Bottom of the World (2017)

It's just the heat. That's all.
You want me to stop? I can stop.
No, I think I just gotta
get my pills.
Oh, pull over.
Alright, Scarlett.
"The charm of yesterday,
the convenience of tomorrow."
Shit. I mean, it's so wrong,
it's right.
- You seem to be feeling better.
- Yeah, brand new.
I think I puked it all out.
God, where the hell are we?
I don't know. Some old
town like a million others.
I swear I've been here before.
This place? No. All these
old towns look the same.
Oh, like this place? No way.
Whoa. I wonder
what the rooms are like.
Tiny bathrooms and musty carpet.
If you're feeling better,
we should really get going.
What? We can't not stay here.
You go get the bags...
and I'll get us a room.
We're on the end.
What the fuck?
What?
There's mud
in the bathtub.
You're not gonna take a bath,
are you?
I guess I wasn't, no.
Well, then don't worry about it.
I like this room.
- You do?
- I got a surprise for us.
Where'd you get that?
Front desk runs
little concessions.
Strictly on the downlow.
And those are?
Southwest shot glasses.
Muy autntico.
Nice. But didn't you leave lunch
by the side of the road?
It's old news. I think
it was just a passing thing.
- Cheers.
- Cheers.
Ah!
So now what?
What is the worst thing
that you've ever done?
- Truth or dare?
- Sure.
Like, the meanest, most rotten,
horrible, dirtiest,
dishonorable, despicable thing
that you've ever done.
I took the five finger discount
on these back in Santa Fe.
Is that not what you meant?
- What about you?
- What?
What's the worst thing
you've ever done?
- Seriously?
- Yeah.
My mum's sister, Polly,
died in a car accident
when I was really young
and her son Wayne was in the car
with her but didn't die. He...
He kind of turned into
this vegetable.
So... Wayne kind of
became my doll.
I would dress him up
in my mom's clothes
and plaster his face
with make-up
and I would put on these little
plays with him as the star.
I really shouldn't
have been watching him,
but I mean, there was, like,
no one else. So...
I mean, I was so young
and he kind of sickened me.
I mean, he smelt, particularly
when he took a shit.
He just constantly had this
drool running down his face.
So... I kind of started
fucking with him.
I drew a bull's-eye on his head
with a red lipstick
and I would throw soft fruit
at him, like target practice.
And when he shat himself I would
just wheel him into a closet
and leave him there all day
until my mom came home.
And I was, like, a girl
interested in sex and boys.
I would take off
all of Wayne's clothes
and, one day, I put
peanut butter, like, all over
and just let the dog
come and lick it up.
And then I would kind of jerk
him off and watch him get hard.
And... I mean,
at the end of the day,
he was covered with whatever
I threw and I dumped on him,
and I would just wheel him
outside and just hose him down.
And if it was raining,
I would just leave him out there
for hours.
And then I would wash him
sometimes in the kiddie pool.
And I would just let him
slip in the water
until there were no bubbles
or anything
and his face would be, like,
red and purple and...
And then, you know, I would
save him just at the right time.
My mom had a boyfriend, this
Gulf War vet, complete asshole.
We were all watching TV one
night and he mentioned how...
Wayne was doing really weird
things with his eyeballs.
Wayne's dad was a Marine.
It turns out he was doing
Morse code with his eyes.
He was saying,
"SOS, SOS, SOS, SOS."
I mean, over and over and over.
Oh, my God.
Do you see what I just did?
That is the worst thing
that I've ever done.
Ah... Oh.
Let's go get a real drink.
Yeah, let's get
out of this room.
All I need is some sunshine
All I need
All I need is some sunshine
All I need
The siren called
beyond the treeline
With another one
for the caves
We reached the moon
falls icy cauldron
And found the spirit
that I crave
All I need is some sunshine
All I need
All I need is some sunshine
All I need
Black water (pull me down)
Black water (pull me down)
Black water (pull me down)
Black water (pull me down)
Black water (pull me down)
Black water (pull me down)
Black water (pull me down)
Black water (pull me down)
It's a hard road
we've got to travel.
It's a road that is
not fit for them
who want to take
the easiest route.
Because the easiest route
has been paved smooth
by the tramplings
of sin and perdition.
No, the road we travel with
Jesus is a road that's uneven.
It's a road that's not to be
chosen by its even-ness,
by its length.
It's a road that's chosen
by virtue of its destination.
Of where we're going.
Of where we're all going.
Scarlett?
What are you doing?
Did you turn on the TV?
Are you crying?
I thought I heard someone.
I'm just hearing...
Who? Who are you talking about?
I heard someone talking to me
in the room.
There's no one in here.
You're probably still sick,
and all that tequila,
don't you think?
Yeah.
Come to bed.
OK.
Hey! Was that you last night?
You were looking up at our room.
Hey, let's shake a tail.
LA is not gonna drive to us.
How are you not hung over?
Desert air? Good genes?
I don't know.
They don't want you
to know the truth.
No, that fork-tongued
speaker of calumny
shall rassle you down...
Check it out. You think that's
the asshole who woke me up?
Everything that you thought
was rued shall recede!
We shall be rassled down!
The walls that keep you,
the woman beside you...
God, it's beautiful.
Scarlett.
- Scarlett?
- Ah!
Scarlett.
- Can you turn around?
- What?
Stop the car! Stop!
What is it? What's going on?
I don't know, it's like I feel
like I'm being crushed
and then...
like, then next I'm falling
1,000 feet from the sky.
We... We need a doctor.
I don't think
there's a doctor for this.
What do you mean?
I think we just have to go back.
What?
Let's make it to the next town.
No, the further away I get,
the worse it gets.
Further...
Shit.
Please.
OK, I'm turning around.
Isn't that the church
from the TV?
Go. Drive.
Drive! Go!
I'm sorry, OK?
I don't know what to say.
Is there anything
I can do to help?
No. I think I just need to rest.
OK.
You rest, I'll just sit here
until you fall asleep.
No, you don't have to do that.
It's sweet. You should just go.
Go downstairs, have a beer.
Go on, go. I need to sleep.
I don't feel good.
El Rancho?
Hang on a second.
It's for you.
Hello?
Alex.
Hello?
Alex.
Scarlett?
I think I know him.
Who? The guy on TV?
I know how it sounds.
Scarlett.
I think he's trying
to tell me something.
Something important.
Jesus, I forgive my children...
Alex...
I don't know why
I feel so crazy.
I just feel like
I know this town.
So let's just go.
Let's get out of here.
We'll be in LA by morning.
OK.
- Scarlett?
- Oh, Alex.
Oh, my head.
It feels like
it's going to explode.
Scarlett, just...
We have to go back.
I don't want you to worry.
We're going to find a doctor
tomorrow for you.
Call someone and get someone
to come out here and pick us up.
Promise me.
We'll get out of here tomorrow.
Promise.
All I need is some sunshine
All I need
Front desk,
can I help you?
Hello. I wanted to see
if I had any messages.
Hello? Hello?
Hello?
Scarlett?
- Hello?
- You only lost your girl.
Well, I tell you what.
It seems only right
I should help you find her.
- Who is this? What the fuck?
- What a thing to say.
Here I am,
trying to be neighborly.
I may be the only one
who understands you
- in this godforsaken town.
- I don't know who you are or...
Just a man, Alex.
What do you want? Tell me.
Let's start with you telling me
your particulars.
- What does she look like?
- What?
I hear she's a real looker.
Don't let the red cross
fool you.
She ain't fit to...
of the Lord.
Of course,
maybe she's sleepwalking,
like a detached witness,
as if she's watching a movie
or listening to the radio.
Is that girl a sleepwalker,
Alex?
Where are you?
In there.
In where?
- In there.
With you.
Lose something?
No, sir, I just thought
I'd take myself a little look.
You know, sometimes I hear
even the mouse chases the cat.
Fucking mouse.
I tell you what, why don't
we go for a little drive?
Are you starting
to feel it then?
You're taking me to Scarlett.
That's where you're taking me,
isn't it?
Hey! Schilter!
How about you put on that radio?
Let's hear some of that
good old spiritual music.
He can be found
in a mother's smile
He can be found
in the eyes of a child ...
They sure don't make songs
like they used to.
It's louder because
they know we're here.
All this time
and they never give up.
Who? Who are you talking about?
Well, that's the real story
right there.
Well, I never really took
to people much.
That's just the truth.
But I didn't like to be
all by my lonesome either.
So I found people of my choosing
and I took them out here.
What I do first is I dig a hole,
a nice deep hole,
and I make them watch
as I dig it.
And then I take the person.
Let's say it's you,
or your girlfriend.
Let's say it's Scarlett, and
I take her, just for instance.
And I throw her in the hole
and I bury her.
I bury her alive
and she never ever dies.
She lives for all eternity
under a heavy darkness of dirt,
reaping what she sowed.
- This is impossible.
- Impossible?
Just ask them.
They all have a story.
Hundreds of them.
Thousands.
Oh...
A city of pain under our feet.
Oh, pain's a beautiful thing.
In the end, it's the only thing
we really deserve.
It is only due
to the concept of guilt
we allow ourselves to see
ourselves as imperfect.
Our ego depends on guilt
for its survival as it allows us
to separate the world into
different objects
which we then call
"good" and "evil."
There is no good and evil.
There is only perfection.
Father, I'm gonna thank you
for your son Jesus
who died on the cross for me.
For my sins, not only for
my sins, but for my fears.
I'm gonna thank you for your son
Jesus who makes me whole,
in my spirit, in my body,
in my soul.
I want to thank you, Father,
for your son Jesus
who helped me sever the ties
between previous generations,
- from that bad blood...
- Hello.
I'm the whole operation,
so I need to loop it
if I want to take a break.
Want coffee?
When Slocum sailed the world...
he'd tie himself to the masthead
when he wanted to sleep.
Me, I got no such methods, no.
My work is my word,
it cannot be rigged up.
Whiskey in your coffee?
What is this place?
Well, if I say it's a church
then it's a church.
If I say I speak to God
then there is a God
that is spoken to.
There was a man.
Dirty hands, rings.
This smile.
Smile, well, that's a crime.
There's the thin wedge.
It was cut into his face
like with a knife.
You're talking about
the angel of the bottomless pit.
That's an ordinarily fella
with the wretched odor
of a million painful deaths
on him.
But pain...
is a beautiful thing.
In the end, that's all we got.
You're gonna have to excuse me
for just a spot, son.
Have a look around.
But do your best to keep quiet.
Do me a favor,
hit that record switch for me.
Spare me the indignity
of having my audience see me
scurry up onto my own set.
Son, I promise you,
we will get back to
our conversation momentarily.
But first, the work of the Lord,
then the work of man, alright?
Hit the button.
And just as soon as
that there sun shines down
with its warmth and light
on all things equally,
so too will guilt enwrap you
like a plague.
And drown you in sorrow.
Now, when we imagine things, we
start creating them in our mind.
We open the door
to our hearts...
Open your mind and then...
You must be very careful
about what things
you allow yourself to focus on,
lest they become real.
Lest the ethereal becomes poor.
Lest your fantasy
becomes reality.
You have to avoid these things.
There is Satan waiting to open
the door to your heart
and walk in. So you have to be
very careful about the images
you allow yourself to focus on.
And it's like one moment
you're being crushed,
and the next you're falling from
1,000 feet up in the sky.
I don't know, it's like
I feel I'm being crushed
and the next I'm falling,
like, 1,000 feet from the sky.
- Hey, what are you doing?
- How do you know what she said?
You can't just interrupt me
- mid-sermon.
- Why is this here?
What is this?
It's a mememto.
It's all I have left of her,
- so mind how you handle it.
- Is she here?
Scarlett? Scarlett?
I'm the only one who's here,
Alex.
How do you know my name?
why wouldn't I know your name?
You've been running around with
my daughter, haven't you?
Daughter?
Scarlett's father is dead.
She told you that?
Well, that cuts the
patriarch right to the quick.
I don't say
I don't deserve it, though.
It's true I knocked her around
a time or two.
But...
My tiddling is strictly
medicinal now, you understand.
Bingo.
Here.
It ain't there, son.
There you go. Hold still, son.
You can't die
if you ain't alive.
What did you say?
This is hell.
- We're in hell, aren't we?
- No.
I'm dead. We're all dead.
People tend to focus on
the world that's around them
rather than the world
that's within them.
Oh!
Tell me what this is.
- It's murder, if you do this.
- No!
Tell me what this is!
God damnit, I don't know!
Ow, fuck!
No, OK, OK, OK, it's a dream.
- There we go.
- I'm dreaming all of this.
No!
No, the divine plan
is in play here, son.
You can either take charge
and fight your way through it,
or you can continue to be
a pansy ass spectator.
What's it gonna be?
What's it gonna be?!
- I don't know.
- Enjoy the ride.
No, I don't understand!
You said this is all a dream.
Yes, it is all a dream.
But you ain't dreaming nothing.
Scarlett is.
Hey.
Sit down.
You OK, honey?
Uh-huh.
I have so much to do today.
I have to go buy Isabella a gift
and then I have to go get
a manicure and pedicure.
But they messed up
the appointment
so I'm supposed to go there
for 4:30 but...
That's it.
Get that, hon?
Hey.
What, are you not gonna
let me in?
What are you doing?
Where have you been?
Hey, you don't answer your phone
calls, no email, nothing.
Jensen's pissed.
And I saved your ass.
I talked to the Rancho clients
myself, fuck you very much.
- Clients? What clients?
- What are you talking about?
You said Rancho?
What do you mean?
What do you mean,
"what do I mean?"
You just said Rancho.
What is Rancho?
El Rancho Estates.
The deal we've been
putting together
for the last four
fucking months.
What's going on here, Alex?
Are you OK?
Paige, is he OK?
Hey, come on, man,
I was just trying... Alex!
Alex?
What are you doing?
Come to bed.
It's time now for
your national forecast...
Easy.
You want me to get you
in the mood?
Relax, Alex.
Forget about everything else.
What do you mean,
everything else?
What the fuck, Alex?
For all the wrongs we have
committed to one another.
It is the single act of kindness
that God requires of us.
You're looking
for a room, sir?
Can't do much better.
And if you can,
I dare you to find it.
I wonder,
could I ask you a question?
No harm in it.
It might sound strange.
Do I look familiar to you
at all?
Couldn't say.
All you young people look alike.
- I might have been with a girl.
- Pretty one?
Yeah.
No. If I saw you,
it didn't stick with me.
OK. A room then.
Does anything
ever happen here?
I drove all this way and when
I got here everything was wrong.
Do you know what that's like,
to drive all this way
and have it not be
what it should be?
No, I can't say as I do.
Where is it?
Where is it?
Where is it?
Come on now, get up.
I won't say it again.
Now, you can't do that.
This is not a campsite.
Fine. Just tell me where it is.
- You just get on out of here.
- I'm going.
- Just tell me where it went.
- Where what went?
The church.
There was a church here.
Couldn't have been too long ago.
The Church of
the Solid Rock Sufferer.
There's no place like that
around here. Not here.
- You've got to be...
- I've got to be nothing.
People tend to focus on
the world around them,
rather than the world
within them.
Now, you just drive on
out of here.
OK.
Alex?
What the fuck?
You just leave
in the middle of the night?
For, what, a day and a half?
You don't bother calling me,
- nothing?
- Sorry.
Oh, my God. It's fucked up
but the only reason why
I didn't call the police is
because you have been acting
so strange lately.
Do you understand
what I'm saying to you?
That it didn't faze me
that you just left like that.
- What are you doing?
- Looking.
For what?
Scarlett. Where'd you go?
Why are you acting
like you don't know me?
Hey.
What are you doing?
I can't explain it.
Why don't you give it a try?
It's an idea I had.
I was at the grocery store.
I knocked over a carton of eggs
and I saw this bloody yolk.
You were buying eggs
at two in the morning?
It got me thinking
about some peas.
You hate peas.
Well, I was looking at them.
I was looking for something.
I looked at them
and most of them are perfect.
Bright color, firm, good size.
But then I found
this rotten one in the can.
Now, if, say I was dreaming...
I know how that sounds, but
let's just say I was dreaming.
Do you really think that
my mind would take the time
to put a rotten pea in there?
I mean, think about it.
When you think about a pea,
what do you think of?
A fresh pea, right?
A normal pea. Don't you?
I really don't think about peas,
Alex.
It's not really you,
it's your subconscious.
Do you really think
the part of you that dreams
is gonna put a rotten pea
in a can?
Don't answer that. Just look.
If I was in a dream, why would
that one bad pea be in there?
I'm gonna go to bed.
Paige?
Alex?
Alex.
What's going on?
I don't know.
Are you OK?
Are you OK?
- No.
- Alex.
Talk to me.
Talk to me, please.
Tell me what's happening.
My head's not right anymore.
I'm... I'm all over the place.
Distracted. I'm...
I'm obsessed with this idea
that I don't think I exist.
I don't think you
or any of this is real.
How long have you felt this way?
I wake up and I feel like
I'm still in a dream.
If you're...
If you're dreaming all of this...
- I'm not dreaming this.
- But you just said that.
No, no. It's worse than that.
I think someone else
is dreaming this.
But, Alex, how can we be
in someone else's dream
if you're here?
If she dies in this world,
then she wakes up.
Wait. If who dies?
And if she wakes up,
then we're...
Alex, this is real.
This is real, you and me.
Nothing else matters.
Just ignore whatever's
going on out there.
Look, stay here with me.
OK, you need this.
This is your home.
I love you.
And you love me.
All you see
You don't want to see
But can't seem to avoid
When you're trying
to be right
On this trespassed life
where
You don't seem to care
And you're making the motions
to be aware
As to why you're here
Paige?
What are you doing?
I was thirsty.
What are you doing?
Getting something to eat.
- Can I ask you a question?
- Mm-hmm.
When did we meet?
That is such a silly question.
We met yesterday. I'm your wife?
I love you.
Don't be too long.
You can come out now.
We can just skip
the formalities.
I know what you want.
Scarlett.
You know me.
You know all about me.
Yeah.
I saw you at the supermarket.
You're my neighbor.
That's not what I mean.
Tell me you remember me.
No.
Why don't you remind me.
We're in love.
If you want it, just take it.
You don't have to ask me
if it's OK.
- What are you talking about?
- You came here to rape me.
I know what you want.
You can say her name
if you want to.
You want to...
call out her name?
Scarlett.
I can be Scarlett
if you want me to be Scarlett.
No. No.
No, you can't leave.
You're not going anywhere!
Fuck.
What is this? Who is this?
You both know who I am.
What the fuck is wrong with you
people? Why are you lying?
He's been watching me
across the street for weeks.
I think he was
trying to rape me.
What the fuck
are you talking about?
Don't!
Stop!
Do you know where you are?
Do you remember this place?
You remember him? What happened?
Where is he?
Where?
My cousin, he's...
But who knows?
Maybe it was for the best.
I mean, can you imagine the
kind of life he would have had?
It was the fire pit, wasn't it?
That's where you put him.
And this is your house.
This is where you grew up.
And the fire pit,
you tell me about that.
You tell me about
when you put him in there.
Tell me. Tell me.
Tell me!
Tell me!
Tell me!
Tell me!
Do you know what this is?
Is this him?
His bones buried for years
in this exact place.
Come on, Alex.
We both know
how this is gonna end.
Can't we just skip all of this?
No!
I remember.
How can that be possible?
How can I remember?
How can I remember
the dirt falling in on me?
You dropped him... Me.
Into the hole.
Until there was only my face
and my fingertips.
And then the rain came,
pellets of it. Bullet-sized.
Do you remember?
You remember, don't you?
It filled my lungs and my throat
with mud.
Even if I wasn't paralyzed,
there was no fighting
against it.
There was nothing I could do.
Look at me!
I want you to know
what happened to me.
Do you know what happened to me?
He died, of course.
First there was fear.
And in those last few seconds,
I knew I would die.
I felt my body slip away.
I saw the world darken.
I felt the weight of that mud
pressing down on me.
And my heart beat so fast
until it just collapsed.
And I left myself.
Don't you know that you're the
one that I've been waiting for
all of this time?
Now pick up the shovel.
Pick it up!
Pick up the shovel!
Go on.
Just take it.
Can't you see that
you're nothing anymore?
You're not Alex.
You're not some hooded man.
You're not the little boy
that I killed.
- Shut up.
- You don't even exist.
You're only good for one thing,
and you know it.
So just do it.
Just hit me.
What?
Just do it. Hit me.
- I deserve it.
- Shut up.
I deserve it. I want it.
- I want it, Alex.
- No.
- Hit me!
- Shut up.
No.
You know,
if you really were him...
If you really were Wayne,
I'd watch you drown 1,000 times.
Every night I would beat you
and cut you
and drag you into another hole.
And I'd watch you,
and your eyes, your wild eyes,
as earth spills in on you.
And you'd finally understand
that this is it. This is it!
And I'm the one
who's kneeling in front of you,
filling your grave
with laughter.
- Stop it.
- And I would say it again
and again and again.
A man in a hood
came and broke in
and he threw you into a hole,
- and then he raped me.
- Shut up.
It was so easy.
It was so easy and
they would all comfort me.
And they would make me feel
so much better.
And they would never know
that you could never die
- enough for me.
- Shut up!
" I know now
I must be accountable
for my unspeakable actions.
"And don't worry, just death
comes to all things.
"Flesh, blood, bone...
are all just temporal.
"Rock lasts forever.
"Which is where
my spirit will reside.
"I love you. Scarlett."
Alex.
I go hungry
Pick at the shell
Paw the bottom
Of the well
I wear
My body
I go bottom
Struggle for air
I go humming
"Like a Prayer"
I wear
My body
I wear my body
like a rotted peach
You can have it
if you handle the stink
I'm as open as a gutted pig
On the small of every back
You'll see a picture of me
Wearing my body
I go guzzle
Scrap from the bin
Take it all
On the chin
I wear
My body