- 23 hours ago
Category
🎥
Short filmTranscript
00:15Come with me to a place of wondrous contradictions, a place that is silent and unstirring, yet
00:24restless and alive, a place of untold peace and boundless dread.
00:31Come with me into the very cradle of darkness, where those who dwell, dwell alone.
00:52Lovely weather.
00:53Nature's really rolling out the welcome mat for us.
00:56It rained the first time we were here.
00:58We were just too preoccupied to notice.
01:01Harry and Margot Sloan are returning to the Fairview Inn, a place where their love first
01:07blossomed.
01:08It's been nine years since that cherished weekend they spent here.
01:12The hotel hasn't changed, but they have.
01:16Look at this place.
01:17It's turned into a retirement home.
01:19A little louder, Harry.
01:20I don't think they heard you.
01:25Can I help you?
01:27It's Mr. Jennings, isn't it?
01:29Why, yes.
01:30You had that sweet Angora cat.
01:32Remember, Harry?
01:33The one that used to stretch out on the counter.
01:35Dear Rosie, she passed on two years ago in May.
01:39Oh, I'm sorry to hear.
01:40We're the Sloans.
01:41We have a reservation for the weekend.
01:43Oh, the Sloans, yes.
01:44Returning to us after all these years.
01:46I've been holding room 212 for you, the honeymoon suite.
01:50Has the room changed much?
01:51Oh, no, it's quite the same.
01:53It still has that wonderful view of the shoreline.
01:56And that charming lighthouse.
01:58With a megawatt beacon that glares through the window in the middle of the night.
02:01That's my husband.
02:03Always looking on the bright side of things.
02:06I hope you have a pleasant stay.
02:23My God, Harry.
02:25Everything's exactly the way I remembered.
02:27Including the phone.
02:29Did you kill him to get a push-button model?
02:30How am I supposed to check my voicemail?
02:32We spent the first night right here, right in front of the fire.
02:35Where's my cell phone?
02:36We never even made it to the bedroom.
02:39Got to be in here somewhere.
02:40I remember staring up at that painting while you slept beside me.
02:45I kept thinking how sad and lonely it seemed.
02:48Everything's so serene, so idyllic.
02:51And that solitary figure having no one to share it with.
02:54Oh, hell.
02:55I'll bet it's sitting on my desk in the office.
02:58Funny.
02:59It doesn't seem so depressing now.
03:02If you have to be alone, that's the perfect place to be.
03:04I'm going downstairs.
03:05See if I can find a real phone in this place.
03:07Harry, wait.
03:08What now?
03:09Don't go.
03:10Stay here with me.
03:12Oh, give me a break, Marco.
03:13This is business.
03:14The whole reason we came up here was to forget all that and spend time together.
03:18Meanwhile, I've got two cases coming to trial next week
03:20and a pair of dyslexic interns writing my briefs.
03:23We've got all weekend of spending it.
03:24Don't you understand?
03:25It may be too late by then.
03:27Look, I just drove nonstop all the way up here.
03:30I'm just too tired to fight with you right now.
03:34Maybe we have no reason to fight anymore, Harry.
03:36People only fight when they're trying to save something.
04:04You're very fond of that painting, aren't you?
04:06I'm sorry if I startled you.
04:09The door was open and I thought you might like some company.
04:12Yes, of course.
04:12I guess my mind was somewhere else for a minute.
04:16I can understand why.
04:19Let me introduce myself.
04:23Name's Evans.
04:25Are you a guest here?
04:26Oh, yes.
04:26I've been at the Fairview for years.
04:29In fact, I stay in this very floor.
04:31And Mrs. Evans?
04:32Just myself.
04:34Always alone.
04:36It's a terrible thing to be alone.
04:39The person can be married and still feel alone.
04:45When the suite is unoccupied, I often come here to look at this landscape.
04:49And the moment I saw it, I couldn't take my eyes off it.
04:52It's so lovely.
04:53And yet, somehow incomplete.
04:57Incomplete?
04:58In what way?
04:59You see that forlorn figure on the dunes?
05:02That's the artist himself when he was young.
05:05A man filled with failed hopes and lost dreams.
05:09So ravaged by loneliness that he created a vision of perfect tranquility with no one else to share it.
05:15Seems selfish, creating a paradise all for himself.
05:18Something he regretted to his dying day.
05:22Have you ever taken a really good look at it?
05:27All you have to do is move closer.
05:29Much closer.
05:31Close enough to get to the very heart of the pigment.
05:35See how the rolling dunes invite you beyond the frame.
05:40Feel the warm dampness of the sun-drenched sand.
05:43You can almost hear the ocean pounding against the shore.
05:47Breathe the fresh air that cleanses your body and soul.
05:52All it takes is a little imagination.
05:55And the desire to let yourself go.
06:15Where have you been?
06:17We were supposed to meet here an hour ago.
06:19No, I'm sorry.
06:21Well, that makes everything right.
06:24This silver-haired gentleman came into the room.
06:27He had the saddest eyes.
06:28Am I supposed to be jealous?
06:30His name is Mr. Evans.
06:32He's been living here for years.
06:34He told me all about the artist who painted the landscape.
06:36First you give me grief for not spending time with you.
06:39Then you ditch me to hang out with some senile old guy who just happens to wander by.
06:43Make up your mind what you want.
06:45I have.
06:48Go home, Harry.
06:50Go back where you belong.
06:52What are you talking about?
06:54I came up here to be with you.
06:55It's no use, Harry.
06:58Whatever we had once is gone.
07:00We only stay together now because we're afraid to tell each other the truth.
07:03Which is?
07:05That it's all over.
07:07We don't have one single reason to stay together anymore.
07:12I mean it, Harry.
07:14I want you to go home.
07:16Are you talking about a divorce?
07:17No.
07:18Well, then what, damn it?
07:23I think I'll go back up to the room by myself.
07:25Stare at that painting?
07:27The most extraordinary thing happened to me upstairs.
07:31I was looking at the painting thinking about how absolutely finished we are.
07:36I felt empty and useless.
07:39I just wanted to die.
07:44And then Mr. Evans came into the room.
07:47I just kept staring and staring at that blissful landscape.
07:51It was like...
07:53Like what?
07:56It was like I was being swallowed.
07:58It was like I'd reached the point of disappearing.
08:01That if I'd looked in the mirror there'd be no reflection.
08:06All I had to do was let go.
08:09Really let go.
08:12There'd be nothing.
08:16Nothing but peace.
08:20And then I thought about you, Harry.
08:24And I said to myself, no.
08:26Wait.
08:28Give it one more try.
08:30Maybe this time it'll be like it was before.
08:36That was silly.
08:39So silly.
08:40I don't know what the hell you're talking about.
08:42If you wanted a divorce, why don't you just say so?
08:44No.
09:11I don't know what the hell you're talking about.
09:16Cause I'm sorry.
09:21Oh, my God.
09:36Margot, I'm sorry.
09:39Margot, I'm sorry.
09:41I don't want to leave you.
09:43I want to stay and try to make this work.
09:47Look, why don't we start over?
09:49Pretend like we just got here.
09:53Come on, Margot.
09:54Talk to me.
10:00Margot, where are you?
10:08Margot?
10:16Margot!
10:22Margot, I'm sorry.
10:31All right.
10:32Let me get this straight, Mr. Sloan.
10:34You say you followed your wife from the bar.
10:36You watched her go in the room.
10:38You stayed in the hall to think things over.
10:40Five minutes later, you come in here, and there's no sign of her.
10:43Her clothes, her suitcase, everything's still here.
10:47Everything but her.
10:49She couldn't have gone through there.
10:51The windows were all closed, locked from the inside.
10:53Uh-huh.
10:54That's what happened, I swear.
10:56With all due respect, people don't just vanish into thin air.
11:00God almighty, don't you think I know that?
11:04After you discovered she was missing, what did you do next?
11:09I ran downstairs into the lobby, asked the desk clerk if he'd seen Margot leave.
11:14Then I tried the doorman, the bellboy, anybody I could find.
11:21Even though I knew she never left this room.
11:24What, do you think I'm crazy?
11:25Do you think I'm making this up?
11:29Tell me, Mr. Slimmer, have the two of you been quarreling before she disappeared?
11:35Why do you ask that?
11:37You told me you came here together to sort things out.
11:41Sounds to me like a relationship in trouble.
11:44What are you trying to suggest, detective?
11:46That I killed my wife, chopped her into tiny little pieces, and flushed it all down the john?
11:51That's your suggestion, not mine.
11:53It makes no sense.
11:54She's got to be here somewhere, but where?
11:57Where?
11:58Does your wife know anybody else staying at this hotel?
12:01Absolutely not.
12:01The only people she spoke to were the desk clerk and some old guy who wandered into the room when
12:05I was down at the bar.
12:06What old guy?
12:07She told me he was a guest.
12:10Evans, that's his name.
12:14Evans?
12:16Evans?
12:17An older guy with silver hair, that's what she said.
12:20We have no one registered here under that name.
12:22That's impossible.
12:23My wife told me he'd been staying here for years.
12:25I'm sorry, Mr. Sloan.
12:27I wish we could help you.
12:31Thanks.
12:33But the motive is clear.
12:35We even got sworn statements from several hotel bar patrons that say they saw them squabbling big time the night
12:39she disappeared.
12:40Look, before we rush to indict this guy, what's your theory?
12:44Well, I figure he got her liquored up, dragged her out the service exit, and then dumped her in the
12:48water.
12:49Anything to back it up?
12:50Well, no, not yet.
12:50But if I had more time, I...
12:52Nothing.
12:52There's not a shred of physical evidence to bring this guy to trial, let alone bring him in for further
12:57questioning.
12:57So just cut him loose.
12:58Just blow him a kiss and pretend like nothing happened?
13:00Continue the investigation, Nash.
13:02Give me something concrete, and I will be happy to put him up on murder wine.
13:06Look, nobody just disappears off the face of the planet.
13:09Sloan killed his wife, and I'm gonna prove it.
13:27Go home anytime you want.
13:30You're a free man.
13:32From now.
13:33Free?
13:35Nice going, Sloan.
13:37I always admire a job well done.
13:39You really think I killed her, don't you?
13:40As far as DA's concerned, you're clean as a whistle.
13:44So, pack your bags, turn in your room key, and hightail it back to Boston.
13:49But I'm telling you, Sloan, if I find one bloodstain, one fingernail, one hair of her head,
13:59I will nail you if it's the last thing I do.
14:05I'll make it easy on you, Nash.
14:09I'm gonna stay right here in this hotel and tear things apart until I find out what happened to my
14:14wife.
14:16I'll make it easy on you, besides said that.
14:18Oh, my God.
14:26What have you asked me?
14:26I mean, right?
14:27Bye-bye.
14:27Bye-bye.
14:27Bye.
14:29Bye-bye.
14:30Bye-bye.
14:30Bye.
14:36Bye-bye.
14:37Bye-bye.
14:38Bye-bye.
14:43Bye-bye.
14:43I don't know.
15:12Where have you been? I called your office ten times.
15:15Oh, you finally decided to spill your guts.
15:17I found her, Nash. I know where she is.
15:19I'm all ears.
15:20Margo said it was like being swallowed up.
15:22She said if she looked in a mirror, there'd be no reflection.
15:24Hold it. What are you talking about?
15:26She's here, Nash.
15:27She's been right in this room all along.
15:31Look, I don't have time for this, Sloan.
15:35I got a wife waiting up for me.
15:37I'm not drunk, Nash. Look for yourself.
15:41The day we checked into this room, there was only one figure in that painting, and now there's another.
15:46The woman on the sand dunes.
15:50Don't you see?
15:51See what, Sloan?
15:53It's...
15:55It's my wife.
15:58She couldn't stop staring at the landscape.
16:00She said it looked so serene, so idyllic, the perfect place to be.
16:05That has got to be the damnedest alibi I ever heard.
16:09Talk about denial.
16:12I know it sounds crazy, Nash, but it's true.
16:17Somehow, some way, nobody just walks into a painting, Sloan.
16:22My wife did.
16:24You killed your wife.
16:26I didn't.
16:38I didn't believe Margo.
16:40All I could do was push her away.
16:44How alone she must have felt.
16:48The way I feel right now.
16:54There was a time when we laid by that fireplace, wrapped in each other's arms, and I told her how
16:58much I needed her, how much a part of me she was.
17:04If only I could have told her again, when I had a chance.
17:11All I had to do was let go, and there'd be nothing.
17:17Nothing but peace.
17:21That's what Margo said.
17:25She's never going to have that peace, Sloan.
17:30Not until you do what's right.
18:09Have you ever taken a really good look at it?
18:12All you have to do is move closer.
18:15Much closer.
18:17And let yourself go.
19:08Hey, Sloan, you okay in there?
19:18Sloan.
19:24Sloan.
19:26Sloan.
19:57What can be worse than the loss of love, except perhaps the loss of belief that it can return again?
20:06For Harry and Margo Sloan, a flame that had once died has been rekindled for all time.
20:14And a landscape that was once unfinished is now complete.
20:20How can they sanded a angel?
20:43How can you thrive, inside?
20:44Let's go.
20:50Where are we?
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