[eerie music playing]
[footsteps approaching]
What happens when the collector becomes the collected?
When a ruthless wonder hunter finds someone or something with a will,
a hunger far greater than his own?
Printed in heavy paper,
embossed, not quite pocket-size,
an invitation to a viewing.
A night of pleasure for like-minded folk.
A night that may also prove to be their last.
Our story tonight is "The Viewing,"
and the director is Panos Cosmatos.
[eerie instrumental music playing]
[eerie music fades]
[mysterious music playing]
[woman] "Lionel Lassiter requests your presence
for a viewing at The Sandpiper House."
"Saturday, September 22nd, 1979."
"Instructions to follow."
[unsettling synth music playing]
[dramatic music playing]
[tires squealing]
[gearshift shifting]
[tires screeching]
[tires squealing]
[distant tires squealing]
-[tires squealing] -[muffled dramatic music]
[dramatic music playing]
[tires squealing]
[ties squealing]
[music stops]
[car door closes]
[woman clears throat]
[woman] Sorry, I'm late.
Yeah, late for what exactly?
Uh, you guys are here for the viewing, right?
Indeed, we are gathered for the viewing.
So far, we've established the three of us have been on late-night talk shows.
What about you?
Me? I…
Yeah, I have.
Uh, I… That's…
that's weird. [chuckles]
-[man 1] Yeah. Welcome to the club. -[man in car sighs]
I guess our host likes late-night talk shows.
When you never leave the house, you probably watch a lot of TV.
Uh, well, um…
I'm Charlotte.
Yes, I felt that.
I'm Targ Reinhard.
Mm. Nice to meet you.
-I'm Randall. -Oh, I kind of know who you are.
Big fan.
-[chuckling] You're like a legend. -[car engine starts]
[muffled dramatic music playing]
[dramatic music playing]
Hi. I'm Hector.
Hop on in.
[dramatic music continues]
Hey, buddy, got a smoke?
Yeah, of course, man.
Great.
[lighter clinks open]
Thank you.
[Randall] I was intrigued for sure.
[Targ] Well, of course, I wasn't surprised.
But even I cannot pierce the veil of secrecy surrounding our host.
Really? That's a little dramatic.
There's plenty of rich, powerful people that nobody knows about.
[Targ] Yes, but there was a time when everyone knew everything about him.
Surely men like ourselves,
accustomed to being in the public spotlight,
know how difficult it is to retreat from glory.
Uh, speak for yourself.
[distant horn honks]
[Targ] What do you do, dear Charlotte?
Oh, um, I'm an astrophysicist.
[Randall] Maybe this is a dumb question,
but where does someone like you stand on horoscopes?
[Charlotte chuckles] If I'm honest with myself, I'd say… [clears throat]
…they're not for me.
[Randall] Very Capricorn of you.
-[Charlotte chuckles] I guess? -[Targ] Yes, but what is her sun sign?
That's the real power of astrology.
Your host would prefer if you remain silent
during the remainder of the ride, and listen to the audio program.
[warbling]
-[unsettling synth music playing] -[man 1] What?
Strange.
[unsettling synth music continues]
[zipper opening]
What would you like?
Softer?
Brighter?
Or cleaner?
[man] Surprise me.
[Velcro tearing]
[dramatic synth music continues]
[glass pings]
-[sloshing] -[man sighs]
[man exhales sharply]
[gurgling]
[dramatic synth music continues]
-[warbling] -[music fades]
[Hector] Welcome to The Sandpiper House.
[eerie music playing]
[Charlotte] Uh, it smells amazing.
What kind of flowers are these?
[Hector] Those are Stargazer lilies.
A breed that's only existed for four years.
Before, lily flowers tended to point toward the ground.
As these things go,
many people assume the flowers were wilted or dying,
so they became unwanted.
A brilliant woman in California hybridized them
until she had a lily whose blooms turned upward,
gazing at the sky.
[Charlotte] Well, it looks amazing and sounds amazing. [chuckles]
[Hector] Every measure was taken to preserve the natural habitat,
integrating it into Mr. Lassiter's vision of a home.
[Randall] Wow, this music is a trip. [chuckles]
[Targ] I like this music.
[man 1] Oh, typical.
[Targ] What does that mean?
[man 1] This music, it's…
It sounds like vibrating crystals and all that other shit you're into.
[revelatory music playing]
[Hector] Please.
[Targ] Where should we sit?
[Hector] By your favorite drink, of course.
[Targ] Oh! [chuckles]
Um, I'm… I'm Charlotte.
[cigarette sizzles]
[exhales]
[exhales slowly]
[Targ chuckles]
[man 1] Mm.
This screwdriver is exactly what I needed.
This is a superb beer.
Ice-cold.
Refreshing too. Just how I like it.
Oh, wow. Um, ginger ale.
That's, uh, that's my favorite. [chuckles]
[ice cubs rattle]
You don't drink?
What, you think scientists don't like to party? Hmm.
[slurps softly]
Lapsang souchong tea!
[chuckles] At the perfect temperature, with the exact amount of honey I like.
How did this motherfucker know I like lapsang souchong?
[puts cup on saucer]
Oh, man…
[chuckles]
I'm trying to quit,
but these are those super hard-to-find Tibetan menthol cigarettes I dream about.
Don't you think if you were really trying to quit,
the exact cigarette you desire wouldn't be there?
I am not gonna let temptation get the better of me.
[warbling]
[male voice] Hello, there. Welcome, guests.
Sorry to keep you waiting.
Please enjoy yourselves, and should you have any personal needs,
Hector or Doctor Zahra can take care of you.
[exhales]
[exhales slowly]
[slurps]
[ice cubes rattle]
Hey, um, I… I… I don't think, um, we met properly back there.
[Targ snickers]
[chuckling] Um, that is novelist Guy Landon.
Uh, is there something funny
about selling more books than corn dogs at a country fair?
This architecture is remarkable.
It's clearly Brutalism, in the Mueller tradition.
But there are subtle Aztec influences.
-Aztec, huh? -[Targ] Oh.
You a big expert on Aztec architecture now?
Among other varieties of ancient civilizations
that exceeded the capabilities of their time,
yes.
Well, I thought you were just famous
for bending spoons with your mind or some shit.
[door opening]
Good evening.
I trust that all of you are comfortable.
In my hand is a 50-year-old Tetsuro Hara single malt whiskey.
The distillery opened in 1921 in a small suburb of Kyoto,
where the water was so revered
that legendary tea masters had been coming there for centuries
to perfect their brews.
This particular bottle
survived aerial bombing in World War II that damaged that distillery.
The bottle then fell to the ground during the Nankaido earthquake of 1946,
chipping it here, as you can see.
Yet it remained intact.
It made its way across all that chaos,
all of that potential destruction, longer than many human lives,
to us here tonight,
in 1979,
for us
to share
and enjoy.
[whooshing]
[upbeat music playing]
[whiskey pouring]
-[table clunks] -[whiskey pours]
[sighs contentedly]
Fifteen hours later, they all woke up naked in a ditch.
[slurps softly]
[sighs]
[slurps]
[taps table]
[clicks tongue]
[sighs]
It was worth it.
[moans softly]
[Lionel] Guy Landon.
You are one of the most gifted novelists of our era.
Tonight, I'm going to gift you a singular experience.
A gentle push
to inspire the best writer to greatness once again.
I want to know what your stunning mind makes of it.
Wow.
Now I'm, uh, even more curious than ever before.
[Lionel] Targ Reinhard.
I'm told that you're getting extraordinary results
from lab-controlled experiments into your extrasensory perception.
Yes, well, instead of continuing to debate the scientific community,
I've tried to bring them into the fold, and our results are striking.
[Lionel] As you say, let's consider the scientific point of view.
Our delightful Charlotte Xie,
astrophysicist whose equations on the proliferation of alien life
and panspermia theory have caused so much controversy.
But I believe in you, Charlotte. I do.
Dead worlds seed new, living ones, time and time again.
She's proven what others refuse to admit
about the nature of the universe and humanity.
Just like Ptolemy, the Stoics,
Cicero, Giotto, Gutenberg,
Leonardo, Magellan, Copernicus,
Galileo, all the great pioneers of philosophy, art, and science.
It's like my first… Maybe, like, a rough… first rough draft.
-I wouldn't go that far. -No, let's go that far.
Let's do, as far as your unique mind will take us, Charlotte.
Randall.
What are the chances we can gain some insight into your auditory voyages?
Oh, I don't know.
It's hard to talk about it in words, you know?
Yeah. I know.
But we're gonna have to grease those wheels.
Randall Roth, you are a star to the stars, a mastermind behind all the biggest hits.
Every turn of the dial and some piece of musical brilliance
that you've had a hand in comes on the radio.
The whisperer to every great recording artist.
Every night is made a little bit brighter
by the presence of your musical talent.
And your presence here has made this night so much brighter to me.
[Guy laughs]
Uh, why don't you tell us how you really feel?
I sense he means what he says.
[Lionel] I do.
We're talking about music.
Music, man.
All art can only aspire to music.
And everything Randall Roth has a hand in, I wanna hear it.
I'm not so sure about this next album.
Oh my God, are you having trouble capturing the old magic, Randy?
-[Guy chuckles] -Come on, man. No one ever calls me Randy.
We just met.
Show some respect, Landon.
Randall has dominated the charts
and I have no doubt his new album will top it once again.
Yeah, I'm not so sure. I have no idea how this next one will be received.
What's the concept?
It sounds ludicrously simple, but it's one word. "Fantasy."
Yeah, it's gonna fucking flop.
It's guaranteed to be a hit.
I mean, I don't know about that, Mr. Lassiter.
Science tells us you can never truly know the future state of a particle.
You're charming, Charlotte,
but with a gentle push, someone like me can make people flow.
[sighs] Okay, well, maybe that's the thing I'm conflicted about.
Am I really taking a big creative risk here,
or is the machinery of my industry all that matters?
Perhaps control of the machinery is your real ambition.
[pensive music playing]
[sighs]
[whooshing]
[exhales slowly]
[sighs]
Now try your drink.
You haven't touched it.
Go ahead, Randall.
Be my guest.
Mmm.
[slurps]
[Randall sighs contentedly]
-[keypad beeps] -[whirring]
[tape whirs, beeps]
[applause, cheering through speakers]
[Zahra laughs]
[Zahra continues laughing]
[Guy chuckles]
[Zahra laughs]
[keypad beeps, chimes]
[dinging]
[tape whirs]
[cool music with thudding bass playing]
[Lionel sighs contentedly]
I couldn't be more satisfied with this room.
[Charlotte sighs happily, clears throat] This, um, this music is pretty incredible.
It's impossible to find music
that really suited the dynamic of this structure,
so I had it custom-made in Italy.
By who?
A gentleman from Venice by the name of Massimo Contini.
He works exclusively for me now.
So, you can't buy this album in stores?
Never.
By the way, Randall, I hope you don't take offense
that I didn't ask you to make the music for The Sandpiper House.
None taken, man.
I want you to know that I have you in mind to create the entire sound dynamic
for a new house I'm having designed in Ecuador.
Is it gonna be like this place?
Only in its striving for a feeling of innate transcendence.
Oh, that reminds me,
Targ had some great ideas about the architecture of this place.
Targ, what did you think the influences were?
Yes, well, obviously there's an Aztec motif and--
Let me spare Targ the discomfort.
The architect is no one whom anyone has ever heard of or ever will.
I collect beyond the known.
So, you collect people? [chuckles uneasily]
Uh, how do you do that? You just pay for it?
Money is irrelevant. It's only the pursuit of my tastes.
And there's no accounting
for taste.
Is it rude to ask…?
Mr. Lassiter, everybody's always wanted to know,
how did you make your fortune?
[Lionel] Pretty rude,
but I'll let you off the hook there, Landon.
As a younger man, before World War II,
I had already invested heavily in stockpiling uranium.
[Charlotte] Isn't that a violation of international law or something?
[Lionel] Not for me.
[Charlotte] So, you're a scientist?
[Lionel] No, but you have no idea how much money it takes to be this rich.
Um, that stuff makes me paranoid. [chuckles]
I guarantee you this won't.
It doesn't make me paranoid.
[exhales slowly]
All right.
[coughs]
[sighs]
Smoke up, Randall.
Hmm?
[joint sizzles]
Hmm.
[inhales sharply twice, grunts]
Randall, what would it take to get you to make music for me?
What could I give you to sweeten the deal?
When you ask people that, do they always have an answer?
[Randall inhales joint]
[Randall exhales]
What is it you really want?
[chuckling] I don't want anything, man.
I want something that doesn't exist.
Then tell us what it is.
[sighs]
There's a void inside of me,
you, everyone.
An endless abyss.
And everything you collect,
every success,
everything you take to shrink that void down…
[sighs] …none of it works.
It's like a…
Like a black hole.
Everyone has a black hole inside of 'em.
What I want is for mine to stop eating everything up all the time.
[keypad beeps]
-[applause, cheering through speakers] -[electronic chiming]
[whirs, beeps]
You are really harshing my mellow, man.
-[whirs, beeps] -[easy listening music playing]
I don't touch that hippie shit.
So, what's the story with the gold AK?
Ah, the gold AK. Well, that is Hector's story to tell. Hector!
-I-- -[Lionel] The most important thing?
We put them on display
to render these killing machines harmless.
Oh, a man of peace.
I bet you're voting for Carter.
[chuckles quietly]
Voting.
Yikes.
It's a very paranoid time. The truth is much more complicated.
What do you expect
when the truth is so often kept from us by those in power?
[scoffs] As if we could not handle the revelations.
I have seen things
that would make you shit your mind, kemosabe.
Well, how about sharing a small, complicated truth amongst us?
All right.
Look at Doctor Zahra.
And look at myself.
Most people assume that she works for me.
My story is nowhere near as interesting as hers.
Well, I would love to hear it from her.
Good luck.
My degrees are in hematology.
But at one time, I was a private physician for Colonel Gaddafi.
Wow.
She must really dig you to give that out.
[Zahra] I do think Charlotte is fascinating.
A kindred spirit, I hope.
[hesitantly] I hope so too.
So, what's Gaddafi really like?
I can't tell you about an image you already have in your mind.
Did you know he preached for liberation?
He's even charming.
He told me he didn't like doctors and thought of me as an artist,
and would give me anything that I wanted.
As his physician, I saw his blood, I saw his tears.
Can you believe that sometimes,
for no reasons at all, he would…
cry like a lost child?
[scoffs softly]
I almost felt sorry for him.
I also saw with my own eyes…
that the tiniest mistake
or word he didn't like,
he would burst into the most brutal violence.
[sniffs]
He kills people.
[chuckles softly]
"What's he really like?"
Sometimes, when no one is watching, he dresses up
like a fucking deranged rock star from the future.
[laughs]
[Targ] You should work with him, Randall.
[Randall] Can't wait. [exhales]
Who would I be without Doctor Zahra?
She keeps me alive.
I would do anything for her.
Everything I have is hers.
The way I see it,
I serve her.
[moans]
Now, let me serve all of you.
[keypad beeps]
[cool electronic music playing]
[glass rattling]
[Zahra] Peruvian,
hand-milled,
grown in a private forest.
Only a select few buyers in the world. Its purity is the highest ever recorded.
Once a year, the charter boat arrives on Catalina Island.
Is that…
cocaine?
Uh, what does it look like, man?
I've never touched this stuff.
It could dull my psychic abilities.
Well, I'm sorry, Targ. I thought your daddy let you out alone at night.
[Guy] Targ, buddy,
maybe it'll enhance your abilities. You ever think of that?
Hey, wait, what is that? [clears throat]
Don't be afraid of a little fairy dust.
I made it myself in my laboratory.
Where is your trust in fellow scientist?
I just wanna know what I'm putting into my nervous system.
It will make you feel confidence
without any sharp edges of anxiety, depression, or…
[sighs contentedly]
…paranoia.
This is not your dirty, dirty street drug.
This is special.
It was derived from a medication intended to stop bleeding.
Like so much in science, it had other uses.
I'm furthering exploration in the pursuit of human enhancement.
[clicks tongue] Merci.
Let yourselves go.
Be in service to Doctor Zahra's brilliance.
It's changed my life.
[Lionel inhales deeply]
Is this some kinda test?
I admit it is.
[Lionel inhales deeply]
[gentle whirring]
[sarcastically] Oh, a test where I have to do cocaine?
[chuckles]
Finally, a test I can pass.
[inhaling deeply]
[gasps] Done.
[sniffs, exhales]
[gentle whirring]
[sighs uncomfortably]
I'm afraid I'm holding up the party. [chuckles]
If you're ever gonna do cocaine in your life,
now is the time to do it. [flicks lighter]
[sighs]
[inhaling]
[coughing, spluttering]
Just the nostrils, there, ace.
[Targ continues spluttering]
Randall.
It's not as if you've never done this before.
That is the problem.
If anything, I'm trying to get you only to function
at the peak of your capability.
Each one of you has been precisely chosen tonight
to take part in this wondrous moment.
We need to be in sync.
Like a music group, Randall.
Hmm.
Randall, what's the best song you ever heard?
Uh… [sighs]
1969.
I'm in Greece,
and I… I fall in with these freaks making psychedelic music.
One of them played this song one night.
Never been recorded, just something they knew.
It made me nostalgic for things that never happened,
that only existed in the moment.
[chuckles] I can't even remember it.
[Lionel inhaling]
Well, you gotta stop living in the past, Daddy-o.
-We are not that much different. -What, you and I? [chuckles]
Yeah, I don't know, man.
Randall. There's an old Zen koan.
It goes like this,
"Everyone has two lives,
and the second life begins the moment you realize that, all along,
you only had one."
Fuck it.
[inhales, grunts]
Oh!
Fuck, I love this stuff.
Oh shit. You can't be fucking serious.
Charlotte, we need you. [sighs]
With your vast, empirical, scientific mind enhanced by Doctor Zahra's creation,
you will gain a deeper insight into the item.
Don't you want to feel the way I do?
This item better be worth it.
I assure you,
it will be.
[glass tinkles]
[inhaling]
[exhales shakily]
[Lionel starts inhaling]
[Lionel continues inhaling]
[ominous orchestration]
[unsettling ethereal music playing]
[inhales slowly]
[sighs contentedly]
[exhales softly]
[chuckles softly]
[chuckles]
[tinkling chimes]
By now, all of you are still wondering
why in the hell it is I chose to bring you here.
It's because,
from each of your own distinctive worlds and with your own individual talent,
you may shine some unique and profound appreciation
on what it is that I have to show you.
And the item
that I have chosen to show you…
was acquired
with the utmost difficulty
at the greatest expense.
It is time.
-[door opens] -[unsettling music playing]
[suspenseful music playing]
[ominous tone over unsettling suspenseful music]
[door whirs]
[door closes]
That is an ancient power totem.
No, really. What is this thing?
Beats me.
It shares features and striations associated with fragmented meteorites,
but never one so large.
None of its surface exhibits forces of destruction
of the deceleration into our atmosphere. Have you analyzed its mass?
First, we had it X-rayed. It proved impervious to X-ray.
Oh, yes, it clearly resonates as emblematic of unknown origin.
-Randall. -[Randall] Hmm?
There's no smoking in the Obelisk Chamber.
Oh! Sorry. Shit. Sorry.
Mass spectrometer analysis?
Gloriously revealed nothing.
Uh, what about isolating it in a Faraday cage and using electric--
Yes! Yes! Electromagnetic fields.
No magnetic field. Carbon dating was useless.
In fact, it is composed of nothing that can be found on the periodic table.
[lighter clinks]
Bullshit.
Randall.
Randall, there's no smoking in here.
You never said anything about a J.
Regardless, there's no smoking.
Have you brought any psychics or telekinetics near it?
[pointedly] Yes, you.
I sense a tremendous energy from within it.
Oh my God. Do you?
Give me a fucking break.
Uh, thank you for the space cocaine. That was fucking incredible.
But you brought me all the way out here to show me a fucking rock?
I think it's mesmerizing.
[Lionel] Randall.
No smoking in the Obelisk Chamber, I beg of you.
[low snarling]
[gurgling]
Did you see that?
Relax. It's a fucking rock.
Uh, did you not hear anything we just said right now?
This rock is unlike anything humankind has ever encountered.
[unsettling music playing]
[otherworldly warbling]
[Lionel grunts]
It's so…
beautiful.
[Targ] You think you're looking at it,
but it's looking at you.
It is.
[low rattle]
[otherworldly warbling continues]
[suspenseful music playing]
[Randall gasps]
I think I've broke your rock, dude.
-[high-pitched ringing] -[gasping]
[Guy groaning]
[Randall grunting]
[grunting, moans]
[sighs contentedly]
[otherworldly warbling, high-pitched ringing continue]
[rumbling, crackling]
[guests grunting, whimpering]
[crackling]
[chittering]
-[wet slithering] -[low growling]
[sighs]
[whimpering]
[low growling]
[guests groaning]
[high-pitched ringing fades]
[Targ sighs]
[low growling]
It's drawn me into a trance.
[whimpering]
[groaning]
[moaning]
[groaning]
-[keypad beeps] -[funky music playing]
[music distorts]
-[alarm sounds] -[distorted music continues]
[music winds to stop]
[creaking]
[screams]
[screaming]
[groaning]
[whimpering]
[muffled groaning]
[yelling]
[distorted] It's probing me!
[strained scream]
-[flesh splattering] -[both gasp]
[both yelp fearfully]
[panicked screaming]
-[Randall] Help! Help! [screams] -[Charlotte screaming]
-[Randall screaming] Help!
-[fading screams] -[footsteps receding]
[ethereal music playing]
[wet slithering]
[low snarling]
[low growling]
[growling]
[Zahra chuckles]
[growling continues]
-[growling continues] -[soft squelching]
Ah!
[pained yelling]
[growling stops]
[pained yell]
-[Randall] Oh shit! Oh fuck! Go, go, go! -[Charlotte yells indistinctly]
-[Randall] Oh, fuck! -[Charlotte screams]
[shutting down whir]
-[distorted funky music playing] -[Randall] Oh God, my head! [gasps]
-[Charlotte grunting] -[Randall breathing heavily]
Hey!
He said we were chosen. What did he mean, "We were chosen"?
[Charlotte] Are you fucking kidding me? We gotta go, man!
-[Randall] Okay, okay! -We gotta find the truck!
-[Randall] Fuck! Damn it! Shit! -Go find that truck!
[Randall groans]
-Oh, my head! -[Charlotte yells painfully]
[Hector] Leave!
[Charlotte and Randall yell painfully in distance]
[panicked grunting]
[Hector] Fuck it.
[revelatory music playing]
[wet slithering, low growling]
[liquid bubbling]
[squelching]
[unsettling music playing]
[Lionel groans]
[pained groaning]
[pained yelling]
-[snarling] -[pained grunt]
[Charlotte yelps]
-[Randall] Make the music stop! -[Charlotte] You can do it!
[Randall screams]
Oh my God! Oh my God!
[Charlotte yelps]
[snuffling, slurping in distance]
[wet snuffling]
[snarling]
[growling]
[snarling]
[speaks raspily] Help me.
[screaming]
[Randall yelling fearfully]
-[Randall groans] -[Charlotte] Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!
Get in! Get in! Get in!
[Randall] Oh shit.
Oh fuck. [panicked breathing]
-[car door closes] -[engine starts, revs]
[tires squeal]
[Randall gasping] Shit! shit!
[panicked breathing]
[snarling in background]
[demonic growling]
[Hector screaming painfully]
[Hector continues screaming]
[crackling]
[Randall breathing heavily]
[engine accelerates]
[low snarling]
[slimy footsteps]
[electronic whizzing]
[snarling]
[electronic whizzing]
[snarling]
[Randall breathing heavily]
[screeches softly]
[low growling]
[muffled snarling]
[demonic roaring]
[Randall breathing heavily]
[unsettling music playing]
Oh fuck. [breathing heavily]
[screaming]
[unsettling music continues]
[low snarling]
[guttural growl]
[snarling]
[wet footsteps]
[snarling]
[guttural growling]
[growling]
-[tires screeching] -[Randall] Oh fuck!
[Randall breathing heavily]
[whispers] Did that just happen?
Yeah. Uh-huh.
[wet footstep thuds]
[low snarling]
-[wet footstep] -[guttural growling]
[distant traffic]
[electricity crackling, sparking]
[silence]
[thunder rumbles, claps]