[twig snaps]
THE CRIMSON RIVERS
DARK MOON
PRIMER ON DIVINATORY ARTS
PREDICTIVE ASTROLOGY
[footsteps on stairs]
I have an envelope for Superintendent Niémans.
Yeah, I'll give it to him.
I was told to give it to him personally.
That's what I'm saying.
All right then, fine.
[footsteps fade away]
[vehicle approaches]
[car door opens and closes]
I already spoke to Superintendent Niémans.
Did he tell you Marie Mercier was injected with morphine?
It was you, wasn't it, who got Mr Werner's morphine?
- Yes. And? - A lot of it is missing.
And then, we found your footprints on the path near the dunes.
What are these photos?
What footprints?
How can you know this?
[vehicle approaches]
Is this why you've come? To accuse me of murder?
- I'm doing my job, Nanou. - Screw your job!
Sorry to interrupt.
What were you doing Saturday night and Sunday morning?
What I usually do.
Meaning?
Am I required to answer?
I delivered groceries to Mr Werner.
Then I went down to the sea, no reason in particular.
I took a dip, relaxed. Is that good enough?
It's been my beach since I was a kid.
It's where I made love for the first time.
Did you forget?
Saturday night, I had a date with a guy from a website.
There! Happy now, Superintendent?
Look at me.
What do you suspect me of?
[sigh]
Do you think I buried Marie alive?
That's disgusting!
Nanou.
Nanou! Nanou.
Happy now? You're a pain.
- What? - You're a pain!
What? She had access to the morphine. We saw her footprints in the dunes.
- I'm just doing my job, Niémans. - Yeah, right.
[phone vibrates]
Yes?
We'll be right there.
We have to go to Werner's.
[Mr Werner] I was doing my daily rounds when I noticed this was open.
The previous owner left some things, but I don't mind.
Usually it's closed, so I got worried.
[Niémans] It's hard to tell in this mess what they took.
Notice anything?
No. I told you, none of it belongs to me.
The freezer.
- Was it plugged in all this time? - No, not at all.
Eugène.
Three deaths and all we have is that damn house.
I think I might have something.
I've been mulling it over. Eugène's death confirmed my idea.
We have a bull, two identical figurines, and a crab.
Yeah, we've got the timeline of the murders. So what?
Marie was born in May. Her sign is Taurus, the bull.
Each sign has an element. Hers is earth. She was buried alive.
Then we have Théo,
born 13th June, Gemini, the twins.
His element is air, and he died in a land-yacht accident.
- The fisherman? - Born in July.
His sign is Cancer, the crab.
Element, water.
- And he drowned to death. - They died in astrological order.
Taurus, Gemini, Cancer.
The next is Leo. Its element is fire.
Good work, Camille. I'm proud of you.
That's not all.
- This is Ophiuchus. - Yeah, my friend the snake.
It's a constellation.
The zodiac's forgotten planet.
The 13th sign.
End of Scorpio, start of Sagittarius.
It was removed because 12 signs is more practical.
Yeah, the serpentine Ophiuchus, represented as a serpent.
- Werner again. - Yes and no.
The serpents didn't come from Werner.
Eugène!
How horrible, all these deaths!
We're taking an interest in your passion: astrology.
The killer is also oddly keen on it.
I don't understand.
Hm.
Stop rummaging about my home. I don't know anything.
I never went back to the house after the sale.
Marie Mercier was killed first. She was a Taurus.
Then the young man, a Gemini.
Last was Eugène, a Cancer.
There's no Aries.
It always starts with an Aries.
What are you saying?
There has to be one.
Mrs Malarte,
I'm going to ask you to come along with us, please.
Adèle Malarte was a librarian here for 20 years.
We checked her horoscope website. It's clean.
Nothing odd or personal on her computer.
- Her private life? - Divorced. Her son is 32 now.
No one ever saw him in her house.
He didn't attend any schools here. He lived with his father.
Maternal instinct is undoubtedly another one of her assets.
Why were these in your house?
It's a collection.
Hm.
I thought they were your son's.
I haven't got any children.
Don't play me for a fool, all right?
All right.
Taurus.
Gemini.
Cancer.
All found close to the bodies.
Are they also part of the collection?
I knew it. I've always known.
- And now he's killing. - Who's killing?
It's Jules!
I did my best, but no one escapes fate!
He was 12 years old when I realised.
Realised what?
That his fate was unique.
[Jules] Why have we moved?
[Mrs Malarte] This place is fine.
No, it's not. Which school will I be going to?
You won't see anyone anymore.
I'll teach you what you need to know.
- What about my friends? - You won't see them.
You'll find others. I'll buy snakes.
Look.
This is you.
It's what you are and what you will be.
A budding monster. A killer.
Listen, you'll stay here with me.
Just you and me, see?
[rattlesnake in the distance]
We obey the stars and the signs.
You will obey.
You locked your son up due to his astrological chart?
I protected him!
His rising sign was horrible. Serpentine-Scorpio.
It's ruled by Pluto,
the driver of destruction,
an ally of Saturn.
What could I do?
Love him a bit more?
Saturn means frigidity, lack of feeling, scheming, solitude.
And Pluto means destruction. Don't you see?
They dominated Jules.
I hid him and built a greenhouse for his friends.
Sometimes he'd sleep in there.
At first, he'd cry and scream, but then he got used to it.
It took time, but in the end, he accepted his fate.
Nobody knew he was there.
Other children heard his screams.
Yes!
Those dirty little snots sneaking up the path!
They called me the "witch". They were scared and never returned.
Eugène heard him too.
He should never have come.
Where is Jules now?
He ran away at age 25. I waited so long for him to return.
I looked for him.
And then finally, I sold the house.
Now he's killing, as predicted.
Having a monster for a child is awful for a mother.
Any photos of him?
No.
He won't stop, Superintendent.
- And I thought I was a bad mother! - Yeah.
She turned her son into a murderer.
Hm.
You were right, it all pivots on astrology.
She implied all the murder victims are linked to that house.
Do you know Nanou's date of birth?
[mumbling]
It's in August, why?
Shit!
[engine stars]
[dramatic music]
Nanou!
I'll call the emergency services.
Nanou!
[wood splinters]
[coughing]
Nanou.
[coughing]
Nanou
[coughing and efforts]
[Niémans groans]
Nanou.
[exhales deeply]
- The ambulance is coming. We're OK. - Yeah.
Oh, shit.
[deep breaths]
Nanou was my first love. I was 17.
A year later, my folks put my brother in a mental hospital.
He killed himself a month before the holidays.
So, I never came back here.
The Malarte boy, missing for many years,
scarred for life by astrology, returned to fulfil his presumed fate.
Werner's house is our only trace of him.
This time he struck elsewhere.
He knows we're onto him. He acts fast.
- What do we know about his past? - Not much.
Pulled out of school at age 12 by a whack-job mother.
As a runaway, he must have slept in odd places, done odd jobs,
been a street beggar.
His mother gave a vague description.
Shall I bring her in for a composite drawing?
The artists can age it.
He moves faster than we do.
Can you explain this, Superintendent?
Our teams will keep a lookout round the clock.
Can you check upstairs, Éric? Thanks.
You didn't answer my question.
Do you think I'm in danger?
It's quite likely, yes.
I'm not scared of your killer.
I'll be dead in a few months.
He might lessen my pain.
You've got no choice.
You may not care about dying,
but my job is to keep him from killing others, all right?
So I'm being set up as bait?
Exactly.
No one up there.
Shit.
This is absurd.
Stop fiddling with everything.
Above all, no conversation.
- You had nothing else to do? - No.
I was worried about Anne-Marie. I mean Nanou.
She'll make it. She's starting to recover.
- We can't question her yet. - Of course.
Hand over your keys. I'm taking you out to dinner.
[thunder]
I have no TV and no food for you.
- Don't worry, I came prepared. - I'm not worried.
My housekeeper is in hospital. Don't leave a mess.
I usually go to bed early. Goodnight.
- You're following me to bed? - No, but I'll stay here.
[electric motor whirs]
[groans]
[woman]High up in the sky
Glimmering stars
While you slumber
You mustn't move an inch
Don't wake up
They will wrap all around you
For all eternity
You mustn't move an inch
Don't wake up
They will wrap all around you
For all eternity
High up in the sky
Glimmering stars
[voice echoes incoherently]
[crash]
[rattles door]
[wood splinters]
[door closes]
Niémans?
Mrs Malarte didn't show up this morning.
She's taking the piss! I'll be right down.
[dramatic music]
- What element is Virgo? - Earth.
The neighbour said a man was there, and Adèle was singing.
Jules Malarte came to avenge the mistreatment his mother gave him.
Why did he attack Werner?
Werner stole his only refuge, his home and jail for over 10 years.
But if he missed Werner, he'll try again.
We're searching Mrs Malarte's home, but we've found no link to her son.
We did find the father. He's in Switzerland.
He's had no contact with either one since the divorce.
All traces of the boy have been erased.
She took him out of school at age 12. I'll check his school records.
OK.
[suspenseful music]
- Hello, can I help you? - I'd like to see the principal.
That'd be me.
Hello. Camille Delaunay. Can we talk?
- Let's go to my office. - Thanks.
I'm not scared of him.
[classical music plays]
It's all right to be afraid. No law against it.
Thanks for relieving your team. They're not terribly efficient.
How awful for Mrs Malarte.
[record scratches]
Have you ever wondered if anyone has ever sneaked in and watched you?
I doubt anyone has.
You can talk to me, Mr Werner.
Well, I'm doing as Camille says now. I lock my doors.
- "Camille"? - Yes.
We had a friendly chat.
May I check upstairs?
Your team has already searched.
We may not be looking for the same things.
Pardon me for not joining you.
[distant imagined children's voices]
Jules Malarte.
The principal told me he was shy,
had lacklustre marks, yet passed.
She remembered him 20 years later?
No, she remembered his mother.
Harsh, very bossy, and who took him out of school.
- l'll have this photo aged. - Know where Niémans is?
- No. - I'll call him.
[ringing tone]
[phone vibrates]
[imagined knock at door]
[imagined doorknob rattling]
[phone vibrates]
[imagined knocking grows louder]
[echoing]Please, Mummy, let me out!
Let me out!
I want out!
Please!
Please, Mummy, I want out.
Mummy, please.
Let me out, Mummy, please.
I haven't hurt anyone. Please?
[thud]
[typing on computer]
Shit!
[groans]
[Niémans groans]
[Camille on the phone]Niémans, where are you?
Call me back. It's urgent.
[hissing]
You won't need that anymore.
Sorry, but I had to give you a shot to calm you down.
[hissing]
You're Jules Malarte?
The charred bones in the attic trunk are Werner's?
Yes, the first death.
He was in my house, see?
My house!
I long thought someone would come save me.
But no.
Screaming is futile when no one hears you.
Mum would lock me up, watch me.
Sometimes we'd go to the beach, for some fresh air,
always at night.
Then you ran away.
Yes, but children are like dogs.
Even if you beat them, they crawl back.
I'd sleep here. Right there. Several nights.
I'd watch her live her life. I was with my friends.
Not Ophiuchus.
She kept him with her.
And that one.
Bungarus Candidus,
or the blue krait.
Death is almost instantaneous, painless.
Well, that's what they say, but no one actually knows.
Then Mum sold up.
She sold my house and my friends.
[suspenseful music]
What are you doing?
This is my house. I'm afraid you can't stay.
You're crazy. I'm calling the police.
Go away.
An Aries!
[Niémans]You killed Werner.
I'm no murderer.
I'm mad. Mum said so.
I didn't mean to kill Werner.
He was born under the first sign.
Element, fire.
And I then realised, she'd been right all along.
Saturn the Destroyer, ally of Pluto, had returned to my sign.
After years of rejecting it, it felt good to finally accept it.
[agonised screams]
[suspenseful music]
[imagined plaintive voices]
[imagined child]Mummy, let me out, please!
Ophiuchus was there. He'd been waiting for me.
[siren]
Damn!
His phone's turned off.
I burned Werner, but he was going to die anyway.
He'd just moved here, no one knew him.
It was easy to become him.
I was patient.
You must do things in order, Superintendent.
Mummy always said so.
Werner, the Aries, was dead.
And then I got lucky.
I worried about the estate agent. Only she knew Werner's face.
You can find everything online.
[doorbell]
Even dates of birth.
Just imagine, Marie was a Taurus!
Hello, I'm Marie Mercier.
Please, do come in.
Mr Werner asked me to drop by.
- Yes, I know. He won't be long. - Thank you.
[Marie moans]
[hissing]
Look!
It's all written here.
The Gemini boy showed up.
No need to search. It was magical!
You're totally nuts.
It was magical until you showed up.
You didn't let me kill Anne-Marie, the Leo.
I couldn't operate in order.
Mummy wasn't happy to see me.
It was far too early for the Virgo.
She put up a fight, and even asked me to forgive her.
Then she sang. She sang for me.
It continues still, Superintendent.
You're dying before your time. It's quite upsetting.
I'm sorry.
[hissing]
[groans]
[hissing]
[suspenseful music]
Drop it!
Camille! Camille!
Where's Niémans?
The superintendent is following his destiny.
Did you know he's also a Serpentine?
A rare sign.
A fate both sublime and tragic.
My sweet Aquarius. Don't make me kill you.
[groans]
[hissing]
Niémans?
Yeah, over here, Camille.
Oh shit!
Don't miss, damn it!
[groans]
[sighs]
Here, he was holding this.
It's his astrological chart.
"The Moon, image of the mother, influenced by Pluto,
"is able to turn her child into an agent of evil.
"She would then become the Dark Moon,
"and would turn him into a cold-hearted man, with no feelings,
[Camille and Jules] "a man capable of the very worst."
"But if the mother loves him
"and helps him fight off his tendencies,
[Jules]"he will have a rare fate."
You OK?
I'm fine.
English Subtitles: David Wesley Cox SDH Adaptation: Geoff Rowlands
Subtitling: DUBBING BROTHERS