By: Malasha Parker
Martin (Lucas Englander) tells Helena (Lena Olin) that having Masha (Nicole Kidman) at the house is a mistake. He says he can’t work with her as a professional because he doesn’t want to but Helena tells him he just needs to learn how to make it work. It is her wish for Martin and Masha to run the place together. Helena goes into the restroom and begins to cough. Martin apologizes for inflaming her but she tells him she is fine. She coughs some more and eventually blood comes out onto her hands. She worriedly looks into the mirror.
Masha and David Sharpe (Mark Strong) both wake up in their separate rooms and gaze out the window. Masha puts on a necklace that seems to have some significance to her and David sips his coffee. We see Masha’s dead daughter wake up and say, “Good morning, mom.”
Agnes (Dolly De Leon) is laying on her floor when Masha enters her room. She tells Masha it is comfortable on the floor and Masha joins her. Masha asks Agnes why she came to the retreat. She thinks she is there because of her guilt. She has guilt from her sin that she doesn’t care to elaborate on. There are flashes of her helping a woman through a delivery in the hospital. Masha says she’s searching for comfortability that even some of the finest sheets can’t dix. But Agnes disagrees. Masha says she’s uncomfortable with forgiveness, but Agness denies that as well. She says she is very forgiving, but Masha says she isn’t forgiving herself. Agnes replies that forgiving herself will not bring “her” back.
At breakfast, Victoria (Christine Baranski) tells Agnes that she is mysterious and starts to pry into Agnes’ life. Imogen (Annie Murphy) comments on it and then Victoria directs her attention to Peter and his father. Martin and Masha watch from the shadowed hallway as the group eats. Martin comments that David is not at breakfast and Masha tells him to continue with the day’s plans regardless. As she says this, she starts to fiddle with her necklace. Martin comments that it is new, but Masha says it’s just open for reinterpretation. He tells her not to be late and leaves.
Martin enters the dining room and tells the group to gather in the front for transport. They are only allowed to bring water and nothing else.
David is on a business call when he suddenly hears knocking and drill noises near his room. The men on the roof are installing something on the room under the orders of the boss of the house. Since he can no longer contact those in the meeting, David heads down the mountain to the house.
The group waits to be transported to their next location. Peter (Henry Golding) talks about how he’s excited to go on the field trip and how it reminds him of his childhood.
David comes to discuss why Masha installed a signal jammer on his roof, but Masha just asks about him seeing his son and tells him there must be something wrong with his signal instead. David eventually concedes and says he’ll join the group, but because they have already left, he has to join Masha on her mid-morning duties.
Martin tires of waiting on Masha and advises everyone to board the car. Through a little bit of commotion they make it onto the car. Imogen apologizes to Brian (Murray Bartlett) for her outburst. They share a moment connected to his television show and sit beside each other nicely. As they descend the mountain, Agnes looks out the window towards the buildings and as flashbacks of a nun asking what called her to serve. She tells her God called her to serve. The nun says God calls many, but why did she choose to listen. The car comes to an abrupt stop.
The group walks through town in their separate pairs looking at the different stalls at the market. Martin gathers them to move to a different location. Meanwhile, Masha and David walk down a hill full of snow. David comments on his shoes not being made for the journey and Masha says he can have hers. She then takes off her shoes and socks and hands them to him. He does the same and the two continue barefoot down the deep snow covered mountain.
In a room filled with taxidermy on the walls and in the hallways, the group moves through a museum of encased animals and other figures. They make it to a room where there are mats with pillows and blankets. They pick up a thermos filled with a drink that has a foul smell. Martin begins to tell them that the thermos has their specific dose of the medication. Victoria makes a degrading comment about him basically being an understudy and he tells them they will begin the meditation. He begins to ohm and tells them to calmly open their thermoses. Victoria says she wont drink it and Imogen says it’s not optional. Tina (King Princess) tells Wolfie (Maisie Richardson-Sellers) it better be worth it and everyone drinks the drink except for Victoria and Matteo (Aras Aydin). Everyone lays down on their mats.
Masha and David arrive at a lake. Masha tells David she does this everyday and strips to her underwear before jumping into the water. She says its good for the mind among other things and asks him to join her. He says he will and tells her he’s done it before. He gets in and has a hard time adjusting to the coldness. Masha asks him how many times a year he sees his son and David tells her regularly but won’t do into further detail. She asks if he misses his son, but David starts to lose consciousness in the water and Masha tells him that’s enough.
Agnes awakes to church bells. She looks up into the light as Martin asks if she hears the church bells and how that makes her feel. She says it makes her feel nothingness and she would like to explore that. She gets off the mat and begins to follow the sound of the church bells. Martin writes something down on his notepad. The screen pans around the room showing each person waking and experiencing the side effects of the drug. Imogen starts talking about the statues she’s looking at. She recites a story she read as a child and Peter starts to remember it as well. Imogen makes her way onto the platform and Peter starts to see her and himself dressed as the characters. The two then hallucinate being Peter and Heidi from the story. Victoria wakes up to the scene as Brian comes singing through the room. She goes get water as Brian continues to sing and Martin continues to write. Tina is gagging and saying that her stomach feels like it is being wrung like a sponge. Agnes overhears her and remembers she’s a nurse and tries to help her but Tina tells them to leave her alone. In the hazy chaos, Martin tells her that she’s having a reaction to the medication. Agnes wanders off.
Victoria goes to town and sits outside having a drink. One of her hands paralyzes and she lifts it with the other, while women at another table stare at her. Agnes enters town in search of the location of the church bell. She makes her way towards the church and finally finds her way inside. She kneels down in the middle of the aisles. She then goes to the confessional and tells the father that she cannot hear the voice anymore and is afraid it may never come back. In a flashback the moments of Agnes helping the woman through a birth are shown. The woman asks for help because she is in pain and has begun to hemorrhage. Agnes goes to Mother Irene (Irene Rindje) for help, but Mother Irene tells her she must not go against the will of God even if the mother of the baby could die. In the present, Agnes says she needs to be forgiven for the woman and the baby dying, but no one replies to her cries for forgiveness.
Peter and Imogen are still enthralled in their reenactments of Peter and Heidi from the book in their minds, but on the outside they’re simply sitting in the are of the statues. Victoria talks about how she didn’t do enough for her daughter as Matteo has reactions to the medicine. Martin and Wolfie check Tina’s blood pressure to make sure she is okay. It isn’t bad but Tina is still experiencing side effects but tells them they need to calm down and tells Martin to just take some of the drugs. Brian continues to roam the room singing. Tina tells Wolfie she doesn’t need anything as Martin leaves to check on the others. Back inside of Imogen and Peter’s minds they make jokes with each other and then Martin tells them to come from behind the rope. Brian scares him in the garments of one of the statues and Martin tells them all to get back on the mats. They all do and then Martin goes to search for Agnes.
Agnes is banging her head against the partition inside the confessional when the priest finds her. She continues to ask for forgiveness. He quietly says, “That goddamn hotel,” as he looks at her.
David wakes up to Masha sitting over him. He tells her he feels better. He tells he she hasn’t changed much in twenty years. He tells her he hasn’t changed either. She gets up and begins to tuck him back in. David notices her necklace and she tells him it was given to him by an old friend. He says it’s from someone she tried to kill and she says it’s from someone she tried to save. She says she could do more of that if people let her. She tells him to get some rest then leaves the room.
Martin goes to the police station to get Agnes. He asks what happened and they tell him she was destroying church property. Agnes tells Martin that she just wanted to go to confession. She says it doesn’t matter what she said because no one was there to listen. Martin berates himself on conducting the experiment without Masha and tells them it wasn’t safe for them all. Agnes just tells him maybe she had a higher calling and she just wants to go home.
Imogen and Peter enter the house happily. They stop and share a heated kiss in the hallway while Peter tells Imogen that he does actually like her after some inquiring. As they continue to kiss and make their way into Peter’s room, they hit the bed and discover David in the bed. Peter asks why he’s there and David says it was probably Masha’s way of a joke. They discuss how they haven’t been able to get in touch with each other and share a hug. David introduces himself to Imogen and before he leaves, Peter tells David he’s really glad he’s there. Imogen tries to start things back up, but Peter says they should just sleep.
Agnes stares at herself in the mirror after a shower. She takes her ring off and stands over her sheets and pillow on the floor. She decides to sleep in the bed instead. David makes his way down the stairs. He goes to the bar as he receives a phone call from Masha. She says she is checking to make sure his signal is back up. She accuses him of being rattled, but as he starts to talk, Masha interferes with the signal. He looks to the corner and sees the camera. He holds his drink up, then his middle finger as Masha watches and sips her drink.