Original subtitles

Ruchel?

Ir hot mikh gefunen.

You found me.

Why have you been behind this door?

I was left here.

By who?

By me.

What do you mean? Wh-What happened?

I'm not so sure anymore.

Where are we?

- Home. - Can you show us?

We want to understand. We want to help.

Come on. You'll be safe with us.

This is where I grew up.

If you didn't see who did it, we can't help you.

Ruchel, what goes there?

Oh, that's my house.

Hello, can I help you?

You're Zusman Talmon.

Yes.

I need to see your wife.

Why is he going inside?

He wanted Mama to see for him.

Can you show us?

Sure.

Leeba.

There's an officer here.

Is there a problem?

I heard you're a soothsayer.

You can tell the future.

No.

Not exactly.

I know you can.

And I need to know something.

I will pay you.

What do you think, darling?

Can you help this man?

You help people, right?

Friends and family, and never for money.

Well, make an exception.

Mama had a gift. I was learning from her.

What is it you want to know?

There's a woman. I want her to be my wife...

What will she say?

I never knew my grandmother was a mystic.

What was she doing with the bowl?

She's using it to focus power.

You know, many ancient cultures used reflecting pools

as portals to higher planes.

I am not getting a clear reading.

But I'm sure this woman loves you.

How could she not?

Try again.

It is clear, Mama.

She will deny him.

I know, but he cannot hear this.

He will blame us.

What did she say?

What are you saying?

Speak in Polish, not your Jew-tongue.

Apologies.

My daughter was confused.

I'm sorry we cannot help you.

What a waste.

But why?

Why must we burn them?

They can arrest us just for owning such things.

Even our rabbi is opposed to this.

Our emigration papers will be ready soon.

Then we'll be able to leave.

Where are we going?

We love our home.

But there is a dangerous feeling rising.

We must be careful as we plan our way out.

Come and see.

Mama!

Papa!

Mama...

Damn it.

If we don't destroy these things,

we will be the ones destroyed.

Now go to the shed and fetch the broom.

Go on.

What happened in there? What did you see?

I can't remember, but what happens next

is lost in there.

You have no idea what belongs there?

No. But the Geraldines live there.

The Geraldines?

Yeah. She's me.

All of them.

The other part of her collage.

That's everything.

The house on Greene Road.

And that's the boarding house where she first lived

in San Antonio.

Her giving birth.

It's all there.

It's all so real.

So real but so far away.

She's keeping her childhood deep in her subconscious.

Something she doesn't want to access about this village.

There's some traumatic memory lost in the blankness.

Right. I was right.

Whatever belongs in that blank space is what haunted her.

The reason she told Mom not to adopt Alejandro.

We fix this, we fix everything.

- It's possible. - We have to get to those other versions of you.

We have to help them remember

- what they want to forget. - What is it?

Ruchel, what is it? What's wrong?

I don't want to go in there.

Every time I go, I call for them. They don't care.

They don't understand I'm lonely here.

Okay. Well, Ruchel, we're here with you now, okay?

We'll take care of you.

Can you show us how to get there?

Okay.

Hello there.

Do you need help finding your family?

Oh, um...

Mishpokhe?

Ah, mishpokhe.

No. No mishpokhe.

Uh... Evelyn.

You? Who are you?

- Geraldine. - Come on.

Geraldine.

I knew she changed her name,

but I still don't understand why.

What happened to her parents?

- I don't know. - Whatever this trauma was,

it forced her to change everything.

We need to find a moment where she's open

to tell us what happened.

Just one moment in her entire life, but...

That's a lot of life.

Whoa! Jesus Christ.

We got to be careful in here.

Yeah. Look, there she is on her wedding day.

Let's just try there.

Okay, we'll just ask her what happened after your dad

- broke the reflecting bowl. - Okay.

Mom, we need to ask you something.

No. Not today.

It's me. We're here to help.

No, you're not. Go away.

Mom, I need you to help us understand what happened.

What goes in here?

Why would you bring her here?

Hey, can you keep her in the hallway a little while?

We're not getting anywhere once Geraldine sees her.

- Okay. - Dad, come on.

Okay, okay, okay, okay.

Mama, what are you singing?

Something I heard in a dream.

Oh, my God. We've seen this.

Mama, we need your help. Will you talk to us?

No, no.

I don't think so. Not a good idea.

Yeah, but we can fix everything. Just-just talk to us.

It's important.

You have to tell us what happened to you,

why you abandoned Ruchel.

I said no!

It's okay, Dad. We'll find a better moment.

You ready to see the closest I got to being Sandy Koufax?

What?

Jacob?

Step away from there, it's dangerous.

What are you doing?

Look, when Dad comes home, I'll tell him

I was playing and broke the TV.

'Cause if he doesn't find out you broke it,

you won't have to go away again, right?

You got a plan for everything, huh?

Jacob,

I know I do things that you don't understand,

but just know that your mama is always there deep down.

I just, I just get a little mixed up.

So, how about I clean this up,

and then we have some ice cream?

She really was my whole world.

I have an idea.

Mama?

Did something happen when you were little?

Something that made you mixed up?

No.

No, my, my mama and papa loved me very much.

They loved me so much, they bought me a ticket

on a giant boat to America,

where I've had every opportunity.

I am so very lucky.

But what about your mama and papa?

Did they come later?

They stayed.

They stay with me in my heart.

And that's where I keep them today.

This...

it didn't happen like this.

- What do you mean? - That red coat,

it was my mother's.

Oh.

Oh, no.

I remember.

Please, don't do this!

You made her say no to me.

You cursed me.

Mama!

Papa!

Damn it.

If we don't destroy these things,

we will be the ones destroyed.

- I knew I wasn't - Now go to the shed

- supposed to see anymore. - and fetch the broom.

But I wanted to be more like Mama.

- Go on. - I wanted to help people.

There was a moment that I thought my vision

wouldn't come true.

But it did.

Please, don't do this!

You made her say no to me.

You cursed me.

I didn't. I promise, please.

We destroyed everything.

This is the end of it.

Yes, this is the end.

Where's your daughter?

She's with a friend.

No, please, no!

I waited days for them to return.

But I knew they wouldn't.

This is it. It's all my fault.

They died because of me.

- No, no. Don't say that. - I should have told them.

I saw it all. We could have all run and hid together.

This is what she carried her whole life.

She blamed herself for her parents' death.

If you could tell your parents one more time,

do you think you could change their mind?

I don't know.

You called us here to help out.

Right?

Well, there you go.

No reason to be afraid.

What do you say we give this another try?

Okay.

Damn it.

If we don't destroy these things,

we will be the ones destroyed.

Please, Papa!

We have to run.

We have to get out.

The police are coming,

and they're going to take you away.

They can't.

We've done nothing.

See?

There's no evidence.

No, listen, please!

I know what will happen.

Mama, please.

Darling, I'm scared, too.

But your father is right.

We have our papers now.

We'll leave in only a few days more.

If we run now, we'll look guilty.

But I know what will happen. Please!

Ruchel, go to the shed and fetch the broom.

I told you. I told you they wouldn't listen,

and now I let them down all over again.

I've got good news.

We can try this again.

And again. Until we get it right.

I can change their minds for them.

Again.

You have to run, you have to get out.

If we don't destroy these things,

we will be the ones destroyed.

Please, Papa.

Enough. Get out. Now.

Dad, my God, are you okay?

- Are you okay, Dad? - Again.

Please listen...

Dad, let's talk this through, okay?

- No. Again. - Oh, my God, Dad.

Please, Papa.

Please listen...

Yes! We must listen to her.

Now. Let's go hide in the shed.

Quickly!

No, no, no.

Please. Please!

No.

Okay, again.

Dad, you have to slow down.

No, they took her. We have to fix this.

Her reality is shifting.

Who knows what could happen? We have to go again.

Damn it, Alma.

Oh, my God, he's gonna kill himself

trying to change this.

This is so much worse. We should have never...

No, no, no, no, no. I have an idea.

- Help him. - How?

- Use your instincts. - Dad!

I know you don't want to see me, but Jacob's in trouble.

- What do you mean? - He's trying to save you,

but he's destroying himself in the process.

He did always think he could save me.

You have to come with me. Tell him to stop.

Please, believe me.

The way you wished your parents had believed you.

Please.

You have to help your son.

I love you. I don't want you to hurt yourself.

I need to do this.

Great.

Now look what you've done.

Maybe we can't change this. Maybe we shouldn't.

If I could just control one of them.

- Dad, you have to stop. - Dad, it's killing you.

No. I've wasted enough chances.

I'm willing to die to take this one.

- Finally do some good. - Dad, that's not true. Listen...

Again.

No. I can fix it.

- I can. - Jacob, you have to stop.

No, Mama, I'm fixing it. I'm fixing everything.

Then you'll be better, and everything can be better.

You can't fix this, Jacob.

No one can heal this.

I'm sorry.

Please don't leave me.

God, I was so young.

I know how sad and angry you are.

You just want Mama and Papa back,

but there was nothing you could have done to save them.

I wanted to.

All they ever wanted was for you to be safe, and you are.

Somehow that was a gift

that they were still able to give you.

And, look, now we have a family of our own.

An incredible, loving family who would do anything for us.

And you're part of it.

- Really? - Really.

You're part of us.

And we forgive you.

My mother's life was plagued by difficulty.

But she found a way to love and forgive herself and others.

Who are you?

Ruchel.

And because of this, for every hardship,

she continued with resilience.

From her emigration to a strange new country on her own,

to the life she built for me.

Maybe that's why she said our hardest work is also our best.

Even, or especially, when that work

came from unexpected places.

Sometimes it's hard to conceive of all the good

one person or one action can do.

But all our lives are connected.

And her life set those connections on the right course.

So tonight we light this yahrzeit candle

on the anniversary of my mother's passing.

It will burn for one day to remind us

of the spark of life that Ruchel gave us all.