need him today
at the dry-cleaners.
Uh-huh, that's good,
that's good, that's good.
I need him at work today
because he reattaches
my knee pads
every time I finish
with my lunch break.
He's the perfect height to
put those knee pads back on.
Yeah, I need him at work today.
Miles is the only one
who speaks Spanish.
That's ridiculous, I win.
(laughing)
Why don't we let him decide, Bill?
Mm.
Okay, Miles,
time to make a choice.
Do you want to go
with Dad today, or with Mom?
What'll it be?
Mom or Dad?
Mama!
(giggling)
Pulse check.
(coughing and gasping)
There we go.
We got him.
(police radio chatter)
(coughing) Oh, God.
Thank you, thank you.
Mama...
I died.
But you came back to me, kid.
And I came back alone.
(car alarm chirps)
(cell phone ringing)
(grunts)
(ringing continues)