I Am a Ghost (2012) Movie Script

[ Wind whistling ]

[ Wind whistling continues ]

[ Door creaks ]

[ Woman crying ]

[ Static ]

[ Classical music plays

on radio ]

[ Static ]

-They contrive to free you

from the four walls of today

for a half hour

of high advent--

[ static ]

[ Big-band music plays

on radio ]

[ Music continues ]

[ Birds chirping ]

[ Bangs ]

[ Clattering ]

[ Music box plays

"when they've gone away" ]

[ Music stops ]

[ Soft exhale ]

[ Thumping ]

-[ Yawns ]

[ Birds chirping ]

[ Chirping continues ]

[ Mid-tempo music plays

on radio ]

[ Grunts ]

[ Water running ]

Oh, god.

[ Cries ]

[ Big-band music plays

on radio ]

[ Man groans ]

[ Grunts ]

[ Water running ]

Oh, god.

-Anything?

-Eggs, milk, cheese.

Cheese.

[ Birds chirping ]

What else?

Flowers.

[ Door creaks ]

[ Humming ]

[ Humming continues ]

-Anything?

-[ Yawns ]

[ Birds chirping ]

[ Mid-tempo music plays

on radio ]

[ Yawns ]

-Emily?

-Who's there?

-It's me, Sylvia.

-Who are you?

What are you doing in my house?

-We know each other, Emily.

My name is Sylvia.

Please put the lamp down, Emily.

I mean you no harm.

-Show yourself!

-Emily, we do this every time.

-What are you talking about?

Who are you?

-Don't leave the room, Emily.

-Come out.

I know you're in the wardrobe.

-I am not.

-You are.

-I'm not.

I'm in front of the wardrobe.

-What?

-♪ I'll never leave you alone,

my dear ♪

♪ you needn't be afraid,

my dear ♪

♪ I am the one who protects you,

dear ♪

♪ when they've gone away

♪ people come and go, my dear

-♪ babies are born and grow,

my dear ♪

♪ I'll be the one who loves you,

dear ♪

♪ when they've gone away

-now, Emily, repeat after me.

"I am a ghost.

"I am a ghost. I am a ghost."

-I am a ghost.

I am a ghost.

-You see, Emily, that is why you

can't leave the room abruptly.

-What?

-You can't

leave the room abruptly

without closing off with me.

Every time you do, you lose

all memory of what we're doing.

-I can't have lost all memory.

I remember who you are.

-That's a good sign.

Can you repeat to me

what we are doing?

-I'm dead.

I was murdered in this room.

-Good.

Murdered by whom?

-A monster.

A demon.

He was a tall man

with gray skin.

He had a look of utter

malevolence on his face.

He chased me through the house,

screaming the most

inhuman scream.

And he had caverns for eyes.

Not that they were dark,

but they were empty.

An evil hell-bent on killing me,

staring at me

from two dark caverns.

And he knew me

but I didn't know him.

-I am the medium to the family

that owns this house.

They have hired me

to live with them

until I've successfully

rid their house of this spirit.

-Me?

-Yes, you, Emily.

You are a ghost.

-And I'm haunting my own house.

-You are haunting theirhouse.

-A family?

Sylvia,

how long have I been dead?

-I can't tell you that, Emily.

-Why not?

-Because the last time

I told you,

you were so disturbed

by that bit of information

that you fled the room crying.

I hadn't heard from you

for days,

and when you came back,

you had forgotten

everything we'd learned

in the previous session.

-So, I am a ghost.

And you're trying

to get rid of me.

-That's a bit harsh, but yes.

-Why can't I see you?

-Emily, how much do you remember

from last time?

-I remember meeting you

for the first time.

I thought you were a ghost.

-Yes, well, that's every time.

-I remember you asking me

how I died.

-And how did you die?

-I just told you.

-No, but how?

-The man -- the monster

brought me into this room

and I fell on my back

on this rug.

He stabbed me with a knife

repeatedly.

He plunged the knife into me

over and over again.

That's all I remember.

-That's usually

where the story ends.

-Apparently not! Look at me!

-I can't see you, Emily.

I can only hear you.

-I can't see you, either.

It's like you're a ghost.

-Likewise.

-Can the family see me?

Are there any children?

-There are two young children,

but I'm the only one

who can communicate with you.

-You can speak to the dead?

-That's why they hired me.

-Are they adversely affected

by my presence?

-They still feel your presence,

Emily.

Doors closing on their own,

cupboards slamming,

frying pans moving

and brooms moving

as if being swept by a ghost.

-But are they adversely

affected?

-Knives being thrown,

mirrors shattering.

-Knives being thrown?

-Well, that's what the family

witnesses.

That's why they hired me.

-Wait.

[ Sighs ]

I was in this room

ready to tidy up a bit,

and suddenly,

you called out to me.

Now I'm dead?

I was about to clean

and now I'm dead.

Do you see how this is

perplexing to me?

-What did you do

before you came in here?

-I don't know.

-Think.

What were you doing

right before you came in here?

-I don't remember.

[ Sloshing ]

[ Sloshing stops ]

I know that earlier, I had eggs.

And then I went to the store

to buy more groceries.

And then I cleaned the house.

-These are all memories

of things you did

while you were alive, Emily.

Don't you see that?

-And at some point,

I bought flowers.

-Hauntings are nothing more

than emotional imprints in time.

If a man were to frequent

various places in his house

long enough,

he would leave his scent.

What you're experiencing

is a sort of scent

that you've left behind.

-Scents? Imprints in time?

Well, if haunting is nothing

more than imprints in time,

shouldn't the living be able

to haunt a house, as well?

Sylvia?

-I'm here, Emily.

I just don't know

how to answer that question.

-I feel like I just woke up from

a dream in which I was alive.

-Essentially, you did.

[ Sloshing ]

-So, can I just leave, then?

-Do you know how?

-I could just walk

out the front door.

-No.

You can't leave this room

without closing off with me

or you'll forget ever--

-I'll forget everything, right.

I can see the front door

from here.

Sylvia, how do we close off?

-Well, we have yet to close off.

We've never closed off.

-Oh.

-Before you leave,

you have to walk through me.

-What does that mean?

-Exactly as it sounds.

You must pass through my body

before you walk off.

-That doesn't sound

so difficult.

-You always say that.

-Oh.

But then what happens?

-You flee.

Before I can get

any more information out of you,

you flee the room,

and the next time I see you,

you don't remember anything.

-I promise

I won't do that this time.

-You said that last --

[ sloshing ]

All right.

-So, where are we now?

-We're in your mother's room.

-No, I know where we are.

I mean, where are we as far as

getting me out of the house?

-I don't know.

It's different for every spirit.

Every soul

has a different solution.

-Oh.

And have you banished

many spirits?

-I wouldn't call it banishing,

Emily.

I'm guiding you

into the next place.

-Well, have you guided

many ghosts?

-I've guided

every spirit I've met.

-So, guide me out of here,

Sylvia.

-I've been trying, Emily.

I don't know

what I'm doing wrong.

-Well, what's the first step?

-The very first thing

I have to do

is build rapport with the spirit

and to get them to acknowledge

that they are dead.

-I've done that.

-Yes, and usually that's enough

to send them,

but it's not working for you.

-What if I were

to close off with you

and try to walk

out the front door?

Can we at least try?

-All right.

You have to pass through

my body.

-All right.

-I'm in front of the bookcase.

Where in the room are you?

-I'm on the far side

of the room.

-All right. I'll come to you.

-No!

-Emily, stop.

[ Disembodied voices speaking ]

[ Big-band music plays

on radio ]

[ Birds chirping ]

[ Bangs ]

[ Clattering ]

[ Music box plays

"when they've gone away" ]

[ Music stops ]

[ Soft exhale ]

[ Thumping ]

[ Birds chirping ]

-[ Yawns ]

[ Chirping continues ]

[ Mid-tempo music plays

on radio ]

[ Grunts ]

[ Water running ]

Oh, god.

[ Cries ]

[ Big-band music plays

on radio ]

[ Static ]

-Emily.

[ Static continues ]

Emily.

[ Static continues ]

[ Distorted ] Emily!

[ Groans ]

[ Floor creaks ]

[ Groans ]

-[ Grunts ]

[ Water running ]

Oh, god.

-Anything?

-Eggs, milk, cheese.

Cheese.

What else?

Flowers.

[ Birds chirping ]

[ Door creaks ]

[ Humming ]

[ Humming continues ]

-Anything?

-[ Cries ]

[ Mid-tempo music plays

on radio ]

[ Static ]

[ Yawns ]

-♪ I'll never leave you alone,

my dear ♪

-Who's there?

-♪ You needn't be afraid,

my dear ♪

♪ I am the one who protects you,

dear ♪

♪ when they've gone away

-♪ people come and go, my dear

♪ babies are born and grow,

my dear ♪

♪ I'll be the one who loves you,

dear ♪

♪ when they've gone away

-now, Emily, repeat after me.

"I am a ghost.

"I am a ghost. I am a ghost."

-I am a ghost.

[ Rattling ]

I am a ghost.

-Welcome back, Emily.

-I'm guessing

we didn't close off.

-No.

-I must've been gone

a long time.

-Not as long as the other times.

-I still feel like

I'm waking up from a dream.

-In essence, you are.

-That song.

-What about it?

-You used that the last time

to calm me down.

What is it about that song?

-In one of our sessions,

you taught me that song.

-My mother used to sing it

to me.

Why would I have taught it

to you?

-I asked you to.

I told you that the only way

for me to jog your memory

is if I repeat something

that you specifically taught me.

-I hate that song.

-[ Chuckles ]

I see the lights turning on.

-Oh. Sorry.

-Don't apologize.

I'm used to it.

So, why do you hate that song?

-My mother used to sing it

to me.

-You hate your mother?

-I do.

My family left me in this house,

you know.

-I know.

-To die.

-I did my research, Emily.

I know.

-Are you sure I can't

just leave this house?

I just went grocery shopping.

-Emily, you're not fully

grasping what's happening.

You didn't go grocery shopping.

You're just passing through

a memory.

-But I came back with eggs

and cheese and flowers.

-That grocery store

probably doesn't even exist

anymore, Emily.

-But I can see sunlight

streaming in

through the windows.

-That's not real.

-So, if I were to open

that door, what would I see?

-Emily, do not leave the room.

-I know.

I promise I won't leave

without closing off.

What if I would open that door

and leave this house,

never to come back?

-I really don't know.

I've never done that or allowed

any of the spirits to do that.

But where would you go?

-I don't know.

Perhaps I'll be like

one of those legends

in which a lady haunts

the roads and lakes.

-[ Chuckles ]

You don't really want that,

do you?

-Well, you want me gone,

don't you?

-Emily, I don't expect you

to believe this,

but I'm more concerned

with guiding you

to where you have to be than

the well being of this family.

And on the roads and lakes is

not where you're supposed to be.

-Why don't we close off

and I try to go outside?

-I don't know.

-What's the worst that can

happen, Sylvia, honestly?

I'm a ghost.

-First, we don't know what will

happen if you leave this house.

Second, you keep fleeing

before we can close off.

-I promise I won't flee.

-You said that last -- fine.

But you have to walk to me now.

-Fine, where are you?

-I'm standing on the rug.

-All right.

Should I just walk over it,

then?

-Yes.

-Will it hurt?

-No spirit has ever told me

that it was unpleasant.

-[ Gasps ]

[ Grunting ]

Oh, my god.

-Emily, are you all right?

-Dementia praecox.

-Dementia praecox?

-Dementia praecox.

-Dementia praecox?

[ Choir singing

"amazing grace" ]

-♪ That saved

♪ a wretch like me

♪ I once was lost

♪ but now...

-[ Echoing ]

People are often afraid

of what they don't understand.

Electricity's improving

our world.

Electricity's our friend.

Okay, I'm just gonna dab a bit

of this on your temples here.

I know it's cold.

I apologize.

All right. There we go.

[ Machine whirring ]

-What's that noise?

-Shh. It's just the machine

getting warm.

Electricity's just light.

It's just light.

-[ Breathes heavily ]

I can't see. I can't see.

-You'll feel better

on the count of three.

-Please! I'm scared!

-Two, one.

-Don't look back.

[ Sloshing ]

-[ Gags ]

[ Panting ]

I can breathe now.

I feel so awake.

So conscious.

-What are you feeling?

-I died.

I died right here

in a pool of my own blood.

-Yes, you know that.

-But this time

I know I won't forget.

I can't.

The pain is too strong.

I had a terrible childhood.

My mother used to tell me

that I had a demon inside of me

and that I needed

to be exorcised.

-What behaviors did you exhibit

to make her say that?

-I don't know.

I would black out,

and before I knew it,

10 minutes would've passed.

I didn't even know

what happened.

-What would happen

in those 10 minutes?

-Awful things.

I remember waking up

from a blackout

and my hand was wounded

and bleeding.

One time I woke up

from a blackout

and I was choking

my younger sister.

My father wanted

to take me to the doctor,

but my mother just wanted

to throw me in a lake.

After my father died,

my mother found it unbearable

to deal with me.

One morning, I woke up and she

and my younger sister were gone.

It didn't dawn on me

until three days later

that they weren't coming back.

They left me here to die.

-Emily.

I understand what it's like

to be different.

Believe me.

You say that your mother wanted

to throw you in a lake?

Well, guess what?

My mother actually left me

in the woods.

She'd had enough

of my talks with the dead,

my unholy talks with the dead.

You and I are not unlike

each other.

You have to trust me.

-I just walked through you.

I'm pretty sure

that I trust you.

Besides, what you have

is a talent -- a gift.

-It's all I know how to do.

I do it because I can't

do anything else.

-Sylvia, what should be

happening right now?

-Usually, you see a light

and I guide you into it.

-Light? Really?

It's as it's been written?

-Yes.

-Well, I see no light.

-And I can still hear you,

so I know you're not ready

to walk into the light.

-Sylvia, do you think I could

try to leave this room?

-In my experience,

after spirits close off with me,

they can freely walk about

without any memory loss.

-So, I could try

to leave the house?

Sylvia?

-I heard you.

I just don't know

if it's a good idea.

-Oh, let me.

I have a good feeling

about this.

[ Birds chirping ]

[ Chirping continues ]

[ Chirping stops ]

[ Screams ]

[ Panting ]

[ Rattling ]

[ Door creaks ]

[ Humming ]

Sylvia, I opened the door.

-Really? What did you see?

-Nothing.

-What do you mean?

-It was pure black.

No, it was blacker than black.

It was nothing.

-Darkness?

-Darkness implies a feeling.

No, this was nothing

all at once.

A vast sea

in a tiny grain of nothing.

And I screamed.

I screamed out of fear.

-I'm often terrified of night

myself.

-No, Sylvia, this was different

from night.

I've seen night

and I've seen blackness.

This was nothing,

and I've never experienced

anything more frightening.

Did you see that?

-I can't see anything you see,

Emily.

-I just saw myself

in the hallway.

-This happens

when you close off.

You become

tremendously conscious,

and now that you have

full consciousness,

you can see

each of your memories

as they've been imprinted

in time.

-So, you're saying that...

Eggs, milk, cheese.

Cheese.

What else?

This is crazy.

Flowers.

Insanity.

[ Chuckles ] Absolutely mad.

Sylvia? Can you hear me?

[ Birds chirping ]

No memories here.

Sylvia?

I'm in my bedroom

and there's no one here.

[ Clatters ]

Have I no memories

implanted here?

So, are you telling me

that these are all nothing more

than reflections of myself?

They aren't real people?

Are you telling me

they can't hear me?

Are you telling me

that they can't hear anything?

[ Clatter ]

[ Yawns ]

Sylvia, I just saw myself

in every room in the house.

-Yes, Emily.

Those are your impressions

on the house.

-My impressions?

-Yes. Were they illuminating?

-It was frightening.

One of them looked right at me

and another one heard me,

I think.

-That's impossible.

-I'm telling you, it happened.

It -- it was pure horror

staring at myself.

-I can imagine.

-Sylvia, I'm scared.

I'm scared to see what happens

in this room.

-Emily.

-I don't...I was murdered

in this room.

-Emily.

-I don't know

if I can handle seeing that.

-You weren't murdered, Emily.

-I-I beg your pardon?

-You weren't murdered.

-I don't understand.

-I did more research on you,

and it looks like you were not

stabbed repeatedly

by a man nor a monster.

-Research?

-As a child, you were diagnosed

with dementia.

-Dementia?

-A special kind of dementia --

dissociative identity disorder,

also known as

multiple personality disorder.

You were taken by your parents

to the doctor who diagnosed you.

You would have short spells

in which you were someone else,

someone violent and inhumane.

But when the spell lasted

longer than a day,

you were taken back

to the doctor,

and he diagnosed you with

what he called dementia praecox,

now known as

dissociative identity disorder.

-Also known as multiple

personality disorder, yes.

I don't see

how that means anything.

-Emily,

you weren't killed by a man.

You killed yourself.

You stabbed yourself repeatedly

on that rug in this room.

-No.

-Yes, Emily.

This changes everything.

-How?

-Because you may have

closed off with me,

but you haven't closed off

with yourself

if you don't remember

committing suicide.

-I was killed by a man

in this room.

-I know you think that,

but my research says --

-your research?!

I know what I saw

and I know what I felt!

-Emily, as you go through

your memories in this house,

are you able to relive

the murder?

-No, but I remember it!

-Yet here we are in your

mother's room where you died,

and you see no other version

of yourself dying.

-I'm unclear

on what you're implying.

-You saw yourself in every room

in this house except this one.

Why is that?

-I'm not the one

with the answers, Sylvia.

I'm not the one with the gift.

-Emily,

my aim is not to insult you --

-you're calling me crazy!

-Emily, you're talking

to a disembodied voice,

and I converse with dead people.

I think we both transcended

the boundaries of sanity.

-All right. Yes.

I can see myself in every room

in this house but this one.

I don't know why.

I don't know why

any of this is happening.

-Do you remember

having another personality?

-Like I said, I would black out,

and when I would wake up,

I would be

in horrible situations.

-Like having a bloodied hand.

-Right.

-Or choking your sister.

-Right.

-Emily, you lived your whole

life with a demon --

a monster inside your body,

and when you killed yourself

in this room,

you released not one soul,

but two into this house.

-Well, that's illuminating.

Sylvia?

Where are you?

-I'm sitting

at the writing desk.

-So, what does this mean?

-It means that I've been

trying to guide

half of a person

into the afterlife.

-Half of a person.

-Yes.

You may have released two souls

when you died,

but they are still two halves

of the person who lived.

I can't guide you into the light

without your other half.

I can't guide you into the light

without the monster.

-The very mention of him

chills my bones.

If I released two souls

into this house,

why haven't I seen him?

-You're only reliving memories,

Emily. Remember?

-Yes, I remember, Sylvia,

but I closed off with you.

I'm cognizant now.

-You're not cognizant.

You're just connected to me,

and you wouldn't be reliving

his memories.

You can only relive your own.

Why do you think you blacked out

when you were alive?

-I lived with a man inside me.

-Yes.

And we need to find him.

-I wouldn't know where to begin.

-I don't know either.

-Oh, god.

[ Cries ]

How long has it been

since you've spoken with me?

-A day.

-So our times are in sync now.

It feels like

it's been a day for me.

[ Bangs ]

-Why do you think

this is of interest?

-Because I have no memory

of what may have

frightened me here.

-But do you remember

what the staircase leads to?

-The attic.

-Why haven't you gone there?

-I never went there.

I'll never go there.

That's where my mother

threatened to lock me

if I was unruly.

-Did she ever do so?

-No. Empty threats.

-Maybe you were simply

frightened of the attic

because of what it represented.

-Possibly.

[ Wind whistling ]

[ Door creaking ]

Sylvia, I just had a fright.

I went to the attic to see what

was there and there was nothing.

Nothing.

It's just an empty attic,

but a wave of emotion

came over me.

Suddenly, I felt fear

and anger and sadness.

It hit me

like a recovered memory.

Sylvia, I don't know

what that attic was,

but there was no one there.

Sylvia?

[ Creaks ]

-[ Distant ] This is a house

for the living, not the dead.

Seek the light.

Go to where you belong.

-Sylvia?

-[ Screams ]

-Sylvia! Sylvia, help me!

-[ Screaming ]

-[ Gasps ]

-[ Screaming continues ]

[ Growling ]

[ Screaming ]

-Stop!

[ Panting ]

-[ Growling ]

You haven't found me.

I've come to you.

I've lived in your body

for my entire life,

living your insipid existence,

hearing your futile pleas

for answers --

answers to questions

you could never muster

the intelligence to ask,

answers that you wouldn't

be able to handle

had you received them.

I had to answer to your stupid

name as it was called,

lashing out whenever I could.

I tried to escape you,

but you kept me at bay.

I've been called a demon

and a monster,

and yet I'm the victim.

I hoped for release

when I killed you.

I hoped for freedom and light

and all I attained

was a prison --

an attic to house me

when I was unruly.

A place where I could relive

all of the worst memories

of our life.

For this reason, I sought you.

For your death, I yearn.

For your death, I hunger.

[ Screams ]

-[ Screams ]

Oh, god.

[ Glass shatters ]

[ Screams ]

-Your god is dead.

-[ Screams ]

-[ Screaming ]

-Sylvia!

Sylvia, help me!

Sylvia!

-[ Distant ] This is a house

for the living, not the dead!

Seek the light!

Go to where you belong!

[ Clatter in distance ]

This is a house for the living,

not the dead!

Seek the light!

Go to where you belong!

-Oh, god!

-[ Screaming ]

-No, I don't want to die!

Oh, god!

[ Screams ]

[ Music box plays

"when they've gone away" ]

Sylvia!

Sylvia, help me!

[ Glass shatters ]

No, I don't want to die!

Oh, god!

-This is a house for the living,

not the dead.

Seek the light.

Go to where you belong.

[ Thumping ]

This is a house for the living,

not the dead.

Seek the light.

Go to where you belong.

-Sylvia, are you doing it?

Are you guiding us?

Sylvia!

Sylvia, help me!

Sylvia, I'm frightened.

I don't know what to do.

-This is a house for the living,

not the dead!

Seek the light!

Go to where you belong!

This is a house for the living,

not the dead!

Seek the light!

Go to where you belong!

-Light? What light?

-This is a house for the living,

not the dead!

Seek the light!

Go to where you belong!

This is a house for the living,

not the dead!

Seek the light!

Go to where you belong!

-Sylvia, I'm scared.

There's no light.

Everything's going dark.

-This is a house for the living,

not the dead!

Seek the light!

Go to where you belong!

This is a house for the living,

not the dead!

Seek the light!

Go to where you belong!

-Sylvia, can you not hear me?

I'm scared!

-This is a house for the living,

not the dead!

Seek the light!

Go to where you belong!

-[ Howling ]

-This is a house for the living,

not the dead!

Seek the light!

Go to where you belong!

-[ Howling ]

-This is a house for the living,

not the dead!

Seek the light!

Go to where you belong!

-Everything will be fine.

Everything will be fine.

I am a ghost. I am a ghost.

I am a ghost.

[ Music box plays

"when they've gone away" ]

I Am a Ghost (2012) - full transcript