Susie makes references to a snow globe and how the little penguin inside looked lonely…she worries for him
Dad: don’t worry he will have a great life
12 years later
Susie loved taking photos (when she grew up she said she wanted to be a wildlife photographer)
Makes reference to sink hole at the Conners farm (Ruth Conners: was weird but saw things others didn’t)
Susie’s little brother Buckley stopped breathing, she steals the car and drives him to the hospital
She describes her family as people to whom bad things never happen to
My name is Salmon like the fish first name Susie, I was 14 years old when I was murdered on Dec 6TH 1973
1970’S people didn’t believe bad things could happen to them, before milk cartons had pictures of missing children
Susie and her grandmother run into a boy she had a crush on (Freddy Singh)
Grandma –“ You’re safe now”
Susie: “little did I know that I wasn’t safe, a man in my neighborhood was watching me, if I hadn’t been so distracted I would have realized something was wrong…was that sort of things gives me the skivvies”
Her and her grandmother talked about her first kiss from an older man
Mr. Odwier: a nice man who’s daughter died from cancer (Leukemia) 1 year after Susie
She describes that her murderer lives in her neighborhood and that he ruined her photo shot of his border flowers her parents were admiring
Susie: “He ruined a lot”
Mr. Harvey: We first encounter him plotting and working out his schemes to detail
Susie and her father discuss how you should never give up and when you start something you never stop until its perfect and complete
Switches back to Mr. Harvey digging in the corn field
Susie asks her mother to develop her photos but gets into trouble because she used up all the film that she got for her birthday
Susie leaves for school (on her way out her mother hands her a hat she made)
As she walks away we see that she is being watched as she stuffs her hat into her bag and runs off
Susie speaks to Teddy in the hallway (she seems nervous and stumbles upon her words). He asks her out on a date but is rudely interrupted as a student teacher conflict gets out of hand.
Susie is walking home through the corn field
Pulls out her hat and slips it on
Lets go of a paper and dashes, as the wind blows she comes to a sudden stop as Mr. Harvey stands in her path
He lures Susie further into the cornfield and tells her to come check out a cave he built for kids in the neighborhood
Meanwhile her family is having dinner
Mr. Harvey says Susie is lucky to be the first to try it out
He tells her to take a seat and does as he laughs awkwardly
He tells her that they can use it anytime they want except there is one rule no adults allowed
He offers her a refreshment and blocks the doorway as she tries to leave
He tells her to take off her jacket and tells her she is pretty
Then he asks her if she has a boyfriend and states that the cave is very special
He approaches her and she tries to escape. While she struggles to get away he tells her not to be rude (be respectful) and that he wouldn’t hurt her
Ruth Conners: sees Susie’s Spirit
Family calls police: they insist she ran away, and asks if there are any other problems (don’t believe she’s missing)
SUSIE’S SPIRIT
Susie’s spirit tries to call out to her father
Goes to her house and no one is around (house is deserted, and dark. Susie notices a light and walks in and notices blood and dirt everywhere and a naked man laying in the tub with a cloth over his face
She also notices on the sink her charm hanging, and his knife he used to kill her after he brutally rapes her.
The detective finds Susie’s hat in the cornfield
And he explains he found a significant amount of blood which implies she was murdered
Mother cries and father states he will take care of them
Mother: “you can’t”
Mr. Harvey quickly scrambles to wash his clothes, and he hides any evidence that he was involved in Susie’s disappearances
The detective shows him (Mr. Harvey) pictures of Susie and the clothes she was wearing and he denies ever leaving his house or seeing Susie
Susie’s charm bracelet was resting on the doll house inside Mr. Harvey’s house, as the detective looks at it Harvey quickly grabbed it and put it in his pocket
(Cop is oblivious to this)
Susie is in her heaven and sees what appears to be her crush and frank but it was only a mirage
As she is trying to run to him she sinks (grass becomes water and drowns)
Meanwhile Mr. Harvey rips off the bridge on her charm and throws it into the river
It shows Susie in the water sinking to the bottom of what appears to be the bottom of the sea floor where her house also appears in the background
Susie finds a note Freddy wrote to her commemorating his love for her
Ruth has a conversation with Freddy about Susie and how he misses her and explains she’s still around in spirit
Susie speaks to Holly and have as a talk about how she is not in heaven she is in a somewhat of purgatory state
“You are not supposed to look back you are supposed to move forward”
“You have to let go of earth, your ahead Susie, its time to go”.
Shows Susie running away and bottles with boats inside them breaking behind her: her father smashed all of them
Susie said her murderer was starting to feel safe, he know people wanted to forget and move on he took conform in the thought no one was looking at him
“But there is one thing he forgot and did not understand, he didn’t understand how much a father could love his child”
Susie’s father reaches out toward the window beyond it to Susie
“She says: its going to be okay he know I am here”
Susie had created a perfect world where she was safe and no harm could be done
Her dad shakes the snow globe and is disrupted by his little son who describes he saw Susie, and he agrees with him in shock and amazement.
Her father Jack goes on an investigation and starts to point fingers “he claimed it had to be someone she knew”
Detectives tell Jack to relax, Jack states how he is approaching it at the wrong angle. He said its been 11 months and that he should be more supportive of his wife
He invites her mother over to help out around the house
Grandma causes more problems and chaos then anything
Susie’s younger sister is running with the dog and stops right in front of Mr. Harvey’s house (dog was barking at him as he gets out of the car and asks if she was a Salmon girl, she doesn’t respond and he walks away)
Her little brother explains to his grandma and how he feels Susie’s presence as he explains she’s stuck in the in between
Susie explains how she dreams of the night of her murder and how she tries to escape it but cannot
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Dream
-“The smell of damp earth, the scream that no one heard, the sound of my heart beating like a hammer against cloth, and I would hear them calling, the voices of the dead, I would try and follow to find a way out but I would always come back to the same door. I know if I had gone I wouldn’t have came out”
-“My murderer could live off of one moment a long time, he could feed off a memory over and over again, he was Hannibal, faceless, infinite, but then he would feel it the emptiness returning and the need would rise in him again”.
-“When summer came he noticed young lovers would sneak into the corn field, slowly he began to follow them and watch”
“Susie’s father sitting and looking through pictures, mother asks if he is coming to bed
Mother talks to detective and notices a little girl who looks like Susie
Mother and grandma argue about how she should not ignore her feelings and pain, its healthy to let it out.
Her mother left for Santa Rosa for work and she would only say she had two children.
Her younger sister gets a boyfriend (says she didn’t believe in love – Susie gets mad because she would never get the chance)
Ruth: accepted the presence of the dead amongst the living
Sister playing baseball outside while Mr. Harvey was inside looking at photos of Susie and newspaper articles of her murder/ disappearance
Mr. Harvey began to catch on that Susie’s little sister began to catch on and so he begins to plan yet another murder
“The edge is back” – Susie about Mr. Harvey
Susie’s father clues in on the fact that her murderer may be Mr. Harvey and is uncomfortable at the thought.
Her father stops by Mr. Harvey’s house and stares at his house. Mr. Harvey sees him and steps out from under a garage. He stumbles and drops his bracelet and picks them up rapidly and frantically. Susie’s father Jack follows him into his backyard and questions his projects
Mr. Harvey explains he’s an outdoor designer and he apologized for his loss – Susie
Jack insists on helping Mr. Harvey and he does so as he awkwardly stands and watches.
He stares at Mr. Harvey and realized that he is the man who killed his daughter Susie. (Mr. Harvey tells him he should leave and go home and runs away as he smirks.
Father has a discussion with the detective and daughter: trying to convince him Mr. Harvey is the murderer.
Lindsey: “Why don’t you admit it you stopped looking for her a long time ago!”
Her father sets out to kill Mr. Harvey
Susie “I want him dead, cold with no blood in his veins, look at what he did to me! What am I now the lost girl? The dead girl? , I’m nothing! I’m stupid, I was so stupid!”
Holly: “he does not own you, you can be free of him but not this way
Susie: “what do you know you didn’t know anything…that man took my life”
Holly: “Soon you will see Susie, in the end you will understand, everyone dies”
Father chases Mr. Harvey in the cornfield, but Susie calls out for him and wills him to stop and turn back
Jack gets beat up by a young boy as he is trying to look for Mr. Harvey (couple was in cornfield also being watched by Mr. Harvey, who also witnessed Jack being beat up
Susie: “I knew he would never hurt me or give me up as one of the dead, I was his daughter and he was my dad and he loved me as much as he could…I had to let him go”
Susie’s little sister breaks into Mr. Harvey’s house
People Mr. Harvey killed
Sophie Sachetti Pennsylvania 1960 – she was Mr. Harvey’s land lady
Jackie Mayer Delaware 1967 – 13 years old dead and dumped in river
Lana Johnson UX County Pennsylvania – 6 years old
Flora Hernandez Delaware 1963
Denise Leeang Connecticut 1971 – 13 years
-Mr. Harvey in the basement sitting in a chair holding her charm in his hand, staring at a safe with her remains inside
-He (Mr. Harvey) packs his things (Knife, hammer, rope, tape, etc.)
-Lindsey: running and stops to break into Harvey’s house
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Gets into the basement, walks around, goes upstairs and starts to look around for clues and evidence
Mr. Harvey makes his way back home meanwhile and catches Lindsey in the act
Lindsey finds a book beneath the floorboards and begins to flip through it and finds evidence of his entire murder outline plan.
He chases her but she escapes and so he packs his bags and leaves
Mother comes back just as Lindsey arrives with evidence
Father is happy to see his wife give her and her son a hug and kiss
Lindsey walks away and is confronted by her grandma
She gives her the book and the police were called
Mr. Harvey goes to one of his sites to dispose of Susie’s remains
Ruth sees this but keeps a safe distance observing
Susie meets Mr. Harvey’s youngest victim Flora and explains she may be ready, as well as so the others should be too
Susie finds peace and purpose to her new life with the others (victims) who help her realize she needed to move on and that only then her family could bond becoming one not by her presence but bonded by her spirit
Acceptance was necessary for Susie however she chooses to take over Ruth’s body and live through her
She meets Freddy and gets her fairytale kiss as she had always dreamed of ever since she had laid eyes on Mr. Sign
Mr. Harvey pushes the safe off a cliff into a large pit
Susie is told by Freddy she is beautiful
Mr. Harvey leaves town
Lovely bones are magnificent and happened after I was gone.
“I began to see things in a way that let me hold the world without me in it”- Susie
Mr. Harvey is caught in the act again asking a young woman if she needed a ride and is blown off by her
He watches in astonishment and watches her walk away, as an icicle falls from a street light above causing him to fall over the cliff (edge of the street) and dies.
She bonds her family and teaches them the values of their relationship and that family comes first
She brought them apart and made their bond stronger and unbreakable
Film Notes
Dream
-“The smell of damp earth, the scream that no one heard, the sound of my heart beating like a hammer against cloth, and I would hear them calling, the voices of the dead, I would try and follow to find a way out but I would always come back to the same door. I know if I had gone I wouldn’t have came out”
-“My murderer could live off of one moment a long time, he could feed off a memory over and over again, he was Hannibal, faceless, infinite, but then he would feel it the emptiness returning and the need would rise in him again”.
-“When summer came he noticed young lovers would sneak into the corn field, slowly he began to follow them and watch”
-Mr. Harvey in the basement sitting in a chair holding her charm in his hand, staring at a safe with her remains inside
-He (Mr. Harvey) packs his things (Knife, hammer, rope, tape, etc.)
-Lindsey: running and stops to break into Harvey’s house