Hallucinations (2021) - full transcript

Reality interests me

less than truth.

That's why I take pictures.

I took this picture

inside a dream.

My body was gone.

All my organs were one.

I had become

the underlying reality.

I was made of stars.

My body was made of stars.

Oh, my God.

Are you Ava Gastpunkt?

I am.

And who are you?

Me? Me? I'm nobody.

Um, pleased to meet you,

Miriam Annabelle.

Got my hands full.

Um, you know, I wrote

my senior thesis on you

at McGill,

I think you're one of

the most interesting

female photographers

since Diane Arbus or--

or Nan Goldin or--

I don't know

why I just said that.

Do you think of Diane Arbus?

I don't particularly

enjoy it

when people call me

"female photographer."

You know, for the same reason

Chantal Akerman

refused to be labeled

a "queer filmmaker."

Intersectionality.

It's like somebody hand

the anarchist a cigarette.

I'm just a photographer, man.

Can I photograph your vulva?

N-- no, wait.

I mean-- I mean, what?

This is on tape. The tape--

The Pentagon

is gonna rise into the air.

When it gets about

300 feet in the air,

it's gonna start to vibrate.

Slowly at first,

and then a little quicker.

...LSD.

The water filtration...

Uh, not even in movies,

it's human behavior.

It's human behavior.

Landon. This is a Ava.

Ava, Landon.

- Is he your boyfriend?

- Sort of.

He doesn't like

being called it.

-It's too institutional.

-Hi.

Landon hasn't been able to sleep

for three weeks.

It's a medical condition,

but he refuses to see a doctor.

Even though his rich parents

would pay for it.

His father is always on TV.

Wait. What?

Mm-hmm. That's right.

Always on TV.

My brain is made of rainbows.

Curiouser and curiouser it gets.

Instead of sleeping,

Landon watches tapes

of the '68 DNC.

He's trying to find VHS evidence

of the phantom.

Isn't that right,

you fuck?

What phantom?

The phantom who runs America.

Conjured

by the Founding Fathers.

His large black cape

surrounds us.

Blocks out the true sun.

His illusion,

fabric of media...

beyond the simulacra.

Oh, my!

Look! Right there.

What's that? What do you see?

Um, money?

It's an eye.

Yeah. But whose eye?

What eye? Where?

Where's that eye?

I see an eye...

inside my dreams.

You see an eye

in your dreams?

I see one eye.

This eye.

Watching me.

I see space in my dreams.

That means

you're really aliens.

Have you seen my cat?

What?

Los Angeles cryptozoologist.

He's a sasquatch.

That one he is.

I felt that his heart

was full of sasquatch.

Like,

I hear his little heart.

I just saw that...

little heart

full of sasquatch.

LA crypto-Z

is not a real job.

That is because

I don't have a job.

I thought that's what

we were working on here, Emma.

What does

social integration means

in a disintegrating society?

Why do you come here?

D-- don't touch that.

- Sorry.

- It's okay.

Thanks.

So, next Wednesday,

my wife's having minor surgery.

Can we do Thursday at...

seven?

Hello!

I am Sir Reginald St. Clair.

Officer

of the most excellent order

of the British Empire,

and I will be your host

on this most magical journey.

We'll go here

and there and everywhere!

LA!

Land of a million

magic tricks,

dreams, and illusions.

Mirrors, castles,

chandeliers!

Habitats wherein we can find

the most curious

of life forms.

Shh!

Make not a sound.

What creature have we here?

Why it's Principalía Cordyceps,

otherwise known

as the young and important

regular female.

Unknown

is her source of income

and vast potential.

Oh, my, where was I?

What made you decide

to learn Japanese?

I want some.

- It's fun.

- You like it?

It looks toxic.

Isn't that a good thing?

What are these?

I don't know.

Mm!

My heart

was turned away as well.

Mm.

It's bone marrow.

What flavor did you just say?

It is...

-it's...

-Bone marrow?

...bone marrow,

and, like, something.

Smoked cherries.

Uh...

Fuck!

Shh!

Hello, Mom.

Merry Christmas.

What do you mean

it's not Christmas?

- Mr. Max!

- Mr. Max!

Richard Max.

It's him!

Richard Max! Sign my book!

Yeah, I'm Richard Max. Yeah.

Know what's going on right now?

Richard Max.

Tell us, what is the secret?

The secret is now.

Oh, my word.

Women?

God created women.

And then?

She slept.

The rest is history.

Cryptique.

Richard Max. Richard Max.

What does it feel like

to be the biggest celebrity?

What?

What the fuck?

You see,

what people

don't know about me,

but I know about me,

is I'm real.

Real dumb?

The real thing.

Maybe dumb,

but better than non-real.

Most people,

most famous people,

are really non-real.

Or really think they are.

Same thing. I'm not.

But you're just a novelist.

But listen...

I-- I...

oh, well,

uh, don't-- don't--

don't fake it,

just be real.

Lay the real thing on me, okay?

Don't fake it.

Books are, well,

what was I saying?

Mm, books--

well,

what was I saying anyways, um,

books are movies anyway.

Or movies

are real life anyways.

Before real life happens.

Next comes books.

So, I, uh,

I've read

a lot of '80s thrillers,

and I watched

a lot of '80s thrillers.

Most of my books

are '80s thrillers.

I'm-- I'm a meme.

What are you?

I don't know.

Name?

Molly Bianca.

Pleased to meet you.

Unattainable career goals?

To be a flower.

The shape of the universe.

That tickles.

Three, two, one.

Hold on.

How did this happen?

Is this another

Molly Bianca mythology?

More tall tales

and holiday superhero antics

from the heart of--

and mind

of the city's

most beloved bizarro.

What's a bizarro?

It's, like,

you're a superhero,

who walked

into a radioactivity tank,

and you came back out

totally insane.

Like, more insane than you.

Like...

you died,

and you couldn't get out.

And way more insane

than me?

No, you're--

you're way more insane than LA.

Your heart

is an exact replica copy of LA.

Upside down.

Adjusting focus.

Fresh. Rolling. Action.

Science has confirmed

the quantum mechanics

of Molly Bianca's heart.

An exact particle

of Los Angeles.

Identical

in every attribute,

a perfect simulacrum

of the desert of the real.

Her organism,

a formation of the hyper real,

vestiges of no origin.

The fiction is Los Angeles.

A procession of imaginations

transformed.

As they hear

the substance of dreams

and ghosts,

known only as Hollywood.

Look! There she is now.

No!

Put it out or I shall dissolve.

Who are you?

Who am I, indeed.

I was Hollywood once.

Champagne and chandeliers,

tears and tiaras...

moonshine

all gone like poof.

I was a star once.

I was.

I was going to do

the talkies.

Are you a poltergeist

or something?

Or something?

More like nothing.

Not even a has-been.

More like a once-was.

Dead.

Dead.

The dormouse said.

I thought it said,

"Feed your head?"

It did?

Oh, fuck!

What's the matter, babe?

More dreams?

What are you doing?

What is that?

Babe?

Babe?

I was a star.

I became a symbol.

That sounds like

a dream come true.

Not.

I could feel myself

s-- slowly tearing to shreds.

Internally.

From the inside.

A vast furnace

of atoms churning.

I was a storm.

This isn't a track off Tusk,

babe.

I met a very interesting guy

the other day.

He said it means something,

dreams.

But, like, I feel like a person

when I dream.

Not a person,

but a phantasm,

who used to be a person,

transformed to light.

Lost in galaxies.

A memory of a person.

Hmm, couldn't follow

up to

the transformativality.

Do you think it's possible

that our souls...

augment with other souls

when we dream?

So, a brief discourse

on rent, babe.

Behold, Anastasia Valeriax.

Somewhat

of a reclusive rock star

with consistent ratings,

a laptop recording studio,

and an income

less than subprecariate,

despite a substantial following

in Europe

and the Pacific Northwest.

Ten, nine, eight,

seven, six, five, four,

three, two, one, fire!

She'd been forced

to take a second job.

Situated here

as a forest ranger,

stationed in Griffith Park.

Curious destiny.

Left to hang out in nature

and think about music.

There it was.

Inside the outside.

A noise escaped

in the insect kingdom.

Crystal ringing,

logic of the Moon.

The telekinesis of a leaf.

High vibes of the rainbow.

Anastasia understood

the twisted logic

of the spinsters

named "fate."

And she found her own music

in every place.

No, no, no.

Too sentimental.

That's not what

you're supposed to say,

this is a televised

nature program, Reginald.

Think TV.

-Oh, hi.

-Hi.

Uh, I'm just peeling

this orange.

I know.

Is something the matter?

No, I'm just walking around.

It's my job to walk around

and make sure everything's okay.

In nature,

with the people, everything.

Want a piece of fruit?

Um, well, okay.

Are you Anastasia Valeriax?

Wait, you know who I am?

When you were five

did you ever think

you'd be where

you are right now?

- No, dude.

- Come on, man.

I mean, I guess

we couldn't have predicted,

like, the Internet

and all that.

- Right. I mean--

- It's just...

I wasn't thinking

about the Internet

when I was five

except for to play, like,

- video games or something.

- Yeah, but...

I don't know, man.

I don't understand,

I mean, look at it.

Yeah, I know.

We were at Wesleyan,

and I was like,

"I'm gonna do this,"

you know?

Like, really commit.

I'm gonna do it cool, you know?

Like, make it neat.

-Yeah. The music.

-Music.

I mean, I know musicians

don't always

make a ton of money,

except for licensing, if that,

-but...

-Right.

- ...I was committed.

- Right.

Look where it got me.

-Put it on.

-Fuck you, no. You put it on.

That looks good, man.

-Thanks.

-One more thing.

Oh, yeah get that.

Get that hair out of there.

-That looks good.

-What do you think? Yeah?

Yeah, you look like

you can prevent forest fires.

Let's go freaking...

- save the forest.

- Okay.

Infinity,

are you still there?

Witch-speak, James, my boy.

It's witch-speak.

Gee. Witch-speak.

The language is

from the lower Ural Mountains,

but it's a particularly

Los Angeles dialect.

I recognize that voice.

Ah-ha! Here it is.

Wait a minute.

You recognize the voice

on that tape?

1979.

Outside the haunted village

of ,

Prefect A29B.

Soviets were inflicting damage

on the mud fortifications

of the local witch armies.

But wait.

I thought history

erased the witch wars.

Oh, here it is.

That's when I met her.

792 years old.

She never--

she never told me her name.

But she told me this.

Wait.

I recognize that voice.

Infinity.

She can be

the greatest discovery

of the 21st century.

And then I ate its soul.

Gave him a little--

a little face.

Three, tango, zero, one, three

to bravo, Zulu,

eight, eight, over.

It's Mike!

How'd he get here?

Code name, Nova Waves.

Hello, Infinity,

can you hear me?

This moral decay weakened...

Can you hear me,

Infinity?

I'll be coming in

loud and clear.

Leave me alone!

...the

significance of the extreme...

Nova Waves leaves.

As anyone here can see--

Dry cat food!

Here everything

is regulated by machines.

You'll find that things

are very different here.

Leave me alone!

I was in love with her.

Continue, please.

In a full moon...

she would behave

in a very strange way.

Professionally I wonder...

...that after a certain time--

I didn't have

a place to think--

...can cause a cycle

of a physical transformation--

My colleagues--

I was successful with the--

The pituitary gland

and our psychocontrols--

...transformation,

a girl who--

There's not a vaccine

in the world that can stop it.

Code name, Nova Waves.

That's why it is imperative

for you to develop a vaccine

against it immediately.

Mr. President...

There's a virus...

Might've been in

a better position to develop...

...observatories as

far away as Siberia and

Beijing.

- Todd!

- Vicky!

Are you all right?

Stop it! Shut up!

Get out of my head!

Things like that scare me.

That's enough.

Look at that.

- Oh, wow!

- Wake up.

Did I say something wrong?

No, but you just reminded me

I'm supposed to

go into town tomorrow.

There's a NASA exhibit

at the university--

But you can't

speak German...

I can't,

that's why I have to ask you.

Do you hear them too?

Infinity.

Can you hear me, Infinity?

Where are you?

How did you find me?

Leave me alone,

it's not working!

Stop! Stop!

I have someone here

who very much wants to meet you.

It-- it's Mr. World Leader Man!

I have your instructions.

I first started hearing voices

in my head last week.

Mainly guys talking.

Dirty talking

about their wives.

Sometimes they'd stop

playing cards

and they'd talk to me.

Or about me.

They're using microwaves to put

their voices inside of my head.

They--

they have a secret lair...

in the Santa Monica mountains.

I can't. I can't.

My doctor says I'm fine.

I looked it up on the Internet.

I'm not alone.

You are not alone.

Who's next?

Halifax Kryptek.

KX1000 for short.

From the year 2257.

You are not alone.

This is my beast years.

H-- he follows me, he does.

Here and there.

Th-- through

a portal I formed.

He-- he looks at me

through the window and...

and then I wake up

and he's...

he's...

You are not alone.

You are not alone.

You are not alone.

You are not alone.

Bat people.

Bat people and children.

They see me.

They have huge,

green laser eyes,

their eyes don't see

in the dark...

they see through the dark.

Bat children raised in labs,

made of soy...

fly through the sky...

look through my roof...

see me in bed.

After the helicopters,

they go...

Like that.

Behold, exhibit A.

Time machine contraption.

I found this one

washed up on the cave

on the beach

outside a house in Carmel

near where

the dirigible went down in '83.

I restored it.

You can see clear

straight through

to this location in 1945.

The first time myself

from 1873

tried to kill me

in Dresden with a musket

out a hotel room window.

This spot

in space and time was Dresden,

due to the earth's rotation.

Orgasm laser.

Massive orgasm technology,

transmitted via ham radio

from MK High.

It's where

they program olympiads

using dolphin telepathy

in-- in Brentwood.

Do you know that school?

Yeah. Class of '89.

Go Dolphins!

Yeah, I, uh, I'm pretty sure

they work for the school paper,

like, special forces,

IOPS, or something.

They're giving me, uh,

pretty bad orgasms.

Um, usually

when I'm in traffic,

or commuting from work.

They're huge,

and I don't know

how they find me.

It's like-- like...

What?

Who, me?

Yes, you. Take it.

Come on.

Go on, little one.

Go on. Find your way.

Can you hear my voice

inside your mind?

Magic vitamins.

Take me

on a magical journey.

Take me

on a magical journey.

Can you feel psychic, LA?

Can you feel psychic now,

LA?

So, you're okay?

Even though

the pills don't help anymore?

She used to experience

mass reflex taxonomia,

parasomnia,

somnambulation.

Higher knowledge,

differentiated behaviors.

Modulated

in moon patterns.

Gigasmic non-corporeal contact

with illuminated beings

of a higher exoplanetary order.

Subscript.

Subject's eyes are nearly always

totally closed.

Went into

thematic spasmic patterns.

Corporeal organization

materializes.

Totally suppressed by the meds,

by the way.

But the meds don't seem to be

working so great anymore,

eh, doc?

We're up the river

with Brando.

Personal aside from me to you,

strictly liminal.

I saw a cloud

shaped like the future today.

And a...

princess.

How heteronormatively

monogamous of you.

Look.

Have you found your cat?

This one.

That's my favorite scene.

This one.

Oh, my God, that face.

Beyond goddess.

You're totally

my favorite Hollywood star ever.

Arcadia Harlowe,

an exotic species

of deceased silent film

movie stars,

who yet haunt Los Angeles.

As can be seen...

she's a real girl now.

Magic.

Oh, my God.

That's Arcadia Harlowe.

-Who?

-Star of silent film in cinema.

We have to go and put flowers

on her star now.

Is that a superstition

or something?

When you see a dead

movie star in Los Angeles,

you have to go

and put flowers on her star.

S-- see, it looks like her,

but that's impossible.

Holly. Holly.

This is really happening.

Happy New Year.

At last,

their arrival was complete.

The bringers of the sun.

She heard aliens

talking in her guitar amp.

She would never tell a soul.

She knew magic.

Aliens are coming, dummy.

Can you hear me?

This isn't a voice

in your head.

I'm you.

Wake up.

Wake up.

They're here.

What about that?

Where did you get that?

This one

I got in a thrift store.

It was just, like,

sitting in the counter.

The only thing is that,

like, it turns my...

-like, finger that green color.

-Oh, like, green.

Yeah, if you, like,

paint the inside

with nail polish.

-Clear nail polish?

-Yeah.

I've heard that,

I should do that.

I'm gonna call you Little Claw.

It didn't last long.

They found her.

All of it.

All the horses,

helicopters.

I want to give you

everything.

You don't understand.

Everything I've ever written...

everything I've ever done,

you'll tell them I did it.

That I'm dead.

That's it. Tell everyone.

Tell the-- the papers.

Tell America.

Richard Max is dead.

And then

we'll run away together.

That noise you just made.

I just want to

give you everything.

What?

Fake my death.

You have to tell them.

The Pope, America,

the Internet,

the trees, the leaves.

Tell them I'm dead.

We'll fake my net-- my death

and be on the headlines.

Richard Max is dead.

And then,

we'll run away together.

Everything I've ever done...

everything I've ever written...

all the bestsellers

I've topped,

all the royalty checks

in the mail...

all the helicopters,

the horses.

All of it was nothing

compared to you.

Mm-hmm.

And that sound

you just made.

I want to give you

everything.

What?

They are here.

Aliens are coming.

The pituitary gland

and our psychocontrols--

,

he'll follow her.

There's not a vaccine

in the world that can stop it.

Code name, Nova Waves.

Targets acquired.

Another day in paradise.

Looks like

we have a live one.

A doctor!

A doctor!

What's that on her wrist?

What, where?

Here?

A doctor! A doctor!

Here?

Curious.

"Give me the pills

in my pocket"?

Oh, yes.

The pills in my pocket.

Give me the pills

in my pocket.

The pills in my pocket.

Aliens are coming.

Help!

I feel like...

Wait,

I've been here before.

-What is that?

-It's my diamond.

So magnificent.

I can't believe it.

Uh, wait.

Wow. What is that?

It's beautiful.

It's cool.

- I can see you.

- I see myself.

I feel like

we're meant to be here.

Fellow humans,

get together.

Did you know?

Your eye!

What are you?

They left us

a piece of their sky machine.

Only we could see it.

Reality interests me

less than life.

But is life no more

than what's not there?

And is what's not there

really there?

Because I'm not here.

I'm not here.

I'm not here.

I'm not here.