♪ (DREAMY MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
So...
I'm sure you've all been programmed
to expect something radical.
But what I have here for you today...
it really isn't new at all.
♪ (DREAMY MUSIC CONTINUES) ♪
♪ (DREAMY MUSIC FADES) ♪
We know you have a decades-long plan
to become entrenched in Western markets,
sports franchises, entertainment venues.
But a bank...
is a more unique proposition
in terms of its reach and influence
over foreign institutions.
Finance isn't a space you can just break into.
You'll be buying both our U.S.
and our European banking licenses.
Plug and play.
MIKEY LEIBOWITZ: (OVER SPEAKER) Uh, excuse me,
it's Mikey Leibowitz from Vanguard.
As one of your biggest investors,
we'd like to know
why Pierpoint is showing so much leg here.
Uh, sorry, Mikey. (CHUCKLES NERVOUSLY)
Care to explain what you actually mean there?
I think he means that Al-Mi'raj Holdings
is just private equity makeup
masking the true face of a sovereign wealth fund.
As long as we're all aware...
this is state-backed financing.
(SPEAKS ARABIC)
♪ (TENSE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
LILY HAVERS: (IN ENGLISH) "We would like to know why you think your imperialism
is better than ours."
(INHALES, CHUCKLES)
♪ (TENSE MUSIC CONTINUES) ♪
(CAR DOOR CLOSES)
(BIRDS CALLING IN DISTANCE)
(FISHING REEL CLICKS)
Et tu, Brute?
(WATER SPLASHING)
OTTO MOSTYN: Harper...
people who fuck around with my investments...
find themselves cut off from society.
Invasions of privacy. Bureaucratic entanglements.
Do sit down.
I have ways and means of making people's lives hell.
So what? You're...
threatening me out loud now? (SCOFFS)
- If I told you... - (ZIPPER CLOSING)
...sovereign wealth money had come into Pierpoint,
would you use that information to take profit on your short?
The whole game is information.
I was born
as a node in an average network.
I worked hard to become a key node
in an excellent one.
Betting on sure things is the aim.
Petra doesn't see it that way.
(SNICKERS)
- I'm very aware of that. - (ZIPPER OPENING)
OTTO: And it's probably more shameful to trust our friends,
than to be deceived by them.
She's a tattletale.
And she's why I called you here.
(OTTO SIGHS)
I want a spiritual successor to my operations.
Peter's too old.
And even he's lost the cloacal breath
and bought a grouse moor.
I want someone who believes in trading like I trade.
Who understands that nothing comes from nothing.
I'd be an interesting figurehead.
The optics are good.
You'd make my fund look terribly modern.
But I also want someone who understands
and wears the attendant downside risks
that I've worn for years now.
Look, when you're as good as us, you don't get caught.
But one day, there may well be a rather loud knock on the door
that requires a fucking expensive lawyer.
Fuck me.
This all sounds rather Faustian, doesn't it?
Forgive me. I'm not Beelzebub.
I'm something... far more dangerous.
(KNIFE SLASHING)
A primate...
aware of his own mortality.
♪ (TENSE MUSIC FADES) ♪
(CHILDREN CLAMOR)
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
- (CAR DOOR SLAMS SHUT) - (CHILDREN SCREAMING)
(CELL PHONE BUZZES)
Hello.
ROSE WINTER: (OVER PHONE) What the hell is this email?
I think you know what it is.
How dare you try to intimidate me?
YASMIN KARA-HANANI: And what the fuck
were you trying to do to me the last time that we met?
This is what's gonna happen, okay, you stupid fucking bitch?
You're gonna pay the restitution to the embezzlement claimants,
and you're going to leave me the fuck alone.
(CHUCKLING) Do you have any idea--
I know you like to think of yourself
as some bootleg Anna Wintour,
but the board are not gonna think twice
about kicking you to the curb.
I mean, thi-- this is the systemic cover-up
by a female-led institution
of a man's consistent pattern of abuse.
I mean, I don't know about you,
but I think that's a sensational story,
and I know exactly where to take it.
ROSE: All right, uh, where?
Wh-- Who... Who will listen to you?
What network do you have?
Rose, I think you forget who my family are.
ROSE: What family?
This is the courtesy of a final warning.
ROSE: You know what?
You sound exactly like your father.
I sound nothing like him.
He was weak.
(CELL PHONE CLATTERS)
(CHILD WAILS)
(REPEATING THUDS)
CHILD: Come on!
♪ (CONTEMPLATIVE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
- (INDISTINCT CHATTER) - (SCANNER BEEPING)
(YASMIN SNIFFLES)
Henry.
Hi, um, been a while.
TOM WOLSEY: We're still over a barrel.
If we look like we're trading to zero at U.S. open,
they'll buy us for a single U.S. dollar
and we'll be grateful.
- We need share price stability. - How do we ensure that?
I'm flying to New York so that when they wake up,
I can speak to our big investors.
Vanguard sounded edgy.
I'll speak to BlackRock and Berkshire Hathaway
to make sure the Al-Mi'raj offer flies through uncontested.
And crucially, also to our employees.
We need to present today as just another trading day.
Can one of you address London while I'm in the air?
I'll dial in.
Wilhelmina, it may help coming from someone senior.
If we're looking to maintain the status quo...
Eric is the voice of the status quo.
I can-- I can do it. I'll-- I'll speak to London.
Can't imagine how many billions of words you've said in sales.
(WILHELMINA FASSBINDER CHUCKLES)
Time for some choice ones.
(DOOR CHIME DINGS)
Uh...
- Rob, it's like 9:00 a.m. - (CAR DOOR CLOSES)
(PANTING) So?
It's never too early for these. (CHUCKLES)
- (CHUCKLES DRYLY) - (GROANS)
Who were you on the phone to?
Uh, I was talking to Henry. (SNIFFS)
- ROBERT SPEARING: Oh, yeah? - Hmm.
What did he want?
I called him.
Um, I kind of thought
that his dumb "smart" money might be a good place for you
to start seed funding conversations.
(ROBERT LAUGHS)
- ♪ (DREAMY MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ - It's funny 'cause, um...
I'd actually been thinking the exact same thing.
But I... I thought you might be uncomfortable.
Oh, God, fuck that.
- Take the money and run, babe. - (BOTH LAUGH)
Yeah, no, he wants us to swing by for a face-to-face.
Uh, he's at his uncle's. It's kind of on the way home.
What, now? You're not tired?
You know, I got this sort of jolt of vicarious energy
at the thought of you just rinsing
- the bitch's coffers. - (BOTH LAUGH)
YASMIN: So, um...
- (SEAT BELT CLICKS) - ...would Little Labs
mean a move to New York?
ROBERT: (INHALES) California.
Shame.
I'd murder for a little res at the Polo Bar.
Glass of Ruinart, dozen oysters. God, heaven!
(BOTH CHUCKLE)
So...
where are we headed then, boss?
Deepest, darkest Somerset.
(IN SOMERSET ACCENT) Oh, marvelous. (LAUGHS)
- So did you win? - What?
Your little lottery thing, did you win?
Of course not. (CHUCKLES)
- (AGITATED CHATTER) - ♪ (DREAMY MUSIC CONTINUES) ♪
Hi.
♪ (DREAMY MUSIC FADES) ♪
So, I know some of you haven't been home.
Guys?
Yeah, lot of uncertainty.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
ERIC TAO: (OVER SPEAKERS) Guys, can I...
(CHATTER FADES)
ERIC: Can-- Can I have your attention?
Okay. (SMACKS LIPS)
How we carry ourselves through turbulence
is how we define ourselves.
Let me take you back to 2008.
- (EMPLOYEES MURMURING) - ERIC: I know.
The eye of the Lehman storm.
Hours from insolvency. Do you know what we did?
We came to work.
- (EMPLOYEE SCOFFS) - We answered the phones.
We printed tickets. We carried the day!
It is imperative you go to your desk
and let clients know,
this morning, the sun still rose on Pierpoint.
'08 was totally different. We had capital reserves
and good management.
(EMPLOYEES APPLAUD)
Apparently, you're sending us down the river
to the fucking Gulf of all places.
EMPLOYEE 1: The Gulf? They'll fire us all!
EMPLOYEE 2: Are you serious?
It would be unwise to confirm or deny speculation...
- (EMPLOYEES JEERING) - EMPLOYEE 3: Fucking hell!
ERIC: ...given-- given the--
the sensitivity of our share price.
(OVERLAPPING ANGRY CHATTER)
You know...
I've stood in this room many times.
(CHATTER FADES)
I've-- I've watched a lot of you grow up.
I think, if I could see myself as a grad now...
- ♪ (TENSE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ - Me, immigrant son,
bespectacled, so scared, scared of my own shadow,
swallowing down the promises of capitalism and meritocracy.
Do I look like a man who was lied to?
- (EMPLOYEES LAUGH) - EMPLOYEE 4: Today?
EMPLOYEE 5: Your nose is growing Pinocchio.
(AGITATED CHATTER)
Our prospective partners
believe in the principles
that I heard on my very first day here.
I cleaved them to my heart...
like you have.
Pierpoint people.
This is what we're selling.
How well you've come to embody what you've been taught.
You are all safe.
- That's something. - (EMPLOYEES SCOFFING)
You are all safe because you are the asset.
EMPLOYEE 6: Are we safe though?
ERIC: Growth and change are inevitable
but this process must be anchored in shared values.
Pierpoint's history is a history of change.
- First movers, quick winners. - ♪ (MUSIC TURNS UPLIFTING) ♪
Whatever alleged deal you've heard about,
represents two axes using economic trust
to put themselves in the box seat
of a new world order.
They want us and respect us for our history.
We choose to respect them
for their vision of a shared future.
This is how we survive.
Remember, everything good comes from two partners
willingly coming to the table.
Orderly financial exchange is the basis of harmony.
Money tames the beast.
Money is peace.
Money... Money is civilization.
The end of the story...
is money.
Our partners believe this.
They believe in us.
We take their hand
and build a bridge with our belief.
Your desk...
is your house!
That's right.
So, go home! Go to work!
(LONE APPLAUSE)
Thank you.
(EMPLOYEES APPLAUDING)
- WILHELMINA: Wow. - ♪ (UPLIFTING MUSIC FADES) ♪
What was all that shit about money is peace?
- (INDISTINCT CHATTER) - (ERIC CHUCKLES)
I cribbed it from a short story about an advertising executive
called The Largesse of the Sea Maiden.
- Hmm. - Thought I'd hit all the targets.
Immigrant mentality, American promise,
"this place made me," blah, blah, blah.
ESG bullshit.
(CHUCKLES)
- (ERIC CHUCKLES) - (CELL PHONE DINGS, BUZZES)
- Well, good work. - Thanks.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
SWEETPEA GOLIGHTLY: Very good speech,
in the sense that they've falsely convinced people
that they've fully considered something.
Can never really buy a word
that comes out of that cunt's mouth.
Sweetpea, a couple of messages on Pierpoint internal messenger
saying we're getting bought by something called Al-Mi'raj?
RISHI RAMDANI: Those rumors are getting louder
than skeletons fucking on a tin roof.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER OVER PA)
(CELL PHONE DINGS)
♪ (SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
(CELL PHONE CLATTERS)
- (PA SYSTEM BELL CHIMES) - (RISHI CLEARS THROAT)
Paging that old Italian geezer.
Just to let you know,
we've reached the ninth circle of your cunting inferno,
having Arabs bid for your services.
Now I finally know what IG baddies feel like.
(MIC FEEDBACK SQUEALS)
Oh! (CHUCKLES)
I hope you all enjoy feeling your flesh sear
in the hell you've created for yourselves.
Good fucking morning.
EMPLOYEE: Your jokes are lead, mate. Fuck off!
(EMPLOYEES MURMURING)
(SCOFFS)
♪ (MUSIC TURNS UPLIFTING) ♪
(EXHALES, WHISPERS) What the fuck am I doing?
- ♪ (UPLIFTING MUSIC FADES) ♪ - (DOOR OPENS)
- Am I here to mediate something? - (DOOR CLOSES)
OTTO: I feel like Howard Smith.
You're Buckley and you're Vidal.
- (PETRA KOENIG SIGHS) - No. Both Buckleys.
Probably. Hopefully.
(PETRA CHUCKLES DRYLY)
We want this to be amicable.
You've made a handsome ROI on your initial seed investment.
We've outperformed the market by eight percent.
You will have that capital back, plus your eight percent.
In return, we will be fully untethered
from your fund and oversight.
This all sounds rather final, doesn't it?
Where are we on the Pierpoint short?
We took profit.
♪ (SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
Why? When did you take profit?
PETRA: Less fees to Goldman.
It wasn't our most... lucrative trade.
At one point in the middle of the night,
you were making 300 million dollars
on that trade.
Hundreds of millions of dollars. Poof! Gone.
Like snowflakes on a carburetor.
Harper, is this acceptable to you?
We had a sure thing here, didn't we?
It is, amicably.
OTTO: You do know what you could have paid yourselves,
had you landed the plane on this trade?
We do.
We'd like to amicably remind you
that you have made money being in business with us
in the final reckoning,
and we appreciate your initial seed investment.
"Hide not thy poison with such sugar'd words."
Well, in this case,
in good conscience... (CLICKS TONGUE)
...I can't be in business with people who seem comforted
by the casual slide toward mediocrity
that is the hallmark of modern life.
Really thought I'd found a spark.
As ever, I wish you the best.
(DOOR OPENS)
- (GROANS) - ♪ (SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC FADES) ♪
PETRA: All these classically-educated guys
hide their thuggishness
behind their verbosity and tailoring.
(INHALES DEEPLY) Look, I'm sorry I went behind your back.
I had a full-blown fucking wobble.
I felt the floor go beneath me, with the legality
of how you got us into the Pierpoint short.
Okay? I panicked.
HARPER STERN: I forgive you.
I'm not gonna punish you for reacting that way.
- Thanks for owning it. - ♪ (INTRIGUING MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
Thank you for... being honest with me.
Didn't use any inside information
on our take-profit level, so I hope you'll forgive me too.
- (CHUCKLES) - (PETRA LAUGHS)
Fucking hell. (CLEARS THROAT, SNIFFS)
HARPER: No unilateral decisions.
I meant that.
Um, I've been making decisions on my own
for, like, a long time,
so I think I'm ready for something new.
No unilateral decisions.
(SMACKS LIPS) Who knows? (CHUCKLES)
Maybe reciprocity really is the key to a happier life.
- (HARPER LAUGHS) - (INHALES SHARPLY)
Yeah.
♪ (INTRIGUING MUSIC CONTINUES) ♪
Fucking hell.
(BOTH CHUCKLE)
Bit much.
(YASMIN EXHALES)
(CAR DOORS CLOSE)
- HENRY MUCK: You found us. - ROBERT: Hey, you all right?
- (HENRY GRUNTS) - It's a nice gaff.
HENRY: Mm.
- Hello. - HENRY: Hi.
(CHUCKLES)
HENRY: Come in.
(BIRDS CHIRPING)
HENRY: Al-Mi'raj Holding Companies
- just bought Pierpoint. - (TEA POURING)
- HENRY: It's all over the wires. - ♪ (INTRIGUING MUSIC FADES) ♪
HENRY: I was given a bit of Pierpoint stock
as a sweetener when they landed the Lumi IPO.
(TEA POURING)
HENRY: Might make a bit of prosciutto money
if it continues to rally.
(TEA POURING)
ROBERT: I haven't told them yet, but I won't be going back.
Prosciutto money?
Yeah, you know, uh, money for cold cuts.
Odds and ends.
A couple of million dollars. Uh, prosciutto money.
You, uh... you already know
how big a fan I am of Pierre and Little Labs.
I guess I just...
never really saw a scalable thing there
due to legality.
ROBERT: People are thinking too short term.
Well...
word of advice,
if they make you CFO... (EXHALES)
...don't IPO too early.
Currently, I'm actually financing a speaker circuit
for public business failures.
An arena where business leaders can be vulnerable
and learn from each other's mistakes.
What, for a thousand bucks a head?
No.
No, clearly, Henry's transcended all material possessions, right?
Oh, sorry. (CLEARS THROAT) Sorry.
- Can you not hear me over there? - (CHUCKLES)
Speak to Rob.
He knows how powerful a re-centering can be.
And I've been speaking to the prime minister
about contesting a marginal seat at the next election.
I want to dedicate my life to public service.
You keep bending my ear for a few more hours,
I may have no choice but to back your venture.
Something about you, Robert...
makes me either want to kill you or love you.
Not quite sure which yet.
(SLURPS, GULPS) You guys staying?
ROBERT: Uh, it's-- (HESITATES)
We don't want to impose.
You came all this way. Stay the night for God's sake.
I mean, do you have the space? I don't...
I've already had rooms made ready.
Haven't we, Stevens?
Yes, sir.
We can stay.
I'm actually glad you said that, to be fair.
I'm knackered. I can't be arsed driving anymore.
(BOTH CHUCKLE)
Yeah, we'll stay.
Separate rooms, right?
Joking.
It's my uncle's 60th tomorrow.
Um, supper...
(INHALES DEEPLY) ...then shooting on Sunday.
He'd be delighted to have you as guests.
I wouldn't have anything to wear.
HENRY: Nonsense, I know your size.
A friend of mine at Net-a-Porter owes me a few favors,
so, uh, we can, um, send someone to London
- to pick something up. - PETER STEVENS: Absolutely, sir.
Mm, I think we'll head back in the morning.
But thank you.
- (CLOCK TICKING) - (YASMIN INHALES)
(EXHALES)
(KNOCKING ON DOOR)
HENRY: Yas, hi.
Uh...
I'm so glad you came.
I wanted to call you, so when you called me,
it felt, um...
I don't know. (SIGHS)
I wanted to say sorry...
for, um...
I've treated a lot of people as chattel,
whose, uh, value and utility
I've seen only in relation to myself.
Honestly, I'm slightly jaded by people apologizing
for their behavior. (HESITATES)
Nobody's perfect, right?
But honestly, Henry,
I'm just not sure I buy this whole re-brand.
(ICE BUCKET CLINKING)
Thank you, sir.
HENRY: Ruinart and Twiglets.
No, it's good to see you, Yas.
(BIRDS CHIRPING, CALLING)
(TRAFFIC RUMBLING)
I'm glad you had the sense to hire me.
HARPER: Hmm.
I always felt like we had a bond.
You know?
The type of people who aren't for everyone.
But are definitely for someone, right?
Tell me, for my own... sanity...
when exactly did you and Eric decide to fuck me?
(CHUCKLES NERVOUSLY)
That's, uh-- That's water under the bridge.
Exactly!
Water under the bridge. So, indulge me.
(CLICKS TONGUE)
Uh, reception...
- At my wedding. - Hmm. Your wedding.
Thanks for that, by the way. Sorry I didn't send a card.
(RISHI CHUCKLES)
Eric sidles over, and he just says...
"She's gotta go."
Actually, I think he said, "That psychopath's gotta go."
(CHUCKLES) He was pretty loaded, so...
Hmm. Do you think I'm a psychopath?
(LAUGHS)
I...
I don't know.
Does it matter? They walk among us.
I guess emotional detachment probably makes a good trader.
- RISHI: I agree. - Yeah.
Opportunism.
Predatory instinct.
- Do you consider yourself a predator, Rish? - (DOOR OPENS)
Sweetpea is gonna be working with us.
- ♪ (TENSE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ - (SWEETPEA CLEARS THROAT)
What is this, fucking Blind Date?
What are you-- (CHUCKLES)
What are you doing? Are you... Are you, like,
trying to humiliate me or something?
I wanted to give Sweetpea the pleasure
of watching someone treat you with as little respect
as you treat them.
She's fucking brass!
She hawks her beef curtains on the net!
I'm well aware of Sweetpea's extracurriculars.
What, and you think that's acceptable for a hire,
do you?
I love a woman who doesn't leave money on the table.
(INHALES DEEPLY) Rish, let's be straight.
You are not without charm, but you are a punter.
A... chancer.
A dinosaur.
There's no room for you in the modern market.
A machine could do your job.
SWEETPEA: And they already do.
Time's up.
(CHUCKLES) Uh...
All right.
All right, uh, you know, I've... I've-- I've--
I've made mistakes, okay? I... I can admit that.
Look, I-- I... I don't wanna-- I don't wanna swan in here
and tell you how to do your job. That-- That's not my job, okay?
I'm... I'm-- I'm an execution guy.
You'll always need an execution guy.
We have an execution guy.
Who?
- ♪ (TENSE MUSIC BUILDS) ♪ - (BREATHES HEAVILY)
Please, you have no... no idea what you're doing to me here.
Look, respectfully, um...
you make it very hard to give a fuck.
- Okay, please listen. - SWEETPEA: Yeah.
Listen, you... No, you-- You don't understand, okay?
I-- I... I need liquidity.
(BREATHES HEAVILY) Plea--
(BREATHES DEEPLY)
(DOOR RATTLES)
Can--
(BUTTON CLICKS)
(WHISPERS) For fuck's sake.
(BIRDS CHIRPING)
♪ (TENSE MUSIC FADES) ♪
(CLOCK TICKING)
(DOOR OPENS)
You're up early.
Henry told me
we'd have the pleasure of your company.
It's quite a difficult house to sleep in.
I agree. I still don't feel wholly comfortable in it.
It was here before me, it'll be here after me.
Please.
- (SLURPS) - (TEACUP CLINKS)
(GROANS, EXHALES)
Your paper keeps buying my pictures.
My news editor.
Stop hiding behind your editors.
What, you think it's a distancing device
I use to... to comfort myself when terrorizing people?
When are you going to print the Alondra stuff?
Um...
you can't sit on it much longer.
ALEXANDER NORTON: She won't be easily appeased.
We paid for the exclusive, but... that'll lapse.
The woman has nothing and a child.
What would you have me do?
I wanna take care of her.
(INHALES DEEPLY)
I used to hate this house...
in my bones.
I had three older sisters my father never cared for.
He was obsessed with the execution of the estate
and what he bequeathed, and to whom.
Then I was finally born. A boy. Hurrah.
Doted on by women. Rather fey.
He hated me too.
He bred a particular strain of misandry in me,
which has led me to... (INHALES DEEPLY)
...maybe a rather regressive view.
A feminine touch built into a family...
saves it from itself.
Perhaps it's even misogynistic to say it,
but I've found the capacity for self-destruction
to be a more male trait.
I think people tend towards it anyway.
(CHUCKLES)
It's, um-- It's not gendered. (LAUGHS)
And I... (SIGHS)
I don't think that the key to Henry's salvation
is in... some random girl. (SCOFFS)
Your unwarranted public shunning for your privilege
shouldn't blinker you from your own exceptionality.
You're not a random girl.
May I speak candidly for a moment?
Yeah. Of course.
I always knew your father was a predator.
There were a number of disciplinary hearings
at Oxford, which he only wriggled out of
because of the quality of the lawyers he could hire.
You know that has nothing to do with you.
Yasmin, look at me.
That has nothing to do with you.
Do you understand?
It really has nothing to do with you at all.
(CLOCK CHIMING)
(NORTON KISSES)
(YASMIN EXHALES)
I'm sorry. I, um...
I haven't wished you a happy birthday.
- NORTON: You just did. - (YASMIN CHUCKLES)
I am fiercely protective of my family.
♪ ("BLURRED" BY DARKSTAR PLAYING) ♪
And I always use my...
not-insubstantial power to protect them.
But then again...
life's about the family you choose.
(CHUCKLES SOFTLY)
♪ (SONG CONTINUES) ♪
- (KNOCKING ON DOOR) - (DOOR OPENS)
Hi.
YASMIN: Should we, um...
go somewhere for a while? (CHUCKLES)
Yeah.
Okay. (CHUCKLES)
(DOOR CLOSES)
♪ ("WHEN WE WERE THAT WHAT WEPT FOR THE SEA" BY COLIN STETSON PLAYING) ♪
♪ (SONG CONTINUES) ♪
(LAUGHS)
- (SQUEALS) Stop it! - (LAUGHS)
(BOTH LAUGH)
- (ROBERT LAUGHS) - (GASPS)
(YASMIN GIGGLES)
(BOTH BREATHE HEAVILY)
- (YASMIN MOANS, PANTS) - (ROBERT PANTS)
(MOANS)
Where do you want me to come?
(WHISPERS) Come inside me.
- ROBERT: Are you sure? - Yeah, come inside me.
(MOANS) I love you. I love you.
(BOTH MOAN CLIMACTICALLY)
(BOTH BREATHE HEAVILY)
(WHISPERS) I love you.
I love you.
I love you too.
(YASMIN PANTS)
(BOTH CHUCKLE SOFTLY)
- ♪ (SONG CONCLUDES) ♪ - (BIRDS CHIRPING)
(YASMIN GIGGLES)
(ZIPPER CLOSES)
(SNIFFS, BREATHES HEAVILY)
YASMIN: Do you love me?
HENRY: Where have you been?
Exploring.
I got lost in the grounds.
- (ROBERT PANTS) - (YASMIN MOANS, ECHOES)
And I fucked Robert.
How have you been?
HENRY: Yeah, yeah, uh... (CLEARS THROAT)
- Feeling centered. - Don't lie to me.
I've really been struggling.
Can't seem to...
feel joy at the moment.
I hope it passes.
YASMIN: I see past this costume, Henry.
All of this...
- self-searcher shit-- - After the journey, the, uh...
the ayahuasca trip.
I was driving home and the sun was about to come up,
and I just started...
screaming...
at the driver to stop, just stop...
in the middle of the road.
And I found my way down to the riverbank,
and I watched the sunrise with some tramps
under Vauxhall Bridge.
Did some smack.
Sent you a message
saying you were deeply connected to my purpose.
(SOBS)
I fucking shared their needles.
- (GASPS) - (HENRY SOBS)
(SIGHING HEAVILY)
(INHALES DEEPLY)
I thought if I made this higher-consciousness shit a...
cornerstone of my personality for a bit,
it might help me through whatever this is, so...
YASMIN: Well, um...
it's escapist nonsense, Henry.
(HENRY SNIFFLES)
And we should be practical. (EXHALES SHARPLY)
♪ ("LIEBESTRAUM NO. 3" BY FRANZ LISZT PLAYING) ♪
(SNIFFLES)
- (LIVELY CHATTER) - ♪ (SONG CONTINUES) ♪
Charlie van de Ven. Remember Charlie?
I knew we had similar dimensions.
You look even more handsome than me, which isn't easy.
Thank you. (CHUCKLES)
Christ, better say something.
The guy's a fucking charlatan!
- (GLASS CLINKS) - I did!
- (GUESTS SHUSHING) - (CHATTER FADES)
Anyone who knows me knows I loathe speeches.
- (GUESTS LAUGH) - Any pronouncements, really.
- Unless they're in print. - (GUESTS CHUCKLE)
Suffice to say, that being with you all in this room, now,
and what it will mean for my memories of the house...
is a gift.
You are my life's work.
Every life is full of unintended consequences,
but I've really tried to live
so you all feel my life has been an act
of familial... care.
I hope my life's been an act of love.
♪ (SONG CONTINUES) ♪
Thank you for sharing it.
- GUEST 1: Hear, hear. - GUEST 2: Hear, hear.
OTTO: Hear, hear.
A loyal toast.
GUESTS: Yes!
OTTO: The king.
- NORTON: The king! - GUESTS: The king!
- (SCOFFS SOFTLY) - (INDISTINCT CHATTER)
- Fuck the king. - (CHUCKLES)
- (GLASS CLINKS) - Uh-- Now, uh, sorry, sorry.
Um, I'm going to have to be, uh...
well, characteristically selfish here
and co-opt my uncle's celebration.
Um, yeah, I think the... the biggest surprise
of the night is this still fits me
- from university, just about. - (GUESTS LAUGH)
GUEST 3: Buller, buller, buller!
- Buller, buller, buller! - (GUESTS LAUGH)
Quite.
But, uh, no, that aside, and seriously, um...
We, uh-- Well, we have some news.
YASMIN: Hmm.
We're engaged.
(CHUCKLES SOFTLY)
♪ (JARRING PIANO CADENZA PLAYS) ♪
- Bravo! - (HENRY LAUGHS)
(GUESTS CHEER, APPLAUD)
I knew it! (LAUGHS) I knew it.
- ♪ (DREAMY PIANO THEME PLAYS) ♪ - (APPLAUSE FADES)
♪ (SONG FADES) ♪
YASMIN: We should be practical.
So do you love me?
(SNIFFLES)
Yes.
Honestly, I don't know.
- Maybe I'm just too selfish. - (EXHALES)
Do you love me?
Yeah. (SNIFFLES)
(CHUCKLES SOFTLY)
I don't believe you.
(LAUGHS, INHALES)
I want commitment.
♪ ("SYMPHONY NO. 2, 5TH MOVEMENT" BY GUSTAV MAHLER PLAYING IN BACKGROUND) ♪
I want a partner.
Yas, you're not serious.
- (CHUCKLES, SNIFFLES) - HENRY: Look at the state of me.
You-- You want me to what? You want me to... propose?
Get down on one knee like this?
To tell you I'm yours forever
and I'm incapable of letting you down?
♪ (CHORUS SINGING IN BACKGROUND) ♪
You're not serious.
If I asked you to marry me, you'd say no.
Is this some kind of game?
Do you really want to spend a life...
with me?
Henry, you had me at Net-a-Porter.
- I mean... - (BOTH LAUGH)
- ♪ (MUSIC BUILDS) ♪ - (YASMIN SNIFFLING)
I can't believe this.
I don't even have a ring. You deserve a ring.
(SNIFFLES)
(CLEARS THROAT, SNIFFLES)
- (HENRY LAUGHS) - (CHUCKLES) Thanks, Daddy.
- (SNIFFLES) Henry. - ♪ (SONG CONCLUDES) ♪
I deserve everything.
♪ ("THE LAST GOODBYE" BY THE KILLS PLAYING) ♪
(GUESTS APPLAUD)
To my wonderful fiancée!
GUESTS: To your wonderful fiancée!
♪ It's the last goodbye I swear ♪
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
♪ I can't rely ♪
♪ On a dime-a-day love ♪
♪ That don't go anywhere ♪
♪ I'll learn to cry ♪
♪ For someone else ♪
♪ I can't get by ♪
♪ On an odds and ends love ♪
♪ That don't ever match up ♪
I'm sorry.
♪ I heard all you said And I took it to heart ♪
I understand.
♪ I won't forget, I swear ♪
♪ (CROWD SINGING "FOR HE'S A JOLLY GOOD FELLOW" IN BACKGROUND) ♪
♪ I have no regrets ♪
♪ For the past is behind me ♪
♪ Tomorrow reminds me Just well ♪
CROWD: (IN BACKGROUND) ♪ For he's a jolly good fellow ♪
♪ And so say all of us! ♪
- (CROWD CHEERING) - ♪ ("THE LAST GOODBYE" CONTINUES) ♪
OTTO: Okay, outside, Land Rovers on the left.
Marco, if it flies, it dies.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
(BIRDS CHIRPING)
♪ Can't quite see the end ♪
♪ How can I rely ♪
♪ On my heart, if I break it ♪
♪ With my own two hands ♪
♪ I heard all you said ♪
♪ And I love you to death ♪
♪ I heard all you said ♪
- You okay? - Yeah.
♪ Don't say anything ♪
HENRY: You guys ready?
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
♪ It's the last goodbye ♪
OTTO: Get in! Come on!
♪ I swear ♪
(CAR DOOR CLOSES)
- ♪ I can't survive ♪ - (INDISTINCT CHATTER)
♪ On a half-hearted love ♪
♪ That will never be whole ♪
I'm good at making people feel like I love them.
But, um...
I don't know that I ever have.
Loved anyone.
♪ (SONG FADES) ♪
♪ ("NATURAL HABITAT" BY 070 SHAKE, KEN CARSON PLAYING) ♪
♪ You don't know Where I've been in my mind ♪
♪ In my mind, mind, mind Mind, mind ♪
♪ Ooh-oh, yeah ♪
♪ Whoa, whoa ♪
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
♪ It's a mean world Cold world ♪
- ♪ Baby, who's to blame? ♪ - ♪ (SONG FADES) ♪
ERIC: When the fuck did that happen?
Okay.
I should have known when I stopped getting emails.
- Eric. - Do me one courtesy.
Spare me the soft-touch spiel. Just do it.
I get that I was a useful idiot.
We don't see it that way.
How do Al-Mi'raj see it?
Cuts have been more aggressive than we anticipated.
Our new partners fear the thinning margins
in sales and trading can only be allayed
by more automation.
New York is the focus there.
Sales and trading in London and Zürich is being wound up.
Our offices will be focused on private wealth
manage the assets of Al-Mi'raj's partners
in their part of the world.
There's no business need for you at Pierpoint now.
I presume Tom knew about this.
WILHELMINA: Uh, he didn't.
He'll be moved on.
♪ (CONTEMPLATIVE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
Al-Mi'raj don't agree with his lifestyle.
From Madam ESG to the mouthpiece for a state.
- In how few moves. - Come on, Eric.
We both know it's all the same.
I'm head of institutional securities.
- I know what my contract is. - And you'll be very happy
with what we're paying you to break it.
This is not a confrontation.
Hmm.
It's a happy goodbye.
Twenty million dollars over 48 months.
Stock?
WILHELMINA: No, these guys do cash.
Do the other London desk heads know?
No, but...
VPs and associates are being told
across the other floors this morning.
I'll call the desk heads.
WILHELMINA: Uh, you don't have to do that.
ERIC: Listen.
It's better... coming from me.
WILHELMINA: Sure.
Um, I'll see you Thursday?
ERIC: Thursday?
Bill's memorial.
Oh.
Of course.
♪ (CONTEMPLATIVE MUSIC FADES) ♪
- Happy Friday! - (INDISTINCT CHATTER)
- Do you want a donut? - (WHISPERS) Thank you.
SWEETPEA: I guess where I think I can add alpha
- is by looking for dislocations. - ASSISTANT: Donut?
- Oh, no. - No.
PETRA: You've got a light in your eyes which tells me...
ASSISTANT: Do you want a jammy donut?
- PETRA: Keep up the good work. - (WHISPERS) Thank you.
- Okay? - SWEETPEA: Okay, thanks.
ASSISTANT: Oh, I hope you don't mind.
Petra's asked me to block book the first Wednesday
of every month for a team dinner.
I put it in for the next 12 months.
Great.
ANRAJ CHABRA: No, I got those hot girl frames...
PETRA: You good?
- Mm-hmm. - PETRA: Good.
You should be, you're doing great.
ANRAJ: I look sexy as all fuck.
- (TELEPHONE RINGING) - (RECEIVER CLACKS)
SWEETPEA: Uh, LeviathanAlpha. Sweetpea here.
♪ (CONTEMPLATIVE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
SWEETPEA: Yeah, I can-- I can get that over to you
in, like, 30 seconds.
Thank you so much.
♪ (CONTEMPLATIVE MUSIC CONTINUES) ♪
(GROANS)
(SIGHS)
I don't usually let people walk away from me twice.
If I work for you, the risk to me is huge.
So, the proposition is mine and mine entirely.
I'm going to run a short-only fund.
You'll be popular.
Hating on short-selling is a political pawn.
The market needs short-sellers.
Short-selling generates bad ethics PR.
You're wrong.
The fund will look like a white knight.
We'll knuckle down on companies
who might be misleading the market,
committing fraud, or engaging in unethical business practices.
We will find the liars, We will find vulnerabilities,
and therefore, what is misprized.
Using a combination of forensic accounting
and corporate espionage.
OTTO: Corporate espionage?
Would you like me to say it again?
What gave you this idea?
If someone had been inside Lumi,
close to your godson from the jump,
we would've always known it was a short.
You want information. We will be drowning in it.
A lot of it above board, some...
Let's say we'll have kompromat and leverage
so that we are always right and always on time.
Well, it's subversive.
Eh, it's very smart.
"Anti-fraud fraudsters." It's quite a disguise.
It's only criminal if we're caught.
And I wanna run it from New York.
I think I'm ready to go home.
Have you heard from Jesse?
Oh, yes.
I'm sure he'll throw in a few bucks.
I told him we were meeting today.
He asked if you were happy.
I said...
"She seemed it the last time I saw her."
And he said...
"That's no way to live."
Harper.
Don't make the mistake of thinking you'll grow up
and live in a world without fear.
♪ ("LOVE IS BLUE" BY PAUL MAURIAT PLAYING) ♪
(BIG BEN TOLLING)
- (BIG BEN CONTINUES TOLLING) - (ELEVATOR DINGING)
♪ (SONG CONTINUES) ♪
Goodbye, Peter.
Goodbye, sir.
♪ (SONG FADES) ♪
(SNIFFLES, SIGHS)
(SOBS HEAVILY)
This is the list of people who have yet to RSVP, by the way.
Malala is a no.
And I saw Carrie Johnson was on the list,
but I assume that was an oversight.
YASMIN: Great.
Could you, um-- Could you send my secretary in?
Thanks.
- (DOOR OPENS) - (DOOR CHIME DINGS)
HARPER: Thanks.
- Hi, pack of lights, please. - (CELL PHONE BUZZING)
(CELL PHONE CONTINUES BUZZING)
Um, excuse me.
Hello?
Why haven't you responded to my wedding invitation?
HARPER: (OVER PHONE) Thought it was a courtesy invite.
YASMIN: I want you there.
Why, Yas? When was the last time we spoke?
Well, I saw you on Forbes 30 Under 30.
Congratulations.
I'm surprised Eric gave you a quote.
So was I.
My mom texted me for the first time in 18 months
with some crucial info.
My hair looked like shit.
(SCOFFS) Fuck her.
Did you see me... in Real Country?
Can't say I'm a subscriber.
- Which issue? - YASMIN: This month's.
♪ (DREAMY MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
HARPER: Oh!
Did you control the copy?
YASMIN: Of course we did.
(PAGES RUSTLING)
HARPER: Okay, so where is this wedding? Puglia?
YASMIN: God, no. (CHUCKLES)
No. No, no. It's, uh-- It's here. It's in the country.
HARPER: Tell me about the seating chart.
Any corporate bigwigs?
You know I like to get them drunk and talking.
Are you honestly saying that you'll only come to my wedding
if I sit you next to someone important?
Why else would I come?
♪ (DREAMY MUSIC FADES) ♪
(SNIFFLES)
♪ ("QUI AIME T'IL VRAIMENT" BY FRANÇOISE HARDY PLAYING IN BACKGROUND) ♪
(VINAY SARKAR SCOFFS)
RISHI: Uh... (CHUCKLES) Big man.
Yes, bro. How you doing?
- RISHI: Good. - Looks like I'm intruding.
(RISHI CHUCKLES)
DIANA RAMDANI: I wanted to surprise you
before he turned up unannounced.
VINAY: How's the bambino?
Di, light 'em up, please.
(CUTLERY CLINKING)
Go on.
Make a wish, Rish. (CHUCKLES)
(RISHI BLOWS)
(VINAY APPLAUDS)
Happy birthday, bro.
RISHI: (SNIFFLES) Thanks.
Thank you. Just, um... (SNIFFLES)
I'm-- I'm not hungry right now.
VINAY: Oh... What is this little bolt-hole?
Rish, you're not living here on your own, are you?
- Yeah. - Mm.
(SNIFFS) Smells like a wank palace.
(CHUCKLES)
Look at that. (EXHALES SHARPLY) Fucking generic, innit?
- It's just temporary. - Temporary, hmm.
You lot on the skids or something?
I mean, separation suits you though, Di.
You look good.
Your hair is different. Blondie.
I thought you were done with each other.
VINAY: Nah.
You're never done with friends, innit?
You're not his friend. You prey on him.
VINAY: No, no, he preys on me, darling.
You exploit him.
- He exploits my generosity. - Tell him to leave.
He owes me half a million pounds.
Closer to six big figure.
(SOFTLY) I'm...
I'm sick.
(SOBS HEAVILY)
You broke us.
You are the worst kind of person,
because he might be sick and selfish,
but you enable him and feed off his sickness.
- ♪ (SONG GROWS LOUDER) ♪ - And I bet you have no idea
what it’s like to feel love because--
(BREATHES HEAVILY)
(RISHI WHIMPERS)
(WHIMPERS)
(DOOR CLOSES)
(WHISPERS) Oh, fuck!
(BREATHES HEAVILY, WHIMPERS)
♪ (SONG FADES) ♪
Um, the chancellor is confirmed to stay next weekend.
Put Aurore in the king's room.
She's eyeing Number 10.
ALONDRA GALPERIN-DIAZ: Will Sir Henry be back this evening?
(GROANS) I doubt it.
He's, um-- He's in some Welsh town
trying to get on the shortlist for the by-election.
He's been trying to pronounce...
(CHUCKLING) ...the name of the town all week.
(CHUCKLES)
♪ (GROOVY POP SONG PLAYING IN BACKGROUND) ♪
Do you want a drink? Or, um...
we could do a bit of blow.
I mean, I have some left over
from that ghastly Historic Houses event last week.
Sure.
(GIGGLES)
♪ Ooh, give me love Give me love, give me love ♪
(BAG CRINKLING)
I wanted to thank you for giving me employment.
It was very generous.
And I'm sorry I went to the papers at all.
YASMIN: Well, as long as you understand, um,
the people that work with me...
are loyal to me.
♪ Ooh, give me love Give me love, give me love ♪
We're a family. (CHUCKLES)
(SNIFFS)
♪ It's enough, it's enough It's enough... ♪
(SNORTS, EXHALES)
(CHUCKLES SOFTLY)
- (CLEARS THROAT, SNIFFS) - ♪ (SONG CONCLUDES) ♪
(CLEARS THROAT)
(SNORTS, CLEARS THROAT)
- YASMIN: So, your baby... - (SNIFFS)
(DRINK POURING)
- ...is she my sister? - (BOTTLE CLATTERS)
(SPEAKS SPANISH) Uh-- No, no, no. Not Charles's.
- (GLASS CLINKS) - Are you sure?
ALONDRA: I'm with the father now.
I can't imagine what life must have been like for you.
(SNIFFS)
On that boat, I mean, you know, week after week,
the people, the requests. (SIGHS)
ALONDRA: The tips were excessive.
They were buying your silence. (CHUCKLES)
(YASMIN SIGHS)
I-- I never wanted to tell you,
but, um...
there were days on the boat when Charles and his friends,
- their, um, company... - ♪ ("HOME AGAIN" BY CAROLE KING PLAYING IN BACKGROUND) ♪
(VOICE QUIVERING) ...some of the girls, they were young.
Very young.
♪ It's so far and out of sight ♪
How young?
Twelve. Thirteen, fourteen.
♪ I really need someone To talk to ♪
You know, if he ever did that to you
when you were young, if he hurt you like those girls,
I-- I want you to know you are seen
- and protected. - (YASMIN CHUCKLES)
He never... (SNIFFS) He never did that to me.
ALONDRA: You are seen.
What the fuck are you doing? Stop!
♪ Chills my soul Right to the marrow ♪
(GASPS, BREATHES HEAVILY)
♪ I won't be happy ♪
- ♪ 'Til I see you alone again ♪ - (SOBS HEAVILY, GASPS)
♪ 'Til I'm home again And feelin' right ♪
(YASMIN BREATHES HEAVILY)
(CONTINUES BREATHING HEAVILY)
(EXHALES HEAVILY)
♪ Snow is cold, rain is wet ♪
(SNIFFLES)
♪ Chills my soul ♪
♪ Right to the marrow... ♪
(SNIFFLES)
Get rid of her.
♪ 'Til I'm home again And feeling right ♪
♪ 'Til I'm home again ♪
♪ And feeling right ♪
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
These conversations are never easy.
- ♪ (SONG CONCLUDES) ♪ - EMPLOYEE: (OVER HEADSET) Okay.
- (CELL PHONE BUZZING) - (LIGHTER CLICKS)
- EMPLOYEE: Sorry? - Can I put you on hold?
EMPLOYEE: Yeah.
(CELL PHONE CONTINUES BUZZING)
Hello?
HARPER: (OVER PHONE) Thanks for your comment in Forbes.
"A brilliant dropout whose ambition is boundless."
Very magnanimous.
ERIC: (OVER PHONE) I'm glad you read it that way.
HARPER: I heard they really swung the scythe over there.
Yep.
Did how the cards fell make you rich?
Not nearly enough.
ERIC: So you're hiring? (LAUGHS)
I hope they paid you.
ERIC: A lot.
Not enough.
(CLICKS TONGUE) I guess you know what they say,
being wealthy isn't the same as being loved.
But most of the time it's close enough?
♪ (DREAMY MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
Harp?
(LIGHTER CLICKS)
Yeah?
Take care.
You too.
ROBERT: So...
I'm sure you've all been programmed
to expect something radical.
But what I have here for you today,
it really isn't new at all.
- Jimmy. - JIMMY: (OVER HEADSET) Eric.
How goes it up there on the tenth floor?
- JIMMY: Yeah, we're good. - (CLICKS TONGUE) Listen...
I hate to be the bearer of bad news...
♪ (DREAMY MUSIC INTENSIFIES) ♪
Every prospective Little Labs customer is trapped...
somewhere, on a... sliding scale.
The listless ennui of the hyper-privileged,
the insatiable affluenza
of the strivers born with nothing.
Our product is a shortcut to something higher.
Transcendence in a pill.
And we'll control the supply-demand curve
by aggressively limiting availability.
Something that the elite see
as the new answer to problems which can never be solved
and the aspirational classes long to have because they can't.
You got a million dollars pre-seed
from Henry Muck six months ago, right?
And half a million from Ashford Asset Management.
PIERRE MARTIN: And we're seeing you gentlemen
and three other VCs today.
♪ (CONTEMPLATIVE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
Listen, I...
I'm just here...
to give you an opportunity.
Join us on the ground floor
of what is going to be a spectacular journey.
Mark my words.
♪ (CONTEMPLATIVE MUSIC CONTINUES) ♪
♪ ( CONTEMPLATIVE MUSIC CONCLUDES) ♪