Hungry Ghosts (2020) s01e03 Episode Script

Thao's dead. He was
picked up by the Communists.
They tortured him
and cut off his tongue.
Diane, does the name Hoc
mean anything to you?
I I don't know any Hoc.
Are you in charge of this?
I worry about how those photos
will make them feel!
Quang has three souls and you must
find them before he does.
I know what it is. One of Quang's souls.
Stella, the hair comb.
Where is it?
That's her.
Are you sure?
She was talking to Stella
at the funeral.
Ku ta ka, ka vai rin!
Ku ta ka, ka vai rin.
- Is it working?
- How much can this arsehole eat?
It's not enough he possesses you,
he adds five kilos.
- You try.
- I can't do spells.
Inside that rapidly swelling woman
is a spirit who's trapped
Phuong in hell.
If we can bind him with a chant,
we can free her.
- Ke ta ka
- Ku ta ka.
Ku ta ka, ka vai rin.
Ku ta ka, ka vai rin.
- Mm.
- Ku ta ka, ka vai rin.
Ku ta ka, ka vai rin.
Ku ta ka, ka vai rin.
Ku ta ka, ka vai rin.
Ku ta ka, ka vai rin.
Ku ta ka, ka vai rin.
Ku ta ka, ka vai rin.
Excuse me?
Do the chant.
Ku ta ka, ka vai rin.
- Ku ta ka, ka vai rin!
- What?
Shit, I think he's jumped bodies.
There's a 12-month course
but all the best
illustrators went there.
- Ian Tran, Lisa Cohen.
- Who's that?
Ah, we went to her exhibition
last year at the wharf, remember?
- Finished your chips?
- Oh!
Anyway, I just wish my dad could see
how successful they are
and then maybe he'd let me do it.
- Who wants to dance?
- Since when do you dance?
Oh, look, white boy!
- Hey, are you okay?
- Yeah, I'm fine.
- Back off, mate!
- Oi!
Oi! You two!
- Holy shit! That was awesome!
- You are crazy.
Let's do it.
Wait.
Wait, wait, wait. Wait!
- What?
- Someone might see us.
So?
Life's shorter than you think, Daniel.
Soph.
Rose.
May!
Are you sure you're okay?
I'm just tired.
Why are you here?
I need to try and contact
my grandmother again.
- I'm not doing another seance.
- No, just
just the hands.
On one condition.
You go for a drink with me.
- Is this how you get dates?
- The hours I work, yes.
- Maybe.
- Okay.
- I'm not feeling anything.
- Me either.
Okay.
Well
I'll see you round.
May, I don't have your number!
Mmm?
Cafe Rouge?
Neil!
I left him there with his family.
To be tortured and killed.
Now he's come back.
I know it sounds crazy,
but I'm telling you, that was him.
That doesn't sound crazy.
Think about it.
This exhibition has been digging up
everything you went through
and now it's all coming out.
It makes sense. You feel responsible.
- You feel guilty.
- He wants something from me.
What?
I don't know.
Maybe you'd better find out.
I'm hungry.
Do you want me to do you some mushrooms?
Who's Martin Lee?
He's just a man that
comes into the kitchen.
He likes all of your posts.
- Is he from Vietnam?
- Mm.
- When did he come here?
- I don't know.
- '75, maybe.
- One of the lucky ones.
- I wouldn't say lucky.
- What would you say, Diane?
Because if the ones who made it
here alive aren't lucky,
then what about the ones
who didn't make it?
- You're leaving?
- No, I just have a show.
- Where?
- Ballarat.
That's leaving.
It's only for a day or two.
You've gotta go to work anyway.
Have you heard what I've been saying?
I've seen grief my whole life.
Ba ngoai's gone and
you have to accept that.
Don't waste your life
chasing after ghosts.
- Like she did?
- Yes.
- Always at a shrine, or a temple.
- Do you hear what you're saying?
- It's the truth!
- As you're about to leave.
You're being dramatic.
Ba ngoai was twice the mother
you ever were.
I did what I had to do to support us.
To give you what you needed.
Whatever.
Go.
- Good morning, ladies!
- Yes, yes, come in!
Yeah.
You flatter me.
What can we do for you today?
- How long have you been working here?
- 30 years.
- What did you do before that?
- I was the captain of a Roman galley.
I would say by the fresh burn scars
on your arm
that you used to be a chef.
And only disaster would take
a true epicurean from her kitchen
and bring her to something like this.
So I'm assuming that you've recently
been visited by misfortune.
Quang?
I don't want to hurt you, May.
Ku ta ka
Where are we?
Ban Me Thuot. 1965.
Behold the great demonic god.
.
We kept to ourselves mostly
before the war came to us.
Is that the Vietcong?
Americans today, I think.
Doesn't really matter, though.
Shrapnel doesn't discriminate.
Ba ngoai.
Is that Phuong?
You and ba ngoai.
I know you've heard a lot of things,
but this is who I am.
Phuong was my wife.
Did you
- Did we have children?
- Just the one.
Stella.
You're my grandfather?
You're my blood, May.
I'm your family.
I don't want to hurt you
or your ba ngoai.
I want to stay and be a family together.
Is that wrong?
And we can be a family, if you can
help me find my other two souls.
Quang?
Quang!
- Can I help you?
- Oh, ah, hello.
Look, I got your name off the web and
I was wondering if I might have a
- A reading?
- A reading.
I'm busy at the moment.
Can you come back in about an hour?
Um you know what?
I'm fine, thank you.
You can see him?
- Who is he?
- His name's Thao.
I don't know what he wants.
I'm May Le.
Con
Con
khi.
Con khi?
Con khi.
Con khi?
It means monkey.
I think.
Monkey?
- Does that mean anything to you?
- No, not to me.
Tell Anh don't boil it. Just warm.
Don't boil. Got it. 10 bucks, thanks.
- Thank you.
- And no citrus for two days.
I got in! I'll let him know.
- Thanks, Mrs T.
- Okay, bye.
I got in.
Melbourne's most exclusive
illustration course.
It's a 12-month course, but if
I do well, I can get in anywhere.
Columbia, Royal Academy, Sorbonne.
- Sorbonne?
- Paris.
Yes, I know where Sorbonne is.
I thought you said
you wanted me to study.
- For a real profession.
- This is real.
This is drawing.
The streets are littered
with poor artists.
- One in a thousand make it.
- I could be that one.
You won't be!
Nothing is permanent, Daniel.
This could all change in a heartbeat
and you need to be prepared.
Look, let's talk about
this when I get home.
- Mr Nguyen.
- Ian, great to see you.
Thao's son, James.
That's what they used to call him.
Little monkey, apparently. Con khi.
James. Do you know where he works?
Mr Stockton.
- Please, sit down.
- Thank you.
- Coffee or water?
- Ah, no, I'll be good.
So, tell me about your company.
What sort of tech are you in?
Well I don't have a company. I lied.
I came to see you because,
um I knew your father.
He was a colleague in Vietnam.
I was a photographer.
He was also a friend.
You see I I promised to get him out.
But when, um when Saigon fell,
it all just collapsed so quickly,
and everything turned to shit, and
well, I couldn't.
I didn't.
And he was arrested and tortured,
and that was my fault.
He died because I failed him.
And your mother, she
she died, and that was my fault.
I'm sorry.
I am, I'm
I'm sorry.
Thank you.
To be honest, I don't really
remember my parents.
I was young when Saigon fell.
If you came here seeking
forgiveness I forgive you.
But I feel that chapter's closed.
I have a wonderful life here.
I don't need to look back.
At all.
But thank you.
For reaching out.
Thank you.
I'm a bloody dickhead. He's doing fine.
Got a watch that's probably
worth more than my house.
What did he say?
He forgave me.
And I thought he needed my help.
Well, maybe that's what it's all about.
I mean, Thao knew you
needed to be forgiven.
By yourself, most of all.
Are you humouring me?
Never.
I reckon you're seeing
Thao for a reason.
You've been holding on
to guilt for so long
you've gone and turned it into a ghost.
Gotta get to the gallery. I'll be
glad when this bloody thing is over.
You realise this exhibition
isn't just about you, right?
Correct me if I'm wrong, but we
have the press preview tomorrow?
- Yes, it's going to be fine.
- Where are the rest of the photos?
Coming.
Clare, can I just reiterate,
if this doesn't go well,
neither does my life.
Okay, I am responsible
for my company's sponsorship
of the whole exhibition,
so if it falls down, so do I.
And here he is!
Sorry, I got caught up.
Here's the last of them.
Mr Stockton, we thought
you got kidnapped.
I want to talk to you about
changing the exhibition's title.
- What? No!
- Ah, what do you mean?
- We've printed all the artwork.
- That's all right.
I'll pay for the reprinting
of the posters.
Holy holy shit! Oh, I have to go.
All right?
- Sau?
- Well done.
Okay, what about this one?
- Mum?
- What?
Where's your phone?
Here.
What's the matter?
- Why would you do this?
- What?
You posted this and tagged me.
Now everyone I know can see it.
- What? I didn't do
- Now my boss has seen it.
My assistant's seen it.
Everyone I know has seen it.
- Ethan, we're going.
- I want to stay.
Just In the car! Not in the mood. Go.
- I I don't remember doing
- You've ruined everything, Mum.
- Pulse is dropping.
- Adrenaline one in 1,000.
Take over. Here.
More adrenaline ready.
- Let me go.
- Conscious level not changing.
Doctor. Doctor, what are you doing?
Dr Williams. Ben!
- Come back!
- Prepare another shot.
Doctor!
- Did he
- He's fine.
He's going to live.
He didn't want to.
What?
What are you talking about?
I saw him, standing there in the ER.
His ghost.
They're everywhere.
Mrs Vu.
Rose.
Phuong Le. I keep seeing the dead
Stop! Stop saying that.
You need to go home.
Take time off.
You've been working too hard.
Then we'll decide what to do.
It was somehow real.
I was there in Vietnam. During the war.
And he didn't try to hurt you?
- He just wants his souls.
- But why didn't he force you?
Because he's my grandfather.
- You're sure?
- It feels true.
What?
Well it's just it's kind
of your thing, isn't it?
Your weakness. Family.
- You've always felt a bit abandoned.
- Well, I wonder why.
Maybe it's because since I was six,
Stella would introduce me
as her younger sister.
Yeah, well, my mum
still calls me Richard.
Life sucks, huh?
Why does Quang think that
you know where the souls are?
I guess because
Ba ngoai told me. In the seance.
The fish and and the
the bowl. The bowl!
- That bowl?
- No.
Ba ngoai's prayer bowl.
Ba ngoai had a prayer bowl.
I gotta go.
You really need to work on your moves.
How'd you know I live here?
Um Phuong's medical file.
You were listed as her next of kin.
That's stalkerish.
Hey, I'm kidding.
- What's wrong?
- Um
I knew going into emergency
medicine that patients would die.
I thought I was okay with that.
But what if I make a mistake?
What if I fail them as a doctor?
Will they haunt me forever?
Is this ever gonna end?
Hey, Dad. You got a sec?
From Mrs Tien.
Another one.
Drink it warm, don't boil.
And no citrus.
I can't believe she remembered me.
It's more than 20 years ago.
Oh.
- The agent called again today.
- Sell it.
Really? Are you sure?
Sell it. You're right.
It's time to let things go.
Hoc?
I keep thinking about
this girl in my village.
Minh Vu.
She was above my stock.
Her mother escaped with her,
just after the fall.
I knew, in a new country,
I could rise above my station.
We could be equals.
I could make her mine.
A year later, I followed.
I survived everything.
The bombs.
Napalm.
VC.
But not you.
What do you want from me?
I want my life.
I can't give you that.
I thought you were already dead.
I'm I'm sorry.
Mum! Mum! Mum! Mum!
Sophie. Sophie!
Lien
do you want to live
in a dream with a ghost?
Or do you want your husband,
your son, your family?
Lien, you have to choose. Him or me.
Him or me.
Anh!
If you get the souls, innocent
people will be haunted forever.
True.
But those people who are haunted
deserve their ghosts.
You live a good life, you hurt no-one,
you've got nothing to fear.
That's not always true.
I just want us to be together.
And I want to show you how
to harness your own power.
How to achieve everything you want.
I'm not like you.
You sought power for dark means,
to do evil.
No, I sought power for protection.
All I wanted was to save
the children, to save my country.
Save my people from that evil war.
I don't believe you.
May? May! May.
I need your help.
What are we doing? Why are we here?
We're just here to see a friend.
Oh, no. Fuck that.
Sophie, no-one's going to hurt you.
Then get out of my way
and I'll return the favour.
- Oh!
- Sophie!
Hoc is only half of you.
This is your body.
You take control of it.
Now get your arse up there.
- Mum?
- Huh?
Why are you doing this to me, Mum?
Sophie!
There you are!
Sophie's gone. We've gotta go!
This bowl.
- It's Quang's second soul.
- Are you sure?
We have to take it.
It's just sitting here.
If we take it, we can hide it somewhere.
Phuong left it here for a reason.
Quang can't come into the temple
and the soul won't be released in here.
Trust me, it's safe.
Maybe he's not who I thought he was.
Honey, you've gotta
get some perspective.
If I'd been through that horror,
wouldn't I do the same?
Phuong did go through it.
And she spent her life trying
to keep him away from you.
Yeah, my own grandfather.
If he'd been here, maybe things
would have been different.
- This is what I was talking about.
- My weakness, you mean?
This guy killed Phuong!
Come on, we've gotta go
and look for Sophie.
Has anyone seen my phone?
Dad wants to sell it.
Anh wants to, does he?
He just changed his mind?
- It's the best thing
- For who, Paul?
- It's the best thing for who?
- Shh! Keep your voice down.
Can't you see what you do?
You control everyone,
make their decisions for them
based on what you think is best.
- That's not fair
- No, it's not fair.
Daniel was never gonna be an engineer.
- He wanted to before
- He wanted to please you.
And you filled his head
with so much paranoia
he was too paralysed to argue.
What?
And now you want to punish your father.
Why can't you two just get on?
After everything you've
been through together?
Because we didn't go through
it together! He wasn't there!
When he wasn't fighting the war,
he was hiding from the Communists.
I brought Mum here.
I set up our new life, not Anh.
Well, he was stuck
in re-education camps
When he eventually turned up
here, he was a stranger.
He'd throw and smash things.
Angry all the time.
I'm late.
All right? Thank you.
- That was good.
- Thank you, thanks.
I think they want a photo.
Hey, I want to show you
these flowers over here.
- Check this out.
- Going good?
Yeah.
Hello.
- I had an idea.
- Yeah?
I think we need to
print out more flyers.
- No, not my first exhibition.
- Dad, what are you doing here?
Oh, I'm here as a representative
of the hospital.
What? Dad Dad, just come
Well, '68, actually, I was
heading south on another assignment
when we passed the village.
It was incredibly lucky.
It's an amazing photo.
- Yeah, I suppose so.
- That's me.
- Sorry?
- That's me.
- Sorry, that that's you?
- Yeah, that's me, there.
That's
- Wow.
- How dare you?
You call it luck?
What gives you the right?
My mother was burning
to death in that hut.
There! See?
You see?
And you just took photos.
You didn't help, and she burnt.
And now you put this photo up.
For what?
Fame?
Money?
Awards?
Because it's not your life.
It's mine.
That is my mine!
Okay, sir. Sir, sir, it's time to go.
Come on. Sir?
No, no, no. No, no. No, no, no.
- Take your hands off me!
- Stop, stop.
- That's enough, that's enough.
- Are you all right?
Yeah, I'm all right. I'm all right.
I'm so proud of you May.
All my life I told myself
that I didn't need family.
Not really.
That I was stronger on my own.
But that's not true. I'm not.
Oh.
Tuc Dac Sac, Tuc Ba La, Tuc Ba La
Tuc Ba La. Tuc Ba La.
Tuc Ba La
You bastard.
You absolute prick! You lied.
- May
- Ku ta ka, ka vai rin.
- May
- Ku ta ka
- May, wait!
- Ku ta ka, ka vai rin.
- Wait!
- Ku ta ka, ka vai rin.
Ku ta ka, ka vai rin.
Ku ta ka, ka vai rin.
Ku ta ka, ka vai rin.
Hey mate?
Hey, hey, hey. Hey, you okay?
Mate?
Mate, are you all right?
- I had a bloody job I had to do.
- Oh, I know. It was very important.
Your drawings are all lies.
Hoc is the spirit of
a man that I wronged.
No, no, no, no, no, no!
I met a man. He wants to make me famous!
Ma?
Where's the third soul?