My name is Melinda Gordon.
I just got married, just moved to a small town,
just opened up an antique shop.
I might be just like you.
Except from the time that I was a little girl,
I knew that I could talk to the dead.
It's all right, honey.
Earthbound spirits, my grandmother called them,
the ones who have not crossed over
because they have unfinished business with the living.
And they come to me for help.
To tell you my story, I have to tell you theirs.
You know, I don't think that waiter got your sense of humour.
Yeah, I think it's because he was looking at you so much,
he didn't even hear me.
Are you gonna pick up your mom tomorrow at the train?
No. No, no. She insists on taking a cab, you know.
She likes to think she's low-maintenance.
Ah, don't we all?
She always has her reason.
What?
This is exactly where I parked the car.
Are you sure?
Yeah. Remember? When we almost tripped over that crack there.
I am not enjoying this moment.
Evening. I need to report a stolen car.
415, Ovington Avenue. Vehicle belongs to a Melinda Gordon.
That was quick work, Billy.
Hey, slow night. What can I say?
We caught him running a stop sign a few blocks away.
Oh, yeah?
Damn near drove right over the lawn of this house.
A joyride, I'm guessing.
A joyride of one?
He's got a couple of misdemeanours, no major priors.
What you guys wanna do?
Miles Jensen, the boy's father.
I really apologise for this.
My son, he's in that troublemaker phase, I guess.
No one was hurt. That's all that matters.
I know this is asking a lot,
but would you consider not pressing charges?
I'll pay for the damage.
Sure. Yeah. It's okay.
I really appreciate that.
I don't know what is with the kid.
Sometimes I wish he'd wake up, be 21 and have all this teen crap behind him.
Honey.
He messed with your stations.
We should prosecute. Let's go back.
Hey, you know what my problem is? I need to wake up, be 16
and get over all this adult crap.
Hold on. Pull over for a sec.
What, are those cell phone transmissions? What?
I don't think so.
I think these are spirit voices.
Wait a minute. Normal guy. How come I can hear them?
I'm not sure.
How do you know they're spirits?
I feel it. I can feel them.
What, the car's haunted?
I don't know.
I've never run into this before. There's a name for it.
Cool. I mean, creepy.
Okay.
I am here.
Can you see us?
Hello? Is there a handsome paramedic in this house?
You have 4 messages.
Your dry cleaning is ready.
Hey, it"s Andrea.
You were right about the estate sale in LaKemont. Give me a call.
Jim, it"s Tommy. Can you taKe the 4:00 to 12:00 shift next Tuesday?
Hey.
You all right?
Do you hear that?
Barely, but yeah. Don't know what it is.
You okay?
Yeah. Yeah, except for a headache all of a sudden.
All right.
It'll be all right.
You get a headache, my mother arrives. Interesting.
Hey.
Hey, darling.
I'm so happy to see you.
It's great to see you, Mom. How you doing?
- Hi. - Melinda, darling.
Hey. Here you go, man. Thank you.
- Thanks very much. - Jim!
- What? - You just tipped my friend, Ellis.
Sorry. Ellis Conway.
This is my son, Jim.
- Hiya there, Jimmy. - Hey.
And my beautiful daughter-in-law, Melinda.
Melinda. Heard a lot about you.
Nice to meet you.
Well, look, I got another bag to get. Be right back.
Isn't he sweet?
Who is he?
Well, you know who.
I don't.
He's my...
Well, boyfriend is just ridiculous, isn't it?
He's a special friend.
Boyfriend. Mom, you didn't mention this.
Didn't I? Melinda, you look wonderful.
And you, Faith, you're just glowing.
Mom...
Jim, please don't be boring about this. I'll explain more later.
What a fantastic house, gee.
- Yeah. Great. I got it. - Thanks.
Here, darling.
Okay, well...
Anyone hungry?
Yeah. Sure.
This is yummy.
Wonderful.
Hey. You're supposed to pay for those.
Keeping track.
All right. What's up with you and Ellis?
What about me and Ellis?
You haven't spoken two words to the guy.
It's nothing.
Does it bother you that him and your mom...
Hey, hey, hey. Do we have to put a name on it, huh?
I don't get it. He seems like a perfectly nice guy.
Then how come he's checking out that blonde who is clearly not my mother?
Because, Jim, that blonde is a Nordic goddess with huge
pastries.
A priest would be forgiven for glancing.
That's not a glance. That's a leer. Come on.
I don't know. It just... Something doesn't feel right.
Has your mom dated anybody since your dad passed away?
Not that I know of.
Say no more.
I can't believe
you tried to put their bags in separate rooms.
- Hey! - I was kidding.
They are adults.
I don't know. Something about this Ellis guy just doesn't seem right.
You know how they met? He was installing her new alarm system.
He seems sweet and charming to me.
Yeah, yeah, if you like that sort of thing.
What is this really about?
I don't know. It's just... You know what it is?
He's too nice. I'm not buying it.
Oh. Cynical.
Dad's been dead five years.
He's just... He's really different from my dad.
You know, maybe you should just get used to the idea that your mother
is dating.
- Are you all right? - Yeah.
Damn headache.
Give me that. Is it the same as the ones before?
Yeah. There were weird voices again on the answering machine.
I listened to them twice and I've been sick all night.
Don't listen to them.
That is so male. I love that.
It seems simple to me.
Look, are you sure these things aren't explainable,
- I mean, like cell phone transmissions? - No, they're not.
You know how I can sense spirits,
like I can feel what they're feeling?
Now I'm on overload. It's like tasting too many foods at once.
I don't like this is making you sick.
Should I get you some aspirin?
You know what always makes my headaches go away?
Oh, yeah.
Wait. Hold those doors.
Please. Thank you.
Thanks. You're a pal.
Probably saved me about a half an hour.
Which floor?
Well, same as you.
Are you here to see Dr Huffman?
- How did you know? - Psychic.
That, and there's only one office on the third floor.
Which makes you Dr Huffman.
You seem a little surprised.
Oh, no. No. I'm sorry. It's just... You sounded
- older on the phone. - Yeah.
I've actually had a lot of blind dates
which began with that same phrasing.
Melinda Gordon. We talked this morning about my messages.
Oh, yes! Of course.
Electronic voice phenomenon.
EVP, as we noise geeks like to say.
Well, how much do you know about it?
Oh, not much. Just what I learnt on the net.
Your name kept coming up in my searches.
You seem to be the go-to guy for EVP.
Yet the chairman of my department remains unimpressed.
Would you care for some cheese?
Smoked Gouda.
Oh. I'm good. Thanks.
So do you mostly work in paranormal studies?
Well, I don't think of it as paranormal.
I'm simply trying to apply scientific explanation
to phenomena that seem unexplainable.
Is EVP common?
Hard to know. We don't exactly keep statistics.
Most of the voices seem to mostly come through the vacant bandwidth
between regular broadcast stations.
But it's not just radio, you know.
It could happen with anything electronic.
TVs, monitors, VCRs, et cetera.
Most people really don't know exactly how or why it works.
Most people believe it's caused by ghosts.
Do you believe in ghosts?
Do you?
I'd answer that truthfully,
but I may be endangering my tenure.
Let's just say I... I like to keep an open mind.
Now, you said you have messages.
Oh. Yes.
The voices are hidden under my other messages.
And I'm also hearing voices on my car radio.
Here.
Good call on the cheese, by the way. It's dreadful.
It's just been driving me crazy
that I can't understand what's being said.
See, there's a lot of warping. Watch this.
Very typical.
Most of the voices seem to be in mid-conversation,
some asking questions.
There's one female voice which seems to pop.
She doesn't seem to be in conversation
as much as trying to get someone to hear her.
You suddenly seem unwell.
No, I'm good.
Can you just tell me what they're saying?
I am...
I am waiting...
I am waiting for you.
And you think these voices are making you sick?
It's not so much the voices.
It's just a lot of spirit stuff happening all at once.
I feel like my head's vibrating.
You are looking a little green around the gills.
You look good, too.
Why don't you just go home? You know, I can handle things here.
Don't be ridiculous. I'm fine.
Claremont in the woods.
Claremont?
I'm sorry. I have to go.
Now what?
Who are you? What are you doing here?
Who am I?
I'm the woman whose car you stole.
And you should try being polite.
Thanks to me, you're not stuck in jail right now.
Answer my question.
You first. What are you doing here?
I'm walking. It's a trail, man.
Were you led here, too?
What are you talking about? Led here by who?
Someone told me to come here.
A woman. Did she tell you, too?
You hear the voices, too, don't you?
You're...
You're nuts, okay?
I don't know what you're talking about.
You don't have to do this. I'll feel better in the morning.
Of course I do. I can't sleep anyhow.
Don't tell me you're obsessing.
What if he's a gold digger?
I mean, what if he's just after her money?
This is a class thing, isn't it?
I think you know me better than that.
Come on, admit it. You don't think he's good enough for your mother.
It's not that.
What then?
I don't think he's good enough for my mother.
Feel better?
I felt better hours ago. I've been totally milking it.
That's my girl.
You know... Can I ask you a question?
You've been through a lot with this whole spirit game, right?
We both have.
True enough. But I've never seen it make you sick before.
Don't make it bigger than it is, you know.
I just can't get control of this one.
My point. It's a bad thing.
Look, do you ever think there'll be a day
where you can say,
you know, "Sorry. I can't help you.
"You're not good for me.
"You're making me sick. You're making me cry"?
Do you think that day will ever come?
I don't know. Should it?
I'm gonna go downstairs and get a glass of water. You want anything?
Wisdom and patience.
Always in short supply.
Saltine crackers are gonna have to do and those are for me.
MaKe him listen.
Who are you?
MaKe him listen!
Who are the other voices?
You were there. You did nothing!
L"m waiting...
What's going on?
Hey.
I'm sorry.
It's all right. You all right?
- I'm sorry. - It's all right. It's all right.
Come on.
Go bacK. Go bacK.
What are you trying to tell me?
My son.
Where is he? You"ve got to tell him.
Hi.
Damn. I forgot to send the cheque for the car.
You know, I can do that right now.
No, no, no, no. The insurance company's taking care of it.
I just wanted to come by and check on Kirk.
Kirk.
Yeah. Just see how he's doing.
You said you weren't going to press charges.
Honestly, I'm not.
I just, I don't know, wanted to talk to him.
You know, make sure there was no hard feelings.
Are you a social worker or something?
I get that a lot. Not really. No.
Well, it's nice of you to take an interest.
But he's not here. He's never here.
Where does he go?
I'm not privy to that information any more.
It's just the two of you?
Excuse me?
Oh, I was just wondering.
My wife passed away, if that's what you're asking.
You know, my son was a good kid until then.
Made good grades. He was happy.
When his mother passed away, he just spiralled.
All of a sudden, it was drugs and petty crime.
You know, he doesn't say a word, not to me or anyone else.
And believe me, I try.
I really try.
I'm sorry.
Anyway, I got to catch a plane.
Right.
Hey, I'm sorry to hold you up.
Can I just leave a card?
You know, just in case he does wanna talk.
You are a social worker, aren't you?
Maybe you're right.
Go ahead. He'll probably come home when he's sure I'm gone.
Excuse me.
How did his mother die?
It was an accident. She died in the woods.
Find the red...
Find the red glove.
Red glove.
Find the red glove.
Red glove.
- Billy. - Hey, Jimmy.
Doing a training thing here or something?
- No. Actually, can I talk to you? - Yeah, sure, come on.
You're not gonna try to Heimlich me or something, are you?
Maybe if you're lucky, next time.
What you need, baby?
Look, I wouldn't ask you this if I wasn't...
What?
Well, my mom started seeing this guy.
And I don't know. Just got a weird feeling about him.
Weird how?
I don't know, Billy.
I was just wondering if you could run a check on him.
He lives in Philadelphia.
Philadelphia. Wow.
I don't know what I can get from here.
Maybe DMV. Maybe some court records. It'd be a shot in the dark.
I'd appreciate anything you could do.
Okay, well...
What's wrong with you guys? Cutbacks?
- What's his name? - Ellis Conway.
He's an electrician. Philadelphia.
Oh, it is so cute. He's all twitchy about Faith's boyfriend.
Thank you.
He seems like such a nice guy.
Oh, he is. He really is.
But, you know, it's Jim's mom,
and he's always gonna look after her.
She's a little impulsive.
Oh, that's great. I love impulsive.
Hey! Stop!
Hi.
Can you make this stop?
Red glove.
Who do you think it is?
I don't care who it is. I just want it to stop.
It's your mother, isn't it?
What did your mother do?
She was an electrical engineer. Designed circuit boards.
What difference does that make?
So she knew a lot about electronics.
I guess.
Spirits need our energy to manifest.
She's out in the woods. There's no one there for her to draw on.
She's probably trying to communicate on the only thing that's familiar.
How do you know all this?
It's what I do. The spirit part, anyway.
Look, I think your mother's trying to get a message to you.
And she's there. She's waiting for you.
I don't want any messages from her.
I just want the voices to stop.
You said you could help me, so do it.
Do you know anything about a red glove?
My mother's a liar.
I don't want anything to do with her, living or dead.
What happened to you in these woods?
An autumn day. Beautiful sun.
Everything felt so good, so right.
Free. I felt liKe a girl again.
He did that for me.
We met years ago.
We were friends, that"s all.
But my marriage was so cold, and Bob made me feel loved.
It was just a little fall.
Didn"t hurt.
There was a broKen power line at the bottom of the well.
I had been electrocuted.
Lacy!
I was dead before I could even yell or shout out.
Help! Help!
How could I explain?
My son KirK trusted me. He would never understand.
That"s when everybody Knew.
- Knew what? - That we were lovers.
We were having an affair.
My family was devastated. And everyone felt betrayed.
Even my son KirK lost faith in me.
He was so angry.
He started wasting his talent.
What about his father?
Miles doesn"t understand.
Doesn't understand what?
The red glove. He doesn"t Know that...
Red glove.
Hi. This is the Jensens. Leave us a message.
Hey, Kirk, it's Melinda Gordon again.
If I could just talk to you for, like, five minutes. It's really important.
If you could just call my store or my cell.
Thank you.
Hey. Are you okay? You look worried.
Yeah. I guess I'm always worried about something.
Here. You chop these, and I will take care of the rest.
This is fun. You know, I never come home for lunch.
Now I know why Jim's such a good cook.
To tell you the truth, I learnt more from him than he did from me.
He has always been interested in food.
Let's hope he gives poor Ellis a few crumbs at least.
Does it bother you?
It's what I expected, pretty much. He's very protective.
But he'll come round. Ellis can win anybody over.
You know, I have to admit. I envy what you and Jim have.
I wish that my mother and I...
Whoa. Careful what you wish for.
It's not easy, especially the growing-up part.
I can't even count the number of times
we were furious with each other.
Still happens. But he always knew someone had his back.
He always knew someone was out there who understood him.
Well, you and Jim have quite a bond. Nothing's gonna change that.
Now we just have to make him see that Ellis isn't trying to.
That was fast.
Hey, if it was my mom's, I'd be fast too, now.
- Can I get you a coffee? - No, no, no. Look, I got to run.
- All right, what do you got? - Plenty, and it isn't good.
Look, you call me later if there's anything else you want me to do.
- All right, Billy, thanks. I owe you one. - Hey, no problem.
Son.
I love you.
Please, stop hurting yourself.
Mom.
Please, stop hurting yourself.
- I love you. - Mom!
Please! No!
- You again? - Is Kirk here?
You have amazing timing, I'll give you that.
What's wrong?
Welcome to my son's latest crime spree.
He just broke into an electronics store
and trashed the place or something.
Oh, is there anything I can do?
You know, it's almost like he waits until he knows I'm at my busiest
before he pulls this crap.
I doubt that it has anything to do with you, Mr Jensen.
Well, please, tell me, what is it about?
He's grieving. He lost his mother.
I lost, too. Talk about having the rug pulled out from underneath you.
You know, I've done my best for that kid.
I taught him to be tough, with a thick skin.
How else can you survive in this worid?
Instead he throws garbage cans through store windows.
Oh, Mr Jensen, you left your door...
...open.
Right here. Come.
Find it.
Find it here.
Red glove.
Underneath, where it should be.
Mattress.
Red glove, find it.
Excuse me, can I have a moment? It's my son. Thanks.
Why are you doing this? I mean, is it that bad?
I told you I'd send you to a psychiatrist or a counsellor.
Maybe if you actually talked to somebody.
But you can't keep doing this.
Well, you let me know when you find me somebody to talk to.
All right, son, let's go.
Thank you.
What are you doing here?
They told me no one's bailed you out.
Yeah. He's teaching me a lesson.
Nothing like doing some hard time in the Grandview jail
to turn a guy around.
I'm sorry.
It's fine. At least I'll get a good night's sleep.
They don't allow anything electronic in here.
I know what happened with your mother.
How?
She told me.
Yeah, okay. Whatever.
She knows how angry you are at her.
I doubt it.
People make mistakes. She feels badly.
She should feel bad. She lied.
I know why she had to lie to my old man.
But why did she have to lie to me?
I told her everything about myself.
She didn't love him. Well, maybe she didn't love me, either.
You know that's not true.
Look, sometimes we don't understand why people do what they do.
Everybody fights their own battle.
We may not even know what that is.
Where the hell did you get this?
She led me to it.
You know what it's about?
It's about a young man who doesn't know
how to tell his father that he's gay.
Bailing me out doesn't make up for what you did.
Maybe to me it does.
You had no right to read this.
It was beautiful. It made me cry.
And it was obviously written by somebody with a great heart.
You should keep writing.
Look, it's none of your business.
Who the hell are you anyway?
Why are you even involved with this?
Because it was my car you chose to steal.
And maybe that was no accident.
Does your father know that you write?
What do you think?
Well, why not?
He wouldn't understand, and neither do you.
Look, thanks for the bail. I'll pay you back.
Thank your father.
He was the one that gave me permissión to pick you up.
Fantastic. I'm out of here.
Check, sir.
Thank you.
I was sure I wouldn't get any good Italian food out here.
I was wrong. No, I got it.
You're a man of few words, Jimmy. I admire that.
How long have you been an electrician, Ellis?
Electric...
Well, I've been in the business a good 14, 15 years now.
Really? Ever done anything on the side?
On the side?
I keep myself busy enough.
I bet you do.
I don't think I get you.
Writing bad cheques, Internet scams,
telephone fraud.
My mother know you spent two years in a federal prison?
You checking up on me, Jim?
I'm checking up on you, Ellis.
May I see that?
Right.
Well, you see, a problem here.
I go by "Ellis," but that's my middle name.
My real name is Vincent. Vinny Conway.
This here "Ellis Conway," that's somebody else.
So, why don't you go back to your guy
and you give him the name "Vincent E. Conway,"
see what he comes up with.
You know, Jimmy? Your mother warned me about you.
Hey, wait a minute.
What? So, what, did you change your name or something?
I didn't change it. I just dropped it. Thank you.
Look, when I got my business started,
I thought going by "Ellis" would make me sound more high-class.
You know how narrow-minded some people could be about these things.
Look, Jimmy, I understand. I do.
Your mother's a wonderful woman. We both know that.
But she's been hurt, she's lost, she's vulnerable.
You're looking out for her. That's something else I admire.
Ellis, I don't know where to begin to apologise.
Forget it, huh? I've been through a few things myself, you know.
Ups and downs in business. First wife passed away.
Yeah, we all have our wounds, kid. Right?
Not as big as the one I'd like to inflict on myself right now.
I may not be a college guy,
but I've made some good moves in my time.
Meeting your mom was one of them.
Hey, wanna go get some ice cream?
I say we get some ice cream.
Then let's go get some ice cream. And you can pay.
I can't believe it. I can't believe you bailed the kid out.
I couldn't just let him sit there in that cage.
It didn't cost that much. Are you mad?
Mad? Let me see.
Just when I think I can't possibly love you more,
you prove me wrong.
Can you imagine having to keep a secret like that
from the one person who's supposed to love you no matter what?
Speaking of secrets...
415, Ovington.
KirK. KirK. KirK.
How do I know that address?
It was on the police report.
That's where the kid took our car when he stole it.
- What are you doing? - I'm coming with you. Are you kidding?
We can't both leave in the middle of the night. It'll look weird.
I'll call you if I need your help.
Hurry!
I'll be fine.
Hey, what are you doing here?
This is his house.
This is where my mother really wanted to be, with her lover.
Come on. Don't do this. Just talk to me.
Don't worry. He doesn't live here any more.
The man my mother really loved, he moved away.
Hey.
She knows how mad you are at her.
She knows how much the affair hurt you.
But it's not just that, is it?
She says you hurt even more than you know.
Really? More hurt than even I know? Wow.
That's a lot of hurt.
And you hurt because she was the only one
who could possibly understand you. She had your back.
It wasn't her fault, right?
The dying part, at least.
She wanted you to have peace.
She was like my map, you know.
She could always figure out where I was
or where I wanted to go just by talking to her.
Even when I felt like a freak,
she could look at me and I knew that
everything was gonna be okay, no matter what.
And I believed her.
I never got to say goodbye.
Can I talk to her?
She's here.
She can feel your love. It's giving her strength.
I miss you so much.
I feel so lost.
Who's gonna tell me that everything's gonna be okay now?
You will. That's what she wants.
You can keep her alive in everything that you write.
L"m so proud of him.
And she wants you to know that she's proud of you.
Tell him to be Kind to his father.
She's saying that your father's a good man.
He's just afraid of his heart.
And he needs to be taught how to love.
It's so hard.
I know.
But it's worth it.
ThanKs.
She's saying goodbye.
So soon?
It's time.
Goodbye, Mom.
Are you okay?
Yeah. You?
Yeah. Yeah, really okay.
No more headaches. I feel much better.
One more thing left to do.
I can't. I can't give it to him.
Mom, I did a pretty stupid thing. This is about Ellis.
Yeah. Did he mention it?
No.
I apologised to him,
and I'd like to apologise to you,
because I've been kind of a jerk when it comes to Ellis.
Kind of?
A total, complete, you don't even wanna know, kind of jerk.
I wouldn't have brought him if I thought he couldn't handle it.
Wait, wait. You knew that I was...
My instinct said just show up and let Ellis be Ellis and Jim be Jim,
and it'll all just sort itself out.
I think you might regret the "let Jim be Jim" part.
Do you know where my son is? I'm worried about him. He hadn't...
He's okay now.
This is for you.