Original subtitles

The Lovers, by Magritte.

Some argue it tells the story of frustrated desire.

Others believe in its romance,

a lover’s passionate embrace.

So which is it?

Perhaps we should ask the painter himself.

Magritte, from its inception,

always insisted there was no story.

He told critics, “It does not mean anything.”

But what of Magritte himself?

His mother drowned herself when he was just fourteen.

She was plucked from the river as he watched.

Her white, wet nightgown hooked across her face.

But of course, this painting...

doesn’t mean anything.

Which brings us to a wider discussion, of meaning.

And who decides the narrative.

Do you think they know they’re a total cliché?

Preppy lovebirds.

He’s probably reading her Baudelaire.

From a book, too.

Jesus.

You’re failing my class, Hannah.

I’m hungover, I’m on my period, I don’t need a pep talk right now.

How’s your mom doing?

The new round of meds are helping.

What is this, old-school irony?

Maybe I just...

like old things.

Now who's the cliché?

Get out of here.

Go. Go, go.

Jesus!

Professor Gaskell.

Walter. How can I help?

Carl’s mother died.

I’m sorry to hear that.

He’s taking compassionate leave,

so he won’t be speaking to the trustee conference on Tuesday

and the board has asked for you.

Uh, of course, yeah.

I’ll prepare a summary presentation for review.

David Maddox?

-Hi. -Hello.

I’m Alison Jones.

-Hi. -Hi.

I’m sorry, I’m having a hard time placing you.

Have we met before?

No. No, but, um...

I have some important information I’d like to share with you.

What kind of information?

Okay, um...

Well, it’s my test results.

Uh, our test results.

I made my profile private, you shouldn’t have this.

I know.

I did something I’m not proud of, and I’m sorry, but...

I had to know.

-How did you get this information? -Illegally.

It was wrong,

but David, I took the test two years ago,

and every day since, I’ve woken up wondering,

whoever my match was...

Why did he take the test if he never wanted to meet me?

I’m married.

I guessed as much.

I am too, by the way, um...

And yes, I love my husband very much, but...

One day I woke up and everything felt...

different.

Do you know what I mean?

I’m sorry.

Honestly, I don’t even know what I was hoping for.

You know what, um...

I’m in town for a couple of days with work. Um...

Maybe we can grab a coffee?

Maybe we’re supposed to be friends.

Here’s me.

Right, that’s that.

You will say something, won’t you?

He hates me.

He doesn’t hate you.

He just doesn’t think you’re good enough for me.

He’s got that right.

-You look beautiful. -Thank you.

So? Will you say something?

David?

Okay everyone, settle down.

Let’s get this over with.

A toast to the birthday boy.

Everyone’s favorite grouch.

A man of a thousand words, all published,

with only a few choice ones spoken.

To my father...

and inspiration.

Walter P Gaskell.

-Cheers. Cheers. -Cheers Dad.

David. Go on.

Just one more.

Um...

To a wonderful man, a loving father,

and a cruel and punishing boss...

Walter. It must be nice having your whole family here together.

I’m retiring at the end of this semester.

Oh.

But as my final act,

I’m going to recommend you to the board, for tenure.

Well, I don’t know what to say.

-Thank you. -People will think I’m only doing it

because you’re married to my daughter,

and I want you to know that is exactly the reason.

What’s wrong?

Walter’s retiring.

He told you. When?

Tonight.

He’s endorsing my application for tenure.

Oh my God, David. That’s amazing!

That’s the mountaintop.

So why aren’t we pouring champagne all over ourselves in the bath?

He thinks I’m only with you for your money,

and his connections.

He said that?

Inferred.

Well, that’s fine with me because I’m only with you for your body.

You know I love you, don’t you?

Shut up, old man!

I’m so proud of you.

I do not accept that when Kahlo looks at herself,

it’s in any sense vain or self-absorbed.

But why did she paint herself so much then?

55 paintings, a third of her output? That’s a lot of selfies.

Don’t undermine her art like that.

Her self-portraits express the physical pain of her accidents,

the emotional pain of Diego’s affairs,

her suicide attempts.

I’m on the road usually two weeks every month.

I could fly, but um, I just, I don’t have the conscience for it.

Plus, I think truck stop coffees are underrated.

I love my wife.

And I love my husband.

Then why did you come looking for me?

I don’t know.

You don’t know?

You had my account hacked.

That’s a federal crime, you could go to jail for 20 years.

You don’t think I already know that?

I’ve never broken the law before.

See, I thought that if I came here and I saw you, that it would...

I don’t know, be enough.

But it just made the feeling even worse.

I'm sorry, Alison.

Really.

I took the test a long time ago. I’m a very different person now.

I haven’t told my husband.

He thinks this is just another work thing.

Have you told your wife I came to see you?

Maybe you’re right.

Maybe we’re meant to be friends.

We could exchange numbers, talk in... a month, maybe.

Yeah.

Yeah, I like that, that sounds... grown-up and practical.

Ah!

I guess we now officially exist in each other’s world.

Then let me officially buy the coffees.

Thank you.

Well, it was nice meeting you. I think. I’m still trying to decide.

I’m glad you made contact.

-Are you sure? -No.

Well, do we hug, or...?

I don’t know.

Sure.

I am so sorry. I shouldn’t, I...

Oh God.

Barolo on a school night?

Yeah. It’s been a strange day.

I hope you don’t want to talk about it,

because I need to drink water, pee, sleep.

You coming?

After this.

-Beautiful, isn’t it? -Gorgeous.

-How are you? -Thank you for inviting us.

-Thank you so much for coming. -It's wonderful.

-Hey Julia. -Hi Sarah.

-Hi, how’s it going? -Hi!

Ooh! I am two more no-thank-yous away from shedding these heels

and popping a Valium.

-You okay? -Mm-hm.

Oh my God, there’s Francis. Come with me.

-Francis? -Sarah!

Darling, you made it.

I love you, thank you so much for coming.

Hey Laura, how’s it going?

So, before you tell me you love what you're seeing,

I'd love to introduce you to my husband, David Maddox.

He’s an arts professor here at Amherst.

David? Francis.

Francis, what a pleasure. Thank you so much for coming.

-It’s so good to see you. -And this is Laura, his wife.

It's a pleasure.

Hey.

-Hey. -Will you meet me?

-Yeah. -Tomorrow?

Yeah.

Hey.

Hey.

Oh, uh... I brought alcohol.

I love my wife.

You keep telling me.

It’s why I blocked the test.

Seemed unnecessary. What we have, works.

Why did you take the test?

College is a great place to meet people.

-If you’re a student. -Hm.

The world of academia was not leaving me a lot of room

to meet women my own age.

I’d been so focused on my career,

that I realized I was about to hit forty,

and I couldn’t honestly say that I’d ever really been in love.

Never?

So I took the test.

And I waited.

And then I met Sarah.

We fell in love, and I made a choice.

I only ever truly loved one person.

And it wasn’t him.

Who was it?

It was a long time ago.

We did everything together.

But then she went to college, and fell for her professor, and...

Well, you know the rest.

She?

And her professor, huh?

So when I found out what you did, I thought...

The universe really loves irony.

And that moment I saw you in the parking lot,

I just knew there was no going back.

Everything I felt for her just came rushing back.

What I first saw you,

I had the strongest feeling that I knew you.

You do know me.

What’s up?

Yeah, um...

This seminar thing?

They want to take me out for dinner after.

-I think it’s going to run late. -How late?

I don’t know.

I think I might stay over.

You okay?

Yeah. I’m just... tired.

Maybe a little distracted, I guess.

Okay. Love you.

Love you too. Bye.

Alison?

Hi, this is Alison Jones. I can’t take your call right now,

but if you leave me your name and number,

I’ll call you right back.

Gentileschi emphasizes the physicality of the beheadment.

Perhaps drawing on her own experiences

of the power of men.

Judith’s young maidservant helps pin Holofernes down, an unusual detail.

Possible moment of sisterhood.

Now, if you compare this interpretation

with Caravaggio’s vision...

Ew!

Okay.

That’s very, very funny.

Now, when I find out

who put that in there,

we’re going to have a long talk about lighting and composition.

As I was saying...

-Alison. -Hey, you.

What happened? Where did you go?

I’m sorry, I didn’t want to wake you.

You looked so innocent laying there.

I tried to call you.

I’m passing back through tonight. I really want to see you.

-Tonight? I don’t know if I can-- -I know what we did was wrong,

but I can’t stop thinking about you. Please.

-Okay. -Same hotel?

Yeah.

I’ll leave a key at reception for you.

-Okay. -Bye.

TV on.

What the hell is going on?

Hannah, what are you doing here?

Are you joking right now?

What the hell are you doing here?

We've, we’ve been...

I, I sent you, uh... I sent you pictures.

No. No, no. What pictures, what are you talking about?

You sent me pictures.

-What? I didn’t send you pictures. -Yes you did, you sent...

Hannah, what pictures? What are you talking about?

-Stop. Breathe. Hannah? -What? No.

-Wait, Hannah, stop, stop! Wait! -No no no no...

-Hannah, Hannah... -Get off of me!

Hi, this is Alison Jones.

If you leave me your name and number, I’ll call you right back.

Where are you?

You need to call me and tell me what the hell is going on.

End call.

...my camera, and this monkey grabs my glasses

and I’m screaming “David, get the monkey!”

in the middle of Jemma el-Fnaa, and everyone's--

There you are! David, uh, meet Alison.

David.

-Hi. -I came to her rescue.

You know, I swear there is something wrong with the battery.

David, I hate cars.

I, uh, I got back and found her stuck in the middle of the street.

It was total damsel-in-distress stuff.

She was my knight in shining armor.

Uh, so, um, Alison is actually thinking of moving here.

She has a secret.

She’s taken the test,

and her match lives here.

Somewhere. But she won’t reveal who it is.

Well, he’s married...

Yeah, for now.

Ooh, it’s all very salacious.

Oh, I really should be going, I’m supposed to be meeting him.

I’m going to be late.

Uh, let me give you Harry Carmichael’s details,

he is a great realtor.

-I’ll just get my phone. -Thank you.

Oh, and uh, David is a lecturer at the college here.

Oh.

What are you doing?

You know, I couldn’t help myself.

I wanted to see what your life was like.

It’s nice.

And you’re right, your wife is a real sweetheart.

I don’t know what kind of sick game you’re playing,

but it is going to stop now.

Careful, David. You squeeze any tighter and you’ll leave a mark.

Oh.

Here you go.

Great! Now we officially exist in each other’s worlds.

-Yeah. -It was lovely meeting you, Sarah.

-You have a beautiful home. -Thank you.

Goodbye, David.

-Let me show you out. -Ah.

And, uh... Oh boy, I want updates.

How many times have you checked it?

I can tell you right now that what you have made is not secure.

Then let me talk to somebody else.

Someone has hacked into your system and pulled my information.

So check again! She had my personal information.

Look, a crime has been--

-You okay? -Troubled student.

-Coffee? -Please.

Yes, I’m still here.

I’d like to file an official complaint.

No! He was so casual.

-I need to speak to Hannah. -She don’t want to talk to you.

-Hannah. -Hey! You better step back.

I need to talk to you, please.

She doesn’t want to talk to you.

Creep.

That poor girl. She was really into you.

It wasn’t hard to convince her you wanted her too.

It won’t just be your word against hers.

She’s got pictures of your dick on her phone.

-Who are you? -I’m your soulmate, David.

I will go to the police.

And tell them what, exactly?

You hacked into my Connex account, forged documents...

Who did? Alison Jones?

What do you want? Money?

No, David. What I want is for you to be alone.

To be alone, and wondering why someone would do this to you.

How much do you want?

I don’t want your money, David.

I want you to go home, now,

and I want you to tell your wife about us.

Come on...

I want you to tell her how you convinced yourself it was true love,

just so you could screw me. I want her to see who you really are.

I thought this was real.

-I fell for you. -You tell her,

and I’ll delete all the texts, and the pictures,

I’ll wipe away all the dirt. Then you can keep your tenure.

-How do I know you’ll do that? -You don’t.

You only know that I’m willing to ruin you if you don’t.

I’m giving you until tomorrow morning to tell your wife.

Why are you doing this?

For love, of course.

Good luck, David. Let’s hope she can forgive you.

I’ll be watching.

This morning, every member of this board received an email.

About you, David.

You do realize

that my endorsing your tenure application

has put my reputation on the line?

And it is very much appreciated, believe me.

Believe you?

Were you going to tell me about the allegations you faced

during your time at Berkeley?

Sexual assault of a student?!

Goddamn it, David!

That is exactly what it was.

Allegations. Totally unfounded.

I have endorsed you more than academically.

I've vouched for your integrity, your probity.

That you are a fit and proper person to be entrusted with student welfare.

And until today, this board,

every one of them, have trusted my judgement.

But you? You didn’t think it was worth mentioning.

-It was 15 years ago. -Doesn’t matter when it happened,

-only that it happened. -It didn’t happen.

I was the victim.

Chloe Lamb was a student of mine. She was delusional.

She had a history of mental illness, but I tried to help her.

She became obsessed with me. But nothing happened.

This was dealt with internally.

The board are meeting here this afternoon

to reassess your application.

It’ll be handled correctly.

David, you’re going to tell me right now.

Is there anything else I need to know?

No.

This is David Maddox. Please leave me a message.

Uh, David, it’s Walter.

I wanted to make you aware that the board is still undecided

how best to proceed with your application.

I know you deny the allegation, but, uh...

Well, the fact that Chloe Lamb...

Well, what she did after...

It makes it very difficult for some members to reconcile.

And it makes it difficult for me, too.

Uh, we’ll have a final decision in a day or two.

I only ever truly loved one person.

We did everything together.

And then she went to college, and fell for her professor...

You do know me.

What I want is for you to be alone.

To be alone and wondering why someone would do this to you.

I sent you pictures.

What pictures? Stop! Wait.

Get off of me!

Why are you doing this?

For love, of course.

If you didn’t want to be found,

maybe you should have paid for the room in cash. Jodie.

Where is it?

The phone!

Where is it?! Where is it, where’s the phone?

Where’s the phone?

You cloned my phone.

Unlock it.

Unlock it, unlock it now.

-Unlock it! -Let go of me!

I could scream.

No one would come.

Unlock it.

There we go.

I did her a favor. Now she’s safe.

You weren’t going to delete any of these.

What were you going to do?

Tell me.

Convince Hannah Green to make an official complaint.

Release the pictures to the board members.

Why?

I want to destroy your life the way you destroyed my sister’s.

You knew she was vulnerable,

and you told her everything she needed to hear

so you could sleep with her.

It didn’t happen like that.

It happened exactly like that!

And when she became a problem,

you made up lies about her,

and had her kicked out of college just to protect your career.

I had to break down her door.

-I loved her. -Don’t you dare.

-I loved her. -Don’t you dare.

-And when we broke up... -No.

-She went crazy. -No.

-I was trying to help her. -No...

-What was I supposed to do? -No, no!

She’s dead because of you, David.

My sister wasn’t suicidal until she met you.

You hacked into an encrypted company database

and stole information.

I could go to the police, and you’d go to jail for a long time.

You go to the police and your wife will know what you did.

She’ll know about us, too.

How does tenure work in that scenario?

If I’m really the monster you think I am,

you’d better let this go right now.

Because I won’t just go after you.

I looked you up, Jodie.

I did my research.

I’ll go after your wife, Beth.

And your little boy.

That’s right.

I know who you are.

And you’re not taking anything from me.

The Lovers, by Magritte.

Some argue it tells the story of frustrated desire.

Others believe in its romance,

a lover’s passionate embrace.

So which is it?

Hm?

Perhaps we should ask the painter himself.

Magritte--

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

But please, do not mess with my presentation.

If you would like to congratulate me, a simple cash gift will suffice.

Right, now, where were we?

Magritte always insisted that The Lovers had no story,

but what of Magritte himself?

What about his story?

Unlock it.

Unlock it now.

Get off me.

Stop presentation. This is some...

No.

Um...

Uh, class dismissed, everyone get out of here.

This class is dismissed, everyone go home, this is a joke.

-This is, uh, a rude joke. -I could scream.

No one would come.

Please, uh, class dismissed everyone, please go.

Get out of here, get out of here!

David. David?

David?

Honey.

David? David, what did you do? What did you do?!

Did you hurt her? You look like a monster!

My father showed me, David. My father!

I want you out of the house. I want you gone!

How could you do this? I thought you loved me!