[silence]
[wind blowing]
[twinkling chimes]
[light dramatic music]
- Identify departure, regional navigation craft
on altitude at your discretion.
[air traffic control chatter]
[engine rumbling]
- Hello?
[air traffic control chatter]
- This is Masset airport on 122, Tesla seven, go ahead.
[air traffic control chatter]
[static obscuring speaker]
[door creaking]
[zipper zipping]
[man sighing]
- Old habits, am I right?
Thanks.
[coughing]
- Made by a friend, burns a little when you piss
but hell of a fine drunk.
[items rustling]
Thanks, sweet pea.
- You a regular here?
- About that time.
- You going to Sportsman's Lodge too?
- Sure, kid, I'm flying you there.
[dramatic music]
So, you're the new watchman.
- No, I'm just filling in for couple of weeks.
Photographer, photojournalist.
- Fuck me, they must be desperate. [chuckling]
- Yeah, well, just trying to get some quick cash,
some good shots.
- First time to Haida Gwaii?
- Yeah.
- Man, islands at the end of the sky.
Ice age missed 'em, you know?
The legends are,
some of the strangest I ever fucking heard.
Oh and watch yourself, low salmon run this year.
Bears are hungry.
[plane engine humming]
[dramatic music]
Hey, hey, hey, Kohler, woo!
- Hey, ya old cocksucker!
[men laughing]
- Hey buddy!
- You gotta watch out for this guy.
Last time he had a couple of drinks he tried to fuck a deer.
- That didn't happen, Kohler, geeze.
You must be Jacob. - It's just Jake.
- Call me Sparky.
- Seriously?
- [laughing] Yeah.
There's some goodies in the back.
- Oh, great, okay.
- You boys stay out of each other's bunks.
[man laughs]
- That ain't funny, Kohler.
[men laughing]
[tense music] [engine humming]
These the only shoes you got?
- What?
- What, are you a size nine, nine and a half?
- Yeah, nine and a half.
- Let's see what we got.
[engine humming]
[tense music]
[rustling]
[knocking]
[dramatic music]
[birds calling]
- Haida Gwaii forms a dagger-shaped archipelago
of over 150 islands.
Located 90 miles from the west coast of British Columbia
and just over 60 miles to the Alaskan Panhandle.
Haida Gwaii's first settlements date back over 13,000 years.
It's considered by some scientists the Pacific route
taken by the first humans that migrated to the Americas.
During the Ice Age, glaciers receded from Haida Gwaii
2000 years earlier than the mainland.
Nicknamed the Galapagos of the North, the islands make up
a unique biocultural zone with many ancient plants
and animals found nowhere else in the world.
[crickets chirping]
[tense music]
[frightening chord]
[chuckling]
[dramatic music]
[knocking]
- Jake, time to get going!
- Fuck.
Shit.
[knocking]
Yeah, fuck, I'm up, I'm up.
[water splashing] [soft music]
[people speaking faintly]
- Hang on there Sparks, I've got him on the line right now.
Oh sure, get back to me on that count by tomorrow
if you can darling, over.
- Very good, thanks, Donna, over.
- Anything for you, honey buns.
[kissing] [Sparky laughing]
I don't want you going hungry down there.
Especially with the new kid joining you.
- Oh baby.
- Oh hey, you tried on those PJs I sent you?
You know they're not real silk but they sure--
- I got to get back to you tomorrow, over and out.
Hey.
Boots and everything fitting all right?
- All a perfect fit.
- Right, cool.
I got a lot of work to do, so.
- Welcome to Sportsman's Lodge in Quinna Sound.
Opened in 1911, originally it was called Sporter's Lodge
until she burnt to the ground, was rebuilt in 1955.
- What's with the dead trees?
- We got some heavy winds this time of year,
bit of a dust up but firewood is free.
You take a shower?
- Yeah, why?
- With soap?
- No, fucking gasoline.
- You take a shower, I recommend no soap,
nothing with perfume.
Bugs love it.
No one to impress up here anyway. [laughing]
Mostly what we do this time of year is repairs,
groundskeeping, winterizing, you know.
What's this for?
- I'm a photographer.
- Oh, well, you should get some real nice pictures up here.
What you do there, you cut yourself?
- Heat rash jerking off.
- [chuckling] Okay.
This here's the water tank.
We pump the water up from the well through
the chlorine system.
But when the temperature drops below zero
the pipes'll freeze.
One winter we went three weeks without running water.
And I'm not gonna let that happen again.
See? [machine running]
- Hey, hey, what's that shed used for?
- It had a leak, I had to emptiy it out.
- I've been looking for a place to maybe store
some darkroom equipment.
- There's nothing pretty about it, but you wanna fix it up,
you can use it.
- That'd be great.
- It's real nice to have you around.
I'm not in as good a shape as I used to be,
so having a little help this time of year is just real n
- No problem.
- This here's the hardware store.
Got a few projects on the go.
Obviously we do our own building and marine repairs here.
Now, have you ever done any repair work before, Jake?
- Took a lawnmower repair class in school.
- Ah, good work with that.
- Whatever you say, Zippy.
- Oh, good one, the name's Sparky.
This is a genny, it's water cooled and requires
a constant top up with diesel.
And these things sometimes get loose
so you gotta check 'em out.
Oh yeah, this one's loose right here.
You wanna give it a whirl?
Come on, give that a whirl, come on, there you go.
Now easy now, damn it, you're stripping it now!
Just take it easy there, okay.
Aw damn it!
[tense music]
[knocking]
[coughing]
Jake, hey.
You caught me having a little puff here.
My homegrown, it helps with the hips.
- Sure it does.
- What do you have there?
- A little tobacco and hash.
Thanks. - Yeah.
- Been out here for a while, huh?
- 12 seasons.
Been guiding and doing winters.
Four straight, year around.
- No shit.
You ever miss the real world then?
- Real world?
Come on, Jake, I have everything I need up here.
- It must get lonely, doesn't it?
- Sometimes.
Had this cat that hung around.
But I ain't seen him lately.
- In that case, how often do you and Donna see each other?
You two are-- - Donna?
No, no, no, Donna, she's up in the headquarters
up in Alaska.
How about yourself, Jake?
You have a special girl back home?
- Seriously, sounds like
she was wet for you though, Sprinkles.
- Hold on now, Jake, Donna's your superior and no.
I'm telling you, never even met face to face.
- So you're telling me you never busted through
those cobwebs, that's what you're telling me?
- Come on, Jake.
You're getting a bit disrespectful here.
- I'm just saying, think about it.
[owl hooting]
[tense music]
[grunting] [crushing]
[deep rumbling]
[tense music]
Sparky!
- Oh hey, Jake.
- What the fuck, man?
- Oh sorry, man, the damn martens are chewing
up my lawn again.
Think I got 'em though.
- Congratulations.
[eerie humming]
- Hey, hey.
[soft music]
- The islands' inhabitants developed a culture made rich
by the abundance of land and sea.
[gulls crying]
Noted seafarers, they occupied more than 100 villages
throughout the islands.
They were skilled traders.
The islands played an important role during the maritime
fur trade era of the late 18 to early 19th centuries.
Haida Gwaii is home to an abundance of wildlife.
There are nearly 7000 rare species.
Most notable is the Queen Charlotte black bear.
A native subspecies known for its exceptionally large
jaws and teeth.
[bird cawing]
[animal croaking]
[soft music]
[long sigh]
[rustling]
[wind blowing]
[rustling]
[elk warbling]
Fuck!
[heavy breathing] [dramatic music]
[bear growling] [Jake yelping]
[Jake panting]
[deep sigh]
[rustling] [eerie music]
Well, think I know what happened to your cat.
- Little White Lightning?
[coughing]
- More, more. [Sparky laughing]
Should have read your fucking horoscope today, kid.
[tense music]
[fire crackling]
[birds cawing] [water pouring]
[metal rattling]
[spitting]
- Fuck's sake.
- You ever fire one of these before?
- No.
- Wanna learn?
- Okay.
[soft music]
- Water level's higher than normal,
hike up your socks, Jake!
Hey, watch those ones, they're real slippery.
Come on, Jake!
[laughing]
- Yeah, laugh it up.
My foot's fucking freezing.
- It's all part of the adventure, buddy.
[bird calling]
Another watchman and I set this up a few years back.
It's a great place to let off some steam
and learn to protect yourself.
Rule one, always the treat the gun as if it were loaded.
- All right.
- Whoa! [laughing]
Rule two, be careful where
you point the damn thing, all right?
Rule three, keep your finger off the trigger, all right?
Aim down the sights, square your feet up a bit.
There you go, now you aim, and then you squeeze.
[clicking] Just like that.
- I think I got it. - Okay.
There you go.
Okay, square your feet, aim your front foot
towards the target.
[shot firing]
- Fuck!
You could have warned me about that.
- You all right?
There you go, okay, same thing.
This time old the butt right against your shoulder
like that, nice and tight so you don't get a kick
like that again, okay?
All right, it's all you, this time.
[shot firing]
- Yeah, you see that?
- Oh my god, buddy. - Whoo!
- You've earned that, holy shit.
[animals chirping]
- Kohelr said something about these islands.
Said strange things happen here,
you know what he was talking about?
- I've never been a superstitious guy personally.
Never seen anything to give those old stories any credence.
- What do you mean?
What if you saw something you couldn't explain?
[tense music]
- Think I'd keep that to myself.
[shot firing] [Sparky yelling]
- Jesus, Sparky, what the fuck?
[Sparky laughing]
- Got him!
One more down. [growling]
[dramatic music]
[Jake sighing]
[liquid pouring]
- Sparky. - Hey.
- Going to head out, get some shots, thinking
maybe I could borrow the rifle?
- Tide's changing, I'm dropping a couple rods.
- I actually wouldn't mind coming on the boat
with you sometime, getting some shots on the water.
- Sure.
Another time?
- The rifle then.
- Not sure that's a good idea, Jake.
[door creaking]
[motor humming]
[dramatic music]
- The islands are home to large forests with a wide
variety of ancient trees, including the spruce,
western red cedar, yellow cedar, shore pine,
western hemlock, mountain hemlock, and red alder.
And then there's the rare and magnificent golden spruce.
A naturally occurring genetic mutation causes the needles
of some Haida Gwaii spruces to have a golden hue.
Lacking pigment to protect its leaves from excess sunlight
the golden spruces should have withered and died
but instead they have flourished.
[rustling]
[glass shattering]
[people chattering]
[rustling]
[child grunting]
Anna.
Anna!
Anna, wait, Anna, wait please!
Please don't leave me.
[screeching] [dramatic music]
[Jake grunting]
Fuck!
[elk squealing]
[bird cawing]
[rustling]
[shouting]
Ah!
- Day off.
Come on, we're going fishing.
[reel creaking]
You know why fish make lousy hockey players?
- What?
- Because they're afraid of the net. [chuckling]
- You're a funny guy, Sparky.
- Thought you were just going for a walk.
- Yeah, I passed out.
- Well how the hell far did you get?
Because I looked all over for you.
What's wrong with you there, you got a rash?
- Just allergies.
- You know it's just you and me out here, no one else.
So the next time you go for a walk--
- Why don't you just mind your fucking business, friend?
- Hey, hold it there, Jake.
I need your friendship like I need a kick in the teeth.
Do your damn job.
And I know you been sneaking supplies from my shed.
I see everything around here-- - I'm sick of your shit!
[plane engine roaring]
- Hey, you cocksuckers. [chuckling]
Sorry to interrupt you there, nice glassy day.
- How you doing, Kohler?
- Oh, me?
I need a drink.
Holy hell, Sparky.
You been working the piss out of him or what?
- He had a rough day.
- No shit.
[man panting]
And got another one. - Thank you sir.
[Kohler laughing]
[mellow music] [liquid pouring]
[rustling drowning out singing]
- They tell you boys about the storm?
- Another blower?
- Not another pussyfart.
- They're calling for category three.
- God damn, how long?
- Day after next, southwesterly.
It's gonna be one dirty whore.
- It's in the air.
Only one thing to do.
Get liquored.
[glasses clinking]
- How many you need?
- [sighing] Two. - Two.
- One? - Yeah.
- Shit.
[birds chirping]
You sure you're okay to fly, Kohler?
[dramatic music]
Fuck, fuck, fuck!
[liquid trickling]
[rustling]
Fuck!
Come on, baby.
[blowing hard]
[panting]
[distorted speech]
[shouting]
[thunder crashing]
[static crackling]
- I'm on with him right now. I can't tell if he can read me or not.
Sparks, are you reading me?
Sparks, do you read me?
- Can you read me, over?
- [static crackling], over.
- Say again Donna, over.
- We've been tracking it. The forecast... [static crackling]
- Can you please say that, come again Donna, over.
- The forecast is saying that it is headed
straight for you, hurricane confirmed, category three.
We've been tracking it every hour and it's only
getting nastier, over.
- Copy that, Donna.
Don't worry about me, we'll talk to you
in the morning, darling.
- I'd better get a status report in 24 hours.
Or I'm going to worry, over and out.
[items clattering]
- The fuck is this?
- I'm sorry about this, Jake.
- What's your fucking problem, huh?
- Did you forget already?
I must have hit you harder than I thought, huh?
- Sparky, listen to me, I don't know what you think
you saw but you gotta let me go.
- You came at me with a goddamn knife, think I saw!
- Jesus Christ.
- You think I did this to myself, huh?
I am really trying to give you the benefit
of the doubt here Jake.
- Can't believe you tied me up.
- Like I said, I feel real bad about it.
- Do you? - Yeah.
It was for your own good.
You're outta control, bud.
I mean, you insult me, you damage company property,
you steal load supplies and you lost the rifle.
I don't know what you're smoking or snorting
but you are not gonna jeopardize my home here.
You wanna hurt somebody or yourself?
Not on my watch, not at my lodge!
Now, again, I'm real sorry to say it.
Because of right now, you are suspended.
Your place here in the future is questionable at best.
Understand, huh?
Now.
Nothing's flying in or out 'til after the storm.
Kohler was right, calling for a category three.
Now I have to batten down the hatches.
Unfortunately, I could use your help.
I just wanna know that I can trust you.
What does that mean? - It means yes.
- Yes what?
- That you can trust me.
I'll admit, maybe I was a little bit out of it before
but I'm okay now.
I promise you, Sparky, you can trust me.
- Jesus Christ, man. Just get me the fuck out of here.
I just need a cigarette.
- I'm gonna untie your hands.
The rest you can do yourself.
- Sure.
- Easy.
[sighing]
[engine humming]
Wanna top it up?
Goes right down there.
[soft music box music]
- You got a bunker?
- This place is full of surprises.
[tense music]
Spent many a night down here.
[gulls cawing]
That's good.
- Okay, got it.
- That should do it.
- You want me to take over?
- No, I got this.
- Whatever you say, boss.
- Marine forecast, hurricane.
Force wind warning in effect through Tuesday afternoon.
West winds 35 to 45 knots, gusts up to 60 knots.
After midnight, rain. [thunder rumbling]
- It's accelerating quickly.
Landfall less than an hour.
We should get underground.
- Just need to grab something from my room quickly.
- Yeah, sure.
Don't make me come get you. [thunder rumbling]
[tense music]
- Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!
[glass shattering]
[panting]
[rain pattering]
No!
You can fix this.
[clattering]
[creaking]
[shouting] [thunder crashing]
- What'd you do to yourself now, Jake?
- Nothing.
- Those are supposed to be the emergency supplies.
- Well, they're being put to good use then, aren't they?
- You either have very bad luck
or you're the stupidest goddamn idiot I've ever met.
- I need your opinion
like I need another needle in the cock.
So you never leave here, huh?
Never wash your fucking clothes?
Never shower, it's the same pair of underwear
for the last four fucking years?
- Better hygiene than someone else at this table.
- Ah, well, nobody to impress up here, right?
Is that what you told me?
Anyway, you'll have to get some aftershave at least
when you finally hook up with Donna.
- Christ, don't start in on Donna again.
- She's a saint.
- Sure she is.
- You still wanna play?
- Hm?
- Thank for your help today.
You were really helpful and I appreciate it.
[liquid trickling] Oh.
Wanna tell me what's on your mind?
I've heard it all and then some.
Why don't you start with here you found that knife?
- I wish I could.
- You know, living up here puts things in perspective.
Some people come up here and the islands
find the best of them.
And some, they find the worst.
Before I came here,
I worked on big fishing trawlers.
We were on this run in the Bering Strait.
I was asleep in my bunk, skeleton crew.
We were working double shifts and this
young deckhand took over watch.
He was barely into puberty.
A rouge wave hit us without warning, a monster.
All the glass on the bridge broke and the pressure
from the water threw this kid down onto the cabin deck.
Broke his back and one of his legs.
I carried him out.
[sighing]
We drifted for 15 hours
before I realized he'd stopped breathing.
Back home I couldn't shake it.
People always had something to say or they'd
just stare at you.
I needed to get away.
This place is quiet, peaceful.
I haven't driven a car in years.
I can't remember the last time I was stuck in traffic
or carried a wallet around, heard a phone ring.
And I do not miss any of that shit.
[liquid trickling]
[sighing]
Devil always gets his due.
[soft music]
He may not have got me on that boat, but when he does,
I'm gonna be right here on Haida Gwaii.
[rustling]
What you got here?
Nudie pictures, huh?
What are these supposed to be, Jake?
- You know I had to get away too.
Got nothing to go back to.
Is that what you wanted to hear, Sparky?
That everyone I love is either dead or fucked off
a long time ago?
That everything I own I brought with me here
on that plane?
I think about ending it every fucking goddamn day like it's
a fucking hobby.
But I tell myself to keep going for the work,
but guess what?
No one gives a shit about my work, it's firestarter.
And now this.
This is fucking different.
I need you to listen to me, Sparky.
I could have kept this to myself but I am being
straight with you here, straight as a goddamn arrow, okay?
Shit man, it's like living in a fucking nightmare.
- What are you saying, Jake?
- I'm saying I don't know how, Sparky, but I know
you are gonna die.
[eerie humming] [thunder crashing]
What are you talking about--
- Listen, you leave here, you're a fucking dead man--
[thunder crashing]
- And what if I stay?
Sparky, don't do this!
Listen to me, Sparky--
- Stay the fuck away from me!
- Sparky, wait.
- No more Jake, I'm done with your shit.
- Listen to me, Sparky!
Please, okay, you're gonna die if you go out there.
Sparky!
[dramatic music]
Sparky, Sparky!
Sparky!
Sparky, wait!
[tree cracking] [Sparky grunting]
Sparky!
[bear growling]
- Hey over here, over here!
[Sparky grunting] [bear growling]
[grunting]
[thunder crashing]
[soft music]
[horn honking]
[car crashing] [bear growling]
Come on, I'm right fucking here, come on!
[bear roaring]
[soft music]
[pained groaning]
- Jake?
Jake?
[soft music]
[wood creaking]
[soft panting]
[static crackling]
[panting]
[breath hitching]
[soft music plays]