Solaris Solaris (2002) by Steven Soderbergh. Based on the novel by Stanislaw Lem. October 4, 2001 draft. More info about this movie on imdb.com First, over BLACK, we hear the sound of a light rain. Then: A MAN'S VOICE I'm not a poet. I've never moved anyone with my words. (beat) Maybe that's why they chose me. EXT. WOODS - DAY A mural of leafless trees beneath an overcast sky. Rain continues to fall. Maybe now we begin to notice a strange quality to the light (or is it the sky?). Something vaguely unsettling. CUT TO: INT. BEDROOM - MORNING Still, the sound of rain is heard. A MAN 40s, lies on his side in bed, staring at us. He has not been sleeping. In fact, judging from his distant expression, he has not slept in ages. CUT TO: EXT. ROAD - DAY Less like a road and more like a path that you maneuver a vehicle through. The Man, dressed in rain gear, walks down the middle. He is accompanied by a medium-sized LABRADOR, and seems in no particular hurry. The sound of tires appear and grow in intensity. The Man, without saying an actual word, instructs the dog to heal. The dog obeys as the Man moves off the road. The vehicle hurtles past him -- its engine quiet, its windows darkened -- spraying muddy debris in its wake. Seconds later, the car brakes abruptly and skids to a stop. THE MAN Stops walking and stares at the car, which seems ominously still. The car then reverses direction and begins to move toward the Man, who remains motionless. When the car is alongside him, a darkened window turns transparent and we see a WELL-DRESSED BUREAUCRAT in the rear seat. His demeanor is pleasant and professional. WELL-DRESSED BUREAUCRAT Dr. Kelvin? The Man he is addressing, who we now understand is CHRIS KELVIN, stares back at him. CUT TO: INT. CABIN - DAY The contrast between the cabin's rustic aesthetic and the aggressively high-tech equipment contained therein isn't as jarring as you might imagine. Kelvin is seated in front of a desk, scrolling through a text readout on a flat, transparent holographic screen. Behind him is the Well-Dressed Bureaucrat from the car, and two others: A WOMAN in her 50s and a MAN in his 30s. They are also well-groomed. Each of their suits are embroidered with a small but distinctive LOGO of some sort that composes the acronym DBA. Kelvin scrolls through several menus, hits a few keys, and a digitized VIDEO IMAGE appears on his screen: A MAN, unshaven, looking into the camera. The man, GIBARIAN, looks very tired and somewhat apologetic. The lower part of the screen has a time of day and date display that reads: 0221 HRS 11/14/31. GIBARIAN We take off into the cosmos, ready for anything: solitude, hardship, exhaustion, death. We're proud of ourselves, in a way. But our enthusiasm is a sham. We don't want to conquer the cosmos -- we want to extend the boundaries of Earth to the cosmos. We are only seeking Man. We don't want Other Worlds. We want mirrors. (beat) Maybe we don't need to know what it is, or why. Maybe just knowing that it is should be enough. Gibarian stares at the camera for a long moment before switching it off and ending the transmission. Kelvin sits back. The visitors exchange glances. CUT TO: INT. SPACE CAPSULE Close on Kelvin. We hold on him a long time, as a myriad of readouts scroll and flash across his face. A slit of sunlight glides slowly through frame. DISSOLVE TO: KELVIN in the same capsule, a month later. He is asleep. DISSOLVE TO: KELVIN in the same capsule, two months later. He is dictating some coordinates to Earth. He absently scratches his heavy growth of beard. DISSOLVE TO: KELVIN two months later still. He is looking out his small, rectangular window, and for the fist time we cut around to see the approaching planet: SOLARIS. Kelvin stares at it, hypnotized. It has a translucent quality, as though it is lit from within, and its undulating, ocean-like surface slowly changes colors. Kelvin's attention is diverted as an orbiting ship, the PROMETHEUS, edges into frame. KELVIN Prometheus, this is Athena 7, on approach, do you read me? (beat) Prometheus, this is Athena 7, on approach, do you read me? No response. He exhales and types on a keyboard. EXT. SPACE The Athena 7, sporting a DBA logo, advances toward the Prometheus. CUT TO: INT. PROMETHEUS Kelvin, in a space suit, climbs with some difficulty out of the Athena 7, which has come to rest in the DOCKING BAY of the Prometheus. Several exploratory PODS fill the remainder of the area. Kelvin gets his bearings and looks around, but sees no sign of life. CUT TO: INT. CORRIDOR Empty. (NOTE: Except for some ROBOTIC, NON-SPEAKING CHARACTERS: the AUTOMATED TASKMASTERS. These are small, bug-like repair units that constantly roam the ship, fixing things. Their tiny hum is virtually silent, and we see them all the time on the Prometheus. They can adhere to any surface at any angle.) Kelvin, now out of his space suit and holding a small carrying case and a duffle bag, moves on. CUT TO: INT. GIBARIAN'S ROOM Ransacked. Kelvin registers it, then moves to the corner of the room where the computer terminal rests. Within moments he has discovered Gibarian has recorded a video message for him to replay. VIDEO Gibarian addressing the camera. He appears to be lucid, but extremely fatigued. GIBARIAN Hi, Chris. (a light smile) I'm so glad you came. (beat, the smile fades) I still have a little time, and I want to tell you something. To warn you. By now you know about me, or if you don't, get Snow or Sartorius to tell you; it doesn't matter. (beat) I didn't lose my mind. You should be able to tell from this video. I'm not mad. (beat) If it happens to you, remember that it isn't madness. (beat) You should know, I'm in favor of destroying Solaris. I know that's... illegal. And unethical. And irresponsible. But it's the only way to make it stop. A long moment of silence is broken by a noise on the video, which draws Gibarian's attention offscreen. GIBARIAN (addressing whoever made the noise) Cut that out. Do you hear me? Gibarian switches off the video. The computer screen freezes the last recorded frame and overlays a readout indicating the file has ended. CUT TO: INT. CORRIDOR Empty. But there is a door at the end of it, slightly open. Kelvin moves toward it. INT. ROOM A FIGURE, seated with its back to the door, turns to see Kelvin enter. This is SNOW. He looks Kelvin up and down, his expression wary and alert. KELVIN Snow. Didn't you hear me radio? I'm Kelvin. A long beat. Snow just watches him. SNOW Yes. We heard. Kelvin takes a step forward, and Snow recoils. KELVIN What's wrong? What happened to Gibarian? SNOW He's dead. KELVIN How? A beat. SNOW Suicide. Snow exhales, then looks up as though he's remembered something. SNOW You didn't bring any chocolate, did you? KELVIN What? SNOW (musing) I love chocolate. I realized just yesterday how much I love it. (beat, then he recovers) I thought maybe, if they let you bring personal effects, you might have snuck some through, because... well, I've been thinking about it. A long beat as Kelvin stares at Snow. KELVIN What happened here? Snow lies back in his bunk. SNOW I can't talk just now. I'm too tired. KELVIN Where's Sartorius? SNOW In his lab. He won't let you in. KELVIN (leaving) He'll let me in. SNOW Kelvin, if you see anything unusual... Kelvin stops, but doesn't turn around. SNOW ... try to stay calm. CUT TO: INT. CORRIDOR Kelvin stands outside a door. KELVIN Let me in. A beat. SARTORIUS (inside, muffled) You have to give me your word you won't come in. Then I'll come out. KELVIN All right. Sartorius cracks the door open and slithers through the slit and into the hallway. He is of obvious intelligence and not to be messed with; contentious, intimidating when he wants to be, and probably brilliant. Kelvin eyes him suspiciously. KELVIN What happened to Gibarian? SARTORIUS Didn't you talk to Snow? KELVIN I want to hear your version. SARTORIUS (incredulous) Who, here, could possibly care what you want? At best, you're Employee of the Month for the highest bidder in the Solaris auction. They have no idea what's going on up here. They've never even been in space. And I'm supposed to listen to you? KELVIN I am here to recover this mission, report my findings, and make a recommendation. Now: What happened to him? SARTORIUS The same thing that could happen to any of us. KELVIN Where's his body? SARTORIUS In the lab. With her, probably. KELVIN Her? Who are you talking about? Sartorius is grabbed by something on the other side of his door. He struggles to keep his composure. SARTORIUS His last wish was to be buried on Earth. In dirt, he said. "I want to buried in dirt." What a clown. Sartorius is losing the battle with whomever or whatever is on the other side of his door. KELVIN They shouldn't let people like you into space. SARTORIUS Just so you know: I'm not going back until I understand what it is. I am going to figure out what it is, make it stop, and then I will go home. KELVIN Listen -- SARTORIUS We're done. Oh, I should tell you, I don't trust Snow. There's something wrong with him. Sartorius rotates and zips back into his room. As the door closes Kelvin sees a flash of ANOTHER FIGURE in Sartorius' room. The glimpse was too quick to judge who or what the other figure could have been. CUT TO: INT. CORRIDOR - DAY Kelvin walks, exploring the ship. He sees something that stops him: A NUDE WOMAN Black, early 20s, slipping across a corridor up ahead. Kelvin gives chase. He sees her turn a corner, but by the time he gets there, she is gone. CUT TO: INT. SNOW'S ROOM Snow is lying on his bunk. KELVIN Is there anybody else here? SNOW (sits up a little) Why, who did you see? KELVIN Gibarian warned me. He left me a message. SNOW Who was it? KELVIN She was real. Where did she come from? Snow looks at him but doesn't respond. KELVIN Tell me. I won't think you're insane. SNOW Oh, that's a relief. Snow lies back down. KELVIN Where did she come from? A beat. SNOW How much sleep do you need? KELVIN How much sleep? SNOW How long can you go without sleep? KELVIN That depends. SNOW Well, when you do go to sleep: barricade your door. Snow rolls over, away from Kelvin. CUT TO: EXT. SPACE Solaris. Quiet, but still active somehow. KELVIN (V.O.) The Prometheus, as far as I can tell, is functionally intact. Crew status: One dead, Gibarian. Cause of death appears to be suicide. CUT TO: INT. KELVIN'S ROOM Kelvin speaks into a video communication device. As he does, we see images of the things and people he describes. KELVIN Interviews with the surviving members and a perusal of the deceased's personal effects indicate he was suffering from severe depression with psychotic features, along with bouts of hypomania, dementia, delirium, and primary insomnia. All of these symptoms, combined with a profound sense of isolation, are commonly found in studies of low stimulation environments, particularly long range space travel. Snow and Sartorius show indications of depression, including dysthymic and bipolar I; a variety of stress disorders, including acute and posttraumatic; and suggestions of agoraphobia, obsessive/compulsive disorder, and hypersomnia. I emphasize these are preliminary opinions on my part. I will attempt to convince Snow and Sartorius to return to Earth, but as they currently view me as an intruder of sorts, this may take some time. CUT TO: INT. KELVIN'S ROOM Later. Kelvin is lying down. The lights are out, and he is trying to sleep. After a moment, he gets up, checks the lock on his door, and lies back down. Then he gets up and moves a chair in front of the door, and lies back down. Then he gets up and puts two heavy cases on top of the chair, and lies back down. Laughing to himself, he drifts off to sleep. Silence. ANOTHER ANGLE On Kelvin, asleep. ANOTHER ANGLE On Kelvin, still asleep. Then: EXTREME CLOSE-UP: A WOMAN'S LIPS, slightly parted. BACK TO KELVIN Asleep. Then: INT. TRAIN - DAY Continued silence, AND: RHEYA, 30s, staring at us, practically daring us to look away. Her obvious intelligence and confidence make her extremely compelling, along with the fact that it was her parted lips we were looking at a moment ago. Her expression indicates she's in a very raw emotional state. REVERSE ANGLE Kelvin is the person she has locked eyes with on the TRAIN. He is younger here; not just in age, but in spirit. The contrast with his older self is striking. BACK TO KELVIN Asleep on the ship. After a beat: EXTREME CLOSE-UP: Rheya's LIPS. Except the circumstance is clearly different: it's darker and there isn't the side-to-side shimmy of the train car. A WIDER VIEW Reveals that Rheya is not sitting on the train -- she is sitting in Kelvin's room on the Prometheus, right now. She is staring at Kelvin and she is ethereal in her stillness. KELVIN Awakens, blinks, and slowly recognizes her. If he is not entirely surprised it is because he has obviously dreamed of Rheya before. He looks at her, simply. RHEYA Stands and makes her way to Kelvin. Without hesitation she kisses him and they begin to explore each other and we see all of it happen and two things are obvious: first, they have done this before, and two: they haven't done it in some time. CUT TO: INT. KELVIN'S ROOM Kelvin is asleep, Rheya in his arms. He wakes up and looks at her, perplexed. After a beat he rises to sit on the edge of the bed. A wave of terror is barely suppressed as he puts his hand to his forehead. Rheya opens her eyes. KELVIN Oh, God. I'm awake. RHEYA Yes. He looks at her. KELVIN Where did you come from? She moves to him and kisses him as if that's all she wants to do, forever. Between kisses. KELVIN How are you here? She stops. RHEYA How do you mean? (beat) Chris, what's wrong? Hearing his name spoken by her (and those particular words, perhaps) nearly causes Kelvin to scream. He stands and moves to the chair. Rheya watches him. RHEYA I love you. He looks up at her for as long as he can. Then he looks down. RHEYA Do you love me? He doesn't look up. KELVIN Yes. A beat. KELVIN I need to see Snow. RHEYA I'll go with you. KELVIN (rising) I'll just be a minute. She bolts out of bed. RHEYA Don't. KELVIN Why? RHEYA I don't know. I can't be alone. KELVIN I'll be right back. She is trying to accommodate him but her fear of being left alone is palpable, even excessive. He sees this and puts his arms on her shoulders to comfort her. KELVIN All right. All right. Here. He hands her a few pills and retrieves a glass of water. RHEYA What are they? KELVIN To calm your anxiety. RHEYA To calm my anxiety. She takes the pills and smiles. CUT TO: INT. DOCKING BAY Kelvin leads Rheya to one of the exploratory pods. They are in space suits. RHEYA We're taking a flight? KELVIN Yes. He opens the door of a pod and indicates for her to enter. She is unsure. KELVIN Go ahead. I'll close the door behind me. She stares up and into the pod. Kelvin watches her go with difficulty and then CLOSES THE DOOR behind Rheya. He walks across the docking bay to the control room and begins preparations for the pod to be jettisoned. KELVIN In agony as he watches a real-time, beat-by-beat brand of technological murder take place: Rheya's pod is pushed off into space. RHEYA Her face contorted in confusion, watches through the pod window as the docking bay doors close in front of her with a brutal finality. KELVIN collapses to the ground, shattered. INSERT: A woman's HAND, resting on the floor of an apartment. The fingers are being licked by a LABRADOR PUPPY. ANOTHER INSERT: A pot of coffee, on the boil. Except that it has been left unattended for too long... ANOTHER INSERT: A rain-streaked window. CUT TO: INT. KELVIN'S ROOM Kelvin, on the edge of his bed. He wants to tear himself inside out. A voice calls over the intercom: Snow's. SNOW Was her breakfast conversation that bad? KELVIN Shut up. SNOW I told you, try to stay calm. You're supposed to be the psychologist of the bunch. KELVIN What was it? Kelvin rises and goes to wash his face. SNOW Personally, I think it's God. At least, it fits my definition. KELVIN And professionally? SNOW I'm not sure. (beat) It started with Gibarian. He locked himself in his room and refused to talk except through a crack in the door. He covered the video lens. Obviously we thought he was having a nervous breakdown. I don't know why he didn't tell us he had somebody in there. By this time, we were getting visitors, too. He was desperately trying to figure it out. Day and night. (beat) Who was she? KELVIN My wife. SNOW Dead? Kelvin nods. SNOW She has materialized from your memory of her. What was her name? KELVIN Rheya. SNOW It started about three months ago. Right after the government sold the expedition. We were ready to go home. KELVIN Will she come back? SNOW Probably. KELVIN I wish you'd told me. SNOW Told you what? A beat. SNOW What will you say? KELVIN To who? SNOW What are you going to report back to Earth? KELVIN I don't know. SNOW An enormous amount of money changed hands to get control of this project. We are in little danger of being left alone for long. (beat) You'll need to do something. Otherwise they'll be sending someone out to recover you. KELVIN Gibarian said he thinks Solaris should be destroyed. SNOW That's ludicrous. This is contact. We have found God. The only issue is figuring out how to prove this in a way that will make sense back on Earth. So how will we describe it, if we choose to describe it at all? CUT TO: INT. CONFERENCE ROOM Before Kelvin's arrival. Gibarian is talking to Snow and Sartorius. GIBARIAN A pre-biological colloidal envelope, possibly exceeding terrestrial structures in complexity; a plasmic mechanism. Probably without life as we conceive it, but capable of performing functional activities on an astronomic scale. My view is that Solaris has reached, in a single bound, the "homeostatic ocean" stage without passing through stages of terrestrial evolution. I think it bypassed cellular development altogether. It hasn't taken endless eons to adapt itself to its environment, but in fact dominated its environment immediately. From the moment it existed, it was the most superior element in the Universe. And now it passes the time doing extravagant theoretical thinking about the Universe, with us as the cast. We now show this scene being played out on a video monitor, watched by Kelvin. GIBARIAN It's engaged in a never-ending process of transformation; an ontological autometamorphosis, begging the question: Can thought exist separately from consciousness? SNOW It's God. SARTORIUS I don't care what it is, we need to figure out how to make it stop. GIBARIAN Nelson, we have the opportunity -- SARTORIUS What if this thing follows us back to Earth? What if what's happening here started happening on Earth, on a mass scale? Don't you see that as a problem? I think it's a serious mistake to assume it's benign. For all we know it's driving us crazy so it can watch us kill each other. Gibarian considers this. SNOW We're not even sure it will let us leave. CUT TO: ANOTHER VIDEO This time, Gibarian alone. Near the end. GIBARIAN Maybe it's stuck. Maybe its power isn't that God-like. I mean, we have God-like power relative to an insect, but that doesn't mean we can move the Earth around at will. Maybe it's like a spider web, waiting for something to show up. (beat) We intercepted some brief fragments of what must be an everlasting monologue with itself. Of course it was beyond our understanding. (beat) I've come to hate it here. There's only one way out of its reach, for us. Humans. CUT TO: INT. LAB Kelvin stares at Gibarian's body, which is lying under a sheet in the ship's operating room. Also under the sheet, next to Gibarian: The Young Girl. GIBARIAN (from a video) I thought I'd been behaving normally, rationally. But a sign of insanity is the inability to think about more than one thing. So if I am consumed by the idea that I am insane and can't think of anything else, then I am insane. (beat, smiles) You ask questions at the end of your life, the sort of questions people who are content don't ask. (beat) Maybe life just can't be solved. CUT TO: EXT. SPACE A shot hovering over the surface of Solaris. INT. KELVIN'S ROOM Kelvin is lying down, looking at the door. After a beat, he turns out the lights and rolls over. CUT TO: INT. KELVIN'S ROOM Time has passed. Kelvin is asleep. RHEYA leans into frame and kisses him. Without even waking, he kisses her back, hungrily. KELVIN Rheya... RHEYA I want you inside me right now. They make love. It's even better than before. CUT TO: INT. KELVIN'S ROOM Kelvin and Rheya are asleep. CUT TO: INT. TRAIN - DAY Kelvin, staring intently. What he is staring at is Rheya, who is seated across from him. She doesn't see him, yet. When she does, she locks eyes with his and doesn't look away. This continues until she gets off the train. Kelvin watches her go, and she looks back at him through the window as the train pulls away. INT. PARTY - NIGHT Rheya enters, looks around. She spots Kelvin, who has already spotted her. Their expressions indicate they are pleased to see each other again. He approaches her, and they stare at each other a long time, until: KELVIN "And Death Shall Have No Dominion". RHEYA Book? KELVIN Poem. Dylan Thomas. I thought of it when I saw you on the train. RHEYA My Thomas is a little rusty. He leans over and whispers into her ear. She listens, and when he finishes, she leans back and looks at him, intrigued. Genuinely intrigued. He smiles. RHEYA Not a very happy poem. KELVIN You didn't look very happy. RHEYA I wasn't. KELVIN And tonight? RHEYA Better. He nods, and they smile. They seem to be rooting for each other. After an extended pleasurable moment, Rheya leans over and whispers in his ear. He listens, then leans back and looks at her. KELVIN That's good to know. CUT TO: INT. FRIEND'S APARTMENT - NIGHT Another night. Rheya is wound up. Not drunk, something else. She has an odd look in her eyes. We are at a dinner party, and there are people trying -- but failing -- not to watch. RHEYA You want to fuck her? KELVIN Stop it. RHEYA You behave as though you want to fuck her. KELVIN Rheya. Not here. RHEYA And I just want to know if I'm crazy or not -- if what I think is happening is actually happening. Or am I one of those people, those women, who are blind to what's going on? Who pretend not to see their husband's attention toward another woman? KELVIN Let's go home. RHEYA You go home. KELVIN I am. Please come with me. I don't want to do this here. RHEYA You talk like an actor. He is stung. CUT TO: INT. APARTMENT - NIGHT The immediate aftermath of the preceding scene, but at home now. Rheya crying as she embraces Kelvin. RHEYA I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. He is unmoved, but she labors to change his mind. CUT TO: INT. APARTMENT - MORNING Rheya, in a chair, remorseful, Kelvin is dressing. KELVIN You're better when you take them. RHEYA I know, I know. But still, somehow I don't feel better. KELVIN All right. How about I feel better when you take them? A beat. RHEYA Right. They look at each other and understand; she will take the pills. CUT TO: INT. APARTMENT - MORNING Rheya, on the floor, dead. Her hand outstretched, a repeat of an image we saw earlier. Rain streaks the kitchen window. The bottle of pills nearby. CUT TO: INT. PROMETHEUS Rheya is taking her pills. Kelvin watches. KELVIN What do you remember? RHEYA What do you mean? KELVIN Do you remember Beethoven? The Beatles? Movies, books, restaurants, friends? RHEYA (thinking) Yes. But not until you mentioned them. As soon as you said those things, I remembered them. And they have associations that make me think of other things I remember. It's like filling up. She looks out the portal at Solaris. RHEYA Is it a planet? KELVIN Not exactly. It exists in a continuum that wasn't proven until ten years ago, a higher mathematical dimension superimposed on top of the Universe. An infinite number of them, in fact. It was a violation of all of our various laws regarding the Universe, Space, or Space-Time. It was completely counter-intuitive. We had to unlearn everything. RHEYA Is it intelligent? KELVIN Intelligent beyond our comprehension. RHEYA Then it's God, right? KELVIN It's something. RHEYA You still don't believe in God? KELVIN The whole idea of God was dreamed up by a silly animal with a small brain called Man. Even the limits we put on it are human limits. It can do this, it can do that! It designs, it creates! RHEYA Even a God that wasn't active, that just created something and stood back and watched? KELVIN You're talking about a man in a white beard again. You're ascribing human characteristics to something that isn't human. Human beings look for causes and patterns. How could we know what Solaris is up to, if anything? A beat. RHEYA But what if Solaris is what there was before The Big Bang? KELVIN As I said, it is beyond our comprehension. RHEYA As I said, then it's God, right? She looks at him and can't keep from smiling, eventually. RHEYA Why are we talking about this shit when we could be fucking? Kelvin smiles. The intercom comes to life. SNOW Kelvin, you awake? KELVIN What is it? SNOW Can you meet me and Sartorius on B deck in an hour? KELVIN Why? SNOW Just a little strategy session. But in person this time. CUT TO: INT. KELVIN'S ROOM Kelvin is getting ready to leave. Rheya sits on the edge of the bed, nervous. KELVIN All right? She nods and Kelvin exits, locking the door behind him. We sit with her for a moment as she tries to remain calm. IN THE CORRIDOR Kelvin listens. A long time. Satisfied, he begins to walk away but is stopped by the sounding of a CRASHING GLASS from within. He hears footsteps approach the door, and then a fierce POUNDING. He takes a step back. An INHUMAN AMOUNT OF NOISE begins emanating from the other side of the door, which is now threatening to break apart. It sounds like a plane is crashing in Kelvin's room -- no human could create this kind of cacophony. Finally, he steps forward and presses the button to open the door. RHEYA Is revealed, covered in blood. She has completely torn the inside of the cabin door apart and has badly injured herself in the process. KELVIN Rheya... Confused, she looks up at him as he takes her in his arms and carries her to the bed. RHEYA What happened? KELVIN You were trying to break down the door. Do you know why? RHEYA When I saw you were gone I got scared. He puts her down on the bed and runs to the bathroom, where he gathers all the first aid materials he can find. Returning, he blanches. Rheya's wounds have HEALED; in fact, they are HEALING in front of us. She looks up at him and doesn't like the look on his face. RHEYA Chris, what's wrong with me? CUT TO: INT. LAB Kelvin runs Rheya through a battery of tests and studies the results. RHEYA Am I all right? A beat. KELVIN Yes. CUT TO: INT. B DECK CONFERENCE ROOM Snow and Sartorius wait for Kelvin. SNOW He won't do it. SARTORIUS Why do you say that? SNOW He won't. Kelvin enters, with Rheya. Snow and Sartorius exchange glances. KELVIN This is my wife, Rheya. She looks at Snow and nods. Sartorius she hates instantly, and the feeling seems to be mutual. SARTORIUS We thought you'd be alone. We want to talk about... SNOW We want to talk freely. KELVIN Go ahead. Sartorius begins. SARTORIUS I suggest we pool our knowledge regarding the... visitors. We can express whatever questions or conclusions we might have... share information about our various... experiments. Agreed? Kelvin and Snow nod. SARTORIUS I would like to start with motivation. Why are they here? Sartorius looks at Rheya. She looks away. SARTORIUS They are not autonomous individuals and they're not actual persons. They are projections materializing from our minds, based on a given individual. SNOW It's an experiment. KELVIN No. There's no behavior modification. SARTORIUS She reappeared exactly as she had before? Kelvin looks at Rheya and nods. She is struck by the word "before". SNOW The same vulnerabilities? He nods again. SARTORIUS A recoil, with no compensating mechanism. SNOW And when a given situation no longer corresponds to the normal faculties of the... original, the visitor suffers some sort of disconnected consciousness. SARTORIUS Followed by non-human manifestations. SNOW Are the actions of Solaris premeditated? KELVIN Is it being deliberately cruel, you mean? I don't think so. SNOW I'm just trying to find an explanation for the continual reappearances. KELVIN (to Rheya) When you cut yourself pounding the door, did it hurt? RHEYA Yes. (looks around) Of course. SARTORIUS If they're not learning anything and they're not modifying their behavior, why do they come back? SNOW It's like they're plugged into a game, which goes around and around, endlessly repeating itself. CUT TO: INT. APARTMENT - NIGHT This is ten years ago. Rheya enters, alone. She crosses to the kitchen and makes a drink. Almost immediately, the labrador puppy enters from the bedroom and stands beside her, tail wagging. She ignores it and continues mixing her drink. Halfway through this activity, the bedroom light comes on. A moment later, Kelvin is in the doorway. Eventually, but not angrily, because he's still not really awake: KELVIN Where've you been? RHEYA I been thinking about how much I hate you. She finishes making her drink, drinks it, and walks out the door. Kelvin stands in the doorway for a beat, then pivots and returns to bed. The light goes out. RHEYA (V.O.) Yes, I remember that. I went back to Lois' house and spent the night. Those were dark days. CUT TO: INT. PARTY - NIGHT Kelvin and Rheya, later in the evening when they spoke for the first time. They are absolutely infatuated with each other; they know something is happening between them, will happen between them. RHEYA I would have these -- I don't know how to describe them -- visions, when I was younger. Maybe not visions, but like these waking dream states. Time would just collapse, I would be inside time. I would stare at a second hand on a clock until it stopped. Freaky stuff. KELVIN How old were you? RHEYA Seven, eight. So one day my mother catches me sort of staring off into space, and she asks me what I'm doing, and I start trying to explain to her, about this state that I can put myself in, and this look comes over her face. KELVIN What kind of look? INT. KELVIN'S ROOM Kelvin and Rheya sit together in the Prometheus. Rheya continues her story without a beat. RHEYA Scared. No, not scared. Wary. Like I was something to be... her guard went up. I was a threat. Now I know why. She was afraid she'd be seen. That I would see her for the self-obsessed neurotic that she was. I think she thought she had a few more years of being on a pedestal. But that's the cycle, right? I knew a little more than she did, she knew a little more than her mother, and on and on. (beat) I guess that's part of the reason why -- KELVIN I know. I know. We don't have to talk about that. Another beat. RHEYA I remember days of just thinking about you. INT. OFFICES - DAY Intercut Kelvin and Rheya at their respective jobs, going through a normal day. There is no sound. As we see these images, it's clear that Kelvin and Rheya are slightly not present in their respective encounters with other people; they are distracted by the idea of each other. And they like it. RHEYA Thinking what you were doing and saying, just being consumed by thinking of you. I loved it so much, that feeling. KELVIN I did too. INT. APARTMENT - NIGHT Rheya on the edge of the bed, facing away. KELVIN I used to watch you undress. As she does: KELVIN I never tired of watching you undress. Every time, it was exciting. Right until... to the end. A beat. Then a shot of Kelvin that we've seen before: Him leaving their apartment, angry. ON THE PROMETHEUS A beat. RHEYA What happened to us, exactly? KELVIN You don't know? Rheya shakes her head. Kelvin just watches her. RHEYA I remember... something burning. Coffee burning. INT. APARTMENT - DAY The rain-streaked window. An automated coffee maker has been left on, and the solidified coffee at the bottom of the pot is smoking. Rheya's body is on the floor of the kitchen. RHEYA (ON PROMETHEUS) She is looking at Kelvin. He is dreading this. RHEYA You found me? He nods. It's coming back to her. INT. APARTMENT - DAY Kelvin is yelling at Rheya. We don't hear what he's saying, but judging from her reaction, it's not pleasant. She is crying. RHEYA (ON PROMETHEUS) Experiencing this all over again. Kelvin comes and sits in front of her. INT. APARTMENT - DAY Kelvin, still yelling, is packing some things into a suitcase. Rheya, between sobs, pleads with him. RHEYA (ON PROMETHEUS) Her eyes fill with tears. Kelvin embraces her. KELVIN I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Rheya is devastated, inconsolable. RHEYA Why did you say those things? KELVIN I don't know. I couldn't understand why you didn't tell me. INT. APARTMENT - DAY Rheya lies on the kitchen floor, dead. There is a NOTE in her hand. Kelvin kneels next to her. KELVIN (ON PROMETHEUS) With Rheya still in his arms. KELVIN When you said you wouldn't make it... I didn't believe you. Or I didn't take you seriously, which is worse. INT. APARTMENT - DAY Kelvin holds the dead Rheya. KELVIN (ON PROMETHEUS) Squeezing her. KELVIN I should have believed you. CUT TO: INT. KELVIN'S ROOM Kelvin lies in bed, his eyes open. Rheya is in his arms. CUT TO: INT. APARTMENT - DAY Rheya, talking to Chris. Obviously during a period when they were getting along. Or at least: not fighting. RHEYA I can't help feeling that I'm cheating when I take them. KELVIN It's genetics. You know this. You know where it comes from. There is nothing wrong with uncrossing a few crossed wires. She knows, intellectually, that he is right. But it doesn't matter. CUT TO: INT. KELVIN'S ROOM Kelvin is out of bed and speaking into a videophone to Snow. Rheya is asleep in the background. The room is dark except for the glow of the screen. SNOW You're unnerved because you've spent your whole life thinking nobody is looking over you, and suddenly your subconscious is an open book. We are, for the first time, experiencing changes in natural reality by a force not our own. That proves that -- KELVIN -- we are not sure of that. We are not sure we aren't all hallucinating. SNOW If God is beyond our comprehension, and she -- (meaning Rheya) -- is here for reasons that can't be understood, isn't God here? KELVIN Not necessarily. SNOW Stop equivocating! Unbelievable, how you equivocate! You, the atheist, you're more dogmatic than any holy person I've ever seen! This is happening, Kevin. Wake up. KELVIN Consciousness is enough, that's all I've saying. Consciousness should be enough for anybody. SNOW Who are you trying to convince? Kelvin just looks back at Rheya. SNOW It will end badly. As inevitably as the rising of a bubble. Kelvin doesn't respond. SNOW Let's all meet tomorrow. Sartorius has some new ideas, about making it stop. Kelvin just keeps staring at Rheya, asleep. CUT TO: INT. KELVIN'S ROOM Kelvin is eating with Rheya. Looking at her. Desiring her. RHEYA Do you have any idea how much I like fucking you? KELVIN I think so. RHEYA Good. Because I want you to know. I really like fucking you. He leans over and whispers in her ear. She smiles and leans back. RHEYA I like that too. KELVIN (V.O.) How could she not be real? I can smell her, taste her. She does exactly what she did... it's not possible. RHEYA (smiles, teasing) You know, I've decided: I'm just gonna believe what you believe about this whole Solaris thing, it'll make life so much easier; the little wife agreeing with her big, strong husband. You must get such a headache thinking about those Great Big Problems all day. He just stares at her -- he really likes this. It's familiar, this type of teasing, and it reminds him of when things were good. KELVIN (V.O.) Like I said, it's not possible. A beat. RHEYA So, Chris, seriously, aren't you afraid you're going to get fired? They laugh. CUT TO: INT. KELVIN'S ROOM Kelvin and Rheya, post-coital. Relaxed. On the verge of sleep. RHEYA You sure say "God" a lot when we're doing it. KELVIN I know. I'm putting that in my next report. She smiles. RHEYA Right. The report. Report and recommend. They consider that. RHEYA What does Snow think you should do? KELVIN Snow thinks we shouldn't leave until we figure out a way to document it, to prove its existence to the planet Earth. This is hilarious: He thinks it's God, but he wants it to sit still for a photograph so he can show the folks back home. They smile at this. Rheya's smile fades before Kelvin's. RHEYA Sartorius wants to destroy it. KELVIN Well. He doesn't think it's God, but for different reasons than me. He's thinking: If I can figure out how to make it stop, than I am smarter than it is, and therefore it cannot be God. RHEYA He has a point. KELVIN He does have a point. That's just not the way I'd like to see it proven. RHEYA You feel sorry for Solaris, or for me? KELVIN It's a violent response to something we haven't figured out. Don't let the cowardly demeanor fool you: He is ruthless. Unblinking in his prejudice. RHEYA It was obvious from the way he first looked at me. A beat. He holds her. RHEYA Do I really feel like... I am...? KELVIN Yes. Yes. RHEYA I'm glad. A beat. CUT TO: EXT. SOLARIS Turning, slowly. CUT TO: INT. APARTMENT - NIGHT Then years ago. Kelvin, naked, sitting in a chair, in the dark. Rheya, also naked, is smoking a cigarette in bed. KELVIN Everything you pursue, you end up becoming disinterested in. The fact that you're good at everything you try makes it worse. You have a degree in animal science, you could be a terrific vet. You drifted into writing and turned out to be a perceptive journalist. Then it was politics, which seemed best of all, you had an actual gift for understanding the best pattern for a group of people to be arranged for you to achieve your goal. And they didn't even know they were being arranged. But you got bored with it, like you do with everything. She just smokes, not really looking at him. Maybe it's a common observation and she's past being defensive about it. KELVIN I don't know what it's really like, to not know what you want to do. To not have anything that you love to do more than anything else. A beat. He looks at her. She seems more interested in her cigarette at the moment. RHEYA (sarcastic) Imagine my frustration. CUT TO: INT. KELVIN'S ROOM On the Prometheus. Rheya is awake, Kelvin asleep. She rises and goes to sit in a chair; she is anxious, something we haven't seen before. Kelvin wakes up, looks at her. Noting her expression: KELVIN What's wrong. RHEYA You don't love me. KELVIN Stop. A beat. She looks down. RHEYA I have to talk to you... I... I don't know where I came from. (up at him) Do you know? He doesn't respond. RHEYA If you know but can't tell me now... will you ever be able to? Calmly: KELVIN What are you talking about? RHEYA That I am not Rheya. That Rheya died. Killed herself. I'm different. He's looking at her, and knows this is dangerous territory. KELVIN Who have you been talking to? RHEYA (no reason to lie) Sartorius. KELVIN When? When I'm asleep? She nods. He can only imagine what form Sartorius' anecdotes must have taken. KELVIN I'm sure there are worse people to talk to, but I don't know who they are. RHEYA I'm just trying to understand what's going on. A beat. RHEYA How have you lived the last ten years? Did you love anyone? A long beat. Kelvin shakes his head. RHEYA Did you think about me? Another beat. He nods. Then: RHEYA But we fought. KELVIN Yes. Especially toward the end. RHEYA Why did she do it? KELVIN You... she said I didn't love her. RHEYA Was she right? KELVIN No. I love you. RHEYA (reflexive, but genuine) I love you, too. If she seems satisfied for the moment, Kelvin knows the feeling won't last. KELVIN Can you sleep? RHEYA I don't think do. It's not sleep; it's something else. It's all around me. KELVIN Those are dreams. She falls asleep. FADE OUT. FADE IN: INT. CONFERENCE ROOM Kelvin, Rheya, Sartorius, and Snow. They are in the middle of a heated discussion. SNOW Gibarian was under enormous -- SARTORIUS Gibarian was helpless. It's very simple: Man created the science that resulted in the discovery of Solaris, and the ship that brought us here. KELVIN Meaning Man can do whatever the fuck it wants? SARTORIUS Yes. KELVIN That's fantastic. SARTORIUS Why did you agree to come here? A beat. SARTORIUS Too tired to answer? Looks at Rheya, then back to Kelvin. SARTORIUS I'll bet. Is this what they sent you here to do? You've lost it, you've gone native. Kelvin moves toward him. Sartorius just lets him come. RHEYA (to Sartorius) You're the coward. KELVIN Don't debate him; he'll say anything. RHEYA (still, to Sartorius) I'm just as human as you. I see, I hear, I touch, and I feel just like you do. SARTORIUS Prove it. RHEYA These "guests" are a part of you, of your subconscious. Chris loves me. SARTORIUS YOU ARE NOT HUMAN! Try to understand that if you can understand anything! Kelvin is within an inch of his face. KELVIN Get out of here. Slowly, carefully, Sartorius grasps Kelvin by the shoulders. Then he leans in and whispers in Kelvin's ear: SARTORIUS Rheya is dead. She's a copy. A facsimile. And she's seducing you all over again. You're sick. You think of fucking her as research for humanity. It's just fucking. Kelvin backs away. SARTORIUS There's nothing grandiose about it. You've jumped out of a plane and you're trying to sew a parachute together while you fall. Sartorius turns... SARTORIUS It'd be hilarious if it weren't so damn sad. And leaves. A beat. SNOW We didn't even get to hear his new ideas. Snow wanders toward the door. SNOW I'm not feeling well. He passes Kelvin and leaves. Kelvin watches him, then looks at Rheya. She seems dazed. CUT TO: EXT. SOLARIS The fog-shrouded surface, shifting and turning like an ocean. CUT TO: INT. KELVIN'S ROOM Rheya is asleep. Kelvin is talking to Snow on the videophone. SNOW We can liquidate the station. Take the Athena back. KELVIN No. SNOW Of course, when we return, we'll be regarded as lunatics if we tell the truth. (shrugs) We'll chalk it up to isolation, collective derangement. KELVIN I've never heard you express any desire to leave before now. Why now? SNOW Well, I think we're reaching the point of diminishing returns here, right? Certainly it's learning more about us than we'll ever learn about it. KELVIN But why is it doing what it's doing? Given it's resources, it could have done anything. Presented me with your double, and you with mine. SNOW Perhaps it did. KELVIN Human beings can die. SNOW But they are human. They certainly become human with incredible speed. First they're like they were in our memory, but then they fill in on their own. DNA doesn't determine the hundreds of trillions of connections that occur in the brain, it's not dense enough. They build up with experience. INT. KELVIN'S ROOM - EARLIER Quick glimpses of Rheya. In several of them she is in repose, thinking, as if to illustrate Snow's point. INT. KELVIN'S ROOM Back to Kelvin, thinking. KELVIN They come when you sleep. SNOW That's right. And we all have to sleep, eventually. CUT TO: INT. KELVIN'S ROOM Kelvin on the bed with Rheya. Their eyes are closed. We think they are asleep until: RHEYA You don't want me. KELVIN Rheya. RHEYA That's what you were saying. I heard what you were saying. KELVIN For a reason that neither of us understand, you are forced to stay near me. That's all I know right now. She realizes she doesn't want to argue. Not right now, anyway. RHEYA I have these strange thoughts, I don't know where they come from. (beat) I can't explain it. KELVIN Neither can I. Not any of it. There's no reference point for what's going on; it's never happened before. It's a clean break in the fabric of the Universe; a gap. There is nothing to do but experience it, moment-to- moment, and not let it destroy us. RHEYA But that's what happened before. KELVIN Not this time. He kisses her. She wants to believe him, so she says nothing. Then: RHEYA Do you want to stay here? KELVIN Do you? RHEYA If you're here. They kiss again... DISSOLVE TO: INT. KELVIN'S ROOM Kelvin is asleep. Rheya is next to him. Offscreen, we hear the door open. Someone walks quietly (though not surreptitiously) through the frame and sits. After a long beat, Kelvin bolts upright, his mind struggling to clear. When it does: KELVIN Gibarian. GIBARIAN Leave the light off. A beat. Kelvin tries to get his bearings. GIBARIAN I wish you'd come a little sooner. I might not have had to kill myself. He smiles, looking at Kelvin. GIBARIAN You think you're dreaming me, like you dream her. Understand something: I am the real Gibarian. Just a new incarnation. KELVIN What do you want? GIBARIAN You're being tricked. Sartorius picked a fight with you to avoid telling you about his idea for getting rid of the visitors. He's figured out they're made of subatomic particles called neutrinos, and he's going to create a negative neutrino field. Twenty four hours a day, until they're back on Earth. KELVIN Can it work? GIBARIAN It can. Ordinary matter, like ours? Not affected. Everything else, disintegrates. Kelvin registers this. GIBARIAN What I'm saying is: Don't trust anyone. Find yourself a weapon of some sort. KELVIN I can trust Rheya. GIBARIAN You'll end up like me. KELVIN You're not Gibarian... GIBARIAN No? Who am I, then? KELVIN A puppet. GIBARIAN And you're not? Maybe you're my puppet. But like all puppets, you think you're actually human. It's The Puppet's Dream. Wondering if they're human! Gibarian smiles. KELVIN wakes up, gulping air. Rheya, startled: RHEYA What's wrong? KELVIN Gibarian. He was here. RHEYA You said he was dead. KELVIN He is. But he was here... He moves to the chair, looking for some residue of Gibarian, some proof. Finding none: KELVIN He spoke to me. Kelvin leaves the room. After a few beats, Rheya follows. INT. LAB Rheya lingers behind Kelvin, who is looking at Gibarian's body. It is there, alone on its slab; even the Young Girl is not with him. CUT TO: INT. KELVIN'S ROOM Kelvin, thinking. He gives Rheya some pills to take. She just looks at them. KELVIN Are you going to take them? She nods and takes them. RHEYA What's happening to us? KELVIN It's all right. RHEYA Please don't lie. I told you before, I don't know how I came to be here. Whatever you think you can't say to me, I need to hear you say it. KELVIN I love you. RHEYA Don't. I'm the one at risk here. If we're playing out what happened before, I won't survive. He goes to her. KELVIN That won't happen again. We're different. RHEYA How can I tell? You've seen both of me. I only know what you're like here. You're all I know. There is no "You" from before. She sits, frustrated. Sad. RHEYA How could it be so cruel? How could it torture us like this? KELVIN I don't think it knows it's torturing us. It's just watching. CUT TO: INT. KELVIN'S ROOM Kelvin and Rheya, in bed. She looks despondent. CUT TO: INT. KELVIN'S ROOM Kelvin is asleep. Alone. After a long period of silence, we hear the faint sound of an instrument of some sort hitting the ground. After another beat, Kelvin awakens. He notices that he is alone, and something tells him that's not a good sign. CUT TO: INT. LAB Rheya is on the ground, convulsing. Beside her is a SMALL STEEL DRUM, which is spilling a strange-looking LIQUID that solidifies and vaporizes with a smoky hiss. Kelvin moves to Rheya and is startled to see that half of her face and throat are burned away -- not melted as in a fire, but merely eaten cleanly away. He picks her up. INT. CORRIDOR Kelvin is carrying Rheya. Snow sticks his head out of a passing room. SNOW What happened? KELVIN She drank liquid oxygen. INT. KELVIN'S ROOM Kelvin puts Rheya on the bed. Her face and throat have returned to normal, but she is not breathing. Kelvin goes and puts his head to her chest, but doesn't hear what he hoped to hear. He stands, still looking at her. Snow seems very detached. An uncomfortably long moment as we realize she is actually not going to wake up. KELVIN She's dead. Snow says nothing. Then: Her finger twitches. Barely noticeable at first, but growing in intensity. Kelvin sees it, and goes to her. She is starting to shake a little, as though cold. SNOW She'll come back, don't worry. But then what? My theory is she can only live here, that she will die if she leaves this ship. Kelvin is still looking at Rheya, who is shaking a little harder; it's feeling like a seizure now. SNOW Why do you think she hasn't suggested that? It's the most obvious solution: Escape. She knows she can't leave here -- KELVIN Get out -- SNOW Oh, this one you love? What about the first one, the one you fucked and then put into a rocket and blasted into space? You didn't love her? Rheya is shaking much harder now, Kelvin tries to hold her still, but she's too strong. He stands, reluctantly, and watches her. SNOW What happens if she comes back? Is that polygamy? And even if you could take her home, how would you get her through? You think they're not going to notice her? Rheya is shaking violently now, as if a rippling rhythmic force were coursing through her. Snow, as he looks dispassionately on the two of them: SNOW I never get used to them, these... "Resurrections". He leaves. Rheya continues her process of "waking up" -- it's violent, even sexual. She spasms to a peak of some sort, and then slowly returns to normal. Kelvin puts his hand on her forehead. She gradually begins to open her eyes. She looks at Kelvin. It takes her a moment to realize she shouldn't be seeing him; she shouldn't be seeing anything. She should be dead. She begins to cry. RHEYA What am I? Why can't I die? She turns away. RHEYA I'm not Rheya. You're always known that. KELVIN Rheya -- RHEYA Don't call me that. He turns her over. KELVIN Listen: I don't care about anything but the fact that you are here. You are her, you are Rheya. RHEYA I'm disgusting. KELVIN No. RHEYA You're lying. I'm not human. KELVIN Rheya, I am not going back. I'm staying here with you. RHEYA Then you'll die. KELVIN I want every second I can get with you. A beat. RHEYA What will I do, if you die? He doesn't know. CUT TO: EXT. SOLARIS Turning slowly. CUT TO: INT. KELVIN'S ROOM Kelvin and Rheya, in bed. RHEYA Do you think I can get pregnant here? A long beat. KELVIN We'll know soon enough. INSERT: The first time Kelvin and Rheya spoke, at the party ten years ago. Again we see her whisper in Kelvin's ear, but this time we hear what she is saying: RHEYA I can't be a mother. She pulls back. KELVIN That's good to know. CUT TO: INT. APARTMENT - DAY Kelvin, as he packs to leave Rheya. RHEYA Don't do this. I am literally begging you not to do this. Chris. KELVIN You should have told me. RHEYA It wouldn't have made any difference. KELVIN Thank you. RHEYA Chris, I had to. I had to. I didn't think you'd react like this. KELVIN Neither did I. RHEYA You never said you wanted one. KELVIN I never said I didn't. RHEYA Chris -- KELVIN I can't stay here. RHEYA Chris, please. Chris, I'm serious. I won't make it. KELVIN Then you won't make it. He leaves, brushing past her. CUT TO: INT. APARTMENT - DAY Rheya, unconscious, on the kitchen floor. CUT TO: INT. KELVIN'S ROOM A long, held shot of Rheya, crying. She is curled up, retreating into herself. Kelvin is trying to console her. KELVIN I came back. You have to know that. I came back that night. CUT TO: INT. APARTMENT - DAY Rheya on the kitchen floor, the note in her hand. Kelvin is kneeling over her. CUT TO: INT. KELVIN'S ROOM Kelvin and Rheya. She is sobbing, but somewhat calmer. KELVIN I couldn't make it, either. (beat) I'm so sorry. CUT TO: INT. KELVIN'S ROOM Kelvin, asleep. CUT TO: GIBARIAN As we saw him before, sitting in the chair. But we didn't hear him say this before: GIBARIAN If they succeed, you'll never see her again. CUT TO: INT. KELVIN'S ROOM In the immediate aftermath of her suicide attempt with the liquid oxygen: RHEYA You're afraid of me. I can't do this anymore. I still don't understand. It's not possible. He tries to console her, but she recoils. RHEYA Don't -- INT. APARTMENT - DAY Rheya, as Kelvin brushes past her on his way out. She looks desperate. INT. KELVIN'S ROOM Rheya and Kelvin. RHEYA What do I have to do to stop it? KELVIN I want you here. RHEYA You're lying. KELVIN You exist here. I keep telling you. RHEYA That's impossible. I'm not Rheya. KELVIN Who are you, then? RHEYA I... I am Rheya. But I am not the woman you loved ten years ago. KELVIN Yes, you are -- RHEYA Did you hear what Gibarian said? I'm not a human being. I'm an instrument. I came from your memory and your imagination and I will torture you no matter what. Even if I remain passive. That's when I drank the... (beat) I was going mad. It felt like there was no body underneath my skin. There was something else. An illusion. But I could feel my heart beating, and I remembered you tested my blood. Is it like yours? KELVIN Yes. I told you. It was exactly like mine. RHEYA But then I would be dead now. A beat. KELVIN Is that really what you want? RHEYA I want to stop taking those pills. KELVIN I wish you wouldn't. RHEYA They do something to me. It's hard to think straight. KELVIN I think they help. RHEYA I have consciousness, but I am not mortal. Don't you see why I'm going crazy? KELVIN You have to remember that I love you, that's all that matters -- RHEYA I can't -- KELVIN It put you here. I'll admit it, it acted like a God and put you here, put you into my consciousness. I was asleep, and it put you into my dream. I saw your mouth. And there you were. (beat) Whether you've been sent here to make me happy or punish me, it doesn't matter. The decision we make now is all that matters. Stay with me. RHEYA Am I really her? KELVIN I don't know anymore. All I see is you. They kiss. KELVIN Stay with me. (beat) Stay with me. CUT TO: INT. KELVIN'S ROOM Kelvin is asleep. Rheya is next to him. CUT TO: INT. KELVIN'S ROOM Kelvin is on the videophone to Snow. KELVIN She knows everything. She knows who she is. SNOW She knows everything? Does she know she came once before and you put her in -- KELVIN No. A beat. SNOW What do you want? KELVIN I want you to get Sartorius to abandon his plan. SNOW (feigning innocence) What plan? KELVIN Just get him to stop. SNOW What do you want to do, leave the station with her? KELVIN Yes. SNOW Kelvin, she'll disintegrate. You don't believe me? Let's radio that shuttle pod you launched -- better yet, let's go get it. I've charted it's trajectory, only take a few hours... KELVIN Her oxygen would have run out. SNOW Maybe she doesn't need any. Should we check? Kelvin just stares at him. SNOW Who are you trying to please? Yourself? Her? Which her, this one or that one. Can you face both? We are in a situation that is beyond morality. So: Leave with her. You'll see the transformation. KELVIN Into what? SNOW You'll see her die, that's all. They're mortal, despite what she told you. She will die. Then what will you do? KELVIN I love her. SNOW You do, you don't. She's willing to give her life, you're willing to give yours, it's touching and magnificent, anything you want but -- this isn't the place for it. Don't you see? No, you don't. CUT TO: INT. KELVIN'S ROOM He is playing back a message sent by Sartorius. SARTORIUS I'm sending you a message because I feel sorry for you. I really do, Kelvin. (beat) It is a mistake to become emotionally engaged with one of them. You are being manipulated. You are going around in circles to satisfy the curiosity of a power we don't understand and can't control, and she is the living proof that power exists. If she were ugly, you wouldn't want her around; that's why she's not ugly. She is a mirror that reflects part of your mind. You provide the formula. You can only finish where you started, remember that. (beat) They sold us out to the highest bidder. They had no right to do that. We should have been consulted. We're not fucking hardware. CUT TO: INT. KELVIN'S ROOM Kelvin wakes up. Rheya is beside him. He rises and heads for the bathroom. He swallows two pills and a small cup of water. When he returns to the bed, Rheya is looking at him. RHEYA What are you taking? KELVIN A sleeping pill. Do you want yours? INT. APARTMENT - DAY Rheya, on the kitchen floor. The bottle of sleeping pills just beyond her hand. BACK ON THE PROMETHEUS Kelvin looks at Rheya. She shakes her head; she doesn't want the pills. Kelvin comes and sits beside her. KELVIN What does it want? RHEYA I don't know. Something. Anything. She goes to a portal and stares out at Solaris. RHEYA It created me and yet I can't communicate with it. It must hear me, though. It must know what's happening to me. Don't you think? CUT TO: INT. KELVIN'S ROOM Snow on the videophone to Kelvin. Rheya is asleep in the background. SNOW I don't think it dislikes us. I think it just noticed us. It lives, thinks, and acts. We are dealing with a living creature here, no question. And it's done something we've never been able to do: create a perfect human body. Perfect except for the subatomic alterations, but... CUT TO: GIBARIAN On his suicide tape: GIBARIAN If Solaris is inside our brain, and it knows everything, and we're only consciously aware of what 2% of our brain is up to at any given moment, it knows us better than we know ourselves. It's not even close. CUT TO: INT. KELVIN'S ROOM Rheya and Kelvin. RHEYA I've decided that if it is God, it's a sick God. Its ambitions exceed its powers, but it doesn't realize it. (beat) It's created a situation without a goal, and I hate that. A God whose passion is not a redemption, who saves nothing, fulfills no purpose. (beat) And us? We would have to have "an arrangement". An unspoken understanding that I am not human. How can I not hate something that does that? KELVIN Please. Don't. CUT TO: INT. KELVIN'S ROOM Kelvin is asleep. Rheya is crying beside him. CUT TO: INT. KELVIN'S ROOM Kelvin asleep, alone. Rheya is in the corridor, talking to someone. KELVIN wakes up. Rheya is beside him, asleep. CUT TO: EXT. SOLARIS Turning, slowly. CUT TO: INT. KELVIN'S ROOM Kelvin, in a fever, eyes open but glazed. Rheya is putting a compress on his forehead. KELVIN'S POV Of the room. His LABRADOR FROM THE OPENING SEQUENCE is sitting by the chair. CUT TO: INT. KELVIN'S CABIN (EARTH) Kelvin sits in a chair, looking at: THE LABRADOR Sitting in the same position as it was on the Prometheus. KELVIN Breathes a sigh of relief at being home. Everything seems slowed down, somehow. KELVIN (V.O.) I though I was home. CUT TO: INT. KELVIN'S ROOM On the Prometheus. Kelvin is in bed, feverish. KELVIN (V.O.) I thought it was over. He sees Rheya, in the hallway again, talking to someone we can't see. KELVIN Wakes up again. Rheya is asleep beside him. CUT TO: INT. TRAIN Rheya, the first day she and Kelvin saw each other. CUT TO: EXT. STREET CORNER - DAY Ten years ago. Kelvin and Rheya standing on a street corner. They seem to be pausing in the midst of a very serious conversation. It is raining. CUT TO: INT. KELVIN'S ROOM Kelvin in bed, on the Prometheus. Still feverish. Rheya is mopping his brow. INT. KELVIN'S CABIN (EARTH) Kelvin in bed, feverish. Rheya is there, wiping his forehead. INT. KELVIN'S ROOM On the Prometheus. Kelvin looks over to Rheya. KELVIN Where did you go before? RHEYA When? KELVIN Last night. You were talking to someone in the corridor. RHEYA You must have been dreaming. She begins to cry. KELVIN What's the matter? She just shakes her head. KELVIN Rheya? From Kelvin's point of view: Rheya, in the chair, crying. Then he looks right to see: Rheya, in the doorway, talking to someone we cannot see. Then he looks further to the right, and there she is again, staring at him from the bathroom doorway. She moves to the edge of the bed in order to be near. KELVIN Sweating. Struggling. Beyond fear. KELVIN (V.O.) I'm losing my mind. (beat) I'm breaking apart. INT. CABIN - DAY Kelvin sits in his chair, as he did at the beginning, with the three officials from DBA behind him. Only now the three officials are Snow, Sartorius, and Gibarian. INT. KELVIN'S ROOM (PROMETHEUS) Kelvin, transfixed. KELVIN (V.O.) Is this what it means to die? (beat) Am I in the moment of my own death? (beat) Is this the last thought I will ever have? This idea forces him to rise, and he does, slowly. INT. CORRIDOR Behind Kelvin as he somehow keeps moving. We hold a long time, and then: CUT TO: BLACK. Count to ten. Then: CUT TO: EXT. STREET Kelvin moving down a crowded sidewalk, in slow motion. KELVIN (V.O.) I am home now. (beat) I try to find the rhythm of the world where I used to live... but I feel completely and continually out of-sync. I am separate. Why did I return to Earth and lie about what happened? Lie about having contact with something like Solaris? I knew something else was out there, and didn't tell a soul. I left them in the dark. We all did. CUT TO: INT. TRAIN - DAY Kelvin, traveling home from the city. CUT TO: EXT. KELVIN'S CABIN - DAY Kelvin returns. He stops and looks around before entering his front door. KELVIN (V.O.) So why come back at all? To see if she comes here? KEVIN'S POV Of the woods. But there are strange incongruities in the image -- pieces of the Prometheus breaking through; for instance, a few of the AUTOMATED TASKMASTERS are crawling along the ground. KELVIN Looking from the doorway, notes this. He doesn't seem surprised, though. KELVIN (V.O.) I don't believe it will happen. INT. KELVIN'S CABIN - NIGHT Kelvin, in his bed, awake. KELVIN (V.O.) But I will wait, anyway. CUT TO: BLACK. Count to five. Then: CUT TO: INT. KELVIN'S ROOM (PROMETHEUS) Kelvin is in his bed, still feverish. KELVIN (V.O.) I thought it was over. He looks around the room. He is alone. A flashing light on his computer demands attention. ON THE COMPUTER A video message from Rheya. RHEYA Don't blame them. I begged them to do it. It's better this way. (beat) I'm sorry. (beat) I'm sorry I tried to make you think I was human. (beat) I read my own suicide note. I found it in your things. I realized I was not her. She looks away. RHEYA I know that you loved me, Chris. I know that. (beat) I love you. Kelvin breaks down. CUT TO: INT. APARTMENT - DAY Kelvin, with the dead Rheya in his arms, crying. Beyond him is the rain-streaked window. On the floor, by her hand, is the note. On it is scrawled the end of a Dylan Thomas poem, the one Kelvin quoted to her the first time they spoke. INT. PARTY - NIGHT The first night. Again, Kelvin leans into Rheya's ear and whispers. This time we hear what he says: KELVIN "Though they go mad they shall be sane. Though they sink through the sea they shall rise again." INT. APARTMENT - DAY Kevin holding Rheya. The note on the floor. The rain-streaked window. RHEYA (V.O.) "Though lovers be lost love shall not. And death shall have no dominion." Kelvin wipes the hair from her face. KELVIN (V.O.) You killed her! SARTORIUS (V.O.) Not her. It. CUT TO: INT. PROMETHEUS Kelvin, furious, is talking through a slit in Sartorius' door. KELVIN You murdered her! SARTORIUS Kelvin, she begged me. I had a short-range version of the destabilizer prototype, a miniature with a range of a few meters. She walked into it and disappeared. She was gone. Kelvin looks around. KELVIN She'll come back. SARTORIUS No, she won't. KELVIN Why would you let her to do that? SARTORIUS It's not human, Kelvin. Whatever it is, it's not human, and I am threatened by that. Evolution-of- the-species-at-stake threatened. And I want to win. I want humans to win. So I am killing it before it kills me. KELVIN You fucking bastard... SARTORIUS Whose side are you on? Kelvin moves away. CUT TO: EXT. SOLARIS Still turning, slowly. But something about its appearance is different. INT. PROMETHEUS Complete chaos. Kelvin is chasing Sartorius to the flight deck. SARTORIUS (yelling as he runs) It's changing characteristics. It's solidifying taking on weight. KELVIN How quickly? SARTORIUS If it continues, it will implode from its own weight and turn into a black hole in about four hours and pulls us in with it. INT. FLIGHT DECK Kelvin and Sartorius get the ship ready for take off. KELVIN Where's Snow? Did you call him? SARTORIUS Yes. Kelvin turns and sees one of the video monitors that Snow is sitting in his room. KELVIN (via intercom) Snow! We need you up here. Snow doesn't reply. KELVIN Snow! Snow looks up. There's a strange look on his face. KELVIN What's wrong with you? We need your help. SNOW I won't be making the trip. SARTORIUS Snow, get up here, now. SNOW I'm not Snow. This stops Kelvin and Sartorius. They look at each other and then at the monitor. SNOW I got rid of him. I wanted to see if... I wanted to be the only one. I wanted to be Snow. SARTORIUS Fuck me. I knew it. KELVIN When did this happen? SNOW Oh, right away. That's why you never saw me with anyone. You should've noticed that. I miss him, though. I think I made a mistake. KELVIN Jesus... SNOW But I can't leave with you. I won't make it. KELVIN Maybe you can. SARTORIUS You want it coming back with us? SNOW You go ahead. Of what I remember about Earth... it's all one thing now. Everything's a blur. I like distinctions. Snow lies down on his bed. Kelvin looks at Sartorius. SARTORIUS We do not have time to deal with this. Get the diode sail into position and let me know when the bias drive and the induction ring are at zero point. Kelvin nods and obeys. He then takes one last look at the monitor to see Snow lying in bed. Kelvin reaches over and shuts the monitor off. CUT TO: EXT. SPACE Silence. The Prometheus moves away from Solaris. CLOSER ON SOLARIS After the ship has gone. A soft black spot begins to form in the center of the planet. Slowly, inexorably, this black spot begins to expand. Within a minute Solaris has disappeared. CUT TO: EXT. STREET CORNER - DAY Kelvin, back on Earth. Silent and still. And the rain continues. He watches the activity; the cars, buses, and people moving to and fro. KELVIN (V.O.) Earth. (beat) What did that word mean to me? (beat) I have returned. Finally. Kelvin begins to walk. KELVIN (V.O.) I work in the city now. After work I wander and lose myself. I am silent and attentive. I follow the current. I make a conscious effort to smile, nod, stand, and perform the millions of gestures that constitute life on Earth. INT. TRAIN - DAY Kelvin taking the train to the suburbs. KELVIN (V.O.) I will study these gestures until they become reflexes again. I will find new interests and occupations, but -- EXT. ROAD - DAY Kelvin makes his way toward his cabin. As he nears, his LABRODOR recognizes him and approaches. Kelvin pats the dog's coat. KELVIN (V.O.) I will not... give myself. I will not give myself to anything or anyone, because I am haunted by the idea that I remembered her wrong. That I shaded my memory of her to suit myself. That I was unfair to her and caused her destruction. What if I was wrong about everything? (beat) I've come to believe that memory is a curse. EXT. CABIN - DAY Kelvin is near the front door, dog at his heel. He looks in as he brings his key to the lock and his face FREEZES. RHEYA Is in the living room, waiting for him. She is sitting on the sofa, looking toward the other side of the room. Sensing someone, she turns to see Kelvin, and her face melts into a smile. KELVIN Opens the door. He cannot speak. RHEYA Rises and moves toward him. They embrace. He breathes her in. She squeezes him. After a long beat: KELVIN How can you be here... RHEYA (whispering) Shhhh. Just stay with me. (beat) Stay with me. Everything is forgiven. Everything. She sways with him, gently. His body relaxes. KELVIN I love you. EXT. CABIN - DAY A tableau of the cabin. The dog is on the front step, seemingly content despite the light rain. As fog drifts in, we RISE, and soon the mist has nearly obscured the house. The fog turns into clouds and we get fleeting glimpses of the cabin, as we move farther and farther away. We stay in a translucent white stage for a few moments, until gradually the edges of a circle become apparent in the corners of the frame. Still there is a light rain sound. These dark, rounded edges penetrate further until they are forming the shape of a circle. The misty consistency begins to gain some color and body. And we realize we are now looking at the surface of Solaris. FADE OUT. All movie scripts and screenplays on this site are intended for educational purposes only.