Hawks Ridge (2020) - full transcript

(film reel clicking)

(birds chirping)
- [Man] Do you remember

our trip to the Bronx Zoo?

- [Woman] Of course I do.
(gentle music)

- [Man] Really?

- [Woman] Yes, sweetheart.

- [Man] The chimpanzees.

- [Woman] I said yes already.

And no, I won't do the voice.

- [Man] Oh, please.

- [Woman] No!



- [Man] Please!

- Oh!

(woman chuckling)

Fine.

Hello.

(man laughing)

I'm Mr. Chimp.

Come to me, other Mr. Chimp.

I play with you, I get you, why you run?

(man and woman laughing)

I throw my poop at you.

Take my poop.

(man laughing)

(gentle piano music)



- Hmmm.

- Hmmm.

I love that sound.

I could pick it out of a
crowd of people laughing.

- Mmmm.

- [Woman] Do you remember
the first time we met?

- And we were having such
a good time just now.

- [Woman] Oh, hush, you turd.

- Ow.

- [Woman] Oh, did that hurt?

How about this?

- Okay, okay, okay.

(man smooching)

Yes.

Yes, I remember the first time we met.

How many different ways can I apologize?

You would think marrying you
was my act of contrition.

- [Woman] It wasn't.

- What?

- [Woman] It was the walk
we took the next day.

I need you to walk, Elijah.

- What're you talking about, Robin?

- [Robin] Walk down the road, Elijah.

(birds chirps)

Down the

road.

(gentle piano music)

(wind howling)

(gentle piano music)

- We've got work to do.

(ominous music)

(door thudding)

(Elijah groaning)

(wind howling)

(door thudding)

(somber piano music)

(thunder rumbling)

(wind whooshing)

(food crunching)

(Elijah slurping)

(birds chirping)

(melancholy string music)

(wood clattering)

(Elijah sighing)

(fire crackling)

(insects chirping)

(door thudding)

(Elijah groaning)

(crickets chirping)

(ominous music)

We've got work to do.

(door thudding)

(wind howling)

Goddamn it.

(wind howling)

God-fucking-damn it.

(door thudding)

(gentle piano music)

(rain trickling)

(melancholy string music)

(wind whooshing)

(somber instrumental music)

(ominous music)

(wind howling)

(Elijah grunting)

(Elijah huffing)

(man wheezing)

(liquid drop plopping)

(leaves rustling)

(Elijah groaning)

(door clicking)

(somber piano music)

(Elijah sighing)

(shower hissing)

(Elijah groaning)

- [Robin] Sweetie, you
are gonna get lockjaw.

You know that, right?

- Like me being silent wouldn't make you

the happiest woman in the world.

- [Robin] Oh yeah,

but you congregation may
take issue with that.

- Well, if someone had
broken off the exposed nails,

like she was supposed to.

- Oh my God, it's worse than I thought.

Why didn't you tell me?

- I didn't wanna worry you.

- Oh.

Does it hurt?

- Only when you squeeze it like that.

(Robin laughing)

- [Robin] Sorry.

What are you gonna do?

- I've got my first aid
kit down in the basement.

- Oh yes.

I knew that.

But did you?

- What?

- Did you?
- Did you?

Did you?

Did you?

Why?

Why did you?

What?

Where am...

Oh, fuck.

Oh, shit.

No, don't do that.

Don't look at me like that.

Don't look at me like that.

I walk, I need to walk.

I need to walk the path.

The path.

Why?

Father.

Is that you, Father?

Is that you?

Forgive me, Father.

Forgive me, I sinned.

I sinned, I watched...

I walked away...

(man groaning)

You have to forgive me.

Let me go.

Let me go.

I saw...

(Elijah huffing)

- Don't do this to me, Robin.

Please.

(wind howling)

(fire rumbling)

(man gasping)

(fire crackling)

(man groaning)

(man groaning)

- Ah.

What the fuck?

(man huffing)

Hey.

Hey, what the fuck?

Where the fuck am I?

Hey, fucking answer me!

(man coughing)

Hey.

(man coughing)

(door clicking)

(door thudding)

(footsteps thumping)

(Elijah sighing)

(footsteps thumping)

- You're dehydrated.

(man groaning)

Not so fast.

(man gulping)

I wouldn't do that.

You're gonna need
something to pee in later.

- Yo, where...

- No.

Not where,

yet.

You're gonna be hungry soon.

(man groaning)

I wish...

If "how" had been your first question...

Two days ago,

a mile or so down the road,

your car went off the
side, down the embankment.

Your shoulder's injured.

There's a cut on your
head but not too deep.

Your fibula's fractured but it's been set.

- You carry me back here?

- Bathroom's right over there.

Fibula's not weight-bearing
but it's gonna hurt to walk on.

A lot.

That's why I gave you the bottle.

I'll be back to change
the dressing on your leg.

(fire crackling)

- Oh shit.

(door clanking)

(lights buzzing)

- [Robin] What do you think you're doing?

- Don't ask me that.

You know, this was your idea.

- [Robin] No, no, I mean the sorting.

You know exactly what's in there, Elijah.

How is he?

- He'll live.

- [Robin] Is the fever down?

- He...

He doesn't have a fever.

- [Robin] Oh, he's just a boy, Eli.

It's not his fault.

- We need to call the police, Robin.

- What good would that do?

Another black boy in jail in the system.

- Black?

- If you want this
ministry to mean something,

what do you plan on doing about it?

- Not this.

- You thought this would
be easy, didn't you?

But I told you from day one

what I wanted this to be, sweetheart.

Sorry.

(Elijah sighing)

(ominous music)

Hey, hey, hey, don't do that.

Lie back down, okay?

- Okay.

- All right, everything's
gonna be all right.

Pastor Frank is gonna
take care of it, okay?

All right?
- Okay.

- Pastor Frank.

- Okay.

Young man, let me see.

- It's okay, I promise.

He knows what he's doing.

Okay?

(Elijah wincing)

- Okay.

Honey?

I need you to put pressure right here.

- [Robin] Okay.

- While I cut his jack away.

- Not my jacket, man, I just
got this two days ago from...

(Robin shushing)

- It's okay.

It's okay, just let him do it, all right?

- Okay.

Honey, put your hand right there

and let's see what we can see.

All right.

Very good, young man.

(bag thudding)

(utensil clinking)

(drawer thudding)

They call you Chill,

the children that work for you.

We met

once before.

You're a drug dealer in my
city, in my neighborhood,

my church's neighborhood.

You know this.

We both know this.

I'm just, I'm being formal.

Formal because this has to be done right.

You had kids,

children.

Boys, young boys running drugs for you.

Ha.

We, our church, reached out
to the community, to the kids,

to stop the drugs, to stop the violence.

To show them a different path.

Better way.

My wife,

Robin,

she insisted that we do more.

More than just pray,

more than just talk.

We took care of those kids, those boys.

Boys injured in your violence.

She...

Three years ago, she went out.

You don't know this part.

She went out in the rain to
see one of your former boys,

someone we got out,

Marquis,

gotten his life together.

She...

Her car slid off the road.

There was an accident.

They called me.

She was gone when I got there.

You...

You killed her.

She heard that boy, Marquis,
was gonna go back to the life.

She was rushing to him,
gonna talk him out of it.

She insisted.

I, I couldn't...

And now you're here.

We are gonna pray.

Together.

I'm gonna save you.

That's why you're here.

You've been delivered unto me.

You're gonna repent your sins

and ask God to forgive you.

- Fuck you, nigger.

(Chill coughing)

Yeah, I remember you.

So, who gives a shit?

I ain't done shit to you or
anybody you know, so fuck you.

And fuck your god.

And fuck your dead nigger wife.

You know, the way I see it,

you pulled me out of that car.

You could've left me
to die but you didn't.

So,

this must mean more to
you than it does to me.

Oh yeah, here's my first bottle of piss.

(Elijah gasping)

(Elijah groaning)

(door thudding)

(Elijah sighing)

(Elijah groaning)

- Giving up already?

- Why are you doing this?

(Robin chuckling)

- I'm not doing anything.

The job of a pastor's
wife is to be his rock,

his foundation and support, yes?

Well that was always bullshit to me.

(Elijah chuckling)

- A pastor's wife isn't
supposed to curse, you know?

(Robin laughing)

- Screw that.

When we got engaged,

you told me this was what you
wanted to do with your life,

with our life.

I said yes.

But I told you then not to
expect me to sit quietly

in the front pew to nod
and smile and say amen.

- But you did.

(Robin and Elijah laughing)

- A united front for
the congregation, honey.

I knew what the old people expected.

But I also knew what you expected.

You didn't want someone who
would walk 10 feet behind you.

And I wouldn't have anyways, babe.

(Elijah chuckling)

When they offered you that
church in that neighborhood,

I knew why you agreed to come.

I could see it in your eyes.

You wanted to do something.

And you knew that was the place to do it.

My job was to make sure you did it.

Even when you were your biggest enemy.

He's not your biggest enemy.

- I...

can't.

(Robin sighing)

- Remember you built that?

They dumped that huge load or rocks

on the side over there and you,

you got to it.

Took you a couple weeks.

To pick the right one to lay next,

you wandered around that pile.

You kinda looked like our
old dog, Buddy, used to look,

wandering back and forth to
find the right place to poop.

(Elijah laughing)

That was my favorite sight in the morning.

(upbeat organ music)

(crowd cheering)

- Hope will ruin your life!

(crowd clapping)

I said,

hope will ruin your life.

- [Congregation] Yeah!
(people clapping)

- When you see the world as
dark and filled with dispar,

when you are at your lowest

and all the walls are closing in one you,

that's when Jesus has your back.

- [Congregation] Yes!
(people clapping)

- Romans, Chapter Five,
Verses Three and Four.

"We glory in tribulations

"knowing that tribulation
worketh patience,

"patience, experience
and experience, hope."

(congregation chattering)

We must glory in the knowledge that God,

that Jesus will lift you up.

(congregation chattering)

We must rely on God's
provision, God's power.

We must rely on hope.

- [Congregation] Yes!

- And once you rely on hope...

- [Woman] Yeah!

- There's no going back.

- [Woman] That's right.
(congregation chattering)

- There is no going back.

So that is why I say,
hope will ruin your life.

If you've learned to live a
life comfortable with pain,

with dispar, with tribulations,

then once the light of
hope as touched you.

- [Woman] Uh-huh?

- Oh, your old life is doomed!

- That's right, that's right!
(congregation chattering)

- Once the grace of God
has entered your life,

once you have let the light walk with you,

you can never sit comfortably again

in the valley of the shadow of death.

(congregation cheering and clapping)

I'm gonna say it one last time!

Once the Lord has given you hope...

- [Congregation] Yes!

- It will ruin your life!

Can I get another amen?
(congregation applauding)

Yes!

- [Woman] Hallelujah, yeah!
(Elijah clapping)

- Amen!

(congregation applauding)

(Elijah clearing throat)

- After over a month away,

I can't thank you all
enough for welcoming me back

with such love and warmth.

Eight years ago, you welcomed
me and Robin to this church

with open arms and that
love has never ceased.

With no children of our
own, you became our family.

Now,

now that she's gone,

we all struggle to figure
out how to move on.

How do we pick up the pieces of our life?

How do we keep faith?

Psalms 34, verse 18.

"The Lord is nigh unto them

"that are of a broken heart

"and saveth such as be
of a contrite spirit."

And Lamentations Three.

"For the Lord will not cast off forever

"but though He cause grief
yet will He have compassion

"according to the
multitude of His mercies.

"For He doth not afflict willingly

"nor grieve the children of men.

(dramatic piano music)

"Does not

"afflict

"willingly."

Does He not though?

My strength and hope has
perished from the Lord.

I was going to get up here
and say a bunch of empty,

comforting nonsense,

but instead, I'm going
to be honest and plain.

I don't know how to move
forward with my life.

I've lied to everyone
about how well I'm doing.

I can't take care of myself and
all of you at the same time.

I...

can't.

(door clanking)

(bandage tearing)

(Chill yelping)

- He that covereth his sins...
- What the fuck, dude?

Jesus Christ!
- Shall not prosper!

- What the fuck?

- But whoso confesseth

and forsaketh them...
- Fuck you, man!

- Shall have mercy!
- Seriously!

Hey!

- Thus, it is written...

- Hey!

(Chill groaning)

- Saith the Lord.

- It's not gonna happen, man!

- Saith the...

- Hey, stop it, nigger, listen to me!

I don't know what the fuck your deal is

and I don't fucking care,

but you should've just
let me to fucking die

because I'm not gonna lay
here and listen to you

to preach some fucking sermon!

So save it for the niggers
in your church back home!

- Saith the nigger Lord for
I know the nigger thoughts

I think towards You.

Nigger thoughts of peace and not of evil...

- Oh my...
- To give you an expected

nigger end.
- Fucking God!

- A nigger plans for a nigger hope

and a nigger future.
♪ Take me out to the ballgame ♪

- Thus, it is written that...
♪ Take me out to the crowd ♪

- Thus, it is written

that God rose from the dead...
♪ Buy me some peanuts ♪

♪ And Crackerjacks ♪
- On the third day!

♪ I don't care if I never get back ♪

♪ Let me root, root,
root for the home team ♪

♪ If they don't win, its a shame ♪

- That His name shall be preached...

♪ For it's one, two,
three strikes your out ♪

♪ Of the old ball game ♪

- Really?

Really, are you fucking serious?

- Where the fuck am I?

I said, where...
- I heard you.

Let me finish.

- Goddamn, dude.

Fuck me.

Take it easy, man.

(Chill groaning)

(Elijah sighing)

- You're on Hawks Ridge in
the Blue Ridge Mountains.

This is the cabin Robin's
parents built 25 years ago

and left us when they passed.

I've been here alone
for the past 18 months.

This was our retreat.

There's no phone here, no internet,

just books and boardgames.

With all the rain and flooding,
the road is washed out,

which doesn't matter anyway
because I have no car.

It's 10 miles down the
ridge to the nearest town,

so with all the mud,

you wouldn't make it down
there anyway on your leg, so...

You're stuck here with me.

We have to make this work.

- Fuck.

Yo, where are my cigarettes?

- What?

- I had cigarettes on me, where are they?

- I threw them out.

Do you understand what I just told you?

I know why you're here.

I know what I have to do.

- Damn, dude.

Yo, you should've just
left me to fucking die.

You think I'm an asshole now,

just wait till I haven't
had a cigarette in a day.

For real.

- I have a routine.

To get me through the day,

to make sure that everything
works around here.

Especially in winter.

I need you to shit.

- What?

- To shit.

I need to get you to that bathroom there

to make sure that
everything's okay inside.

- Dude, you are not watching me shit.

- I have no desire to...

I just need to get you there.

Come on.

- Get them nigger hands of me!

I don't need your goddamn help.

I know where it is.

(Chill groaning)

(Chill yelping)

Fuck.

Fuck.

(Chill huffing)

That ain't nothing.

That ain't shit.

Oh fuck!

(Chill groaning)

(Chill wheezing)

Oh.

Oh shit.

(Chill huffing)

I'm okay.

Motherfuck.

Yeah, bitch.

I'm too strong.

Too strong, motherfucker, oh God.

Gah!

(Chill groaning)

You motherfucker.

(Chill moaning)

Yeah, I'm too strong, dude.

Oh yeah.

Watch me!

Watch me, bitch.

(Chill groaning)

Yeah, fuck you, nigger!

(Chill moaning)

Oh shit, nigger!

There ain't no lights in here.

(Chill moaning)

I'll shit in the dark, nigger, fuck!

(wind howling)
(metal clanking)

(birds chirping)

(Chill coughing)

(dishwasher clanking)

(dishes clacking)

(Chill coughing)

(Chill coughing)

(Elijah groaning)

(dramatic piano music)

(Chill coughing)

(Chill coughing)

(dramatic instrumental music)

(Elijah chuckling)

- Menthols.

Of course.

Don't start with me.

(match sizzling)

(dramatic instrumental music)

(toilet flushing)

I'll make a deal with you.

You can have one of these
out on that porch here

but,

but...

as long as it takes you to smoke it,

you gotta talk to me.

You gotta talk honestly.

- Nope.

(Elijah chuckling)

- You've got nicotine withdraw.

The headache, the aches and pains.

(Chill coughing)

The cough.

- I said no.

(Chill coughing)

- Constipation?

- Yo, is it possible to play some music

up in here or something?

You got a Nintendo or some shit?

Damn.

- It was a good plan, you know.

(gentle piano music)
So,

now what?

- There is no "now what."

I don't know what else to do.

What, are we both stuck
here until his leg heals

and he hobbles away?

- That is an option.

- Tell me what to do.

- What?

Big old preacher man can't
get the big bad drug dealer

to come out and play with him?

Get your head out your ass and
try something else, Elijah!

- Don't do that, this
was your fucking idea!

Tell me what to do.

(dramatic music)

(door thudding)

What?

- Yo, where's my gun?

You lied to me about the cigarettes.

You took them from me, I had
a gun on me too, where is it?

- It's gone.

I disassembled it

and threw the pieces off into the ridge.

They're rusting in the mud by now.

- All right.

Fine, deal.

But on one condition.

One cigarette a day.

That pack's gotta last me this winter.

All right?

- Yeah.

Also means I don't have
to talk to your ass

for more than six minutes a day.

(wind howling)

(Elijah sighing)

- I'm sorry for earlier.

You are the stubbornest person.

- This is important to me, Eli.

- I know.

- The kids in that neighborhood,

they need us.

- I know.

- I was upfront about this
from the start, wasn't I?

What's the point in doing missionary work

in some other country when the third world

is right outside of our door?

- Where do we even start?

- I'm sorry we're not in
some cushy megachurch.

I know part of you wanted that.

- That's not true.

- You were called there, Eli.

Called.

Sorry.

There are black kids
selling drugs and worse.

Right across the street from us.

Their mothers come in every week

praying for help, for deliverance.

We are that deliverance.

We have to be.

- So it really came down
to a coin toss, huh?

To determine whether your parents

were going to build a house on the beach

or up here in the mountains?

- Mmm.

Yes.

But I think Mom may have
made it clear to Dad

that no matter what
side the coin landed on,

it was gonna be heads.

(Elijah chuckling)

- Yeah, of course.

And here we are.

- You won't be alone, sweetheart.

- Hey.

Hey.

Hey!

Well?

(wind howling)

Yeah.

Yeah.

Helped yourself to one, I see.

(match sizzling)

Yeah.

- [Elijah] You addicted to anything else?

- No.

- I gotta know.

I didn't see anything on
your arms when you were out.

But I don't really know
what I'm looking for.

I gotta know if I should expect

worse withdrawal than nicotine.

- I said no.

- All right.

I helped a few of your
customers get clean,

so I know you sold mostly
coke, scag and Tina.

Was there anything else?

(Chill laughing)

- Dude.

Scag?

Tina?

For real?

This how you wanna get into this?

By trying to impress me
with your street talk?

- [Elijah] Was there?

- Yeah.

Yeah, I also sold

flimflam, boop and staplers.

Hey man, there's a heavy demand

for office supplies in the ghetto.

(Chill laughing)

(Chill coughing)

- You enjoying that Menthol, there?

- No, nothing else.

Just cocaine, heroin and meth, that's it.

Your slang is about 800 years
out of date, by the way.

- Why?

- Why what?

- Why did you do it?

Why destroy people's lives like that?

Kids, families, why?

- Jesus, man, you gotta be kidding me.

Their lives are already fucked, dude.

I offered them escape.

- Escape?

- Yeah.

The ghetto sucks.

- What the hell do you
know about the ghetto?

- What the hell do I...

What the hell do you
know about the ghetto?

You live in a literal
fucking castle on a mountain,

you rich-ass motherfucker!

- I grew up in a
neighborhood just like that.

- So what.

You got out, right?

You didn't get to where you are now

by staying there, did you?

Someone got you out.

No, wait,

something got you out

and I know what it was.

Money.

Who died, your grand mama?

Your grand daddy?

Yeah, someone died and you got the cash,

so you got to leave and go to college

and become a smarty art nigger,
preaching at me right now.

Am I right?

- It was a scholarship.

- Whatever, man, it's
the same fucking thing.

It's still money.

Hey, yo, that's why I did it.

That's why I did it.

Money.

That's why those boys work for me.

Money.

It ain't...

Like I said, the ghetto fucking sucks

and you either give up
or you get the fuck out.

And, listen, I don't know
where the fuck you're from

but I grew up three
blocks from that church.

I saw a dude get stabbed
in front of my eyes

when I was 11 years old.

11 years old.

Saw my first drive-by when I was 12,

started dealing when I was 15.

Money.

Shit, nigger, ain't nobody getting

a scholarship where we live.

So this is what we do.

- 15, huh?

- Mm-hmm.

- Well you're a really shitty
drug dealer then, aren't you?

- [Chill] What?

- Give up or get the fuck out, right?

What're you, 34, 35?

So you've been at this almost 20 years

and you're still in that neighborhood.

Mmm, shitty dealer.

- Smarty art nigger.

- So when did you give up?

- Man, fuck you, nigger?

(Elijah chuckling)

- Hey, you oughta know by now

that that's not gonna get
a rise out of me, right?

I've had better men than you call me that.

- All right then, suck my dick.

- That sob story you just told,

it's bullshit and we both know it.

Robin and I got several
kids off the streets

and into good schools.

They got out without you.

- Several?

You're talking about La
Von and Siquis, right?

At the prep school uptown?

Nigger, they're dealing
for me up there now.

Oh damn, you didn't know that, did you?

Yeah, takes money to hang
out with rich kids, bro.

Let me guess, you and that wife of yours,

you just send them off and
hope for the best, right?

Oh shit.

Oh shit, no.

You did keep in touch with them

and they lied right to
your face, didn't they?

Those bad little nigger boys.

Mmm.

So much for "Operation: Ghetto Rescue."

(wind howling)

We're done, by the way.

- No.

- Yeah.

- No!

- Do it.

- I will.

- It ain't worth listening
to your bullshit.

- There's gotta be more to it than that.

More than just money.

There are other ways,
there's always another way.

You think you're the only
one with a hard life?

So what is it?

Power?

You a big man bossing kids around?

- Yo man, why do you care?

Seriously, dude, what the fuck is this?

Why are we doing this?

We fucking hate each other, right?

I killed your wife, remember?

So why the fuck do you,

why do you give a shit
what I do or why I did it?

Seriously, man, fuck this!

- Yes, I need it, okay?

God.

Yes.

I need it, okay?

After Robin, it was gone.

All of it, faith, God, everything.

If I'm honest, it left me long ago.

You're right.

For every kid we got off the
street, you found two more.

For every addict we cleaned up...

Counting the offering money
in my underwear at night.

The church, it was just a business.

After Robin...

There's got to be a reason
you were sent here to me.

This is my test.

Here.

Hate.

You said hate.

If I had no real effect
on you, on your business,

why would you hate me?

What did I ever do to you?

- Smarty art nigger.

(door thudding)

- Welcome, everyone.

So happy to see so many of
you here this afternoon.

When Mrs. Frank and I
came up with the idea

for this youth group here in the church,

we struggled to come up with
a clever and cool name for it

and then we realized the
very definition of uncool

is anything thought of
by a pastor and his wife.

(Robin chuckling)

So here we are at the first meeting

with no name for ourselves.

And you know what, who cares?

The name doesn't matter.

What matters is what we
do with out time together.

We know what's going on out there,

we know what you're going
through and the main thing

that we want you to
feel in here is safety.

During our time together,
you can say anything

and talk about anything
as long as it is done

with respect and honesty.

Okay, I had some ideas for
some activities and games

to start us off but that felt wrong to me.

Instead, what I'd rather
do is go around the room

and have each of you tell us your name

and a little something about yourself.

Who's first?

Okay, I'll go first.

My name is Pastor Elijah Frank

and I grew up in a small town

in the western part of this state.

And when I was eight years old,

my daddy got drunk and shot my mother.

She died and my dad went
to jail where he also died.

And after that,

nothing in life ever
really felt right again.

Yeah.

They told me his name was
Chill, if you can believe that.

- [Man] Yeah, we know the name, white guy?

- Well, if you know who it is,

is there anything that can be done?

- [Man] Reverend, believe
me, if there was, we would.

But he keeps himself above it all.

If you could get any
of those kids of yours

to make a statement...

- I'm sorry, sergeant, I can't.

I promised to keep them all safe, sorry.

- [Sergeant] Then I'm sorry too.

All right, well thank you.

- [Sergeant] You got it.

Hey, and reverend?

- Yeah.

- [Sergeant] Keep doing what you're doing.

- Thanks.

(Elijah sighing)

(gentle music)

(smooth beat music)

♪ You take my breath ♪

- When did you sneak in here?

- If you weren't so deep
into church finances,

you'd have heard me come
home 20 minutes ago.

- It does cost money to
heat that place, you know.

- Well, lucky me.

I married a human space heater.

♪ And I felt this way ♪

♪ This way ♪

♪ You're my first ♪

(somber music)

- No!

No!

Not you!

Get out!

Get out, get out!

(Elijah gasping)

- [Robin] It's okay.

It's okay, sweetie.

- [Elijah] Oh my god!

I thought I lost you.

They said you were gone.

- I'm not going anywhere.
(Elijah crying)

It's okay, sweetie, it's okay.

(glass clanking)

(bowl plopping)

- Oh shit.

- What are you doing?

- Goddamn, Jesus, don't do that, man!

I'm fucking starving, dude.

I can't take this crap
you've been giving me, man.

Don't you got anything good in here?

- What's going on with you?

(Chill gasping)

- Nothing, man.

(Chill groaning)

(Chill vomiting)

- What the fuck?

Here.

Just in case.

This is more than just nicotine.

What is it?

- Heroine

- Jesus Christ.

How long?

How long since you last used?

- I don't know.

Six days, I think.

- Okay, Jesus, okay.

All right, you were unconscious

for probably the worst of it.

Okay, so we just gotta ride out tonight.

You threw the cigarettes
off the back porch, so...

Ugh.

This is probably the
stupidest decision ever

but I don't care anymore.

I can get you drunk.

You wanna get drunk?

Because I could sure use a
drink myself, for damn sure.

- Are you fucking kidding me?

Where the hell was this two days ago?

- Yeah.

(pleasant guitar music)

- Yo wait, hold on, hold on, hold on.

Who the better man?

- What?

- The better man that called you nigger.

- What?

- You said, earlier, you said

there was other better men...

- Oh, oh, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Yeah, that.

Yeah,

his royal highness

Sheikh Saad Al-Abdullah Al-Salim Al-Sabah.

- What the fuck?

Dude, that ain't no real name.

- The nine days ruler

of the sovereign country
of Kuwait in 2006.

Of course, when I met him he was in charge

of Kuwait's shitty excuse for a military.

- Dude, what the fuck
are you talking about?

- The Gulf War.

- In Afghanistan?

- In Iraq.

Desert Storm?

1991.

- Nigger, I was like eight years old.

- Jesus.

- [Chill] So you was in the army?

- Yeah.

Combat Medic Specialist, third class.

- For real?

Oh damn.

Oh damn.

This you right here?

Nigger Bob Ross?

(Chill laughing)

- Yeah, yeah.

We were on the Kuwait, Iraq boarder

when a shell went off near us.

The sheikh was with us and he got wounded.

I went to help him and when I got to him,

his royal highness,

darker than my own brown ass, by the way.

- Ah.
- He says,

he doesn't want some
nigger working on him.

- [Chill] Oh shit.

- Yeah, so you can understand
if I don't get upset

when some two-bit drug
dealer calls me that.

I have been "niggered" by royalty.

- Ah.

(Chill laughing)

(Elijah laughing)

Oh shit.

Oh shit.

(Chill coughing)
(Elijah laughing)

(Elijah chuckling)

- Yeah.

- Oh, so that's how you know how to...

- Yeah, yeah.

- I bet you seen some shit then, huh?

(gentle guitar music)

- What's your real name?

You weren't born Chill, I know that.

- Nah.

It's not like I gave
myself that name, you know.

I don't know, it just happened.

I guess when it came to
taking care of business,

I never got upset, you know.

It's dumb as shit, man.

Junkies not paying, shit like that.

I took care of that shit.

But I always stay...

- Chill, yeah, I got it.

- Yeah, I got it, right.

Sam.

Samuel Malick.

- Hmm.

Malick.

- Yeah, you can see why I
didn't fight Chill, right?

- Doesn't sound Catholic.

Raised Catholic then?

The first day I brought you here,

you were bloody and out of it.

I was washing up and you stumbled
into that bathroom saying,

"Forgive me, Father."

- Yeah I was, so what?

- Explains a lot.

- Man, that doesn't explain shit.

You gonna slide into another God talk now?

Yeah, all right.

So after my moms left and my dad ODed,

me and my sister went to
live in the fucking hell

that is All Saints Children's Home.

What?

You wanna know if I got
diddled by a priest?

No, man.

But my sister did.

Yeah, they fucked her up good in there.

So does that fit with your story?

- What?

The why does Samiel Malick hate God story?

Yeah, pretty much.

- [Chill] Yeah, fuck you.

(Elijah sighing)

- I'm sorry that happened to you.

What happened to her, your sister?

- She died.

Whore in a crack house, eight years later.

- Jesus.

- Yeah.

Jesus, all right.

Fuck that dude.

- You're right.

Fuck

that

guy.

- What'd you say?

- You heard me.

He didn't help you.

Didn't help your sister.

Didn't help me.

Horrible shit happens
to everybody, every day

and He does nothing.

There is no plan and He doesn't care.

There's just us,

here,

now,

by ourselves.

So, yeah,

F that dude.

- Holy shit.

Dude, that's for real.

That's for real.

So you stay in the army?

- What?

No.

No.

Stayed through my early 20s,

left, discharged,

joined the Peace Corps.

And by the time I was 30,
was a radical liberal.

Pretty much the opposite
of the old saying.

- So you gonna tell me what changed?

Yo, what'd you see?

(fire crackling)

- You are a horrible human being, yes?

Yes.

You sell drugs to children, yes?

Yes.

You have them sell them to each other.

You hurt people who don't pay, yes?

Ever kill anyone though?

- No.

- Hmm.

(Elijah groaning)

Along the boarder

was a large trench network,

the Saddam Hussein Line,

with giant plows mounted
on the front of tanks.

We buried thousands of Iraqi soldiers

alive.

Some of them trying to surrender.

Thousands.

- You was drawn on them?

- No.

But I was part of it.

Yes.

(dramatic music)

Buried trenches with arms and
things sticking out of them.

One guy was halfway out, flailing.

(man speaking foreign language)

I went to pull him out and the
lower half of him was gone.

He was crying and babbling in pain.

(man speaking foreign language)

(gunshot booming)

I put him down.

- You met your wife in the Peace Corps?

(dramatic music)

- No.

At a protest against the
second Iraq War in '03.

- No shit.

- Yeah.

She turned everything around.

Got me focused and direction.

Nothing I did, everything after that,

was because of her.

- Yeah, but you weren't
no saint, you know.

I bet you there was plenty of times

you were just sick of her shit, right?

- Watch your mouth.

- You got kids, you and her?

(dramatic music)

Thought so.

Yo, you remember that
night we saw each other?

- Of course I do.

- It's okay.
- Yeah.

- All right, I called your mom.

She's on her way.

- Oh my gosh, Marquis, my boy, my boy!

- Mom.

- Oh my God.

- I'm fine, I'm fine.
- It's okay.

It's okay, Danitra.
- How did they...

- It's not that bad.

It's not that bad.

Elijah took care of him.

- Oh thank you, God.

- It's all right.
- I don't know

what I would've done.

Thank you, Jesus.

- I'm gonna go get cleaned up.

(Danitra crying)

(dramatic music)

(ominous music)

(door clicking)

(foreboding tempo music)

- Yo, that is fucking bullshit.

- What?

- This.

This story you've been telling
yourself all these years.

This is how you remember that night?

- This is what happened.

You shot that boy and then threatened me.

- I...

I shot that boy?

Is that what he told you?

That boy?

- No, he wouldn't tell me
what happened, I just assumed.

- Oh, I assumed.

Who is that boy?

Who is that woman?

- Marquis and his mother, Danitra.

Why, what does it matter to you?

- Why does it?

Oh my god.

Yo, see it again.

- What?

- See it again.

(gentle piano music)

For the past three days,

I didn't know what the fuck was going on.

I thought this was some
sort of psycho mind-fuck

to torture me or some shit.

But now I know.

You didn't know.

You really didn't know.

- You...

You shot your own son?

- Jesus, what?

It was a drive-by meant for me.

Marquis was at my house when I was out.

He was always hanging around.

Danitra hated that shit though.

She wanted to get him as
far from me as she could.

Of course, after that night.

- Danitra was?

- I was 22, she was 18.

She was a customer, she paid in tail.

After she got knocked up
with Marquis, she cleaned up.

Found Jesus.

And you.

Well now I know, not
you but your other half.

- My?

- Damn, not so smart after all, huh?

I wonder what else she didn't tell you.

- Who?

- Your dead wife who you talk
to all the time up in here!

(dramatic piano music)

- We're done.

(crickets chirping)

(dramatic piano music)

(door thudding)

- You knew.

You knew who they were,

who he was.

- How could you not?

No.

No.

Don't try to answer that.

Yes.

I knew who Danitra was.

I knew her past.

I knew who her son was.

And you didn't.

But that's okay.

From sermons to budgets to maintenance

to everything else,

you oversaw it all.

But who do you think
sweated the small stuff?

Who do you think ran interference

so you could stay big picture?

I knew what I was doing.

You were the face and I was...

- The brains.

- No, no, no, no, don't put that on me.

We did this together.

You decided to bring something
better into this world.

All I did was just take your
hand and said, let's go.

- And did we?

Bring anything better into this world?

- You tell me.

(dramatic piano music)

- They were just words.

Empty, useless words.

- No, no, Eli,

you don't get to decide that.

Just because the messenger
feels like a fraud,

doesn't mean the message can't be heard.

Here.

It doesn't matter how
you felt inside, honey.

All that matters is
that you did something.

At the end of the day, you
and I got off our asses

and we tried to do something.

- It's not fair.

Why does he get to have a child, a son,

and we get nothing?

- Because we didn't.

That's why.

If you knew who he was,

would you have done anything different?

Turned him into the police?

Let him bleed to death?

Right.

So, what're you going to do now?

- What do you mean?

- You know why I sweated the small stuff?

Why you never saw what I just showed you?

- I assumed because my head
was up my ass again, yes?

- Yes, that...

And sometimes that caused you to see

only what you want to see.

- Well, it's a limited view up there.

- Now that I'm gone,

it's time for you to see
the details for yourself.

- No, no, you're not
gone, you're right here.

You're not going anywhere.

- I'm gone, Elijah.

(lights buzzing)

(dramatic music)

- Why are you here?

I said...

- [Sam] I heard you.

- That road is next to nothing.

We're in the middle of nowhere.

You didn't accidentally
end up on my doorstep.

Why are you here?

- I was sent here, remember?

I'm your test.

- Bullshit.

You knew I was here.

You came to kill me.

- Kill you?

Kill you?

My god, man, you are
so full of fucking ego.

- Forgive me, Father?

With your gun waving around?

You knew who I was, you knew!

- We're done.

- Uh-uh.

Where are you going?

Where you gonna go?

It's just you and me up here, Sam.

- Get the fuck out of my way, nigger.

- Oh, we're past that, Sam.

Why are you here?

You took everything from me.

My faith, my purpose, my wife.

You come to finish the job?

- Oh yeah, that's it.

Yeah, that's what I been looking for.

Let's go, come on now, nigger.

- You took everything from me!

- You cursed me!

Since the minute you came in that church,

you've been like a
fucking plague on my life.

- Dude, you said...

- Oh, enough with your
fucking bullshit self-pity!

You know exactly what you
did to me, to my business!

What that wife of yours did to my family!

- Robin?

- I was everything to that boy!

Marquis was mine!

Everything I did was gonna be for him.

And then that wife of yours
got her claws into his momma.

She found Jesus, he found
your little fucking group

and I became shit!

I became the motherfucking devil.

And after that night that he
got shot, well that was it.

They was gone.

Gone because of you.

- No, that's not...

- Oh Jesus, you are so fucking blind.

- No, no, that night, Robin's
accident, they weren't gone.

She got a call

saying that that boy, that
Marquis was in trouble.

That he was dealing again.
- Dealing again.

(wind howling)

- Who called Robin that night?

(dramatic music)

- A junkie pretending to be Marquis.

He owed me.

Yo, man, I didn't have a plan.

You know, I just wanted to scare her.

That's it.

- What?

What did you do?

- I just wanted to scare her.

Make her think twice about
getting into my business,

my life.

God.

The road was slick, yeah.

The road was slick, she spun out.

I watched it.

I watched.

(Elijah screaming)

(punches thudding)

(Sam coughing)

(Elijah groaning)

No!

Not here.

- Come back!

- No!

(wind howling)

(wind howling)

Go.

Leave me, just go please, dude.

Please, just go.

Yeah, come on now.

Come on, nigger, do it.

Come on, please.

Come on, nigger, do it.

- [Elijah] Get up.

- Just do it.

- Get off her grave now.

- Yo, please.

Please do it, make it go away,

dude.
- Get up.

- Yo, this is why I'm here.

You have to.

Ever since that night,
I see her everywhere.

- You?

- You did this to me.

She did this to me, man.

Everything's gone, man.

Yo, I wasn't even using till
Danitra took Marquis from me.

Goddamn it, now look at me.

Fuck.

- You.

You did this to yourself.

You brought this on yourself.

You!

- I just wanted to scare her.

- Shut up.

- Now Danitra's gone.

- Oh.

- His momma's gone, dude.

She fuck...

She fucking shacked up with
some motherfucking psycho.

He killed her.

- Shut up.

- Fucking killed her, dude.

- Shut up!

- Marquis, my boy is in foster.

In foster, it's shit!

It's all shit.

- God help me.

- I found her.

I don't know, I thought if I came here,

if I gave myself to her,
here, if I ended it,

she'd let us go.

She would let him go.

She'd let Marquis go.

- Tell me what to do.

- You gotta do it.

That's what you gotta do, just do it.

Please, man.

Look at me.

I'm worthless, dude.

I'm fucking gone already.

Please.

- No.

- For him.

- No!
- Please, for him.

- No!

You can't make me feel sorry for you.

No, no!

You killed her and it killed me.

You killed me!

- Yeah, I did.

Yeah, I did.

I was there, man.

The accident?

It was right outside
my fucking house, dude.

- Shut up.

- I watched it.

I saw it happen through my
fucking window, I watched it.

- Shut up!

- I went outside,

she was still alive.

- Tell me what to do.
- She was still alive

when I walked over to her.

She looked right at me.

She looked right at me and I watched.

- Oh God.

- And then I walked away.

- Where are You?

Tell me what to do!

(Elijah crying)

- Elijah?

Elijah Frank.

Just do it.

Make it go away.

Please.

Please.

Please.

Please.

(Elijah gasping)

(gun cranking)

(Elijah groaning)

(Elijah screaming)

(Elijah crying)

- I'm sorry, Robin.

I'm sorry, I couldn't.

I couldn't.

I'm sorry, Robin.
(dramatic music)

I couldn't.

I couldn't.

I couldn't.

(Elijah sobbing)

(Sam crying)

- Oh God.

Oh, I'm sorry.

- It's okay.

It's okay.

(dramatic music)

- I'm...

(birds chirping)

(wind howling)

It's gonna be a long winter.

We've got work to do.

(wind howling)

(somber piano music)

(somber piano music)

(pleasant piano music)