Lovecraft Country (2020) s01e01 Episode Script

1
[artillery fire]
[men shouting]
[soldiers grunting]
[artillery fire, men shouting continues]
This is the story of a boy and his dream.
But more than that,
it is the story of an American boy
and a dream that is truly American.
[soldiers shouting]
What's the matter?
Where ya goin', Black boy?
Black boy, we're the welcoming committee.
You'd better get outta here.
- No, Daddy.
- Go on.
It just makes it tougher having you here.
[battlefield sounds fade]
The year, 1928.
The time, spring.
If you were a young man,
your thoughts were undoubtedly
turning to those of love.
But if you were a young boy,
your thoughts were of one thing
baseball.
[speaks in another language]
[loud cracking]
[snarling, screeching]
[creature howls]
I got ya, kid.
Just going over another bridge
named after some dead slave owner.
Finally made it to the promised land.
Hallelujah. Amen.
Good riddance to old Jim Crow.
[tire bursts]
[clattering]
[engine stuttering]
Damn.
[overlapping chatter]
I heard a noise before
All right, folks, this is
our ride into the next town.
Let's get our luggage and load up.
Okay, ma'am, just here you go.
Very carefully, very carefully.
Thank you.
Let me get those for you.
[crickets chirping]
Tell me.
What's that book you been readin' about?
- A Princess of Mars?
- Mmm-hmm.
It's about this man named John Carter
who goes from being a captain
in the Army of Northern Virginia
to becoming a Martian warlord.
Huh.
Starts with him running from Apaches
and hiding in this magical cave,
which transports him to the Red Planet.
That's when it starts to get good.
Hold on.
You said the hero was
a Confederate officer.
Ex-Confederate.
He fought for slavery.
You don't get to put
an "ex" in front of that.
Stories are like people.
Loving them doesn't make them perfect.
You just try and cherish 'em,
overlook their flaws.
Yeah, but the flaws are still there.
Yeah, they are.
- But I love pulp stories.
- [chuckles]
I love that the heroes
get to go on adventures
in other worlds,
defy insurmountable odds,
defeat the monster, save the day.
Little Negro boy from
the southside of Chicago
don't notoriously get to do that.
Unless they join the army.
- I didn't join for adventure.
- Hmm.
I joined to get away from my father.
Which is the real funny part,
'cause he's also now the
reason I'm coming back home.
Is he sick?
He's gone missing.
[Etta James' "I Just Want
to Make Love to You"]
[kids shouting playfully]
What are you looking at, George Freeman?
My wife.
And why you looking at your wife?
You waiting for her to fix you breakfast?
I'm leaving tomorrow on the guide trip.
I'm aware.
I'm looking at my wife because
I feel I've been spending
too much time on the road
and not enough time in bed with her.
[both laughing]
Why, George Freeman, you
got me blushing before God.
If he's watching, I think
we should give him a show.
What has gotten into you?
You're only gonna be gone for a few days.
Used to be you couldn't wait
to go on some grand adventure.
You know, I could go.
Make the trip instead of you.
You serious?
- Is that idea so crazy?
- No, no.
- Is it?
- No.
You know,
I've written more than my
share of reviews for the guide.
Arguably, the best ones.
- The best ones.
- Mmm-hmm.
And all of them based on your notes.
- Oh. [chuckles]
- Now
imagine how good they could get
if I could take notes on my own.
Hmm.
Mmm-hmm.
You know the road is a dangerous place
for a woman traveling alone.
You know the shit I deal with out there.
It's dangerous out there, Hippolyta.
Where you going?
Block party starts at noon,
and those pecans in the kitchen
are not gonna turn themselves into pies.
- Stay with me.
- [sighs]
[moans]
What are you doing?
[moans]
You know Dee is up.
You know these walls are thin.
[moans]
I can't remember the last time
we made love in the light of day.
I want to see my wife.
[both moaning]
[radio chatter]
[pencil scribbling]
[soft music]
[Hippolyta moaning]
Gross.
[screams]
- Atticus!
- Diana!
[both laughing]
What's going on?
- Get over here.
- George, baby,
what's going on in there? Is that Dee?
She's fine. She just
got surprised, is all.
Your nephew is back.
Oh, Tic's back!
I wasn't scared.
- I know you weren't.
- You sounded scared to me.
Tic's back! Yes!
Thank you for your business.
Heading through that part of
the country in a couple months.
- I'll vet it then
- Welcome home, Tic.
Oh, the tip is solid.
My cousin bought smokes
from there just last week.
I believe, but I still
have to triple-check.
A bad tip in the guidebook
gets someone killed.
Okay, I got you.
Ahh. Getting reacquainted
with old friends.
Something like that.
I'm surprised that one
caught your interest.
Horror is usually my thing.
"On the Creation of Niggers."
Now that's one of Lovecraft's
we don't hear mentioned often.
Pops made me memorize that poem
word for word after he
caught me reading this.
Mmm.
Thought it might turn me from
the pulp trash I borrow from here
to respectable literature.
He's been missing about two weeks.
About? You're not sure.
You know how he can get on the sauce.
I I didn't think anything of it
until his landlord dropped
by when he didn't pay rent.
I don't know where he could've gone.
I might have an idea.
He wrote me.
About my mama.
What, uh wh wh-what'd he say?
Said he found out where
her family came from.
Wanted me to come home
so I could go there with him.
He's still obsessing over her ancestry?
I thought he'd given all
that up when she passed.
"I know that, like your mother,
you think that you can forget the past.
You can't.
The past is a living thing.
You own it owe it.
Now I have found something
about your mother's forebearers.
You have a sacred
"secret legacy, a birthright
that's been kept from you."
That's strange, that doesn't
really even sound like your father.
I haven't even gotten
to the strange part.
The place he wants me to go with him
It's in Lovecraft Country.
Letter says Mom's ancestors
are from Arkham, Massachusetts.
Home of the corpse reanimator and
And Herbert West.
Lovecraft based it on
Salem, but that's not real.
You sure?
Let me see the letter.
That's a "D." It's not Arkham with a "K."
It's Ardham with a "D". That's a "D."
You know, for someone who talked so much
about the importance of being educated,
you'd think Pop would
learn how to write clearly.
I'm gonna look into this Ardham
and see if I can glean any clues
as to what this "secret legacy"
Montrose is going on about.
[Tierra Whack's "CLONES"]
Come on! It won't stop.
An adventure.
An opportunity to see the world.
Just sign.
We expect
[train rumbling loudly]
Hey, we closin' early
for the block party.
I said we're closin'
early for the block
Holy shit. Tic, is that you?
Almost didn't recognize you without
them damn Coke bottle glasses on.
- You remember me, Tree.
- Yeah, I remember.
Listen, the guy with the
earrings, the owner he here?
Sammy. He out back.
[laughs]
[moans]
Shit. Sorry.
Oh, shit.
You're Montrose's son, right?
I remember plenty of
nights you dragging him
off one of my barstools.
He hasn't been perched on one in weeks.
When's the last time you saw him?
'Bout two weeks ago.
Left here with some white man.
Was he a cop?
Doubt it. Looked like
one of Bill Haley's Comets.
Can't get the clothes he
was wearing on a pig's salary.
My guess, he's a lawyer.
Would explain how
he could afford the car.
You saw what he was driving?
Tree did.
Said it was a silver
sedan. Something Ford.
Shot off so fast, it had to be expensive.
I want a tall, skinny papa
I want a tall, skinny papa
I want a tall, skinny papa
I want a tall, skinny papa
I want a tall, skinny papa
That's all I'll ever need
He's got to be all mine
Treat me fine, walk the chalk line
And stay on my mind
He's got to be all right
Fight all night
Mama will do the rest
Now how 'bout that, Miss?
He's got to do what he's told
And bring sweet mama that gold
To satisfy my soul
Oh, yeah!
Yes!
There you go!
He's gotta be tall
[all] Tall!
- Tall!
- [all] Tall!
- He's gotta be tall!
- [all] Tall!
- Tall!
- [all] Tall!
I want a tall, skinny papa
That's all I'll ever need
Whoo!
[cheers and applause]
Thank you, thank you.
All right, all right, I think I got time
for one more before Slick
Willie comes up with his guitar.
- Now, what y'all want to hear?
- [overlapping chatter]
Come on, y'all don't
really like that lily-white shit
they play on the radio now, do you?
Life could be a dream.
Sh'boom, sh'bored.
Now, let me hear
something that'll wake me up.
"Whole Lotta Shakin" '!
Is that Letitia?
Ruby, it's your sister.
Thank you, Floyd. I have eyes.
[cheers and applause]
A little bit of blues it is, then.
Leti, get up there and sing with her.
[all] Leti, Leti!
Now, now.
I'm sure my sister's tired
from traveling in from wherever it is
she just magically appeared from.
[all] Leti, Leti, Leti, Leti!
[crowd chanting]
[cheers and applause]
Y'all are gonna have to bear with us.
We haven't sang together
since our church days.
Sure is no secret that
those days are long gone.
[laughter]
All right.
"Whole Lotta Shakin'."
Twenty-one drums and an old bass horn
And somebody beating on a ding-dong
Come on, now
Come on over, baby
A whole lotta shakin' going on
- Who's that?
- [laughs]
Come on over, baby
Baby, you can't go wrong
Ain't nobody fakin'
Whole lotta shakin' going on
Come on over, baby
Hey!
A whole lotta kickin' in the barn
Come on over, baby
We got the bull by the horn
Everything is kickin'
Whole lotta shakin' going on
All right, now
Bakin' and makin' it shake
Door and the floor and the gate
[both] Bakin' it and makin' it shake
Cake and pie on the plate
[both] Shakin' and shakin'
and shakin' the place
Come on over, baby, come on
We done found that ding-dong
[crowd shrieking happily]
Come on over, baby
Whole lotta shakin' going on
Come on over, baby
Baby, you can't go wrong
Ain't nobody fakin'
Whole lotta shakin' going on
[cheers and applause]
All right! All right, now!
Thanks, fellas.
That was fun.
Yeah! [laughs]
We gonna ride, ride, ride all night long
Dress that short,
should be wearing some stockings.
It's too hot for all that.
You can't even afford stockings?
Who said I can't afford 'em?
You don't need to say it, I know
you only here 'cause you need money.
And don't think just 'cause
you got up and sang with me
that you're getting any of these tips.
I don't need a handout, Ruby,
just a place to stay for a while.
There it is.
Who's that?
Who, Tic?
That's Tic?
Skinny glasses kid who was
too smart for his own good Tic?
Yeah, he's grown up.
More than I can say for you.
I'm over at the boarding
house on McCarthy.
Oh, that place is a shithole.
What happened to the room on Linden?
Mama's funeral happened.
- Ruby
- There's nothing to read
into me bringing it up.
It's just facts.
You can stay two nights.
And what job am I
supposed to find in two days?
You can get a job up on the Northside.
I'm not cleaning house.
So what then?
You think you're gonna
go downtown and get a job
in one of those department stores?
Yes, I do.
You think it's that easy, huh?
Yes, I do.
You know I've been applying for years.
Well, if I get the job,
it'll be enough money
for both of us to move.
You know, I'm fine where I am.
We could have our own rooms for once.
Hell, our own house, maybe.
There's a lot of colored folks pioneering
into all-white neighborhoods these days.
Then maybe you should
ask one of them to put you up.
Or go to Marvin's.
Two nights, Leti.
That's it.
Your knees still acting up?
It's a blessing they're
doing anything at all
after two shattered kneecaps.
And now Hippolyta got this
crazy idea to go out on the road.
I can't imagine what would happen
if those crackers had caught
her outside of Anna instead of me.
That's why you publish
the guidebook, right?
Keep us Negros safe.
[laughs]
Dee do this?
Kid's got imagination like you.
Terrifying, ain't they?
[Tic] Tell me where I can find Ardham.
Well, now, that's
gonna be a little tricky.
The last mention of it in any census
that I can find is over
two centuries ago
which puts it somewhere around
Devon County, Massachusetts.
Devon County.
You goin' after him.
I'm gonna need a car.
Woody still running?
Woody'll outlast us all.
That's the only thing I am sure of,
other than that I'm going with you.
Uncle George, with them knees
I was heading out on a guide trip anyway.
Devon County will be a good addition.
You might not be so sure about that
after you look at this.
Devon County?
[train rumbling]
[gears clicking]
[light whirring]
[low buzzing]
[jazz music]
[train rumbling]
[line trilling]
Where can I direct your call?
555-438
520
3093
South Korea?
Yes.
[line trilling]
[speaks Korean]
[in English] Tic?
Is that you?
You went home.
You shouldn't have.
[Leti grunting]
You just gonna stand there,
Tic, or you gonna help me?
- Leti Lewis.
- [laughs]
Now, only my friends get to call me that.
We still friends?
Well, considering you were
the only female member
of the Southside Futurists
Science Fiction Club.
I was. [laughs]
I was.
I heard you were down
in Florida hiding out.
How was it?
Segregated.
- Mmm.
- And you, where you been?
Mmm, I've been a little bit everywhere.
Doing?
Everything.
Y'all ready to go?
Wait, you coming with us?
Part way.
Marvin's working for
the Springfield African
American these days.
He's gonna look into that mysterious town
of Ardham for us.
Why, thank you, baby.
Are we checklist-ready?
Yep.
All right, mattress and blankets.
Check and check.
Spare tire and jack.
- Check.
- Flares and first-aid kit.
Double check.
Reading materials.
I got that covered.
Very well.
I think the travel checklist is complete.
Anything we're forgetting?
Oh, no, I think that's everything.
I think there's something missing.
You don't have to do this every time.
Oh, that's right, Dee's travel comic.
That's what's missing
because I've been
waiting patiently to see
what happens to Panther Man.
Mmm-hmm.
Boop.
"Orithyia Blue"?
Oh, pumpkin, you decided to change it.
It's no big deal, Ma.
I will see you when you get back, Pop.
- You will, baby.
- Mmm.
Oh, and the atlas is in Woody.
Yes.
Thank you, baby.
Be safe.
[man] Good evening.
[laughter]
I, um I find myself
not for the first time
in, um
the position of a kind of Jeremiah.
For example, I don't
disagree with Mr. Burford
that the
The inequality suffered by
the American Negro population
of the United States
has hindered the American dream.
Indeed, it has.
I quarrel with some
other things he has to say.
The other, deeper element
of a certain awkwardness I feel
has to do with
it has to do one's point of
view, I had to put it that way.
One's, uh, one's sense,
one's system of reality.
It would seem to me the proposition
before the House, when I put it that way,
is the American dream
at the expense of the American Negro,
or the American dream is at the expense
of the American Negro
is a question hideously loaded,
and that one's response to that question
or one's reaction to that question,
has to depend on, in effect,
on where you find yourself in the world,
what your sense of reality is,
what your system of reality is.
That is, it depends on assumptions
which we hold so deeply
as to be scarcely aware of them.
A white South African or
a Mississippi sharecropper
or a Mississippi sheriff
or a Frenchman driven out of Algeria,
all have, at bottom,
a system of reality which
compels them to, for example,
in the case of the
French exile from Algeria,
to defend French reasons
from having ruled Algeria.
The Mississippi or the Alabama sheriff,
who really does believe,
when he's facing a Negro boy or girl,
that this woman, this man,
this child must be insane
to attack the system
to which he owes his entire identity.
And on the other hand
There's a diner called
Lydia's I got a tip on near here.
Won't take us too far off
course to have lunch there.
What do you say to a detour?
Where is it?
Simmonsville.
You know what that area be
populated by on Diana's atlas?
What?
Buncha trolls who pick their
teeth with unwary motorists.
Funny. I need to add
some entries to the guide.
I'm on a deadline.
Aren't you the publisher?
Exactly, which is why I know
how much of a hard-ass I can be.
[camera shutter clicks]
Well, not that either of
you asked my opinion,
but I could use a hot meal.
You heard the girl.
Since this girl's not allowed to drive,
I'm picking the radio station.
Let's take this next right.
What you doing, girl?
I'm turning up B. B.
What you know about B. B.?
That's my music.
Her music.
[Leti singing along]
Yes, you upsets me, baby
[dogs barking]
Like being hit by a falling tree
[music slows and distorts]
[train bell ringing]
Now, we're looking
for a red-brick building.
Should be on the left-hand side,
far end of town.
That must be it.
All right.
Didn't you say it was called Lydia's?
It's in the right place.
Don't judge a book by its cover.
Book can't refuse you service.
Or spit in your water glass.
Good afternoon.
We were just driving
by, thought we'd stop in
and have some lunch.
We'll seat ourselves, then.
[grunts]
Yes, that's what we'll do. Thank you.
Menu, please?
What's good here?
Why don't we just
start with some coffees?
Looks like the Simmonsville
Dinette isn't making the guide.
Yeah, okay, but we're here now.
Doesn't mean we have to stay.
Get back in the car, we're, what,
two, three hours from Marvin's?
We're here, damnit. We
have every right to be.
We're citizens.
You're a veteran for God's sake.
Our money spends just
as good as everyone else's.
I gotta visit the ladies' room.
Biscuits and gravy did
smell pretty damn good.
Think I'll order that
if the waiter ever comes back.
There's three of them.
Just sat down.
I swear I didn't serve them,
not after what you did to Ms. Lydia.
- Uncle George?
- Hmm?
Remind me why the White House is white.
War of 1812.
British soldiers put the
executive branch to torch,
and later, when the slaves rebuilt it,
they had to paint the
walls white to cover up the
[both] Burn marks.
[siren wailing]
Get your ass up! We gotta
get the fuck outta here now!
Come on, come on, George. Come on!
- Out.
- [tires squealing]
Let me drive.
Get your ass in the car!
Come on, come on, come on, come on.
[siren wailing]
[gunshot]
[gunshot]
[bullets ricocheting]
[tires screech]
[horn blares]
[gunshots]
- Keep it steady!
- We're being shot at!
How the hell am I
supposed to keep it steady?
- [groans]
- [yells]
They're gaining on us!
Take this left up ahead.
Slow down, or Woody will spin out.
Oh, just shut up and let me drive.
[tires screech]
Damnit, girl, you're gonna crash us.
My name's not "girl."
It's Letitia fucking Lewis!
Go, get on up there!
Get up on these sons of bitches!
[glass shatters]
- Leti.
- I see it.
- [yells]
- Shit.
Hit it!
[screams]
Go.
Go, Leti, go!
- [laughter]
- [George] Stop.
[Leti] And the way those
white boys went flying.
It was surreal.
Reminds me of a scene
out of a Bradbury novel.
[laughter]
Wait, what actually happened
that caused the crash?
Your sister's precision driving.
They couldn't keep up.
She did save the day.
Wait, wait, now, now, now.
Say that again one more time.
Did I hear that right?
Who saved your asses?
Letitia fucking Lewis.
[laughs]
It's getting late, Marvin.
Why don't you tell us what you
discovered about our next stop?
Well, I heard a few tales
about Devon County before,
but once I started really digging in,
it just kept getting
stranger and stranger.
You see, the county seat, Bideford,
is named after a town in England
where they had one
of the last witch trials.
They hung a woman for
fornicating with the devil
who appeared to her as a Negro man.
Y-you're saying that Bideford
was founded by witches?
No, the witch hunters,
and they don't like outsiders at all.
I found more than a
few stories in our morgue
about travelers being attacked
in the surrounding woods.
- By what?
- Grizzlies, wolves.
Who knows?
There's been a bunch of
missing person stories, too,
some of which might be
due to the current sheriff.
Eustice Hunt.
Ex-Marine.
This is his NAACP complaint file.
It's only a third of it.
Between the wild animals and this guy,
I don't know who I'd rather run into.
Hmm.
What about Ardham?
It was settled around
the same time as Bideford.
Local histories don't say by who.
That's what you dug up?
Yeah, I even tried calling
the county record of deeds
to get the property records.
No one answered.
But from what I could pull together
Should be somewhere right around here.
That right there is the middle of nowhere
with no guide stops.
What do you want to do?
We need to go to the registry.
Maps of the property line
should clearly delineate
a route in Ardham.
[Diana] Now, this
is just the first issue,
but the plan is she'll
be called to repair
faulty telescopes
or malfunctioning computers
on different planets.
And guess what.
She zips from planet to planet
in her trusted Buick space wagon
named Stoney.
[chuckles]
Pop?
Pop, are you there?
Ye yes, I'm yes.
It all sounds great,
but, honey, I gotta go.
I-I don't want to run
up Mr. Baptiste's bill.
Now, put your mother back on the phone.
All right, Pop.
Mom.
[Hippolyta] I was just
headed to the roof.
Such a clear night, I might
finally get to see Cassiopeia.
Mmm-hmm.
Well, I-I don't want to keep you.
But, honey, I was
I was thinking.
Maybe for the next guide trip,
what do you say you
and I, we go together?
I'd like that.
Good night, George Freeman.
Good night.
[Marvin] So how long is your
little visit supposed to last this time?
[Leti] I'll be home in a few
weeks. I'll pull my own weight.
Do some cooking, some cleaning
[Marvin] What did you do with the money
that I sent to you in
D.C. two months ago?
[Leti] I saved it, Marvin.
It's what I used to get the bus to Ruby.
[Marvin] Not all of it, you
didn't. I'm not stupid, Letitia.
[Leti] Fine. All right.
I used it to bail some
friends out of jail,
but it's not what you think.
[Marvin] It never is with you!
[Leti] We were protesting the school
[Marvin] It doesn't matter
what you were doing!
[Leti] The work I'm doing
is saving lives, Marvin!
[Marvin] You told me you needed money
because you needed to come home.
And I thought I gave you the money
so you could come
home for Mama's funeral.
How could you miss your
own Mama's funeral, Letitia?
Hell. Y'all gonna continue
to throw that in my face.
- Absolutely! It's our mama!
- [Leti] You and Ruby
want to act like she's a goddamn saint.
I'm sick and tired of it.
[Marvin] Now, you watch your mouth
in my house talking about our mama!
[Leti] But you know
what? I can understand
you wanting to think that about her
because you didn't have to live with her!
[Marvin] Hey, I went to
Chicago every summer.
[Leti] Oh, every summer!
You got to come down here
[sighs]
[Leti] Ruby and I
didn't have that option.
[Marvin] Well, you say
that like it was my fault.
It's not sounding good.
[Leti] Don't give me a
fucking lecture about Mama.
I've heard worse.
[arguing continues]
Been a part of worse.
- [Marvin] We're impossible?
- [Leti] Yes.
Pops tell you what happened
last time I was home?
No.
Reporter came by.
Wanted to interview me on what
it was like to be a Negro soldier.
Pops lost it.
Said it was bad enough I
was throwing my life away
for a country that hates me.
Now, I was gonna go inspire others
to make the same stupid mistake.
I decided to give as
good as I got for once.
Still see the cracks in the plaster
where we slammed into the wall.
Just because he didn't
agree with the decision
doesn't mean he didn't care.
[scoffs] He never wrote me.
Not one letter till he needed help.
Your first year in Korea,
he'd come by for dinner
almost every night.
Wouldn't ask about you,
but he'd wait for me to
volunteer the information.
If I didn't, he wouldn't go home.
He'd stay till 10:00, 11:00, midnight,
if that's what it took, waiting for
me to bring up the subject of you.
Drove Hippolyta crazy.
Course it did.
Just another example of
how hardheaded he was.
Montrose has done the best he can.
He didn't have it easy with our father.
Why are you always defending him?
You grew up in the same
house. You came out just fine.
Your pops was
Was what?
What?
He was younger.
He was smaller. He took the brunt of it.
I should've protected him more.
I always regret that.
I was younger and smaller, too.
You ain't do shit to protect me.
You regret that?
[glass breaks]
[Marvin] God damn it! Look
at what you made me do!
Atticus.
It's family business.
[Leti] Let go of my
arm. You're hurting me.
It's not ours.
[Marvin] Go! I don't want
you in my house another night!
[door slams]
[thunder rumbling]
[sighs]
[thunder booming]
[George] We done passed
this area ten times now.
[Tic] Map at the registry said there's
a bridge over the river to Ardham
- [George] I know what it says.
- [Tic] It exists.
We just gotta find the road to it.
We've been driving these woods all day.
There's no damn road.
Letitia, you done seen something?
- Nah, I ain't seen
- Stop the car.
Stop the car. I'll get out and look.
So you can look for a road that
none of us has spotted all damn day?
Maybe it's grown over.
You ever think of that?
Maybe that's why we
missed it. Just pull over.
Shit. Shit!
What are you doing?
Helping you look.
Been thinking about what my brother said.
I don't think we want
to be out here after dark.
I know.
[sighs]
Just we come all this way.
[sighs] This isn't giving up.
We're gonna find your father.
Just not today.
[branches rustling]
What was that?
It's a shoggoth.
What?
It's a monster from one
of Lovecraft's stories.
And what do they look like?
Massive bubble blob
with hundreds of eyes.
Oh, well, that's not scary at all.
We can outrun a blob.
- Uncle George can't.
- [both laughing]
He cannot.
You in the car, get out.
And everybody come round
to the back of the vehicle.
It's all right.
Who are you?
George Freeman, sir.
This here is my nephew
Atticus and his friend Letitia.
Where y'all from?
Chicago, sir.
You're a long way from home.
Oh, we're just passing through,
taking a little bathroom
break, sir, is all.
Any of you all know
what a sundown town is?
Yes, sir. We do.
Well, this is a sundown county.
If I had found you pissing in my woods
like animals after dark,
it would've been my sworn duty
to hang every single one
of you from them trees.
It's not sundown yet.
Sunset is at 7:09 today.
That's seven minutes from now.
Then we'll be out of the county in six.
Now, that's impossible heading
south on the road you're currently on,
unless you were to speed.
And if you were to speed,
I'd have to pull you over.
Then we'll head north.
That might work.
Why don't you give it a try?
We will, sir.
Is it legal to make a U-turn here?
Aren't you a smart one?
Now, ordinarily, I would consider
a U-turn a violation.
But if you ask me real nice,
I might just let it go this time.
Please.
Oh, you can do better than that.
Say, "pretty please,
will you let this smart
nigger make a U-turn here?"
Pretty please, will
you let this smart nigger
make a U-turn here?
All right.
Just this one time,
since you asked so nicely.
[engine revving]
How far, Uncle George?
We got 2 1/2 kilometers
to the county line.
- Can we make that?
- Wait, wait, I
Wait, I'm sorry we
[stammers] Three. We
gotta pass the train tracks.
What time is it?
It's, uh, it's 7 7:05.
[Leti] Can we make it in four minutes?
[George] We have to.
- Here he comes!
- Shit.
[engine chugs]
- Can you go faster?
- No, we can't go faster.
He gonna pull us over.
[engine revving]
- He's speedin' up.
- What's he doin'?
I don't know!
[engine revving]
- Crazy bastard!
- Son of a bitch!
He's comin' again!
Hold on.
Leti, get the gun.
[gun clicking]
We got a minute.
[murmuring under breath]
There's the tracks!
Atticus, watch your speed!
How much time left?
Thirty seconds.
[engine revving]
Ten seconds!
Come on! Come on!
Hell.
Hell. Hell.
- Yeah.
- Okay, Tic.
- Ha ha!
- We did it. Whoo!
[George] Oh, shit.
[rifles click]
[Hunt] I knew they'd
strike again tonight.
[officer] You said they'd
be Gypsies, Sheriff.
[Hunt] Oh, they're
travelers, that's for sure.
[Talbert] Unless the car's stolen.
[laughing] That's a fair point, Talbert.
How 'bout that? Hmm?
You really from Illinois?
This is a misunderstanding.
I don't know who you
all were lyin' in wait for
Get 'em on the ground!
Aah!
[grunts]
[Hunt] Let me just
finish the rest for you.
When I ask you about a
burglary in Bideford last night
or two others in Bucks Mill last week,
you're gonna say to me,
"What burglaries, Sheriff?
We're just passin' through."
[officers chuckling]
- Sheriff Hunt.
- [rifles cocking]
My uncle's right.
This is just a misunderstanding.
We're not burglars or car thieves.
You're more than welcome to check the car
for stolen goods if you like.
Dalton, tell me I didn't just hear that.
Did this nigger give me
permission to search his car?
[Dalton] I believe he did, Sheriff.
This one thinks he's smart.
Then tell me, if you're
just passin' through,
why do you know my name?
[rifle cocks]
- [yelling] Answer me!
- Answer, boy!
- Please, please
- [overlapping pleading]
[chittering, rustling]
What was that?
All right, keep your guns on 'em
It's probably just wolves.
[snarling, chittering]
That don't sound like
fuckin' wolves, Sheriff.
[thud]
[chittering]
[rustling, shrieking]
[crickets chirping]
- [roaring]
- Aah!
Jesus
[loud gibbering, gunshots]
Run!
[gibbering, gunfire continue]
Aah!
[Tic] Run!
Aah!
[gibbering, snarling continue]
Go! Run! Run! Go!
[creature shrieks]
There! We need to get out in the open!
Aah!
[Leti] Get up!
I'm comin' down!
[snarling, gibbering continue]
[roar]
- [gunshot]
- [screams]
Go, go, go!
Wait! Where's Uncle George?
Get in here!
[thudding, gibbering continue]
[Dalton] It's coming to your right!
[gunshot]
[distant shouting]
[gunshot]
[gibbering, shrieking]
[gunshots, voices grow more distant]
[whimpering]
[officer screams]
[gunshots]
[loud screech, chittering]
Sheriff, come on! Come
o Open this fucking door!
[pounding on door]
Open this fucking door! Stay back!
- [gunshot blast]
- Aah!
Get back! Get back!
Close the fuckin' door.
- Close the fucking door.
- [door slams]
- You
- What?
Get the fucking table!
[panting, groaning]
[soft growling]
[branch cracks, chittering]
[distant gibbering, screeching]
He might be okay.
Hell, Tic, you can't
I gotta go get him!
Hey! Wait!
Shit!
I'm not risking you leading
those things back here,
you understand?
What, you gonna shoot me?
Gunshot'll bring them things right to ya.
[panting]
[twigs crack]
Sheriff, there's someone comin'.
There's someone comin'.
- Uncle George!
- Open the door!
[Leti] Come on!
Get this shit out the way!
What are you doing? No!
Uncle George?
Come on!
Quick! Close the door!
Are you all right?
Depends on your definition of all right.
I thought you were right behind us.
I got knocked down and stayed
down till the coast was clear.
[Hunt] Aren't you a lucky nigger?
Those things got four of my men.
What are those things?
They tore that man's head off!
- They're monsters!
- Monsters don't fuckin' exist!
It doesn't matter what they are!
We need to fight 'em! All
right? We need weapons!
[clattering, thudding]
[roaring, chittering, screeching]
Listen to 'em.
"Children of the night
what music they make."
What is he muttering on about?
It's a quote from "Dracula."
None of them attacked me,
and all I had is this flashlight.
You think those things are like vampires.
If I'm right, and the light hurts them,
it'll also explain why we
been drivin' in the woods
all day and didn't encounter
one until the sun went down.
So we just need to survive till sunup.
Yes.
And find more light till then.
- Yes.
- And there's flares in Woody.
And the headlights would help too.
Where's the car from here?
Where's the car from here!
A quarter mile through
the woods behind the cabin.
I'll go. I'll make a run for it.
No! No, you don't.
You're too smart for your own good.
You might get the idea in
your head to leave us behind.
[panting] She goes.
- Not a chance in hell.
- [cocks shotgun]
- Leti.
- I am not asking.
- Fuck you!
- No, I can I can go!
I can go, I can do it. I can do it, Tic.
I was all-star track in
high school, remember?
Plus, I know you say you
don't need those glasses
to drive at night,
but I really don't think
this is the time to test it!
All right.
You run as fast as you
can. No lookin' back.
You hear gunshots, you don't come back.
You drive for help.
[murmuring]
I walk through the valley
of the shadow of death.
Leti. Leti, you hear me?
Yes, I fucking hear you. I'm terrified!
You don't even seem scared.
Where they teach you that in the army?
I'm not scared 'cause fear's
not gonna save us right now.
You are.
Come on. Come on.
Go, run, run, run!
[gibbering, shrieking]
And I'll take that flashlight
just in case your theory is correct.
[panting, grunting]
[loud snarling]
[grunts, coughing]
Where the fuck is she?
Atticus. Atticus.
[continues coughing, snarling]
Sheriff, you okay?
What happens when you
get bitten by a vampire?
[continues gagging, snarling]
[screeches]
[whimpering, panting]
[loud snarling]
[screams]
- [galloping footsteps]
- Come on, come on, come on!
[engine struggles]
[snarling]
- What the fuck?
- You you need to shoot him.
[loud snarling]
Shoot the motherfucker!
- Come on, come on
- [engine struggling]
[creature roars]
[screams]
[creature shrieks]
Oh! Oh!
Oh
[exhales]
[thud, roar]
[screams]
- I'll shoot him!
- Shoot him!
Shut up!
[screams]
[shouts]
[snarls]
[screaming]
[bulb pops, creature shrieks]
[snarling]
Get the gun!
Shoot him!
[gunshot]
[roars]
[car horn honking]
[roaring, snarling]
Whoa
[exhales]
Uncle George? Uncle George?
Uncle George!
[distant gibbering, roaring]
[Leti] They're coming!
Get him into the headlights!
[gibbering, screeching gets closer]
Son of a bitch! [groans]
[shrieking, gibbering]
- Oh, shit!
- Come on.
Oh, shit!
[grunts]
[shouts]
[screeching, roaring continue]
[piercing tone shrieking]
[monster sounds fade]
We've been expecting you, Mr. Freeman.
Welcome home.
[Alice Smith's "Sinnerman" playing]
Oh, Sinnerman
Where you gonna run to?
Sinnerman
Where you gonna run to?
Sinnerman
Where you gonna run to?
All on that day
Well, I run to the rock
Please hide me
I run to the rock
Please hide me
I run to the rock
Please hide me
All on that day
But the rock cried out
"I can't hide you"
The rock cried out
"I can't hide you"
The rock cried out
"I ain't gonna hide you"
All on that day
"I said," Rock
"What's the matter with you, Rock?
Can't you see I need you, Rock"
Devil was waiting
All on that day
Power
Power
I cried, "Power"
I cried, "Power"
I cried, "Power"
I cried, "Power"