Original subtitles

Hello?

Yes.

Yes.

No, before you continue, I no longer see patients.

Yes, it must be a very special case, but...

No, no. It is not a financial matter.

Yes, I understand. Listen, it's not about the money.

Dr. Van Rocie?

Yes, he was my professor, many years ago.

What is the patient's name?

What number should I call?

All right.

We'll be in touch.

SEARCH DOCTOR ALESANDER VAN ROCIE

Good evening, I'm looking for Dr. Van Rocie.

It's about a patient of his named, Verónica de la Serna,

who was referred to me.

Please call me at the number on your caller ID. Thank you.

Good evening. You must be Verónica.

Welcome.

Oh, excuse me, but I have a condition in my eyes.

It hurts with sudden bright light.

Well, I guess you're tired because of the trip.

We'll start tomorrow.

If you're hungry, I can make you some dinner.

Did you eat anything?

Please, make yourself comfortable.

- You don't like the couch? - How much?

Excuse me?

You're obviously a well-prepared psychologist.

They must have offered a lot of money for you to see me.

Does it bother you that I'm being paid to treat you?

You make a living by asking questions but you can't answer a simple one.

How much?

Ten times more than what I normally charge.

So honest.

I think that's the best way to start any kind of relationship.

After all...

I don't know you...

and you don't know me.

We do know each other.

You're a narcissistic psychologist

who thinks you're so healthy that you can heal others

of their unfortunate diseases.

And I'm a patient who desperately needs your help.

So, you admit you need help.

You tell me.

You saw my medical records.

No, unfortunately, I didn't.

The doctor who treated you hasn't answered my calls.

Why don't we start from the beginning?

Okay.

Why did you study psychology?

Normally, I'm the one who asks the questions.

Does it bother you that I ask questions?

No.

I just don't work like that.

And how do you work?

I try to create empathy with the patient through a series of basic questions.

Like what?

- What are your hobbies? - Hobbies?

I haven't heard that word since elementary school.

What do you want me to say?

Chasing ants, picking my nose.

Playing doctor.

What would you like to do for a living?

I don't know.

I haven't decided between being an astronaut or a juggler.

What is your favorite subject?

Are you sure these diplomas are yours?

Because it looks like you're new at this.

How often do you masturbate?

May I?

Do you think this is a game?

Our lives are a game.

We're nothing but pawns who are being manipulated.

By whom do you feel manipulated?

We are all manipulated by our own minds.

Not just me.

Do you think your mind manipulates you as an external being?

What's so funny?

Psychologists believe any bullshit

just so they can categorize people.

Let's make a deal.

Answer one last question to yourself, as if I weren't here.

I'll light your cigarette, and we'll be done for today.

Okay.

It seems fair.

But think carefully about the question.

What did you dream about last night?

That is a good question.

I dream the same thing every night.

I'm eight or nine years old.

I'm running through the woods.

There's a hunter.

I don't see him, but I know he's there.

I hear a shot.

I hear the groan of an animal and I run towards it.

It is a loud groan.

I can see it's a deer.

It's in pain.

I try not to look, but I can't look away.

I must look at it. I like it.

The flowers are stained with the blood coming out of its neck.

The hunter comes closer.

I don't recognize him.

He's like a version of someone I once knew.

I try to protect the deer,

but the hunter pushes me aside

and puts a chain around the deer's neck.

That's when I wake up.

But I don't wake up in fear.

Nor do I wake up sad.

I wake up aroused.

Wanting to masturbate.

Patient Verónica de la Serna, 25 years old,

referred from unfinished therapy by Dr. Alesander Van Rocie,

from whom I've not yet been able to obtain her medical records.

The patient seems to be somewhat resistant to therapy.

Her answers are evasive in general.

Nevertheless, she is quick to react. Intelligent.

The subject has recurring dreams that could, or not,

be caused by one or more traumatic events in her childhood.

This relationship with death

activates a dysfunction in sexual excitement...

What are we having for dinner?

You can't come in my office without knocking.

You must ask my permission to go in any room

that's not a common area.

Just the same,

I'll never go in your room without your consent.

When I pointed the flashlight at you it didn't seem to bother you too much.

It needs to be a stronger light source.

Don't you like mushrooms?

Did you know that many years ago there were Asian physicists

who believed these mushrooms were such a great source of energy,

that they could stop aging?

FRANCINE RIVERS THE LAST SIN EATER

Today, I want to start the session in a different way.

Are you going to show me cards with black butterflies?

Something like that.

I'm going to say a list of words,

and I want you to say the first thing that comes to mind.

But for it to work, we can't make eye contact.

Light.

Sun.

Darkness.

Moon.

Family.

The first thing you think about. No exception.

- Religion. - Church.

- Friendship. - Distrust.

- Mountain. - Cabin.

Forest.

Green.

Family.

Sex.

Satisfaction.

- Sin. - Pleasure.

- Pain. - Pleasure.

Desire.

Forbidden.

Caress.

Mom.

- Nude. - Pain.

- Masturbation. - Guilt.

- Guilt. - Family.

Remember your childhood.

What image comes to mind when you think of your family?

Aren't psychologists supposed to ask questions

that make the patient think about here and now?

You know a lot about psychology.

You're not my first therapist.

Do you mind talking about your past?

No, but there's not much to talk about.

Let's forget about here and now for a moment.

What's the first thing you remember about your mom?

We would go to a cabin when I was a child.

Was the cabin in the woods?

It was close.

Did you ever go hunting with your mom?

Never.

What's in the shed?

Don't get distracted.

When was the last time you went to the cabin in the woods?

- I was about eight or nine years old. - Why did you stop going?

I don't know.

And your dad, where was he?

I never met him.

He left the house when I was very young.

And how does that make you feel?

It doesn't make me feel anything.

He simply was not part of my life.

Did your mother remarry?

When was the last time you saw her?

I don't remember.

What is the last memory you have of her?

The trips to the cabin.

There's something you're not telling me.

We all hide things.

Even from ourselves.

Good afternoon. I'm looking for Dr. Van Rocie.

It's about the patient Verónica de la Serna.

It is important that he calls me as soon as possible. Thank you.

What are you doing?

I just wanted to see what's inside.

Let's see.

Come on. It can get infected.

I told you to ask my permission.

There's not much to do around here.

When you need something, just ask. It doesn't matter if I'm busy.

When was the last session you had with Dr. Van Rocie?

About a month ago. Why?

There is nothing that might interest you in the shed.

If you can't open the door of a simple shed,

how do you expect me to reveal all my secrets?

What kind of relationship is this?

A therapist-patient relationship.

And nothing more?

Ready.

I told you there was nothing here that might interest you.

You grow mushrooms.

And you ask what my hobbies are?

This is the most bizarre hobby I've ever seen.

Growing shiitake mushrooms is a discipline.

It requires a lot of patience and dedication.

The trunk, where the mushroom buds are planted

must be dead, so they can flourish.

It's as if life comes from something dead.

And why don't you grow them outside?

- Because they don't like the light. - We are not as different as I thought.

- What do you mean? - I like the darkness.

Let's get some.

- What are you doing? - Now, I ask the questions.

Just some basic questions.

- Okay. What do you want to know? - What are your hobbies?

I like growing mushrooms. You already know that.

What is your favorite subject?

Are those the questions you want to ask me?

How often do you masturbate?

Who do you dream about at night?

- Verónica... - About me?

What happened, doctor?

I thought that in a therapist-patient relationship

the doctor should not be led by emotions.

Let's go eat and then we can come down to talk, okay?

- Come on. - I don't see a ring on your finger.

Excuse me?

I don't see a ring on your finger. Nor a sign that there ever was one.

- You never got married? - No, I never got married.

Let's have dinner and then we can talk seriously.

Seriously, why did you never get married?

You are a successful psychologist, intelligent, beautiful.

Does it bother you that I say you're pretty?

There's nothing wrong about that.

Some women don't like to be attractive.

When was the last time you had sex...

with a man?

The first time I had oral sex with another woman,

I came immediately.

That pleasure...

was completely different from being penetrated by a man.

There's nothing more intimate in this world

than being sexually stimulated by another woman.

Skin against skin.

I think your dinner is ready.

Patient Verónica de la Serna.

The second therapy session had interesting preliminary results.

An early conclusion might indicate

that the patient was a victim of some traumatic event

that caused a possible type of dissociative amnesia,

which has allowed her to block those events from her memory.

The amnesia seems to be quite considerable, so...

it may be necessary to use a different method

to get access to those memories.

I want you to be led by the sound of the metronome.

You can feel your body

lying on the couch,

and your breathing helps you fall in a deep sleep.

Feel how every muscle in your body...

relaxes completely...

starting from your feet.

This feeling goes up to your legs...

your genitals...

the abdomen...

your chest.

Your arms feel light.

Your hands.

Finally, it gets to your neck...

and your head.

Relaxing your body

helps you fall into a deep state of sleep.

I will count backwards from ten

and when I get to zero,

you will be completely asleep.

Ten...

nine... eight...

seven... six...

five... four...

three... two...

one... zero!

Let's concentrate on the word "family."

Where are you, Verónica?

In the woods.

In the cabin where I used to go with my mother.

Pay attention to the surroundings of the location,

to the images,

to the sounds.

What can you see?

Trees.

Flowers.

- I can hear the wind. - Where is the cabin?

It's behind me.

Far away.

Is your mother with you?

Yes. She's picking some flowers.

She calls me.

While you're with your mom, watch her.

How is she dressed?

Is she wearing any accessories?

Her scent.

Allow yourself to go somewhere else.

To another location.

What can you see now?

There is a bridge.

What's on the other side?

I don't know.

Maybe your unconscious is protecting you from something.

It's a warehouse.

What's there?

I don't know. I don't want to go inside.

Why don't you want to go in?

Because I'm scared.

You are doing very well, Verónica.

My voice will be with you every step you take.

First, let's go to the door frame.

Take one more step.

Now, one more step and we're inside the warehouse.

What do you see?

Verónica, what's inside the warehouse?

Verónica, what's inside the warehouse?

I don't want to.

Do you know I love you very much?

Let's play the game I like.

I don't want to.

But she forces me.

Verónica, listen to my voice.

My voice will help you leave this experience.

I will count backwards

and when I get to zero, you will be wide awake.

Ten, nine...

eight, seven...

six, five...

four, three...

two, one...

- You know I love you. - Zero.

Good evening. I've been trying to talk to Dr. Van Rocie.

No, no. It is not for an appointment. It's a professional matter.

I'm seeing one of his patients and I need...

How can they not find him?

Is he on vacation?

He's missing?

Since when?

Do you have honey?

You told me to ask you if I needed anything.

Did you know that wasps can produce honey, too?

Wasps' nests are formed by swarms.

Same as the bees.

The difference is that bees have only one queen,

while the wasps have several.

Bees are very organized.

In contrast, wasps are a bit chaotic.

But the chaos produces a much richer honey.

They're called melifera.

That sounds kind of evil, doesn't it? But it has nothing to do with it.

- Melifera means... - They produce honey.

Yes.

Did you know that can be toxic to humans?

It's a less sweet honey,

but I think it can be counterproductive.

Because you never get tired of eating it.

You're always left wanting more.

Patient Verónica de la Serna.

The hypnotic induction yielded strong results.

It is evident that the patient was a victim of sexual abuse

by her mother, from a very early age.

No one knows when the first episode occurred.

Surely, the abuse happened in a recurring basis.

This would explain the dissociative... amnesia.

The patient probably developed a dissociative disorder

with traces of sadism.

I may have to give her some medication.

You like reading a lot, don't you?

I hardly read.

But I really like horror novels.

Stephen King series. Those are my favorites.

Oh, this one looks interesting.

The Last Sin Eater.

What did you say?

The Last Sin Eater,

- by Francine Rivers. Is it good? - Where's the bookmarker?

What bookmarker?

That book was in my room, on top of the dresser, and had a bookmark.

- Where is it? - I don't know what you're talking about.

You saw me. I just took it from here.

I'm getting fed up.

Did you get it last night?

I don't know what you're talking about. I never went into your room.

Verónica, this isn't working.

- What? - Yes.

After what happened yesterday,

I think it's best I refer you to another therapist.

The hypnotherapy was your idea.

Plus, I never made so much progress with another therapist.

- You know that's not what I mean! - Then what do you mean?

Do you always do this with your therapists?

- What? - What happened to your last therapist?

What do you mean, what happened?

Dr. Van Rocie. Why did he disappear?

- He disappeared? I had no idea. - Stop lying!

I'm not lying.

So, it's a coincidence that your last therapist disappeared

right when he stopped treating you?

Why did he stop seeing you?

- I don't know. - What happened?

- It wasn't working. - Why?

- Because he treated me like a child. - Isn't that what you like?

You're hurting me!

What then?

You weren't pleased with him and decided to take matters into your own hands.

Are you saying I had something to do with his disappearance?

I don't know. You tell me.

Maybe you forgot.

If you've ever really forgotten anything.

You're going crazy.

I think it's time for you to go.

I didn't plan on staying anyway.

You're crazier than me. You and your freaky mushrooms.

What is the meaning of psychoanalysis?

How can we help a patient solve their problems

when we can't solve our own?

The mushrooms are sown, they adhere to the bark of the tree,

develop, grow, and are harvested.

It is easy to identify a problem in an orderly process.

But how do we do that in chaos?

The Egyptians thought that intelligence was in the heart.

Then Plato speculated that the brain was the rational part of the soul,

but Aristotle ended by saying

that the heart is the center of intelligence,

and the brain is used only to cool the blood.

Breuer himself could not accept that

when one of his patients fell in love with him

and had to completely stop her treatment.

Years later, Freud took back what Breuer had not recognized openly:

that behind every hysterical neurosis there is a sexual desire.

According to Freud, libido is a living entity.

It's pleasure that drives us to live.

But it was Freud himself who also said that, under all this,

we have an unconscious need of dying.

A professor in college told us that when she was a child,

her grandfather had died in a car accident.

The grandma, who totally depended on him,

was unable to deal with the trauma

and unconsciously began to put on her husband's clothes,

to talk like him,

to act like him.

Even at night, she slept on his side of the bed.

When she was buried years later,

they had to dress her up with the grandfather's clothes

because she specified that in her will.

So...

she knew what she was doing.

And she did it anyway.

Do you know Plato's Allegory of the Cave?

Plato described a cave

in which there was a group of men.

Prisoners were held by chains attached to their necks and legs.

In such a way that the only thing they could see

was a wall in front of them.

Right behind these prisoners, there is a wall with a hallway

and a bonfire, with the exit to the cave and the outside.

Down the hallway, men circulate

carrying objects whose shadows are projected on the wall,

in front of the prisoners.

These shadows are the only thing they can see.

For them, the shadows...

are their only truth.

Their only reality.

But what would happen if one of the prisoners were released

and, by being outside the cave, appreciated the world as a whole?

First, the sun would burn his eyes.

- This can't be. You're... - But after getting used to it,

he would realize that everything he had seen until then

was just a shadow, a reflection of reality.

The allegory ends

when the prisoner decides to return to the cave

to free his former companions.

But they make fun of him, as if he were crazy.

Plato says that they would even be able to kill

in order to continue living this lie...

- in this world of shadows. - What did you do with Dr. Van Rocie?

You don't understand.

You're just one of those prisoners who would be able to kill

as long as you keep living a lie.

- Where is the doctor...? - What Dr. Van Rocie?

Van Rocie. The famous Dr. Van Rocie.

What's your name?

Your name. What's your name?

Do you like anagrams?

A therapist of your stature should be smart enough.

So, you should be able to decipher an anagram.

An anagram of your name.

What are you saying?

What's your name?

My name?

What's your name?

My name...

What's your name?

I need my glasses.

Tell me your name! Your name! You can't bury the truth!

Your name is Verónica de la Serna!

Your mom's name was Sofía de la Serna! She abused you when you were a girl!

Since then, you feel excited every time you see chains in your dream.

And everything happened here...

in this very place.

There is no mirror in the house. Isn't that strange?

But the world does not cease to exist just because you close your eyes.

You do not exist.

Don't you like mushrooms?

No, you don't exist.

You're a figment of my imagination.

You're like the version of someone...

that I once knew.

You are Verónica de la Serna.

Born on September 18, 1987.

You are 25 years old.

Hello?

Yes.

Yes.

No, before you continue, I no longer see patients.

Yes, it must be a very special case, but...

No, no. It is not a financial matter.

Yes, I understand. Listen, it's not about the money.

Dr. Van Rocie?

Yes, he was my professor, many years ago.

What is the patient's name?

What number should I call?

Very well. We'll be in touch.