01x03 - The Big Questions

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INSPIRED BY THE NEW YORK TIMES COLUMN
MODERN LOVE

THE BIG QUESTIONS

What is your path?
What is your destination in life?

Am I living the life I want to live?

What's my aim in life? To find love?

To give love?

Where are you going?

What is your path?

What is your purpose?

Mom, it'll be nice. Okay?

And if not, we'll make it nice.

Yeah.

Yes, I have a shirt with me. Okay?

Yes, a clean one. I'll see you in a bit.

Hey, sweetie. It's me.

I'm just calling
to wish you a safe journey

and to say I'm on for tonight.

Did you manage to get the gifts?

Are you bringing
a shirt for Christmas dinner?

See you soon, my angel. Bye.

Hey, kiddo.

Hey, Dad.

Come in, it's cold.

-Hey.
-Hey, Miffyman.

-How you doing?
-Fine.

And you?

Is Juna not coming?

No, she's sick.

-Hey, kid.
-Hey, Dad.

Welcome.

-So what's wrong with her?
-The flu or something.

She doesn't feel well.

The Christmas party was a bit too much.

-Hey, guys.
-Hello.

-Hi.
-Hi.

-What's this then?
-This is a nice new thing.

Is it real?

-Of course it's real.
-Stop it, man.

-Did it cost you a ton?
-It's very expensive.

-Did you bring gifts?
-Yes.

Dork.

The dork came on the bus.

Why the bus?
I could have given you a ride.

I texted you to ask...

On the bus. Good God.

We were doing gifts. We agreed...

-Who wants a drink?
-Me. Tea.

Where's Juna?

Not coming.

Why?

She didn't feel very well.

Hey, Dad!

-The stain from the leak is still there.
-Yes.

Dad.

Why don't we have a tree?

{\an8}THE BIG QUESTIONS
HAPPY HOLIDAYS

Miff,

what on earth are you doing, man?

We were going to do Christmas. We agreed.

We're here. Aren't we?

-With a tree and gifts.
-Jesus, Miff.

Don't be like that.

We agreed.

Are you gonna cry now?

Miff.

What's wrong now?

-A charcuterie box?
-Yes.

I thought it'd be nice.

There's one more in there.

I don't eat meat.

Right.

What do you want to have with it?

A baguette?

Salad?

Soup. As a starter.

Alex.

-Tomato soup.
-Yes.

And dessert.

We tried to make one ourselves,
but it didn't go very well.

Let's go shopping.

We could even get a tree.

-How are you doing, Dad?
-I'm doing fine.

Yeah?

-And you?
-Yeah, fine.

Okay.

Dad.

Dad.

What?

What is this?

FOR SALE

Why didn't you say anything?

Boys, I...

The asking price is too low.

That's not the problem, is it?

It is. You could ask for 200,000 more.

Calm down.

Two months ago you said
you didn't want to move.

Well, that was two months ago.

This is absolutely ridiculous.

-Hey, Thea.
-Hey. Merry Christmas, everyone.

-You too.
-Same.

I think it's f*cking ridiculous.
Am I allowed to say that?

Sorry. I...

I wanted to tell you another time.

When? Once the moving truck arrived?

-Well, Merry Christmas.
-Alex.

Alex.

Here we are.

This one?



For a shrub like this?

How's the love life, Miff?

Now that's a good topic.

Are there still hot guys in medicine?

No.

"No" as in no hot guys,
or "no," you can't get them?

Mom always did one color, right?

Yeah.

I think it's nice using different colors.

Yes.

Yes, I think so too.

Look who we have here.

What do you think of the tree?

Yeah, nice.

Well, I think I'm going
to get started on the food.

Because Lydia will be here soon.

Lydia?

-Lydia?
-Yes, Lydia.

Has he gone crazy?

Crazy? Why?

From loneliness or something?

Or premature dementia.

Alex, behave yourself.

His girlfriend or something?

Has he told you anything?

He never tells us anything. Does he?

Surely his new girlfriend
wouldn't come for Christmas?

Absolutely ridiculous, isn't it?

I'm not going to sit here all night
and make nice with some b*tch

I don't even know.

-What?
-Hey, where are you guys?

Come on. You're not even dressed.

Come on. The guests are already here.

Dad?

Is Lydia your girlfriend?

Don't be stupid, man.

She's just a friend.

That woman has given me a lot of support.

Come on. Comb your hair
and get dressed up.

Get going.

This is Alex.

-Hi.
-The oldest.

-Alex.
-And this is Marius.

And my youngest, Benjamin.

-Hello.
-Hi.

Apparently Chris
didn't tell you he invited us.

He didn't, did he?

Didn't I tell you to discuss it with them?

Well, this is Jack. My son.

-Jack.
-Marius.

-Jack. Hi.
-Chris.

-How's it going?
-Yeah.

Cool.

Do you two know each other?

We were on the same bus on the way here.

-What a coincidence.
-Yes.

-Who wants a drink?
-I do.

-Yes!
-Me!

I'm gonna go do some cooking.

Sounds good. I'll come help you.

That's an interesting shape.

It cost a pretty penny, but...

-You're going to be a teacher?
-Yeah.

-High school?
-No, elementary.

I'll be Mr. Jack soon.

How about you?

I'm studying medicine, but it's...

I wanted to be an oncologist and help
all the sick mothers in the world.

But I'm failing.

So I'm going to switch
to a surgical assistant program.

Still impressive, right?

My father says your mother has been
a real help to him over the past year.

Really?

I thought it was the other way round.

Yeah, my parents got divorced
at the start of the year.

Dad immediately found a girlfriend.

Twenty years younger, too.

Lovely.

So I'm happy we can come eat here.

I really didn't feel like
doing Christmas dinner

with just me and my mom
with a bunch of empty chairs.

-Would have been a bit weird, right?
-Hey.

-How's it going here?
-Good.

These are such lovely cushions.
They're so well made.

Shall I set the table?

Yes, please do.

-There are placemats over there.
-Yeah.

No placemats at Christmas. A tablecloth.

Chill out, please.

There might be one back here.

-It looks delicious.
-Yeah, it looks fantastic.

How's school going? Any exams?

Yeah, good. Great.

Guys.

Making a toast?

My mother always
made a toast at Christmas.

-Good ones.
-Funny, too.

Sorry, guys.

No harm done.

Well...

I just want to say
that I'm really glad you're all here.

So cheers, and enjoy your dinner.

-Cheers.
-Cheers.

-Cheers.
-Cheers.

Dig in, there's plenty.

Could I get some meat?

-Yes.
-Very delicious. Yes.

-Thank you.
-Yes.

You're lying! Really.

We did it every week.

I went completely crazy at some point.

No, get lost.

No, come on. I'm really not in the mood.

I'm so done with all your emo bullshit.

-But it's Christmas.
-No, we have guests.

We're not doing this now. f*ck off.

-Behave yourself.
-You behave.

Calm down. Just sit down.

Come on. Sit down.

This is not the time, Miff.

No.

Hey, come on.
We can't always do what you want.

What I want?

Everything has to be
exactly the way you want it.

That's not true.

I...

I was just trying
to have a proper Christmas.

A proper Christmas?

Yes, like we used to.

It can't be like it used to be.

Mom's not here anymore.

She's dead and she's not coming back.

Miff, wait a minute.

Are you okay?

Yeah.

-Yeah?
-Yes.

Do you ever talk to your mom?
About the divorce?

About yourself?

Yeah, sometimes.

I always told her everything.

We all did, actually.

And in one way or another she made sure
we all listened to each other.

She was a fantastic listener.

We only talk about money, work.

But apart from that everything's great.

Don't ask any questions.

Don't let anybody see how sad you are.
That's emo BS.

But...

You don't talk to them either, do you?

About yourself?

Or...

about how med school isn't going well?

Right?

Hey, Dad.

It was nice.

Well done.

Thank you.

Good night.

Good night.

I said I wouldn't call, but...

I'm just not coping.

Everything's so shitty now,
with the house and...

Now I can't even call you anymore.

The past few years have been really...

Yeah, I get it.

Received, August 24 at 10:10 p.m.

Hey, sweetie, it's me.
I wanted to ask if you got home safely.

What awful weather. You must be soaked.

It was lovely to see you, my angel.

Sleep tight. We'll talk soon. Bye.

To call back, press one.
To delete, press two.

To save, press three.

To play again, press four.

To hear the caller's number...

Everything needs insulating.
No way around it.

-Morning.
-Good morning.

That's a six-month rebuild.
Do you know what that costs?

You still could have told us.

-We could have...
-When?

You never come over.

-Are you trying to make us feel guilty?
-Not at all.

-I'm making observations.
-I wanted...

Just to make things clear. It's my house.

It's my decision.

I'd like to say something.

What's all this about?

You making a speech?

First of all, I'd like to say
I'm sorry for acting so stupid yesterday.

There's only one person
I want to talk to about how I'm doing...

after this shitstorm of a year.

But she's not here anymore.

That's probably true
for all of you as well.

But I think we have to try.

We have to keep
asking each other the big questions.

Otherwise we'll all go home soon

without ever having
said anything to each other.

And we'll be all the sadder for it.

At least I will be.

I'll go first.

"What's the most important thing
that happened to you this year?"

I'm dying to know, Miff.

Nothing.

Nothing happened,
and I didn't want it to, either.

-I don't want things to happen and change.
-Why not?

Because it's horrible
we're just carrying on without Mom.

But you can't just stop doing things.
You can't stop living.

Mom is not going to come back
because you stand still.

Your turn.

"When was the last time you were sad?"

This morning in the bathroom.
Marius had used all the toilet paper.

I am sad...

about the house.

Because I always thought
I was going to live there

with my wife and the three kids we'd have.

And be just as happy as Mom and Dad.

"When was the last time
you felt hopeless?"

The better question: When was
the last time you didn't feel hopeless?

Lately, things are going much better.

I feel like things are getting better.
That I have to keep going.

That I want to keep going.

Maybe it's hard for you, but I...

I don't want to be alone.
I don't want to wake up alone.

I don't want to come home alone
to an empty house

where every step reminds you
of someone who's not there anymore.

I wasn't made for that.

So?

-Are you on Tinder?
-A hiking club for singles?

So...

I...

Lydia and I have...

-Didn't I tell you?
-You're together?

We get along really well.

"She's just a friend." Bullshit.

We're taking it slow.

-You're taking it slow? Right.
-Yes.

"If you're reading this...

"If you're reading this
it means you've all decided...

"to ask each other
the big questions again.

"That makes me happy.

"Maybe Miffy made you do it.
It doesn't matter.

"You're doing it
and that's what's important."

My darling men,
I so hope you're all doing well.

That you're happy and healthy.

That you comfort each other.

That you're there for each other
when that isn't true.

I hope that you have all
found a way to carry on.

That you're having new adventures
and making new friends.

And that you don't feel alone.
That's the most important thing of all.

I love you all.

I'm always with you. Never forget that.
Even when it doesn't feel like it.

I'm there.

Always.

-Cheers.
-Cheers.