Original subtitles

It doesn't have to do with anything.

This wouldn't happen at a rest stop if it didn't happen now, okay?

Okay,

okay, just, you know what? Calm down. You're getting old. This could mean no

vacation.

Hi. What?

Want to start?

No. You need to use my phone?

No, we got a phone. We're just, uh, just trying to figure out our options.

We don't know much about cars.

Me neither.

Okay, turn it.

Hey, you got a cigarette?

No. What? Now?

It's just gas and stuff.

Huh? Sorry.

So it could be something major?

No idea, just a trick that works on my car.

How long are you guys in town?

Supposed to be back tonight, Philly.

Oh, because I know a guy who can come and work on it here.

Here? Wherever. He's cheap. And he's... Yeah, he's good.

All right, let me try again.

Come on.

Come on.

Come on.

Fuck!

Wishful thinking, Tyler.

My house is down the way, down the hill.

We could roll it there.

Get off the road? Definitely.

Do you have a bathroom?

Yeah, of course.

We can push while she's still.

I'm fine pushing.

Jesus Christ, Anna, use the brakes. Shut up, Tyler.

Look, there's a kid or a dog or something. We're in the middle of the

You're going to ruin your eyes.

Oh, boy.

Thank you so much. Seriously.

I feel like we're the city people everyone complains about.

No, I'm a city person, too.

I know how it is.

Cars are like women.

Oh, sorry.

The women I've been with. Not their fault.

Anna compares me to her laptop sometimes.

Remember when I was infected with that virus from Russia?

You were infected with a virus. But not from Russia.

So you're not full -time? Huh? No, I'm from the city. Oh yeah, what city? New

York? Detroit, Chicago, then New York. But I travel a lot. I have a ton of

friends in New York. I'm going to Tokyo next month.

Want me to talk?

Or... If you want to mind.

Can I use the... Down the hall.

It's a nice property.

It's so quiet.

Yep. It's kind of the best part for me.

It's like a rental.

No, I own it.

He's not there.

We can try again in a little bit.

You're welcome to leave it here however long you need.

Thanks.

More? Sure. He's an addict.

I got it.

Hey, what if we took an Uber back to the...

We were just there. Not without Allison.

Rachel, call Allison.

No, I'm not going to. Jesus Christ.

I'm sorry.

We were staying with our friend at her friend's chateau, and now Tyler's

suggesting we break in. Just walk in. It's open. Yeah, the Williams.

You know the Williams? Is that their name? The vitamin people.

Allison's friends?

On Salt Hill Road.

You know Allison?

Allison Baker?

Sure. I thought she was in California.

Shit, yeah.

I mean, she's on her way back now, but... How do you know Allison?

That's where I fucking know you, man.

Facebook.

He's one of her friends. I've seen you there, right? You made that comment

abortion. You said that if you want to equate abortion to murder, you might as

well also equate the consumption of alcohol to... I'm not on Facebook.

Oh.

I mean, you seriously look like this guy.

But you know Allison.

Yeah, I like Allison.

She's a trip.

She's living to buy a place up here.

Yeah. It's so amazing.

What are the odds?

I've seen that look before.

Inside, she's wishing she could buy him new clothes, maybe clean the corners of

his mouth, change the video he's watching to something more wholesome.

Puppets made of organic felt. What's the matter with his clothes?

Oh, nothing.

I mean, as far as I'm concerned, kids can basically raise themselves.

I should turn off the iPad.

It's been two hours.

No, no, I actually think TV's a valid babysitter, or, I mean, Internet or

or whatever it is.

Seriously, the way, uh...

The way economics have shaped our society, you know, the alienating effect

TV, communicating with and through devices, for lack of a better word, I

think it's normal and okay.

I mean, that's the odd thing about the moving image, you know, film.

It's the only art form you're not supposed to consume.

I mean, you think people in the 1800s were like, oh my God,

your kid just consumed an entire Wagnerian opera?

It's way too much curtain time.

Or, uh, what?

All you do is sit around and read?

You're so lazy.

I don't know. Someone with a kid might not agree.

Is he your kid?

I feel like I'm being talked about.

Oh, I, um, I was just telling... I'm sorry, man. Is it clip or cliff?

Clip. Clip. Like clip audio.

Clip that you really want to have kids.

Really, Tyler?

What?

They're his cigarettes.

I usually smoke outside, but it's okay once in a while. He quit last year.

Once in a while, Anna.

So, what's the verdict?

Oh, um, I still think we need to figure a couple things out.

I'm so sorry about this.

No, no.

There's no way I can do it tomorrow. No way.

So fucking what? It's not going to come out of the budget.

I don't know. Call the rental place at 7 a .m. and say you've been trying to

reach them all weekend and you need to do it Tuesday.

I don't know.

Have a hissy fit or something, all right? I mean, you're good at that. Yes,

serious.

Okay, fine. I'll do it. I'll call.

Okay.

Tell them I'm five hours away and my car's broken.

Okay, right. Yeah.

No food tomorrow.

Yeah. I don't know what to do.

Come on, Anna.

I don't think he's sketchy. I didn't say he was sketchy. Okay, then what is it?

Sort of musty.

The houses.

Too musty?

No. Okay, then what?

I'm just trying to think, Tyler. You're like the warden in Guantanamo. I'm

fucking freezing.

Anna, I mean, look. Okay.

We don't have enough money for a hotel, a tow truck. I mean, all that on top of

what could be like a $2 ,000 bill from a mechanic tomorrow. I want to go to

Costa Rica.

I thought we'd stay here tonight and we'd use the cheap mechanic tomorrow.

It's funny. This is like the first time you've actively wanted to spend money

and energy on something fun.

Costa Rica.

No, yeah, I'm excited.

It's a real vacation.

I'm optimistic.

Does this mean I'm getting old?

I hope not too old.

I got a good feeling about this cheap mechanic.

Hmm.

Do you think that's his kid?

Mechanics?

I mean, I don't know. Look, he's a babysitter. People entrust their most

precious possessions to babysitters.

Are babysitters de facto good people? I don't know. Prove me wrong.

The hand that rocks the cradle.

Shaken nanny. Shaken baby nanny.

The perfect nanny, huh? No, they actually proved shaken baby syndromes

overdiagnosed. There was a series of articles that came out.

Head injuries that take time to present themselves.

I'm surprised. I thought you would have read this series.

I mean, look, we're not babies, okay?

He seems like a nice guy, and I'm freezing my ass off.

Allison's plane just landed.

She's fucking by Ferris and Facebook or something?

Sounds like she's breaking up with someone.

She, like, warning us about this guy, huh?

Get out of that house.

Now.

Anna? Anna? No, no, no. It's not that. It's about something.

Yeah, so if I had like two months of pure focus attention, I think I'd be

to send it out.

That's a good story. Is it a memoir?

Like a hybrid.

It's a novel, though.

Can I use this?

Help yourself.

So, it's been kind of my secret passion project for the past couple of years.

I mean, I'm a writer, but I mainly do copy editing for money.

Tyler, when do I add the milk? Before or after the wine?

Before the wine, when the meat is brown.

Be sure.

Yes. Hold on one second, man.

Milk, broth, wine. I'm sure it's fine, though. Just let it all simmer.

Okay, yeah. So did Jay call you?

Yeah. Are you sure it's fine, Tyler? It's getting all chunky.

Tyler?

I'm sure if you let it simmer for an hour, it'd be good.

Probably doesn't even matter in what order it goes in.

You cook.

I cook every day.

Yeah, but dude, the reality is the rental insurance is good for the entire

month, so it doesn't matter when we shoot as long as we got the papers and

within 30 days.

Yes, we've got the permits.

No, I know I specified those days, but it was just for the estimate. Trust me,

man, it's like a general thing. I've done this like a million times before.

What?

Stacy didn't sign off on it? What the fuck, man?

Okay, okay, okay.

Then I bought us another day.

Man, we would have been fucked if we tried to shoot tomorrow, am I right?

Okay,

no. No, we still got a scheduled pickup for Tuesday.

Man, what a fucking shit show, man.

Fuck!

The hell?

Hold on, man. Let me just put you on speaker, okay?

Man, it's so funny, because right now I'm in, like, a museum of outdated film

equipment. You're in a museum?

No, I'm in this dude's house in his closet.

Oh, my God.

Dead hooker?

8 -track player.

Oh, that reminds me. Stacy found some pretty crazy sweatsuits that we can use

for that flashback scene, and I'm going to send you a picture now, actually.

You got them?

Aren't those colors insane?

Tyler?

Tyler, you there?

No big deal.

I was robbed last year, so I'm a little sensitive about charismatic types coming

around. Charismatic?

What's the fruit for that beer?

Moonshine? You used to think I was charismatic.

Oh, I still do.

Hey, look at this sauce. It looks like vomit.

Hmm.

It tastes good, though.

I'm sure it's fine, then. I'll just close my eyes.

Wait, who robbed you? I don't know. I had a party here, and somebody got out

here with two speakers and a guitar pedal.

I'm sorry. Not that I think you guys are going to rob me. I just want to keep

the good habits going. Good to have some boundaries, especially with the kid

around. I don't understand. What did you do?

I was snooping. No, he was lost.

See, that is charismatic.

I was snooping.

Deep in honesty is attractive.

See what I'm afraid to take you places?

I wasn't snooping, okay? I was in the hallway looking for the bathroom. That's

snooping. It's not snooping. All snooping stories begin with, I was

the bathroom. Ah, I love this shit.

Couples arguments.

This is not an argument, okay? This is me being scolded.

I love it. Anyways, I wound up in this small little mysterious room full of old

video and sound equipment, and I looked around, okay? I wasn't going to steal

anything. I mean, I've never stolen anything in my life.

Anyway, she's the one you should be more worried about.

She used to shoplift panties from Victoria's Secret as a teenager and sell

on Etsy.

You did.

There was no Etsy then.

Clean or use.

Not as sexy as it sounds. She'd show up wearing those JNCO jeans, you know those

raver pants? She'd walk in and try on like 50 pairs of panties and then slip

the JNCOs and then just walk out.

There's one time the mall cops caught her, and they chased her through the

courtyard, and she crashed through that big glass window outside of Best Buy,

and there were shredded lace everywhere.

It was all over Drudge Records.

Stop it. That's hilarious.

You should put that in your novel. You should put it in this movie. I mean, he

made it up.

You're a filmmaker?

It's all coming together, isn't it? Well, um... Yes, he's a filmmaker.

That's why all the film talk. Film talk? We didn't really... Saying it's cool to

raise kids on TV and movies and or vlogging.

TV is not good for kids. I'm not a filmmaker.

Yes, he is.

I'm not a filmmaker. I'm a camera guy in commercials, essentially.

Oh, yeah? Cool, like for what?

I don't know, like stupid stuff. I guess Pajamagram's our biggest one, but we

got an online contract with Evian coming up next month. You know the water

company? I know it.

Commercials are movies.

Mini -movie. No, but that's not what I'm talking about.

You... I'm not a filmmaker.

Yes, you are.

Okay, have I made a film? No.

Then I'm not a filmmaker!

What? It's not like I'm saying I'm a serial killer, okay? I just haven't

to make a movie.

Your movie.

But he's written a movie. It comes with more drafts than my novel, and I call

myself a novelist.

It's older than our relationship, actually.

But a novel is the writing. There's nothing more to it. So you're a

mean, I'm not a filmmaker.

Screenplay is just an idea. It's not a film.

Well, it's nice to feel that way.

It's just an idea.

I mean, you can't even own ideas, all right? I mean, the only way to prove

idea means anything is to turn it into something concrete, you know, something

unique and tangible that people can revisit again and again.

Nice film.

I wouldn't feel bad about it. You just don't have money. Most of the world

doesn't have money.

I don't feel bad, okay? And how do you know that most of the world doesn't have

money?

Anybody's a filmmaker just because they think they are.

Great. Thanks, babe.

I mean, you know, I actually like what I do.

I like being a DP.

I think there's a world in everything, you know? Like, if you're an

astronomer... The world's the universe.

You know, if you're a particle physicist, it's an atom. If you're a

screenwriter, the world's a story. And for me, it's a shot.

I actually like, after all these years, too, that I can buy a cheeseburger and

fries and not worry about overdrafting my pancake.

Which reminds me, shit.

God, Seth, I gotta deal with this.

This is Evian Job.

It's supposed to be tomorrow, kind of a blessing in disguise, but my AC messed

up the rental insurance. I don't have a fucking camera.

You need a camera?

I got a camera.

No, I got a camera, too. I need a Red Epic Dragon to shoot six -day raw.

Or rather, Evian does, which means I need one, too. I don't have that, but I

a really good camera. It's probably outdated, but really good.

A friend over at CBS News got it from an in -house auction, gave it to me.

was going to shoot a music video.

Sounds interesting, like a real broadcast video?

I don't know the brand.

Like an ENG camera?

Wait, what are you going to do?

What do you think I'm going to do? I'm going to call Seth.

Hey, I'm going to call Seth.

Hey, where is the bathroom?

Down the hall.

It's like a really important client could end up paying our rent in a couple

months.

Totally get it.

Another beer?

Thanks.

Dinner should be ready soon.

Thanks again for cooking. It was nice to take a break.

Yeah, I'm glad we got all that stuff from the farmer's market.

At least we could do.

Should I get Charlie? Uh, Chuck?

I doubt he's going to eat after all that cereal.

Hmm, really?

It's up to him.

Well, I guess I'll set the table.

Yo, Tyler.

Come here.

Darling.

No, in here.

Yo, check it out.

Oh, is this the camera? Yeah.

It's the Sony BBW -200.

Check it out.

Oh, man.

It's ancient.

It's amazing.

It's a good camera, right?

Yeah, for its time.

You know, the lens is actually really good.

Yeah.

Ergonomics are amazing.

What do you think?

You mean for my shoot?

No, no, I couldn't, man.

Everyone would kill me if I shot on this thing.

They'd probably think it was pretty cool, but no.

No, they'd have me shoot on, like, the Red Dragon 6K and then pay, like, 10K in

post to make it look like this.

But it's cool, though.

Does it work?

I think so.

You know, see, this is my kind of camera.

You know, straightforward, solid, a little heavy.

This camera's got limits.

I mean, new camera, there's no limits in a bad way. It's like, uh, like Justin

Bieber or something, you know? I can't do anything in a sort of malleable

falsetto.

Put it through like a million different filters, giving it this kind of empty

hedonistic pout.

Modern cameras have a hedonistic pout?

No, this is just my thing is what I'm saying.

Look, the copyright is 1988.

That's the year I was born. This is totally my thing.

Can I turn it on?

Try it out.

Oh, you'll probably need to change the battery.

Maybe I can plug it in.

Can I use one of these tapes?

All yours, man.

I feel like I can't blow my one chance.

But, uh, you're gonna write another.

What? I mean, you're a novelist.

Novelists write novels.

Yeah, but this is my breakout.

It is. Have you submitted it yet? How do you know?

Hey, guys.

I gotta work.

Sorry. Ooh, we're almost out of wine. Do you mind?

I got some whiskey if you want. Oh, I love whiskey.

Hey, do you have an extension cord? The AC adapter is only like two feet. It's

kind of hard to experiment.

Sure, sure.

Oh, Anna, this camera. Oh, I'm telling you, I think I can shoot my feature on

it. Why? I thought you were describing the drones.

What do you mean, drones?

Something simple and straightforward, you know, like Dogma 95 or something,

know, something raw and analog, you know, something that moves on a curve,

know, something gradual, evolutionary, kind of, you know, of this world,

something like that.

What's Dogma 95?

Oh, it's genius, man. It's this movement. It's like it's from Norway or

I don't know. What was that one that we saw? What was that called? I don't know.

Some indie film. No, it wasn't an indie film. Like all those coin aspirational

copycats. Hey, hey.

It was like so honest, you know? It was like made for cheap, but just so like,

you know.

Do you want wine? I feel like whiskey.

Norway is cool.

Oh, yeah, Norway.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Or is it Denmark?

Denmark? Norway?

I don't know. What's the difference?

Hey, do you got that extension cord?

Should be one in the equipment room.

Okay, thanks, man.

I think you've inspired him.

Nah.

Sometimes he reminds me of a child.

In a good way. I just wish he could harness that energy.

How long you been together?

Three years.

Engaged for one.

One for children?

There's just so much to...

Figure out?

I think of childhood as a gift.

What do you mean?

You know how some people seem like they've been a grown -up forever?

Oh, yeah.

I've always felt the opposite.

Not immature, just... I can recall my childhood, and I feel lucky to have it

within reach.

The feelings and the values, I can recall my childhood vividly.

I've always tried to keep it close in a lot of ways. It's centered me.

It's never been something I've tried to outrace.

You grew up in Detroit?

Yeah, around Michigan, Midwest, cold, snow.

The distance between good and evil was so much shorter than it is now as an

adult. All you had to do was stick your head out of the door and something

absolutely fantastic happened.

Just waiting for the bus was an event. Even though it had been repeated almost

every day for many years.

Why? I have no idea.

What was it like?

Every day was like a party.

And the sense of everything that happened pulsated with excitement and

was predictable.

Nor was it over when the bus came.

It had only just begun for the whole day stretched out before us.

With the transformation we went through.

when our wet clothes were hanging on the hooks, and we shuffled into the

classroom in stocking feet with red cheeks and messy hair, wet at the tips

because it had been outside the hat. The tingling in our bodies as the break

beckoned, and we ran up the stairs, through the corridors, down the outside

steps, across the playground, down the slope, and onto the field.

And afterward, going home, playing music, reading, perhaps putting on skis

racing down the hill.

Where the others were, and all this at the intensity that only exists in

childhood.

Standing at the bottom, back up herringbone style.

Racing down until the darkness was so dense that we could hardly see the hand

front of our faces and hung over the ski sticks, chatting about everything and

nothing.

The glimpse of the ice and the bay covered by a shallow layer of water.

The lights from the houses on the estate which formed a kind of cupola over the

forest above us.

All the sounds.

The darkness amplified whenever someone shifted weight and the blue miniskies

scraped against each other and cut into the soft snow.

The car that came down the narrow gravel road.

it was a beetle belonging to the people who lived there a light shining the path

across the ground making everything spookily visible for a moment or two

and then the darkness closing around us

childhood consists of

an infinity of such moments all equally compact

Some of them could raise me to dizzying heights like the evening.

I half ran, half slid down the hill, which

must have been cleared by the snowplow, judging by the shiny surface.

And when I arrived at the dark path between the roads outside our house, I

down in the snow on my back and looked at the dense, clammy, and lightless

above me. I was utterly happy.

Outdoors, we did what we always do every spring.

Cut branches off the birch trees, tie bottles onto the remaining stumps,

them the next day full of light -colored viscous sap and drink it.

We cut branches off the willow trees and made flutes from the bark.

We picked large bunches of whitewood anemones and gave them to our mothers.

Well, we were too big for the latter, really.

But it was a gesture.

It was us being good.

Then one morning, when we only had three hours, into the forest I knew a place

where there were so many anemones that from a distance looked like snow on the

ground.

Not without self -torment, though, for flowers were living beings.

Picking them was killing them. The cause was good.

With their help, I could spread happiness.

The light fell into the shafts through the branches.

The bog was luminous green, and we each picked an enormous bunch, which we ran

home with.

When I arrived, Dad was at home. He was in the laundry room at the bottom of the

house. He turned to me, angry in every movement.

I picked you some flowers, I said.

He reached out with his hands, took them, and threw them to the large sink.

Little girls pick flowers, he said.

It struck me with a huge sense of relief that I would never be returning.

The everything I saw, I was seeing for the final time.

The houses and places that disappeared behind me were also disappearing out of

my life for good.

Little did I know that every detail of this landscape and every single person

living in it would forever be lodged in my memory with a ring as true as

perfect pitch.

A woman came a while ago in a car.

Maybe it's the kid's mom.

Whoever it is, they're really going at it.

I thought that was you.

What?

I don't know. Are you smoking?

I'm still drunk.

It's so confusing.

I love you.

How much is once in a while?

You know, a week, two weeks.

Make sure you keep a bottle of distilled water in the trunk. It should be good.

All right. I can live with that.

Hey, Anna.

You got the cash?

Hey.

Here you go, man.

Thanks, bud. Good luck, okay? Thanks a lot. Take care.

Oh, hey, do you know of, like, a good, like, country pancake house around here?

Oh, yeah, there's an IHOP on 9W, actually.

Okay, cool. Thanks.

Wow, I really want to get, like, a fat, delicious breakfast.

I mean, we just saved, like, $1 ,200.

I'm amazed.

We need to thank Cliff.

Yeah.

Write him a letter?

No, we need something more than that. A blue apron.

The dinner thing?

Don't you gotta pay for that? Of course.

We could pay for the first two weeks.

I don't think they deliver.

I don't know, but we need to do something.

He gave you a camera.

Okay, okay. Can we just get breakfast first?

I have a good feeling about this.

What?

When we get back, I'm going to send out my novel.

Why wait?

I waited long enough.

Now Joe confronts all this psychic pain the only way he knows how.

Claiming retribution for society's youngest victims.

He rescues children from sex slavery, working for private clients, usually

parents, who want someone who can return their kids to them quickly and safely

and inflict maximum pain on the abusers.

Joe gets his assignment from the old man, John McClary. Excuse me?

I feel like everyone's talking about sex trafficking, like it's a huge... I'm

gonna press a course nowadays, right?

Have you ever seen a sex class?

I think they're like an underground brothel.

Really?

It just seems so unlikely.

You don't know the rest of the country. There's some really fucked up places.

Yeah, but sex plays?

It exists.

I'd just like to see the data.

I just feel like someone's conflating or inflating this.

I mean, guys like Ashton Kutcher, right? It's like, what's this getting to do? I

don't know.

I don't know what to say to you about it all.

I mean, it could all just be a ruse, you know? A way to monitor people, deport

illegal immigrants.

I mean, we just may not realize it.

If you think about it, post -9 -11 is when this all began. This whole kind of

weird culture.

I don't think sex traffic started after 9 -11, Tyler. It's been going on for

millennia. The coverage started post -9 -11. Are you even listening to me? I

think you just started listening to the news post -9 -11.

No. I was 13.

Wow, time's really flowing.

That must mean Ashton's what?

40?

What page are we on?

300? Wow.

You're really halfway through.

What are they talking about? Tyler.

I'm just curious. Why don't you read it instead of asking me every two minutes?

I can't read it. I'm driving. Download it on your phone and wear headphones.

bucks, Anna.

You were never really here. When am I stopping to get gas?

It's like 40 gallons. Yeah, but you didn't fill it the last time.

It confirms Ramsey as one of the most exacting stylists working in cinema.

Is that the gas or the book?

Oh, no.

After handing in my manuscript and feeling all pumped, I'm now reading

like this.

So amazing about this guy.

God,

I feel like the past 40 years, everyone was like, thought is structured by

language. And, you know, you can't really know what you're thinking. You

really trust your feelings. And I think we've finally outgrown that or come back

to it. And I think he's the first one to admit it and say, well, I'm just going

to tell you what I think and feel.

Yeah, I think that's what it is.

That's what I do.

What do you mean?

I tell you how I think and I feel all the time.

That's different. In a book? Well, yeah, partly.

Okay, fine. So if I wrote down everything I said during this trip and I

in a book using one of those DIY print -on -demand things, you'll read it?

Seriously, what's the difference?

This is obviously different, Tyler. He's not writing down whatever he's

thinking. He's genuinely communicating.

All right, you know, I don't want to argue.

Can we just find a gas station, please?

You know, I've always been critical of the structuralist pseudo -Marxist

intellectuals you always play. I mean, always.

Where are we into that shit? Who thought I was passe?

And here comes some guy just saying the same thing I always do, but just

written.

Hey,

can we just drive, please?

is about his home state of texas why he left as a young man what brought him

back and what makes it special

This fucking rental is like highway robbery. Why'd you have to get such a

one?

Oh, and, uh, there's no fireworks.

Seems kind of crazy. This is the only place that's Home Depot, but doesn't

Allison have a small tour, so can't we just, like... What, she doesn't?

I can't believe this.

What happened?

Oh, my God, this is unbelievable.

What, did his daddy, uh, smack him again?

Holy... Fucking psychotic.

Insane. Who are you talking about? The Carl Nardale, whatever his name is? Oh

God. Stop it. What?

That, that, that, like everything he said that night, everything, that

whole speech, like word for word, he stole it. What speech? He stole it, like

word for word. What speech? What are you talking about?

Clip, Clip, that black guy last year. I know who Clip is.

Allison's friend. Yeah, okay. What did he say to you?

The distance between good and evil was somewhat shorter than it is now. When

he say that?

I mean, when you were drunk. I mean, and... All the way last year?

And then I was... How did he memorize this whole thing? It's like a half a

How do you remember it? It's like one page. How do you remember it? One and a

half? I don't. It's here.

He said it. Word for word.

I was... I was venting about worrying about trying to publish my work and he

was... drinking a beer and smiling all kindly, and he unleashed this beautiful

passage.

You know, actually, come to think of it, it was completely uncharacteristic of

him. Like, the language, the vocabulary.

What's so special about this vocabulary?

It's not like Clip.

I actually don't see much of a difference between the way this guy

way Clip talks. Well, there is.

God, I wish someone had recorded it.

I am so creeped out right now.

Hey, I'm sorry. Are you sure Allison even has a fireplace?

Tyler! I mean, don't you think this is weird?

I gave my complete attention to this man, like, innocently assuming that the

words were heartfelt and personal and genuine.

Who, Garth? Cliff!

Yeah, that would be weird.

But I'm not convinced that's what happened. Oh, you need more data?

Yes, I do.

I mean, first of all, that was like, what, six months ago?

And secondly, I mean, that aside, it's possible these guys had the same idea,

but just not word for word.

I mean, maybe this just proves your guys' great ideas aren't that singular.

Maybe they're just, um, run -of -the -mill experiences for guys of a certain

age.

And, you know, where's Cliff from, huh?

Black guy, probably grew up poor in, what, the 70s?

I mean, fucking A, black people have experience.

White people have half an experience and they fucking go crazy or they write it

down and win the Nobel Prize.

What are you talking about?

I'm just saying.

I think it's possible that Clip was dispensing his own personal wisdom based

his own personal experience.

And it happened to be as interesting and similar to Scar's doll, Dale, whatever

the fuck. No, no. I know what I heard. I think his vocabulary isn't good enough,

so he must have stolen it.

I think you're potentially stepping into a racist puddle right now.

You better check yourself, Hannah, before you, uh... Wreck myself?

No, embarrass yourself.

I mean, I do need my data.

What would Aston say? You're a fucking contrarian. I'm reasonable, okay? I

I need evidence before I can impugn someone.

I'm like an extreme minority in that opinion, he says.

Let me see it.

The tingling in your body as the break beckoned, and we ran through the hills.

Down through the corridor, down the hill, and... Onto the field? Yeah, he

pouring a glass of whiskey when he said it. I remember he was talking about

anemones.

What's an anemone? It's a flower.

Oh, God, I miss Dad.

I guess this doesn't sound much like Cliff.

No! Remember when I told you that we had such a great talk?

You don't believe me?

What, like believe you in general? If I told you that some guy on the subway, or

no, Harvey Weinstein groped me, you'd believe me without question? Harvey

Weinstein or a guy on the subway? I mean, what, is he homeless now? Tyler!

Okay, okay, of course. I mean, this isn't, the burden of proof is different,

okay? I mean, that's a crime. If you said Clip tried to grope you, I'd

you. I mean, this isn't, I mean, the guy's a lady killer. You remember what

shirt said, right? Hustler County?

I'm not comparing him to Weinstein, though, all right? I'm just glad you

say Bill Cosby.

All right, but seriously, do you remember this guy plagiarizing two pages

Norwegian novel six months ago during casual conversation?

It's just super detail -oriented is all, okay? But I believe you, all right? I

believe you. No, this is just too weird and awkward for you to deal with, so

you'd rather just pretend it didn't happen. She didn't commit a crime.

No, I'm not saying that. I'm saying it's eerie and unsettling. I have nothing to

gain from it. Tyler, it's just unsettling.

2014. I mean, if he did do it, that's seriously some Bates Motel type shit.

Other than it made me think he was very Solomonic and deep and profound.

I mean, it is odd how he gave me that camera.

Wait, what are we doing here? Doesn't Allison have coffee at her place?

She wants lattes. For who? I don't want a latte. They're like four bucks.

Well, then get a coffee.

I want ground coffee. She specifically said pick up lattes. Plural?

I don't want a latte.

He wants a latte.

I know, but I don't want one. Why does she want a bunch of lattes? Well, I'm

getting a latte.

You don't want her drinking a latte alone, huh?

Would she be alienated? Oh, they're the only latte drinker in her house. I mean,

come on, what kind of request is this? Pick up lattes.

You just get ground coffee, and I'm going to get lattes for me and Allison,

okay? Hey.

But you guys are out. If you wouldn't mind just casually, for no good reason,

spending $20. That'd be great. Thanks. Would you listen to yourself? She

us to stay at her beautiful streamside country home at the most beautiful time

of year. And, I mean, you can't even get parking around here for $20 a day.

Seriously setting a dark present.

I'm not saying you would.

But hypothetically speaking, if you had consented to sex with this guy based on

him misrepresenting himself as a... Canal guard.

Right. There'd be a degree of rape there, right? Like, um, third degree

Rape by deception. Like in Israel. I mean, I just read about this Arab

guy that told this woman he was Jewish and looking for a long -term

relationship. I mean, ten minutes later, they were having sex.

I mean, I just read about it earlier. What's wrong with you?

It came up because of the sex trafficking thing. It was in, like, the

something. Anyways, the guy went to prison for third -degree rape. False

pretext. You see, the woman was consenting to something, but not to what

actually doing. I mean, that's the thing. You can't go around

yourself like that. It's broad.

This has nothing to do with sex.

I don't know.

Can we just please stop talking about this stuff?

What stuff? Clip stuff?

Sex, rape, slavery.

You just can't talk about stuff like that. I can't talk? No, not the way that

you talk about it. And definitely not around Allison. She would really take

offense to something like that.

It's a HuffPo article?

Why? Because you would really take offense.

Okay, you know what? I don't want to know.

What?

No, don't look at him. Why are you looking at him? I don't know.

Is he still there?

I don't know. I'm not looking at him.

Fuck, I hate small towns.

Can we just get back to the car?

Fucking walk towards him? What are we supposed to do?

He's moving.

He's moving.

I don't even think that's him.

It'd be even worse.

Why? Why? Because we're walking back.

What are we doing?

I'm gone.

I just picked up some ground coffee because I've been drinking like three

day. Oh, yeah. I don't even use the coffee maker anymore.

Another thing to clean up before the guests arrive.

So you buy lattes every day then?

Yeah.

Just with all that Airbnb money, you can afford to buy a latte.

Is that like a business request?

I don't know what it is. It's just the way things are.

A guest in my own home, I guess.

But I finally own a place.

It's really perfect for what I'm trying to do.

What are you trying to do?

You okay, babe?

Oh, no, it's nothing.

Just strange drive.

Oh, yeah, you said you had something strange. Tell me. Yeah, let's talk about

later.

So, did you bring your memoir?

Yeah.

It's a novel, though, technically.

Can I read it?

Yeah.

So, the reason I canceled three gigs and took two months off and we didn't go to

Costa Rica was to finish it.

What did your agent say?

She didn't come back to me.

But you finished it.

Yeah, but it's... I mean, we missed the deadline for that award, and that's a

bad sign.

And she's really more of a manager than an agent, kind of starting out like me.

Tyler?

Hey, Tyler?

Yeah? Can you be sure to put the butt in the trash when you're done with that?

The guests get really touchy about that kind of stuff.

And don't put it out on the wood, please.

Wasn't going to.

Thank you.

You should be really proud.

There's the part about me that's out of curiosity.

Oh, uh, page 166 or somewhere around there?

But, Allison, it's not a memoir. I mean, the characters are

based on a lot of people, but... I don't want to take it personally.

My boyfriend told me about this woman he met doing odd jobs.

That's so funny. I totally forgot I met you through Tyler.

I know. It's weird, right? He was totally my slave for a summer. I think

thought I was like 40.

No, you're... Creative.

Outwardly rebellious.

Secretly nurturing stunning.

You should manage my Tinder. Jesus Christ, girl.

You know that guy, Clip?

Huh?

How well do you know him? He's not in the book, is he? No.

That would be impossibly weird.

He's weird, right?

No, I don't really know him that well.

Why? What? Is this about when the car broke down?

Yeah. Did he say something?

Yeah. Oh, no.

I don't know how to explain this. He told me a story.

That was a lie.

A complete fabrication.

Or rather, it was all real, but word for word, someone else's story.

And not just anyone's story.

A famous writer.

And other weird things that night, too.

What weird things?

He gave Tyler a $60 ,000 camera.

A $60 ,000 camera? No, it wasn't worth $60 ,000. In the 80s, the year it was

made. Oh.

Is that a stream out back?

Yeah. Yeah, feel free. The water's amazing.

I guess I'm just trying to find out from you if he has mental problems.

Tyler? No, Cliff.

He told a story from a book?

From an international bestseller. A famous Norwegian author.

Not anything to worry about with Cliff. I mean...

I'm not as well -read as you, but there's worse things than quoting avant

European literature, am I right? It's not quoting. There was no attribution.

Like, not even... No air quotes?

I'm telling you, it was straight -up plagiarism.

Well, I'm not a writer. No, this isn't about art. This is about deceit,

misrepresentation, fraud.

It's fake, Allison. Like, people lose their jobs all the time for plagiarism.

they lose book contracts.

You got a contract?

What, me? No, no, Allison, that's not what I'm... Okay, imagine that you were

visiting a friend upstate at like, I don't know, Bard?

And you get lost in the woods, and some guy comes up and says, Oh, I'm

a professor from Bard.

You can borrow my phone. I know this and that person and so on.

And then you're at his house, and you see a...

Janitor's outfit from, like, the fucking Hudson Valley Mall.

What would you do?

I would pick up a knife.

Exactly.

But I know Cliff.

He's not a rapist. No, no, I'm not saying he's a rapist. I'm saying that

plagiarist. I'm trying to think if I remember anything off about him. No,

it's all off.

I feel so weird these days.

Well, I think it's amazing that you finished it.

I bet it's going to be a hit.

Probably just a postpartum depression is all.

Oh, yeah. The guests won't tolerate the sulfuric water. I personally can't tell

anymore.

So how much did you lose?

4K.

6K. We're not talking about the camera.

Well, if we had the 6K, we would have made the 4K. Well, whose fault was that?

Are they suing you?

No, it's a counter suit based on my friend Susan's list there.

We just have our money and our idea, and we'll never get it back.

Wow. All because your car broke down.

Yeah, the last few months have felt like a chain reaction.

I think Cliff cursed us.

Tyler, that's not fair.

Not fair? Isn't the person who called him a psycho earlier?

No, I just mean we can't blame him for all our... No, that would be insane.

Insane?

We never sent that Blue Apron subscription.

And now we're cursed?

I don't know.

Maybe some sort of dark sorcerer, you know, like a black magician.

Wow, Tyler.

But you're the one who said he was magical or had a touch, a way, a gift.

I mean, I'm not making this stuff up.

Why can't we fucking talk about this guy? Why is it like there's all this ice

just waiting to be cracked?

What do you want to talk about, Tyler?

Well, I mean, for instance, the entire time we were there, there was this

blonde -haired, blue -eyed Ken doll kid just hanging out in the bathroom.

Who was that kid?

Are you asking me?

Your friend. I don't know him that well.

Not well enough to know if he has any offspring?

You mean he never mentioned any?

Or...

Was it the sorcerer or the princess? No, he's a babysitter. Is he a babysitter?

He said he was a freelancer.

Freelance babysitter?

I mean, what? Was that like his own personal daycare center we just happened

crash in? I mean, did we spend the night at a daycare center?

A freelance, prosumer, DIY daycare center, executive produced by Morgan

All right, fine. No, it's his kid. He lives there. He was comfortable. What is

it? It was his girlfriend's place. The woman who came real late. What woman?

Late night booty call.

No, that was the mom.

No, because she left.

What? She left? I remember her leaving at like 4 a .m. She woke me up. And the

kid was still there in the morning. I mean, you think this guy would have a

stain over at a house he didn't own with a kid that wasn't his?

I don't know what he's capable of.

You know, this is nuts, okay?

The kid, the camera, the scar stall, Dale.

Fuck!

You know, he's crazy, Allison.

I actually agree with you. Dick is crazy.

Why is this crazy?

I'm not crazy.

Anna's not crazy. You're not crazy. You eclipsed it. That's crazy. Maybe the

effort he put into it. You add to it all the extenuating details. It's like

there's a fucking screw loose or something.

And yeah, sure. When one person's crazy, it starts to affect or infect everyone

around them. So if that's what you mean, fine.

And then with a kid and a half, it's like there's no boundaries. It's a

free -for -all, and everything gets all mixed up, and... You know what else

really creeped me out?

Do you remember when he, um... Oh.

Tyler, I think we're shit -talking Allison's friend right now. No, it's

You can shit -talk all you like. She's not a close friend of mine, because I

don't... I don't know, I'm not a writer, so someone plagiarizing something

doesn't mean anything to me.

It's not like he sold you a fake book or something.

Besides, I guess I think he's charismatic.

On one of my visits to New Guinea, I met a young man named Inu, whose life story

struck me then as remarkable.

Inu had grown up in an area where child -rearing was extremely repressive.

and where children were heavily burdened by obligations and by feelings of

guilt. By the time he was five years old, Inu decided that he had had enough

that lifestyle.

He left his parents and most of his relatives and moved to another tribe and

village, where he had relatives willing to take care of him.

There, Inu found himself in an adoptive society with laissez -faire child

-rearing practices at the opposite extent. from his natal society's

Young children were considered to have responsibility for their own actions and

were allowed to do pretty much as they pleased.

For example, if a baby was playing next to a fire, adults did not intervene.

As a result, many adults in that society had burn scars, which were legacies of

their behavior as infants.

Yikes. I think that's what they want you to say.

Tyler!

I don't know any hot guys.

Do I know any hot guys?

Hot, cool, interesting guys.

That's a very draconian demand.

You're aware of this, right? Guys that would want to father a kid.

I don't think that exists. What do you mean, of course it exists?

I don't know what you're asking. Like, abstractly? Like, do I know any hot,

cool, interesting guys that would want to father a kid with someone they've

never met?

Not just anyone. This is Allison.

I don't know.

I mean, maybe I'll ask around.

Are you serious?

Yes.

And he needs to be intelligent.

I mean, come on. Who do you think you are?

Tyler, these people exist. Maybe not in your world, but intelligent, caring,

nurturing men are out there.

And cool?

Okay, right. You know what that's like? That's like you're designing a house,

okay? And you're like, I want my kitchen here, my living room here, and my

dining room here, and my bedroom over here.

And I want a nice view of the east.

But I want the eastern morning light to come down through the kitchen. But I

don't want the kitchen noise next to the bedroom. What are you talking about?

I'm not an architect.

Are you criticizing Allison's house?

No. I'm just saying something's got to go.

It means something has to be rejected before this becomes a reality.

What about the guy?

Forget the guy. Get the sperm.

Guy. Oh, right. The guy. Yes.

Obviously the least important factor. Oh, the guy. Yeah, just go get some.

free -floating sperm somewhere, you know, like some wild sperm just living

upstate stream, you know?

Upstate, upstream.

Go get some sperm.

There's always a man.

At a sperm bank. Oh, what, and entrust a corporate bureaucrat scientist to tell

you what's cool? Oh, my kid, he's obnoxious. He just watches Steven Pinker

videos on YouTube all day. Oh, well, actually, Steven Pinker is...

Very cool. He's a very interesting guy. The guy was also taking an online improv

class. Great sense of humor. Plays the ukulele. Very, very cool.

Who is Steven Pinker?

A hip Canadian linguist. I mean, do you like older men?

All right, fine, you're right.

Sperm banks are inherently weird.

You have to be kind of arrogant to think that someone would want your sperm.

Like, I went to Harvard.

Six foot two, white, with good teeth.

Gather round, ladies. Can I tax -deduct this jizz?

I don't want a pompous kid.

Those guys are just hard up. How are they hard up? To sell their genetic

information for $50?

Have a kid for a cheeseburger, a fry, a couple of beers?

I don't want that guy's kid.

I don't. Well, you're not going to get pregnant then, apparently.

Tyler, the wood.

Now, my friend Sage, she had a baby with this Native American guy.

He's not the dad. He's not in the picture, but they just had really good

chemistry, so he just gave her the sperm, and that's how she got pregnant.

Gave? Yeah, in a lab. They froze it. The lab is closed now. It's in the freezer.

So they had this kid, Dove, this gorgeous, dark -eyed little toddler, and

sperm that is contemporaneous with the kid preserved.

For eternity.

We're the next power out. I hope it's labeled well. I'll tell you, I would not

drink a smoothie in that house.

Anyways, I guess there's your answer.

Is she home?

Who? Sally. Sage.

No, she's in college.

Why don't you go over there and get pregnant?

Seriously? Seriously. I mean, you want a kid? Why don't you go over there and

break a window? Thaw it out. Couple tablespoons.

Turkey baster. Nine months.

Voila.

Seriously? Why not?

Seriously, would she give you some?

I mean, wouldn't that be weird if I had the same kid as her?

Like, wearing the same outfit?

Isn't there a law against that? No.

No. Do you need a suit for that?

I thought this was going to be the year of change, but we're just so fucking

broke. Oh, dinner's on me, by the way. That's so sweet of you.

Feels like the bottom fell out of everything.

Was he working on a movie, a feature? No, he barely touched the camera. He got

some VCR to play the tapes, but he never got it working.

And then we lost the Evian contract, and he lost interest.

Said the camera was stupid, that it was too big for a drone. He's into drones

now. Yeah, but hasn't that already been done?

Done? Drone?

No, no, no. I'm doing drones. Like the whole lo -fi video look. Like, wasn't

that a thing already in the 90s? Sundance Film Festival and stuff?

I mean, yes.

Like, what was that famous movie, Sex, Lies, and Videotape? Was that actually

shot on video?

I never saw it. Me neither.

I thought it was the 80s.

For the 90s? Was it a real thing then? Yeah, but weren't people doing it on

purpose too?

Hmm.

Maybe.

So like, as a filmmaker, how does Tyler know when a look means something?

Like, how does he decide?

You'd have to ask Tyler. I don't know. I think it's less about the look than how

it's made. So it can be the same, but different.

Well, it better be fucking different. I mean, we can't afford to be repeating

ourselves.

Maybe we are cursed.

And not fair to anybody.

I know. I'm so angry.

You're depressed.

Here.

Try this. It's the real shit. It feels so much better.

Maybe you're right.

Maybe I am.

Ever since the winter or something.

God, we gotta, of course.

Yeah. I gotta say, Tyler seems in his own world.

You should stay here for a while. Why do you keep saying that? I'm serious.

Even if it's not booked, of course. This isn't my life, Allison. Not forever.

What about Philly?

Can't you write anywhere?

What about all the new experiences that you've had for your next book?

He said there'll be another book.

You're a novelist.

Novelists write novels.

What?

Thank you for calling it a novel.

Come on!

Anna, live the life you want to live.

You mean live your life?

No, I mean just like something simpler, different.

Do you know how many writers wreck themselves?

to have two weeks at a place like this?

To be able to think clearly.

I mean, imagine if this was your life, 24 -7, how much good work you'd get

Dear Anna, while I'm fully aware it's a cardinal sin to write someone an email

about a drunken conversation you had with them over a month ago, I can't help

myself tonight.

I mean, I feel like I have an excuse as I just read the part of the memoir you

sent me, that same memoir that on the night of Skye's wedding you said you

thinking of giving up.

I mean, before I get into how amazing it is and how much I love it and how

psyched I am to read the whole thing, let me remind you what I recalled you

saying that so fucking pissed me off as I read that work of art.

Something, I don't know exactly how you put it, but something along the lines of

that you envy Tyler because his medium film was relevant and yours literature

wasn't, and that film could include everything while literature could not,

on and on and on.

We all have our doubts about what we're doing, but I'm getting a little worried,

Anna, because you haven't sent me your rewrite that you said you would, and

in itself wouldn't worry me except... that I know you pretty well by now, and

know you have this thing where you start worrying yourself to death over

something that, I don't know, isn't worth your time.

And I've heard you make these comments about the inadequacy of your medium

before.

So, are you serious?

I don't mean about the doubting, but are you seriously considering not

continuing your memoir?

I hope to God you're not. That would be a huge disservice to contemporary

culture. It's amazing.

It's amazing.

It's amazing. Your point of view is so unique.

Your way of describing things, the way you remember events and how they unfold.

It's a real gift.

But I'll save my personal critique for a one -on -one.

I think you're feeling the way everyone is about technology in general.

Like there's this inevitable wave that's crashing in on us and the only way to

not die is to ride with it. Like updating your Mac. Like Uber.

Like even Airbnb as much as I love it.

Like... I don't know, even the way I just learned to accept that Jared would

rather look at porn than sleep with me. I feel like that's how you feel right

now.

Literature. Your Joyce.

Your Plath.

Your Nabokov. It's the precious little garden you've spent your whole life

cultivating. The craft of storytelling.

Immaculate descriptions.

Narrative voice.

All of that is basically being disrespected by all this technology.

You know, Tyler's world.

It's loud and flashy and current and, in a very immediate sense, gratifying.

I'm not trying to say Tyler disrespects you. I like Tyler. I think we all had a

great time earlier this winter.

But to be honest, I always felt a little responsible for your guys'

relationship. I'm not trying to take credit, but I mean, the fact that you

stayed together those first six months, I really believed in you guys.

Remember that long, long conversation we had at the Halloween party? The one

where I was sexy friar tuck and your costume was so funny. What was the

name again?

I knew I liked you then. Such good memories. And I really thought it'd be

world's biggest tragedy if you two called it quits. You had such chemistry.

Here was this hot, intelligent, fiery filmmaker who used to pull weeds for me

save up enough change to keep writing.

And you were this angelic little memoirist with a mind shrewder than

the room.

But I see now I was thinking of the moment.

Maybe I just wanted everyone to be happy.

I didn't really consider the long term.

If I had ever thought you were interested in the long term back then at

Halloween party, I would have probably thought more about the details.

I should have at least told you that he never, never, while working for me, put

the tools back in the order he got them. That he'd cancel and say he was sick,

and then I'd be walking my dog at the park and see him filming the river in a

sweatshirt, smoking a cigarette in the middle of winter.

Or that two other people, people I've now come to respect, have told me he

them considerable sums of money.

Or that he hooked up with this girl who painted my apartment and then never

called her back.

or that he had this weird habit of saying off -color, sometimes offensive

without reason. Don't get me wrong, I'm not like Karen, who probably thinks of

him as a misogynist, but I'm also not inclined to see it as simply as he'd

me to, or you to.

I think when he says things like that or acts that way, he believes somehow, for

some reason, that he has a free pass, that he's saying these things as someone

who does not really mean these things, like he's just including everything,

because that's what Tyler does.

Which brings me back to the film thing.

You'd be right to say that film can include everything under the sun. I

that's how you put it. Except that you'd leave out one thing.

Yourself and your thoughts.

That's what writing is, Anna. I mean, take The Hunger Games. They got almost

everything exactly right, but it still didn't have the same feel to it. The

suspense and emotion just didn't project from page to the screen.

So they can do a lot of things. They can bring whole worlds to life before our

eyes, make characters into living, breathing flesh and blood.

They can have us on the edge of our seats as vicious battle scenes are

right before us, have us sobbing over a death or heartbreak or smiling with joy.

Film can make us see a lot of things, sometimes things that even books cannot

so well.

They are a pure escape.

There's nothing like sitting in the cinema, devoid of any other distraction,

focused completely on the story playing on the screen.

And yet, films are great, but they just don't have the same...

inclusion that books have. You're merely an observer.

You aren't feeling everything the character feels, aren't reading every

one of their innermost thoughts, all of their doubts and fears and hopes.

Films let you observe everything.

Books? Books let you feel everything, know everything, and live everything.

With a book, you can be the hero who kills the demon with one twirl of your

blade. You can be the girl who battles cancer along with all the pain and

uncertainty that comes with it. You can be a demigod. You can be an alien.

You can be an angel, a god, a villain, a hero.

You can be in love. You can hate. You can triumph. You can lose.

You can be anything and everything. There are no limits, no restrictions.

Nothing is impossible.

nothing is out of reach books are magic which is why i'm telling you all to

forget about movie magic and get back to the pure magic that lives upon your

bookshelf i think now anna more than ever personal, precious, one -on -one

aspect that literature provides is needed. The feeling of being talked to

intimately by a real human voice is needed. And honestly, I think your voice

particular is needed. At least I can say from where I stand and what I've read

that it's true. I probably watched about eight movies and 12 shows this month.

Do I wish I had that time back? Yes. Do I wish that about the books I've read,

including especially yours, which I can't wait to read all of?

No. I'm actually grateful for those experiences.

True as perfect pit.

That's my rant, Anna.

Take it with a grain of salt.

But if money's an issue with finishing your memoir, you know you are more than

welcome to stay up here if that's what it takes to finish it. And in the

I'll be moving into that streamside cottage I showed you. My own place.

It'll be amazing.

You can write. We can party.

Summers are so, so beautiful up here.

And there's actually some pretty interesting people. You'd be surprised.

a great niche marketing course at BTW that I'd like to share with you. I think

it could really help you with your book once it's done.

Because, you know, there are still people out there who read.

Don't lose hope.

Love, Allison.