A Dark Song (2016)

1
The furnishings can all
be removed if, uh--
No.
I would want the furnishing as they are.
Okay.
When would you want the house?
I'd want it immediately.
Have you been looking long?
I have.
There hasn't been anyone
here for a few years.
Is it what you are looking for?
Which way does this room face?
This room faces west.
West.
I want this house.
It's a one year minimum
contract I'm afraid.
A year then, how much?
Ten thousand four hundred.
Eight hundred deposit.
This is for you.
For the paper work--
For privacy.
You can do this?
Do you think this is an interview?
No.
Who else did you ask?
Michael Stotes, Ukeme Bantaam,
Alexandra Pol--
Okay.
Are we going to go and
look at the house?
Okay. The fuckin' house.
It's cold in here.
There's no heating.
There's no heating?
You're not selling this.
It doesn't matter, does it?
What, the heating? No.
You not having one?
You started then?
Purifying yourself?
Yes.
Let's hear it.
I've followed the diet.
I've had no alcohol for 22 weeks.
I've abstained from sex.
All sex?
Masturbation as well?
All sex.
Yeah, it gets tricky
after a month, don't it?
And the diet?
The last 27 days...
...I have only eaten
between dusk and dawn.
For the next three days,
I'll fast completely.
Are you Protestant or Catholic?
I'm Catholic.
Catholic.
And the rite?
The Abramelin.
You're not fuckin' about.
No.
I've done this three times.
Once it worked, twice it didn't.
It didn't?
Well I was younger, you've
got to have the right person.
Why?
For love.
For love.
I love someone, they
don't love me anymore.
Well?
Well what?
Are you going to do it?
No.
Why?
House isn't right.
There's nothing wrong with this house.
It is everything you asked for.
You agreed that--
The only thing I agreed to
was to look at the house.
And I did and I want my money.
But I've done everything.
Just give me my money.
I wanna get back to London.
- Listen, this is--
- Just give it to me.
You can do it by yourself,
you don't need me.
That's rubbish.
You need someone there,
someone who knows the procedure.
Who told you that, Michael Stotes?
You girls, you stupid,
little posh girls.
Abramelin procedure just to force love.
It's like getting Titian
to decorate a cake.
I love this person.
Get over him, just go on a fucking...
...dating website or something.
You don't understand.
No, I don't. Fuckin' love.
I'm gonna have fish and
chips when I get home.
That's what I fancy.
Waste of fucking time coming here.
I'll pay you 70,000.
Doesn't matter.
Eighty, it's all I've got.
You're not fuckin' listening.
My child died.
I lost my child.
He was taken from me
and it was my fault.
I have to hear his voice again.
I need to speak to him.
Talk to your dead child?
That might be something worth
getting up in the morning for.
Why did you lie?
I thought it would be too much.
Is it the truth?
That's important.
It is.
You get to ask for what you want too.
How much do you want it?
More than anything.
I'm having the bedroom
with the bed in it.
You will cook and clean.
You do know what we're takin' on?
Yes.
And you know the dangers?
I do.
This is a serious undertakin'.
It's not fuckin' astral
projection or runes.
This is real stuff we're playing with.
Real angels, real demons.
I know this.
You read cunts on the internet saying...
...it's just mental states.
That your, that your Guardian
Angel is your higher self.
Psychobabble bollocks.
You'll go for days without
sleep, fastin'...
...backbreaking rites, ritual sex.
You'll be at the very edge.
You, uh, ready for all that, darling?
I am.
I've read up on the Kabbalah.
You don't think this is
the Tree of Sephiroth?
- 'Cause, 'cause it's not.
- Um--
You've been looking
shit up on the internet.
No, this is Gnosticism.
I was told it was based on the Kabbalah.
It's there as grammar.
A structure.
The Kabbalah's an exploration of God.
We're doing something much darker.
"Salt, chalk, paint, paint
brushes, three inches...
...five inches, tape,
white masking tape...
...green masking tape,
tee lights, candles."
Food. Four months supply of meat?
Six months minimum, maybe eight.
Once this starts there's no leaving.
I need to get to, uh,
an Internet cafe, to a computer.
There's one in the hotel
I was staying in.
I lead a hard life,
I abuse alcohol. I'm DT'ing.
I just need to get it out of
my system before we start.
DT'ing?
Yeah, I use it sometimes.
It's an altered state for the horror.
Will you be alright?
It's just mild.
I just need to shake it off.
You are going to be able to do this?
Oh, for Christ's sake!
Are you okay?
I don't need your help.
Sophia. Oh, thank God.
Have you told him about
the psychiatric hospital?
I'm better.
- You're vulnerable.
- No, I'm not.
It was not doing anything,
that's what made me ill.
I am doing something.
This stuff is black, it's against--
So you believe it now?
I believe in God.
What's that suppose to mean?
Is this something Godly?
Imagine it was Lottie.
What would you do?
Not this.
There's nothing wrong with
walking away from all of this.
The kids miss you, they want to see you.
Come home.
We'll look after you.
You're going to look after me?
My baby sister?
Don't be like that.
You see that's the difference
between your home and mine.
- Soph.
- You have two children.
Two healthy fucking children.
I have a hole.
And tell me where is God?
Where is his goodness?
Sophia--
I am going to do this.
- It doesn't matter--
- I'm sorry.
It doesn't matter
if it's right or wrong.
You're going to keep away from me.
Stay away.
Is that understood?
Are you done?
Yeah.
Did you just lie?
No.
Look.
Do you speak German?
I can make myself understood.
A half truth is a lie.
I didn't lie.
I speak German.
I didn't cause that.
Everything has consequences in this.
I didn't cause that.
This has to be pure.
Not just your intention, but your drive.
It can go so wrong.
There was always gonna be something.
I'll help you with your German.
You just had to say.
Go for a walk tomorrow
before we're sealed in, eh.
It's gonna be months
before you see this again.
Okay.
What about you?
Me? I'll be alright.
This is your last chance to back out.
Once I complete this circle...
...no one can leave till
the Invocation's done.
Not for food, not for emergency,
not for anything.
Seal it.
What the fuck are you doing in bed?
I'm sorry, I'm sorry.
I.. I slept in, I'm sorry.
I don't give a toss.
Downstairs!
So magic squares.
Essentially a grid where you make
word and number sequences...
...that add up to one whole,
backwards...
...forwards, diagonally, et cetera.
And used to change a state.
Don't look at me like that.
Mr. Solomon, I'm not questioning you...
...but let's just remember
who's paying for this.
I don't give a fuck about
who's paying who.
I don't give a fuck about the money!
Eighty thousand pounds
is a lot of money.
Do you know the ritual?
Shall I leave you to do it?
You will not argue back!
I'm giving you what you want.
I see it burn in your fuckin' eyes.
You agreed to do whatever I said.
- I asked you.
- I know. I was just--
You had the chance
to back out yesterday.
But the house has been sealed.
I'm not backing out.
Well, what are you doing?
I just want this to work.
And it's gonna work with
posh little you in charge?
No.
Eat this.
It's a toadstool.
Have you been listening?
Take it.
Do the ritual.
Talk to your Guardian Angel.
Talk to your child.
Good.
What will it do?
You've been cleansed ritually...
...you're gonna be cleansed physically.
Is it going to be horrible?
Yep.
The circle is a paradox.
No beginning and no end, but bounded.
In each circle there are
four essential phases.
We consecrate the circles,
open the chamber...
...with the magic squares,
pass through.
Five circles, five elements,
five realms.
Now, the Abramelin
is essentially a journey.
That's a, that's a poor metaphor.
That is, but it will do for now.
This circle, this is
the Chamber of Effect.
Element of Wood,
where we seal our vessel...
...from the world,
make it safe against attack.
This one, the Chamber of the Song.
We push off into the void,
on our journey.
Element of fire.
The Blackness.
The Boundless,
where we sink into the abyss.
The Tangible.
Earth, metal, water.
The cycle.
Now this middle circle,
this is nameless.
This is where your angel will appear.
You will ask your favor
and I will ask mine.
When will my angel appear?
Well, we'll be invoking
the angel at every circle...
...but each time we move on,
it will grow more powerful.
This world will be merged with
other worlds, others will hear.
When will the angel appear?
It can appear at any time
from the first invocation.
Most likely fourth or fifth circle.
Triangle represents
the divine order, three.
A whole, divisible only by one,
the Trinity.
It's where you gain focus.
Stop you going mad.
This is the world of decay...
...of death, brute fact.
The square represents its form,
the number four...
...square of two, a perfect number.
This room is your urges, your baseness.
It is where you will gain your steel.
Break it.
What does that phrase do?
It's a transitional.
It is, what does it transfer?
Object to subject or
subject to predicate.
Good, now get the symbols tighter.
Feel its mass, its unmoving.
Feel its coolness, its stillness.
Did you get to the loo?
No talking.
For the next two days
I'm gonna unshackle...
...the house from the world.
You mustn't leave the circle.
No food, no water.
Focus on the stones I've given you.
Fall into it.
Swallow the pain and discomfort.
On the third mornin' we will
break for water and food.
Then we'll do the same thing
in the back two rooms.
Six days.
I'll start squares.
"And may all my transgressions
be washed."
"And make me chaste and pure."
"May my light be here now."
"Guiding me, protecting me."
"And may all my transgressions
be washed."
Transgressions be washed.
"And make me chaste and pure."
Chaste and pure.
"Protecting me."
Protecting me.
"May my light be here now."
May my light be here now.
"Guiding me."
"Protecting me."
Protecting me. Protecting me.
"And may all my transgressions
be washed."
"And make me chaste and pure."
Chaste and pure.
Make me chaste and pure.
It's raining.
Outside's an irrelevance.
Have you been hearing the dog?
The dog?
Yeah, there's a dog that barks at night.
No.
Maybe.
When are we going
to know that it's started?
What do you mean?
Well, how do we know that
something's happening?
That it's working?
That it's not--
That's why I was thinking about the dog.
- We're miles from anywhere.
- A dog?
Shit.
It's begun.
- What?
- It's a sign.
that it's beginning.
That's it?
That's how it starts.
It's just a bird hitting
against the window.
A black bird.
I can't see.
It was black. It was.
The circles are fuckin' hard to master.
Each one will take weeks.
All the other rituals are about you.
The shifting consciousness.
Becoming one with the ceremony.
Pure.
Look at me. Look at me.
This is real. Focus on me.
- I need sleep.
- Not yet.
It's part of the ritual.
I don't do forgiveness.
What the fuck did I say
at the beginning?
You've worked around other things.
Can you work around this?
Yeah, but it'll make life hard.
I don't do forgiveness.
I know a way around.
Drink it.
But--
Blood sacrifice, this is your choice.
There are diseases.
Hepatitis.
- Can I do mine?
- No! Drink it!
Look, it's starting to congeal!
Good. Swallow it.
Don't throw it up.
Keep it down.
Keep it down!
Drink it.
It's a blood sacrifice,
this is your choice.
But I did.
No! Drink it!
Look, it's starting to congeal!
Why do you ask? Does this,
uh, question bother you?
It's actually a bit of
an ontological issue.
You know what I mean.
I would say no.
We're not trying to hurt anyone...
...but we're doing dark things.
And would you do black magic?
There's no point in going
to the fair ground...
...if you don't go
on any of the rides.
Have you seen much?
I've seen things.
I've seen Gods, demons.
I like Gods rain silver on me.
And the dead and the damned.
Most of us are damned, you know.
Have you seen anything that scared you?
It all scares me.
Is that the point?
No, the point is to know.
To fucking know.
And to see the architecture...
...and the levers to climb the mountain.
- Power?
- Knowledge.
Fucking stop this.
It's time for bed.
You'll see it soon enough
and then you will know.
Then you will understand.
You haven't been through my stuff
for any reason, have you?
No.
Something's missing.
Something that I can't--
I'm not going through your stuff.
It'll turn up.
I hear it. What is it?
That's us being noticed.
Probably don't know what we are yet.
Are you sure?
It could be--
What the fuck?
We need to seal the circle.
Which is going to take a while.
Was that real?
We have to progress very
carefully from now on...
...everything tight.
I'm on a beach by myself.
Everything's dead.
I walk towards a village...
...past the bodies
of my family and friends.
I turn a corner...
...and there's a weird
old woman standing there.
She's holding the hand of my son, Jack.
I can't see his face.
He turns around--
And I wake up.
Oh, it's just your mind
working on things.
This process is not about epiphanies.
Dreams matter, mind.
And they're part of the architecture.
I mean, you're going
to get vivid dreams...
...and deja vu, broken time.
Do you want to know what I have...
...a recurring dream
about at the moment?
- That I own a moped.
- A what?
Yeah, that I own a, I own a moped.
That's the dream.
You'd think in all this, wouldn't you?
Fuckin' hell.
I told you, we'd have to do it.
Yeah.
We want the ritual to work.
You're not going to
back out now, are you?
- No.
- Good.
Do we need to go to the other room?
No. We can do it here.
Brush your hair.
- I need--
- Be quick.
Get changed into that T-shirt
and put some make up on.
Make up?
I'm just a man.
Look at you.
- Don't you need your books?
- No.
But isn't it part of--
Do you know what you're fuckin' doing?
- No.
- Well, shut up then!
- Sorry.
- Sorry, Mr. Solomon.
Sorry, Mr. Solomon.
Take off your jeans.
Now take off your t-shirt. Slowly.
Put your hands in your knickers.
You know, go on.
Okay, take 'em off.
Okay, turn around, bend over.
K.. Kneel down.
Kneel down!
Show me.
Ah, fuck.
Ah! Oh, fuck.
Put your clothes back on.
That wasn't sex magic.
There's no sex magic
in this fuckin' ritual.
You've got to be pure.
I had to get my mind.
You shit.
Don't you fuckin' talk to me like that.
Don't forget what I'm doing for you.
Fuck you!
You can serve yourself,
I'm not fucking hungry.
But I told you, didn't I?
This is the way that it works.
It's two, three passes at it.
It's a cycle, I said at the beginning.
- I'm not doing it again.
- But you've got no choice.
I do. I'm going.
This is shit.
It is not shit!
I wish it were.
I'm not doing it again.
I'm fuckin' going.
No, no, no!
Don't open the door!
Don't cross the line, we'll be fucked.
Cross the line, we'll be
stuck here forever.
Please, you don't--
You just don't know.
But nothing's happened.
It has.
You can feel it.
I promise you...
...I will let you talk to your child.
I.. I promise you that.
You better.
You fucking better.
Look.
Could it have blown in?
No. This is it. I told you.
I can feel it.
We're nearly there.
We'll keep pushing.
Seal the seventh chamber.
Then we should really light up.
The world isn't just science, is it?
Is that what you're here to prove?
I don't know. Possibly.
Science describes the least of things.
The least of what something is.
Religion, magic--
Bows to the endless
in everything, the mystery.
I can't find the right bit.
We're in the blackness
after the twelfth vessel.
What's for tonight?
Why don't you make it?
What did you say?
It's not fucking working.
Well--
Brilliant, like your style.
You're a stupid, vain, idiotic man.
"Vain, idiotic man." I like that.
Brilliant, that's told me--
Why the fuck isn't it working?
I don't know!
I think it's you.
What do you mean?
I don't think you've been
telling me the truth...
...about why you're doing this.
I can just sense it.
I've told you the truth.
Look at me.
This is ridiculous.
It's all shit.
Look at me.
Have you told me everything?
- Yes.
- You bitch!
You stupid bitch!
Fucking bitch!
Fucking tell me.
I want vengeance.
My seven-year-old child was murdered...
...by idiots doing a ritual.
You lied to me.
You fucking, stupid cow.
Would you have done it, if you'd known?
Yes!
I don't need you to be virtuous.
I need you to be driven!
You idiot!
You're doing this for me!
You're the focus!
You're the conduit!
Are we going to stop?
We can't stop!
Ah, jeez.
This, this, this whole fuckin' thing.
Get out of my sight, you fuckin' cunt!
Get up, we've got to do something.
Have you been drinking?
We've got to do a ritual.
You need to be anew.
Can this wait till morning?
No, we do it now.
It won't be long.
Stand in the water.
It's cold.
Strengthen her soul.
Horace, Orpheus, Baal, Christ.
Strengthen her soul.
Strengthen her soul.
Horace, Orpheus, Baal, Christ.
I'm going to duck you under three times.
- Can't this wait till morning?
- We need to do this.
"Take this soul and find it new."
"Make this soul clean and worthy."
"Let her touch the void, the nothin'."
Don't look like that woman,
you've just been reborn.
Well, I had to do it
to get the rite back on track.
You are now one with the rite,
one with your intention, pure.
You fucking cunt.
You nearly fucking killed me.
You just crossed the boundary.
You touched eternity, the endless.
I didn't touch fucking anything.
Well, we're back on track.
You'll get your vengeance.
Everything points to it.
Fucking make something happen.
I need this!
Jesus. Fucking Jesus.
I think this is, this is
the ritual starting to work.
That's the price...
...I've got to pay...
...for hurting you.
Your fuckin' Guardian Angel.
What are we going to do with this?
Have you got any bandages?
In the cupboard.
Get, get.. get the whiskey.
Shit.
This is what we've got.
Oh, that'll do. That'll do.
What should we do with this?
Oh, the knife, was it clean?
- I don't know.
- Let's hope.
Let's just, just pull it out.
- Pull it out.
- What?
Just pull the fucking thing out.
Shit.
- Oh!
- Shit.
- Okay.
- Yeah.
What should I do?
Just, just.. just give,
just give me a minute.
Okay, you, you lost your child, go on.
He was taken from a day care center.
Okay, is he in, is he in prison?
- Oh, God.
- They never found anyone.
You mothers and your children.
It was three years ago.
The case is closed, it's forgotten.
And now you're here with me.
It's less weird than you think.
You're not the first person
I've dealt with...
...who's fucked off with God.
You don't know me.
Right, it's time to sew me up.
What?
Just, just, just--
Swab it with the whiskey.
Okay.
- Okay?
- Yeah.
Fuck. Oh, just do it.
I teach fucking RE.
Oh, fuck off, it's not brain surgery.
So are you going to tell me now...
...what you're going to ask for?
- Invisibility.
- Invisibility?
Yeah, it's not what you think.
I want to, I just want to disappear.
Live the rest of my life
away from the world.
I've waited for you.
I want some quiet before the howl.
Just don't go thinking this is us
fucking bonding or anything.
We're not pals now there, you know that.
Things will start to happen now.
I will give you your vengeance,
I promise you.
What do you think is going to happen...
...when you ask for your vengeance?
They will die a horrible death--
And they will be damned.
You don't think I had
anything to do with it, do you?
It was teenagers
playing with the occult.
Damning teenagers.
You could ask for so much more.
You know, personal things.
Transformations.
I'll do it my way.
Well, they're damned anyway.
Aren't we a pair?
I'm not like you.
You're just like me.
Maybe worse.
I am not like you.
Look where you are.
How are you doing?
Yeah, I'm alright.
Maybe we should stop.
No, we can't.
But you're not well.
I'm fucking fine!
The power's off.
Well, we've got candles.
Let's just.. let's just...
...fucking try and reach the end.
Uh--
If we can't, we'll, then
we'll see where we are.
It's three in line of nine.
Or is it twelve?
Which is it, Mr. Solomon?
It's nine.
Yeah, I.. I.. I think it's nine.
Mummy.
Mummy.
Mummy, please. Are you there?
Can you hear me?
Help me.
I'm here.
I'm just in here.
I can hear you.
It's not you.
It is. You don't know what this is.
You don't understand yet.
It's not you, Jack.
I've got to keep quiet, there's a dog.
There's no dog.
There is, you've heard it.
You hear it at night.
It's just a dog outside.
Please, keep quiet.
It might hear us.
Where are we?
We're in a house--
In the country--
In Wales.
I missed you, mummy.
I missed you so much.
Have you missed me?
Yeah.
Mummy, I need you to open the door.
I know you're not him.
Mummy, please.
Something's in here.
Open the door.
No.
Mummy, it's here. It's here.
It's here with me.
Mummy, please, please.
- It's here, it's here with me.
- I am going now, Jack.
Mummy! Mummy!
It's here, it's here.
I am not going to open the door!
It's here with me!
Mummy, it's frightening.
Open the door!
Open the door!
It's not your son.
I know.
But I heard his voice.
Words are just a sound.
This is the price of our rage.
Embrace it, don't fear it.
It's you and it's me.
Poor us.
It's getting colder.
We're in early March.
Thought we're in May.
No.. I think it's March.
Would you like something to eat?
No, no. Not hungry.
Do you need to go to bed?
Eh, no.
No, got to keep going.
I need that steel.
No surrender.
- Are you okay?
- Um.. um, uh, yeah.
- Okay.
- Uh--
I'm a servant.
I'm a warrior.
- You are.
- Yeah.
I.. I--
Shouted down his enemies.
I.. gloried in His creation.
Demons fear me.
I miss my sister.
Oh, God.
Is God here now?
Sophia.. I'm--
Come on. Shit.
Let someone be in.
Let someone be in.
Let someone be there.
No.
No!
Mummy, open the door.
No.
Why weren't you there?
You were meant to pick me up at 3:30.
I'm sorry.
I'm so sorry.
Were you with that man?
I love you.
I love you so much.
I miss you everyday.
You are my whole world.
I am so sorry.
Are you asking me to forgive you?
No.
I'm going to get your killers.
I'm going to get them.
They're not my killers.
I'm just some cunt...
...using your son's voice
to make you afraid.
I know.
I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.
I'm so sorry.
I am so sorry.
So beautiful.
I'm sorry.
I'm so sorry.
The favor I want is--
The favor I want is--
I want the power to forgive.