Genre: Suspense Thriller
Director: Anton Corbijn
Writer: John Malone
Based on the novel by Theodore Roszak
Cast: Alden Ehrenreich, Kirsten Dunst, Brady Corbet, Jon Hamm, Philip Baker Hall, Terence Stamp, John Lithgow, Imogen Poots, Val Kilmer, Ty Burrell
Plot: At the UCLA Preservation Lab, Jon Gates (Alden Ehrenreich) slowly works a wet gate optical printer, advancing an old film frame by frame. The light begins to melt the film, which bursts into flame. Jon suffers a serious burn on his hand as he tries to save the film. The reel blows loose, knocking over some bottles. Fluid from one of the bottles ignites. Dr. Gordon Rittenauer (John Lithgow) rushes into the room, grabs a fire extinguisher, and puts out the fire. That night Jon tags along to a private film screening where his friend Don Sharkey (Brady Corbet) is working as the projectionist. Sharkey has also decided to bring along Amy (Imogen Poots), a girl who works for him at his theater. While the party is in full swing, Sharkey leads Amy and Jon up to the attic to show them that there are film canisters stacked everywhere. Jon is upset that all these great movies are just wasting away in a dusty attic. Time comes for the screening and the host Chip Goldstone (Ty Burrell) addresses his guests and introduces Claire Swann (Kirsten Dunst), a film critic for LA Weekly, who tells them about the film they are about to see.
Halfway through the screening Sharkey and Amy notice that Jon isn't with them and look on in horror as they see him whispering in Chip's ear. Chip then gets up and heads for the projection room, with Jon following. Chip tells them that Jon has urged him to take better care of his late father's film collection. Jon goes back up to the attic and decides to steal the incredibly rare print of Murnau's "Faust." He is only able to carry one of the four reels at a time. He makes it out to Sharkey's van, but finds Claire out there smoking a cigarette. She asks him what he's doing, and he claims that Chip is having him restore it, but she isn't buying it, so he comes out and tells her that he's borrowing it just so that he can restore the film as the outer edge is starting to rot and that he is restoration expert for the UCLA Preservation Project. In order to convince her that he merely wants to save the film he tells her that he can follow him, after helping him carry out the other reels. As they are loading the reels into her car, Sharkey and Amy approach. Sharkey sees what movie they're taking and suggests that they all watch it.
Back at Sharkey's theater they go to watch the movie but the first canister is soldered shut. Sharkey digs out a can opener and opens up the canister. Jon and Sharkey carefully lift the first reel out of the first canister and set it on the table. Jon notices an old piece of paper with German writing, accidentally tearing it in two. Jon holds the pieces together and sees a very faint, faded, hand-drawn diagram. It's a asymmetrical pattern of squares, each with a different number inside. Jon pockets the paper and notices a short strip of pure black film running along the edge of the canister. He tries to remove it but its stuck. Sharkey looks at the reel and notices sound strips, but "Faust" is a silent film. Upon further inspection they notice that the credits do not match up to the film. Claire realizes that the film is a lost film made by Max Castle, made before WWII, supposedly a masterpiece, but she's never known anyone who has actually seen it. Jon calls Gordon and tells him that they've found a film called "Judas Jedermann" made by Max Castle and asks him if he know anything about it. Gordon tells him to bring it in the next day.
They watch the film and they all have very strong intense reactions to it. Afterward they discuss it and end up getting into a huge argument that turns physical as they all start slapping each other. Amy gets fed up and runs out of the theater. Once she gets to the street she turns around to flip the others off and is run over by a semi-truck. That night, Jon wakes up sweating. He tries to call Sharkey, but doesn't get an answer. He then calls Claire's work number. They talk and reveal that they both had nightmares about the film. Jon then goes and picks Claire up and they go to the UCLA Preservation Lab.
They head over to Sharkey's apartment over the theater to pick up the film. Nobody answers the door so Jon grabs a spare key and opens the door and they grab the canisters. They then head over to the lab. There, Gordon tells them that he did a little research on Kassel: He directed "Judas Jedermann" in 1938, but no one knew what came of the film and it become the stuff of legend. Max then hid during WWII, and came to L.A. in 1945. In 1952 he directed B-movie "Queen of Venus" - produced by Ira Goldstone (Chip's father). The movie was never released. Max left L.A. for East Berlin, but the plane he was one vanished. They open up the canisters to find that Sharkey has switched the films. Jon and Claire head back to Sharkey's where he tells them that he put the film into cleaner canisters. The three head over to the lab.
During the ride, Sharkey tells them that he plans to have a special screening of the film at his theater. When they arrive they discover that the UCLA Archives Building is on fire. Jon rushes into the building to look for Gordon. He finds him dead in the screening room, his body soaked in blood, his legs aflame. Just then Jon is knocked unconscious by a blow to the back of the head.
Jon wakes up in the hospital. He goes to the Archives building where LAPD Homicide Detective Bracken (Val Kilmer) waits for him. Bracken escorts Jon through the burned-out building, telling him to keep an eye out for anything that may have been stolen. Jon goes to Gordon's office, which is half-burned. Jon tells Bracken that the books Gordon had been researching Castle in are gone. Jon asks Bracken what he thinks happened. Bracken tells him that it is too early to tell, that it could be a break-in, theft, accidental fire, arson, and asks Jon if he deals with a place in Berlin called Bundes Archiv, that Gordon had called them shortly before his death. Jon calls and talks to Friedrich telling him that Gordon is dead. Friedrich tells him to burn the film and leave town for awhile. Jon is convinced that Gordon's death has something to do with the film.
In the theater basement, Jon and Sharkey record a copy of the film onto video. They then hide the film canisters in a secret compartment in the theater where Sharkey hides drugs. Jon goes over to UCLA and gets a German graduate student, Susan, to translate the film into English. Claire talked to Chip and takes Jon to go dig through Chipsey's father's film collection. Jon finds a lobby card for "Queen of Venus" discovering that Arnold Zipsky (Philip Baker Hall) was the cinematographer on the film. They track down Zipsky and go to see him. They tell him that they've seen "Judas Jedermann", he doesn't believe them, so they invite him to come see the movie at the theater.
Sharkey lets Jon into the closed theater. Jon tells him that Zipsky should be coming. Claire arrives with a companion, Colby Mathers (Jon Hamm), who she introduces as a good friend and a major film collector. Zipsky then arrives. An old woman is behind him, but doesn't come in, and Zipsky assures them that he doesn't know her. They play the film. Jon notices that Mathers keeps his head down for the entire movie. After the movie, Zipsky shouts that its a masterpiece before quickly leaving, not answering any of Jon's questions. Jon, Claire, and Sharkey get into another fight, and Mathers leaves. Claire tackles Jon into a shelf of movies in Sharkey's office.
Jon wakes up in his apartment and notices that two videos on his shelf are out of place. He gets a call from Sharkey who says that somebody broke into the theater. Jon goes there and suggests that they call Det. Bracken. Sharkey says no cops, as they might find his drugs, along with several fire violations. Jon goes to see Claire at the L.A. Weekly offices and tells her about the break-in and asks her where Mathers is. She tells him that Mathers is in New York. They determine that the film was the reason for all the fighting, and that they have had the same nightmare where people stab each other. They then go to see Zipsky, who shows them that he has the third reel of "Queen of Venus."
After they watch it, Claire excuses herself to the bathroom, and Jon follows. They start groping and kissing each other, and rip each other's clothes off. They then have passionate sex on the bathroom floor. They then notice that Zipsky is watching them from the doorway, masturbating. Afterward they accuse Zipsky of spiking their drinks, but Zipsky tells them that it was the film that caused it through subliminal images, that "Judas Jedermann" causes people to be mean and "Queen of Venus" causes a sexual reaction. Jon asks him if he thinks anyone would be willing to kill to steal a Max Castle film. Zipsky says that Max was part of a cult before telling them to leave.
Jon and Claire get a call from Sharkey telling them that there was another break-in at the theater. Jon goes to see Sarah, the German grad student, to get the translation from her. He finds her door open and enters, only to be attacked by Susan. He quickly grabs the tape and her notebook and runs out of there. He then goes to Claire's apartment. She reads the notebook and tells Jon that it is pretty much the story of Christ from Judas' point of view. Jon watches the tape with the notebook in front of him. He goes over to Sharkey's and looks at each frame of the film through a powerful optical viewer. Jon finds one of Castle's subliminal images: the face of a demon. Jon then receives a call from Friedrich who tells him that some people approached him and asked if he had any Max Castle films, specifically his ‘experimental films’, and once again urges Jon to burn the film and suggests that he come on over to the Berlin Film Festival.
Jon goes to convince Claire to go to the film festival with him. They then discover that Zipsky has died in a freak accident on his staircase. They go to Zipsky's house, break in, and find that it's been ransacked. They hide in a closet when they hear the sound of a key unlocking the front door. It's the old woman from the theater, who Jon now realizes is Olga Tell, star of "Queen of Venus." They tail her car to a house, wait for her to go inside, and then ring the doorbell. They tell her that they were friends of Zipsky. She only lets them in when they tell her that they know she is actually Olga Tell. She tells them that she isn't Olga Tell, just a friend of hers. They ask her about Max Castle, but she doesn't say anything. Jon says that they have a print of "Judas Jedermann". He then lies and says they also have one of Castle's experimental films. She tells him that he's lying, because if he had seen it he'd be dead, and orders them to leave.
Claire and Jon fly to Berlin. They head over to the Bundes Archiv to find that Friedrich has quit and that an American policeman keeps calling. Jon talks them into giving him Friedrich's address. Jon and Claire then go there and find that his apartment has been ransacked. Friedrich then attacks them. Jon and Claire flee the apartment and go back to their hotel room. Mathers knocks at their door to tell Claire that there is a screening at 7pm. Jon heads to the Berlin Library and looks at a microfilm of a newspaper, finding an article mentioning a triple murder in Paris and the name "Max Kassel."
Jon tells Claire that he's going to Paris and shows her a copy of the article, and tells her that a man in Paris named Rosensweig killed three men in a theater in 1943. During the trial, Rosensweig said that Max Castle showed him a film. Jon takes a train to the prison. Jon waits in the visitation room as two guards bring in the elderly Guillaume Rosensweig. A guard tells Jon that he doesn't speak but can interpret. Jon asks about the night at the theater and Max Castle. He asks if it was "Judas Jedermann". The old man simply says "noir" and the name of the cult, "The Orphans of the Storm." Rosensweig grabs Jon's pen, yells in English that the film will kill everybody, and stabs himself in the throat with the pen.
Jon goes back to the hotel and tells Claire about the visit. He asks Claire to put out an announcement to the festival director that Friedrich Heller from Bundes Archiv is going to give a talk about the lost films of Max Castle, when everyone gets there they will announce that the event has been canceled. Jon hopes this will draw out the killer. Jon scans all the faces, when one catches his interest. The man, Dr. Byx (Terence Stamp) leaves and gets into a taxi. Jon gets into another taxi and follows Dr. Byx to a house that has been turned into a place of business. The front sign says "Orphans of the Storm." Jon goes inside and tells Dr. Byx that he is doing research on Max Castle. Dr. Byx claims not to know of him, but offers to tell him about their group and leads him to their meditation room - an auditorium. On the screen is a blown-up video of Byx talking into the camera in German.
Not finding what he was looking for, Jon goes to a government building to look up old records about religious cults from the 1920-30s. The clerk provides Jon with a list of members of "Orphans of the Storm" from 1923. Jon races back to the hotel and shows Claire the list which features the name "Maximilian Kassel" and "Robert Weine", another filmmaker. Jon then recalls that Gordon had watched Weine's film "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari" before he was killed. Jon heads back to L.A. while Claire stays to cover the remainder of the festival.
Jon enters his apartment and finds a package - from Rosensweig. Inside is a film canister. He goes to Sharkey's to watch it. It's an outtake from "Judas Jedermann" where the actor playing Judas breaks character as a group of men in robes with occult symbols walk into frame and gather around a seated actor wearing a crown. The seated actor goes into a trance. His head lowers, then raises and his expression is one of sheer evil. The film then runs out. Jon looks at a frame with an optical viewer - Judas is reaching for a doorknob, casting a shadow over the door. Inside the shadow is the demon's head -- with the same crown on his head. Jon and Sharkey realize that the subliminal images in the film were created on set during shooting. Jon suggests that the actor actually channeled a demon.
Jon goes to the UCLA Research Library and does some research. Jon takes a thick folder of research back to the theater where he finds that Sharkey is now wearing combat fatigues, and a holster around his waist with a handgun - and is on acid. Jon reads his research aloud about various members of the cult - who were all involved in film. Jon says that the cult grabbed onto the invention of motion pictures and formed it, shaped it to do what they wanted it to do.
Jon wakes up back at his apartment to a knock at his door. It's Claire. Jon tells her that the cult has been trying to replicate what Castle was able to do for the last 60 years. After they have sex, Claire tells Jon that she went to the Orphans of the Storm headquarters in Berlin. She says that they are a film preservation society that finds and saves "orphaned" films. She gets up and leaves for a press screening. Jon then receives a call from Detective Bracken telling him that they need to talk in person. Bracken tells Jon that the forensics investigation concludes that Gordon Rittenauer committed suicide.
At the theater, Jon, Sharkey, and Claire watch the outtake footage. Claire tells Jon that Mathers will pay for Jon to go back to France and talk to Rosensweig about Max Castle's experimental film and find it. Jon believes that the film makes you kill yourself. They go to the charred UCLA Archives building and to Jon's office and grab the grabs "Caligari". Jon looks at the film in light. Jon grabs the black strip from the canister and removes the leader section from the front of "Caligari." He goes to a viewing table but can't see anything so they go to Sharkey's. They go down to get a new bulb for the projector, thinking its burned out, but an employee of Sharkey's, Kirk, gets the projector working and watches the film. When they come back to the projection room, they find that Kirk has killed himself. Jon quickly sets the film on fire. While Claire is talking to a detective Jon answers her cell phone and its a call from Dr. Byx.
Jon decides to follow Claire and finds that she's going to the LA Weekly offices. He decides to go home. When he gets there he finds Colby Mathers waiting for him in his apartment. Sharkey is with him and reveals that Mathers has been working against the cult. Mathers reveals that he helped put Dr. Byx's brother in prison for stealing rare films. After Sharkey's screening of "Judas Jedermann" Mathers is going to destroy it. Mathers has been trying to find Castle's blind "noir" film for twenty years to destroy it. Mathers believes that the cult wants to broadcast it during the Olympics, causing mass suicide. Claire then calls and claims that Mathers is a liar and that he is a suspect in murders and art thefts all over Europe. Mathers, Sharkey, and Jon race to Olga's house. They break in and find the place ransacked and the old woman dead. Jon notices a piece of glass art that looks similar to the sets of "Caligari". The sky portion of the art which is all white is shaped just like the diagram Jon found earlier. Mathers picks up a stone statue and is about to smash the glass to destroy the negative when Sharkey stops him and smashes Mather's head with the statue. Sharkey pulls out his gun and pistol-whips Jon, knocking him out.
Sharkey makes prints of film from the glass negatives. Jon wakes up in the theater's basement, but finds that he's locked in. Jon bashes the doorknob and lock and escapes the basement. The theater is full of moviegoers. Jon then sees Claire and several cops enter the theater. Jon runs up the stairs as cops chase him. Jon and Claire convince a cop to break down the projection room door just as Sharkey starts the projector. Jon leaps at Sharkey, rips off the take-up reel and lights the film on fire. He tosses the burning film onto the print negative Sharkey made. Some people saw a couple seconds of the film though. Sharkey saw the film though, grabs a knife and stabs himself in the throat. One woman breaks her compact mirror and uses the pieces to slice her throat. The cop uses his gun to kill himself. Claire grabs the cop's gun, and before Jon can stop her, kills herself. Jon looks in the lobby and sees Byx standing with a cop at the door. Jon eats the diagram while the cop and Byx try to stop him. Suddenly a nitrate explosion occurs in the projection room. Jon passes out. He wakes up in a hut. He can hear the ocean. With difficulty he walks outside and sees a beach. He turns and sees an old man - Max Castle.
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