Glass House: The Good Mother (2006) - full transcript

Look what I caught.

Oh, Raymond,
don't put that in my sink.

Thought we could eat it.

What is it?

It's catfish.
I caught it in the lake.

I set up the boat.

Thought it'd be good for David,
you know? Fresh air.

- Honey, he's really sick.
- Ah, it's a couple of hours.

Catch some fish,
eat some gumbo...

- Well, how clean is that lake?
- It's as clean as the ocean.

Eve.



He's not up there.

Well, he didn't come down.

Check around the house,
and I'll check outside.

David!

David!

David!

David!

David!

David!

David!

David!

David!

David!

David!



David!

David!

David!

David!

Keep your eyes peeled. David!

I found something.

Get out of the way!
Get out of the way!

Do you recognize this?

- This is my son's.
- Where's my son?

Where's my son?
Where's my son?

- Raymond!
- David! David!

David! David! David!

Please find my son.
Please find him.

- Where's my son?
- Hey, hey, hold it.

Where's my son?

No, God. No, no, no.

David!

Where's my son?
Where's my son?

Where's my son?
Where's my son?

David!

I wanna visit
Mom and Dad today.

We can't, it's too far.

Ben said he'd take me.

Look, Ethan,
everyone talks nice at funerals, okay?

Hey, you two.

We're almost done.

Can we go
to the cemetery after?

Of course.

You all right?

Are you gonna be our new dad?

No.

Look, your parents would want you to have a real mommy and daddy.

Just because I love you,
doesn't mean I'd be a good parent.

I'm a cop.

A good day for me means coming home
in one piece to a studio apartment,

and having chicken fingers.

Ethan?

Ethan, honey, come with me.
I have some people for you to meet.

It's okay.

Go.

Go.

It's okay.

Come on.

It's okay. Come here.
It's all right.

I'm not leaving you, Abby.

I'll be there for you
whenever you need me.

Always. I promise.

We need you now, Ben.

Excuse me, Mr. Koch.

I need you
to sign some documents

so we can finalize
his paperwork.

So how long
have you known the children?

Their whole life.

I've known their parents...

Uh, I knew their parents
since high school.

Hmm, that must be
a terrible loss for you, too.

Thanks.

Yeah.

Losing your friends beats what I'm feeling right now,
I'll tell you that.

Well, you're doing
the right thing.

- Am I?
- Yeah. Sign on the second page.

Thanks.

Hi.

Okay.

Excuse me.

Can you keep a secret?

- What?
- A secret.

Um...

- Yeah.
- Okay.

- Here.
- Thank you.

Welcome.

Are you, like, the hall monitor,
or something?

No, I'm a mother.

And my secret is,
that I know that everyone in this place

is just as scared as you are.

And I know that because I've been on both sides.

- Really?
- Mmm-hmm.

But you know what?

I learned a lot
about families.

And I learned you have to protect your children.

And that you have to be
a good mother.

Can we get
some ice-cream?

Sure we can, buddy.

Hi, I'm Raymond.

You must be Ethan's sister.

- Uh, yeah, Abby.
- Hi.

Are... Are you taking him?

We lost our boy.

The truth is,
I'm just not ready to stop being a mother.

He's really lucky.

Now be a big boy, Ethan,
and be really good, okay?

Everything's gonna be okay.

Don't worry,
we're still gonna see each other all the time, okay?

You know another thing
that I learned about families?

Is that when you have
a five-bedroom home,

you should definitely
have more than one child.

Here we are.

This is the foyer.

This is the formal
living room.

Come on, Abby.

See this? This is an atrium.

Raymond designed that.

No, Ethan! Don't touch!

It's all right. It's all right.
This is your home, too.

Come on. This is the staircase.
Goes up to the bedrooms.

I'll show you that in a minute.
This is the dining room.

And this is the den.

Raymond, you wanna show them
what you bought them?

Oh, yeah. Ethan, buddy,
look straight ahead.

Yes!

We'll never see him again.

- I love this game!
- Okay, here we go.

Now, up here
we have the bedrooms.

This is our room.

I expect breakfast in bed
every Mother's Day.

Now, this, I think we can make this a playroom.
What do you think?

- Yeah!
- Yeah?

Okay, Ethan,
this is your room.

This is so cool!

You like it?

- I think he likes it.
- Wow!

Now, I unpacked your things,
I put them where they should be, okay?

Bathroom's right there.

- Okay!
- All right?

We've put Ethan close to us.

Why don't I show
Abby the tower?

Your room. Come on.

You're gonna love it.

Word of warning,
Eve is a light sleeper.

No back flips
or cartwheels, okay?

- Right.
- Here we are.

Wow. I'm up here all alone?

You're an adult now.
Time for you to have your own space.

You like it?

- Yeah. Yeah.
- You have the best view in the whole house.

Just look out this window.

You and Ethan
are going to be so happy here.

What's in there?

Don't go in there.
That was our son's room.

- Do not go in there.
- Of course not.

- Oh.
- There he is.

Why don't you two
get your rooms in order,

and I will meet you downstairs,
we eat in an hour.

Okay.

I saw a lake when we drove up.

Come on.

Be careful.

- Let's go swimming.
- No, no, no, stay right where you are.

What are you two doing?

Your mother's
been worried sick.

Come on.

Ethan, come on.

Come on, buddy. Let's go.

Abby?

Are you coming?

Never. Never go down
to the lake without us again.

Sorry.

Sorry.

You must tell me
before you leave.

I don't know
how things were before

but you cannot just go running around by yourselves.

You have no idea
how dangerous it is here.

Besides, it's dinner time.

Raymond, is the grill ready?

- Yeah.
- Thank you.

Hungry?

Come on.

Yes, I'm checking now.

It's okay, Abby.
Go back to bed.

There's someone outside.

Look, I called it in, Abby.
They're gonna make a drive by.

- It's okay.
- I just saw someone outside.

I heard you.
It's gonna be okay, all right?

Abby, look,
don't worry about it.

Abby!

- Abby!
- Ethan?

Are you okay?

He's scared.

This is why we stay close
to the house, okay?

Abby said she saw
someone outside.

It's the middle of the night.
Where were you?

Do you wanna sleep
with Mommy tonight?

It's fine. I'll stay with him.

I want Abby.

Okay. You're both safe now.

Okay.

Here, baby.

There she is. Have a seat.
How many pancakes do you want?

Um, two's fine.

Okay.

Raymond, breakfast.

I'll be right down.

He is in his office
at 6:00 every morning.

I hope he doesn't wake you.

Oh, no. I didn't hear him.
It's fine.

I need some help
around the house today.

Can I get, uh,
two volunteers?

Ethan, you... you help me with the laundry, okay?
And I'll show you both how.

All right. Look, Ethan.

At the laundry... Okay?

What you wanna do here is...

Excuse me, Abby.
That's my father's gun.

His keepsake for the war.

Eve thinks I got rid of it,
so, shh.

All right, Ethan,
you open it up, right?

Okay. See this?

And then what you wanna do is,
is you set the dials.

Press. Like this? RAYMOND: Yes.
Well, no, actually this one.

See, that one.
That's what you're gonna have to ask your sister.

Abby?

I'd like to say this
only once.

Great. Okay.

So, then you have to get detergent which is up here.

All right. From downstairs
all the way to the top.

Through that door
is the attic.

Lot of work to do.

After you.

So what do you think?
Is it hot in here?

No.

Not really.

Well, this should be
the hottest room in the house.

Especially in the summer.

That means all the hot air
is escaping.

- Isn't that a good thing?
- No, not in the winter.

That's why I boarded up
most of this new insulation,

and you can help me
with the rest.

Okay? Lose this window,
we'll make it air-tight.

What do you think?
We'll do a little each day.

Be a nice way for us
to get to know each other.

- Okay.
- Good.

Oh, I'll tell you what.
You... You can wear my tool belt.

Oh.

- Oh.
- Ah, leave it. It's okay.

- We got plenty of those.
- Okay.

Can you handle it?

- Yeah, I can.
- Yeah? Good.

David.

Why are you here?

You are never to come in here.
You promised, Abby.

I'm sorry.

- Can you keep a secret?
- Yes.

- You sure?
- Yeah.

Don't tell Eve.

Really. Don't.

- Okay.
- Good.

Come on, now get out of here
before Eve finds you.

Abby, where are you going?

Um, walk.

It's lunchtime.

Oh, no, it's fine.
I'll have mine when I get back.

I don't want you
wandering outside.

Oh, no, no, no,
I'm not wandering.

- I'm just going down to the lake.
- No.

- Absolutely not.
- Why not?

Because this is my house,
and these are my rules,

and it's for your own good.
Do I have to spell it out?

What is the problem?

How about no lunch?

And no walk!
Now go to your room!

Okay.

Sorry.

Abby, can you get
the door please?

There's no one at the door.

There's never anyone
at the door.

Hey.

Oh, my God! Hi!

How are you?

Hey, buddy!

Hey! Ah!

Oh. Okay.

Wow, Eve was right.
You two are stir-crazy.

She should know.

Well, it's a nice big house.

A great view.

And there's a game room
with a PlayStation in it.

See? It doesn't get any better
than that, does it?

Hey...

What's going on with you?

Get us out of here.

She is so weird.

It's like they have all this land,
and we're not even allowed to leave the house.

And there's, like,
this gross mattress in the basement.

And we can't even
use the phone.

We need, like,
this dial-out code just to make a phone call.

Abby, look, you gotta try
to make this work.

I don't know if Eve or Raymond
told you this,

but you know they lost
their little boy, their son.

- David, right?
- Yeah.

He drowned.
Down at the lake.

And I'm telling you
these things,

because if you think they're being mean,
or if they don't understand,

believe me,
they do understand.

Make it work
for a few more weeks.

'Cause then when I come back
to take you to Six Flags...

Six Flags!

...I wanna see smiles
on both of your faces.

Hey.

Why is there a mattress
in the basement?

Why are you sneaking around
in the basement?

I'm not sneaking. It's just...
There's nowhere to go.

I mean,
you guys don't even let us out of the house.

Don't be silly, Abby.
We let you out of the house.

No, you don't.
You're always watching.

Well, is there something
you don't want us to see?

No.

We are responsible for you.
We protect you.

Ben protects us.

Ben Koch?

The man who lives downtown
in a one-bedroom apartment?

- That's who protects you?
- Yes.

He said we could
stay with him.

Ben doesn't want
to be your parent, Abby.

You don't know that.

Where is this attitude
coming from, young lady?

This is all for you.

For your safety.
Your own parents couldn't protect you.

Don't you dare
talk about my parents.

You don't know my parents.

- We are your parents.
- Fuck you.

I wouldn't do that
if I were you.

Now sit down!

- Honey, I...
- Raymond, don't!

It's okay, Ethan.
Eat your food.

It's okay.

House is locked tight.

Rugrats are asleep.

No, it's not right.

Not yet.

Hi, honey.

Raymond, are you
gonna clean up?

Why?

- She's gonna be here at 3:00.
- Yes. I'll be ready.

- Morning, Abby.
- Hey.

Who's gonna be here at 3:00?

Caseworker.

And you missed breakfast.

Uh, it's 8:30.

You know, Abby,
you might wanna clean up a bit for the caseworker.

Put your hair back.

Put a cute sweater on.
Like mine.

It's just nice to make an effort when guests are coming,
you know?

No offense.

Actually I'm not into that
whole Stepford Wives look.

No offense.

What's with the lockdown?
Are we under siege, or something?

Around here,
we protect our family, Abby.

You look cute.

What was wrong
with the other alarm?

Hey, your mom
wanted an upgrade.

Double locks on all the doors.

She's not my mom.

- Hi.
- Hey.

May I speak to you
for a moment, please?

Right here is fine.

I don't know what outhouse
you were raised in,

but don't ever say
a nasty remark about me again.

Otherwise, you're out of here.

And Ethan stays with us.

You're in my way, Eve.

I'm twice the bitch
you think you are.

It's just a standard checklist.
It shouldn't take too long.

But I do ask, Raymond and Eve,
that you do let the children show me around.

Of course.

Okay, Abby and Ethan,
show me your rooms.

So, Ethan, you like
your new home?

- Yeah.
- Yeah?

All right.

Wow! Nice!

Lonely up here?

Anything you wanna
talk to me about?

If we stay with this couple,
and I leave to go to college,

what happens to my brother?

Well, he could stay right here in foster care,
and they could adopt him.

"Adopt him"?

What if I wanted to adopt him?

What if I want him
to stay with me?

Do I have no say
in that matter whatsoever?

You can be his legal guardian
by the time you're 18.

And when I do turn 18,

- they can't do anything to stop me?
- Mmm-mmm.

You have a claim to your little brother for as long as you live.

And no one
can take that away from you.

Okay?

It's okay.

Any other sedatives?

No.

Any codeine? Any Vicodin?

No.

Don't most adults have some sort of pain medication?

Mmm-hmm,
but you know children.

They explore. They're curious.

And we don't want
their curiosity to kill them.

So just be careful with what kind of medication you have in your home.

Of course.

Okay, take care now.

It was our pleasure
to have you here.

- Thanks for coming by.
- Have a safe trip back to the city, okay?

All right, bye.

Let me get that.

Um, aren't you
gonna check the basement?

Well, should I check
the basement?

David would play
alone down here.

We learned to keep
better eye on our kids.

It was right here.

There used to be a bed
right here!

- He slept here. There used to be a...
- Abby, honestly.

You think
there was a bed down here?

Why would you think that?

I don't know.
I just know it was right here.

Well, there were
some old blankets.

I, uh, threw 'em away.

What has gotten into you?

You know what?
She said this to us last night. We just...

Is this about
our conversation upstairs?

- No!
- About your brother?

No! No, that's not it at all!
There was a bed right here!

Okay, enough.
Let's go upstairs. I'm so sorry.

Abby, come on.

Come on.

- Drive safe. Bye.
- Okay, bye-bye!

I made your favorite.

What about the kids' dinner?

Isn't this perfect?

Eve...

Honey...

Honey, talk to me.

It'll be different this time.
I promise.

Chicken, peas salad.

Wine.

Perfect.

Drink your wine, Raymond.

It's okay.

You have chores.

Afterwards, maybe you can go with your mother to run some errands.

Get you out of the house.

Raymond, um,

I'm sorry.

No worries.
I'll be in the office.

Hi there!

Um, Raymond said
that I have chores.

Sit down.

Relax. Take it easy.

Oh, would you mind finishing the dishes I left in the sink?

- Okay.
- Okay, thank you.

Ow.

What did you do?

I don't know! Cut myself!

Eve, Abby hurt herself.

Oh, God,
it's hurting really bad.

Oh, my God!

Don't...

I wanna go to the hospital.

Eve was a nurse, Abby.

Oh, dear, look at that.

It's okay. It's okay.

Can't be clumsy
when dealing with glass, Abby.

It was already broken, Eve!

What are you doing?

- Be still.
- I don't want that!

- I really don't want it!
- It's okay. It's okay.

It's okay, Abby.

Now, have you ever
had stitches?

Hold still.

Oh, my God!

Raymond, hold her.

Oh, my God!

This is what
a mother does, Abby.

Oh, my God!

She comforts her child,

heals her when she's sick,

corrects her when she's wrong.

Oh, my God. Oh!

She does it
because she wants to.

Expecting nothing in return.

Oh, my God! Oh...

And that's all
I've ever wanted to be.

Oh, my God!

Was to be a good mother.

- What is that?
- This is for pain.

I'm not in pain.

You will be.

But he promised.

Your father is very busy.

He doesn't have time
to drive you to a cemetery.

He's not my father.

- Ethan.
- He's not.

Don't, Ethan.

What are you doing
out of bed, Abby?

I don't feel well.
What did you give me?

- I can make you some eggs?
- No.

- Toast?
- No.

You have to eat something.

Oh, Ben Koch called yesterday.

I told him
about your condition.

Yesterday I was fine.

No, Abby,
you've been in bed for three days.

He said he'd stop by
when he could.

Eat up, baby.

Oh, my God, Ethan!
Are you okay?

- Abby, I'm sick.
- Oh, my God.

Okay, Doctor, thank you.

Yes, fluids. All right.
Thank you very much.

So he said to just keep doing what we're doing.

That the dehydration
is the danger.

Was it food poisoning?

I don't know, honey, I mean,
we all eat the same thing.

- I wanna use the phone.
- Why?

I wanna call Ben
and tell him about this.

All right, well,
I'll call him tomorrow.

Why can't I call him?

Because it's 3:00
in the morning, Abby.

Eve will take care of it.

And I want you in your own bed tonight.
All right?

It's all right, baby,
Mommy's here.

It's okay, Ethan.

I'm here.

You're not having
any dinner, Abby?

Uh-uh.

Have some soup, sweetie.

I made it for Ethan.

Morning, Ethan.

Lots of fluids.
Doctor's orders.

This is warm tea.

It's easy on your tummy.
It's gonna make you feel better.

This is not food poisoning.

It's not?

No, it's obviously
something else.

Take him to the hospital.

I can do it all here.

I thought you said
you were gonna call Ben.

I called Ben.
He's gonna come by later this week.

When did you talk to him?

About an hour ago,
while you were sleeping.

Well, call him again!

Mind your manners, Abby,
the man isn't at your beck and call, all right?

Here, sweetie.

I know my brother,
and I know that something is wrong with him.

How are you feeling, sweetie?

Do you want me
to make you something to eat?

Oh, my God.

Raymond, help me.

Not now.

You warned me about your wife when I went into your son's room.

My son?

Made herself sick
nursing that boy to health.

I've never been more proud of her in my entire life.

What is that?

That's David.

The last foster child.

"Tyler"?

Oh, God.

Ethan, I got the car keys.

Ethan?
Ethan, we're leaving, okay?

Okay, come on.

It's okay.

There you go.
Here's your jacket.

Put your arm through.

Okay, sit up.

I'm sorry.

Okay.

Okay, okay.

Oh, God.

Oh, shit!

I'll be right back, okay?

Come on!

Okay.

Come on, come on, come on.

No!

Come on. Shit!

Start.

Shit!

Oh, God.

I'm sorry.

Come on.

Come on.

Oh, you're cold.

I'll bring Ben back with me.
I promise, okay?

You forgot my keys.

You children make it so hard.

I spend every waking minute

wiping your snotty
fucking noses,

and still
you are so ungrateful!

You can't even do what I ask.

- What did you do to Ethan?
- I love Ethan.

Well, did you love David, too?

Where we you taking my son?

Never go outside!

Bad girls
get sent to their rooms.

Help me! Help! Help me!

Help me!

Help me!

Are you ready to apologize?

Yes.

Okay.

- I'm sorry.
- For what?

I have no fucking idea.

If you don't eat,
you'll never leave.

You're still sick, Ethan.

You know, that's why
your first mommy left you.

It's okay.

This is gonna make you
feel better, baby.

There you go.

Go to sleep, baby.

I'm never gonna
leave you, Ethan.

Mommy's right here.

Mommy will never,
never leave you.

You make one sound,
and I'll kill him.

- Hey.
- Hey, how's it going?

It's great.
It's a beautiful day.

Yeah.

Anything I can do for you?

Yeah, I'm here
to get the kids.

You do remember me.

Yeah, uh, Ben!

- Yeah, yeah. Yeah.
- Ben Koch, right?

Family friend, yeah.
I just wish you would have called first.

I did. No one answered.

We planned this
a couple of weeks ago.

I was gonna take the kids
to Six Flags?

Oh, dear, you know,

Eve drove the kids down to
some children's art exhibit.

- She did?
- Yeah, they won't be back until...

until this evening.

Well, I'll tell 'em
you came by.

- It's a shame.
- Yeah.

Shame. Okay.

Oh, hey, look,
I brought this for Ethan.

Do you mind if I put this
in his room?

No, you know,
I'll give it to him.

You know what? It's okay.
I'll give it to him myself.

- It's a great house you got here.
- Yeah, thanks.

Mind if I take a look around?

Of course.
Come on in.

This is a fantastic place.

- You want something to drink?
- No, I'm fine.

So, where's his room?

Upstairs.
End of the hallway.

All right.

- This one?
- No.

- That one?
- That's it.

Nice room.

Yeah, you know, it's all Eve.

I got a gift for Abby.

But, you know,
I should probably give it to her in person.

How is she doing?

Ah, she's a handful. You know,
Eve calls her "our summer project".

Mmm.

Well, I guess,
just tell the kids we'll reschedule.

That's strange, you know.

I really thought they were
looking forward to it.

They change like the weather.

Yeah.

Thanks. Have a good day.

- You too.
- All right.

He's gone.

Oh, my God.

I got you.
I'm putting him back to bed.

Ethan.

Ethan?

Oh, God.

Ethan. Ethan, I'm gonna
get us out of here.

I'm gonna get some help, okay?

Oh, God.

Abby!

Hello.

Gotchya.

Hello? Hello?

We're sorry.
No outside calls can be made without a dial-out code.

Yeah, this is Officer Ben Koch
of the LAPD.

Yeah, I'm at
100, Pinehaven Lane.

I'm proceeding inside on suspicion of child endangerment.

Abby?

I know you can hear me.

You're not going anywhere.

You just can't leave.

Worthless.

Ethan, honey,
you stay right there.

You're safe now, baby.
Mommy will be right back.

I have had enough of you!

All I ever wanted
was to be a good mother!

But you're not good.

And you're not my mother!

Ethan?

Ethan!

Oh, God.

Okay.

Okay.

You okay?

- You stay away from my son!
- Help!

Put the gun down, Raymond.
Put it down!

Ben.

It's okay, Abby.