1
[car engine idling]
[car engine revs]
[engine powers down]
Imagine you're dead.
Feel yourself go numb.
Start with your fingers.
Move to your hands...
your wrists...
right on up to your elbows.
Everything is dead.
If we can imagine
our own deaths
but still manage
to come back to life,
then it proves that we can
survive anything.
Now, don't be afraid.
Own the moment.
If you're in control,
then the chaos
will happen around you
and not to you.
Do you understand?
The camera's in the hat?
Yeah, it sure is.
Look.
I hope this works.
Oh, three months of prep,
it's going to be perfect.
Okay, I'll punch in
at 9:00, same as always.
Give me 20 minutes.
We should have
a good crowd by then.
Can I taste
the fake blood again, Mom?
No, honey, the bag is sealed.
I don't want to stain my shirt.
Take a straight
and stronger course
To the corner of your life
Make the white queen
run so fast
She hasn't got time
To make you a wife
'Cause it's time
It's time in time
with your time
And its news is captured
Well, hello.
How can I help you today?
Have a nice day.
All of them.
And its news is captured
Gun!
I've seen all good people
turn their heads each day
So satisfied I'm...
- I got it!
I got the gun!
- It's over. It's over.
- How could you?
[sobbing]
Mama, no!
[crying]
No, Mommy. Don't die.
Mommy!
And for what?
Lollipops?
Mommy loved lollipops.
I'm telling you,
it tastes just like maple syrup.
- [laughs]
Sorry, guys. I'm so sorry.
What? I'm hungry.
We skipped breakfast.
- [laughing]
- You did good.
You did great.
Well done.
Here you go. Come on.
Baxter.
That was my fault.
I broke first.
I'm so sorry.
I'll see you in the car.
- Go.
- Thank you.
[chuckling]
What in the fuck is going on?
Ladies and gentlemen,
let this be
your trumpet call.
Life is sweet.
So taste it
while you still can.
[dramatic music]
[sighs]
Baxter?
Baxter!
I think I found
something!
[bell ringing]
I mean, it's cruel.
[sighs]
I'm sitting there by myself
because my dad is late, damn it.
What... this is...
[sighs]
Damn it.
It's...
- This is...
- We're getting pretty close.
You should probably
get into your robe.
- My robe?
- We're just about ready
for the next scene,
where you're topless.
Wardrobe should have a robe
set for you in your trailer.
Topless?
No. No.
The script doesn't
mention nudity.
Freeman put it in
this morning.
- Come on. He never mentioned it
to me when we rehearsed it.
In five, everyone.
You look like more
than five minutes out.
Yeah. Oh, yeah.
I'm going to be
a lot more than five.
[sighs]
What's up, sunshine?
You want me
to get naked.
Topless.
A guy answers the door,
and I am standing there
with my tits out?
Gina wants to control
the situation.
- With her breasts?
Come on.
I... I never...
would have guessed
that you were so uptight.
You know, it's like, I mean,
Annie Fang.
You know, wild woman.
Indie darling.
Sorry.
Sorry to disappoint you.
You used to...
you used to do anything,
you know, for your roles.
Those aren't stories
I'm proud of, Freeman.
They're just like stupid,
stupid things
that an actor does
when they're too afraid to act.
I know better now.
That's too bad.
What? That I'm older
and wiser?
No, that...
that you've become,
like, so bourgeois,
you know, with those shitty
rom-coms and the...
Okay, that's it.
That's it, we're done.
You need to leave.
You need to leave.
- I'm just trying to help you.
- I'm not doing it.
I want to show
the world that...
that you are still
a legitimate actress.
- Uh-huh.
Thanks, Freeman.
As brave and fearless
as you've always...
Yeah, I'm not doing it.
I know what I am
asking you to do is difficult.
Mm-hmm.
But great art
is always difficult!
[grunting]
[sighs]
Don't be afraid.
Own the moment.
If you're in control,
then the chaos will happen
around you
and not to you.
Do you understand?
[exotic music]
Did they not send a robe
for the walk?
- I don't need one.
I'm in control.
Let's get this fucking scene
over with.
Fantastic.
All right, here we go,
everyone.
[camera shutters click]
- Hi, there.
- Hi.
Mmm...
How much is that?
Two dollars.
That's five.
I've got these for this.
And a good thing I only
did about a dollar, okay?
So that's... all that's yours,
and this and this.
Mine, yeah?
[cell phone chiming]
- How you doing, Harold?
- Hey, Baxter. How are things?
Well, the book is not done,
if that's what you're asking.
But I'm working on it
every day.
You know it was two years
overdue last month, right?
I do.
You know they're losing
patience, right?
- I'm sure they are.
Listen, if you're calling
to make me feel bad,
you've done it,
and we can hang up now, okay?
- No. I might have a job.
- Yeah? For me?
- Nothing big. Just a story
for a men's magazine.
Do you know
what a potato gun is?
You hit it with the
hair spray, about 1 1/2 count.
- Hair spray, huh?
- Yeah.
Seal it up.
Screw that on real tight.
Lock her up.
Raise the weapon.
- This is about to get good.
- Aim, fire.
[gun pops]
[whooping and shouting]
Come on.
Don't it smell like
french fries?
A little bit.
You guys come out here
quite a bit, do you?
Oh, ever night, unless there's
something good on TV.
- Right.
- Understandable.
Okay, Lois Lane.
We call this baby
Air Force One.
- All right.
- We're not going to pretend
that it's better than sex,
but this is going
to make you very happy.
- Whoa!
- Look at that!
Come on. Come on,
you're a natural, man.
- Look at you.
- I get it.
That's got a lot of character.
Give me one more of those.
- Give me that, man.
[excited chatter]
One more of those.
[classical music]
Don't be afraid.
Own the moment.
If you're in control,
then the chaos will happen
around you
and not to you.
You understand?
Okay. I'm ready.
[all whoop and cheer]
One more!
One more.
- What? Don't be crazy.
- No. No, no.
No, don't push your luck.
- I'll do it.
- Let's do it. You do it.
[classical music]
[monitors beeping distantly]
- Stay with us, pal.
- What's going on?
We're headed to the hospital,
Baxter,
but I need you to talk to us,
buddy. Can you do that?
Baxter, can you do that, buddy?
- I shot you in the head.
- Huh? Yeah.
What do you want me to say?
- Doesn't matter.
Tell us anything.
Tell us about
what you're writing.
I am, uh...
I got a new book,
but I'm a little
writer's blocked.
Oh, well,
maybe we can help you out.
What's it called?
It's called, uh...
"Children's Pit."
Well, what's it about?
It's about these two kids...
a brother and a sister,
and they run away
from an orphanage.
But they get caught
by a pit master.
- Well, what's that?
- It's just a guy
who has an arena underground
and forces them
to fight for sport.
Do they escape?
- I don't know. I don't know.
I haven't gotten that far.
- Let me just take a little nap.
- No, no, no!
What's going on
with my ear?
It really hurts.
Perforated eardrum.
You'll be fine
in a few weeks.
No flying for a while,
though.
Did you say no flying?
That's what I said.
You'll feel better
when your people get here.
[chuckles]
- What does that mean?
I don't have any people.
Well, we went through
your wallet.
Standard procedure.
The doctor called your parents.
They're driving up to get you.
- [chuckles]
- No, no.
No, no. Miss?
Miss?
[jazzy bass music]
Caleb and Camille Fang
are most known for creating
improvised public events
that incorporate their own
children into the artwork.
The results are often
as unsettling
as they are arresting.
In one of their
earliest works,
Caleb Fang walked through
a crowded roller skating rink
carrying his infant daughter.
Suddenly, a series of homemade
flare-like devices
he had taped to his back
began to discharge.
Camille captured the event
from the rink's second level.
The Fangs simply throw
themselves into a space
as if they were
hand grenades,
and wait for the disruption
to occur.
- Candace Cane!
Give it up!
[audience cheers and applauds]
- Whoo!
They seemed to have
no expectations
other than to willfully
cause unrest.
[inaudible]
[audience gasping]
This kind of event
is so rudimentary,
so unencumbered
by the traditions
that have come before it,
that it almost
strains the notion
of what constitutes art.
- The Fangs.
That's just a gimmick.
- That's all that is.
- [laughs]
You can... that's not fair.
I mean, you know, whether or not
you like the Fangs' work,
you can't deny
the artistry, certainly.
- What? Of course I can.
That's my job.
Look, the Fangs
pass off these hollow pranks
as if that's enough.
You can say the same thing
about the diggers,
or the situationists,
or the Dadaists for that matter.
But if you care to look
a little deeper,
you'll find that the Fangs
transcend what...
They're not transcending
anything.
- It's just tricks.
- If...
in the... in the pageant piece,
they challenged gender
stereotypes.
In the restaurant piece,
they ask us to look at food
not as sustenance,
but as status or style.
- In some of the early...
- Oh, come on!
Just because... just because
you attach a statement
doesn't make it art,
you know?
You can call it art
but real art requires
an aesthetic intelligence.
- But that ambiguity
is what makes it
interesting.
Is it art or is it a joke?
Is it profound or is it a prank?
Are they geniuses
or charlatans?
These are the questions
that they want us to ask.
Well, they're not
too hard to answer.
And the Fangs are challenging
the very nature of art itself.
I don't think they are.
They embrace everything
that's wonderful about art,
and they subvert it
at the same time.
They are deeply serious
class clowns who celebrate...
"Clowns" is right, yeah.
I'm sorry.
What were you saying?
I... I think what they're doing
is wonderful.
Well, I guess... I guess I just
don't get it.
Well, that's pretty obvious.
So the truth is
making a movie is really...
it's a strange process,
you know?
Always requires some sort
of degree of weirdness.
Is that why
you took off your top?
I took off my top
because...
well, because I wanted to prove
to myself that I could do it.
I've never done a nude scene
before, so what the hell, right?
[laughs]
Did Sally tell you
that this was...
[sighs]
This is a very important
article for me.
- No, she didn't. I know.
Yeah.
They say I'm in a bit of a...
I don't know.
Precarious position
right now career-wise,
and then I have to,
I don't know...
but I'm not stable.
You don't have to worry
about that.
- [whispering]
Thank you, but I do.
Obviously I do.
Well, you can relax,
because I don't care
about your meltdowns.
I'm actually more interested
in your family.
[glass shatters]
It's okay.
I'm sorry.
I'm so sorry.
- I'll get you another.
- Thank you very much.
- [sighs]
Um...
you're not going to put that
in the article, I hope.
- How could I leave it out?
- Oh, shit.
Are you always so jumpy when
someone mentions your parents?
It doesn't come up often,
actually.
- Really?
But they're famous.
Well, not really.
In certain circles, I suppose.
But...
I wrote my thesis
on their work.
You're kidding.
Wow.
Great.
That's why I wanted
to do this story.
Huh.
Do you think you'll ever do
another piece with them?
No.
God no.
[laughs]
Thanks.
It must have been fun, though.
Come on.
Being child A?
- Yeah, of course.
But I'm not a child anymore.
Anyway, your readers don't want
to hear about this.
They don't want to hear
about weirdo performance art.
Look, I think you're
a great actress.
But the artist you are,
don't you think she was
already there in child A?
The emotion? The joy?
The anarchy?
It's too bad
none of your directors
have known how to channel all
that the way your parents did.
When I was 9 years old...
child A was a role.
It was a role I played.
It's not who I am.
Hey, Baxter.
How are you doing, buddy?
I'm terrible.
Where are you?
I'm in upstate New York.
Mmm, yeah, that is terrible.
What are you doing up there?
I got shot in the head.
What did you say?
- I got shot in the head.
But I'm okay.
I'm...
well, I'm not okay.
I'm in a hospital.
But, you know,
I'm not dying, so...
You got shot in the head?
I did.
- Well, who?
Who shot you in the head?
- Just this guy.
And it was a potato.
Baxter...
It's not why
I'm calling, though.
- Come on, are you on drugs?
Are you?
Yeah. Percocet, mostly.
- Mm-hmm. Would you call me back
when you're lucid?
- No, no, Annie.
Don't hang up.
- Come on, Baxter...
- The doctors
will not let me leave.
And Mom and Dad are bringing me
home to recuperate.
- What?
- Yeah.
Mom and Dad are on their way.
You got to come get me.
Look, I'm in my pajamas
and I'm 3,000 miles away.
- I can't do that.
- Well, I can't go back home.
I can't go back home
by myself.
All right. Um...
I'm going to help you out,
but I'm just... I need a day
to sort a few things out.
I'm in a really weird place
right now.
Are you in a weird place,
Annie?
I almost got killed
by a potato.
- Would you just relax?
I'm sending you a plane ticket.
You can come
and stay with me.
No, no, I can't fly, Annie.
So tell them you can't go.
Just stand up
to them, Baxter.
When have I ever done that?
No answer, right?
Because I've never done it.
Thanks a lot, Annie.
The point is,
I call in a favor.
I line up this guy
from "Esquire."
And you decide
to nail him?
- No, I didn't decide it.
Just... it happened.
That's the problem, Annie.
These things shouldn't
just happened.
- I know.
- You could get away with this
a few years ago, okay?
Everybody likes a little
shoplifting with their starlet.
A little DUI here and again.
It's kind of cute.
- Come on, I stopped that.
Done.
Yes, there was a nice lull
in the middle years, you know?
Nice and quiet.
But things are starting
to get a little loopy again.
You know? And I know the good
offers aren't coming in.
But you can't panic
about it.
I can get back on track.
I can, Sally.
I don't think you can.
You know, you have the impulse
control of a 2-year-old.
Look...
Were you drinking again?
No.
Listen, if you are,
I know a couple places.
I'm not drinking.
I just... I need a project.
I mean, what about the start
date on "Powers the Bee 3"?
Have we got that yet?
You're going to have to talk
to Gordon about that.
Why?
- Why? Because he's your agent.
I think you should
hear it from him.
- Hear what?
- Oh, God.
What?
They offered "Lady Lightning"
to Alison Cane.
- Okay.
- Mm-hmm.
Well, that's a bummer.
- Come on, Annie.
Look at this as a good thing.
You don't have to wear
that ridiculous costume anymore.
I love that costume.
- Ugh!
We'll get you a better one.
In the meantime,
I think you need
to take a step back.
I think you just have to have
a real sit-down with yourself.
I don't even know
what that means.
Bad world
It's unforgiving
Kill all parents
so you can keep living
Kill all parents
So you can keep living
Kill them, kill them,
kill them dead
[applause]
Thank you. Thank you.
Thank you.
That was a song I wrote myself,
called, "Kill All Parents."
We appreciate any donations you
can spare for our dog Cornelius.
You ready?
One, two, three.
Don't eat the bone
Don't eat the bone,
it will make you sick
You guys... you guys
are terrible!
- Hey, man, they're trying
to perform. What's your problem?
- Be quiet.
Let those kids be.
- Let the kids perform.
- I mean, this is... bad.
This is horrible.
I'm sorry. You suck.
- No, he's right.
You guys are awful.
She knows what
she's talking about.
You should learn
how to play your instruments,
not just hold them
and pound them.
We can't afford lessons.
- Oh, I'm sorry.
Did I hurt your feelings?
Because I want to kill myself,
it's that bad.
You're probably killing
your dog with your music.
This will be great
for my documentary on crap.
- All right, keep playing, kids.
Keep playing.
- Do not listen to them.
- What, you like this?
You need to get
your ears checked, blondie.
You like these kids?
I hope you don't have
any kids.
I hope your uterus
shriveled up!
- No, I'm not taking this.
- Give me the camera.
You have to get it.
Give me the camera.
- There you go.
That's the show.
That's the show.
Oh, yeah!
Nice.
Oh! Oh, you were awful.
- Awful!
- Awful!
- I have never heard...
- Camera and the footage
all destroyed.
But I don't care!
I don't care.
That was just for us.
You were amazing.
I have never been prouder.
(all)
Kill all the parents
So you can keep living
Kill them, kill them,
kill them, kill them
Yeah!
[dramatic music]
- Sorry we're late. Sorry.
- You're late.
- I had a sign and everything.
You had to get your own bag.
Thank you for coming.
Well, we're going
to take care of you.
Yeah. You need
taking care of too?
- Yeah.
- You okay?
How's your ear?
It's... it's better
than it was yesterday.
- Oh, God.
- Look at these two.
- Hey.
- Welcome home.
- Look at how skinny you are.
- What's with the bandages?
Well, did you see
your brother's ear?
We wanted to play along.
Oh, you look
so beautiful.
- We brought you a neck brace.
Look at this.
- Oh, oh, here.
- Come on.
- I'm not putting that on.
- Brand-new. Never been used.
So, hey, what's the plan?
Daddy.
- Sorry, Annie.
What's the plan, Annie?
- I don't know.
I'm just here for Baxter.
Oh, we're all here for Baxter.
- Whatever Baxter needs.
- This is a place of healing.
- Mm-hmm.
- That's great.
I just need someone
to take me shopping.
Not a lot of great options
in your closet, Dad.
Go lighter on those pills,
sweetheart.
My ear hurts pretty bad, Mom.
What about you?
Anything you're itching to do
while you're back?
Mm, I'm just going
to take it easy.
Do a little yoga.
Some reflection.
- Ooh, reflection.
- Yeah.
Apparently I have some
bad habits that I have to break.
Don't do that.
Your bad habits
are my favorite thing about you.
Yeah, but I think that's part
of the problem, Daddy.
Hey, speaking of,
we saw your titty shots.
- Holy shit.
- They were wonderful.
- [sighs]
- Jesus Christ.
Hey, it's about time you
started playing with the idea
of celebrity in the female form
as viewed objects.
That's not what
I was doing.
Of course it is,
whether you know it or not.
You could take the girl
out of the art,
but you cannot take the art
out of the girl.
Well...
I'm still an artist, Daddy.
That's what I just said.
- Yeah, actors.
Actors are artists.
- Yes. Didn't I say
I like your titty shot?
We both liked them
very much.
You have beautiful breasts,
sweetheart.
[bangs table]
- Okay, that's it!
Can we not talk about
the titty shots anymore, please?
And we can stop saying
titty shots, everybody.
To Fangs.
Together again.
That's how it should be.
Waited a long time for this.
Cheers.
Titty shots.
Titty.
- Titty.
- Dad.
- Titty!
- Ugh, Dad...
- [laughs]
- Ridiculous.
[inaudible]
[sighs]
I was better back then.
[sighs]
- It was so simple.
- Yeah.
They just told us
what to do.
[sighs]
When did it get
so complicated?
Don't you know?
No.
- Smother Beach.
Come here.
Smother Beach.
Baxter...
You never sold the urgency
in this one.
Thank God your sister
improvised a bit.
Your mother nearly died
out there.
Baxter was perfect.
Perfect.
What do you got on?
Mind your business.
I'll make popcorn!
Thank you.
Got something going on
upstairs, huh?
Well, we can
pick it up later.
Nobody told me
it was movie night.
Put another one on
just for the hell of it.
Oh, that's better.
Why are we doing this?
Because need to behave
like healthy people.
It's called acting.
You know? You want to look,
you act the part
before you know
you are that person.
[panting]
- What person?
That person who doesn't
screw things up.
Which means no more Percocet
for you.
No more booze for me.
Yeah, you think
you can do that?
Oh, yeah.
I thought it was nice
last night.
Looking at those old pieces
sitting on the couch together.
What?
You don't see it,
do you?
See what?
Being seduced
by your own parents,
which I think
is kind of gross.
Come on, you're ridiculous.
Let's turn back.
Mom wants us to run
some errands with her.
You think I'm being
ridiculous, huh?
- Yeah.
- You didn't see that?
You didn't pick up
on any of that?
- No.
- Come on.
What kind of errands?
I want to do some yoga
after this.
- Let's go.
Let's run uphill.
You want to be that person,
that person runs uphill.
- [panting]
- Come on.
Yeah, I'll...
I'll run uphill.
- Uh-oh.
- Come on!
Ow.
Mmm, so where are we going?
To the amusement park.
We're running an errand
at the amusement park?
Why are we going there?
The Denver MCA wants me
to create a new piece.
I haven't heard from them
in years,
and when we realized
that you'd both be home...
Needless to say,
they were very excited.
- We're doing a piece?
- Annie, Annie, put this on.
- Oh.
- What did I tell you?
What is this?
It's a shirt, honey.
And you need to wear it,
or the event won't work.
All you have to do is hand out
these fake coupons, huh?
- Yeah.
- For chicken sandwiches.
And when we're doing that,
Baxter will film all the people
at the counter
demanding free food.
Then I rally
the angry customers,
I get them to storm
the counters.
It'll be a thing of beauty.
I don't think
this is a good idea.
- It's not a good idea.
- No.
What are you talking about?
It's going to be fun,
like old times.
You're going
to be brilliant.
Yeah, what about when
they recognize Annie?
We brought a disguise.
Annie's going to wear
a disguise?
- That's a good one. I can't.
- That stinks, Mom.
- Baxter.
- Yeah?
- Stay out of this.
- Okay.
If the tabloids
get a hold of this,
it will be terrible for me.
- Exactly right.
Who cares? You shouldn't be
in that business anyway.
- What?
- Please don't say that.
Well, you've been at it
for 20 years.
What have you got
to show for it?
A bunch of crap movies
and a tampon commercial.
- Caleb, be nice.
- Oh, my God, Dad.
- Was it not a tampon campaign?
- It was.
Absorb all the good things in
life and leave the rest to us.
- Okay, come on.
- That's a terrible tag line.
- Just trying to make a living.
- I'm giving you an opportunity
- to be artists again.
- Okay, we've been over this.
A and B are still artists.
Please don't call us
A and B, Mom.
"Please don't
call us artists," you mean.
- Caleb!
- I'm sorry, your popcorn flicks
and Baxter's emo crap fiction
is not art.
It's garbage.
What is wrong with him?
Dad?
Caleb, can I just say
you forget, I've seen
the reviews of the masterpieces
you and Mom have been
churning out.
- Don't, don't, don't, don't.
- No, this...
He needs to hear this.
- No, no. Annie, drop it.
- All right? Let's talk about
the water balloon thing. Huh?
- Yeah.
- Let's talk about
the disastrous
wife-abusive piece.
What about the epileptic
and the...
- Oh, my God. The epileptic
in the antique shop.
- That was distasteful, Mom.
- Okay, all right, we get it.
We get it, the pieces
aren't the same without you.
- We know that.
- They're not.
- Oh, no, they're not.
- No.
- That's why we're doing this.
- Shove it!
Shove it up your ass!
We don't need you.
Your mother and I,
we'll do it ourselves.
We've done it that way
for years.
We're trying to be nice.
Thought you might want
to feel part of it again.
But to hell with you both.
Baxter, could you at least
work the camera?
But you still want me
to film it?
- Yes, of course.
- Yeah, grudgingly.
Yeah, you're damn right
it's going to be grudgingly.
- Yeah. Go ahead.
- No.
Even though it's all
been shoved up my ass.
No...
This is horrible.
It's really tough to watch.
I mean, I knew he didn't
like my movies,
but I had no idea
that he hated them.
What he hates is that
he needs us.
Without us,
their work sucks.
That's what he hates.
I'm sorry to bother you.
Oh, it's fine.
- Would you like me to sign...
- Baxter?
Suzanne. Suzanne Crosby?
- Oh, yeah. You left a message.
How's it going?
We went to high school
together.
- Yeah. It's okay
if you don't remember me.
No, I do, I do,
now that I'm looking at you.
- Your hair used to be...
- Oh, God, yeah.
And you had a bunch
of piercings, am I right?
- Yeah, yeah.
I still do have a couple.
- Oh, yeah.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I hope this isn't
too weird.
You know, I just... I saw you,
happened to be here.
So I just thought
I'd say hello.
She's got a writing class
she wants me to come to.
Well, you heard.
This is my sister, Annie.
- Hi. I don't mean
to be pushy.
- You're not.
- I just think the students
would love
to hear you speak,
you being from the area and
making such a name for yourself.
Oh, I don't know
about that.
- Oh, come on.
- Yeah.
- Say yes.
- Yeah!
- Say yes.
- I'm thinking about it.
- Let me...
- Come on.
Well, you know, no pressure.
I'm easy, so just...
you have the information.
Yeah, I'll get a hold
of you.
I'll...
it was good to see you.
- Okay. Thanks.
- Good to see you.
- Good to see you too.
- Bye.
She's adorable.
Yeah.
Oh, look alive.
They hooked one.
[inaudible]
That poor cashier.
She doesn't get paid enough
to handle this.
Oh, shit.
He's giving it to him.
- What is that?
She's giving him a sandwich.
- She thinks it's real?
- I don't know.
She thinks it's real.
Okay, see what happens.
She gave it to them.
What the hell?
What the hell is going on here?
You can't rely on anybody
these days to make a proper
piece of art.
Give me one of those.
Hello.
Hi.
- I'd like one free sandwich,
please.
Sure thing.
Here you go.
- Thank you.
Wait, don't I need a coupon?
Okay.
Now, I got this from
some shady-looking characters
over by the Orange Julius.
It doesn't seem
on the up and up.
- [chuckles]
No, it's good.
I think that's fake.
I don't think so.
It is, though.
I want you to look at it
for two seconds;
you tell me if that's real.
Do you want the sandwich
or not?
Let me talk
to your manager.
Sure.
Charlie, can you come
over here for a second?
- Hi. What can I do
for you?
Is the manager
not at work today?
- Oh, no, he is.
You got him.
That coupon is fake.
- Oh.
No, it's fine, sir.
Have you looked at it?
- I did. It's official.
It's not official.
It does not look
to be official to me.
That's a fake.
And you've handed out
all these free sandwiches
for counterfeit coupons?
You're a fool,
and your people are fools.
Sir, please just
take your free sandwich
and step out of line.
I wouldn't eat that shit
sandwich if you paid me.
Okay, sir,
I will call the police.
You have the tiniest
responsibility.
You just have to do your job.
I do the rest.
All you have to do
is let that thing happen.
What is wrong with people
these days?
I do the work,
you get to witness the beauty.
That's all you had to...
stop that!
You don't record me.
I record you.
This is supposed to be art.
Not some YouTube video.
Honey, let's just leave.
Didn't I say
this would happen?
You thought they'd solve
everything.
They've only made things worse.
- You did this. Hey!
Hey!
You! You did this!
Okay, honey, let's go.
[dramatic music]
I think they're losing it.
Their artistic sensibility?
- No, their minds. They're...
- Yeah.
I mean, he's always had
an odd idea
of what constituted art.
But come on,
that was almost silly.
Did he really think he could
lead a coup on a Chicken Queen?
I don't know.
[sighs]
Maybe we should have
helped them.
- Help them?
- Yeah.
No, Annie, come on.
Absolutely not.
They're struggling.
We all are.
Well, it's not the same,
though.
Besides, helping them
wouldn't solve anything.
It would turn us back into kids.
Is that what you want?
Hey.
Your father and I have decided
to go to the Berkshires
for a few days.
- Berkshires, huh? Great.
- When?
- Tonight.
Is this because
of the Chicken Queen?
What a disaster.
Great art's always difficult,
though, right?
What'd you say?
I just said what you
always tell us.
That great art's
always difficult.
Do me a favor.
Don't talk about things
you know nothing about.
- Okay. Deal.
I found something weird.
That is weird.
There's like a hundred of
these in the back of my closet.
What do you think they are?
I don't know.
Maybe a fan sent them?
I mean, remember that lady
who sent all those teeth
in the Ziploc bags?
They're actually
kind of great.
I mean, look at the detail.
- Yeah.
- What are you doing?
- Nothing.
- Don't look at those.
[bolts lock]
Oh, no. Shit.
No, no, no, no, no, no,
no, no, no, no.
- What's wrong?
- I... I don't know.
God damn it.
Where did these paintings
come from?
They're mine.
- They're yours?
- You did these?
Yes, I did.
Since when did you
start painting, Mom?
How do you think
I got into art school?
I stopped when I met Daddy.
So he doesn't know
about these?
Oh, good God, no.
If he ever found out
that I started painting again,
that'd be such a betrayal.
[thumping on door]
[doorknob rattles]
Why is this door locked?
We're... we're talking.
About what?
Our feelings.
[sighs]
Meet me in the car.
- I want you to have these.
Here, that's for you.
That's for you.
Now, promise me that if I die
before your father,
you'll get rid
of all the others.
So let's...
let's put these back.
They're amazing.
Oh, they're just paintings.
They're pretty great, Mom.
Yeah, thank you.
The fridge is full,
so you are welcome
to whatever is in there.
- Thanks, Mom.
Have fun.
- Thanks.
- Give me a kiss.
[coughs]
Drive safe, Dad.
- Yup.
- You look after your brother.
It's only going to be
a couple of days.
- I know.
- I'll be fine.
Bye, Daddy.
Stay out of our room.
- Will do.
[engine starts]
Why is she crying?
She always cries
at good-byes.
I pawned everything
That I had this morning
You know, as awkward
as yesterday was,
I really think
I've cleared a hurdle.
- Oh, yeah?
- Yeah.
I was thinking about what...
what that stupid
"Esquire" guy said.
That every time I make a...
I don't know,
make a mess of things,
I'm just doing exactly
what child A always did.
But when I think about,
it pissed me off that he was...
That he was right
on the money, right?
Exactly, Baxter.
He was right on the money.
And yesterday
I didn't do that.
Mm-mm, child A
stood up to them.
And that's thanks
to child B, right?
Yeah.
We're helping each other.
We're breaking old patterns.
Like a couple
of Dr. Phils.
[laughs]
We're getting better.
Come on,
I haven't had a drink.
You haven't had a pill.
Well, oops.
- Baxter.
- My ear hurt.
Anyway, but something's
working.
- You know?
- Mm-hmm.
And when Mom and Dad realize
that we're not kids anymore,
which they have to do,
we could have
a healthy family.
Healthy life.
Do healthy things together.
Take a trip.
Grand Canyon.
In a Winnebago.
[doorbell rings]
Sounds terrible.
Well, I'm just spitballing.
Come on, don't bring me down.
Good morning, ma'am.
Would you mind coming
down to the station?
There's a situation
we'd like to talk to you about.
Now, the car that is
registered to your parents
was found at a rest stop
on route 22
just before the Massachusetts
border.
They were not with the car,
but there were, I'm afraid,
signs of a struggle,
and quite a bit of blood.
We checked
the security cameras
and interviewed employees
at the surrounding locations.
But we've been unable to come up
with anything conclusive
at this point.
All signs indicate
that your parents
are currently missing,
and we have to suspect
foul play.
I'm sorry, sheriff.
This is... our parents
aren't missing.
They're artists.
It's all a performance.
We know all about
their art things.
But the fact is,
they're missing from a car
that they were driving,
and it's covered in blood.
- [sighs]
This is so stupid.
Ma'am, there have been four
rest stop abductions
in the last nine months,
all along route 22,
and all ending in homicides.
Hang on.
Really?
That's not what this is.
Well, let's hope not.
- Let's hope not.
But the crime scene photos
do show some startling
similarities to the other cases.
Would it be possible
for me to have a look at that?
Did you say four
in the last nine months?
And this would be
the fifth or the fourth?
- [scoffs]
- Jesus Christ.
Let me see that.
- It's fake. Fake blood.
This is what they...
- Can I see it?
- This is what they use
in a lot of their
performances.
The lab will let us know
if that is the case.
[clears throat]
You think
they're dead, right?
We don't know that,
but...
it is a possible
scenario, yes.
Our parents are probably
hiding somewhere now,
laughing themselves silly.
And as soon as you say
they're dead,
they're going to pop up
resurrected.
It takes seven years
to pronounce someone dead
without a body in this state.
Are they going to wait
seven years?
[dramatic music]
Here's another one.
"College student latest victim
in a string
of rest stop murders."
- Mm-hmm. They knew
about the murders.
They built the entire piece
around them.
And do you know
why they did it?
Because we wouldn't
do the Chicken Queen thing.
We're being punished.
[liquid pouring]
"Local man found
in IHOP Dumpster."
Oh, place of healing
my ass.
Staging their own death.
Annie, don't do that.
- Oh, God.
You're right, you're right.
What am I doing?
I'm slipping back.
[exhales]
And you want
to know something?
This is all Caleb.
All Caleb.
That's why Mom was crying
when she left.
She didn't want to go.
Why else would she leave
those paintings
for us to find?
- Well, she didn't.
He hid them.
- From him.
She wasn't hiding them from us.
They were in my closet.
She wants us to know
that she's her own artist.
Right?
She doesn't want
to do his art anymore.
Same as us. She is...
she is being forced into it,
just as we are.
We're all being forced
into this crap.
[sighs]
And what if he isn't
doing that?
What if this is real?
I mean, just consider it.
Baxter, come on.
- It could be real, Annie.
Come on.
That's what he wants.
This is what he wants.
He wants us to think
that they're dead.
It's pretty low,
even by his standards,
but that's what he wants.
He wants child A,
child B crying, doing this.
- Mm-hmm.
I hope you're right.
My...
son of a bitch.
What?
That son of a bitch!
If this is an art piece,
then they're recording us.
And they've got cameras
somewhere.
And they're trying
to tape us.
[dramatic music]
Caleb?
Camille?
I know it!
Come on! Dad?
I know they're hiding
somewhere.
Just waiting.
We are... we are going
to bed early.
We're getting up early.
We're putting
our heads together
and we're going
to search for them.
And we're not going
to stop until we find them.
[dramatic music]
I can't think of anyone.
They didn't have any friends.
We're their only relatives.
Well, somebody's helping them.
- What are you doing?
What is that?
This is a corkboard.
I can't conduct an investigation
without a corkboard.
And I am pinning
all this stuff to it.
Been through
their address books,
through their e-mails.
And I haven't really found
anything that jumps out.
Don't you think we should let
the sheriff do all this?
- No, no. The sheriff isn't
looking for them.
The sheriff is looking
for murderers.
Yeah, and if we do
find them and they're alive,
what then?
What do we do?
Do we punish them?
This isn't about
punishment, Baxter.
This is about honesty.
This is about saying, "Enough.
We're done. Cut the crap.
"No more pretending.
You're not dead.
"We're not in mourning.
We're not going
to play anymore."
We're going to get on
with our lives.
We're going to be a real family
for once.
Live a real life.
- And rent a Winnebago.
You know?
Are you making fun of me?
No.
I'm doing this for us.
For all of us.
You understand that, right?
Okay.
Are you hungry?
- No. I have to stay focused.
Watch a few of these.
Stay focused.
[moans]
I do not feel comfortable
doing this.
- And it's just a bad idea.
- Have you heard,
"The show must go on"?
Well, that is what happens
when the leading man
crashes his car into a tree
on opening night.
- I have to stage manage.
- Baxter.
Coby is in the hospital
with a broken collarbone.
This is my final performance
of my senior year.
There are kissing scenes.
- I'm an actor.
I won't be kissing you.
- Yes, you will.
- I'll be kissing Romeo.
Played by your brother.
I just heard about
what happened to Coby Reed.
- We got a packed auditorium.
- It's okay.
Baxter's going
to step in.
[sighs]
Miss Delano, are you familiar
with the plot of this play?
- Baxter knows the lines, Joe.
Without him,
we don't have a play.
- Yeah, well,
with him we have incest.
All right, very well.
We will do this play.
There will be no kissing.
It's "Romeo and Juliet."
That's the deal,
Miss Fang.
- You're going to be great.
Go get dressed.
Though grant
for prayers' sake.
Then move not,
while my prayer's effect I take.
Thus from my lips, by thine,
my sin is purged.
[smooches]
[audience laughs]
Then have my lips the sin
that they have took.
Sin from thy lips?
Give me my sin again.
[audience chuckles]
You kiss by the book.
[audience laughs]
People are laughing
because of you.
You are ruining...
Good evening
to my ghostly confessor.
Romeo will thank thee,
daughter,
for us both.
[smooches]
[audience laughs]
[audience gasps]
[applause]
- No, no, no, no, no.
No, no, no, no, no.
Bravo!
Bravo!
- You know what?
- I really appreciate that.
Best Shakespeare
I've ever seen.
B, I'm telling you,
so good.
- It was so good.
- Miss Delano.
- Get in the car.
Come on.
Quite a night, right?
I was just fired,
actually.
What?
Oh, it was worth it.
Tonight we did
what theater should do.
But it wasn't your fault.
Oh, I knew what I was
getting into.
I told your parents when
we were preparing this thing
that the best art
always leaves scorched earth
in its wake.
Scorched earth.
What do you mean?
When we were
preparing this thing?
Your parents didn't tell you?
It was their idea.
But I was honored
to be a part of it.
You might not believe it,
but I studied at my university.
I studied in the experimental
theater wing.
So your parents are just
two of the most important
avant-garde artists
of our time.
Of course,
I helped them.
Well, what about Coby Reed?
How'd you know he'd just
crash his car?
Oh, your parents
took care of him.
No, no, no, no.
Goodness, no.
They paid him $500
to drop out of the play.
The crash was just
bad luck.
Why would they
do all that?
For art, darling.
[laughs]
For art.
We're such cattle,
you know?
People need to be shaken up,
snapped out of it,
look around,
see things in a new way.
That's what we try
to do in our work,
because if you shake
something up hard enough,
it gets transformed.
It's not really about
what we do.
It's what they do.
- Yeah.
- The people watching.
Our work has an effect on them,
because we wake them up.
We bring them back to life.
- Mm-hmm.
It's a resurrection.
And not a reflection
of the human condition?
- No. You know it's not.
Who wants to see a reflection
of the human condition?
I suppose that happens
when our pieces
are shown in galleries.
"Oh, look what they did.
Look how people responded.
It's so human
and wonderful."
But that's not the art.
To me, by then,
you know, it's over.
Yeah, we really only do
gallery shows to get grants.
Mm-hmm.
The art is in the actual moment,
as it's happening.
Real people really responding.
The actual human condition,
not some artist's
version of it.
But isn't that just life?
Yes, exactly.
Not a reflection of life,
but life itself.
Art and life, life and art.
We make them interchangeable.
And both are enriched
because of it.
Do you think other art
can do that?
- No. What, painting?
Photography?
That's the opposite.
That's death.
Art happens when things
move around,
not when you freeze them
in a block of ice.
[glass shatters]
That was art.
- [laughs]
You're crazy.
This is not.
See?
- [laughs]
- Cheers.
- Right?
- That's right.
[laughs]
- Did I surprise you?
- You surprised me.
You always do, don't you?
[both laugh]
Anyway, that's what I mean.
- Hey, Baxter?
- Yeah?
The "Romeo and Juliet" thing.
That was when it all stopped
being simple, isn't it?
Well, isn't that
when you left?
- No. I left because I went
to college.
Hey, why are you getting
dressed up?
I want to look the part.
What part?
The part of someone
who gets up in front of a class
and isn't completely
petrified by it.
- You're going?
- Yeah. Is that wrong?
I just think
it's a little strange.
I mean, come on.
Making public appearances
when your parents
are missing?
Well, I need
the distraction.
Oh, Baxter.
Well, then I want to go.
I want to hear you speak.
I'm not really going
to be speaking.
I'm just going to be
answering their questions.
- I don't care.
I want to go.
All right.
I don't want you
jumping in, though, okay?
They just... they want
to hear from me.
I won't say a word.
- Good. What do you think?
What do I think?
I don't know.
Lose the ear thing.
Well, it's there
for medical reasons, but...
I think it looks
a bit...
Like I've been hurt.
Distracting.
They won't listen to your...
It's not working with this
or this, right?
- Because this is pretty tight.
- Just lose the ear thing.
So, this is Baxter Fang,
author of "House of Swans,"
which was nominated for the
coveted Golden Quill Award.
His second novel,
"The Underground" was,
befitting a second novel,
a more complex
and divisive book.
That's fair.
[laughs]
He's going to talk
to us today
about the creative process.
Baxter, take it away.
Okay.
Do they want to do
just questions?
I can... let me present...
I'll present to you
the how I work.
I'll tell you how I write.
I write by computer.
I do it all on computer.
And...
and I...
I chew gum.
I find that very helpful.
Maybe you could speak
in more general terms.
You know, like what drives you
to put pen to paper.
A little more general,
generally?
- A little more general terms?
- Yeah.
Good, good.
Let's see.
Sometimes I get horrible
thoughts in my head.
You guys ever get horrible
thoughts in your head?
You know, I can't
get them out,
so it helps me
to write them down.
Uh, when I was a kid I thought
a lot about this one...
I mean, I thought about
what would happen
if my parents died.
And, um...
and I couldn't
get it out of my head.
Can't. Couldn't.
Can't. And...
and you don't want
to think about it.
But if you do
get stuck with it,
I suggest you write it down.
That's what I did.
I've...
well, my sister and I
don't have relatives.
So in my story, we get...
we get taken to an orphanage.
And this orphanage
is run by this woman.
And she mistreats
all these kids.
She's very harsh to them.
And my sister and I,
we... we put up with...
with all the...
the harsh treatment for months.
And then we figure out
a way to escape.
One night,
under cover of darkness,
we go through this
incinerator chute.
We get out the bottom
of the chute,
and we scoot off
across this field of beets.
I had it as a field of beets.
Anyway, so this is
a field of beets.
And we're running across it
and running across.
We're looking over our shoulder,
and all is good.
We make it,
we get to the other side,
and there's this
peaceful forest.
And we go into this forest.
And it's...
We think that all the hardship
is behind us.
But then suddenly a sack
goes over our heads.
And we're taken away into
this underground, like, lair.
And there's all these other
kidnapped kids in there.
And another chapter of misery
would kind of start from there.
I don't have that part yet.
But... anyway.
Anybody ever have
terrible thoughts like that?
- I do.
- Do you.
All the time.
Just write them down.
It's helpful for me,
at least.
You know, if I can't get it
out of my head, I just...
I write them down.
Even if they're super weird,
I can control them
and I can... I can...
I can just... you know,
I can control my world,
you know, with writing.
That's what writing is
for me.
Just...
[sighs]
You have five new messages.
First new message.
Hi, this is
Anne Amotta from...
[answering machine beeps]
- Second new message.
This is WMAC in Albany.
We were hoping to schedule
an interview in regards...
[answering machine beeps]
- Third new message.
Hey, this is Eddie Sanchez...
- Fourth new message.
[answering machine beeps]
Hey, this is Sheriff Hale.
I said I'd call when
the blood results came back.
I'm afraid that the blood
at the scene
does match your dad's
DNA profile.
So it is real,
which obviously
none of us wanted.
But it does mean that we have
a serious situation here.
So we'll need to dig a bit
deeper into the investigation,
as we discussed.
I'd appreciate a call back.
Thank you.
[answering machine beeps]
That doesn't mean anything.
Caleb's done crazier things
than draw his own blood.
You know that.
Good night.
[dramatic music]
Baxter!
I think I found something!
You were wrong.
You were wrong when you said
that they didn't have
any friends.
You forgot about Hobart.
Who's that?
- Hobart Waxman.
Their mentor.
If they told anyone
about their disappearance,
they would have told Hobart.
Can we talk
about this tomorrow?
Because I'm right
in the middle of this.
- The middle of what?
- I'm writing my book. I just...
I've thought of something
really good, and I'm...
- Oh, wow.
That's exciting.
I'm excited about it.
So, what are we going
to do about Hobart?
He's got to be dead,
or pretty close to it.
Then we'd better
find him soon.
- Annie...
- Come on.
- I'm... no, I don't want...
- No, no, no.
Don't do this to me.
Don't make me do it by myself.
You promised. You promised that
we'd help each other.
The first year
I was in Hobart's class,
we went to see a piece
by the artist Chris Burdon,
whose work Hobart
did not care for.
- Chris Burdon's a hack.
A complete and utter fraud.
So we're at
Burdon's gallery,
and he tell us he's going
to be shot today.
Sure enough, an assistant
pulls out a gun and shoots him
in the arm.
I was shocked.
I thought it was thrilling.
And I made the mistake
of saying so in class.
So Hobart turns on me
and he says...
It's horseshit!
Art should never happen
in a controlled environment.
That's not art.
I don't know what it is.
Taxidermy.
I mean, who the hell cares
if you let somebody
come and shoot you
in a goddamn galley?
There's no danger.
There's no... no surprise.
No, it needs to take place
in the world,
around people who just
don't know that it's art.
That's the way
it has to be.
He was so
disappointed in me.
I had to make it
up to him somehow.
Caleb and I were dating,
and he asked me
if I could run a camera.
So we hunkered down
in a classroom
on the fifth floor
of the History Building
with a window that overlooked
the courtyard.
And we waited for Hobart
to pass by.
Honey'd sweet apples
They're rotting away
Millions of people
Never start in the race
There's stuff
on our plates
That has not been alive
Someone pays full price
For my cheap flight life
Sunshine
He shot me
with a crossbow.
- [laughing]
I... I shot him
with a crossbow.
He almost used a rifle.
And thank God you didn't.
No, he knew it was
going to happen.
He just didn't know when.
There was a card
in my pocket
that said I'd been
wounded by a friend.
There was chaos,
screaming, blood,
silence.
I remember lying there
thinking,
"This is so beautiful."
He... he refused
to give them my name.
Whoa!
[both laugh]
- He's a good guy.
- Yeah, he's all right.
Hobart.
- Hobart.
- You fat fuck.
- [laughs]
Sunshine
We all see
The same sky
Wow.
It doesn't look like
there's anybody here.
So, what now?
Even better.
Let's find an open door,
search the house.
- Hang on.
What are you talking about?
- Come on, let's split up.
Quick!
- We're just going to break in?
- Yeah.
- Annie...
- Come on.
[knob jiggles]
[knob jiggles]
- Don't move, honey!
- Oh!
I'll put a hole
in your boyfriend.
He's got a gun.
Take it easy, Hobart.
You... you know us.
Annie. Annie Fang.
Holy shit.
Is this Baxter?
- Yeah. Baxter.
Baxter Fang.
[laughs]
I'll be damned!
So can you take the gun
out of my back now, please?
Oh, hell,
I don't have a gun.
Just my finger.
- Oh.
- Bang, bang.
[laughs]
You got me.
Annie, I haven't seen you
since you were a little thing.
I watched all your movies,
though.
And you too, Baxter.
Those books are terrific.
Thank you.
Well, not that second one.
That was...
- Not for you?
But the first one,
that was very good.
- Thank you.
Yeah, the second one...
The second one was...
that was a challenge.
Third one's going
to be good, though.
[laughs]
So I read about
your parents.
Awful story.
Think they're really dead?
- I think it's very possible.
- No, no, no. I don't.
I think you're helping them.
Is that why you're here?
You're the only one
who believes in them enough
to not tell anyone else, so...
They love you.
[laughs]
They most certainly do not.
We had a falling out
years ago.
- Really?
- Is that right?
Mm-hmm.
- Really?
- Yeah.
Well, what was it about?
[sighs]
It's not my place to say.
Can I offer you
a little advice?
Sure.
Stop looking for them.
It was a bad idea,
tangling up family and art.
It...
But maybe you're free
of that now.
You need to stop
thinking of this as a slight
and start thinking of it
as a gift.
Yeah.
A gift.
[brakes squeal]
I know I shouldn't.
What is this?
They were lost
after you left.
The work suffered terribly.
So a few years back,
I offered to finance
a documentary on them,
to celebrate
what you'd all done.
But also to close
that chapter
so they could move on
to something new.
A documentary.
- Yeah. It was a...
it was a terrible idea.
We never released it,
obviously.
But you asked about
the falling out.
Tell me, did you ever think
that what you were doing
might have an adverse affect
on the children?
- No. Children are
amazingly resilient.
When my cousin Jeffrey was 2,
he got stuck in a well
for three days.
And now he's got a family
and he sells vinyl siding.
So there you go.
And when did you decide
that you wanted to use them
in the work?
"A" was a baby.
And, to be honest,
after she was born I was...
Well, I was miserable.
I thought, "This is the end
of our life."
- As artists.
- Obviously as artists,
because... and I've heard this
over again,
children kill art.
They just do.
You have them,
and the passion you had
for creative expression
becomes secondary.
Some people believe that.
I went into
a terrible funk,
but then the most wonderful
thing happened.
Near Christmas, we took the baby
to see Santa at the mall.
- It was my idea.
I thought it'd be cute.
- We grabbed the camera.
We go down there.
And I put A
on this rancid hobo's lap.
And she, of course, screams,
but in a way I'd never heard.
It was like something conjured
by the dark arts,
like a horde of demons were
going to fly out of her mouth.
And poor Santa's
trying to shake her loose.
The elves go running
for the break room.
Families grab their children,
run from the line.
It was pandemonium,
and an epiphany for me.
I thought, children don't have
to kill art.
Not if they are the art.
[no audio]
For the first time
I thought,
"Hey...
I think I want kids."
- [laughs]
Jesus.
Don't say that.
- It's true.
Um, you know,
I don't want that in there.
- Why?
- I want that whole
last section cut.
- Why? That was great.
- What he said about the kids.
- That was great stuff.
No, Hobart, no.
- What? But...
- No, if you put that in there,
I swear I'm not coming back.
- Come on, where are you going?
- I'm done with this.
No, not unless
you promise me.
If we're going
to tell the story
don't we have to tell
the real story?
- Baxter.
- Hmm?
I know how to find them.
- Annie, it's late.
Go to bed.
- No, no, no, no.
Mom's paintings.
We do this gallery show.
We call it "The Hidden Art
of Camille Fang,"
and we promote it
like a memorial,
and then Caleb
will come out of hiding.
He will be incensed.
He will rail against it.
What do you think of that?
What do you think?
- Please, come on.
I think you're drunk. Come on.
- I'm not drunk.
- I can smell it.
- No, I've had a drink.
I'm not drunk.
Turn off that goddamn light
right now and go to bed, Annie.
Stop watching that
fucking documentary.
I have a friend
who has a gallery.
- You sound like an idiot.
I'm finished with this.
I'm all done.
I'm done helping you
with this search.
I'm done with the road trips
and the corkboard.
I'm doing all this
because I'm your brother, Annie,
and I love you, and I think that
you might need all this stuff
to help you get through
all this stuff with Mom and Dad.
But I'm starting to think
that you're just avoiding it.
- Avoiding what?
- I think you're just
avoiding the truth.
Come on.
[sighs]
And if they're not dead,
they want everyone
to think that they are,
including their own kids.
So if we find them,
what difference does it make?
You can't say
anything to them
to make them change
who they are.
You don't know that.
- Yes, I do.
And for some reason,
you've got some crazy idea
in your head
that suddenly they're going
to stop being who they are.
And they're going to stop
doing the things that they do,
and being the people
that they are, Annie.
That they're going to suddenly
become these normal parents,
and it's going to help you fix
all of your... stuff.
It's just not
going to happen.
We can't fix them.
We can only
fix ourselves.
Can we, though?
Yeah.
I think we can.
And moving on
is the start.
You think they're dead,
don't you?
You thought it
the whole time.
I don't know.
If they're dead,
it's horrible.
But if they're not dead...
it's kind of worse.
In a lot of different ways.
[sighs]
So either way,
I just think they're gone,
you know?
[somber piano music]
[no audio]
[classical piano music]
Hi.
Find anything
you like yet?
I got my eye
on a couple of things.
Yeah?
What's this music?
Oh, this is...
I don't know.
Something from my parents'
collection.
If you like it,
I can get you a deal.
What about...
what about this?
What about this instead?
That you can have.
- Really?
- Yeah.
Annie won't mind?
No, it's mine.
I won that.
- Even better. Even better.
- I'm giving it to you.
- How do I look?
- You look good.
- [laughs]
- Try it on. I bet it fits you.
- Yeah.
- Come on.
- Through here.
- Hang on a second.
- Hang on a second.
- Kill, kill
Kill all parents
kill all parents
Kill all parents
Kill all parents,
kill all parents
Hey, Annie?
Kill all parents
so you can keep living
Kill all parents
- Kill all parents
- Do you hear that?
Kill all parents,
kill, kill
- That sound familiar?
- Yeah.
Kill all parents,
kill all parents
Sure is.
Kill all parents,
kill, kill
[music stops]
- "The Vengeful Virgins"?
What...
Song four.
"K.A.P. Kill All Parents."
- Is everything okay?
- Let me see that.
"Kill All Parents"
is a Fang song.
Annie and I sang this
in a piece as kids.
Annie wrote this song.
Didn't see sing this
at Central Park?
And Dad's camera was destroyed.
There's no footage.
- Yeah.
- The only way they'd know
about this song is through you,
me, Mom or Dad.
"The Vengeful Virgins
recently signed to Light Noise,
"a tiny indie label
based in the northwest.
"Lucas and Linus Baltz of 14,
"self-taught musicians
obsessed with the apocalypse
and still living
in Massachusetts."
[dramatic music]
Why am I so afraid
they're going to kill us?
They're not going
to kill us.
We're just looking
for information.
- Yeah, okay. You ready?
[turns off ignition]
Okay, you're looking
for an address book,
lyric sheet, diary,
anything that's helpful.
Yeah. Got it.
Remember your lines?
I do. I got it.
- Want to run it?
- No, I don't want to run it.
- Hi. Is that Linus?
- Lucas.
- Mmm, Lucas.
- Fifty-fifty shot.
- [sighs]
We're the writers
from "Spin."
"Spin" magazine.
Were you not expecting us?
No.
- Oh, that's weird.
- No?
I'm Janet Day.
This is Pete Sanders.
- I'm Pete.
And we're here to do the
profile on you and your brother
for the magazine.
- Yeah.
We're supposed
to do an interview.
Usually interviews
go through our manager.
- Yeah, we did that.
- Sure.
- Oh, this is...
- Yeah, did nobody call you?
Strange they didn't
give you a heads up.
I mean, anyway,
can we come in?
Because this isn't going
to get it done, so...
Hey, there's Linus.
- Who are they?
- "Spin" magazine.
They want to do a story
about us.
How's it going?
Yeah, you might
even get the cover.
- That's true. That's true.
- So...
Mind if we jump in?
Is that all right?
Just... just start talking,
you know?
What kind of guitar
do you play?
Hey, do you guys mind
if I use your restroom?
It's down the hall.
- Is that down this way?
- Yeah.
Thank you.
Um, I got it from
a catalogue.
Some cheap thing.
We don't care about instruments.
Great. Uh...
What are your influences?
Um, we like speed metal,
I guess.
But we're not good enough
to play it.
We listen to some rap.
Cool.
Great.
And...
Tell me about the song "K.A.P."
Um, what do you
want to know?
[soft orchestral music]
What made you write it?
We just thought people
should kill their parents
if they want to do
anything good with their lives.
It's a stupid song, really.
You didn't write
the song, Lucas.
- Yes, we did.
We wrote it.
No, you didn't.
And I'm going to write
an entire article about it
unless you tell me
who did.
[camera beeps]
- Yeah. Pan down.
- Pan down on my...
- Oh, oh, my God!
- Oh, God, that hurts.
- Are you all right?
- Yeah, yeah.
- Good, good.
Aah!
That's good, that's good.
That's good, that's enough.
Okay...
[grunts and speaks
indistinctly]
Put it... put it on
the steering wheel.
All right.
You didn't write it.
Who taught it to you?
Come on.
Who?
I think you should go.
Where'd you get that song?
Hey, Annie...
Where'd you get the song?
Okay, we didn't
write it.
But it was the first song
we played,
so we put it on the album
because we knew it so well.
- Of course you didn't write it.
You want to know why?
I wrote the song.
- What is this?
They said they were
from "Spin," Mom,
but I don't think they are.
Go play out back, boys.
Miss Delano?
What the fuck?
I said go out back.
Where are our parents?
Leave us alone, please.
Just let us
live our lives.
Tell us what you know
about them.
- I can't.
- Why not?
[door opens]
A and B.
I'd like to say I'm surprised,
but I'm not.
I should have known
you'd find me.
Where's Mom?
Uh, she doesn't live here.
Do you?
[grocery bag thuds]
- You pay attention, Caleb.
You've obviously been working on
this for a very long time.
And Baxter and I,
we want to ruin it for you
very badly.
We want it to explode
in your face.
And that is what's going
to happen
unless you tell me exactly
what I want to know.
Didn't I warn you?
- [stammers]
- Shut up!
What the hell is this?
That's our family.
- How long ago was this taken?
Look at this.
Seven years ago.
Bonnie's my wife.
- [gasps]
- Really?
- It's complicated.
- Yeah.
Those boys love Caleb,
so don't you ruin that.
Stop.
He's been a wonderful father
to them.
He goes to baseball games
and concerts.
And you don't need him.
We do.
You can think what you want,
but he dotes on the three of us.
- Stop talking!
[glass shatters]
[breathes heavily]
You take us to Camille.
Yeah, let's go see Camille.
- Yeah.
- Come on, let's go.
You take us to Camille
right now.
- Okay, now give me a rag.
- All right, all right.
- Oh, my God.
- I can't believe
you slashed your arm
like this.
- Ridiculous.
- We needed the blood.
What's Mom's fake name?
Patty Howard.
Does she have
a fake family too?
No.
See, Bonnie inherited
this cabin up north.
Mom's been spending
summers there,
getting to know people
in town
so it wouldn't be suspicious
when she settled there.
So this has been
in the works for a while.
For several years, yes.
We had to be thorough.
Create new identities
we could slip into
when Caleb and Camille died.
We needed
social security numbers,
bank accounts,
tax history.
Otherwise, it wouldn't
have worked.
It didn't work.
[upbeat music]
- Hello, Annie. Baxter.
Hello, Patty.
Here's how this
is going to go.
You're going to answer
a couple of questions,
and then you're going
to do what I tell you next.
Let's start at why?
- The work. Why else?
This was meant to be
our defining work.
An event so large
it would overshadow
everything we'd done before.
But then it became clear
that you no longer saw value
in our work.
We knew we couldn't
trust you with the plan.
We kept it from you.
So you suckered in
Miss Delano instead
to help you?
We didn't sucker in anyone.
She came on willingly
long ago.
Some people appreciate
our work.
He and Bonnie were to live
as husband and wife
in appearance only.
And that worked
for a couple of years.
But things happened.
You're adults.
You know that.
Hold on a second.
You're actually the father
of those boys?
Every piece has its own
complications.
And for what it's worth,
the boys did help
with the cover story.
- Wow. You actually replaced us.
No one replaced anyone.
You didn't want
to work with us.
Why did you put up
with all this?
The art.
Everything we've ever done
is for the art.
No, it wasn't just the art,
Caleb.
You know that.
Everything I do
is out of love for you.
And I made him a promise
after you were born.
He wanted to leave,
and I swore to him.
that if he figured out a way
to be happy and still stay,
then I'd always
do the same for him.
Even sacrifice
your own children?
- Don't say that.
- Come on.
When push came to shove
every time,
you chose him over us.
For God's sake,
you talk like I'm a monster.
We had a good life.
You were happy children.
You forget how fun
those pieces could be.
The thrill of leaping in...
- Oh, give me a break.
No net, not knowing
what was going to happen.
You're telling me
that wasn't fun?
The adventures we had.
What did other kids do?
Go to the Grand Canyon.
Disney World?
We did something important.
I think I would have
preferred Disney World, okay?
- If you're asking.
- Yeah, and a mom and a dad.
I've always
loved you kids.
Whatever ambivalence
I might have felt early on,
it turned into love.
As long as we didn't
do shitty movies
and compromise your artistic
sensibilities, huh?
What, I'm not allowed
to disapprove your choices?
That's like the main thing
parents do.
What's your take
on the Vengeful Virgins?
That stupid CD,
that damn song,
it nearly ruined everything.
Promise your dad
that you won't tell.
- No, we're pulling the plug.
This little piece is over.
- The hell it is.
- The hell it isn't.
I'm going to take this,
I'm going to go
right to the press.
- You give that to me.
- No.
You're going to ruin
years of work
because your feelings
got hurt.
- That's right, Pop.
- Come on, just be reasonable,
both of you,
and just don't blow this up.
- Well, that's what we Fangs do.
We blow things up.
Look, we get it.
You think we damaged you.
Fine. My parents damaged me.
Her parents damaged her.
You have kids.
You're going to damage them.
That's what parents do.
So what?
I'm not a young man anymore.
This is the last big thing
I'll ever make.
Come visit once a year,
and just please
don't tell.
You want us to pretend
you're dead?
Sure.
We can do that.
Come on.
Give it to me.
We can do it.
Yeah?
[camera thuds]
Well, thank God that's over.
Okay.
Let's go.
You may not understand
or appreciate
or value what we do,
but you cannot deny
its relevance, its...
its effectiveness.
[sniffs]
Everything we did
woke you up.
Made you look
at your life anew.
That's what we do
for people.
That's what we've always done.
And that's a good thing.
- Yeah. Yeah, I suppose it is.
But you know what happens
to those people?
What?
Well, they walk away.
You never see them again.
Keep going to those
baseball games.
The boys will like that.
You ready?
I'm ready.
Now...
imagine you're dead.
Feel yourself go numb.
Start with your fingers.
Move to your hands,
your wrists,
right on up
to your elbows.
Everything is dead.
If we can imagine
our own deaths
but still manage
to come back to life,
then it proves that we can
survive anything.
"'Don't be afraid.
"'Own the moment.
"'If you're in control,
"'then the chaos
will happen around you
"'and not to you.
"Do you understand?'
"The children nodded,
"and the pit master
threw open the door
"that led to the arena.
"A roar came roaring
down the tunnel.
"The eager spectators
were out there.
"Rachel took her brother's hand
and began their walk
"to the pit.
"They knew this was their job:
"to fight the others,
"to do unspeakable acts
in order to please the adults
who watched over them."
[dramatic music]
"But still, the siblings
had each other,
"and the ability
to imagine a better place.
"For the truly believed,
"despite all they had
been through,
"that happiness
was still possible.
"That somewhere
in the future,
"they would escape the pit
and find redemption
"in a new world.
"And this is the thought
that they clung to,
"the brother and the sister,
"as they held hands
"and walked toward
the arena
and finally stepped
into the light."
[mouthing]
[lulling dramatic music]
[gentle music]
[jazzy bass music]
[somber music]