Previously on Childhood's End.
At least 40 cities around the world
now have these vessels hovering over them.
My name is Karellen.
Suffering will end. Injustice will end.
It's world peace, all hold hands and sing Kumbaya.
This is an invasion.
Ahhh! All right!
- Why are you here? - We need a messenger.
The birthrate is soaring.
We have a world that we are proud to bring children into.
It's the Golden Age of Man. Utopia.
Why did you make this room? Why'd you send me Annabelle?
Because she is still the most important thing in your life.
One day you'll understand why I came back. And why he built the room.
Ricky?
Karellen is not letting you move on.
Are you stealing the Titan drives?
Private research.
For 20 years the Overlords have told us precisely nothing about themselves.
I'm a guy that likes to know stuff.
It's Karellen. He's back.
Very good to see you, Ricky.
He said that the Earth has a new destiny.
Karellen said that there was something in the fabric of the ship. It poisoned me.
Help us!
Karellen said that something special was coming.
Don't touch us!
I take it you're the Greggsons?
Our son Tommy is having some behavioral issues.
No!
Tom just said the strangest thing.
- Jennifer. - What?
I know what to call the baby.
We need to reclaim some of what we had when we were kids.
We're not moving to New Athens.
It might be good for all of us.
I need to add these people to the guest list.
This gentleman wants to fly me to South Africa for a job interview.
The whole family's invited.
- Milo Rodricks. - Jake Greggson.
Here's my card. He's here.
The Supervisor for Earth.
You're killing scientific curiosity.
Your scientific curiosity would have destroyed you.
The Supervisor would like to meet with you.
You will find a new voice inside you.
Tom!
Jennifer. She's awake.
No!
So, each symbol is a letter.
This one is new.
I recognize the pattern, Rachel.
One more. That's it. That's it.
Jennifer.
Hi.
Want to say hi to Mommy?
Jennifer. Hey, Jennifer.
Hello, pretty girl.
Oh, hi.
When the Overlords came, they helped us put away childish notions
based on greed and fear.
But this is nothing compared to what they've inspired in the younger generation.
They eat better food, and breathe better air,
and are enjoying the healthiest stress-free lives
human beings have ever known.
As a consequence, the next generation is fitter, stronger, healthier.
Human 2.1.
Can you imagine what their children will be like?
Undoubtedly, we are evolving.
So what are we evolving into?
Thank you for coming in, Mrs. Ntaga.
I'm recording infant anomalies.
Uh, changes in the young children.
The kind of stuff the Overlords are taking an interest in.
That's nice for you.
For your experiment, start with the juice.
Sami likes his juice.
Okay.
Do you want some juice, Sami?
He always wants his juice.
Uh-huh.
Mr. Halcross, it sounds like
you're talking about an armed resistance?
That's not correct.
But you were in the military?
Yes, I was military but I'm not any more. You're twisting my words.
What we're talking about here is sanctuary.
Sanctuary from what, exactly?
Look what's happening in your Utopia.
Look what's happening to your beloved prophet,
who, by the way, is being held together by alien Band-Aids.
I'm inviting everyone to New Athens.
You'll be safe here.
Again, Jerry, safe from what?
You seem weaker.
Yep.
Well, we've had the good times, right?
And now we pay the check.
The final stage has begun.
I want to tell you what will happen to the world.
My friend, we are not the authors of this plan.
We are facilitators.
Midwives, if you will, at the birth of a new evolution of man.
I take it you've never been a father.
I have 24 children.
And we have none.
I could spare you this. You don't have to remain here.
You want to spare me something?
How about you leave the both of us alone.
Hey, is she okay?
Hey, are you okay?
Are you lost?
Jennifer.
Les enfants?
Qu'est que c'est?
Jennifer.
Jennifer. Jennifer. Jennifer. Jennifer.
Jennifer. Jennifer. Jennifer.
Jennifer. Jennifer.
Jennifer.
What the hell?
Some of these kids can move a cup. Some of them can move a car.
I met a three-year-old girl who had a knack for speaking to her parents in her dreams
in three languages.
Their metabolic rates have accelerated
and there's undoubtedly increased electrical activity in the cerebrum.
Bottom line, these are regular children with cognitive, telekinetic and psychic ability,
and they're all linked. All across the world, they are somehow...
linked to one another.
But it all goes back to the first one, the Greggson baby, Jennifer.
She's the key.
Hey, Jake, it's me again. Milo.
Look, I know you want to keep your family as normal as possible,
but it's gone way beyond that now.
Look, I don't know if you're aware of this,
but kids all over the world are saying the name, "Jennifer. "
And I think it may have something to do with your daughter.
Please, please, call me back.
She shows us things.
What things?
They're new worlds, Mom. I've not been before.
She's taking me so far away that even the Overlords haven't seen them.
All right, guys. I don't care where your parents are.
I want you out of here right now.
I said right now!
Hey, sweetheart.
You have a lot of new friends outside.
What do they want to see you for?
I can see all of it.
I see your fear.
But there's no need to be afraid.
You sure about this?
We don't need sheets. Amy, just pack what we really need.
The rest we can find in New Athens. It's okay. It's okay. Come on.
I don't always feel like I'm really here.
You're not always here.
And now we can talk like this.
Yes. I hear you.
Kids!
Come on, Jen. Come on.
Your mother needs comfort, Tom.
Oh, my God.
Hello, there.
On behalf of everyone here in the last free city on the planet,
welcome to New Athens.
Whoever you are, I think you're going to fit right in.
Although we have no specific immigration process,
we do ask that you read and complete the introduction packs
so that you can formally register.
Orientation seminars are held in many sites around the city.
And these will help you get settled into living life the old way.
Name please?
Um, the, uh, Greggson family.
Welcome.
All right, guys, let's go.
Hey, Jake, it's me again. Milo.
Look, I know you want to keep your family as normal as possible,
but it's gone way beyond that now.
I need to see Jennifer.
We have to learn what's happening to her.
Please, please, call me back.
Excuse me. I'm sorry to bother you. Would you come with me please?
Um, what's the problem?
Just come with me please.
- Uh, sure. - You're not in any trouble.
Mr. Greggson, welcome to New Athens.
- Who are you? - I'm Jerry Halcross.
I'm the closest thing this place has to a mayor.
Right. I heard you on the radio.
This is my wife Amy, my son Tom,
and, uh, this is our daughter.
- And what's your name, sweetie? - Jennifer.
Jennifer. Seem to be hearing that name a lot.
You're obviously very special.
We welcome everyone here, okay?
Maybe we can even help you.
Guys, please, relax. You're not in any trouble. I'm here to help.
Thank you, gentlemen.
- Come on. - Okay. Thank you.
It really is beautiful.
Of course, the majority prefer Utopia, whatever "Utopia" really means.
Can I ask you something? The Overlords, they really leave you alone?
Well, they respect our decision not to live in their perfect world.
But, do you know what happens here?
Culture returns, art, self-expression.
People screen movies. They put on plays. We even have the opera.
This year, it's Don Giovanni.
They wanted Karellen to cameo as the devil.
Can you imagine if that happens?
Red numbers will end it.
This is me. Come on up.
Wow.
This is you? You're an artist?
Yeah. In another life I was a command sergeant.
- That facility out in the desert? - Yeah.
Spaceships came, I was out of a job.
Best thing that ever happened.
Aren't you worried that the Overlords might change their minds about New Athens?
I mean, what if they try and dismantle it?
Come on, Amy.
No, I'm not. And if they did, I wouldn't let it.
This place is what I always hoped it would be.
Utopia is dull, right?
I mean, to the creative mind, peace is stupefying.
Look, we're not radicals here.
We're just trying to preserve our cultural heritage.
We're just trying to achieve something, for ourselves.
I believe, I hope, I pray you're going to change here.
All of you.
You, too.
Her name was Tilly.
My daughter, my joy.
She had a severe type of anemia.
So unusual. I mean, we can cure almost anything.
Yes, with their interference.
Tilly was getting stronger with our medicines, so...
So when she died...
"The act of dying is the act of life." Marcus Aurelius.
Tilly left the stage to applause.
Jennifer will be surrounded by life.
You know, real human life.
I'm hoping that it will seep into her like some sort of medicine.
It's a beautiful thought.
But what if... What if we're wrong?
If New Athens fails...
If that day comes,
I'd rather see it burn.
You want to hold that in your left hand right here, all right?
Keep a little bit of slack in that.
More towards the bottom.
Bottom. Right there. Here we go. Ready?
You want to keep it at 10 o'clock, 2 o'clock. 10 o'clock, 2 o'clock.
- Do I let this... Wait, do I let this go? - No, no, no. Hold onto that.
- You holding that line? Hold that line. - Yes, I am holding it.
Okay, here we go. Keep it a straight line.
The shape. They're like shape-shifters, see?
It goes... There's a whale.
- Yeah, and the... - The whale. It's moving.
That looks like something out of, um, like a scary movie.
- Now, open. - Now.
Aw.
Els.
These are all from before the Overlords came.
Yeah.
You and I had Utopia before they came.
Thank you.
Home sweet home.
Huh?
Nice.
Go, check out your rooms.
Yeah.
It's nice. Thank you.
- Really. - Anytime.
Thanks.
Anything you need, just let me know.
Hey, Jennifer, come and check this out.
We could make this work.
Yeah.
It's that scientist, Milo, calling again, isn't it?
Yeah.
If he wants to speak to Jennifer, we should let him.
- Why? - I don't know.
Maybe anything that can help us understand Jennifer better is a good thing, right?
Milo, hi.
That's good. Like this.
Yeah, she's ready to go.
Okay, now this won't take long.
You okay, honey?
All right, you see that?
It's all I could find.
That's fine.
I don't like this, Milo.
You're going to have to understand that Jennifer is the conduit of a force
that is affecting every kid in the world.
If you start testing her, you'll be playing with fire.
Playing with fire is how we learn to master it.
We're staying in the room.
It's just a few questions. I won't scare her.
It's not her I'm worried about.
Jennifer? Hi.
Remember me?
I want you to look into the mirror.
You see into everything. I want you to see into yourself.
What do you see when you look into your own eyes?
Can you tell me what you see?
Do you see our future?
Do you see, uh, the power that gave you this gift?
Please, Jennifer, just look.
Can you... Can you tell me what this means?
Jennifer, what do you see?
I see all.
I am all.
Come closer.
The end begins.
Jennifer showed me this place, the rock promontory.
Milo?
And then she showed me something else, something destructive.
I think the Earth could be in danger.
I need to go there.
- Where exactly? - To their planet.
To figure it out, I guess. To try and stop it.
Milo, you can't just go to their planet.
Okay, look.
The next time you hand over an animal, I want to be on that ship.
I mean, you can vacuum-pack me.
I mean, if the monkeys and the snakes can survive, then I can, too.
You know, I think you're evolving like those kids.
Your... Your ego is becoming super advanced.
How could you ask me to do this?
What do you mean?
You brought this?
My I. D. From the kids' hospital.
When I believed the girl in the next bed stole from me.
It's where we started.
But where will we finish?
Hey. Together.
There's a family movie day
every Saturday afternoon.
I saw billboards, just up the street.
Us, all together, watching a silly old movie?
Yeah, sounds good.
Yeah.
Please don't go.
Rachel, I...
Rachel, what I saw...
What if the world is in danger?
You said yourself,
the mystery's that girl, Jennifer.
The mystery's here.
Yeah, look, you're right.
The mystery is here but the answer isn't.
It's out there.
Look, and I've done the math.
It takes the Overlords 48 days to get back to their planet.
And they'll probably just put me on a ship back,
so call it 100 days, round trip.
One hundred days at para-light speed is...
Eighty years here.
But their ships can come and go, right?
Rachel, we know they can manipulate time.
Shut up.
I'm coming back.
Ah! God!
Is it these?
Ah!
These things are useless.
I'm scared. I'm so scared, Annabelle.
Annabelle?
I'm here, sweetheart.
That's how we put an animal into stasis.
Right.
What have you got there?
Uh, yeah. Um...
Okay.
Adrenalin shot.
High-concentrate steroid injection.
Great, that'll kick-start muscle action.
Full-spectrum vitamin shots.
Mirtazapine anti-nausea meds.
Alkaline eye-hydration.
Bottle of water and...
And a granola bar.
We, uh, don't know that they oxygenate the storage hangar on the ships.
- Hey, hey, hey, listen. - What if you're wrong about the ships?
You'll be gone for 80 years.
Container prepped for stowing.
Countdown, two minutes.
We don't have much time.
Right. Will they run a scan or something?
They run a body-mass reading but she's a big girl.
You don't add any suspicious extra weight.
Pressure steady.
That... That won't help.
Will I dream at least?
If you do, it'll be a 48-day nightmare about suffocating.
Fine.
Prepare to transfer specimen.
Overlord ship entering lower atmosphere.
Don't go.
One minute until transfer.
What?
- Rachel. - I'm sorry.
I'm sorry. I know you're scared, too.
Look, if I'm not back in 100 days, get on the Orbital.
It'll be safe there.
Get yourself on the Orbital.
Sleep the time away. You'll figure it out.
Overlord ship ready to receive specimen.
Here.
- Love, right? It means love. - Yes.
Thirty seconds until transfer.
I'm coming back. You hear me?
Okay. Okay, you swear you'll come back, I'll swear to wait.
Standby.
I swear.
I swear, too.
Standby.
Hibernation status satisfactory.
Mmm.
What time is it?
Actually, it's the start.
We're at the very start.
Of what?
The rest of our lives together.
I got something for you.
Oh?
Oh.
What? You said you wanted to see the Yankees.
Oh, yeah.
But hang on. Do they play here, in this room?
Because we're not leaving this room.
Not for three days.
That's... That's good.
That's good.
'Cause this honeymoon,
the Four Seasons, they might've run out of money.
I have a confession to make.
I didn't think that you were going to say yes when I proposed.
Oh, is that what that was? A proposal.
That business with the Barry White and the red rose?
Annabelle?
When did you have these taken?
I don't remember...
I'm right beside you.
Ricky, I'm sorry you lost the love of your life.
I'm here.
How'd it get so late?
Where'd the day go?
"As surely as it rises, the sun also has to set. "
Someone said that to me once.
Even the best day in the world has to end.
Never to be repeated.
Switch that mind off.
There's nothing to worry about.
We're safe.
Cancer.
She was so beautiful.
She had a light.
And finally it went out.
Why are you talking like this?
This is special and we're happy, so why spoil it?
You're going to stay in this room with me.
I begged you to stay, Annabelle.
I begged you not to let your light go.
But you couldn't.
I thought I'd never love again.
I thought it'd be a sin to.
It doesn't have to be like this.
But it was like this.
I mean, that's how she died.
But it wasn't here.
I can give her back to you.
I can slow down time in this place.
You can stay here and never leave.
If that's what you want.
It isn't real.
It's a gift, from one friend to another.
The sun doesn't have to set.
Oh, just stop. Please.
You put that here. Not me.
I'm so sorry.
This room...
Mmm-hmm?
Bury it.
Sweetheart?
Ricky? Baby, come back inside.
Oh, Jesus.
Els, you're so beautiful.
Let's go inside.
Let me lay here, just catch my breath.
Okay.
I never loved anyone more than you, Els.
Never.
What's that one?
It's a two-headed rooster.
A two-headed rooster?
Well, that was the Frog.
- The Great Frog. - The Great Frog.
- Aw! - Oh!
It's time.
People of Earth, I speak to you again, one last time.
You have enjoyed decades of peace and prosperity,
a Golden Age for Man.
But the sun sets on even the most glorious of days.
And it must now start to slowly sink into the night for you.
Do not condemn us,
for we were tasked by a higher mind
to oversee your evolution to a higher level of consciousness.
It is your destiny, and the destiny of many worlds.
You have grown accustomed to our presence,
but we can be your guardians no more.
Thomas, sit down.
Your children are no longer yours.
In time, they will cease to be human.
No more children will be born on Earth.
No more children will be born on Earth ever again.
For the adults, your future is yours to live as you please
for however many days are left.
My hope is that humanity will go to its rest in peace.
My baby!
- No, Jennifer! - Jen!
- Jen! No! - Jen!
- No, Jen!
- Jen, get down!
Jennifer!
- No! No! Jennifer! - No! Jennifer! Honey!
This is not going to happen! Tommy, no!
Gracie!
Tommy, please, no!
- Oh, my God. - Tom, don't leave me, buddy.
Please.
- Hey, Tom. - Please, don't.
Come here. Come here.
Buddy.
Jerry!
Jerry?
Jerry!
Amy?
Okay, okay.
No, he's taken it.
Mom?
Jake?
We were greedy people,
and selfish,
we screwed up in a big way.
But we made music,
we wrote books, we mapped the cosmos.
That's right, Jerry.
We're amazing. We're an amazing race.
So let's carry on being amazing.
Let's defy the Overlords and get our kids back.
It's not going to end.
We do not end, but we can't give up hope.
There was hope.
The hope we had since the beginning of mankind,
the only hope there ever was.
The children, Jake. The children.
And they're gone now.
Maybe when we die, we'll get a chance to be with them again.
Jerry, you built something here.
All of this is in defiance of them, right?
This is writing the book ourselves, so don't let them decide the ending.
Jerry!
You know, I was thinking, we're energy, right?
Human beings are energy.
When our bodies are gone, that energy has to go somewhere.
Hey.
You're fading.
What?
You're fading.
She gave me some more time to say goodbye, Mom.
But it's over now. I'm going.
You know what human beings are?
Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, they keep fighting.
We'll fight to find our children and we'll fight to bring them back.
Turn it off. Turn it off.
- Don't be absurd. - Turn it off!
You saw it. You saw it in their eyes.
- They're beyond us now. - Turn it off.
Turn it off.
Ask Jennifer if you can stay here with us.
You belong with us.
Mom, it's all right.
I'm joining the others.
I have to go now.
She's calling me. I have to go.
You can't destroy this place.
What does it matter what we want, Jake?
We're little men.
Just stop.
I was a little girl alone in a hospital bed
and I was scared, remember?
And then I looked into your eyes,
and I wasn't scared any more.
Hey, hey.
At least, we knew love.
At least, we knew what it was to be a family.
Okay. Okay.
I'm here. I'm here.
- I love you. - I love you.
I am is Vindarten.
This be. This can be.
No.
This language is. I'm new this language.
But is fine and under control.
Is fine and good.
You are not well...
hence the floor.
We use your terms.
And so, in your terms, we are 11 and 100 years of light away from Earth.
We are orbit the 6th planet in the Carina System.
This is our world, you call "Homeworld".
We can call it Jenjedda.
I made it.
Indeed.
How long has it been?
It be 40 of your Earth years.
It's been 40 years on Earth, right? What's it like there now?
Interesting.
You come this all way here to ask for back where you come out from.
Look, I came here because I saw it.
The Earth is in danger.
Everything that is happen on Earth was planned long ago.
Is natural. Is the cosmos. Is the Overmind.
"Overmind"?
Overmind of all creation.
Are you talking about God?
We have talked to the Overmind for 100,000 year.
We go where it sends.
We change worlds.
We change Earth.
The Overmind. Can you show it to me?
You really want this?
I want to know everything.
It connects to the Overmind.
Step in.
You're the Overmind.
A faint reflection of it.
I am All.
Divisible,
and indivisible.
I am the collective consciousness of this universe.
So, we are God?
No, the children are God.
And they have left you, as children must.
And you must let them go, as parents must.
Only the children can become a part of the whole.
It's an evolution.
Into one mind.
So, we're finished?
We cease to exist. We...
Oh, my God.
I have to get back to Rachel.
I need to go back.
Take me back home.
Hello, Milo.
I trust you slept well?
More comfortable than the squid, I suspect.
I'm home?
It is not home any more.
Right, uh, it's been 85 years?
While you've been asleep, I have been learning your language.
"Oh, for a muse of fire that would ascend the brightest heaven of invention."
William Shakespeare.
What happened to the Orbital?
It happened long ago.
Rachel?
We brought her here.
Would you like to see her?
Yes.
You know a lot.
So, I'm just going to ask it.
Has anything of her survived beyond death?
Yes. You.
That's not a consolation.
Consciousness, Milo, is a community of minds.
Each exists in the other's thoughts.
Rachel exists in your consciousness as if she had never left.
You still love her. You still feel her.
So what has changed?
She's dead.
Gone.
But she once lived and you knew her. You know her still.
Until I'm gone, too. Right?
It's all gone. Everything we built, we did.
It has been the destiny of many worlds.
We have overseen them all.
Yeah, and what about your people, hmm?
Is this going to happen to you one day, on Jenjedda?
We have reached the end of our development.
All our possibilities are exhausted.
Oh, Milo.
You were so flawed as a species and so passionate.
You believed in so much and knew so little.
I envy mankind.
Your children can go where we can never follow.
I miss cookie dough ice cream.
You ever have it?
It's like, the first time you try it, you're all like,
"How have I lived so long without this in my life?"
You ever come across a civilization with cookie dough ice cream?
No.
We did that.
Hmm.
- Not bad. - Hmm.
I'm the last one.
You can stay here with us.
The boy who wanted to know everything can know everything after all.
Thank you, but I don't share your view, Karellen.
She's dead.
And I can't bear to live out my life as the last man.
My place is out there, someone to witness this.
If I went back to the Earth, I could report back what happens on the ground.
- Has anybody ever done that? - You would do that for me?
Of course. I'm a scientist.
My name was Milo Rodricks.
Not that it matters any more.
I'm... I was an astrophysicist.
I've lived more than a lifetime and...
And I can smell Pop-Tarts.
I'm the last human being enjoying his last sensory pleasure.
I got a favor to ask. Don't forget us.
We may have many faults but we don't deserve to be forgotten.
Strike my first statement.
My name is Milo Rodricks,
until the very last second.
Until the end.
Jennifer is, uh...
She's drawing energy from... Everywhere.
The moon.
The ground beneath me is disappearing.
She's taking everything.
Oh, God! Jennifer, you're the last child.
It's going to end.
Karellen, I'm scared.
Focus on me, Milo.
Hear my voice.
Don't be afraid, it's natural. You have nothing to fear.
There's not much time.
You have to save something.
Save something from the Earth.
We can't lose it all. You have to save one thing, please!
What?
Something from our culture.
Okay? It can't be as though mankind never existed at all.
Please.
Thank you.
It is done.
What do we do with it?
Leave it here for whoever passes through.
So they can hear it.