(CAROLINE SPEAKING FRENCH)
MICHAEL: You are delicate.
Your heartbeat's music, the beautiful sound of love.
You're not beaten, you have dignity, grace.
This winter will not tear you apart.
You will not lose sight of what we dreamed of becoming.
Reach out.
Get closer.
Don't give up.
You cannot, will not, give up.
Remember,
nothing has value without love.
Caroline.
(EXHALING)
Caroline.
(EXCLAIMS)
I'm not so sure that I did choose physics. Somehow it chose me.
For me, though,
physics is a place where the best-kept secrets are unlocked.
If you can be brave enough to step out of yourself,
you might just get a glimpse of what reality really looks like.
How cool is that? Yeah?
WOMAN: What do you think reality really looks like?
A place where anything can happen.
A timeless universe.
You listen to people like me and you think it's all neat and tidy,
but underneath these big ideas, lies fear.
Fear of failure.
Physicists have an almost weird fetish for elegance,
finding perfect solutions.
Don't worry about that.
Never be afraid of failure.
WOMAN: Have you ever failed?
- What was that? - You didn't like it?
Come on. He was cute, but the film was silly.
Silly story. They never spoke! They never said anything.
How are we supposed to know what they're feeling, what they're thinking?
So French.
Did you like it?
Michael?
No, come on, please tell me you didn't really like that.
I loved it.
Stop being so pretentious, Michael. I don't believe you liked that. I really don't.
I mean, I was bored. All the way through, I was bored.
I didn't understand what it was trying to tell me...
DAVID: Radiation from that kind of distance in space would suggest something violent.
A massive star, maybe a quasar.
- What do you think, Michael? Any thoughts? - It's odd.
Every signal contradicts our understanding of how a star this size should behave.
I don't know what it is, but I feel this is the one we should continue to monitor.
Let's not get too excited. I've been here before, ended up with nothing.
Let's wait.
See what happens over the next few days. See what the machine comes up with.
Imagine, though. Imagine what might happen if we could prove your theory.
I suppose it doesn't matter. It can't be disproved. It has some sort of meaning.
Meaning?
Meaning is only the joint product of all the evidence available to those who communicate.
- You've taken that from a textbook. - Exactly.
Then you're definitely on shaky ground.
I'm going to take a break. Get some air.
Are we really following this line or is this some kind of joke?
Some kind of joke?
Waiting for a computer to prove the unprovable.
Well, I'm not laughing.
I am.
No. I'm going to follow this one through. Mike will deliver this time.
(SCOFFING) Deliver what?
(LASER BEAM PLAYING)
- Hi. - Hi.
This isn't your part of the city?
(WITH FRENCH ACCENT) No. I was looking for something.
Did you find it?
Not yet.
- Do you live here? - Yeah.
- I've always lived in this neighborhood. - Always?
Forever.
That's nice, your home.
This music is...
Sad?
And beautiful.
Maybe you can help me.
I'm looking for a small place near here. It's French. Do you know it?
I've been told they make delicious hot chocolate.
Can you help me to find it?
Of course. Yeah.
(BELLS RINGING)
- What is it? - Can I take a picture?
Why?
Just one. For me?
For you?
Mmm-hmm.
Stay here.
- You feel uncomfortable. - No. Not at all.
- You don't like to be photographed. - It doesn't happen very often.
Why?
Je trouves que tu es très beau.
I don't think so.
Funny-looking.
- Tu parle francais? - No.
Yes, badly.
Then what does it mean, funny-looking?
Peculiar.
- Really? - Really.
Well, let the camera decide, then. It never lies.
- I like your neighborhood. - Me, too.
I feel like une femme en hiver.
There's no escape.
Yeah...
No escape.
Drink it.
Mmm.
- Mmm. - So you live here?
- You live alone? - Yeah.
- You've always lived alone? - Always.
- You're not lonely? - No.
Sometimes, maybe.
It's good, no?
Very.
I'd like to see where you live.
- Pardon? - Can I see your apartment, where you live?
My apartment?
Of course, yeah.
When?
- Now. - Now?
Mmm-hmm.
- Is that a problem? - No.
- I don't even know your name. - Michael.
- And you?
Caroline.
Alors, c'est ici tu habite?
Very nice.
I like it.
- Shall we light the fire? - Yeah, of course.
- You study the stars? - Kind of.
Oh, you wrote this?
With a lot of help, yeah.
Wow.
What is...
Je ne peux même pas le prononcer.
Quantum cosmology?
It helps us understand. It explains how stars work.
In the book, it's used to explore an idea, a theory.
What theory?
That the universe is schizophrenic.
- Sick? - (LAUGHING) No, no.
What, then?
It explains the idea that there might be...
There are parallel versions of our world, us.
Only in some, we might be alive, as we are now, while in others, at the same time, we're...
Dead?
That's one idea. I prefer to believe that...
That we can move through different time lines. Maybe even into our own future.
- You believe that? - Yeah.
- But it's absurd. - Yeah. Yeah, it is.
Is it your theory?
Yeah, but it's impossible to prove, and not very popular with some scientists.
Too many assumptions.
- But you believe it? - You ask a lot of questions.
Yeah, I do.
It helps explain other phenomena.
Such as?
Coincidence.
And fate?
Yes, and fate.
(PHONE RINGING)
Hi, it's Michael. Sorry you got the machine, leave a message and I'll get back to you.
WOMAN: Michael, hi.
I was wondering what you were doing.
Some of us are going for a drink. Maybe you'd like to join us?
I... We would like to see you.
Call me. Bye.
Well?
Are you going to join them, her? She sounded nice.
No. I want to stay here.
Good.
So tell me more about coincidence
and fate.
I, um...
Shh, don't say anything.
Kiss me.
TECHNICIAN: The machine froze on a set of numbers. It's been stuck there since.
I think it might have crashed.
It was circulating various codes and equations at a speed I've never seen before,
but it stopped, just like that.
It's still working, thinking.
Thinking?
The machine was programmed to abandon the idea that it works in a single reality,
and accept multiple realities.
I know it's hard to get your head around,
but it calculates by exploiting a number of versions of itself.
- From where? - That's the beauty of it.
Endless numbers. From where, who knows? That's what we're here to find out.
Maybe it's somewhere where time is frozen, you know, like a photograph.
He looks like you.
- No. - Really.
- In what way? - That he's a bit strange.
Yeah. I'll give you that.
Um, un peu melancholic.
No.
- Mysterious. - Mysterious?
- Mmm-hmm. Full of secrets. - That's you, not me.
Tres secret.
- Yeah? - Mmm-hmm.
CAROLINE: You never ask questions about me. You're not curious?
Of course, I am. But I don't need to know.
- But you're curious? - Yeah.
Let's tell each other one thing, a secret. Something important, serious.
Okay.
I came here
to your city
because...
After something happened to me.
I lost a child.
She was born...
Stillborn.
It's difficult to describe how I felt.
I wanted to scream.
But I didn't.
I wanted to change places with her,
but I couldn't.
I wanted the time to go backwards,
but it wouldn't.
So I ran.
I ran away.
I ran here.
And I became a ghost.
I was not real any more.
Until I met you.
You made me feel good again.
Do you believe in ghosts?
Give me your hand.
That's the beat of a ghost's heart.
- You are a ghost. - I am.
- Did you come to haunt me? - (LAUGHING) No.
What, then?
I came here to tell you that everything's going to be all right.
- Do you make dreams come true? - Only the good ones.
Do you have a secret?
Yeah.
Tell me.
I'm in love.
You are?
De qui?
- A woman. - Oh, what kind of woman?
A woman in winter.
Embrasse moi.
MICHAEL: I have something for you.
- For me? - For you.
- Une étoile? - A special star.
Why?
I discovered this star the first day we met.
It was born from a supernova 2,500 light years away.
- Is that far? - Very.
What will happen to this star?
At the moment, it's traveling through the dangers of dark space.
Will it survive?
I don't know.
MICHAEL: We know that black holes are the perfect macroscopic objects.
They're made up of nothing more than our concepts of space and time.
The black hole becomes a timeless universe. Nothing moves, nothing changes.
In abstract terms, a kind of dead zone.
MICHAEL: The machine is quantifying the idea that if space is warped enough,
creating a region where gravity is so powerful that even light can't escape,
in other words, a black hole,
then what would happen if time was warped in the same way?
- Might it result in a looping-back of time? - MARIANNE: A time machine.
In as many words.
- A portal into another space-time? - Possibly.
Do we meet interstellar travelers coming through for a weekend sleepover with their Earth friends?
You don't like me being here, do you, Marianne?
- No. - I'm distracting you.
Among many other things, yes.
You'd prefer me to fall back into the black hole I popped out of?
It's of little importance what I think.
There are some people around here who want to believe in ideas that have no reality.
Or, as a rational scientist would say, causality.
- And without causality? - There's only chaos.
Let's go to the sea.
The sea?
Yeah, let's try.
Let's walk to the sea.
It's too far.
No, it's not too far.
Let's try.
(BELLS RINGING)
- You seem... - What?
Distant.
No.
I'm sorry. I was just thinking.
Everything changes so quickly here.
Do you have some time?
- For what? - To listen to some words.
- About what? - Why don't you come in and listen?
- No, sorry. We don't have time for that. - Why not?
Why not come in and listen? You don't have to stay for long.
- Let's go. - No. I think we should...
Let's go. We don't have to stay for long.
We're all, in some ways, the product of our knowledge.
The more we learn, the more our self-esteem is blown apart.
We're mortal, we're not gods.
Death sets us aside from our illusions.
Look at us.
Weak, wretched.
Pathetic?
No.
We are moral beings.
We possess absolute dignity.
We're humble.
We understand that we are of this Earth and forever unworthy of the heavens we invented.
L'humilité est la science de la tristesse.
Humility is the science of sadness.
Never relinquish the courage that comes from despair.
Hold up a mirror to your own universe,
and you will see the only truth that matters.
Love is the only truth.
Love is right here in front of you.
Love is your only reason for living.
Let love make you real again.
Hey, hey, hey.
- Are you okay? - I'm fine.
- Did she say something that upset you? - No.
What she said was...
So beautiful.
- Is everything... - Everything's fine.
- It's just that you seem... - What?
(MOBILE PHONE RINGING)
I don't know.
You seem to have...
Why don't you answer it?
Yeah?
No, no. It's okay. Go on.
Can't that wait until tomorrow?
Just record the data and I'll look at it in the morning.
Where's David?
Only Marianne there. All right. No, no, that's fine.
I understand, yeah.
- There's a problem back at the... - You have to go?
I won't be long.
- Of course. - A few hours.
- It's fine. - Sure?
Go.
- Thanks for coming in. - No problem.
It's been behaving very strangely.
I don't know what's going on.
- I'm so sorry, Michael. - Did you record the data?
- There wasn't any. - Nothing?
Again.
What exactly have we learnt from the computer in the last few months?
As far as I can see,
nothing.
(DEEP BREATHING)
(THUNDER RUMBLING)
- What's the matter? - I couldn't sleep.
I had a strange dream.
I was in that meeting room we were in today.
For a moment, I felt you beside me.
But I was alone.
I was so afraid.
Oh, come on.
Oh, shit.
What's your problem?
Do you really want to know?
Yeah. Yeah, I really want to know.
All of us here in this room, we are astronomers, right?
We specialize in real things, stardust.
We analyze gas clouds, the formation of stars. We find supernovas. We chronicle the life of stars.
Yeah. That's exactly what we do.
No, you're wrong. That's what we used to do.
You brought in Michael, the golden boy theoretical physicist,
and you've allowed him to conveniently wrap up all of our work into the world of quantum physics.
We sit here trying to digest ideas that are unprovable.
We are scientists. We need laws.
Where Michael's taken us, there are no laws, no jurisdiction.
My head's spinning.
You know, what we used to do was so... so simple.
Now... now we discuss reverse time theory.
- Yeah. - Let me say that again.
We discuss reverse time theory!
What are we doing, David?
We are part of an incredible story.
We're in it, right in the middle of it.
And Michael is taking this department somewhere new,
somewhere maybe beyond our understanding, but he's helping us, giving us clues, answers.
I'll give you an answer.
Michael explored these theories before and they fell apart.
And he fell apart with them.
- MICHAEL: Hello, is that Dr. Hunt? - Yes. Can I help?
I'm sorry to trouble you, but, um... I found your card in Caroline's bag.
- Caroline? - I think she's one of your patients.
What's her surname?
- I don't know. - You don't know?
- Why have you called me? - I think she's ill. I thought...
You might be able to help.
Describe her to me.
She's late 20s.
Beautiful, French.
- French? - You know her?
- Impossible, can't be the same person. - Why not?
Because...
Well, I treated a French woman called Caroline years ago.
Why couldn't it be the same Caroline?
Because she was older, older, a lot older.
I'm sorry.
(GLASS SHATTERING)
Who were you speaking to? Just now, you were talking on the phone.
From the Observatory.
- They want me to, ah... - Come.
Come and lie with me.
Can you hold me?
CAROLINE: We met, my lover and I, here.
In this city.
We met
and fell in love.
We knew nothing and everything about each other at the same time.
When we were together, the world was different.
Time no longer existed.
Our world was timeless.
The color of the sky was sharper, oxygen seemed to have a taste.
We became one.
We loved quiet moments. We understood our needs.
It was beautiful, so beautiful.
He died.
He died when I needed him most.
I was carrying our child.
I miss him.
I'll love him forever.
Sometimes I think he is still with me, near me. He's here in this room tonight, watching over me.
But no.
How do you replace a love that's so real you can feel it, touch it,
believe it?
I don't know how to do that.
Yes. Love is all that matters.
There is nothing else that matters.
Love is all there is.
CAROLINE: (WHISPERED) Michael.
HUNT: Tell me about Caroline. How did you meet her?
MICHAEL: Sounds ridiculous, across a room.
I saw her and that was it.
I knew, I knew straight away we would be together.
- HUNT: And you were. - Ah, of course.
Did you bring a photograph?
So!
It's a self-portrait.
She seems distant. It shocked me the first time I saw it.
Really?
I, uh...
- I must have picked this up by mistake. I... - Not a problem.
What do you know of her?
You said she was ill?
She changed. It was sudden.
I thought it was maybe a virus.
This winter has been tough, but it was more than that.
She came here because she had lost a child.
It was stillborn.
She came here to forget, to recover.
She was told that it would be dangerous for her to try again.
That was many years ago, but, uh...
I don't know. I, uh...
Don't know.
Where is she now?
- When I woke this morning, she was gone. - Gone?
Yeah. She does that. I never questioned it before.
- When I wake up, she's not there. She's gone. - And then?
She's back with me.
I come back to the apartment and she's there.
So what do you think?
Everything seemed so perfect, and now here I am, in front of you.
She called me today.
She asked me to meet her this afternoon at the Botanical Gardens.
Maybe you could come?
You want me to take a look?
- Yeah. - Why?
It's not possible it can be the same Caroline as the one I treated.
But the card, the description.
The Caroline I know, as well as being older, has a young daughter.
I could be wrong, but I always thought one of the guiding principles of your world,
the world of physics,
was that there was no escape from the laws of chance.
Do you not believe in coincidence, Michael? Hmm?
The Caroline that you treated, you never told me...
It's a sad story.
Her lover died in an accident. She never got over that.
- What happened to her? - Not long after he died, she had their daughter.
They still live here, in the city. You can find your way out here.
(RUNNING WATER)
MICHAEL: Caroline?
Caroline?
(EXCLAIMING)
I thought, uh...
Please come sit by me, we need to talk.
Good. I have something to tell you too.
All right, let's sit.
All right.
You first.
- Okay. - All right.
Where do you go?
- Where do I go? - Yeah.
Where do you go, Caroline, when you're not with me?
I don't even know where you live.
- But I live with you. - No, no...
Where do you go when you're not living with me?
- Why are you asking me this? - I'm curious.
So suddenly?
Caroline, I don't even know your surname.
That's strange. It's never crossed my mind...
Caroline, I know nothing about you beyond this.
- Is that not enough? - No.
- Michael? - We've never talked.
We just... Maybe the time has come to know more.
It's very quiet in here.
- I want to go home. - Caroline!
- Je veut rentrer. - This is important!
- Why is it important? - It's important to me. I want to know!
- To know what? - Who you are!
This is who I am, Michael, me!
There is no mystery. Just me!
Why do you want to know more, all of a sudden?
What is there?
What is this?
Am I no longer enough? Is that the problem?
No. That's not the problem.
You don't understand. Tu comprends pas.
Quelque chose de très important que j'essaie de te dire. Tu comprends pas!
Caroline, don't do this!
(CAR HORN HONKING)
CAROLINE: (WHISPERED) Michael.
Michael.
(BABY WAILING)
(DOORBELL RINGING)
I read your book again.
The Last Surprise.
Why did you give it that name?
I like catchy titles. It adds to the hype.
Michael, what I did the other day...
- You don't need to apologize. - No. It was uncalled for.
This project is nothing without you.
- Another failure? - That's not what I meant.
No, but that's what you think.
In your eyes, what I do is a mathematical convenience, right?
I'm sorry, Michael. I'm sorry.
You look tired. Are you...
- Falling apart? - That's not what I meant. I was...
I was thinking I was running out of time.
Again.
- But for me, lately, time has become meaningless. - Isn't there a saying?
"Time is only nature's way of preventing everything happening at once."
Will you come back?
MICHAEL: The death of a large star is a violent event
unsurpassed in our limited understanding of the universe.
A series of implosions signal the star's total collapse under its own weight.
A supernova explosion gives off more light than the Sun does over a billion years.
They're so luminous they can be detected in distant galaxies.
We think we have detected such a star and are now monitoring its final collapse
into a potential black hole.
I believe, though can't be certain, that it will disappear any day now.
The numbers we have crunched came up with a particular date.
You're not going to believe this,
New Year's Eve.
(WHISPERED CHATTERING)
(DAVID CLAPPING)
The 31st of December.
Only you could organize that.
Um, this came for you.
It's, um...
- Hey and well done. - Thanks, David.
Can you wait for me?
Hello?
(CLOCK TICKING)
(DOOR OPENING)
(WOMAN'S VOICE)
(WOMAN SPEAKING FRENCH)
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
Alice!
- Alice! - Oui, maman!
Tu les as trouvées! Génial!
(DOOR CLOSING)
Why are you going so fast?
I said, why are you going so fast, driver? You don't need to.
You can slow down!
Driver, take it easy.
I said, take it easy, driver!
Slow down!
Driver, slow down!
Stop!
(TIRES SQUEALING)
- Get out. - What?
Get out. You can walk from here.
Get out!
(THUNDER CRASHING)
CAROLINE: (WHISPERED) Michael.
- Michael. - Hello?
Michael.
- Is anybody... - Michael.
- Hello?
(THUNDER CRASHING)
Michael.
CAROLINE: Michael?
Where have you been?
Oh, my feet.
Look at my feet.
- When did you get back? How did you... - I've been walking so far, so long.
Look at my feet.
But I just...
You're drunk.
You're drunk!
Yes.
So can I have some wine now?
- I have something to tell you. - You have something to tell me?
Wine first.
Wine.
Come and sit next to me, funny-looking man.
Hold my hand?
You and I...
Yeah?
Are we happy?
- I... - Are we happy?
We are.
Do you think of me?
I do.
Will you always love me?
Always.
What if things were different?
It wouldn't matter.
What if our world changed?
It couldn't.
What if the impossible happened?
The impossible?
What if there were three of us?
Three of us.
We are going to have a baby.
- MICHAEL: She's back. - HUNT: How is she?
Yeah. It's all beginning to make sense now.
The changes, the illness, it's all clear now. She's pregnant.
I've been such a fool. I mean, she's been trying to tell me and I've been thinking...
I've been thinking the unimaginable.
It's so simple. She's going to have a baby, our baby. That's it.
- Ah, congratulations. - Thank you.
- But I thought it was a danger for her? - No. She's been going for tests. It all looks good.
So, the mystery is revealed as not a mystery at all.
So sorry for wasting your time.
- So no need to visit that address I gave you. - Oh, I went there.
- You did? - Yeah.
- Did you meet anyone? - No. It's like you said. It's a strange coincidence.
When the time is right, I'll ask her about your card.
- Oh, she probably picked it up somewhere. - Yeah, probably.
- I'll recommend you to her. - (LAUGHING) Oh, yes, that would be amusing.
Listen, best of luck, Michael. Fate is on your side.
Bye.
CAROLINE: You will always be there when I need you?
MICHAEL: Always.
CAROLINE: And this?
You'll always protect her, won't you?
Do anything for her? Sacrifice everything?
Of course.
- Promise? - Promise.
- You know that girl? - What girl?
The girl you just spoke to on the ice.
I didn't speak to anyone.
- Any clearer? - MICHAEL: It's like an asteroid belt.
It's strange. We've never detected this before.
MARIANNE: I've checked all of the agencies. No one has any record of this kind of movement.
- DAVID: How strong is the radiation field? - Well, too strong to be that far from the Sun.
Clear, come on, clear.
It's done it again.
Maybe the dust storm's interfering with the satellite signal.
Is there anything else we can do?
Michael?
Sorry.
It looks like we'll have to sit this one out.
We've come this far, Michael. Let's see it through.
- CAROLINE: Michael? - Caroline?
Excuse me, I didn't want to disturb you there,
but I need to talk to you, to hear your voice.
- How's it going? - Not so good.
I'm sorry. I should go and let you...
No, no. I'm glad you called. Are you all right? You sound tired.
I was asleep.
I get tired so easily now.
I was dreaming.
The same dream, Michael.
What do you mean?
I was in the meeting room.
I was afraid when I woke.
I was so afraid, I just wanted to hear your voice.
You should rest. I'll come back soon.
- Michael seems calm. - Like he knows something he's not telling us.
DAVID: You think we should stop?
No.
Like you said, let's see it through.
MICHAEL: Caroline?
Caroline!
(CROWD HUBBUB)
- Anyone seen Michael? - He was here a moment ago.
TECHNICIAN: There's something happening here.
Caroline!
(WHISPERED) Michael.
(HONKING AND CHEERING)
Michael!
CROWD: Ten!
CROWD: Nine!
CROWD: Eight!
CROWD: Seven!
CROWD: Six!
Michael.
CROWD: Five!
CROWD: Four!
(CRASHING)
Why are you doing this?
Just come down. Caroline!
Please come down from here.
Please.
(EXHALING)
Look at me, Michael.
Je danse avec les étoiles.
(EXCLAIMS)
Caroline!
Michael?
Is that you?
Yes. Yes, it's you.
Michael.
I never...
I forgot to tell you.
I love you.
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
Merci.
(LASER BEAM PLAYING)