Sebastien!
Miss Linh.
Come this way.
Sit down.
What is your name and your duty at Sa-Cat estate?
My name is Linh.
I'm a housemaid at Sa-Cat plantation.
"As you know,."
Captain Sebastien Laurent was murdered
last night in his bedroom.
We're questioning all involved.
There's been a string of murders committed around the area.
Speak!
I came to Sa-Cat from a small village in the countryside.
I was searching for work.
There weren't many jobs where I was from.
Much of the countryside was destroyed by the bombings.
What do you want?
I heard that there's a need for a housemaid at the estate.
You may call me “Mrs. Han."
Mrs. Han.
How do you know of this place?
From the people at the market.
Then you know of Sa-Cat's history.
I'm not from around here.
Thank you.
Have you been a servant at an estate before?
No. Not yet.
I've done housework with my mother on the farm.
Sa-Cat is run like a French estate.
Not like a Vietnamese one.
Of course.
Where is your family?
My family...
they were all killed during an air raid.
Our farm is gone too.
You have no family members at all?
No home?
You walked all the way here from your village?
Yes.
How far is that?
About forty kilometers.
Mrs. Han,
I need a job.
I need a place to live.
This is the only job opening for miles around.
You can stay here.
I'm only hiring you on a trial basis.
If you work hard, you can stay.
But if you're a burden
and the food you eat costs more than your worth,
you will need to find another place.
Is that clear?
Yes, Ma'am.
I won't disappoint you.
You can wear these.
Get yourself acquainted with the manor.
We'll start tomorrow.
Thank you.
You're getting blood on the floor.
Sorry.
Here's some medicine I've made.
Medicine you've "made"?
I practice Eastern medicines and remedies.
Besides being the cook,
I'm a herbalist...
a witch.
Mrs. Han says there are only a few servants in the house.
That's right.
Just me, Mrs. Han and the groundskeeper, Mr. Chau.
Why doesn't the Captain hire more servants?
Most servants won't work here.
Why not?
Stupid girl!
You don't know what you've gotten yourself into.
I don't understand.
Sa-Cat is a place of death.
Hundreds of people have died here on the plantation.
The Vietnamese workers used to be violently abused by the French overseers,
when it was a functioning plantation.
The French recruited from all over the country.
Lied to them about the promise of a good wage and home.
When the poor workers got here...
What happened to them?
Workers were whipped to death.
Women were violated.
Children were torn from their families.
Hundreds of bodies lay buried beneath those rubber trees without gravestones.
Many claim that the plantation was fertilized
by the bodies of these workers.
There are many spirits...
roaming those woods.
Spirits?
I thought I heard something earlier.
You heard the crying, right?
Who is it?
Captain Laurent once had a wife, Madame Camille,
and a child who lived at this estate.
While he was away at war,
Madame Camille went mad with loneliness waiting for the Captain to return.
She never liked Vietnam, which made her insane.
Until one day,
as she was bathing the baby,
she drowned him in the tub.
Madame Camille kept the dead baby
until it rotted and decayed.
Realizing what she had done and consumed with grief,
she took their dead son to the lake...
and drowned herself.
You are afraid of ghosts, aren't you?
My mother said there is no such thing as ghosts.
Oh, they exist.
Ghosts exist.
You start with the windows.
Never look at the Captain or his guests in the eyes.
You must show your obedience and servitude.
Always get the freshest produce.
Even a day old isn't good enough.
And most importantly...
it's forbidden to speak of Lady Camille and Captain Laurent's child.
Understood?
I understand.
Mr. Chau.
This is Linh.
She will be working for us as a housemaid if things work out.
How do you do?
Nice to meet you.
If you run out of wood, Mr. Chau can help you.
On the colder evenings,
Captain Laurent likes fireplaces because they remind him of his childhood.
Thank you but I think I can manage it.
Mr. Chau doesn't live in the manor
but in the shacks close to the plantation trees.
Is Mrs. Han working you too hard?
Not at all.
What's happening?
It happens occasionally.
Power should be back up in the morning.
We are in a war, after all.
Are you afraid?
No, Ma'am.
Good night.
What happened?
Captain Laurent!
What? Captain Laurent!
He's been shot!
Bring him inside immediately.
Quickly!
Watch your step, Sir.
Sebastien, Fighting!
Mrs Han, Hold him steady.
I almost have the bullet.
We need more morphine.
I will take the bullet out.
Sebastien!
Please...
We need to give him Eastern medicine.
He won't survive without it.
You know that his family forbids it.
Western doctors know nothing of these matters of survival.
This is not your decision to make.
I am the housekeeper.
He'll die before morning!
Stop.
I forbid you to go in there.
I forbid you from leaving the servants quarters
until he is well again.
If he dies,
you will have Madame Camille to answer to.
Are you making breakfast?
Take Captain Laurent's breakfast up to his room.
By myself?
Stupid girl.
I've been banished from his living quarters.
You'll have to do it.
Hurry!
There's been an emergency in my family.
I'll need to leave Sa-Cat for a few weeks.
My mother is gravely ill
and I need to travel to Saigon to visit her before she...
How long will you be gone?
I don't know.
Linh.
Yes, Ma'am.
You will be in charge of taking care of Captain Laurent.
Mrs. Han,
she doesn't have the experience to do that.
I don't know if I could do this alone.
It's an order.
Work faster!
No talking!
Do you hear me?
Remember not to put the tree bark down.
You two!
Sir! Sir!
She didn't know!
It's my first time, sir!
Please, sir!
You two.
You know how much that sap is worth?
More than both of you combined!
Sir, please forgive her.
Sir! Please, sir!
Hold her down!
It's my first time! I didn't know!
Put your hand out!
Back to work!
Linh, wake up!
The Captain's gotten worse.
What's happened?
He has an infection and a high fever.
He'll need a doctor.
Who are you going to get at this hour?
What are you doing?
Mrs. Han forbids it.
But what if he dies while on your watch?
The Western medicine hasn't worked.
I made a promise to Mrs. Han.
He could die any second now!
Do you want to be responsible for his death?
Don't stop me.
Captain, drink some of this.
What do we do now?
It's not working.
You saw her, didn't you?
Who?
Madame Camille.
Will you show her to me?
I can't show you.
The Captain forbids it.
It's been many years since anyone's been in this room.
What did you see?
A woman in a black dress.
Madame Camille. She never smiled.
These are the very last photos of her.
Captain Laurent?
When he was about seventeen.
He was already in charge of the plantation's operations.
And that's Mrs. Han.
She started working at the estate as an interpreter
before becoming the head housekeeper.
You know,
they never found Madame Camille's body.
The police dredged through the whole lake for a week.
They couldn't find anything...
The captain has an emergency meeting with some high-ranking officers.
Did you know they were coming?
If I'd had known, I would have prepared.
Don't just stand there. Help me.
How long will you and Mr. Chau be away?
About a week.
Through the New Year.
I don't know where Mr. Chau will go for Tet this year.
And you will see your family in Hoa Binh?
I'd invite you
but you'd be too busy being head of the household.
What do you mean?
Now that Mrs. Han left you all this responsibility,
you can't just leave, can you?
I suppose not.
Linh?
Happy New Year.
Hello!
Help me, I'm lost!
Hello!
Mister!
Let me go!
How are your family?
They are doing well, Captain.
Did you see your children?
I don't have children anymore. My son died years ago.
Is there anything else you'd like, Captain?
Linh.
What are you doing here?
I went to get firewood.
Let me see.
I'm okay.
Where are we?
Years ago...
the overseers,
they used this place
to imprison runaway workers.
They'd shackle them here,
and leave them here for days.
Finally...
many of them would starve to death.
How do you know so much about this?
I was an overseer.
You?
But they were people like you and me.
Wrong!
To me,
they were unappreciative ingrates.
Stay away from me.
Hello?
Why has the kitchen been rearranged?
The pantry is completely out of order.
It was me.
I made those changes.
What?
Linh has brought it upon herself to make changes to the household.
Who gave you the authority?
Sebastien has.
Mrs. Han.
I'm sorry that it had to come to this.
I'm sure this was your plan all along.
What do you mean?
I know many girls,
who would spread their legs to get ahead.
You're no different.
I'm the lady of the house now.
Don't bother ever coming back.
Understood?
You can pretend to be the lady of the house,
but we all know who you really are.
You.
A lowly peasant.
Madame Camille.
Please!
I've been a good servant to you all these years.
Please!
I'm still an informant for the French.
I swear.
I didn't betray you.
I swear I didn't betray you.
Make the Captain a special dinner tonight.
He's heading out in the morning.
As you wish, Ma'am.
Don't call me that.
What shall I call you then?
A storm's brewing.
An omen of things to come.
They're in the woods!
Don't kill me!
Venison.
He'll need a knife for the meat.
Don't worry about the Captain.
In the end, it might be all for the best.
Sebastien.
Sebastien!
His blood was everywhere.
It was horrible.
And you didn't hear anything in the night?
No.
No one.
Just the ghost.
I saw her with my own eyes.
If she couldn't have the Captain...
then nobody else could have him.
But we'll need to interview you again,
once everyone involved has been questioned.
Thank you.
Don't go too far.
We're still not done with you.
How did I do?
Did the detective believe me?
Hurry! Hurry!
There they are!
Go get them!
Faster!
I know it was difficult for you going back...
but they would have recognized me.
Drag him here!
Hurry UP!
Let us go!
They were trying to escape!
You know what we do to plantation workers who try to escape?
You turned us in?
You need to be more careful about who you talk to.
How could you?
We trusted you!
Where are the two children?
Where are they?
Bastard!
Let's start.
Get up!
Go ahead!
Ready?
One.
Two.
Three!
We did this...
for the workers.
She was still an informant for the French.
I'm still an informant for the French army!
I didn't betray.
He ordered the deaths of our parents.
He has to die.
We have to do this.
I can't.
Are you sure you know where our parents are?
Mom and Dad would have been proud of you.
I didn't recognize you at first,
You haven't changed much since you were little.
You and your brother were lucky enough to have escaped.
Your parents weren't so lucky.
I'm sorry about the Captain.
I'm sure it wasn't easy for you.
Why did you kill Madeleine?
She was already leaving.
I didn't kill her.
Then who did?