[Joe] Dostoevsky wrote,
"If a man has a conscience, he will suffer for his mistake.
That will be his punishment as well as his prison."
Everything's gonna be okay.
What did you do?
Why are you looking at me like that?
I'm so sorry.
Why? I mean, she was crazy.
She was gonna hurt you.
And us.
And I fixed it.
We can be together now.
I don't think we can.
I think I broke you.
-I'm fine. -Listen to me.
This is not your fault.
This is not you.
Everything I told you is true.
Beck, Henderson,
Delilah...
I killed them.
Their blood is on my hands.
-[Love sighs] -Joe.
You didn't kill Delilah.
I did.
-[Love] You know that old cliché... -You're a sneaky, manipulative bitch.
[Love] "You can choose your friends, but you can’t choose your family."
My brother and I learned that lesson early.
We can still enjoy what we have, right?
Absentee parents, too self-absorbed to notice a fox in the henhouse.
-Hold on, what are you-- -Shh.
[Love] Nobody to show us what healthy caretaking should look like.
Forty was a child.
She was a rapist.
I stopped her.
[Love grunts]
[Sophia breathing heavily]
[slashes]
I protected Forty because I had to.
[Love] Because nobody else was.
Better they thought it was him.
Forty was blacked out, a victim.
They’d cover it up, coddle him like always.
I could stay close, protect him.
We need utter privacy...
[Love] But families don’t heal from something like that.
So I began to fantasize about a new one.
If we were ever lucky enough to have it.
When James died,
I wondered if the family I had was the only one I deserved.
And then I saw you.
[Love] I knew right away, in my gut,
I recognized something in you. And, hey,
smart, sexy, funny,
a little darkness that made you less storybook, more real.
I started to fantasize again.
When you pulled away, I told myself, "I can fix him."
For a while, it was working.
I showed you how to heal.
Oh, you were stronger than I knew.
I showed you what I wanted by showing you what I didn’t want.
When you stood by me, united,
I knew together we could be better than the family I was born into.
[Love imitates snarl]
I wolf you.
I wolf you too.
Maybe I got a little obsessed.
[Love] Maybe I used my parents' means to do a little digging after Candace left.
They owed me that much.
I devoured your dead ex’s book, front to back.
All the articles, all the think pieces,
reading between the lines.
And I realized, Guinevere Beck was unspecial and mediocre.
She didn’t deserve you.
[gate screeches]
[Love] And then,
I found the real you, Joe.
You were even smarter,
more passionate, more devoted than I’d known.
You’re crafty...
and earthy.
And it must be said, you bring out genius.
Don’t think Beck could’ve written that in a million years without your push.
Yeah, you did some terrible things,
but that’s what sensitive people do when they’re trapped
in a bad relationship.
I tried to coax the real you out.
If you could trust me,
show me your heart, even the darkest parts,
then we’d be starting our future together on the right foot.
But then, Delilah.
She found out who you were and recoiled.
You lost faith.
You were gonna give up on us.
Our little family in the making.
So I followed you.
Take this.
Give it to Delilah.
And when you fuck her,
you think of me. Okay?
[gate sliding open]
Oh, thank God! Oh, please, you have to help me.
Listen, Will is insane!
-Oh, my God. -These handcuffs, I think there's a key.
I don't know if Will has it,
or if there's a spare. I really don't know.
I promised him I wouldn't say anything about what he did,
but I really don't think he believes me,
and so I really need your help. I need to get out of here, please.
He said he'd be back later. He's high on something.
Please, just hurry. He'll hurt me, he'll hurt both of us.
Just hurry. Please just help me before he gets back.
[Love] I dealt with Delilah the same way I dealt with the au pair.
[heart thumping]
I’m protecting you because I want to, Joe.
You didn't break me.
You opened your heart to me.
We're soulmates, Joe.
[Joe] What the fuck?
[opening music playing]
Joe?
Please, say something.
What about Ellie?
[knocking on door]
Ellie? We have to talk about your sister.
Hey.
-It's okay, all right? I come in peace. -At, like, three in the morning.
I mean, come on.
Do you know Delilah's been getting death threats?
Yeah, I do.
And I was actually thinking that you might be able to help me out with that.
How?
Uh... [sighs]
I don't know, just walk me through some of the stuff around Henderson.
Anything you might remember that stands out.
No detail too small.
That sound chill?
I know this routine from every movie I've ever seen.
You're trying to entrap me.
[Love] Ellie's gonna be fine.
And you don't think I would-- You know--
If I didn't have a plan for her.
Oh, you have a plan?
It's simple.
First, we make Ellie a suspect in Henderson's murder.
-What? -Don't judge yet, okay?
Let me finish.
Step one,
we frame Ellie for Henderson's murder with an anonymous tip.
Love, tell me you didn't already do that.
Where were you the night Henderson was murdered, Ellie?
Yeah, Delilah's been protecting you.
Your texts with Henderson show that he already had plans that night.
And a new tip places you in his house the night he died.
I didn't do anything.
I just wanna take you down to the station,
ask you a few questions.
[Love] Step two
is lawyer her up with the Quinn family's finest.
Between the total lack of evidence
and the fact that she's a 15-year-old girl,
it instantly becomes a joke.
I'm letting you finish.
Well...
that's when Delilah's body will be found with a suicide note.
She becomes a posthumous feminist icon for taking down her abuser.
The shock waves will destroy the case.
Ellie will walk free with settlement money for life.
She could even use this scandal to jump-start her career.
And most importantly,
the investigation becomes poisoned.
And you are never mentioned in connection with Henderson again.
That will never work.
I mean, it wouldn't...
if my family didn't basically own the LAPD.
It's the way the au pair got cleaned up.
Ellie is going to emerge stronger, smarter,
-and better off. -Like Forty?
-Watch it. -Okay, Ellie, then.
What kind of sick mind thinks forcing a teenager
into the system is doing her a favor?
If you have a better idea, I'm open to that.
I'm sorry, it's very hard to think clearly
in the river of crazy you're spewing!
Okay, get a grip.
I thought you were the last person who'd be hysterical.
Hysterical? You killed Delilah!
Because you killed a fucking celebrity.
You know why this is happening?
Because while I was seeing you,
really seeing you,
you were busy gazing at a goddamn fantasy.
A perfectly imperfect girl.
You saw what you wanted to see.
But I was always right here,
the whole time.
It wasn't that hard.
You just had to look.
Um...
I have to finish making a wedding cake, so...
Love. Love! Wait, wait, wait! Please.
Please, let me out.
Love? Love!
[gate slides open]
[Joe] A crazy person has locked me in a cage, but now is not the time to panic.
Ellie's in danger.
Is she, though? What if Love's plan is good?
She sounded sincere. Slow down. Think. Okay.
Now... do I believe Love has Ellie's best interests at heart?
Nope. Okay. I have to get free. That's clear. Simple. Impossible.
I think I finally understand what Beck went through.
It is a lot to process.
What did Beck do in this situation?
-[Beck] I love you. -[Joe] Right.
She pretended to love me.
All I ever wanted from Beck was to be seen.
Really seen and accepted.
You saw me. Even the parts I'm ashamed of.
You're asking me to see you, to love you.
I don't know what to feel, Love.
But I know what to do.
[Joey] Are you in trouble for the gun?
Not at all.
So, we can be together forever?
I love you so much, Joey. So, so much.
[knocking on door]
[Joe] It isn't hard to convince somebody you love them
if you know what they want to hear.
[phone buzzing]
Have a good one, mate.
-D-FOL mobile production office. -[Ellie] Forty, thank God.
Listen, I’m at the police station right now,
and they're not letting me leave.
I need you to bail me out
or whatever you did for Will and my sister.
Wait, Ellie?
-What did you do? -Nothing.
It has something to do with Henderson, but I didn’t do anything.
This cop Delilah knows brought me here,
and the guy who keeps trying to ask me stuff,
I think he’s a homicide detective.
Please. Delilah's missing.
Can you just come down to the Wilcox station?
No can do, I’m on the East Coast.
Are you serious?
Sit tight, okay? I'm gonna send Morris your way.
-Who’s Morris? -He's a family lawyer
on call for DUIs, D and Ds, and bailouts under $600K.
He'll have you out in no time.
Forty, things are getting weird.
Hey, I promise. I’ve got your back, okay?
Just say nothing,
act dumb, and don't drink anything,
'cause they'll steal your DNA.
Dr. Nicky. Hi, I’m Forty Quinn,
I'm the writer/producer of the upcoming feature-length adaptation
of Guinevere Beck’s The Dark Face of Love, directed by Kathryn Bigelow--
Yeah, that's great. Could we just get to it, please?
The only reason why I'm here is because the warden made me.
I'm assuming you bribed him.
Okay, brass tacks. I like that.
I'll just say it then. I don't think you killed Guinevere Beck.
No shit.
Are you one of those fans, the "Free Dr. Nicky" subreddit?
Former patients, conspiracy nuts.
Listen to me carefully.
Nothing they say matters.
They say that you're innocent.
Don't you want to go free?
No.
I'm guilty of destroying my marriage,
my wife, my kids.
I didn't kill Beck, but I am guilty.
I'm guilty of using her.
And she's not the first. She's...
She's the-- She's just the first to end up dead.
No, I'm a bad person.
I'm exactly where I deserve to be.
Wow, this is... not what I pictured when I was writing you.
I expected more of a wrongfully-convicted vibe.
I've had all that.
But by the grace of God,
I've been given eyes to see things a whole other way.
You see, I've turned my body and my spirit
-over to a higher power. -Yeah, me too, bro. All the steps.
I'm good, Mr. Quinn.
You know why? 'Cause I'm walking with Christ.
And if I repent,
-I will be forgiven in the end. -Meanwhile, there's a killer out there.
Oh, there's evil everywhere in the world, you see.
But I prefer to deal with the evil that I see in the mirror each day.
Dope. Um...
You're not curious about the mystery patient of yours
with the fake name that could never be located?
Yes, I read the subreddit, okay? It's fucking research.
I don't want to bring a whole media circus
down on a guy who's just trying to work his shit out.
That...
That's Paul Brown.
Yeah. He told us his name was Will, but his real name--
Stop.
If you're right, you stay away from that man.
No, no. We can stop him.
No, no, no, no.
If he killed Beck...
there's no telling what this man is capable of.
What's done is done. He'll be punished, but not by us.
Trust in divine justice.
Put your faith in the universe, man. It's the only thing that'll set you free.
Cool. Will do.
One problem.
He's dating my fucking sister, Reverend.
So, why don't you just tell me everything that you know?
Or her death will be on you.
God bless you, and God bless your sister.
[slams]
Fuck.
[pounds phone]
[Forty] Amy turned me onto this memoir.
This, uh, main character, Beck.
[echoing] It's Joe.
[phone buzzing]
[phone continues buzzing]
Shall we?
See you soon, Ms. Alves.
Yeah, have fun.
Oh, and one more thing.
Wherever your sister is, she’s got 12 hours to show her face,
or I’m calling CPS on an unattended minor.
You know,
in addition to the missing persons report I just filed.
Can he do that?
Let’s talk outside.
[Detective] Just give it a minute.
It’s the Quinn family.
Yeah, well, they always have a lot going on.
She might not stay front of mind for too long.
You know what?
My schedule's clear.
There's no harm in putting a tail on her.
If I see anything fun, I'll call you.
Muffins?
Yeah, I, uh... seem to remember owing you one.
I didn't have time to make a religieuse.
The first time I ever tasted a muffin...
was in a group home.
My mom never let me have one, ever.
Wow, that's basically child abuse.
And she said, "They're cupcakes, Joey. Read the ingredients."
Well, she wasn't wrong.
-You never talk about her. Is she still-- -Alive?
Around.
She was a saint.
I was a handful.
It seems like you just wanted sugar for breakfast.
Like a normal kid.
-At least you had her around back then. -She did her best.
What are--
Are you fucking kidding me?
Is this what you're afraid of?
No poison, Joe!
No, no no no. Love. Love?
-You think I'm crazy. -It's not that.
No. I didn't want to say anything.
About what?
I can't eat food
when there's a body rotting three feet away from me.
I do need to eat.
Just open the cage.
Only long enough for me to move her out.
Love, I do trust you.
I need you to trust me.
I do.
Joe. No!
No, I'm pregnant!
[hyperventilating]
I'm pregnant.
[Joe's mom] Joey...
Joey, I know you're in there.
Joseph.
Nothing bad's gonna happen.
Why are you hiding, bub?
He's here to take me away.
Just... for a little while.
I'm not... the best for you right now.
What happened. This is better.
Why did you let him come back over and over again?
So you could have a dad.
You need a father.
I only need you.
I don't expect you to understand this,
but a boy needs a strong man
to teach him right from wrong.
I tried to give you that, but I failed.
What's wrong with you, it's my fault.
I'm sorry.
You needed a real father.
[Joe] A father.
I'm going to be a real father.
Are you sure it's...?
I made Milo use protection.
Joe.... Joe.
Say something.
Right.
Right, you think I'm a psycho now.
Did you actually believe I wanted to hurt anyone?
I hated doing that to Delilah.
I'd just taken the test. I had just found out.
I mean, was I gonna let this destroy our baby's life?
My whole life...
I've been doing what it takes...
when I love someone.
And I love you.
I love you.
I don't know what to say.
Say, "Love, I get it."
Say, "Love,
we both had to learn how to survive really young."
I mean, how old were you the first time?
Nine.
I'm so sorry.
You were just a child.
So were you.
So is she.
She?
It's just a feeling.
[Joe] A daughter. A girl.
I was stupid to think you would forgive me.
I had to tell myself you would so that I could go through with it.
But you hate me now.
Love...
If you want to hate me...
run...
turn me in...
hurt me...
just fucking do it.
I'm not gonna keep you here.
[Joe] Candace said I'd face myself.
Maybe this is it.
Facing you.
This...
It's not covered in any sort of dating manual.
That's very true.
I understand if you can't love me anymore.
Or don't want to.
[Joe] I do want to.
Real love doesn't evaporate
when things get hard.
I will earn back your trust.
I will do whatever it takes.
Nothing is more important than this.
Is it weird if I ask if you still want to go to Lucy and Sunrise's wedding?
["Move" by Milo Greene playing]
♪ Got my eyes on the face of the danger in you ♪
[Joe] So, this is, in fact, a little weird.
Ellie's not answering.
I can't exactly peel away to look for her yet.
You don't trust me.
And why would you? Even I don't know how I feel.
How can I judge anything you've done,
when it was not so different from the things I've done?
But if I let myself forgive and just be happy with you,
with all the light and good that comes with your bad,
what kind of father does that make me?
[Gabe] No! I'm sorry.
-I'm so sorry, sir. -Gabe! I need to speak to my sister.
Right fucking now!
Okay, then you are gonna have to call her later.
Is she with Joe?
Will fucking Talented Mr. Ripley? Okay, look! Listen to me!
She's in danger.
-You are back on the hard stuff-- -I'm sober, you asshole.
Okay, this is a sacred day, and your drama is not gonna get in the way.
I cannot deal with-- No, Forty!
Look, hey, Forty!
-God! Your sober coach... -Love!
...will be here in ten.
With love, Forty, grow up.
Yeah, crack again.
Fuck you.
Can't fix everyone.
[Sunrise] Love makes you do some crazy shit.
Like move across the country for a girl you barely know,
-who already has a girlfriend... -[chuckles]
[Joe] No one could accuse you of being cold, Love.
Of having no heart.
I remember the first time I saw you at work.
You were screaming at a studio exec, like some goddess of destruction,
and I was like...
"She scares me.
She will burn it all down for what she cares about."
That's the moment I saw what and who you are.
It's also the moment I fell in love with you.
My queen,
together we will raise children who fear nothing.
Whose hearts are the size of the moon.
And who are real and true.
Like you.
All I've ever wanted is to love and be loved by someone real and true.
[Joe] Me too.
You're my soulmate.
-[Lucy] Yes, I am. -[Sunrise] Beautiful.
[Joe] Is that what we are?
-Soulmates? -[Sunrise] I love you, baby.
[Joe] Is this what real love is?
Knowing and accepting anything.
I love you so much.
-Your vows are better than mine. -No, they weren't!
-I mean it. -I mean it.
Well, by the power vested in me
by the Divine Mother and the state of California,
I now pronounce you...
married.
-Ah! -[all cheering]
[applause]
Go on, kiss her. Come on!
-[guest] Do it! -[guest 2] Kiss her!
[cheering and applause intensifies]
[Joe] We're having a little girl together.
I am terrified, but maybe that's how every parent feels.
All I know is, I can't protect her if I'm not there,
and I won't be there if I can't love you.
What?
I love you.
You do?
Yes.
Still?
More.
Close the store and leave.
-It's the middle of the day. -Calvin, just...
put up a "closed for inventory" sign and get the fuck out.
Whatever you say.
Yeah, thanks for the tone. You're fired!
Good.
As a courtesy, I'll evacuate everyone
before their pathetic junkie boss fires them, too.
[all cheering]
Oh, my!
Okay, okay, okay, you jerks. You can totally turn on your phones now,
and if we could gather for the most gorgeous cake
you've ever seen in your life,
courtesy of Ms. Love Quinn.
-Yeah! -[all cheering]
[phone buzzing]
[phone pinging]
Okay, I'll go in, calm him down a little.
Give me five minutes then follow me, okay?
Five minutes. Trust me.
Ellie.
Ellie, I've been worried.
Don't come near me!
What's going on? Did Forty say something crazy about me?
Because he's been doing that all day. He's not in his right mind.
You know me.
Please, I can help.
I don't know where to go.
Cops are sending CPS to my house.
Forty told me to meet him here,
but he's in there ranting on Love's voicemail,
-and he's scary. -It's okay.
-Love and I are gonna take care of that. -He's ranting about you,
saying you killed Beck,
and that you tried burying someone named Candace alive.
Does that sound like me?
-Why would he think that? -He's high.
Where is my sister, Will?
I don't care about the rest of it, I don't.
Where is Delilah?
-Did you hurt her, Will? -No.
[shouting] Then where is she?
Ellie, this is my fault.
The Quinns are very powerful,
and they get away with evil things.
I got wrapped up with them...
and so did your sister.
So, what? They're, like, out of The Godfather now?
Ellie, I don't think Delilah is coming back.
-What? -I wish it was any other way,
but we need to protect you and get you away from them.
-My sister... -Is gone.
You cannot go home.
CPS is not great either.
Come with me.
-Look, you need to go. -Okay, breathe.
-No, listen. -You're a little worked up.
-Sit down! -No, for the last time, I'm not high!
I'm-- I'm not.
[stuttering] Is Joe--
Did you read my texts?
You can't even finish a thought.
No, okay, Love. I will say this nicely,
I will do breathwork with you later.
I have to save you from a literal fucking serial killer first.
I'm handling it.
Please, go.
Okay.
I trust you. Whatever you want, I'll go.
But before I do,
just for my peace of mind...
walk me through the plan?
Okay, take this.
Go out the side doors in case someone follows you.
Go to Union Station, get on a train east.
Keep going east, okay?
-When you get where you're going, call me. -Where am I going?
-To start your life. -I have a life.
Ellie, you are one of the smartest people I've ever met.
-You can do this. -Do what?
Start over.
Find a city.
-Florida might be a good place to start. -I'm 15.
Basically 16, right?
When you get there, I will help you get legal ID.
I will send you money as long as you need it.
I will not abandon you.
-Then what the fuck is this? -This is what we need to do!
I hate you.
You brought the Quinns into our lives,
and you're the reason Delilah's gone.
[choking up] Dead, right?
She's dead?
I'm sorry, Ellie.
And now you come in here acting like some kind of hero?
Well, fuck you. Fuck you!
I am not a hero. Believe me. You want the truth?
I killed Henderson,
and I don't feel guilty about it.
What I am is all that stands between you and people who are worse.
Now let me help you.
You ruined my life.
I am truly sorry. Side door.
Burn in hell.
[Joe] She should hate me.
But as long as she's safe.
Is this what fatherhood feels like?
[Forty] Why are you protecting him?
Why aren't you listening to me?
Because you let people get in your head, Forty.
No... no.
I have cracked this, okay? I can see the Matrix,
and it is exactly what Candace tried to tell us.
Look around him.
People disappear.
People die in weird fucking ways.
First, it was Beck and her friends,
and now Ellie's sister is missing.
Henderson was murdered, and we had just been at his house.
-All right? Look, Candace told-- -Candace was crazy!
Listen to yourself, you sound like a conspiracy nutjob.
You have blind spots.
Joe, he's in your blind spot.
He is a blood-thirsty wolf in your blind spot.
Joe, you're late.
-Come in. -Joe, you can just wait outside--
No, no.
I insist.
Here's the deal. Our family, we can make your life a living hell.
We can get you sent to prison. And we can do a lot fucking worse.
Okay, well, I don't know what it is you think I did,
so tell me, and we can talk about it.
Which part? The part where you have a pattern of lying
and stalking and killing in general?
Or the part where you fixated on my sister?
I will never hurt Love.
-You are never going to get to. -Okay, this is enough.
Okay? Joe, we can let him simmer down.
-No, Forty! -Hey!
-Stand back. -Oh, my God. Put that away!
-Don't be insane! -This is the sanest I have ever been.
You protect me, I protect you.
Forty... let's talk.
Joe, if you take another step, I will shoot you.
Love, for the last time, go.
You don't want to hurt him.
Yes, I do.
And if you would listen to me, you would understand why I have to.
Forty, if you do this, I will never forgive you.
You will never see me again
or the baby.
Our baby.
A little girl.
-You're...? -Yeah.
Do you actually think I would let Joe near me
if I didn't think, in my heart,
that he was worthy of being a part of our family?
What the fuck is wrong with you?
You would bring a child into this world like... like us?
-That is your shitty self-esteem talking. -No.
You are just as broken as I am.
You're just a much better liar.
Jesus, Love...
you think I don't know?
After all of these years, you really think that I am that dumb?
That I don't know what you're capable of?
I have tip-toed around it my entire life,
and it has eaten me alive.
I love you,
but you are crazy
if you think that you would be a good mother.
Forty, don't punish your sister because you're angry with me.
You're right,
I have done terrible things...
in the past.
What I care about now is her
and our child
and you.
You think...
that knocking up my sister makes you a new person?
No.
I don't.
-[Love sobbing] No. -Get on your knees, psycho.
Forty...
[Joe] Dostoevsky contended the bad want to be punished.
-Forty, please. -Stay back, Love.
I said, stay back.
[Love sobs]
[Joe] If the bad are not caught,
they'll seek out their own punishment,
one way or another.
Close your eyes, Joe.
[Joe] At least some punishment is quick.
-[gun fires] -[Love screams]
[Joe] Oh, no.
Oh, no.
And some punishment will never end.
Are you two okay?
[Fincher] Oh, my God. If I was one second later...
[voice echoing] Officer involved in a shooting. Man down.
Send an ambulance to Anavrin. I need a sergeant to respond.
-[Love] Forty... -[Joe] I saw the moment you knew...
your brother was gone,
and I saw you look at me.
I knew, in that moment, that you needed me
like I've never been needed, and you always will.
Sometimes, a man gets exactly what he wishes for,
and that can be the most perfect punishment of all.
[Love crying hysterically] No!
No!
[bell jingles]
[Joe] So, karma and I, we're in a fight.
Some people, they get what they deserve.
Some people don't.
And each day that passes,
justice seems more and more like a literary conceit.
In Crime and Punishment, the hero willingly walks into exile.
He is killed, but he's also found love.
And if he repents, he can be redeemed.
He and the woman he loves can be saved.
[Joe] You can't save someone from themselves. We wanted to... with Forty.
The grief was rough at first,
but his last gift to me was when heroic Officer Fincher
started to look at him for Henderson's murder.
The Quinn machine shut it down, made any future investigation radioactive.
Side effect wiped my slate clean.
Not that the real slate can ever be clean.
But it's hard to stay sad...
when there's new life growing.
And here I am.
No one can absolve me.
I gotta do the time.
Not every Siberia is cold.
Some are 73 and sunny with eco-conscious landscaping.
I'm ready to meet my daughter.
I'm ready to be the good father I never had.
To make the family I always dreamed of.
The one she deserves.
It's funny how fate works.
I had no idea that the cage I was building all this time was a trap for me.
And when I found myself here, locked in, I thought this was the end.
[Joe] But that's not how destiny works, is it?
This is just the beginning...
because this is where I had to be, exactly...
where I had to be to meet...
you.
There you were,
with your books and your sunshine.
So close, but worlds away.
I will figure out a way, a way to get to you.
See you soon... neighbor.
[closing music playing]
Subtitle by Matheus Modesto