Union Bridge (2019) - full transcript

After burning out in the city, Will Shipe is summoned back home where he uncovers dark truths about his family and the town he grew up in.

What's wrong with him?

Get off me!

Get off me!

- You got nowhere to go now.
- Get off me!

Why don't you
just tell me, huh?

Who put you up to it?

Was it the Shipes?

It doesn't really matter.

Your father was a fuck-up.

They don't hold
that against you.

But it will come up.



You are what people
know a Shipe to be.

Someone in control.

Someone they can trust.

And someone who
looks after them.

If you wanna marry her,

you'll have to show that
you're part of the family.

Well, I do, sir.

It would be an honor.

This war, when it's
all over, we will win.

The Shipes will win, no matter
what side is the victor.

You will marry my daughter.

You will run this
country with us.

Mr. Shipe.

What are
you doin' in town?



Come back
in town for a while.

Your grandfather,

best governor this
state's ever had.

Nice to be home.

Welcome home, Will.

Does your mother
need anything?

A pack of smokes?

Yeah.

You
know he went mad.

Mom's a pill-popper, shut in.

We let 'em take what they need,

bread and butter, lemonade.

Nick and I were best
friends when we were kids.

Before I went away to school.

He had something
in his hands earlier today.

An ax or something.

Oh yeah, he
was working at your factory.

Got into a nasty
fight with the boys.

They were making
fun of his visions.

Visions?

Yeah,
he was digging all

around the field this summer.

Something buried in town.

MAN IN LEATHER
JACKET: Something big.

Gold or some shit.

Only
one talks to him now

is his Momma and Mary.

I gave him a lottery ticket.

He never even scratched it.

Found it lying out
here on the ground.

Hello.

Is Nick here?

It's Will Shipe.

He's with Mary.

Where?

At the water.

You need anything Ms. Taylor?

Money.

You have a good
day, Ms. Taylor.

Hey.

Hey.

William Shipe.

I'm back in town now.

What's this I hear,
you diggin' for gold?

Treason.

Dead men, you know.

All of it right here.

How's Mary been?

She's with God now.

Is her
brother still in town?

Shot himself.

You take care
of yourself, Nick.

What is it that will be taken?

What's in the trunk
will help us win the war.

Who's it goin' to?

When the Confederacy is
victorious, with our help,

we will have a
seat at the table.

There'll be the three of us.

We will trade off carrying it

while the other one in the front

will have the map and the gun.

Hey,
Will, how you doin'?

I haven't seen you in a while.

I'm good, Ms.
Linda, how are you?

Good, good, nice
to see you back in town.

- Nice to be back.
- What can I get ya today?

- Just a beer.
- Just a beer?

- Yeah.
- Will.

- How are ya, Jim?
- Welcome back.

- How are ya?
- It's good to see ya.

- It's good to see you too.
- How long you in town for?

No, you're welcome.

- Undecided.
- I got that beer.

Can I have some shots
for the bar too?

Oh, no, please, please,
please let me do it.

What would you like?

- Whiskey today?
- Whiskey's good.

Whiskey's good?

Yeah.

- Whiskey's good, I guess.
- Absolutely, good.

You gotta be gentle on me.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

That's why I'm giving
you the break.

I'm breakin'.

All right, here we go.

How's everything at
the factory, good?

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

- Yeah?
- You know how it goes.

Gettin' old, body's
breakin' down.

Yeah?

How are them knees?

Rough man, rough.

Let's try this one.

Whoo, there you go.

All right.

You might get one
on the old man today.

All right, let's go.

Cheers, I got a beer
and a shot here.

Yeah.

- You gotta love it.
- There ya go, there ya go.

Get another beer in you,
you'll float it out.

Hey, Will, you
having a good time?

Yes.

So let's do shots.

And she needs a
refill so can we?

Yup.

Are you
good down there?

There we go.

Linda, take
it out of there.

Shame about your father.

Excuse me?

- Shame about your father?
- Excuse me?

Will, Will, Willy,
Willy, it's okay.

Linda, Linda, Linda.

Let's fight man.

Huh?

Hello.

How was town?

It was fine.

You remember Nick Taylor?

There's a nut job.

Hmm.

Yeah.

He's all cracked
up, Ms. Taylor too.

The whole town's cracked up.

Yeah, he's really lost it.

He's out diggin' for gold.

Digging for gold?

Says he's having
visions about the war.

Poor kid.

There's gotta
be something buried.

Lots of things.

Like
what, do you think?

Skeletons.

Weapons.

Secrets.

You know where that gold is?

I know that Nick
would be better off

paying attention
to his sick mother.

Yeah.

Maybe that's why he's diggin'.

So he doesn't have to.

And whatever
it was is buried

in the land.

So why don't you just
tell me what you're up to?

Hi, Will.

I don't know if you remember me.

I'm Mary Burke, Nick's cousin.

I remember you.

I just wanted to
say welcome home

and if you need anything.

Thank you, that's very kind.

Momma, this is Nick
Taylor's cousin, Mary.

Hello, Mary.

I also wanted to thank you
for your help with Nick's Mom.

He's an old friend.

Would you wanna
take a walk with me?

I'm gonna go for a walk,
do you need anything?

No, I'm fine.

Don't stay out too late.

The devil gets up around now.

How long you been going
out on the water like that?

You been spying on me?

Guilty.

I've been going
for a little while.

There were a few
years where I didn't.

It's like a Christian thing?

Kind of.

I don't remember
that growing up here.

Well, you haven't
made it home much.

Yeah.

Just been travelin' a lot.

So why'd you come home now?

I was, um.

My Mom says I was living too
fast up there in the city.

She was right.

You gonna abandon me?

I miss these bells.

Nick?

I'm gonna
kick this door down!

Come on.

Come on, Mom.

Get up.

Get up!

Hey!

Come on, get up!

Get up!

Get up!

Damn it.

Anne?

Will Shipe is here.

I don't give a fuck.

Get the fuck out here!

- Get the fuck out here!
- Hey, hey.

You're okay!

You're o...

She's, she's okay.

Would you come
out just so I could

see that you're all right?

You're okay.

Oh, did you go to
the bar last night?

No, I just got into a
bottle with some old friends.

Had a little adventure.

I like adventures.

I get some Tylenol?

That's on me.

Got something stronger
if you need it.

Good to know.

- Come on now, that was...
- Leave him, just leave it.

He's nothin'!

You're
uncle says hello.

Oh yeah?

How's he doin'?

Where's he livin'?

Mm-hmm.

Look at you.

You're too old for this shit!

You're back one day

and you're already hanging
out with those idiots!

I want you to get an
apartment downtown.

Soon.

Sooner the better.

Hey, Jessie, how you doin'?

Good.

I'm just gonna
grab that table.

Will.

Hey.

- Hey, John.
- What's goin' on?

How are ya, Tom?

Heard you were in China.

Yeah, yeah, I was
there for a while.

Food's not as good
as home though.

- I know, Bonnie's soup, shoo!
- Mm mm.

Hey, I heard the women
over there love Americans.

You clean up over there.

Don't tell him that.

Gotta travel more.

Travel?

- Yeah.
- Your broke ass?

Would you like to join us?

Thank you, no, that's
very kind of you,

but I'm just gonna grab
the corner table over there

and just catch up
on some reading.

But I'm here for a while
so we've got plenty

of time to catch up.

Good.

Well, someone's gotta
steer the ship, right?

How is everything
at the plant?

- Okay.
- Yeah, all good.

Aside from Nick
Taylor goin' crazy.

Yeah, he tried to
fight half the guys.

I broke it up, he cracked me
in the eye a couple times.

- Did he?
- Yeah.

I had to make an
example out of him.

I mean, I had to fire him.

I didn't wanna do it.

Hey, have a good one.

We'll make sure things are
running on time at the plant.

Good man.

It's great to see you two.

If you need anything, you
just let me know, all right?

Looking good, ain't he?

Yeah, he is.

That's what
money does for you.

Hey.

You didn't wanna join?

One of these days.

You wanna walk me home?

Of course.

I was married when I was 18.

I lived with him
for a few years.

Who were you married to?

Jason Ridgely.

Jason Ridgely?

Broomstick Jason Ridgely?

He was a.

No, he was fun.

He still in town?

No, he's in jail.

Come on now, Dunkus.

Come on!

They normally this shy?

Yeah, little bit.

They just don't know you yet.

Lloyd's following you
though, you see him?

Lloyd's the tiny one.

I have more.

I got more.

They can tell.

Don't eat my finger.

More?

Here.

Hold on now.

Easy, that's my hand.

Oh, here you go.

I'm here.

Get outta the way, lady!

I'm gonna hit ya!

You can't go any further.

Get outta the way!

You're on the wrong side!

You have to
get Nick to stop digging.

To stop digging.

Help me.

You know us.

Help me.

What?

What's wrong?

What are you doin'?

You tell me.

Tell you what?

Where were you yesterday?

What do you mean?

I saw you walk into this
house in the middle of the night

and you left the door wide open.

You're crazy.

Were you with Mary?

Hi, Ma'am.

Can I take your order?

Yes, hot tea,
toast, and no butter.

Yes, Ma'am.

Bunny.

Well,
hello, young lady.

Oh, you're just saying that so

that you can be young too.

Yeah.

You know we were young
women once upon a time.

Now we're just wise.

I saw you knocking
on Mary's door.

Something wrong?

Oh, you know me so well.

What do you know about her?

They say she practices
witchcraft with those women.

They're looking
for others to come

with them down to the water,
saying it's Christian.

She'll be home in a few hours.

Ladies.

I hope your families are well.

Mary, a word, please.

You know, Will is so very busy.

I think you should let
him focus on his work.

I think he can
do what he wants.

Aren't we reckless.

Your family should have been
written off 100 years ago.

You're standing
on the edge, dear.

Oh, I forgot how long
it takes to get to the city.

Thank you, for helping him.

Yeah.

I spoke with Mary today.

About what?

You know our family
has a long history.

Yeah, and I assume like
everybody else no one is perfect.

Well, exactly,

that's why it's only polite not

to mention the less
fortunate moments.

You know, I remember
when Nick and I were kids,

and we used to play football
down at the high school field

with some of the older kids.

And this one day this ball
just floated in slow motion,

and I reached up
and I grabbed it,

and I brought it in real close.

And I remember spinning
around and I just got, pooh!

Hit by Nick.

Tackling me right to the ground,

and knocked the wind outta me.

And I just remember
looking up at him,

and he was staring down at
me with tears in his eyes.

And that was one of my last
memories of being a kid here.

What is it that
Nick is digging for?

I don't know.

When I heard that you
were coming back home,

I started having these visions.

Like the one's Nick's having?

They were too much for me so
I prayed that they'd go away.

And they did.

And that's when Nick
started having them.

The same ones?

Yes, the soldiers, the gold.

Nick's goin' crazy 'cause of me.

'Cause of my thoughts.

Haven't told
anyone about them?

Just Natalie.

And what does she say?

To pray.

I just...

Need to know what happened.

What happened?

To who?

To me.

Here, come on.

I spoke with Mary.

She's just having these...

Thoughts.

Thoughts.

About what?

Like Nick.

On the war.

Soldiers and gold.

Will, I don't know
what he's going to find,

but their family and
ours have history.

Nick, can you do me a favor?

Can you stop digging
for whatever it is

that you're looking for?

I can't do that.

Why not?

Too important.

Well, I could pay you.

Nah.

It don't matter.

What doesn't matter?

I can't stop,
even if I wanted to.

I don't understand.

I don't have a choice.

I don't think he'd do it
for any amount of money.

He's crazy.

Just let him dig.

He's not gonna find anything.

I was told this many
years ago by Aunt Helen.

One of her premonitions?

What did she say?

She came to my door in the
middle of a lightning storm,

opened it, and then
fell flat at my feet.

She said when the
storm approached,

that she felt sick
and started to vomit,

and found herself on the
ground on her front lawn,

and with all the thunder and
lightning crashing around her,

she thought she
was going to die.

She said she knew our
family had done something,

and that some day
someone was going

to come and try to correct it.

And whatever it was,
is buried in the land.

So what?

Let them find it, whatever
it is, it doesn't matter now.

Will, all anybody
has is their name.

You know that.

Your father tried to take
that away from us, from you.

Tried to make me a fool.

But I will protect it,
and I will protect you.

I know that Dad was...

Oh, fuck that man!

And she.

She had other premonitions too.

Like what?

When you were a little boy,
the three of us went camping,

and we were having a very
good time, but not you.

You sat outside the
tent to protect us.

You had that little
cat pistol.

And you said that Aunt Helen
and I could go to sleep,

and that you would protect us

against any animal
that would harm us.

And as Aunt Helen and
I were falling asleep,

she rolled over and
she told me something

that had come to her in a dream.

She said one day Will

will be very powerful.

Did Will talk to him?

He's not stopping.

Your family and ours
have stuck together

for many, many years.

So what can we do for you?

This is a critical
mission for the cause.

There are very few people
outside this family we can trust.

And I trust you.

As I know you would
never hurt my daughter.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And I won't let you down.

See that you don't.

Hi.

What's wrong?

Did you hear what happened?

No, what?

Nick got into some
trouble this morning.

Is he all right?

Last night I was with
him at the police station.

He started firing his
gun in the street.

I don't know why.

- He'll be okay.
- He's not okay.

Let's go inside.

I.

I know...

where to dig.

Get offa me.

Get offa me!

I'm not gonna tell you anything.

Well?

Where is it?

Where is it?

Tell me who put you
up to this, huh?

Was it Shipe?

Huh?

Please,
I'm begging you.

I need to speak to Will!

Please, just get him!

I think he's resting.

Wake him, I
need to speak to him.

- Will!
- Mary?

Someone shot him.

What?

Someone shot Nick!

- It's all right.
- He's gone.

You shouldn't have done this!

I'm gonna need you to...

help me take something
out of the ground.

Rope!

Give me the rope!