[theme song plays]
♪ Demons come from every side ♪
♪ In the darkness is the light ♪
♪ Out of the shadows of my life ♪
♪ In the darkness is the light ♪
♪ Surrender will win the fight ♪
♪ This girl's walked on fire and ice ♪
♪ But I come out ♪
♪ On the other side of paradise ♪
♪ Paradise ♪
[Fi] Ever since I found out that my mom's family came from Ireland,
I've been fascinated by the place.
I even took one of those Irish step dancing classes.
It made my feet hurt and I quit after a week.
So I started reading about Ireland instead,
and the interesting thing is, here's this beautiful place,
but, as far as I can tell,
it has more mythical creatures per square foot than any place on earth.
But the scariest of them all has got to be the banshee.
The wailing of the banshee is supposed to foretell death.
The sound has been described
as a mix of the cry of an abandoned child and the screech of a lost soul in torment,
nothing you'd want to hear at 2:00 a.m., which is usually when they show up.
Some legends say that banshees only come to foretell
the death of those who have royal blood.
But others say that a banshee can follow any family of ancient lineage,
especially those gifted with music and song.
Oh, great.
[voices screaming]
[gasps]
[panting]
Colin, are you all right, love?
I'm fine. I'm fine. Go back to sleep.
Mom, are you kidding? This is so exciting.
-You've got to tell them. -We'll see.
Mom, I'm sure it'll be different this time.
Well, I hope so. Look, I'll do my best, all right?
Let's just go in.
Well, it's about time you arrived.
You should have called us from the airport.
Oh, my, look at this young man. [chuckles]
Is this my wee Jack?
[exclaims] And this one... oh, my.
-Hi, Grandma. -Send me to the old folks' home.
My baby's a grown woman. [laughs]
And you, oh...
Well, you know, you grow more beautiful all the time.
I suppose it runs in the family. There's nothing to be done with us.
[both laughing]
-These are for you, Ma. -Oh...
-[Colin] There you are! -Grandpa!
Now, now, Fiona, you're a regular barnacle.
Give us a chance to breathe.
-Hello, Jack. -Hey, Grandpa.
-Molly. -Hi, Da.
Well, let's get these upstairs, shall we?
-[Fi] Yeah. -Yes, and let's start some tea.
-So, you're on vacation, are you? -Uh, well, it's just a break, really.
Ned and Irene are taking the bus up to New England...
Hold on, now. Don't tell your grandmother, but I've got something for you.
Will you look at that? Oh...
[all chuckle]
-Thanks, Grandpa. -Thanks, Grandpa.
Do you know we're allowed to have chocolate now.
Yes, well, I'm not, so let's just keep this between ourselves, huh?
Oh, Grandpa, we can take those.
Now, now, don't start treating me like an old man just yet, girl.
Now, come on, Grandpa, I know you can tell me one story about Ireland.
Enough of that, Jack. You know how I hate that old rock.
Now are you going to sacrifice that bishop of yours or not?
-Thanks, Grandma. -Thanks, love.
-Cup of tea, love? -Oh, no, thanks, Mom.
Da?
I brought you something.
Mm-hmm.
It, uh, it means "welcome" in Irish.
-I know what it means. -Yeah.
Uh... Thank you, Molly.
It's your move, and mind your queen. She could be in for a bit of trouble.
[Jack] Right.
OK, I think I'm going to...
Ah, there you are, love.
It smells good in here, Ma.
I'm making your favorite, chocolate chip cookies.
So, how's the music business? Are you doing well?
I got a record deal.
A record deal?
Isn't this typical?
The most amazing things happen,
and you end up mumbling them around a mouthful of cookie dough.
Oh, Molly, this is wonderful. Did you tell your father?
I was going to...
but I brought him this welcome sign that I bought him,
and he just stared at it, and put it down, and... and, uh...
You know, Molly, it's hard for your father to show how he feels.
[Molly] Why do I keep doing this, Mama?
Why do I keep coming here, bearing gifts, every time,
hoping to please that man?
I wrote him a song, you know.
I think he would probably prefer it if I just sort of packed up the kids
and mailed them to you four times a year, and didn't bother coming at all.
Oh, now, sweetheart.
[wailing in distance]
[loud wailing]
[Fi] Grandpa...
Grandpa!
-What is it? What's wrong? -Fiona! What? What?
What happened, Fiona?
Did you see something? Did you see something?
[Molly] Fiona, what happened?
-Doing OK, grandpa? -I'm fine.
Can't I even take my walk without being pestered about my health?
Sorry.
Oh, honey, honey, I'm sure that he's just tired.
I don't know, maybe he doesn't like people running into his bedroom
in the middle of the night and trying to give him a heart attack.
I saw something. A ghost.
Fi, even if ghosts existed, which they don't,
doesn't it, like, break the ghost rules for one to suddenly show up
when Grandma and Grandpa have lived in that house for 20 years?
Wait, you guys didn't hear that sound?
I don't know, like some weird, warped baby crying?
I thought I heard a dog howling. I'm sure that's all it was.
Mom?
[Molly] Mom?
A cairn.
Aye.
Well, that's enough exercise for one day. Who's up for a bit of tea then?
OK.
-[Fi] How's he doing? -He's resting.
I looked up cairn. It's a Celtic grave marker.
That's what you think that pile of rocks in the woods is, right?
That ring was your dad's.
It's part of a set. My mom wears the other one.
Did you know they were a gift from my mother?
Yeah?
We flew her over here from Ireland for her 70th birthday.
It was a big reunion for the O'Shannon's.
Your mom had only known your dad for a few months,
but she brought him anyway, and in the middle of the party,
Fiona, my mother, gave them these rings,
and no one knew why she brought them...
or how she'd known, but it certainly gave rise
to more talk about witches in the family.
Grandma, what's going on here?
When I was a little girl, a bit younger than you,
my mother told me of a banshee that follows the O'Shannon's,
foretelling their deaths.
A banshee?
You think that's what I saw?
You mean it's here to tell us that Grandpa's...
I'm not sure. It's just an old story.
Perhaps, it's nothing.
Perhaps, we're just two silly girls
worried about that cranky old man upstairs.
Dinner'll be ready in about half an hour.
Are you OK, baby?
Grandma thinks that thing I saw is a banshee.
Oh, Fiona, I know that you're upset about what happened last night,
but now is not the time to start buying into
my mother's Irish superstitions--
Grandpa is sick, Mom.
I'm afraid he's going to die, all right?
I know you're mad at him and everything, but don't you still care?
Of course I care, baby. Of course I do.
Come on. Come here.
I'm sure your grandpa's going to be just fine, OK?
He's going to be just fine.
Where are you going?
I'm going to find out what that thing is that's after Grandpa.
Fi, there's nothing after Grandpa.
Fine, Jack. If you don't believe me, I'll handle it by myself,
but just don't tell Mom where I went, OK?
Fiona.
[knocking]
You need anything, Da?
No, thank you.
Um... look, I know that we were planning on leaving tomorrow, but...
Well, you and I really haven't had much of a chance to talk,
so I was thinking that maybe I should cancel a few gigs
and, um, I don't know, stay for a while. Help take care of things.
You mean me. I can take care of myself.
Da, I got a record deal.
Um, it's with my old label,
but I'm on my own now, just Molly Phillips,
and I've waited for this for so many years,
and now that it's finally here... well, I'm... I'm scared, Da.
Well, you'll survive. You always do.
You know something, Da?
You've never once, never once, told me that you're proud of me.
I tell my kids that all the time.
I was going to leave here without telling you that I got a record deal,
but I thought maybe this time you'd be different.
Now, why would you suddenly care what I think?
You've always thought you've known what was best for yourself.
You've never wanted my advice, nor would have taken it if I'd offered.
Da, I'm not talking about advice. I don't need you to tell me what to do.
Then I guess you can decide for yourself whether to stay or to go.
[scoffs] You're right.
[door slams]
And I do try to give you the benefit of the doubt sometimes.
You know, like when I come down to breakfast and you say,
"Jack, Ned's been possessed by the spirit of an enraged sea captain,"
I think to myself, "OK, Fiona has her own personal,
unique perspective on people's motivations."
You know, Jack, if you don't take this seriously, why are you here?
Well, if someone is trying to hurt Grandpa,
I mean, if some psycho neighbor of his
is trying to play a trick on him or something,
I want to find out about it.
[wailing in distance]
Stay here by these rocks. I'm going to go see what that is.
[gasps]
You are of Muintir O'Shannon.
I can smell the O'Shannon blood in your veins.
-We have met before, Fiona. -Fi.
Fiona was my great-grandmother.
I know who you are.
Why do you come here?
You come to announce people's deaths, right?
Well, I want you to go away.
I want you to leave my grandfather alone. It's not his time to die yet.
That's not for you to decide.
Then whose decision is it? Yours?
You can't just take him.
You have to give me a chance to fight this.
You said you knew me.
You said you smelled the O'Shannon blood in me.
Then you know who the O'Shannon's are, what we are.
We're different, aren't we?
You have to give me a chance.
Very well.
[wailing in distance]
You never were good at sticking around for a fight, were you?
You know what, Da?
You're right. I don't like to fight.
That's why I left home as soon as I could.
You think I was too hard on you, don't you?
Well, you were tough, Molly.
You needed me to be tougher,
or you'd have got into worse trouble than you did.
You're saying that you are cold because of me?
I did a lot of stupid things when I was a teenager,
but you, you've always been this way.
Oh, I'm sorry. Was I not in a good enough mood for you
while I struggled to make a life for us here
and keep a roof over our heads?
Geez, you talk about doling out compliments.
Well, no one ever sent one my way. I did my best too, you know.
Maybe you're right. I'm sorry.
-What's that? -It's nothing.
"The Rock."
You mean Ireland? You got that from me?
It's a... a song that I wrote...
that I wrote for you.
But it's not important. I don't think you'd even like it.
-I want to hear it. -No. No, Da.
It just doesn't feel right.
Well, I know you won't fight me for it,
so how about I take the music downstairs and give it a go on the piano?
[scoffs]
♪ There's a low rock wall By the cliffs of Mohar ♪
♪ Runs from down on the ground Right up through the sea air ♪
♪ As a child I would climb To the top of those stairs ♪
♪ And wish on the fog I was anywhere else ♪
♪ The farms and the valleys Are ringed with the stones ♪
♪ Of the men who built walls So as to be more alone ♪
♪ All that's left of them now ♪
♪ Are their fears and their bones ♪
♪ But the rocks they pulled up Were all I've ever known ♪
♪ The rock fought my spirit The rock fed my anger ♪
♪ The rock broke my heart Like the waves of the sea ♪
♪ I tried hard to fight But it still grew inside me ♪
♪ This island my Ireland ♪
♪ The rock is in me ♪
[vocalizing]
Fi!
♪ Hard was the ground In which this child grew ♪
♪ Unforgiving and cold Was the home that I knew ♪
♪ But knowing the soil Holds no harbor for you ♪
♪ Makes pulling up roots ♪
-♪ That much easier to do ♪ -[Jack] Fi! Fi!
♪ Set sail, young pilgrims ♪
♪ Set sail to a new land ♪
♪ Set sail ♪
♪ Our future is out there to find ♪
This is what decides whose time it is to die.
I want...
Please.
I want my grandfather to live!
The wishes of mortals...
have no power here.
But we love him! I love him!
There is a balance.
Some die... others live.
A balance?! What balance?!
You took my father when I was three! How fair is that?!
It was not we who took him.
What do you mean?!
Tell me!
♪ Now it's been years Since I've been in that place ♪
♪ And the winds of my life Have all weathered my face ♪
♪ But it's only with distance And the coming of grace ♪
♪ That I see in you beauty I could never replace ♪
♪ The rock forged my spirit The rock was my anchor ♪
♪ The rock held me fast Through the storms of my youth ♪
♪ Now you'll never die 'Cause you live on inside me ♪
♪ Illin sha ma herrin fain ♪
♪ Lie-la-lie-lie ♪
♪ Lie-lie-lie-la-lie ♪
Your grandfather will not die.
For now.
♪ Lie-lie lie-la-lie ♪
♪ Lie-la-lie-la-lie- ♪
♪ Lie-lie-lie ♪
[Jack] Oh, Fiona. Fiona.
Hang on, sis, hang on. Come on.
It's funny... you could capture what's in my heart...
when I've so rarely shown it to you.
I'm very proud of you, Molly.
[whimpers]
[Jack] Mom! Grandma, Grandpa, come quick!
Jack, what happened?
Mom, I'm sorry.
Oh, she's so cold.
-Grandpa! -It's all right. I'm here.
It's going to be OK, Grandpa.
-[Colin] There, there, Fiona. -I love you, Grandpa.
It's going to be OK now.
Well, what do you think?
-Hey, cool. -It could be a little straighter.
[Colin] Get out of it.
[chuckling]
Thank you for my gifts.
-Bye, Grandma. -Bye, darling.
-Bye, Grandpa. -Bye-bye, love.
Jack...
-Bye, Grandpa. -Bye-bye, son.
You're always welcome here, baby.
I love you, Da.
Oh...
I love you, too.