Original subtitles

There was a boy, a very strange

enchanted boy.

they say he wandered very far very far over land

and sea a little shy

and sad at eye

but very wise

Dad? Dad?

Dad?

Come on, wake up.

Fuck your music.

Dad?

Dad?

Dad, someone on the phone for you. I don't do phone calls.

Look. You should take this one. Your friend Charlie died.

Come on, get up.

Who?

Charlie. Your best friend from when you had friends. Charlie.

I had a terrible dream.

I was dying.

And then I woke up and you were there. Right, well, he's dead and his wife's on

the phone.

There must have been some warning. There must have been something you missed.

Incredible. What?

Why do you say that? It's just, I'm dying.

Really?

I'm so sorry.

How come? Is it cancer?

No, of course not.

My goodness.

Well, what is it? What did the doctor say then? I haven't involved doctors.

Why the fuck would I do that?

to do the eulogy. You know you have such a way with words. Yeah, that's a pretty

widely acknowledged fact, Lucy, but you may have noticed I haven't written

anything or left the house in 20 years.

Please, Andrew, do it for him.

Come on, Andrew, please. You know how I feel.

Give me.

Dad,

don't disappoint me.

She was really upset, Dad. Come on.

Look, I know you don't care about friends or anything anymore, but you

should... You should do this.

Right?

Yeah. Yeah, of course. No, I understand.

But I've got him now.

All right. See you soon. Come on. We're late.

No.

Dad.

Andy.

Dad, we're late.

Come on.

This is a terrible idea.

I know. I swear.

I need you to get in the car, okay? No, it's... Oh.

No, Andy, Andy, Andy, Andy, Andy. It's insane.

It's insane.

I'm staring.

Please, just come. Sit down. Sit down.

by your precious dead and buried, and by the coming of the Holy Spirit.

Amen.

And now, Andrew Tyler will be giving the eulogy.

Can everybody hear me?

Hello. Ah, there you can hear me.

Now you can talk.

Hello, everybody.

Hello, Andy.

Charlie.

What are we in this world without our friends?

And with a friend like Charlie.

Charlie Aldrich, I was never without at home.

Well, I mean, you know, I mean, decades ago, when I, you know, when I

still... When I still talked to people, that's when

I could count on Charlie.

But he was always a nice man to me, and Andy.

Andy!

Andy! Where's Andy?

Andy!

Andy! Andy!

Andy! Andy!

Andy!

Andy!

Good? Good?

Good!

Good!

I can't... I can't find my uniform.

today we are diving into one of the most important concepts in all of physics

newton's laws of motion now

Sorry, um, I was just wondering if you were as easy to talk to as he is?

Am I as easy to talk to as who?

Your father.

My father?

So when did you meet my father?

We've never met.

We email.

You email?

You email? Yeah.

You email?

You don't even know how to turn a computer on.

No, you don't email.

Best your utterly confused son, Andy.

Yeah,

yeah, yeah.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Call me call say.

Can't see you.

Please.

Hello, dear child.

It's been so long since I've been face to face with fans.

They compliment you and you want to strangle them with their tongues.

Anyway, how's school?

You have your fans here, too.

People come up and ask me about you, and I don't know what to say.

I think they must think I'm brain damaged.

And I feel like a loser.

Like I'm so insecure I need a hit of your fame.

Even worse, everyone assumes I must be a genius like you.

I'm glad you have email now.

It's hard for us to talk this way in person for some reason.

Have you heard of instant messaging?

My god, do you text?

DM? Facebook?

Do you tweet?

Andy.

I

need

to stop this.

I am not your father.

My name is Genie Spokes and I work with your father's agent.

Sometimes I respond to emails to see if I can master his voice.

I am so sorry. Forever ashamed.

Genie Spokes.

She swept good.

Are you writing?

Yeah. Really?

That's great.

How am I dying?

Good.

Perhaps you just aren't good.

This time is different.

I want my boys here.

Both of them.

I should eat something.

I want my boys.

I read an article about your dad years ago.

Are you the one with the...

The crazy drug problem? Yeah. I mean, five years sober now, so...

So, he is 200%

behind your script.

Seriously? Shit. Oh, my God. Richard, Richard, we're talking Ryan Hark.

You understand what that means?

Yeah. Oh, my God.

That's awesome.

You originally from the UK?

Mm-hmm.

He's gonna be there soon. Like, next week.

You ever go back there?

Never. Like, literally, never.

So, script needs work, but we want to make this film.

Wow.

Yeah, so A.N. Dyer, your father, he's a fucking genius.

Yeah, I mean, that must have been totally awesome to have him as a dad, as

a writer, to have him read all your stuff and help you.

Find your voice and... Actually, he only ever read my diary, but... Bullshit! He

just wanted to fucking talk to me to get to Dad.

That's awful.

I don't know. He's just... I don't even know if he's read the script.

Anyway, I'm coming home.

Oh, hey, sweetie.

How are you? I'm coming back now. Love you. Bye.

Fucking bullshit.

Yeah, you and she were very brave to

do this.

I know.

But this is a way to keep her with me.

This is good.

Mum, Dad called.

Oh, I don't want to know.

He said Richard's coming.

Oh.

Let's see.

I guess we will.

Can you just be better friends with your dad?

I feel like life might improve a little if you could just get over yourself,

maybe. I mean, he flew us first class. Like, I could get used to that.

Please don't.

Alright. Well, you're about to sell your scripts, though, right? So maybe we

don't need all his luxurious gifts anyway.

Oddly a gift.

He summoned us.

I'm psyched to finally meet him.

I should have read his books before he came. Which one should I read again?

Saturn salute.

Hey listen, thank you for coming.

That's okay. Really, I haven't been here for 20 years. I didn't think I'd ever

come back, so... Thank you.

Okay.

Thanks, mate.

You're welcome.

Have a good day. Welcome, guys.

You came.

Jamie.

What's with the camera?

Exploring a new medium.

Well, hi then.

You must be Emmett.

I must be.

Should we head in?

Let's do it.

Did he tell you the same thing as me?

I'm dying.

Yeah.

Hi. Hi, I'm Gerd.

Hi. Hi, Gerd.

I'm the housekeeper, I guess.

You look good. All of you.

Thank you.

Welcome, and please, please come inside.

Thank you.

Gerd.

Hi. Welcome.

It's a really big thing for Andy to finally be with both of you three.

I prepared many things.

Probably the last time my father almost smiled.

Let me just... Hello.

Stranger brothers.

He won't hear you even if you want.

Do we...

Do you want a drink or something?

Sure, yeah.

Tea? Coffee?

Beer? Coffee.

Same. Yes, thank you.

Your father doesn't usually come out of his studies, so if he refuses

to see you, just don't take it personally.

I probably will, actually. I've come a really fucking long way.

For fuck's sake.

Thank you.

Jeez. Oh, thank you.

Hey, Andy, this is Emmett, your nephew.

Nice. Nephew.

Good to meet you. Wow.

How are you? I'm good, yeah.

Good. Hey, Andy.

How is the old goat?

Well, he's crazy.

And he's getting crazier.

Mostly, he sleeps and eats in his study.

That's nothing new.

He once got me snooping around in there.

I couldn't find my diary, and I went in to ask him if he'd seen it, and it

wasn't there, so I just got sucked into this deeply personal world that he'd

never let anyone in on. He'd never share with me.

He'd never... Nephew, do you want a

tour of the place?

I do. I think I'm going to say hi to Grandpa. Okay. Well, then I'll take a

shower, and then I'll see you in a bit. Okay. Right.

Jamie,

I assume this is your work.

Part of it.

Yeah, and I heard you were trying to carve out a career documenting people's

suffering. I hope I don't disappoint.

For once, you may not.

What kind?

Has everyone met Gert?

She's a much more important person than this costume.

suggest put on normal clothes, please.

Okay.

No. Dad, this is, um... This is my son.

Oh. Forgive my appearance.

Forgive my reality.

Glad to meet you, and thank you for coming, and hope you enjoy the show.

I love your house.

It's so cool.

Oh, thank you.

Um... I wonder, could you do your grandfather a tremendous...

favor and go through that door and around the corner where

there's a bar, well, really just a bottle of scotch, and pour me a drink

into one of those stubby little glasses.

Yeah, yeah, of course.

Dad, he's only 16.

It's not a particularly difficult drink to me.

Are you already drunk?

Not already.

I'm just thrilled to have family back after too long a time. I'm a little

nervous and I thought a drink might settle me down.

And actually, Richard, I am also old enough to be drunk at any hour.

Here you go.

My compliments.

The ratio of scotch to air is flawless.

Thank you.

I could get used to having grandchildren, right?

Boy, there's a syringe in the desk drawer.

For fuck's sake.

I'm kidding!

I'm kidding! Richard!

God!

Nothing is humorless as an alcoholic who isn't drinking.

Except maybe an alcoholic is still it.

Ah.

Yeah, we are all agreed.

I should shut up.

Let's meet in the study.

Okay, okay, okay.

When do you think was the last time someone was in here? Looks like no one's

been here since you left.

I took almost everything with me.

I am incredibly...

Jealous of your room.

Jealous? Yeah.

Why? I want your room so bad. No, you don't. This is my dad's old room. It's

old.

Everything's old, as you can tell.

This is your dad's old room?

Yeah, and the clothes, too. I mean, I have nothing nice of my own. My father

likes to keep all his money to himself.

This is nice. This is good. This is, like, vintage.

I've been thinking a lot recently about what it

is that we leave behind.

It is your manuscript.

Correct.

As it happens, I've been asked by a certain library if I would consider

selling it.

How much?

Any proceeds from the sale, however grand or meager, would not be finding

their way.

to either of you in any hurry.

Which brings us neatly to why you're both here.

You should know that my goal as a father

was to do no harm.

I mean, look where that got me.

You could sue for malpractice.

But I am honestly trying to do better with Andy, and I'm trying to say the

things that I should have said to the two of you, but I think it makes things

worse.

I think I did you a tremendous favour by being so absent.

I was isolated.

I wasn't able to be real.

Personally, my own father, my life as a writer was a charade. That is to say,

a charade as in a parody of living.

It made me miserable is what I mean.

And you blame that on the writing? It didn't fucking help.

So if you had been a banker, you would have been a great dad.

Just like those great banker dads out there.

Dads, look, I mean...

Whatever your experience, people love your books. I mean, they really, really

love them. Yeah, and I really, really hate them for that. The point of this

conversation is Andy, because right now I'm his only family, and I can't stomach

the idea of him being alone.

But first I have to explain a few things.

I know you're familiar with the story of Andy's...

Conception. Oh, you mean the one about you having an affair and destroying

mum's life and taking the baby in afterwards and that baby being Andy?

Yeah, I think I remember that one.

I'm pretty sure that story broke mum's heart.

I didn't anticipate our lives together splitting sideways when Andy appeared.

Really? I'd always imagined we'd end up raising him together.

You actually imagined that? What the fuck?

After you had an affair and a fucking baby with another woman.

You thought that would just all be okay.

All of which, all of which is true.

Except the story itself.

The real story began 20 years ago.

What do you mean, real?

20 years ago, I was feeling like a failure, while being reminded

of what a success I was.

That can really wear you...

And thinking of the two of you just reminded me of my father's failures. I

wasn't living.

And it was about this time that I was contacted by a

group of Swedes, or rather one Swede in particular, a man by the name of

Nord Bellaf, a palingeneticist.

Excuse me?

A palingeneticist, Jamie. A word which I had, until that moment, been unfamiliar

with myself.

Dad, I'm not... I'm not sure that's a real word. How are you spelling this

word, Dad?

P. P.

A. A. L.

L.

Ingeneticist. I'll save you the time. The palingeneticists were funded and

founded by Alfred Nobel.

He, very public. They, very private.

And towards the end of his life, Alfred started to regret

that he would leave this world without a proper heir.

And he turned to science to help him.

DNA, a laboratory.

It took 80 years.

before the seed bore fruit.

Soon afterwards, a committee was formed to identify

significant candidates.

I see your faces, boys.

I'm sure mine must have looked much the same.

If I hadn't have been so vulnerable, I never would have believed something so

absurd. It was pure science fiction.

How can anyone believe such gothic nonsense?

My initial response was, don't be insane.

But they explained that they had already successfully worked with a few

individuals who had been selected.

due to their superior intelligence and societal value.

Well, you can imagine.

My ego kicked in.

I had one condition, that I raised the boy myself.

And they agreed with one condition of their own, which was that they be

allowed to monitor him.

as he grew, and then a hair sample and a blood

sample, and that was it.

You had an affair, Dad, and the girl got pregnant.

And she had a baby, and here we are.

That was just the cover story.

I never had an affair. The cover story?

Really? Dad, come on. You had an affair, and you were careless. Because

otherwise, what you're telling us is that Andy is a... What?

Really? The palingeneticist?

What?

Cloning. That's what we're talking about here, right?

Cloning.

I hate that word.

Clone.

What would you prefer? An autonomous reflection.

Oh, yeah, that's much better.

Richard, come on, help me out here.

I mean... I... I mean, they don't know how to

clone people yet, Dad.

That's what they want you to believe.

What?

OK.

I can't explain the science to you, but I can give you this.

Is there a birth certificate in here? There's a birth certificate and an

invoice.

I mean, this looks pretty real. 12 Swedish crowns. At least it was cheap.

Does Andy know? Does Andy know? Richard, are you... Andy must not know, and Andy

can never know. And the only reason I'm telling you now is because when I'm

gone, for you to give him some sense of who he is or...

Who he was him meaning you I know in a manner of speaking. I know it's hard to

believe no dad It's fucking impossible to believe But obviously you are

Confused I mean, I'm I mean really confused.

I'm not confused.

Yes, you are Richard what is your problem? Tell him he's confused.

I'm not confused Everything I'm saying is

Absolutely true.

OK, well, I'm sure you believe it 100%, but that doesn't make it true.

Look, could I have said at that point, I have cloned myself? It would have been

preposterous. Well, that 17-year-old kid out there, then, that's my dad. I know

it's difficult.

My father, the teenager.

This is you spinning yourself off into one of your alternate worlds to say that

Andy is a clone.

But he is.

Oh, my...

Two and a half years later, Andy was born, without complications, to

a surrogate in the Czech Republic.

Aren't you going to say anything?

There is... a resemblance.

What? No!

He is half the fucking size of him. You've seen the pictures of Dad when he

was 17.

The dire family straight, a late growth spurt. You were both the same.

I'm sorry,

Dad, but I can't hop into this particular narrative. Not now.

I understand that you must be feeling very lonely and maybe harbour a desire

to connect before it's too late. And I can appreciate that. I'm here to do

that, if you want.

But I can't pretend it's anything else.

It's funny.

You're speaking almost like an adult.

And Richard is strangely considerate in his old age, no?

If you don't believe me...

You don't believe me.

But Andy is a good kid.

And I just hope you'll try to make him feel like he's not alone

when all is said and done.

Go, go, go, go, go, go.

It's a lot for me to know.

Good to see you, Dad.

Thank you.

This is the house.

It's fucking old.

Yeah, you've got my room there. That's your room? Your dad's room is actually

up there.

My dad's room? Yeah, yeah. Oh, okay. And then Jamie's room's here.

Hi, Andy. This is Jeannie.

There's a book launch party tomorrow night. I'm sure your dad will survive a

Saturday without you. Bring some friends. It'll be fun.

Emmett? Yeah?

How do you feel about coming to a book launch?

Book launch?

Yeah. Yes.

Intrigued? I am.

Only if you promise to show me around New York. Yes. Deal. Okay. Book launch.

Right. I'll text this girl and... Cool.

This would be really nice with... With water.

With more water, yeah.

Those spare rooms?

Oh, what?

Do you need anything, Andy?

Yeah, sorry. It's fine.

Hi. Sorry, I didn't know that was here.

Look, we're gonna go. Bye then.

You can't possibly believe this.

Just... I'm just saying that we, you know, we should...

Look into it a bit more. Just some more... research.

Look into the... the... Palin geneticists.

Look, can we just not right now? Yeah, it's not the time or the place.

How is this not the time or place? Please, can we stop?

Can we just stop and talk about it later?

When you're back in New York and I'm stuck here with my two dads. I'm just

saying, right, we need time to properly digest it. Well, maybe you're more

willing to soft-shoe this.

You packed your bags and left the country when the whole divorce happened.

But I remember, I remember the shock.

Mum was catatonic for a year and we were devastated.

All of a sudden you can talk to dad without screaming or punching things.

There's no way you believe this shit.

So why are you pretending?

They do look similar.

Is that mom's house? It is.

Oh, Richard.

Oh, love.

Mum, I'm worried that Richard has either lost his mind entirely or is trying to

manoeuvre in some way. Manoeuvre?

Yeah, what's going on? Where's Emmett? Oh, he's stayed at Dad's. He's with,

um...

I'm sorry.

Is what? What do you mean?

What? He's saying... He's serious. He's saying that Andy is a clone of him.

Oh, my God. No.

What?

A clone.

The...

I know, I know, I know what it is.

So Dad's saying that he didn't have an affair.

Oh, my God, no. Come on. What are you saying? He's lost it.

He's got dementia or something.

Whatever the technical term is for going right off the deep end.

He's completely serious. He says that Andy is... ..his, um... ..his clone.

Andy's Dad.

No. He is dad.

He's his daddy. I mean, he is dad.

Oh, my God.

There are these people, palingeneticists from Sweden.

I don't know what it is.

This is not... I know, Mum. Sorry, it's a lot.

It is a lot.

It's a lot.

Let's talk about human clothing.

Powerful elites who may already be... using clones to control the world and by

extension you some scientists say they will have cloned a human baby his name

is rael and he heads a wealthy religious sect and whose ambition is to clone a

human being we plan to show the baby between 12 to 24 months

clone human being

everybody was laughing then we are laughing

Dolly proved how relatively easy cloning is.

Remove the DNA from an egg, then replace it with DNA from the skin cell and

implant it into a surrogate mother.

The result is an exact duplicate of the animal whose DNA was used. This looks

pretty real.

Thanks to cell cloning technology, we can help people with the following

medical issues.

That's how we do it. Take the egg.

Take the nucleus.

Yeah shit, it's my grandma's asking me what time I'll be there

Grandma Isabel Isabel

What she would she like?

She's nice.

She's a nice nice lady.

She lives in a In a big house in London. Whoa

There's a very Happy lady.

Oh, shit.

What? It's Jeannie. Oh, it's fucking Jeannie.

I'm gonna... Should I go?

I'm gonna head to Grandma's. I'll text you later.

Um, okay.

Andy!

Um, hi, Jeannie.

Hi, how are you?

Fine. Did you, uh... Did you get my text?

Great. Where is it?

Oh, so it's at a place called The Pump.

I'll text you the address.

See you.

See you tomorrow.

Bye. Bye.

What's for dinner?

Mmm, that looks good.

He's okay.

He's pretty crazy.

Uncle Jamie.

Yeah, he's good.

He's doing okay.

One,

two, three, one, two, three. Sound test.

Sound test.

Hello. Hello?

Is there anybody in there?

Sorry. Welcome back.

You must be Andy.

I must be.

I'm Isabelle.

Isabel, formerly Isabel Dyer.

Oh.

Hi.

Um, it's really, really nice to meet you. I guess I've always been

curious.

This isn't my normal look.

I'm going to a party tonight.

You look nice.

Imagine a shirt and a tie.

Devastating, then.

You've aged a lot better than my father.

Oh.

Oh, it's nice to meet you.

But come in, please.

So...

I'm sorry. Oh, oh, no, no, I'm sorry.

I'm sorry.

I wasn't expecting this.

No, no, of course, I can only imagine. I know the divorce was hard, and seeing me

must be... No, it's not you. I promise, it's... I haven't been

back here in a long, long time, and...

I'm a little thrown.

I'm sure.

I'll get Dad.

She's waiting outside.

No, no, no.

I can't.

He'll be out in just a sec.

I will warn you that he is really losing his grip, Mrs. Dyer.

Platt, actually.

Platt? Of course. Sorry.

It was really nice to meet you.

I hope I wasn't, um... No, no, no. It was nice to meet you too.

Thank you.

The boys talked to you.

Why else do you think I'm here?

They're worried.

They think you're... I know what they think.

Why didn't you tell me from the beginning?

You believed me then.

The sheet was what? Was 20 years ago? Longer than that.

But humans, as far as I know, have not been cloned yet.

Not many people do know they made sure of that.

Who?

The palingeneticists.

All they need for Einstein is a strand of his hair.

Mozart, Keats.

In 10 or 20 years, the world will experience a new renaissance.

A new enlightenment.

I've even heard rumors of Shakespeare.

The more you talk, the less I believe it.

I'll shut up then.

And yet, his smile.

Yes, his smile.

The way he stands and moves.

Yeah, the standing and the moving.

And the eyes. Ears.

His.

Me.

Please,

can I hold your hand?

I've missed you so much.

Why did you make us all believe that you'd had an affair?

It was the only reasonable explanation.

Oh, you were so cruel.

I was devastated.

Look at me. Look at me.

When did you stop?

Trusting me Because things could have been so different if you trusted me if

I'd known I never would have done it I thought there'd be a bump maybe a hard

bum and then we'd recover and then then we'd have this boy Already had boys. No,

but we would have had this other boy and we could care for him together I had

pure intentions at the time What what were those intentions what

were they

Well, maybe just to give myself a chance to be happy.

I know, silly word, but I've been such a dreadful husband and a

lousy father.

But to see the possibility of what could have been, to get to see myself

do better this time.

He's a different person, Andrew.

He is not you.

I know.

Would we have stayed together if Andy had never happened?

Would we?

Even if you were miserable?

Yes, probably.

I gave up my whole career just because you asked.

I often wonder why I did that so easily.

I loved you, I suppose.

The past tense... ...stings.

I always saw you as that boy.

I know.

I've spent years wondering why women like me give

up their lives for men like you.

It's called love.

The extraordinary life adventure.

The question is why some women resist.

Jesus.

What an incredible answer.

What are you doing?

Where are you going?

Please don't, Andrew.

Please stay a little longer.

Don't. I have to go. Don't.

This is not good for either of us. Well, Andy's a good boy. He's better than I

am, much better.

You'll check on him when I'm dead.

You're not dying any time soon. Please, please stay.

You look so lovely.

The boys are... The boys are really worried about you. Oh.

Oh. Is anyone... Is anyone taking care of you?

There's nothing to take care of.

Please don't fucking do this.

I can't fucking do this! I can't fucking do this!

I can't do this!

Please! Please!

Hey, want coffee?

Mum?

I've been to see your father.

And... I'm afraid he's telling the truth.

Mum, you can't be serious.

This boy opened the door.

He didn't have a shirt on, he had a suit on.

It was a perfect fit.

And he was... He was funny and sensitive and touch-bold.

And that was the boy that I fell in love with and the boy that I married.

And the boy that broke my heart.

What? I know. I know how it sounds.

You... You really believe him? Because, honestly, I... I was just humouring him.

I didn't... I know. He is telling the truth.

Because what I felt in front of him, I mean, what my body felt in front of him,

it was like... It was as if all my

senses were just loving him again. I mean, that boy, that Andrew from when we

were young.

I'm glad that Andrew has brought you together to

meet Andy.

And so we're supposed to just forget everything that he's ever done to us?

Oh, Richard, look at you.

Look where you are in your life. You've survived.

A child.

should not have to survive his own father.

He encouraged you, didn't he? In his own way?

He made me feel so fucking stupid!

Richard, please!

I still feel so fucking stupid!

Shit, I've got... You have to go?

Now.

This is extraordinarily bad timing, Richard.

I have... I have a meeting.

Okay.

No, that's okay, that's okay. Of course, you can't... You can't miss a meeting.

Take the car.

Thanks, Mum, but actually, it's not... It's not AA, it's, um...

It's this screenplay I've written.

It's, um... Really?

This is the producer.

It's him. I've got to... Fuck.

Raina! Hey!

How's my favourite producer?

They agreed with one condition of their own, which was that they be allowed to

monitor him as he grew.

Hey, Jamie.

Would you mind being my... ...sponsor tonight?

I... I need your help.

You're in recovery, man.

Yeah.

I'll be fine.

Please.

I love you.

Please do this for me.

Two minutes.

Yes. Thank you.

Go on.

I'll meet you in the van.

Hey! Rainer!

What's happening?

I'm not sure I totally understand.

So Ryan is here, he's doing some, he's going to some book launch.

He wants to meet you.

So come on, we take a ride, yeah?

Yeah? Come on, let's go. My brother Jamie wants to come with us. Okay.

Andy?

Andy?

Andy!

Andy!

Andy!

Gene,

what is this?

Shh, we have to be quiet. This is the author. He's reading. Sorry. Yeah.

He's doing like a little excerpt of the poem.

Right. However school has a soul.

Have

another.

The author was a mechanic.

He was always surrounded by cogs.

He basically always felt like a cog in a machine.

So that's why it's called The Soul of a Cog. The Soul of a Cog. It makes sense.

Yeah. Right?

Yeah. Totally.

It's a good title. So is this the first ever?

First one. First one, yeah. Really? First book launch ever.

Where is your accent from?

I'm from New York. Oh, New York. New York City.

Awesome. So when did you get over here?

A couple of days ago. Oh, wow.

So not long. How are you finding it?

It's nice.

It's very nice. This is my first time in London.

Has Andy been showing you around? Oh, Alice, please let me introduce you to A

.M. Dyer's son, Andy, and his nephew.

You look exactly like him.

Thank you.

I met your father at the train station. I was waiting for a train, and he was

wearing this most amazing, amazing sweater. It was exactly the color of his

eyes. You have the exact color.

So, Rose, we're going to a big book launch for the mechanic-turned-drug

-dealer-turned-literary sensation.

We are such huge fans of your dad.

Are you?

Yeah.

We on?

Oh, Richard's gonna fix that.

Is he?

Yeah, we're doing a movie of Saturn Salute.

Are you?

Of course you are.

It's going to win every fucking award in the world, man.

Hey, you know what I thought?

I thought maybe we should just go see your dad.

Look, I'm working on him, but I still don't have a solid answer about Saturn

Salute. I said I'd get you a meeting.

And I'm still trying to sway my dad. It's not easy. You know, he's like...

Where is he?

I'm worried he's going to find out. Find out what? I'm worried the boys are going

to tell him what I should tell him.

He's with Emmett. They went to a book launch. A book launch? What the fuck's

sake? Why would he even do that? A book launch? We can't let him fall into that

fucking world.

Fuck's sake!

Andrew, wait.

What do you mean by everything? I mean everything, everything.

No, no, no.

I think you should not... Don't do it, Andrew.

Look at this.

Let's get us a drink.

You live somewhere?

I'm gonna get a water.

Water?

What is with the Saturn salute, Matt? It's a scotch. Thanks.

Actually mate, I have a scotch.

A scotch?

Why not?

Here's to, uh, Saturn's salute.

To Saturn's salute.

So Richard, get in this movie, mate.

Fuck, I hate scotch.

You know, I think I need to talk to my brother alone.

He's reading my script, but he wants to talk to Dad, and I just, I don't know

what to do.

He really wants to talk to Dad. No, no, wouldn't you tell me what is happening

with all this Saturn salute business? Hey!

Brother!

Rose! Hey Andy.

Friends, how are we? How are you doing?

Great. How are you?

I mean, how are you? How are you finding life?

Whoa, buddy. Listen, we should hang out. We should really get to know each other.

I'm around.

Put it away, please.

I told it, they know everything now, and I have told them.

So they would tell Andy.

Hey!

I found you.

I found you. Yeah.

How are you?

I'm good, I'm good. You're okay?

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm good. I'm good.

Dancing. Yeah.

Dancing.

I'll be back, I'll be back.

Okay. I'm going to go find Jeannie, okay?

Throw up or something, okay?

No, that wasn't... Emmett!

And then we'll talk.

It is such a pleasure to meet you in person.

I'd like to introduce you to Ryan Hark, the big star. He's right here, and he's

your greatest fan. He loves your novel, and we are so stoked to be turning

Saturn Salute into a movie.

With your permission, of course, sir. I'm with Richard writing the screenplay,

and we will produce the most beautiful book adaptation ever seen. Now, what are

you doing here? I'm gonna go find him. I'm gonna bring him to you. Wait there.

Wait there. I'm gonna bring him right here.

No, Dad.

No, listen. It's not...

Listen to it

Such

a pleasure to happy here. We weren't expecting you to be here. I uh, I'm

Jeannie. I'm sorry I I technically I work for you, but I don't I don't work

for you, right? I actually work for your agent bike. Yeah, I need to find Andy

Andy.

Yeah I'm so sorry. Andy, Andy, Andy. You must come with me. I have something I

have to tell you. No.

Yes, yes, yes. No, no, no, no. You can't be here. You can't be here. No, leave me

alone. Leave me alone.

Dad, stop. You better leave me alone. No, you stop, Andy. You must listen to

this. Come here.

You have to know, I want you to be a different person, different to me. I

want you to be the absolute opposite of me. You're fucking embarrassing me and

you have nothing to worry about because I'm nothing like you. No, that's what

I'm saying. You're exactly like me. You are me and I am you. Listen to me, I'm

done. I'm going to apply to colleges in New York. No. And I'm going to move out.

No. And I'm done with you. No, no.

I don't have anything to do with you anymore.

You can't leave me, Andy.

You can't. It's not fair. I will die. Leave me alone. Leave me alone. Please

listen. Leave me alone. Shut the fuck up.

I'm fucking done with you.

Leave me alone.

I'm going to take him home.

You're my dad.

Watch out.

Watch out, Jamie.

Ow. Okay.

All right. Good. That's good, Dad. All right.

That's good. Get it out.

Here we go.

You're fine?

Yeah.

There we go.

There we go.

Dad,

does Andy sleep in your room?

No, no, no!

I don't sleep there!

That's not since your mother... Since your mother left.

It's Andy's room.

I'll go get some water.

What the fuck?

Can you just fucking stop that, Jamie?

Mindy.

Hey, man.

So here you are. Here I am.

What do you mean?

You know, I just thought you were into, like, genies or something.

Oh.

Uh, no.

Genie's not into boys, and I'm not into girls.

Emmett.

Yeah? You know what the time is.

Sorry, we've just got to...

Do you want to come in, man?

Come in.

Dad. Whoa, what are you doing here?

I thought you'd fallen asleep.

See, I thought you'd creep into my study.

You seem to be feeling better.

Some patronized me. I won't have that from you.

Patronized? Dad, you were in pretty bad shape.

Well, as you can see, I'm fine.

Where are my drugs?

Look, I was worried about you. The house is a mess.

Yeah, well, you can go home, my prodigal son. I thank you for your concern.

I'm hardly prodigal.

Don't be so literal. Then return to your hoeing, my bitter eldest.

Look, I just wanted to make sure you were okay.

Since when did you become so straight and sincere?

I can't find my fucking drugs!

Have you heard from Andy?

I mean, I hope he's still with Emmett.

I don't think I'll ever escape him.

I know the feeling.

I feel like I was a mistake.

A fairly massive mistake, actually.

I don't think you realise how truly important you are to him.

I'm connected to you and I can't explain it.

You know, when you were struggling, I used to have these daydreams of you.

Overdosed and dead.

somewhere. But I was glad because I could finally

love you without complication.

I could mourn you for the rest of my life without guilt.

Isn't it insane?

I could only be a good father to a dead son.

But you never did die.

Sorry to disappoint.

There were times when I wish I had.

I hear you and I appreciate the honesty.

It's no validation.

We're not in therapy now.

I just... I just mean I can relate to that fear of everything.

I... I know that feeling.

Maybe I didn't appreciate what you and Mum went through with me and my problem.

Do you believe me?

I do believe you.

You think I'm telling the truth?

Yeah.

Bullshit.

I think you're just humoring me. I think you think I'm lost, I'm a

goner in another world.

I want to believe you.

It's not the same as believing me.

And all this angling and flattery.

I remember the lunatic at the party, all that film, all that film shit.

Tell me I'm wrong. Tell me your intentions are pure.

Surely you can do something of your own without me.

Am I a cherished thing?

What?

Am I a cherished thing?

Are you quoting me?

I believe I'm quoting myself.

How very grand of you.

You took it from my journal.

I don't know what you're talking about.

You stole my journals.

And you quoted me.

word for word for a novel that later became

a smash-selling big hit.

I was probably just trying to get a sense of the voice of an adolescent.

You should be flattered.

It's plagiarism. It's authenticity.

And believe it or not, Richard, exactly that kind of authenticity was what I was

famous for.

You're not even fucking sorry!

What do you want from me, Richard?

You want to be a writer?

It's not my burden, it's yours. I have more respect for you as a fucking

addict. At least it was your own fucking thing.

All the endless monologues about you being a shitty father, and I have the

distinct feeling it's just the same self-indulgence.

And now you're going to play that role, and we have to sit around and just

listen.

You don't know how it was to stand outside this office and wonder what your

father's real life was like, the one he actually cared about. I've already told

you what an awful person I am. It shouldn't come as any surprise.

How is it that you can never apologise for anything?

Do you have any idea how far from an actual human being you are?

Do you have any...? Any idea what you've done to your kid?

I think it pains you to think how much like your father you are.

You see how he hurts people and you think that's how you'll be.

Dad wanted to tell me something at the party but he couldn't. Well he didn't.

Couldn't bring himself to or didn't? He was cut off.

But when he was your age, he looked like you. He could count his good friends on

one hand.

And at your age, he could do anything and be anyone.

An infinite amount of permutations lay in front of him. It was the same amount

that lie in front of you.

But he changed, right?

Price of success.

One day, he couldn't leave the house.

And before we knew it, he didn't want to leave. And he became more and more

insular and isolated.

But Andy, you don't have to go in that direction.

You can go any way you want.

That's the beauty of autonomy.

You choose.

Because you can leave.

You're a grown-up now.

Look at you.

Look,

I like Andy.

I like the idea that that's you.

Before whatever happened, happened.

To you, to all of us.

You don't have to worry about him being alone.

You'll make sure he's okay.

In whatever way he needs.

Yeah, sure.

Look, I'm gonna go back to Mum's now.

Regardless of everything, Dad, I'm... I'm glad I came back.

Regardless of what?

Regardless of your fucking insanity.

Finally a straight answer.

Yeah. At least I got one right.

I guess this is so long then.

Tem paz conmigo mi dolor

Memoria

cada vez es igual

No en vano busco

mi cause No

en vano busco Oh, my God.

or a brief moment like a flash

Who knows?

The letter came today from him, from my eldest.

I didn't open it right away, left it on the desk, stared at it

for a while.

I already knew, knew what it would say.

Doing well, happy, won't be back for Christmas.

The youngest, he still calls me Papa.

He doesn't know any better.

He doesn't know what I am.

Tell me a story, he says, every night.

Every night I say the same thing.

Tomorrow.

the son of the middle.

He doesn't knock, doesn't ask.

Warm at first, then cold, then

gone.

The eldest used to sit beside me when he was little,

before I broke him.

He asked questions, too many questions.

I answered sometimes, until I didn't.

The fire doesn't burn anymore, not in

the hearth, not in me.

I tried to write tonight.

Once there was a man who built a house of words.

No.

Once there was a father who couldn't love enough.

No.

Once there was a fire and it burned everything he loved.

In the morning, the house was empty and quiet,

too quiet.

I called for them, no answers.

I'm back in the study now. I pick up the pen.

Write a single line.

Tomorrow never comes.

And I stop.

I found it that night.