Original subtitles

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

ANNIE: We're searchers, you and me.

My dad, your grandpa‐‐ that good old guy‐‐

they don't make men like that, little love, not anymore.

‐ Annie Wilkes from Bakersfield, California.

‐ He would say to me, "Annie..."

[shouting]

"There are two kinds of people that made America.

Searchers and settlers."

He settled for nothing, that one.

Now, my ma, she was a settler.

You set her down anywhere and she would make a home.

She would make it perfect.

And me, well,

I'm kind of a funny ol' oogy mess of both,

all mixed up sometimes.

I'm a searcher who just wants to settle‐‐

wants it bad.

Can't seem to find that Laughing Place

that'll live up to you.

[soft dramatic music]

[thunder booms] [panting]

‐ Did you do something, Mom?

[dramatic musical sting]

‐ [haggard breathing]

[bell rings]

[children chattering, laughing]

[soft eerie music]

♪ ♪

DIEGO: "No matter how lonely, everyone has a...

Lagging"?

TEACHER: Keep going.

DIEGO: "Brad Rabbit told Brad Fox,

everyone has a laughing place."

TEACHER: Very good, Diego.

Annie?

♪ ♪

STUDENT: Is she even reading?

[giggles]

[kids whispering, giggling]

‐ "Brad Rabbit knew it was better to be friends

"than to fight, so he took..."

STUDENT: Is she reading the right thing? [giggles]

‐ "Bad Fox and Big Bear to the Laughing Place,

where they lived there as animal friends forever.

‐ That's not what it says.

[laughter]

TEACHER: That's enough.

[bell rings] STUDENT: She can't read.

♪ ♪

[bus exhaust hisses]

[engine rumbling]

[indistinct chatter]

♪ ♪

[tense music]

♪ ♪

STUDENT: She's so weird.

‐ Hey, A‐tard.

Animal friends forever. STUDENT: [laughs]

‐ Bet you can't even read this.

‐ "Ouch, my face."

‐ What are you tarding about, tard?

[all screaming]

[unhinged violin music]

COUNSELOR: It's clear to me that we need further screening for her sake.

CRYSILDA: No, my Annie is not the problem here‐‐ your cockadoodie school is.

CARL: You're not sending my girl to a pen for mental midgets‐‐

COUNSELOR: This is her third incident.

We're talking about...

pathological behavior.

CARL: Can I‐‐can I just say‐‐ ‐ Jiminy, Carl, can you not?

‐ The hell's this? Brad Rabbit?

‐ Carl, language. ‐ You mean Br'er Rabbit?

This is supposed to be the Uncle Remus stories?

‐ Yes, that is a more contemporary edition.

‐ "Politically correct," I think, is the term you're rooting around for there.

Okay, you are feeding her this‐‐this touchy‐feely propaganda.

‐ Carl, Christmas. ‐ And she's‐‐she's bored.

‐ I really wish that you'd let Annie wait outside while we finish this discussion.

‐ She's not leaving my sight in this booby‐hatch you're running.

My Annie's pure,

and this place is an open sewer.

COUNSELOR: Mr. and Mrs. Wilkes,

have you considered speaking to a psychiatrist about Annie?

Because there are many helpful new medications‐‐

‐ All of you people, you... [stammers]

You're foisting chemicals onto children!

CRYSILDA: We're taking it from here.

We are gonna be responsible for her entire education!

Can you handle that?

CARL: We're not gonna know until we try!

CRYSILDA: I am not willing to make the discovery that...

‐ I'm gonna do it, Crysilda, and it's gonna work.

You'll see, you just have to sit back and watch.

CRYSILDA: [scoffs]

CARL: Come on, girl. Let's go inside.

[car door slams]

♪ ♪

Now.

[gentle music]

Not bad, right?

Up here, we're gonna make you a real school‐‐

a school of us.

ANNIE: Is there something wrong with me, Daddy?

‐ What? No.

‐ Is that why I can't be in a regular school?

CARL: Annie‐‐

ANNIE: The kids are so mean, and the teachers‐‐

they just don't look at me right.

‐ Annie‐bear, listen to me, okay?

Do you know the real story of the Laughing Place?

I'm not talking about the hippidy‐dippidy kumbaya...

[babbles] Okay?

I'm talking about the real story.

Br'er Fox isn't friends with Br'er Rabbit.

Br'er Fox wants to eat Br'er Rabbit,

and that is the real world, Annie‐bear‐‐

killing and eating...

[goofy babbling] Running and hiding.

But do you know

what smart old Br'er Rabbit figured out?

Your Laughing Place

is anywhere you say it is.

ANNIE: It is? CARL: Well, of course it is.

And you know what else?

We're gonna have you reading in no time.

‐ How, Daddy?

CARL: I'ma tell you a story.

‐ [gasps] I love Daddy's stories.

CARL: I got a new story to tell, Annie‐bear,

and it's‐‐it's so big

that you're gonna have to help me.

"Down the gullet of the dead gorge,

"past the Palace Wagon,

"oxen thin and foaming,

"stumbling in ruts, over bones,

"as Prester Jack, gun cradled,

scanned cliff tops for savages."

‐ This is your new story?

[mellow, brooding music]

‐ It is indeed.

They say that, uh,

Bach's daughters worked the organ bellows

while he composed.

Well, that is what we're gonna try.

You see,

I have to have the typewriter to make my magic‐‐

I‐‐I love those deep keys‐‐

but the modern publishing world,

they need everything...

on computer.

CRYSILDA: Carl?

‐ You are gonna type this

into the keyboard.

Every page, word by word.

‐ Oh, Daddy, I don't know if I can.

CARL: We're just gonna set this right here.

‐ Okay. CARL: What's this first letter here?

ANNIE: I don't want to get it wrong, not a single word.

‐ Oh, Annie‐bear.

Warmer, warmer.

Warmer, warmer, warmer, hot, hot, hot.

Boom!

You're already getting the hang of it.

You're gonna be a writer yourself in no time.

CRYSILDA: Carl! ‐ I'm coming, damn it!

Go ahead and take her for a dance

and I'll be back with more pages soon enough, sweetheart.

‐ More pages for who, Daddy?

‐ My number one fan. ANNIE: [laughs]

‐ [chuckles]

[ominous music]

♪ ♪

[distant train horn honking]

JOY: "Prester Jack, gun cradled,

"scanned cliff tops for savages.

"He knew they were waiting for night, craving it.

"A new moon would bring her in

"if their promise held.

"It was a promise made at noon

"over water on the Kiplinger Ford.

Annabel kept her word."

Um...

"Prester Jack kept his.

"And every night,

"they met," uh,

"Be‐‐behind the pale‐less..."

‐ Palace. ANNIE: Uh, palace.

‐ Palace, sweetheart. ANNIE: "Wagon."

Um, "Stepped out of their buff...

"buffet‐‐buffalo robes,

"stepped out of their lives.

And the western moon pain‐‐"

[stammering] Pain?

Paint? ‐ Let me see‐‐

ANNIE: No, no, I got it. Pain‐‐painted!

"Painted their bodies white."

‐ Do you like it?

‐ Daddy, I love it. [laughs]

‐ [sighs]

I love hearing my story in your voice, Annie‐bear.

It just, uh‐‐it makes it real.

So, um, you really like this version?

Because I made some pretty big changes.

‐ Oh, I know, I‐‐I think it's beautiful.

[lighter flicks]

Especially Annabel.

I hope she leaves McCall for Prester Jack.

‐ Oh, yeah?

ANNIE: Well, you know, McCall is awful.

He cheats. I‐‐I want to hate him.

He's better to hate.

‐ [stammering] You know, the thing is, he's complicated, McCall.

That's what makes him interesting.

‐ Well, bad doesn't make you interesting.

Mama always says, "It just makes you bad."

‐ [sighs] Well,

we're not all one thing, Annie‐bear.

We're all good. We're all bad.

‐ No, I say you make McCall worse than he is now

so then we know who to root for.

‐ You should help your mom.

‐ Oh, I‐‐I can get that, Mom.

CRYSILDA: Thank you, little love.

There's a couple more bags in the car.

‐ Okey‐doke.

CRYSILDA: [sighs]

[sighs]

[grumbles]

[sighs]

Ugh.

No more smoking in the house.

‐ I know.

[cup clatters]

CRYSILDA: She gonna be ready for the GED?

‐ Girl thinks like a chess master.

She's always three moves ahead.

‐ Ain't her math I'm worried about.

ANNIE: Mama?

Did we go back to alphabetical order for the pantry?

‐ Why don't you read for me, Annie?

‐ You know what? So why don't you take these pages?

Go type them into the computer‐‐

‐ Nope, no, no, I want to hear them.

‐ Um...

"When..." [sniffs]

[stammers]

Um, Mc...

"When he...

"When Mc...

"When he," uh‐‐

"When he sure‐‐when he's..."

[sighs]

Sorry. "When he super...

[stammers] "Seized them from the...

Act, he..."

CARL: You make her nervous. She's fine with me.

CRYSILDA: She is not getting any better.

‐ I'm with her every goddamn day...

‐ Okay, you watch your mouth.

‐ And I can tell you that she is getting better.

‐ You are here every day because you don't have a job.

‐ I work.

‐ You pack garlic in boxes at night.

That's not working.

‐ I write better in the morning.

‐ Oh, okay, of course. It's all about you.

I have a real job. I run this house.

I clean your filth, and for what?

So you can read our daughter dirty bits

or make her read them to you?

‐ They're not dirty. It's historical fiction!

‐ It is twaddle, is what it is! ‐ "Twaddle."

CRYSILDA: You had ten years, Carl.

Ten! It is not happening!

CARL: Don't you tell me what I'm not!

‐ You couldn't finish school, Carl!

Expect me to believe you're gonna finish a book?

Ugh!

[computer whirring softly]

[keyboard clacking]

[soft dramatic music]

CARL: Gotta get just the right angle or you'll be on the banker.

ANNIE: [grunts]

‐ Oh, dude. [laughing]

Oh, my daughter's killing me!

Oh!

ANNIE: [muffled speech]

CARL: No, I'm winning. ANNIE: Oh, okay.

[laughs] What?

[indistinct chatter]

‐ Listen, I'm gonna be staying with you from now on.

[dental tool clacks] [sighs]

I'm only taking weekend shifts at Dr. Nixon's,

and your dad is getting his old job back at the bank.

‐ But Daddy teaches me fine. ‐ He does not teach you at all.

It's always recess with you two.

Open. [sighs]

[tool clacking]

What I want for you is more...

Than this filthy place.

You are much better than this.

‐ I am?

‐ Oh, honey, of course you are.

Don't let anybody mix you up about it.

[sighs] Forget Daddy's silly book.

[pop music playing over radio]

Focus on that GED.

You get it, and you get out of this place.

You wanna end up like your mom? [laughs]

Wearing these jammies? ‐ Mom, I like your uniform.

CRYSILDA: [sighs]

Get the white coat.

That's the uniform folks salute.

Girls who wear these, we just clean.

[chuckles]

Nothing on Earth dirtier than the human mouth, Annie.

You clean and clean... [foreboding music]

and it just gets dirty again.

‐ [grunts softly] Ow!

‐ Your dad has been letting you eat candy again, hasn't he?

‐ Only when we finish a chapter.

‐ Watch those molars.

The rot creeps from the back.

♪ ♪

[crickets chirping]

[knocking on door]

‐ Come in.

‐ I have to go somewhere.

‐ Yeah, o‐okay. Uh, I'll be fine.

‐ Yeah.

♪ ♪

ABDI: Hey, how are we doing?

‐ Well. Thanks for coming down. Let me show you this.

ABDI: Will it be ready for tomorrow?

ABDI'S GUY: Yeah, yeah.

[sinister music]

♪ ♪

ANNIE: [breathing heavily]

JOY: I told Abdi five minutes,

and we're done when I say we're done.

[insects chirping]

‐ First,

I would never hurt you.

What happened at the lodge...

I hit a bad patch.

But I'm through it now,

and I'll be even better when we leave this place.

JOY: You‐‐you need to talk to someone.

‐ If I put my head

in the hands of those doctors,

that means I put you in their hands too.

And I have seen enough of that world

to know that they cannot be trusted, Joy.

JOY: You checked yourself in when we were in Missouri

and you got better.

‐ I'm‐‐

I am your mother.

Now, I don't need to prove anything.

‐ What's his name?

‐ Who?

‐ Dad.

‐ The less you know, the safer you are.

‐ I don't believe that anymore. ‐ He's a bad man.

JOY: [laughs softly] That's not enough.

‐ It's not a nice story, Joy.

JOY: Tell me anyways. I‐‐I'm a grown‐up.

‐ No, you're not. JOY: Tell me.

We're‐‐we're done. Get out or‐‐or I'll scream.

‐ Little love...

[door opens]

ABDI: You okay in there? ‐ It's fine. She's leaving.

[uneasy violin music]

ABDI: Get out.

Let's go.

Come on.

[door slams]

ANNIE: [stammering] "'There are two kinds...

"'of people...

"'in this world, Annabel,'

"Prester Jack said.

'There are soldiers and settlers.'"

‐ Hello.

[approaching footsteps]

I'm Rita.

‐ Annie, can you say hello?

Annie, we talked about this.

Your dad is not a professional‐‐at anything...

BOTH: [laugh]

Fact is, little love, you need some special help

before this big GED next year, and Rita is it.

‐ Maybe Annie and I could have a moment,

get to know each other.

‐ Oh.

Well, uh‐‐

‐ Cool, thanks.

‐ Cool. [laughs awkwardly]

[retreating footsteps]

RITA: So, what do you like to read?

‐ My dad's book, mostly.

‐ Is this it?

‐ You can't just start in the middle.

It's a really big story.

‐ Your mom says you help him tell it.

‐ Um, no, I‐‐not really.

Um, I mean,

sometimes he loses his place and forgets where he left off,

so I just make sure that things match up.

I'm not very good at reading, but I can understand stories.

‐ [clicks tongue]

Are you a fan of this one?

‐ That's a kid's book. RITA: Not really.

Not the real story.

This isn't like the cartoon.

In the original, they burn his feet off,

and that's just the beginning.

‐ 'Cause he lies? ‐ That's right.

‐ So the lying part's the same, but there's just consequences.

I always tell my dad with his stories there has to be consequences

or else it's just a bunch of stuff happening,

and that's not a real story, I don't think.

‐ Well, maybe there's more than one writer in this family.

‐ [laughs softly]

‐ Pro... "Prah"...

ANNIE: Prah... RITA: Prah...

It's not working!

‐ Slow it down and sound it out.

[nostalgic piano music]

‐ "Boys."

Um, "boys all"...

[stammering]

‐ Just take a breath. [exhales]

Breathe in. [inhales]

Breathe out. [exhales]

♪ ♪

You feel okay?

Mm‐kay, let's try it again.

‐ This is where my daddy writes his book.

‐ Oh, that's so nice.

‐ This is pretty much where he works.

RITA: Do you, um‐‐ do you have your book?

‐ "Pinocchio said to himself with great content,

"'How ridiculous I was

"as a...'" [stammering]

"'Marionette,

"'and how happy I am

now that I've become a real boy.'"

♪ ♪

So he just turns into a real boy?

‐ Yes, it's his redemption.

Do you remember that word? ‐ Yeah, I‐‐I know the word.

Um, but what's it doing at the end of this story?

‐ I‐‐I don't understand. ‐ Well, Pinocchio's a liar,

so why should he get a happy ending?

Just because he gave a fairy some coins?

That's not how it works. ‐ Well, how should it work?

‐ Well, they should have killed him.

[door slams] ‐ Funny thing is, is they did.

In Collodi's first draft, that was the ending.

‐ Well, there you go. Now, why the heck did he change it?

RITA: 'Cause his editor thought it was too dark.

He thought it would scare kids.

‐ Well, sure, they should be scared!

In this world, you're either good or you're bad, and‐‐

and if you're bad, you pay.

‐ Annie, did your mom tell you that?

‐ I'm sorry, I was‐‐ could we have a conversation?

Could we have a quick, uh, word?

‐ Sure. Uh, why don't you go take a break?

‐ [sighs]

You know... RITA: Mr. Wilkes, before you start‐‐

‐ I'm‐‐I'm not a professional,

but you've got her reading toddlers' books.

I don't know how that's supposed to help her.

‐ Annie is intelligent... ‐ Yes, she is, I know that.

‐ She's probably skipped a few developmental steps early on, and that's‐‐

‐ Let me, um‐‐ let me tell you something

about how my daughter's brain works‐‐

‐ Mr. Wilkes, I'm gonna ask you not to interrupt me.

You posed a question and I'm trying to answer you,

but you have to let me, okay?

Okay.

Your daughter is smart. Very smart.

She can't grow as a reader just reading you.

You're her father.

You loom large.

All this, this has promise.

Uh, "settlers and searchers."

That's beautiful.

But it's your story, not hers.

[soft dramatic music]

You have to let her write her own.

‐ [clears throat] You‐‐you like that?

♪ ♪

‐ I'm sorry, uh‐‐

well, yes, I‐‐I do.

It's very good. CARL: [laughs softly]

Uh, thank you.

I've been a writer, uh, since a very young age.

RITA: Oh, I‐‐I know. Annie told me all about you.

‐ Uh, lots of‐‐ lots of other things that I've written too.

‐ I bet. CARL: I have some earlier drafts.

I‐‐I love to hear her read it, which is why I‐‐

why I continue to feed her those pages one at a time.

ANNIE: Even‐‐ ‐ Evidence.

‐ Evidence. ‐ Evidence.

‐ Now this one's a tricky one because it looks like "bus."

Some... ANNIE: Some...

‐ Ah... ANNIE: Some, uh‐‐

BOTH: Ah...

‐ Sum‐ma...

[laughter]

‐ Remember with the "I." [indistinct chatter]

[both trilling lips] Okay, shake it out.

[both babbling]

Just let it all go. [laughs]

‐ Okay. But that's an E.

‐ Around your neck.

[grunts] ‐ Like this one?

RITA: Mm‐hmm, yeah.

BOTH: [laugh]

[rousing music]

♪ ♪

‐ And out.

‐ [exhales]

♪ ♪

"Shameless."

Marionette! [muttering]

♪ ♪

[indistinct chatter]

CHILD: Come on, hurry up.

[overlapping chatter] CHILD: So good.

CHILD: Trick or treat.

‐ "Opposition. Opposition.

"Oppositional.

Inter‐‐interpretation."

Did you ever hear why Mom and Dad took me out of regular school?

‐ That was a long time ago.

‐ Well, they‐‐they didn't let me go back, so...

I guess that means I didn't get better.

‐ Annie, none of that matters now.

The only thing that matters is that in less than a month,

you're gonna pass this test.

‐ Well, then who will you teach?

‐ This little one, I guess.

ANNIE: [exhales]

Oh, I can't wait to meet her.

Where's her daddy?

‐ It's, um...

It's complicated.

He's complicated.

‐ No, it isn't.

He's either a good man or he isn't.

‐ Annie, nothing is that simple.

‐ Well, you're good.

And that's simple.

[book pages rustling]

Look what I learned.

Are they, uh... [mumbles indistinctly]

Mom?

Are you... ‐ Yeah?

ANNIE: Are‐‐are you okay?

[music playing softly over radio]

‐ You poor thing.

‐ You don't think I'll pass?

‐ Oh, you'll pass.

You'll pass and pass and that'll be enough.

Mm. ‐ What's wrong?

‐ Just getting by.

‐ "Yeah, that'll be enough," they'll say.

‐ Who‐‐who will say?

‐ Dirty birds

who want you close and low to the ground

so they can snatch what they want

whenever they want it,

just like your father did to me when I was barely a woman.

[tense music]

[clicks tongue]

[tense music fades, music on radio continues]

♪ ♪

[bottle slides, clunks]

♪ ♪

ANNIE: "After the last dirt was dropped on the coffin,

Prester Jack threw the shovel in after it."

CARL: Rita's taught you so well.

ANNIE: "And then he took Annabel's hand

"and they walked away from the grave

"and towards the sun

and a horizon they'd hoped they'd never find."

‐ Do you like it?

‐ [laughs] I love it.

CARL: [sighs] ‐ [laughs]

‐ Do you know I got a publisher interested?

‐ Daddy!

‐ Well, I‐‐I mean, the fella hasn't formally read it yet,

but I met him in the bank the other day

and said I'd be finished soon and he‐‐he can't wait.

‐ He'll love it. CARL: [chuckles]

‐ You found it. ‐ What?

‐ Your Laughing Place.

‐ [laughs softly]

Well, you know, that, um...

That's the thing of it, Annie‐bear.

There's, um‐‐there's something that I need to talk to you about.

I'm gonna be moving out.

‐ Um,

for how long?

‐ A while.

I need‐‐

I need to figure out my place in this world.

‐ [sniffles] Like Prester Jack?

‐ [laughs softly]

Well, actually, maybe‐‐

maybe a little bit more like Annabel.

You know, she, um‐‐

in the end, Jack is a settler...

‐ [sniffles]

‐ But Annabel, she'll never stop looking,

and that‐‐and that‐‐ that's me, darling.

‐ Well, what are you looking for?

[weeping softly]

‐ I‐‐I don't know.

That's‐‐that's part of the looking,

is not knowing what you're looking for.

‐ Please don't go, Daddy.

‐ I have to, sweetheart. ANNIE: Daddy, please.

‐ Sweetheart, I gotta go. ANNIE: [sobs] Please.

‐ There's some stuff I gotta take care of, and it's grown‐up stuff.

‐ It's because of me, isn't it?

‐ No, no, no, no, no, no.

Don't you ever say that.

No. ‐ [sniffles]

CARL: This is just stuff between me and your mom.

Now, you listen to me.

Next year, we're gonna drive to your school together

and‐‐and I'm gonna go on my book tour

and everything is gonna be perfect.

‐ It will?

‐ You remember this, Annie‐bear.

No matter what,

I will always be your number one fan.

[somber music]

BOTH: [sobbing]

♪ ♪

[mellow music playing over radio]

[billiards rattling]

[indistinct chatter]

♪ ♪

‐ What'll it be?

‐ Vodka.

Mama's drink.

HEATHER: Rocks?

‐ Yes.

[ice clinking]

[ice clatters]

‐ [sighs heavily]

♪ ♪

[song continues over radio]

♪ ♪

[engine rumbling faintly]

[birds chirping]

Mom!

Mom!

Mom, I passed. [panting]

I passed.

‐ Good for you.

‐ I have to call‐‐ I have to call Dad.

[keypad dialing]

[line trilling]

CARL: Hello? ANNIE: Hi.

Hi, it's me. L‐listen, I passed the GED.

[laughs] Can you believe it?

I just‐‐ CARL: I'm so proud of you!

Tell me everything. I miss you.

ANNIE: [laughs] I miss you too.

I can't wait to see you.

How's the book?

‐ Just where he wants you.

ANNIE: I know... [unintelligible chatter]

[ominous music]

♪ ♪

Wasn't the tour so cool?

Look, I‐‐I know SPCC is just a start, Mama,

but‐‐but, I mean, for a community college,

they even have creative writing classes.

Can you imagine?

‐ Why don't you want to go further?

‐ "Further"? ‐ Away.

‐ That's where Daddy went to school,

and he said he'd come visit me all the time in my dorm.

‐ It's no place for a good woman,

this dirty world. [chuckles]

‐ Okay, well, then we'll just have to clean it up, okay?

‐ I'm on your side, Annie. ‐ I know.

‐ I'm the only one who's ever really been on your side.

There are things you don't know, Annie.

I just...

[water rushing]

[soft sinister music]

♪ ♪

I see it now.

‐ What?

♪ ♪

‐ How to make it right.

How to get away clean.

‐ Get away? CRYSILDA: 'Cause, Annie...

♪ ♪

Once the rot takes root,

it's always there whether you see it or not.

♪ ♪

[music builds]

♪ ♪

[music winds down]

[engine turns over]

[dramatic musical sting]

[feverish music]

♪ ♪

[tires squeal]

‐ Mom! [screams]

♪ ♪

[bird calls]

‐ [gasping, coughing]

[tense music]

♪ ♪

CARL: I'm so sorry that I left you here.

I never should have gone anywhere with your mother...

like she was.

But I'm home now‐‐to stay.

[soft dramatic musical sting]

[foreboding music]

♪ ♪

[glass thuds]

♪ ♪

[somber music]

♪ ♪

CARL: Annie‐bear?

[sighs softly] It's been three months.

♪ ♪

We could fill out these college applications together.

♪ ♪

[fireworks whistling, crackling]

[fireworks continue crackling]

["Somewhere Out There" from An American Tail ]

SINGER: ♪ Somewhere out there ♪

♪ Beneath the pale moonlight ♪

♪ Someone's thinking of me ♪

♪ And loving me tonight ♪

♪ Somewhere out there ♪

♪ Someone's saying a prayer ♪

CARL: [clicking tongue]

‐ Is someone coming?

CARL: Two someones, actually.

[car door slams]

ANNIE: [laughs softly]

Rita.

‐ Annie, hi, hi.

Hi.

ANNIE: You had your baby. RITA: Hi, yeah!

CARL: Hey, hey.

RITA: Yeah, this‐‐ this is, uh, Evangeline.

ANNIE: Oh, she's beautiful. CARL: Yeah.

Isn't she, Annie? RITA: [laughs]

ANNIE: Can I hold her?

RITA: Uh...

Let's get her inside. CARL: Yeah, hurry up.

Bring you guys inside. RITA: Whee! [laughs]

I want to hear about the GED

and how you nervous you were before you took it.

‐ I was really nervous... RITA: I bet.

ANNIE: But I just remembered what you told me, and I‐‐

and I got a 4 out of 4.

‐ That's really great, Annie.

‐ It's really good to see you, Rita.

‐ Yes, it is.

Due to Rita, a lot of great changes.

You know, um...

Annie, uh...I‐‐

‐ Carl, I don't want to. CARL: [clears throat]

Because there, uh‐‐ there was something that‐‐

that we wanted to, uh‐‐ to talk to you about.

Well, sweetheart‐‐ sweetheart, um,

Rita and I have gotten to know each other better

this last year.

‐ But you already knew each other.

CARL: Yes, uh, but...

We've been spending a lot of time together.

[foreboding music]

♪ ♪

‐ Oh.

So‐‐so you're...

[Evangeline cooing]

‐ Annie, I know this is a lot to take in right‐‐

‐ You're her daddy too?

Evangeline.

And the river was only six months ago.

♪ ♪

Reading was my problem.

[Evangeline coos]

Not math.

‐ Of course it's not, sweet‐‐

BOTH: [repeating] Annie, Annie, Annie!

ANNIE: How could you? ‐ Put the knife down!

[Evangeline crying]

[crying continues]

[door slams]

‐ I‐‐she'll be fine.

[stammering] It's just the surprise of it all.

♪ ♪

[indistinct chatter]

RITA: All right, okay. CARL: So...

‐ Yeah, so I think this box and the one in the trunk.

CARL: All right.

RITA: If you put it in the front room...

CARL: Okay. RITA: You'll be good.

‐ Yep, this is all gonna fit

once we get Annie's stuff into the attic.

‐ Thank you, honey.

[churning, ominous music]

♪ ♪

[Evangeline cooing] Yeah.

♪ ♪

What about over here?

♪ ♪

‐ [laughing]

♪ ♪

[typewriter keys clacking]

[clacking continues]

‐ Mm.

[typewriter dings] [keys clacking]

‐ You know, maybe you should consider medication again.

‐ No. She doesn't need that. [scoffs]

Do you think I would be almost done with my novel

if I was still taking lithium?

‐ Carl. CARL: I just‐‐

just feel like Annie doesn't need that garbage in her system

clouding the real her.

♪ ♪

[rattle rattling]

ANNIE: Could I hold her? [Evangeline cooing]

‐ [coughs]

‐ Hey, hi.

Yeah.

[rattle continues rattling]

♪ ♪

[rattling continues]

[grunts]

[cries]

‐ It's okay. [shushing]

[crying continues]

[continues shushing]

It's okay. It's okay.

It's okay.

[muffled soft moaning]

[rhythmic banging]

[moaning and banging continues]

[waves crashing]

[foreboding music]

♪ ♪

[Evangeline crying] [crying echoing]

♪ ♪

‐ Annie? [crying continues]

Hi. Hi.

[shushing]

[fractured, dark music]

It's okay. It's okay.

♪ ♪

[typewriter keys clacking]

[tense music]

♪ ♪

CARL: It's done.

It's done!

Rita, I finished!

♪ ♪

Ah, 12 fucking years.

♪ ♪

There you go! [indistinct chatter]

Well, editors are always on the lookout for some published authors.

[indistinct chatter]

Take one, take two, take three.

I printed 500... RITA: Annie.

‐ Hey, did you want anything? Did you need anything?

[mellow music playing over radio]

GUEST: Thank you. CARL: Yeah.

GUEST: Thank you, my friend. Very excited about it.

CARL: Leave it in a public place.

To make a quick toast...

RITA: Oh, my God. CARL: To Rita!

ALL: To Rita!

‐ Thank you guys so much for being here.

RITA: Oh, well, thank you. Thank you.

[insects chirping]

ANNIE: "For Rita K. Green, my Laughing Place."

[fractured, unhinged music]

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

[book rips]

[muffled thuds, clunking]

ANNIE: [muffled] "Rita K. Green..."

CARL: Annie‐bear? What's going on?

Annie? ANNIE: "My Laughing Place."

CARL: 4:00 in the morning, what are you...

[sniffs] What's going on?

ANNIE: [breathing raggedly] [grunts]

You dedicated it to her?

♪ ♪

‐ Listen, Annie‐bear‐‐ ‐ Rita is your Laughing Place?

‐ [sighs]

Well, see, you... [sighs]

♪ ♪

You can have more than one.

‐ [breathing raggedly]

♪ ♪

‐ Come here.

ANNIE: [shrieks]

‐ [grunting, yelps]

[wood splintering, cracking]

‐ Dad! ‐ [grunts]

‐ Dad? CARL: [whimpering]

‐ [breathing raggedly]

[hyperventilating] CARL: [grunting]

[soft dramatic music]

[gagging]

♪ ♪

[gasping, gurgling]

ANNIE: [gasps] [whimpering]

CARL: [groaning]

It's okay, it's okay. ANNIE: No!

CARL: This will be fine. [groans]

It's good. Just fine, sweetheart.

It's okay, it's okay.

It's gonna be fine. ‐ [whimpering]

CARL: It'll be fine, Annie.

ANNIE: No. CARL: It's okay, it's okay.

[stammers, grunts]

[screams] ‐ [sobbing]

[dark music]

♪ ♪

[grunts] [flesh crunching, squelching]

♪ ♪

[whimpers]

[Evangeline crying distantly]

[footsteps approaching]

‐ [gasps] Oh, my God!

Annie! ‐ [gasping]

RITA: What did you do? [sobs]

‐ I thought you were good.

[Evangeline continues crying]

[snarls] ‐ [shrieks]

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

‐ No, not my baby!

No! [screaming]

[grunts]

[crying continues]

♪ ♪

[bone crunches]

‐ "The end."

♪ ♪

[twig snaps, echoes]

[Evangeline crying]

[twig snaps]

♪ ♪

[twig snaps]

[leaves rustling] [waves lapping]

♪ ♪

[crying continues]

♪ ♪

‐ [hyperventilating]

[dark, triumphant music]

♪ ♪

[Evangeline cooing]

♪ ♪

[Evangeline fussing, crying]

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

I'm on your side.

You poor thing.

[crying continues]

[breathing shakily]

♪ ♪

But there's a way.

♪ ♪

A way for us to both get away clean.

[dark, churning music]

♪ ♪

[Evangeline giggles]

[Evangeline laughing]

[laughs softly]

BOTH: [laughing]

[gentle piano version of "You Are My Sunshine"]

You're laughing.

[weepy laughter] [Evangeline cooing, laughing]

SINGER: ♪ You make me happy ♪

♪ When skies are gray ♪

♪ You'll never know, dear ♪

♪ How much I love you ♪

♪ Please don't take ♪

♪ My sunshine away ♪

♪ ♪

♪ The other night, dear ♪

‐ Want another?

SINGER: ♪ As I lay sleeping ♪

♪ I dreamed I held you ♪

♪ In my arms ♪

♪ When I awoke, dear ♪

♪ I was mistaken ♪

♪ Please don't take ♪

♪ My sunshine ♪

♪ Awa‐‐ ♪

‐ [coughs, heaves]

[grunting]

[churning, ominous music]

♪ ♪

[soft tense music]

RITA: Hello?

‐ I‐is this Rita?

RITA: Uh, you can just take me off your list, I‐‐

‐ U‐uh, do you know about a book

called The Ravening Angel ?

♪ ♪

‐ Who is this?