Original subtitles

[soft music]

[clock ticking]

[ocean wave crashes]

[music starts]

[street din]

[Sydney] There is a place I once found as a kid

which exists deep inside the crevices

of my mind.

I go there in the moments before waking.

[traffic ambience]

It remains there.

It will always be there.

One day, I will never leave.

[car ambience]

[motorcycle putter]

[opening theme music]

-[birds chirping] -[water rushing]

[pages rustle in the wind]

[ocean ambience]

[Russell] Sydney!

Get down from there!

Sorry.

I just wanted to see.

[boat splashing]

-Nui, right? -Yeah, yeah.

The flight out of America was brutal.

Some child kept kicking the back of my chair.

I asked the flight attendant to tell the kid to shut up.

But you know, they wouldn't do it. So...

I almost turned around and did it myself.

[Nui]

[Russell] Yeah, I hope so.

[music builds]

[car engine revs]

So, how old are you?

[Nui, in Thai]

[in English] I'm fifteen years old.

How old are you?

I'm sixteen.

Uhm...

Do you know the band Oasis?

-Oasis? -Oasis.

[singing] ♪ Don't look back in anger ♪

♪ I heard you say ♪

[in Thai]

[in English] Um, it's music.

America.

Daddy and me like...

[in Thai]

Like sisters, right?

You married, Nui?

No, sir.

Makes two of us.

[motorcycle]

Dad, look!

They're not wearing any helmets.

They'll crash and burn.

You promised me you'll never be so stupid.

I promise.

Atta girl.

You know what she loves?

The color red.

Once upon a time, I was, you know,

going through her things, and I accidentally misplaced

a few red items.

God, did she have a fit!

All I did was move this red thing there, or...

red shirt to this drawer-- Whatever, you know?

She had a full nervous breakdown.

Wouldn't eat for a week.

[tire bouncing]

[music fades out]

[music plays from phone]

[Sydney] She believed every piece of clothing

needed to have a story

otherwise, clothes were meaningless...

[water sloshes]

a costume for parrots.

-[razor scrapes] -[gasps]

She questioned if a new story was brewing

in this foreign land.

[plastic bag rolls]

[footsteps approach]

[music fades out]

Yeah.

[chicken clucks]

Hold on.

What's the area?

It's expensive, no?

Hold on. What's that?

What? No. No, that's not gonna work.

No. Client's gonna be there on Monday.

[Russell] That is exactly what I said.

[music]

No.

Hold on.

Mr. Nui, what were you saying?

This shit?

[fly buzzes]

Yeah.

Okay.

Yeah, okay.

That'll do.

Yeah, call me when it's done.

Okay.

Yeah, okay.

Mr. Nui.

Where do you see yourself in ten years time?

Huh?

Ten years from now,

what do you see yourself doing?

You know, your dreams, your ambitions.

[clicks tongue] Why do you need to sell this land?

Well, Mr. Nui.

When you have no money

you gotta get creative with your resources.

[rooster crows]

[oil boiling]

[music fades out]

[fish sizzles in hot oil]

[snoring]

[old motorcycle engine running]

[old movie plays on television]

[groans]

[lighter]

[in Thai]

[soft ambient music starts]

[water dripping]

[waves crashing softly]

[phone vibrates]

[in English] Hello?

[Sydney] Mom?

What time is it there?

[Sydney] Sunset.

It's the middle of the night here.

[Sydney] Do you think when I'm back from Thailand

I could stay with you for a while?

[Sydney's mom] Honey.

But...

can I see you at least?

I mean, that's allowed, right?

[Sydney's mom] Does he know you're calling?

No.

[Sydney's mom] Baby.

I know, I know, but like...

I don't know, I don't know.

[Man's voice] Babe, it's late.

[Sydney's mom] It's my daughter. [sighs]

You didn't show up at my recital.

[Sydney's mom] Baby, I was in a different state.

But you could've come, right?

Dad said he offered to buy your plane ticket.

[Sydney's mom] What? No.

That's not what happened, Syd.

We had a talk.

He told me not to show up.

What? Why?

[Sydney's mom] I don't know.

He was really stern.

Made threats and everything.

And I'm not about to battle him in court.

Maybe if things cool off,

I'll be there for the next one.

All right?

Pinky promise?

Pinky promise.

[waves splash]

[Sydney] Ugh, Dad, I can't breathe.

Yeah, yeah, it'll loosen up in the water.

Stop it.

There you go.

Hey!

[camera turns on]

Take a picture of me and my daughter?

Can we not?

Smile, Sydney.

Ah! Yeah, it's perfect.

We look happy.

[Russell] Alright.

Have fun, you two. [chuckles]

[boat engine humming]

[Sydney] There are no sharks here, right?

[Ether, in Thai] What?

[Sydney, in English] Shark?

[Ether, in English] No, no have.

[Ether laughs]

-[Ether] No, no have. -[Sydney] It's not funny!

No, you have sharks, or no, there are no sharks?

[Ether] No have shark.

[music starts]

[water sloshing]

[music fades out]

Hey, what's your name?

Huh?

Your name?

Name I, Ether.

I'm Sydney.

[music starts]

[piano plays]

[Sydney] She could lose herself in things like

speckled patterns of sunlight bouncing over ocean waves.

She considered these minute details

expressive of some universal truth.

[laughing]

I don't know how to fish.

[in Thai]

[in English] Scared?

Oh, no, not scared.

Just, um, it's dead.

[ocean sound]

[fishing reel spins]

Okay, you.

Again.

-Oh my god. -Oooh!

Oh, that was good, right?

Um, now what?

Okay, now waiting.

Maybe one minute.

Maybe one day.

What? Are you just gonna...?

[sea birds chirp]

[music starts]

Ether?

Um, Ether!

[fishing reel creaks]

Big.

You can! Go, Sydney!

No, no, I can't, it's too heavy!

Pull!

Ooh, it's slipping!

You can!

-I can't. -Why?

I'm too weak!

You, this.

[in Thai]

[in English] You, this.

You can.

You can.

[water sloshes]

Pull, pull!

[Sydney grunts]

[water bubbling]

[fish flaps around]

[hammer slams]

[music fades out]

You can.

[music starts]

[music swells]

[faint music from house]

I show sister.

Oh, hey, wait a second!

["Just a Little" by Desktop Error playing]

[Ether, in Thai]

[door slams open]

[Jaan, in Thai]

[in English] Dad?

Oh, shit.

[in Thai]

[Ether grunts]

Whoa, whoa, whoa! That's not necessary.

Come on.

[Nui]

[in English] Sydney!

Stay.

[music fades to next track]

[helmet bounces]

[motorcycle revs]

[Sydney] She saw time like water.

Death, not an end.

Birth, not a beginning.

All moments, droplets in the sea.

[light rain]

[landline phone rings]

[landline phone rings]

[landline phone rings]

Where are we going?

[in Thai] Let's go.

[in English] Ether!

Monkey!

[in Thai] Where?

[in English] It was just there.

[squawks]

[waterfall]

[Sydney screams]

[laughter]

-[yelling underwater] -[bubble noises]

-[yelling underwater] -[bubble noises]

[soft guitar music starts]

Wait, wait, wait.

Slow, slow, slow, slow, slow.

[gasps]

Slow, slow, slow, slow, slow.

[laughter]

[music fades out]

[breaths]

Sydney.

Have you ever been to Bangkok?

No, not go.

So let's go.

We'll catch the biggest fish the world has ever seen,

and ride into the city.

It'll be so big--

It'll be so big that they'll need twenty people

to hold it up.

They'll even talk about us in America.

Okay, okay.

[motorcycle revs]

[rising music]

[in Thai]

[Ether]

[officer]

[in English] Just do what they say.

Sydney, see you, Bangkok.

He didn't do anything!

Why is this happening?

[Ether, in Thai]

[in English] Ether, what's going on? Hey!

-Go. -Me?

Go.

He didn't do anything.

Go, go, go, go, go.

Ether, what about Ether?

Go.

-[jail door clanks] -[clock ticking]

Sir, can you tell me what I'm doing here?

Hey!

Great.

Thanks.

[Officer Chanchai, in Thai]

[phone hangs up]

Where's Ether?

[in Thai]

[in English] No! No!

-[in Thai] Come here! -[in English] No!

Let go, let go!

-[Sydney] Let go! -[Russell] Get in the car!

-[Sydney] Let me go! -[Russell] Now!

Stop acting crazy!

[Sydney] I won't go until I see Ether!

Help me!

[Russell grunts]

No, let me go!

Let me go!

Ether!

[Sydney] Ether!

No!

Ether!

Ether!

[in Thai]

[in English] Sydney, calm down!

[Nui]

[Russell] Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Get us out of here.

[bird wings flutter]

[music swells]

[plane engine humming]

-[traffic ambience] -[skytrain noise]

[distant motorcycle putter]

Hey.

Do you remember this?

[Russell chuckles]

[music fades out]

I think it's broken.

You're doing it wrong.

[Russell] Yeah, yeah, been great Nui.

Thanks.

You're looking fresh.

I like the watch. What is it, a Rolex?

That's a $6,000 watch, Sydney.

[Sydney] Patek Philippe.

I bought it for her.

24th birthday.

$150,000.

How's Jaan and Ether?

And Ether?

[Nui]

He-- they're not in Bangkok?

[Sydney] There is a place where trauma burrowed within her,

where it elongated and echoed to infinity thereafter.

Hey.

[Sydney] Never leaving.

[Russell] Take your meds.

[Sydney] In every nerve ending of every limb.

-They're in my suitcase. -[Russell] Fuck, Sydney.

[Sydney] It resurrected in panic, tremors, short breaths.

The gates to her prison. A persistent erosion of her mind.

-[Russell] Sydney, what's wrong? -[hyperventilating]

[Sydney] She spent her life deciphering the puzzle of its origin.

Running through the labyrinth of memory.

Desperate to heal.

She ran too deep.

Suffocated.

Nothing.

[Sydney] Imploded.

I'm fine.

Open your window.

[car window opens]

[wind blowing]

Now's not the time to crack.

Russell, I'm fine.

Bump me.

Atta girl.

[music starts]

Atta girl.

-[construction drilling] -[bird wings flap]

[ambient music builds]

[Ether yawns]

[children yell and laugh in distance]

-[children play] -[pan sizzles]

[man exclaims]

[Ether, in Thai]

[Nok laughs]

[Nung]

[Ether]

[Nung]

[high five]

[footsteps running away]

[fishing reel]

[music]

[construction drilling]

[Russell] You've got squatters.

[Nui]

[Russell] In America, the city would tear this place down

before anyone could call it their home.

[Nui]

[construction drilling]

Thank you.

[Russell] I hear flooding's an issue in Bangkok.

[Nui]

What do you think, Sydney?

What?

Head in the game, sweetheart.

My time ain't free.

Sorry. I was lost in thought.

Yeah, I was asking you what you think.

The noise might be an issue.

And there's that notorious Bangkok smell.

Thai people don't care.

[Russell] Yeah, I'm not so sure about that.

Let's, uh, let's look at the numbers

then we can chat.

[Sydney] It's a good opportunity.

[music fades out]

Yeah.

But what do you really think?

[office telephone rings]

There were children.

Slum families!

Ants feeding off free hand outs from hard working people

like you and me.

They mean nothing to you.

Sydney, when I am gone, all of this

will belong to you. So stop bitching!

I'm not bitching, I'm just wondering if it's worth it.

Worth it?

It's 50 million dollars.

-That's not what I mean. -Read the contract, dummy!

You cannot blame me for all the problems in the world.

I am just one man.

[sighs]

Honey.

Are you with me?

We'll take care of the families.

I promise.

-You give me your word? -Yes.

My word is my soul.

Now for a week of R&R

and then...

[fingers snap]

demolition.

[club music playing]

Whiskey?

-Cheers. -Cheers.

[laughter]

Aha, Nui!

[Nui] Oh yeah!

[Russell] This is my name.

Russell Aria.

-[music changes] -[motorcycle putters]

[Sydney] Approaching the sprawling metropolis of Bangkok

triggered memories of Ether.

They flooded in like monsoon rain.

She thought about where he might be

if he was even alive.

In fact, she understood this about herself very well.

Losing him ten years ago was the defining moment

of her outlook on life.

[rain patters]

She grew up a slave to powerful people

graduated reform school with excellent grades

got through college without making any friends.

Salmon for the lady.

[Sydney] It was hard for her to love.

After a two month fling,

she married an older man,

but quickly divorced when she realized

the man would fail to provide her

with the cutting behavior she craved.

Where's the Klonopin?

Upstairs.

I, um, just got back from the South.

And?

Couldn't find them.

Look...

I'll get you some more when we're back in New York.

Stop fiending.

You're a grown man.

Stop fiending for food.

You're fat.

Seriously?

What are you, twelve?

[chuckles] Well, I mean,

you know, we can't have you attending company meetings

If you're...

overweight.

You call this overweight?

Yeah.

Well...

What are you gonna do?

-Eat your emotions? -What are you gonna do?

Get wasted and whine about your divorce again?

Crybaby.

Would you like to tell some jokes?

For a dollar a minute?

I'd do anything.

Waiter!

Russell.

-Yes, sir? -Yeah,

you see that microphone over there?

Would you mind bringing it over?

-You want the microphone, sir? -Don't listen to him.

[Russell] No, shut up.

Yeah. That microphone. Bring it over.

My daughter here is a fantastic comedian.

[background laughter]

Well, I'm not sure. I can check with the manager.

No, no, no. I'm your manager.

I'm paying.

So move your little feet.

[in Thai]

Bring me the microphone.

Bring me the fucking microphone!

Sir.

Sir?

Let me do it, sir.

[Russell] Cold feet.

[mic placed on table]

[coughs]

[clears throat]

Five years of rehab.

[sarcastic laughter]

Why aren't you laughing, Daddy?

[glass breaks]

[Russell laughs]

Yeah, can, uh,

someone come and clean this up, please?

[diabolical laughter]

[Russell laughs]

[piano music swells]

[fish splashes]

-[music fades out] -[whistling]

[big fish splashes]

[water sloshes]

-[sleepy music starts] -[groans]

I'm sorry about dinner.

[Sydney] I know.

[groans]

[Russell] The thing they don't tell you about turning fifty

is that it really fucks you up.

You do things...

just to prove how much you hate yourself.

You don't hate yourself.

You hate that you're not young anymore.

[Russell] Maybe, maybe I should just give it all up

and leave it all to you.

And what in the world would you do

with all your time?

[Russell snoring]

Night, Russell.

[light switch flicks]

[dark ambient music]

[sniffles]

[slow guitar notes]

[wind ruffles curtains]

[Sydney] She knew back home her father was just

another schmuck shootin' dice.

But in Thailand,

he was king.

[paper ruffles]

[music ends]

[music starts]

[motorcycle starts]

[motorcycle revs, blends into music]

[music fades out]

[bells chime]

[in Thai]

[in English] Nice television.

[in Thai]

Jaan?

[in English] If you don't want food, then you can leave.

Jaan?

Oh hey, wait a minute.

[Sydney] Wait a minute.

I went down south.

I looked for you

and your brother.

You can't be back here.

How is he?

[knife slams]

I won't ask again.

Your English...

You improved.

[music starts]

[motorcycle starts]

[flies buzz]

[Ether, in Thai]

[thunder breaks]

[thunder rumbles]

[gecko chaps]

[thunder rumbles]

[motorcycle accelerates]

[engine shuts off]

[glass bottle clanking]

-[gasps] -[music fades out]

[music starts]

[motorcycle rumbles]

[in English] Why are you living in this shit hole?

Sydney?

Yeah, you dickwad. It's me.

[laughs]

Been a while, huh?

-Uh. -Oh, I stumbled into your sister.

Sydney, waiting one minute, na?

I... dirty.

I can manage a minute.

[Sydney] I was married, you know?

Husband?

Was.

Not anymore.

It was short.

Two months.

Stupid.

Few years back.

Sydney okay?

I think so.

What about you?

Any kids?

Kid?

No.

No have.

Married?

What happened ten years ago?

How did you end up in Bangkok?

[in Thai]

[in English] Here.

[Sydney] How did you end up in Bangkok?

[Google translate voice in Thai]

[taxi honks]

[in English] Take a seat.

[glasses clink]

So...

How have you been all these years?

I don't know.

What do you mean you don't know?

How'd you get from the south up to Bangkok?

Last time I saw you,

we got arrested.

[laughs]

You know,

there's this dream I keep having

ever since we met.

I can't shake it.

It starts and I'm in the middle of a dark black ocean.

I'm underwater.

My legs are wrapped in chains and stuck to the floor.

I break free

and swim up to the surface

but just before I get there, there's this monster,

giant thing with hands the size of my body

and it pinches my chains and tugs me down

toying with me.

It lets me surface and suck in some air

and then pulls me back under again.

I struggle...

and struggle...

until I see a boat arrive.

It's you...

and your boat.

I reach out for you.

And you reach out for me.

But then I wake up.

[wave crashes]

Drink up, buddy!

It'll make the whole seduction part a lot easier.

[glasses clink]

You're so quiet.

You weren't like this ten years ago.

Let's, um

[chuckles, sniffles]

Let's do something wild tonight.

I have an idea.

Come on!

[Sydney laughs]

[ambient music]

[watch ticking]

[yelps]

Don't be chicken. [chuckles]

Ether!

[Sydney laughs, yelps]

[Ether laughs]

-[guitar music] -[bubble sounds]

I go home.

What?

Already?

No!

Why?

No.

What the hell is your problem?

Am I not enough?

[Ether] Tomorrow, okay?

See you tomorrow.

Hey, what's the matter?

Ether?

You're an ant.

You'll always be an ant.

Broke as dirt.

Feeding off hard-working people like me.

[music]

[Sydney] She wondered why people came up with the most

complicated ways to say the most simple things.

[monks chanting]

[music blends in]

[Sydney] You knew they were in Bangkok.

Find a new partner. I'm not working with you anymore.

-Take a seat. -[Sydney] No.

Sit down!

[Russell] It's too late to back out.

What about the children?

What about my child?

Sydney, we are sitting on a pile of cash.

I'm only doing this because I love you.

You said your word is your soul.

Remember that time you threw a helmet at my face?

I was 16.

Still a breach of contract.

You can't enter a contract with a minor.

Nui's building doesn't even have walls, okay?

The people living there are sleeping on cement.

When the rain blows in, they get soaked.

We need walls, Sydney!

Walls!

To separate us from the monkeys.

There's nothing for you there.

Nothing that matters.

[drink splashes]

The contract says you're liable for losses.

That's it.

You take the heat, I take the meat.

Capeesh!

Crybaby!

Okay.

Whose turn is it to dance for me?

Come on.

Let me see it.

-[motorcycle putters] -[piano music]

[wind blowing]

-[items fall] -[man shouts]

[in Thai]

[grunts of struggle]

[piano theme music]

[distant footsteps echo]

[thud]

[groans]

-[Officer Chanchai grunts] -[thud]

[rope snaps]

[grunting]

[Officer Chanchai]

[Officer Chanchai yells]

[Jaan]

-[Officer Chanchai grunts] -[skull cracks]

[footsteps echo]

[music starts]

[boat engine humming]

[water sloshes]

[knocking]

[in English] You were right.

I was too late.

What?

You look just like your mother when we first met.

I was a...

[groans]

about to take a shower.

[Sydney] No, Daddy.

You deserve a bath.

Let me start it for you.

You know what?

A bath sounds really fucking amazing.

Thank you, sweetie.

[Sydney] Of course.

I love you.

[grunts]

[shoes land on ground]

You know, I like this.

We're gonna build empires, Sydney.

The Arias.

Arias!

It's got a good ring to it.

[water running]

You ready?

Almost.

Careful. It's hot.

It's nothing.

It's all yours.

[water stops]

[violin music starts]

Calm down.

[breathing heavily]

[music intensifies]

[music fades]

[groans]

[music changes]

How's the water?

Very nice.

You good?

Well, I'm a little sleepy.

Try to relax.

You've worked hard.

[Russell groans, indistinct]

[low guitar notes]

[Russell chuckles]

Honey.

[Sydney] Try to rest.

[Russell] Sydney!

[muffled shouts]

[strains]

-[panting] -[Russell shouting]

[Russell suffocates]

[Russell goes quiet]

[gasps]

[thunder rumbling]

[lightning cracks]

[piano arpeggio]

[fire crackles]

[Sydney] There is a place I once found as a kid,

which exists deep inside the crevices of my mind.

I go there in the moments before waking.

It remains there.

It will always be there.

One day, I will never leave.

[laughter]

[car honking]

[tires screech]

[clashes]

[birds chirping]

[music fades out]

[final notes]

["Just a little" by Desktop Error playing]

[song fades out]