Midnight Meat Train, The (2008)

[bunniefuu]

Maya?

Hey.
Hey.

Did you finish
your reading?

Yeah.

Most of it.

You know how everyone's
always complaining

about how dangerous
and dirty the city is

and how they wish
they could go back to

the good old days
when it wasn't?

Well, it turns out there never
really were any good old days.

It's always been a hell hole.

You don't find
me fascinating anymore?

What?

Babe, are you all right?

No.

No?
No.

Some Russian cabbie
jumped a curb today...

Yeah.

and knocked a pedestrian

through a storefront window.

I got there just as they were
loading the body in the bag,

and I thought I got the shot...

something that the Post
would buy, you know, but--

Hmm-hmm.

I don't think it's good enough.

What if I had some good
news for you.

You know, like news

that meant you could throw
away your police radio

and only sh**t
the stuff you want.

Forever and ever.

I'd marry you.

That's it?

What else do you want?

Well...

how about...

you in a bed

not worrying about anything...

for at least an hour,

except how to make
me and yourself

really, really happy.

It's a deal.
Yeah?

Yeah.
You like that?

Mm-hmm.
You like that? That's good.

So, um...

you know how you're
always wishing

Jurgis would introduce you

to some of his fancy
art world friends?

And you can never understand
why he doesn't?

Mm-hmm.

Well, I called him
today and I said,

Jurgis, how come
you don't introduce Leon

to any of your fancy
art world friends?

And do you know
what he said?

What?

That he didn't do it

because he figured
that when you were ready,

you would ask.

So I asked for you.

Isn't that great?

Hmm?

Um, do you know
who Susan Hoff is?

Of course. You're kidding.

Do I look like
I'm kidding you?

You're meeting her tomorrow.

Are you kidding me?

No.

Does my hour start now?

Uh-uh.
Uh-uh?

Whatever you do,
don't mention Maya.

What? Why?

Susan likes her artists
young, male, and single.

Actually, you know what?

The male part
isn't that important.

Ooh. Here we go. Come on.

Hello, my darling.
Hello.

Mmm.
Mmm.

Sorry that we're late.

Oh, don't apologize.

Punctuality
means nothing to me.

It's a virtue
for the mediocre.

Hmm.

You know when I first knew

that Basquiat was a genius?

When he was three days
late for lunch.

So, tell me about your work.

Um...

Explain it to me.

What interests you?

The city.

Why?

Because no one's
ever captured it.

Not the way it really is,

the heart of it.

That's my goal,
that's my dream.

Then you're failing.

Um...

You were at the right place,
weren't you?

Yeah.

But not the right time.

The image grabs our attention,
sure, but so what?

It's melodrama,
arresting but empty.

I want to know what comes next.

I want to see the face
of the businessman

when the filth
touches him.

The next time you find yourself
at the heart of the city,

stay put, be brave,
keep sh**ting.

Then come see me.

She hates my work.

No, she doesn't.

No, when she hates them,
it's worse.

She gives them about a minute.
You got three.

So what?
She likes it?

Well, I wouldn't
go that far.

You think she's right,
don't you?

Oh, no, no, no.

Time to pay
the toll, baby.

Leave me alone, please.

Oh, yeah.

Mm-mm-mm.

You got to pay
on your knees, baby.

Hey!

What the f*ck
you gonna do, b*tch?

Why don't you come
up here and find out.

What?

That's good.

Yeah, that's great.

All right,
stop right there.

Right there. Stop.
That's perfect.

Ever starred
in a movie before?

Yo.

Let's go.

Dead m*therf*cker.

You okay?

Thanks.

Most of people

would have ran away.

Oh, uh, yeah.

I didn't this time.

Yeah.

Huh.

Thanks.

- Hey, babe?
- Yeah.

You seen my purse?

Yeah, it's on the chair.

Okay.

When did you take these?

Last night.

You have to show these
to Susan Hoff.

What you said she wants...

I mean, this is it.

Yeah, you think so?

Yeah, because if it's not,
I hope I never see it.

Hey. Good morning.

Morning.

Babe, I'll see
you later.

All right.

Here you go, sir.

Thanks, babe.

Ah, ah, ah, hands off.

No f*cking way.

Come on, one last time.

I said never again,
and I meant it.

Look, if I don't care that
your disgusting grease

gets all over my tofu,

why do you care that tofu

would get over
your disgusting grease?

Because my customers,

real Americans with blood
in their veins,

they don't want
their Philly cheese steak

within a mile
of a bean curd.

Saying it makes me wanna puke.
They're never gonna know.

I'll know.
Tofu's tasteless.

So now you admit it.
Of course.

My gramps, God rest his soul--

Jesus. If he saw me do this,

he'd rise from the dead
and make a sausage out of me.

Yeah, and your regular customers
would gobble it right up.

Maya.
Hmm?

That's the same
girl, right?

Mm-hmm.
She's a model.

"Erika Sakaki disappeared

"after leaving a downtown club

shortly after 2 a.m."

Oh, my God.

What?

That's right
when I shot her.

I got to go.

Where are you going?
Cops.

I'll call you later.

And they ran off after you made
your presence known.

No, you see them?
No, no.

It wasn't until I pointed out
the surveillance camera to them.

That's what
made them leave.

Where did they go?

I thought that they left,

but it's quite possible,
and that's why I'm here,

to say that perhaps they went
down another stairwell

and entered the same train
that she went on.

And you?

I told you. I--

I did not get on the train.

I left on foot.

Okay.

Okay?

Well, I'm sure anything
you need to know

will be on that
surveillance tape.

Uh, do you sell
your photos?

What? Uh, yes,
but not like this.

Police calls mostly.

Erika's a pretty big model.

Tabloids be interested
in these.

Really?
I wouldn't know.

Is that so?

Yeah. I wasn't
stalking her,

if that's what
you're...indicating.

Look, I--
I saw these guys.

I thought that they looked
suspicious, so I followed them.

But you did continue
to photograph her?

Well, yeah, yeah,
but-- I guess so, but--

Why?

When you come up
with an answer, call me.

Whoa.

What?

Huh.

It's nothing. I just didn't
imagine you to be

the kind of person
that would say, "whoa".

I'm not.

I don't.

I haven't said
it since high school.

But that's how good it is.

I'm having a group
show in three weeks.

Get me two more images
that strong

and you'll be a part of it.

Okay, shh.

Oh, good.

Without your unconditional

love and support

and without you

finally introducing
me to one of your contacts.

I can't believe
you made me wait so long.

None of this
would have been possible.

I, uh, love you both.

Cheers.
Cheers.

Ugh.

Now, I must depart.

What? No.

What? Where are you--
What?

Two more images.
That's what she said.

That's not tonight. No.

Why can't--

Two more shots.
That's all I need.

What about these shots?

Hey, tell your wife to relax.

Sweetie, I take the train
every day.

Safer than walking.

But you hear these stories.

That was ages ago.

Look, no graffiti,

air conditioning works.

You can understand
the conductor.

It's a new century.

We're getting
at off the next stop,

so you can
do what you want,

but, uh, we're getting
off, okay.

All right, fine.
You know what?

We can go back
to my place,

and, ah, Leigh here

can cook us a nice romantic
dinner for three.

Did we just miss our stop?

You'd have to talk
my wife into bed.

I think you're into it.
Randle.

Wait a second, honey.

You know,
it's cheap wine.

Cheaper than the...

Maybe if you didn't sleep--
Randle.

What?

Randle!

Randle!

No!

Why are you doing this?

No!

I'm sorry, mister, I--

I just wanted a picture of you.

Sometimes I don't know
what I'm thinking.

Hey, buddy?
What?

Mind if I take a look?

Whoa.

Officer, you can't do that.

Yes, I can.

Orange Alert and above,

I can search whatever I want.

How do I know you don't got
expl*sives in this thing?

It's a camera.

Yeah. Life's like
a box of chocolates.

What the hell is going on?

Supposed to be a local.

This is a citizen's arrest.

Damn.

Damn!

I'm gonna shove
that hammer up your a*s!

I'm very disappointed
in you, Mahogany.

Clean up the mess.

Jeez.

God.

How'd you get in here?

The spare key.

Okay, before you freak out...

Let me just say it's not
an engagement ring

until I make enough
money, but it's--

it says that we're engaged
to be engaged.

It's not bad, hey?

No.

I have horrible taste.

No, you don't.

It's beautiful.

You think so?

It should fit.

I can't imagine
my life without you.

Don't even try.

I love you.

Baby, uh.

No!

Who's this guy?

Oh. I don't know.
A butcher.

He was at the station the night
that that model disappeared.

Are they
for your show?

No, no, there's just
something about him.

Yeah, I'd say.

But why are you
following him?

It seems like you should be

working on your stuff for Susan.

No, no, I know, but

if that model's still missing

and he was there
at the station that night--

Yeah, so just, uh, you know...

give a picture
to the cops and move on.

I mean, people disappear
all the time.

Whatever happened,
they'll figure it out.

Uh.

Uh!

What?
What?

What's wrong?

How can I put
this delicately?

You look like sh*t.

Give me a break, man.
I'm working my a*s off.

Doing what?
Contracting TB?

Hey, Otto, take a look

at the dying man over here.

What the f*ck happened to you?

What are your specials?

We have, uh, brisket on rye,

uh, turkey meatloaf on rye,

chicken parmigiana on r--

What? What's the big deal?

It's one bite.

f*ck it. Give me one of these.

You sure about that?

It's a steak. Meat.

Absolutely.

Hey.

I know I look like sh*t.

More of the butcher?

That's where he works.

Babe, um, listen to me.

I-I don't care if you eat meat.

I eat it all the time. But...

this thing with this butcher--

Shouldn't you be focusing
on your work for the show?

Oh, God, remember what
you told me?

About how people
are always missing

for all sorts
of reasons, right?

Right?
Yeah.

Yeah, but usually,
there's a reason.

I've been thinking about that
lately. Look at this.

These pins represent

missing people
for the last 3 years.

Okay, not one of them
has ever turned up.

No letter home.
No call for money.

Not even a corpse. Nothing.

They just vanished
into thin air.

Ok, s-so what
do you think happened?

Well, it's not chance.

Somebody's abducting them.

And they never find the bodies
because he takes them here.

He butchers them?
Yeah.

Baby, I-I-I'm--
No, listen to me. I'm sure-

Look at this. Look what I found.

This is--

So some guy
was accused of kidnap--

A guy who worked--
Baby, this is a century ago.

A guy who worked in the same
meatpacking plant.

What are you saying?
Are you saying

that it's the same person?

Is that what you're saying?

Because I don't understand
how that works.

How does that work? How--?

Was he reincarnated
or something?

No, no. I don't know.
Maybe, but look,

the point is that
it's happened before.

I mean, it can't
be a coincidence.

I mean, no, th-this guy's
involved somehow.

I know it. Look at this.
Look at this.

I was there the night
that it happened.

She got abducted.

This is the train
she went in on.

That's his hand.
You know how I know?

Because I took another
photograph earlier

of him going down into
the subway, the same subway.

I totally got him.

That's him.
This is the guy, Maya.

It's been happening.
There's been abductions.

It's happened before.

I don't know if it's a copycat,
but it's him and I got him.

This is not
what's going on, okay?

This is all fake, okay?
It's not--

No more.

No more night shoots.

No more, please.

Just day shoots.

I don't want you to sh**t
terrible things.

I want you to stop

with the conspiracy theory.

I want you to stop
with the butcher.

I just want you to sh**t
the stuff that makes you happy.

What makes you happy?
What do you love?

Please.

Don't leave me.

You, I love you.

I love you.

Uh, I got it.

That's good.

Uh.

I'm sorry.

Why?

I'm sorry.

Jurgis showed
me a picture of that broad

that's gonna make
your boy rich and famous.

Yeah? So?

What do you have
to do to get a date

with a broad like that, huh?

Magically transform
into someone

who does not call
women "broads."

Maya.

Can I talk to you
for a second?

Ah, no f*cking way. Hmm?

No. Come back later.
She's busy.

Come back later.

You okay?

You were right.

That's all I wanted to say.

Candy.

You want to buy
some candy?

Sorry, man.

Whatever, man.

You want to buy
some candy, mister?

Go to somebody else.

Come on, man,
buy some candy.

Was that a game or what?

Oh, sh*t.

Hey! Open up!

Open the f*cking door!

Open the f*cking door!

Oh.

Ah!

Ahh!

Ah.

Uhh.

My God.

Who is it?

It's me.

Oh, thank God, baby.

Where have you been?

Leon, what's the matter?

Leon.

Leon, what's going on?

Leon, what's the matter?

Leon?

Babe, come on, open up.

What's going on?

Leon, open the door.

Leon, you're scaring me.

Please open the door.

This is not fair, Leon.

Open the door.

Open this
f*cking door now!

You know you can't do this.
This is not f*cking fair.

You cannot just
be gone all night

and just disappear and then

f*cking lock the door
in my face.

I need to sleep.

No, no, no, baby, baby, baby.

babe, babe, babe,
what happened?

What happened?

Oh, God. What is this?

Honey.

We have to get you
to a hospital right now.

I followed him
into the subway.

Wha--?

It's always
the late train.

Probably the same
one each time.

He waits for it to empty out...

and then
he kills them.

He butchers them
like cattle.

I saw it.

I took pictures.

They never find
the remains

because he unloads
the meat somewhere.

We have to-- I-I have
to call an ambulance.

There's an abandoned
subway station

underneath the meat plant.

Okay.

Here's what
we're gonna do.

I'm gonna take you
to the hospital

and when the doctors
are working on you,

I'm gonna take your pictures

and I'm gonna take them
to the cops.

They won't listen.
My camera's gone.

What?
He took it from me.

That's the only proof I have.

Baby, it's gonna be okay.

I'm gonna call
an ambulance, okay?

I'm gonna fix it.

It's okay.
No.

They'll think
I'm a lunatic.

They'll think that
I k*lled Erika.

I know.
I want to help you.

Help me. I want
to help you.

No.

Sleep.

My opening's tonight.

We're as crazy as he is.

No, we're not.

Because we know what
we're doing is insane.

He doesn't.

What else are we gonna do?

Jurgis, what else?

We need his camera.
We need to see what he saw.

Ah, sh--

Jesus Christ.

No, no, no.

I want you
to wait here.

If he comes back...

just make a sound, okay?

Hey.

Jurgis.

What if he comes back?

If he comes back,
we're screwed.

It's gonna go a lot faster with
two of us, okay?

I'm gonna go this way.

f*ck.

Jurgis?

Jurgis.

Miss Jones.

Did you find Jurgis?

Calm down.
Please, sit.

I just received the report

from an officer on the scene.

They went to the room
you gave me.

There's nobody there.

But that can't be right.

They met the tenant
in the lobby.

He let them
examine the place.

And he's been out
the whole day.

No, he's a butcher.

Leon says that
he slaughters people,

he kills them.

He's seen it, photographed it.

What are you talking about?

I know it sounds crazy.

I didn't believe it either.

But I was in his room.

I saw the tools he uses.

Okay, let's talk about
what really happened.

The tenant said a family
heirloom is missing,

an album.

He wants it back.

It's a timetable.

With a check for every m*rder
going back a hundred years.

You cannot give that
back to him.

It's the only proof we have--

Let me see it, please.

The tenant doesn't want
to press any charges.

He just wants
his property back.

I-I don't have it.

Jurgis does.

You have to find Jurgis.

Look, you've already admitted
to breaking and entering.

That's very serious.

I could hold
you for that alone.

If you do not
go back with me,

I'm gonna go back
with someone else.

And you'll be arrested,
Miss Jones.

Phil and Sue Bennet.

They buy what I tell them to.

But to give themselves
the illusion of free will,

they wait for my third
suggestion.

The Kleins.

They'll want some
alone time with you.

Just a little
post-modern chit-chat.

Humor them. It's a sale.

Ah, the Franks.

Now, they never buy photography,

but if anyone
can convert them...

Jack, Andi...

I'd like you to meet Leon.

Andi thinks you're more like
a painter than a photographer.

Andi, that's, um...

that's very perceptive of you.

I actually started
out as a painter.

Duty calls.
If you'll excuse me.

Excuse me.

Sure.

Come on, your public awaits you.

I'm not holding
my breath on that one.

A tad too bleak.

Leon?

Where are you going?

I said, where are you going?

I got a train to catch.

No, you said medium rare.

Hey.

Hey, zip it, huh?

Ouch. It's hot.
Hold on one second.

Hey, where the hell you been?

Excuse me?

Where is it?

Where's what? My--

All right, now you're
as crazy as your boyfriend.

What? Stop.
What are you doing?

All right, Maya.

Stop right-- Hey, hey!

Don't you--
If you-- Don't leave!

Maya! Maya!

Stay right there, honey...

Leon, are you there?

That butcher, baby, the butcher,
I think he has Jurgis.

You-- I-I-- That cop,
detective, I-I--

Miss Jones.

I want the book,
Miss Jones.

Tell me what's
f*cking going on.

Now.

Do you have any idea...

Where is Jurgis?

Tell me.

He's on the train.

14th Street.

First one after 2.

No!

Uh.

No!

No!

Oh, my God.

Maya.

Oh, my God, Jurgis.

Maya. Maya.

Oh, my God.
I'm so sorry.

Uh.

Oh, God. Oh, God.

No!

No...

No!

Hey!

Ugh.

Ah!

Ahh!

Whoa!

No, Jurgis!

No, oh...

Leon?

Please, step away
from the meat.

Uh.

Aah.

Ugh.

Ugh.

Take this...

Welcome...

He didn't have
what it takes anymore.

You knew it must be done.

It was a privilege.

I envy you.

Aaarggh!

Before you were born,

or the birth
of any other human thing,

that's how long.

Or longer.

And though you found us,

as only a few
before you have,

the intimate circle
that keeps the secret...

we protect
and nurture them,

and order is thereby preserved.

It must be done

to keep the worlds separate.

You'll understand soon enough.

Aah!

Now, serve as we all do

No...

without question.

Police say Miss Jones
and Mr. Thompkins

are only missing
at this point,

although foul play
has not been ruled out.

Elsewhere in the city,

preparations are underway
for the arrival of leaders

of several nations
in the European Union.

The mayor's office
issued a statement

supporting the prospects
of new trade opportunities,

and meetings are scheduled
with local business leaders.

The meetings will include
a tour of the city's harbor

and transport facilities.