Else (2024)

[bunniefuu]

Are you okay?

Yeah.

Hang on...

What's on your mind?

Nothing. I'm concentrating.

On what?

Come on...

Do we have to talk about that now?

We won't meet again, will we?

With such soft skin,

that would be a shame.

I'll call you Tiny-Softie.

sh*t!

Wait...

- Am I grossing you out?

- No, but...

I like your place.

What's down there? A room or a closet?

No, it's a guest room.

You have guests?

I have guests too...

That's nice.

- What's your job?

- I take care of multi-disabled kids.

Keep it as a gift.

So you'll think of me.

Is that the time?

Is that really the time?

Seriously?

And you don't tell me!

What's your name again?

Hans.

I'm Cassandre.

But you can call me Cassie.

- You forgot your sweater.

- Darn!

Let me see

what you've got there.

Stop that!

Is that a scab?

Does it hurt?

Police!

Gross!

Less gross now.

Get lost.

Hit-and-run offence!

Go! Go! Go!

Mr. Mouaki?

Mr. Mouaki?

Behave.

Hush, it's nothing.

He's nice, see?

NO RESULTS FOUND

What the heck is that?

Breathe.

SENSITIVE SKIN

WEIRD SKIN PROBLEMS

- Hello?

- Hello.

I'm Dominique Lelivre

from the IFOP polling institute,

I'm calling about a survey

on the sexuality of the French.

Would you have a few minutes

to answer this survey?

- No, sorry.

- Very well.

Could you start by giving me

your age, your height.

We guarantee total confidentiality

in this survey.

I'm 35 and I'm 5 foot 9.

But I'm really busy right now...

How would you rate

the quality of your sex life?

On a scale of 0 to 10,

10 being good.

6... 7...

Sorry, I'm working.

Do you have blockages, phobias?

Specific pathologies?

c*ck's crest!

Cassandre?

You idiot!

Did you miss me?

So much

that I couldn't sleep.

How is your toilet flush doing?

Weird things have been happening

since yesterday.

Really? Like what?

A weird illness.

It's on several sites, spreading.

It's like a hoax, it must be fake.

What kind of illness is it?

- People... Their skin...

- A skin illness?

Yes, apparently.

It's surely fake but...

Want me to examine you?

Oh my God...

What?

No...

- Hello?

- You need to see this.

I can't hear you very well.

It's best to switch our phones off

until we know more.

HUMANS MIGHT GET IWhat?

If we can't call each other...

then I'm coming!

Metamorphism is

a well-known mineral phenomenon.

What we do not know yet is

why it is now spreading

to living species.

Stay alert.

The first symptoms are

always the same.

Unusual marks on the skin.

Protect your loved ones...

- Hi.

- Hi.

Want to come in?

- Did you see the news?

- I did.

Before you enter, no fuss,

you have to...

For you.

It was on promotion.

- Sorry, I'm covered in kids' drool.

- What?

Please, could you just...

pop into the bathroom?

I checked myself. I just need

to give you a full check.

Inspection.

Yes?

This is Joaquim,

a kid from the center.

The epidermis shows

abnormalities,

but appears to be

in good condition.

Lack of hydration.

Normal pigmentation.

Pore clogging rate

within norms,

despite obvious hygiene deficiencies.

Quiet!

- Very discreet neighbor.

- That's Miss Setsuko.

- Do you know her?

- Yes and no.

She moved here three years ago

but I've never seen her.

The dog doesn't sound very easy.

We are currently

flying over

an unidentified area...

A form of life

I'd describe as plant-based.

Small protuberances

on the Montgomery mounds.

- On the what?

- Is it normal the marks are so big?

Yes, dummy. It's because it's hot.

When it's cold, it's all wrinkly.

And what is that?

That's Ingeborg.

During our first encounter,

you seemed preoccupied

about not giving satisfaction

to Ingeborg.

Ingeborg is a demanding creature,

full of contradictions!

But you seem

to know you're way around.

Quiet!

Baka, quiet!

Quiet!

Quiet!

Baka, be quiet!

Be quiet!

Don't.

Move aside, let us through.

Sorry, sir.

What's your name?

Please, Cass!

Cass, it's not safe. Stop!

Take his arm.

We're gonna pull. One, two, three!

THOUSANDS OF CASES WORLDWIDE

We found him like that.

He's still moving.

I swear he's moving.

We don't know

if we should end his life.

Yesterday,

he was in great shape.

I found him like that. He wasn't moving.

At first, I didn't even notice him.

I couldn't tell if he was alive or...

I think I'll go home.

Right...

I'm off.

See you later?

LIFE-THREATENING DANGER

They say that if it's due to pollution,

we must take refuge in the mountains.

If it's radioactivity,

wave emissions or pesticides,

the only thing to do

is to take refuge underground,

as deep as possible.

If the ground water is contaminated,

we stay above ground.

- What do you recommend?

- Me? What any clever man would do.

Pascal's wager.

Believe everyone, just in case.

You have 53 minutes left

before lockdown.

The government prohibited all outings

whatever the motive.

The army was

appointed in charge.

A strong symbol to highlight...

I found the solution

to not get sick. It's so obvious.

I'm all ears.

Just don't touch anything.

Not one thing.

So...

stay naked all the time.

And frolic.

- Are you sure you don't want to come?

- I'm sure.

Who are you talking to?

Your boyfriend?

- Tiny-Softie?

- Is that him?

Tiny-Softie!

It's Tiny-Softie!

Tiny-Itty-Bitty!

A municipal gymnasium has been

converted into a night shelter.

Humanitarian scandal for some,

luxury for others,

that show that these migrant families

have more space here than most...

...Images of cameras installed

across the country.

If you see anything suspicious,

don't hesitate to call the number

at the bottom of the screen.

You can also find Bigbrotherhood

on your smartphone

and access

the street of your choice.

... three, two, one...

Lockdown!

Baka.

The space between us

will be filled with wind.

Don't be sad.

Masters are made

to be parted from.

Hans Gulmann?

Yes.

- Are you alone?

- Yes.

Do you have any symptoms?

No...

Do you know

a certain Cassandre Nozychka?

- Why?

- Do you know her or not?

She said she lives here.

That's not what our files say.

Does she live here or not?

- Yes.

- Wrong.

We found her downstairs.

She's your nurse, correct?

- Special needs assistant.

- Shut up!

Are you handicapped?

Yes.

Now you live there

and you stay put.

Bigbrother is some crazy sh*t!

You can check every street,

see where the army is.

I was 127 meters away from your place

without getting caught.

Come on,

don't make a big deal out of it!

I'll leave tomorrow.

- I'll sleep in the guest room.

- No.

Okay...

I'm leaving.

- Ingeborg. Day 6.

- Rocks have not been infected.

We can't stand it anymore.

There's nothing left.

You'll say you catch it through staring.

But you stare

at plants and rocks.

- No goal.

- You stared too.

We're exploring several leads

to explain transmission through stare,

such as the mirror neurons.

They are very specific neurons

and are still very mysterious,

which are at the root

of imitative behavior, empathy...

If I'm sick, I stare at you,

you get sick too?

- Roughly summed up, yes.

- Okay.

- What do we do?

- Continue searching to check the lead.

There's plenty of proof!

It's criminal to argue. We must act!

It's my job to argue...

My kid is two. She can't keep

a hat on her head for over two minutes,

so a blindfold...

What do we do? Turn them blind?

Do you do that every time?

The first time was in sixth grade.

In the middle

of a biology test.

I had to hand in my paper.

I wasn't finished.

I was in such a state of stress

that I contracted,

my whole body

went into a torsion.

It was like an expl*si*n of pleasure,

and stress too.

You had a stress orgasm.

That never happened to you?

No. I didn't kiss a girl

until I was 18.

When I was little,

each time I was in love

with a girl, I confessed myself.

It made my mother laugh.

She'd say,

"Being in love is a good thing."

I'd cry.

I thought it was

the worst crime ever.

I was right because...

when I had my first love story,

my mother got a deadly cancer.

I was 18.

I hardly spoke back then.

I was always outside.

She started melting.

She became...

a strange creature.

It went on for months,

but I was incapable of hugging her.

I waited

until it was too late to do it.

I felt her

get colder little by little.

I felt her becoming a thing.

I stayed and lived here by myself.

This apartment became

my only family.

I couldn't do anything.

Not even cook pasta.

Crap!

The circuit breaker is in the kitchen.

Did you leave it open?

It's not my style.

Miss Setsuko?

Hello? Hello?

This is Mr. Van der Voort, ground floor.

Can you hear me?

Yes, good evening.

This is Hans Gulmann, second floor.

Good evening, I'm Cassandre.

I'm not from this building.

What do you mean by that?

She's with me.

Apparently, the power is out

in the whole area.

My wife is trying to call for help,

but the phone network seems dead.

Setsuko is the young woman

with a dog, right?

- When I say young... The Chinese woman?

- I'm Japanese.

Good evening.

Here,

objects are starting to merge.

It's getting harder to open doors.

The guy on the radio was right.

And for the kids as well.

If we have to turn them blind

to protect them, I'll do it.

You're quite right.

You have to do what it takes. For sure.

Are you the one

throwing glass at night?

- It's my wife talking.

- A pleasure, ma'am!

- Stop.

- I hope the power will return.

We'll be off,

our son is sleeping.

We're trying to shield him

from all this.

- Good night.

- Good night.

What are you doing?

You're going to the guest room?

Come. Enter.

Seriously?

Enter.

Just like that, in total darkness.

The computer should

be able to turn on.

It's working!

Is the Wi-Fi working?

No.

Hang on, I'll try again.

NETWORK FOUND

- So?

- Only the surveillance channel.

Yeah, it's on a secure canal.

It's not linked to the power supply.

They put a camera

in the gymnasium.

With the migrants.

What a party!

I wonder what the song is.

Try to see if the computer

is connected to the Wi-Fi.

Hey! Don't go snooping around!

I won't.

So young.

Young Anx. Ow!

Ow! What have you got under there?

Where?

What the hell is that?

A whole f*cking mess.

Can't you pedal faster

so we can see something?

Wait.

It's disgusting.

When you clean,

you put it all under here.

What?

Anx.

It's Mouaki...

It looks like he's in pain.

Don't stare at the eye!

f*ck!

f*cking hell!

Cass, it won't open!

We're trapped here with him!

He'll infect the whole apartment!

They're not stopping.

They're everywhere! f*ck!

He's dividing

and multiplying himself.

Find the eye!

Turn him blind!

Is anyone there?

- What's going on?

- Mr. Van der Voort?

This is Cassandre.

We were attacked by...

a thing.

- What thing?

- A creature.

Actually,

the sick don't die.

They don't disappear.

They are reborn, they move.

Is it still at your place?

No.

Well, I don't think so.

We need to leave!

There's a creature attacking people,

you idiot!

She got attacked

inside their apartment!

I don't know

if we were attacked.

Your door...

Ours merged.

- Ours too.

- Thank God we're on the ground floor.

Suzanne!

You have no tact at all!

They're in enough sh*t as it is.

- At least I speak my mind.

- Can't you hold it in?

- How is Hans doing?

- Hello.

He's okay.

He's just hurt, he's not sick.

- What stage is he at?

- He's not sick!

Are you okay?

Is your dog okay?

There is no more dog.

Did Hans stare at that thing

that attacked you?

No.

"Feed the crows

and they'll poke your eyes out."

- What does that mean? I don't get it.

- Be careful.

Do you think

we should stay or leave?

I don't know yet.

But don't be like Bou and Fou.

- Who?

- Sanbiki, no kobuta.

The first one built

a house of straw,

the second one, a house of wood,

the third one, a house of bricks.

That's the three little pigs.

Wait!

Who are you?

I don't know.

You've been sleeping for 2 or 3 days,

I don't remember.

I mustn't look at you.

- You can't stay here, you're sick.

- No, you're sick.

You missed

the tenants' union meeting.

The crucial pieces of information.

The Van der Voort's will divorce soon.

She'll keep the apartment.

I'm a little worried

about Van der Voort Junior.

And Mother Hubbard lost her dog.

- What?

- Setsuko.

I think she k*lled it.

She's totally low.

- High.

- Anyway, the power is back.

I smashed your mom's wardrobe

to block the exits.

And I freed Chucky's family!

- And I'm going to eat you now!

- Cass, stop!

Stop! Let me check!

- What?

- What, what?

Everything is normal.

It can't be. He was on me,

I had pieces in my skin.

I must be contaminated.

It will happen!

- Look at me.

- No.

Did you stare into his eye?

- No.

- There you have it then.

I must be contaminated.

My metabolism is very slow to react.

When I want to sneeze,

it comes 45 minutes later sometimes.

I even sneezed the next day once.

Bad weather to go out in.

It's the wind.

Don't you think

we should go outside?

I'll stay with Mrs. Van der Voort.

"You have no tact at all,

Suzanne!"

"At least I speak my mind."

Don't you have a TV or a radio?

We're going to miss

the end of the world...

Keep pedaling,

there's something.

Don't turn around...

- What do we...

- Shh!

"Avoid not moving

as much as possible.

"Move every 15 minutes to ensure

that no Phase II adhesion develops.

"Repeat this, even at night.

In any case, alert...

"Once the diagnosis is confirmed,

take the patient to hospital urgently."

So, 15 minutes.

Are you okay?

Cass, it's been 15 minutes.

You need to move.

You can't not move.

What's the point?

f*ck! Everything is merging!

We're being walled in alive.

Look, it's going away.

Because it's Phase II.

I'm going to merge.

Not if you move.

Stay naked...

and frolic.

We'll never be able

to stare at each other again.

I've seen you enough.

Is she feeling better?

I didn't want to listen,

but I heard.

Here,

it's the acoustic Bermuda Triangle.

Your voice has also changed.

Has it?

Yes, it has.

I think you're closer

to your real voice.

It's funny to imagine people

just by their voices.

After a while...

a face, a silhouette appear

in your head and you can't help it.

You've been here for three years?

Bravo.

It's crazy we never met.

You don't get out much either,

it seems.

We'll have to force ourselves

to do it.

I don't understand.

We're going

to have to get out.

I made a mistake with Baka.

I waited too long.

What do you mean?

I could have k*lled him

up to a certain point.

When I found the courage to do so,

it was too late.

Why tell me this?

Why tell me this?

Get up.

- Get up. Get out of bed.

- I can't.

- Get out of bed now.

- No!

I'll get a painkiller.

We'll free you, okay?

I have something strong,

just like morphine.

Ready?

- I'll try here. One, two... three.

- No!

We'll do it in one go.

One big go.

It'll go very fast,

like when you wax.

I don't wax!

On three, you scream

as loud as you can and breathe, okay?

Take a deep breath in.

Concentrate on the sheet

to remove this thing!

When you shout, your body

will remove it and you'll be free.

Come on.

One, two, three!

Good. Very good. Well done.

Catch your breath.

It will be fine, my love.

Again. Breathe.

Now, Cass.

We don't have a choice.

- I feel the whole sheet...

- On the count of three!

- One, two...

- No...

Stop! Stop!

We'll try your poultices.

Just leave me the scissors.

Okay...

Hello?

Hello?

Miss? Is Hans feeling better?

We were attacked too.

We're all safe and sound.

Well, more or less.

I did what had to be done.

It's the hardest thing

I've ever done in my life.

We're leaving,

we're going now.

I hope your friend is okay but...

if he's sick,

run away, run away now!

I don't know if you can hear me,

but I just wanted to say goodbye

and good luck.

Don't let go of my hand, honey.

It'll be okay. The car is right there.

There's a little step coming up.

- Well done, honey. You're very brave.

- It hurts!

The less you touch it,

the faster it will heal.

Breathe.

Anx?

Have you heard from the neighbors?

Yes.

Everything is fine.

What did they say?

They left.

You should do the same.

I saw you dream earlier.

You looked beautiful.

Don't you want to tell me your dream?

No.

In my dream, I'm mud.

I'm earth.

I'm like air.

I float.

I'm dense, I'm heavy, I'm...

I'm lead, I'm lava...

I become everything I see.

The thoughts of an old person.

The first cells of a fish.

Our fears become so small,

so insignificant.

Are you still mad at me?

No.

Do you know the story

of the lungfish?

It's a fish.

It was so small.

It was an easy prey.

The lungfish would get devoured

by other, larger fish.

They ended up taking refuge

in shallower waters.

But it was dirty waters.

They couldn't survive there.

One of the lungfish

was bigger than the others

because of a malformation.

It saw all the others suffocate

without being able to do anything.

All of its loved ones.

Either it returned to the deep waters

and got devoured

or it stayed there

and died of suffocation.

So, do you know what it did?

It did what no living vertebrate

had ever done before.

It came out of the water.

Do you understand?

When it comes to evolution,

everything takes millions of years...

but there was one

that came out of the water first.

Coming out of the water

meant dying.

Ever since the very beginning

of life on Earth,

the genes

of all of its ancestors,

for the past three billion years,

were screaming

not to get out.

It was suicide.

But something pushed it

out of the water.

It was slowly suffocating,

like all the others had done

before its eyes.

When its body had no more oxygen,

it started convulsing.

Its body contracted desperately

to find the air

it could no longer inhale.

It was dying.

Then, something new happened.

Something it had never felt before.

Something in its body

was sucking the air.

Not its gills, no, something else.

It was in so much pain,

like a newborn

who has always lived in liquid,

and whose lungs fill with air

for the very first time.

Its body must have screamed,

screamed in pain.

But it filled up with air.

This growth,

this malformation

that had always been a problem...

It had a lung,

in addition to its gills.

It was a monster

and it was alive.

One day,

it found another living lungfish.

All terrestrial animals

are their children.

I'm not really afraid of death,

you know.

But now,

there's something I'm afraid of.

It's the idea that it will never end.

My body has become

unbearably sensitive.

Even when you're

at the other end of our apartment,

I can feel

everything you're doing.

I thought that merging

would be like a slow anesthesia,

but it's just endless pain.

Is anyone there?

I'm gonna need your help.

I'm here.

- I can feel them.

- What?

Who?

- Where are they?

- Everywhere.

We are everywhere.

I'm afraid of myself.

In my dreams, you look at me

and I keep you with me.

I don't want you looking at me.

I don't want that.

I want this to end.

I can't do it on my own.

I'm going to need your help.

- I'm asking you to help me.

- No.

You have to strike me

in the heart.

It's the only way.

- No.

- I want this to end!

It will soon be too late.

I have chosen.

I have decided.

Yes.

Anx.

What?

You too,

you disgust me a bit now.

You don't disgust me.

Who is there?

Don't be afraid.

It's me.

Setsuko.

Forgive my welcome.

It's just white tea oil.

Hospitality today

calls for a few precautions.

I must make sure

you have no symptoms.

What is that?

Scars. Just the scars

from when I got attacked.

For a while now,

my solitude was a security.

But to get out of here,

I'm going to need your help.

- You want to leave?

- Keep your voice down.

Haven't you noticed?

Everything is shrinking.

Blind people have

a very precise sense of distance.

If we stay, we will get sick.

Or we'll be gobbled up alive.

- Phase III.

- No, it's Phase IV.

It's when all Phases III merge together.

Cass didn't have a Phase III.

She must've fought

with all her might.

What are you saying?

We will leave

once the building is asleep.

It seems to have

a sleep-wake cycle.

But how?

Which way?

The same way

you came in here.

Its digestive tract.

Sound resonates.

Like we're not really outside.

RESCUE DRONE

Follow the sound signal.

It will lead you to safety.

Follow the sound signal.

It will lead you to safety.

There are children.

They're blindfolded.

Little girl...

Are you with the monsters?

She will learn to breathe

out of water.

Cass...

Cass...