Here is my full treatment in detail. I’ve also included some dialogue. Enjoy!
-Characters-
Glen Powell — Leader
Commanding Officer.
Austin Butler — Strategist
Executive Officer.
Henry Cavill — Enforcer
Chief of the Boat.
Daniel Radcliffe — Technician
Diving Officer / Planes.
Tom Holland — Signal Keeper
Radioman / Crypto.
Nicholas Hoult — Targeting Brain
Fire Control / TDC.
Paul Mescal — Navigator
Helm / Quartermaster.
Timothy Chalamet — Listener
Sonar operator.
Liam Hemsworth — Power Specialist
Electrician’s Mate.
Will Poulter — Engine Specialist
Motor Machinist’s Mate.
Cooper Hoffman — Medic
Pharmacist’s Mate.
Finn Wolfhard — Weapons Handler
Torpedoman.
Toshiro Mifune — Prisoner
Japanese Lieutenant Commander and POW.
Tatsuya Nakadai — Survivor
Japanese Soldier
Joe Shishido — Prisoner
Japanese Soldier
-Act 1-
The Thing music plays as FADE IN: On a LARGE BIRD splayed helplessly in the dirt. It stares into space, unblinking, as small tentacles pulsate into every orifice. The bird can’t move and just stares into space helplessly. The tentacles slowly retract off-screen and the bird gets up, looks around and flies away.
The bird soars over the ocean. It looks down to see a family of dolphins swimming near the surface. The bird banks and glides down to the water, landing on the surface.
It bobs up and down with the tide. The camera tracks under the water to reveal tentacles seeping out of the bird’s undercarriage and swaying like hair in the water.
A dolphin swims up to greet the bird and the tentacles try to latch on. The dolphin panics and thrashes in the water, breaking free.
The bird is now haggard–its feathers puffy and shedding with every flap of its wings. It scans the water below and sees a military ship in the distance. It flaps its wings frantically as it makes its way toward the ship.
SUPERTITLE: Pacific Ocean — 1944.
Japanese military ship: a sailor with binoculars sees the island and reports to Mifune
Bird-Thing struggles to fly toward the ship
We see Japanese sailors gearing up in hazmat suits and flamethrowers.
Suddenly, the bird slams into the steel wall of the ship, a sailor investigates to see it half-mutated, grotesque, somewhere between monster and roadkill twitching on the floor.
A man in a hazmat suit with a flamethrower pushes the sailor away and yells at him, then looks at the bird for a beat and then fires his flamethrower at it.
Just then, there is some yelling in Japanese over the ship’s loudspeaker. The ship is frantic with activity as men run to the railing and yell as they point toward the water.
We cut to further away with the ship and the island in the distance as we see the top of an American submarine submerge under the water.
Inside the sub, Chalamet listens to the sonar.
Chalamet: “Fast screws, starboard bow.”
Captain Powell: “Battle stations.”
The crew moves like blood cells in a vein. Each flowing efficiently into place before pausing. There is a beat of stillness as the crew collectively breathes in with anticipation as we see the men at their stations.
Chief of the boat, the old timer Cavill, holds out a pinup lighter called “Betty” and lets everyone around him touch it for luck.
Cavill passes Hemsworth buttoning up his chambray shirt over a wool Notre Dame sweater.
Poulter whispers, “You still call that thing lucky after those back-to-back beatings they took?” Hemsworth flips him off.
We see Hoult quickly scribbling on a piece of paper.
In the torpedo room, we see Wolfhard with his hand on the lever, waiting.
Hoult checks the board and looks up.
Hoult (to Powell): “Solution’s steady.”
Powell: “Fire one.”
In the torpedo room, Wolfhard yanks down the lever and gives a sarcastic salute as the torpedo fires.
Wolfhard: “Enjoy Jap heaven.”
Powell: “Fire two.”
Plummer pulls his lever and we hear the woosh of the torpedo leaving its tube.
Chalamet listens intensely on his headphones.
Chalamet: “...Hit.”
A beat.Chalamet: “...Hit.”
The crew smiles and quietly celebrates.
Powell: “Hit them again.”
Butler: “Too long in the pocket, sir.”
Powell glances at Butler..
Powell: “Do it.”
In the forward torpedo room, Wolfhard and Plummer quickly move to the three and four tubes.
Plummer: “Aye aye, Captain. Two more fish, coming up!”
As the other torpedomen quickly make their checks.
Wolfhard bumps into a young sailor as he gets into position.
Wolfhard: “Get the fuck out of the way!”
The young sailor tears his shirt on a gear.
Hoult scribbles down his calculations. He hesitates, checking his scribbles against the chart.
Butler: “Hoult?”
Hoult (finishing up): “...steady.”
Powell: “Fire three.”
Cut to a hand pulling a lever.
Powell: “Fire four.”
We see the torpedo swim through the water and the words “This one’s for Pearl!” is scrawled on the side.
Chalamet’s eyes widen as he listens to his headphones.Chalamet: “Depth charges!”
Powell: “Here it comes!”
The crew grabs what they can just before a large explosion rocks the sub. The lights flicker. Men are tossed hard into the walls as a few lightbulbs pop.
Garfield is thrown to the floor. Cavill grabs him by the collar and pulls him up to his station.
More explosions jerk the sub back and forth. It feels like the sub may implode at any second.
Finally, the explosions stop and the sub is left gently rocking as the dazed crew starts getting up.
Chalamet is still listening to his headphones, obviously rattled.Chalamet: “It’s almost under. (beat) They’re drowning.”
Later, Radcliff, Poulter, Hemsworth, Mescal, and Hoult stand in the Control Room with Butler and Powell.Powell: “We got their escort, but the Jap cargo ship is still riding, albeit without protection. It’s possible that one of ours will pick it up before they do, but I wouldn't count on it. What I would count on is them sending someone to finish us off. How’s our old gal looking?”Radcliffe: “Depth control’s sluggish, but she answers.”Poulter: “The engine room took a beating. We’ve got a few leaks we’re working on.”
Hemsworth: “We lost some lights. I can reroute, but not all of them.
Hoult: “The torpedoes are still ours, but if we go deep again, I wouldn’t count on her coming back clean.”
Butler: “Can we make a dive?”
Hoult: “We don’t know yet.”
Powell and Butler look at each other.
Butler (to Holland): “Radio?”
Holland: “Still up.”
Powell: “Then call it in.”
Butler and Powell realize they are stranded until they can repair the submarine.
The Japanese cargo ship got away and will definitely be sending reinforcements to finish off the submarine.
Powell, Butler and Cavill get a status on repair potential. They’ll need to radio in to have an American ship rescue them and bring parts for repairs.
The Japanese ship was escorting a cargo ship that got away, meaning reinforcements may be coming, so Powell has Holland call for rescue. At first, rescue seems like the solution. An American ship is on the way with parts, but it will take a day or two.
Powell announces they'll evacuate most of the ship to the islet to dig-in in case the Japanese reinforcements arrive first. Powell tells Cavill that he needs Butler with him and that Cavill will oversee the evacuation.
Wolfhard and Plummer make something called “Torpedo Juice” for the crew by siphoning torpedo fuel and mixing it with fruit juice in vinegar bottles.
Cavill plays poker with Hemsworth, Mescal, Wolfhard, Plummer, and Holland while they listen to Tokyo Rose. Wolfhard offers the others Torpedo Juice. They talk about a burlesque show they went to before they went to sea called “Madame Butterfly”. Mescal says “Jesus Christ” and Caville chastises him for the blasphemy.
Butler walks in and sits down to have a smoke and watch. Hemsworth asks Butler if he’ll go to Madame Butterfly when they make port and Butler chuckles. Mescal places a modest bet. Cavill puts Betty in the pot and Mescal says that now they have a game and goes all in to match. Mescal wins with a symbolic hand like a full house with three blacks and two reds. Cavill is annoyed about Mescal’s bluff and Mescal says ‘no hard feelings.’ and tosses Cavill a “Madame Butterfly” matchbook and tells him to use these until he wins Betty back. Annoyed, Cavill stuffs it in his breast pocket.
Powell tells Cavill that they will communicate via morse code lights at dusk and dawn each day.
Cavill (to Holland, Poulter, and Garfield): “You are the scout team. Once we land, you’ll make your way to the west side of the island to see if any Japs washed up on shore. Do not engage.” He hands Garfield a Red Field Notebook.
Cavill: “Look for any identifiers, numbers, ranks, any weapons, boats, anything like that and report back. Garfield has the flare gun. Do not use it unless an attack is imminent. We hit them pretty hard, so most likely they’ll be in pretty bad shape if any did make it. Got it?”
Hoult sews a patch onto a young sailor’s torn shirt, saying that he’s sorry that he could only find a red bandana.
The sailor waits with his shirt off. He’s nervous about the possibility of combat on the island if the Japs come and asks Hoult if he’s ever fired his gun outside of basic training. Hoult says that he hunted with his dad when he was alive. He reassures the sailor that there comes a moment when you know it’s time to shoot, don’t hesitate, all you have to do is pull the trigger.
The Sub is partially evacuated using inflatable rafts. Butler helps load the men onto the rafts telling them to regroup with Cavill and the others at the treeline. He reminds them to stay off the beaches in case the Japs send planes. There are 4 inflatable rafts that hold 10 men each. They will evacuate in waves.
Wolfhard is excited to get off the sub and hopes to shoot just one Jap before the war is over. He asks the cook what they’re having for dinner.
As Holland is leaving, he pulls out a cigarette and asks Mescal for “Betty.” Mescal pulls out the Betty Lighter and lights the cigarette for him. Holland is obviously nervous. Mescal tells Holland to borrow it for luck.
As Mescal is helping load the men onto rafts, he sees that a young sailor has the red patch Hoult sewed and says, “You aren’t turning commie on me now, are you?”
[Stays onboard: Powell, Butler, Radcliffe, Hoult, Mescal, and Chalamet]
On the island, we see crates from the Japanese ship washing up on shore
Back on the sub, Chalamet listens for any potential threats.
The others listen to Tokyo Rose as they work on small repairs.
Hoult and Powell meet in the Conning tower.
Powell: “Tell me something good.”
Hoult: “Most of the small repairs are complete, but we can’t get moving until the rescue ship brings us parts.”
Powell: “Can we dive?”
Hoult: “It’d be risky, but we might be able to get one emergency dive out of her…Maybe.”
A night scene between Powell and Butler on the sub’s deck [opportunity for some character development] - suddenly, they see bombs going off on the island. The deck guns won’t do anything from that range. They can only wait.
Early the next morning, Radcliffe and Powell see Holland, Hoffman, & Poulter approaching the sub in a raft. They have a Japanese officer with them (Mifune).
Radcliffe (with Binoculars): “They’ve got a Jap with them… an officer.”
Poulter and Radcliffe roughly drag a dazed Mifune through the sub. They say Mifune has refused to speak so far.
Poulter: “Not that he could. Hemsworth bashed his head so hard, I’d be surprised if he can stand.”
The returnees are rattled and upset about being violently ambushed and losing nearly all of their men, but Poulter seems unfazed and is more interested in Mifune’s katana he confiscated.
Poulter hands Mescal Mifune’s katana and Mescal checks it out. Poulter tells Mescal not to mess with it because it’s his. He says Hemsworth gave it to him to pay his debt and says that Hemsworth sucks at poker because he has such an obvious tell.
Poulter tells Powell that the surviving Japs attacked them with flamethrowers and satchel charges in the night and that they had way more weaponry than made sense for the escort ship. Powell: “Where’d they get all that?”
Poulter: “It was like they were geared up for a land assault, but they all had flamethrowers.” Powell seems confused why they would bring flamethrowers because flamethrowers wouldn’t work for a land assault. They’re also dangerous because they can explode when shot.
Poulter gets his katana back.
Hoult approaches Holland by the radio room asking what happened on the island, but Holland seems shell-shocked. [Note: Holland seems startled on rewatch and puts something in his pocket]
Mifune tries to communicate to the Americans with his very limited English vocabulary. Hoffman says that the Mifune hadn’t said a word until now [Note: because he knows only the ones already on the sub are definitely human].
Holland says he speaks a little Japanese, so they have him come in to try and translate.
Poulter: “Ask him why they brought so many flamethrowers. They’re doing something on that island they don’t want us to know about.”
Powell quietly motions for Poulter to stand down. Powell tells Holland to ask Mifune.
Holland starts speaking Japanese.
Radcliffe: “Dang Holland, what was this Jap girl’s name?”
Mifune answers in Japanese.
Holland: “He says that they were delivering the flamethrowers to a base in [coastal city].”
Poulter: “That’s a load of bullshit.”
Chalamet comes in saying that the radio is dead and that it looks like two radio crystals have been yanked out of their sockets.
It looks like sabotage, but the American leadership doesn’t understand why, considering that Mifune was with them the whole time, so he wasn’t the one to do it.
Mifune (as the one with the best idea of what is going on) is able to deduce who the saboteur was and tries to out him to the group. He starts pointing at Holland and shouting something.
Poulter unsheaths the katana and threatens Mifune with it.
Powell yells at Poulter, but Mifune snatches the katana and stabs Holland in the throat. Poulter and Powell subdue Mifune. Powell also pulls Poulter off of him to keep him from killing MIfune.
Holland falls to the floor and Mescal cradles his head trying to cover up the wound yelling that it cut the artery [Note: Holland-Thing can’t play it off as a survivable injury]. Mescal calls for Hoffman. Holland cries and dies in Mescal's arms. Hoffman checks his pulse and confirms that he is dead.
Poulter tries to get to Mifune, but Powell holds him back and tells him to stand down.
Mescal feels something and pulls out two broken radio crystals from Holland’s pocket. Mescal accuses Mifune of planting them on Holland, but Powell argues that’s impossible.
Radcliffe says that Holland was speaking Japanese and maybe he’s working for them. Mescal tells Radcliffe to shut up.
Powell and Butler try to wrap their minds around why one of their own sailors would sabotage their radio and why their enemy would kill him for it.
Butler (quietly to Powell): “Even if Holland was a spy, why would the Jap kill him?”
Holland's body is brought into the forward torpedo room by Mescal and Poulter.
Mescal is distraught and asks for a couple minutes alone with the body. The room is a bit dark and moody.
Mescal pulls Holland’s dog tags and reaches into Holland’s pocket and finds the Betty Lighter. The sight of the lighter makes Mescal tear up.
Mescal seems confused, then he notices Holland’s wound looks strange. It looks like it is healing itself. He lights the Betty lighter to get a better look, but it slips out of his hand and onto the floor where the nearby blood scatters. He picks it up and moves it toward the blood, but it moves away from the flame.
Mescal thinks for a moment and then turns to leave when Holland quietly calls out to him. Mescal whips his head around.
We cut back to the leadership trying to talk to Mifune and understand what happened. Poulter comes in yelling about Mifune. Powell asks where Mescal is and Poulter said that he wanted a few minutes alone with Holland’s body. Powell says that they are in a possible sabotage situation and tells Chalamet to go get Mescal.
Cut back to Mescal. After hearing the seemingly dead-body speak, Mescal quickly turns around and goes to him saying that he thought he was dead. Holland whispers something, so Mescal gets closer until they are face to face and then Holland's hand slowly reaches up and grabs Mescal and pushes Mescal’s face into his where they begin to merge together. Mescal is unable to speak or move–he is completely helpless.
Chalamet walks in to see the assimilation in progress and freaks out. Dozens of tentacles are piercing Mescal’s body and pulsing.
Chalamet runs out and immediately closes the hatch to the room with Holland-Thing and Mescal, then runs to get the others.
As Powell and Butler rush out of the room, the camera tilts down to Holland-Thing’s pool of blood on the floor. Mifune yells something as they leave but Poulter holds him back. In front of the hatch, Chalamet tells them what he saw. Powell calls out to Mescal, but there’s no answer.
Powell tells Butler to open the hatch despite Chalamet’s protest. The hatch opens, revealing Holland-Thing laying “dead” where he had been and Mescal is now naked. Powell sees Mescal’s torn up clothes on the floor and asks Mescal what is going on.
Mescal says that there is something wrong with Holland’s blood, it was on his clothes, and that they should stay away. Chalamet protests, saying it’s not Mescal and Mescal says, “C’mon man, you know me! You told me about how Jane’s father called off the wedding and made her marry that asshole from his butcher shop!”
Poulter continues to hold Mifune down as Hoult watches by the door. They hear yelling and gunshots coming from the forward torpedo room. Mifune manages to say, “Fire!” emphatically. Poulter looks at Hoult and Hoult runs out toward the commotion.
Hoult sees Mescal-Thing and Holland-Thing mutated as Butler and Powell shoot at it and scream for help. The bullets seem to have little effect.
Hoult runs to the Galley where he picks up several bottles of “Torpedo Juice.”
Mescal-Thing and Holland-Thing merge into a larger creature. A tentacle whips around and slices Powell’s arm.
Hoult returns with the “Torpedo Juice,” yelling to set it on fire. Butler yells for the blowtorch. Hoult throws bottles at the creature and they break–dousing the creature in fuel. Radcliffe brings the blowtorch and they set the creature on fire. It screams as it burns and then collapses into a grotesque mess.
Hoffman runs in with fire extinguishers and puts out the flames. The crew coughs and gasps for air.
The top-hatch is opened and the smoke wafts out as the men huddle under the latter to the outside.
-Act 2A-
Hoffman cleans and bandages Powell’s wound while Chalamet stands guard. Hoffman says there is goo in the wound and suggests a quarantine. Powell says that it took 5 minutes to take over Mescal and that Chalamet said Mescal and Holland were fused together. Chalamet nods.
Powell says they can’t trust that Hoffman, Poulter, or Mifune aren’t also one of those Things. He needs to think. Powell tells Chalamet to take Hoffman back to the Wardroom.
Hoffman tells Powell to report any symptoms or signs of infection. Hoffman shares an uneasy look with Chalamet.
Hoult creates a weapon, rigging a blowtorch with open bottles of Torpedo Juice. The problem is that it only works once before you need to refill the bottles.
Powell and Butler interrogate Poulter in the Captain’s Quarters.
Poulter: “Holland, Hemsworth, and Garfield were sent to scout for any Jap survivors washed ashore. Holland said that they were ambushed after they found a large empty supply crate on the beach. Garfield was shot in the back and left behind. Holland was pinned down. Cavill heard the shots and sent me, Wolfhard, and Plummer as a reaction team. We never saw Hemsworth. When we got to Holland, no Japs were there.”
Butler: “Did you see Garfield?”
Poulter: “Yeah, he was just laying in the sand. It looked like one bullet hit him right in the spine. Then we heard satchel charges going off back at the perimeter. Tons of them. They were sitting ducks. Me and Wolfhard strafed around the perimeter clockwise and Holland and Plummer went counter-clockwise. It took a while, but we cleared the Japs. We didn’t see Holland or Hemsworth until the morning. I never found out what happened to Plummer, but I guess he didn’t make it.”
Powell: “What about Hoffman?”
Poulter: “We tried to help him with the wounded, but by the morning most everyone had died. Guys were missing arms and legs, torn up by shrapnel… “
Powell: “What was Holland doing then?”
Poulter: “He insisted Hoffman and Hemsworth went with him to retrieve Garfield’s body.”
Butler: “But they didn’t bring Garfield’s body back?”Poulter: “No, they all came back when they found the Jap Officer.”
Then Butler and Powell interrogate Hoffman.
Butler: “Did you notice anything off about Holland?”
Hoffman (thinks): “…no, nothing. I didn’t really see him much. I was on the beach treating the wounded. Holland went off with Hemsworth and Poulter and they came back with the Jap officer.”
Powell: “Poulter? Are you absolutely sure?”
Hoffman (thinks): “…I think so. I was a little busy. We lost a lot of guys overnight. It was dark. I thought Wolfhard was killed, but he was there that morning without a scratch on him.”
Butler: “And what about Cavill? Did he try to talk to the Jap officer?”
Hoffman: “Maybe tried to a little.”
Butler: “Why did he send you on the boat if there were so many wounded?”
Hoffman: “By the morning, there were only a handful of us left. The Jap officer got hit in the back of the head pretty hard when he was captured and Cavill wanted me to go along to make sure that he could be interrogated.”
Then Butler and Powell interrogate Mifune.
Butler: “What was your destination?” (the gesture with a map)
Mifune points to the islet on a map.
Powell (to Butler) “How did he know Holland was a Thing?”
Butler draws a stick figure and another stick figure stabbing it with a sword and taps the paper.
Mifune draws something grotesque over the stick figure of Holland, then draws more grotesque creatures and draws the borders of the island around them.
Butler, Powell, and Hoult have a private discussion.
Powell: “It imitated Holland and Mescal perfectly. They didn’t seem like anything was off about them, right?”
Hoult: “Not besides Mescal being naked.”
Butler: “His clothing was torn up on the floor. Chalamet said that Holland had all these tentacles going into Mescal’s body.”
Hoult: “If anyone is wearing different clothes, it’s a red flag.”
Powell: “How long did it take to imitate Mescal?”
Butler: “It must have been about three minutes before Chalamet found them and then it couldn’t have been more than two minutes after that when we saw Mescal.”
Powell: “They said that the Japs brought flamethrowers and satchel charges.”
Butler: “And hazmat suits.”
Hoult: “The Jap officer said ‘fire’.”
Powell: “But why would Holland sabotage the radio after we already called in the rescue ship?”
Butler: “Maybe he wanted to make sure it couldn’t be called off. The Japs knew what was going on. They came here to stop it from leaving the island. It took over Mescal in five minutes. What happens if it gets to the mainland?”
Radcliffe and Powell go up top to receive the Morse Code message from the islet. Radcliffe says that message says that they need food.
Butler, Powell, and Hoult discuss that it could be Things trying to coax them to the islet. There was no mention of the Thing. They decide that they’ll have Butler and Hoult go to the islet and lie and tell the American survivors that everything is fine in order to get any Things to let their guard down.
The plan is to get the accounts from the islet survivors to determine whether Hoffman or Poulter is telling the truth. Regardless, they acknowledge that both Hoffman and Poulter’s accounts place Hemsworth with Holland.
Butler: “Both Hoffman and Poulter accused the other of going with Holland and Hemsworth.”
Powell: “Yeah, both Hoffman and Poulter place him with Holland.”
Butler: “We can’t let him know what we’re doing. We need him relaxed enough to say if it was Hoffman or Poulter who was with him.”
Hoult: “You think Hemsworth is one of those Things?”
Powell: “...when you get there, meet up with Cavill and Wolfhard before you start probing Hemsworth. You don’t know if he’ll turn into one of those Things before you have something to burn him with.”
Chalamet is guarding Hoffman and Poulter from outside the Wardroom. Hoffman asks Chalamet to come in. Chalamet enters with the torch weapon.
Hoffman starts quietly talking to Poulter and Chalamet about Powell’s arm and the possibility of infection through contamination and how he learned about how sepsis spreads.
Chalamet is obviously rattled about what he saw with Mescal’s assimilation.
As they are leaving, Butler and Hoult acknowledge to Powell their status can’t be verified when they come back.
In the raft, Butler and Hoult see a lone figure waiting for them on the beach. Hoult: “Who is it?”
Butler (with binoculars): “It’s Hemsworth.”
On the island, Hemsworth stoically greets Butler & Hoult and helps hide the raft in the foliage.
Hemsworth asks if Mifune said anything. Butler says that he hasn’t said anything worth a damn.
Butler asks Hemsworth how they found Mifune. Hemsworth says they found him cowering in a hole. It seems both Poulter & Hoffman were lying (Hemsworth says they both went with him and Holland)
Butler asks Hemsworth what happened the previous night.
Butler asks Hemsworth where his jacket is.
Hemsworth tugs on his ear as he says that Garfield died and he covered him with the jacket out of respect.
Hemsworth says he turned his grief into rage and found a Jap and made him suffer.
Hemsworth hears something and has them duck down. He realizes it’s nothing and has them get back up and says that there’s still a Jap out there.
We see Nakadai watching from a hiding place.
Hemsworth tells Butler that he has a surprise for him. Butler asks what and Hemsworth says, “You’ll see.”
Hemsworth brings Hoult and Butler to Cavill and Wolfhard who have a Japanese prisoner, Shishido. They are packing up to move camps.
Cavill tells Butler that they were attacked by two Japs a few hours after the others left for the Sub with Mifune and Spiegel was killed, but it was weird because it was like they knew exactly where our blind spot was. They weren’t counting on Hemsworth having gone to take a leak with the Thompson machine gun. Cavill says they caught one Jap, but the other got away. Butler asks where Wolfhard was and Cavill says that it was his turn to go up the hill and watch for Jap reinforcements coming from the North.
They show Butler the flamethrower and grenades Shishido had. “Ours now.”
Butler grills Cavill and Wolfhard about the previous night. Cavill is rattled and has hearing damage.
Butler: “Hoffman said they had hazmat gear on.”
Cavill: “Yeah, they killed everyone. We’re all that’s left. The Japs definitely don’t want us here. They’re hiding something that could turn the tide of the war. I think it is some kind of chemical bomb or gas.”
Wolfhard: “Think about it. They probably have flamethrowers to burn the residue. We could be exposed to some shit right now.”
Hoult: “Do you have any symptoms?”
Wolfhard: “I feel fine.”
Wolfhard quietly tells Butler that Holland, Hoffman, and Poulter were acting strange. Butler asks how so and Wolfhard says that he can’t quite put his finger on it, but they seemed ‘off’ and maybe it’s nothing. Butler pushes and Wolfhard says that after they came back together, they seemed different–like they didn’t care what just happened to all our friends–Poulter was so excited to be carrying around that katana.
We see Nakadai writing Japanese on a piece of paper before burning the dead bodies with a flamethrower.
On the outskirts of the dead, the camera pushes in on the face of one corpse–Plummer.
Back on the sub, Powell calls Chalamet into his quarters alone. Looks at his watch and says that Mescal took about five minutes to be assimilated, so they’ll talk for two and he’ll go back and check on Radcliffe.
He asks Chalamet exactly what he saw when Mescal was getting assimilated.
Chalamet: “They were fusing together and Holland was flattened out with tentacles everywhere–in his nose, mouth. He looked paralyzed and unable to make any noise. He looked right at me with a look of helpless agony on his face.” He breaks down.
Powell tells Chalamet that he needs to remember that only them and Radcliffe are the verified humans. If Butler and Hoult come back, they can’t be verified. Powell says that if anything happens to him, Chalamet is in charge. If the island sends up a flare at dawn or dusk, he needs to find a way to dive the sub. Chalamet looks at Powell’s bandage and agrees.
Chalamet notices that Powell has charts and tools laid out on his desk.
Chalamet tells Poulter and Hoffman that Powell is acting strange, but he doesn’t know what’s going on. Poulter says they need to take control before it’s too late, Hoffman agrees. Chalamet is unsure.
Back on the island, Butler, Hoult (with flamethrower), and Hemsworth arrive at the original camp. The camp is littered with the bodies of the sub crew. They see that the bodies are smouldering. “That other Jap has been busy.”
It looks like their supply crates have been destroyed by the explosions.
They leave and walk through the jungle when Hemsworth hears something. He motions for Butler and Hoult to follow. They see some movement in a bush–it could be Nakadai.
Hemsworth pulls the branches back to reveal Plummer, clothing torn, cowering.
Plummer seems shaken by the events of last night.
Butler and Hoult look at each other.
Back at the camp, Butler asks Plummer about what he saw. Plummer says that, after they found Holland and Garfield’s body, they did a staggered strafe around the perimeter to kill the Japs attacking. Plummer says that he fell down a hill and hit his head. When he woke up, a Jap was stalking around with a flamethrower so he hid.
Butler privately tells Hoult that he thinks Plummer is a Thing, but Hoult is not so sure. Butler tells him to follow his lead.
Butler commands the others to drop their weapons and step away from Plummer. He tells Hoult to guard the others.
Cavill questions what’s going on. Butler tells Cavill that he is about to demonstrate and walks toward Plummer with the flamethrower, but it’s not lighting. Wolfhard yells to Butler to wait. Plummer freaks out and begs not to be burned.
The group yells back and forth. Cavill pulls out his Very Pistol and fires the flare at Butler, knocking him to the ground. The others challenge Hoult knowing he won’t shoot them.
They rush over and tackle Butler who yells that they are making a mistake.
Butler is tied up sitting against a log next to Shishido. Hoult comes over to bring Butler water and whispers that he would also be tied up if he continued helping.
Cavill & Wolfhard are going to go send a message to the sub about what happened and that they need to get Plummer back to the Sub for medical attention.
Butler says “Jesus Christ” and Caville chastises him for the blasphemy.
Butler argues that Plummer doesn’t have a scratch on him and doesn’t that seem weird.
Cavill & Wolfhard leave.
Hemsworth says that they need a signal flare for Jap reinforcements now that Cavill shot their last one at Butler.
Plummer says that Garfield had some flares and that he needs someone to go with him to get them.
Hoult volunteers to go with Plummer, but asks Hemsworth for the flamethrower. Hemsworth gives him a gun instead, saying that a flamethrower won’t do any good against the rogue Jap, plus all he’d need to do is shoot the canister.
Hoult gives Butler one last look before he goes off alone with Plummer-Thing.
Back on the sub, Chalamet sees Radcliffe tightening hatch dogs, checking seals, and closing off access between compartments. Chalamet asks what he’s doing. Radcliffe says Powell ordered him to make sure the compartments can be sealed fast if needed.
Chalamet looks down and sees chalk marks or grease-pencil marks on the bulkhead showing which compartments get shut first.
Chalamet returns to Poulter and Hoffman saying that he thinks Powell is locking the sub down and is going to flood compartments. Poulter asks why and Hoffman says that he’s going to try and kill the humans. Chalamet agrees that they need to mutiny now, [but asks how he would know if they were a Thing or not].
They need to surprise Radcliffe, too, just in case and then invite him to their side
Back on the island, Hoult and Plummer-Thing walk through the jungle. Plummer-Thing appeals to Hoult’s doubts by talking about specifics related to their relationship.
On the way to the beach, Cavill & Wolfhard find Nakadai writing in the red notebook. They sneak up on him, but Nakadai hears them, drops the notebook, and runs. Wolfhard grabs the notebook and they chase after him while shooting at him.
Nakadai leads them past a mutated burnt corpse that freaks them both out, making them question what is going on,
Cavill yells, “Jesus Fucking Christ!”
but they keep chasing Nakadai.
Plummer-Thing notices a change in Hoult and asks Hoult for some water from his canteen. He reaches his hand out as Hoult slowly walks over to hand him the canteen, but when Hoult gets close, he sees within Plummer’s open jacket–the same red patch he sewed for another sailor. Hoult bolts. Plummer chases after him asking what’s wrong.
Plummer-Thing chases Hoult to the beach and into the surf. Plummer-Thing is obviously outed, but keeps his human-form while yelling details about their friendship.
Plummer-Thing finally catches up to Hoult in the surf and attempts to assimilate him, but something is wrong. His tentacles weaken in the saltwater and his body melts and deforms as the saltwater splashes him.
He rolls off of Hoult and stumbles away from the water. Still drenched, he garbles to Hoult that he is okay now, as his face struggles to come back into place. He pleads with Hoult to come out of the water, saying that he needs help.
Just then, Nakadai runs up behind him and torches him and Plummer-Thing screams and mutates. Hoult comes out of the surf thanking Nakadai for saving him, but Nakadai screams at him in Japanese and points his flamethrower at him. Hoult puts his hands out, but Nakadai fires the flamethrower at Hoult, who screams and rolls into the water.
Suddenly, a gunshot pierces the gas canister strapped to Nakadai’s back, causing the fuel to spray out and ignite. Nakadai screams as he burns diving to the ground to put out the flames. Cavill and Wolfhard run up the beach to see Hoult badly burnt but alive.
As they drag the screaming Hoult up the beach, they look over to see Plummer-Thing’s mutated corpse.
Back on the sub, Chalamet tells Radcliffe that he needs his gun. Radcliffe hands it over and Chalamet apologizes as Hoffman and Poulter come around the corner. Radcliffe asks what’s going on and Chalamet says that Powell is trying to kill us and that he’s been contaminated and he’s turning into one of those things. Radcliffe strongly disagrees saying that they can’t trust Hoffman and Poulter.
Powell sits at his desk looking at charts when there is a knock at his door. He says to come in and Chalamet and Poulter come in with guns and tell Powell to sit still. Powell says that they are making a mistake. They tell Powell that they don’t want to hurt him and tell him to go to the Wardroom where Radcliffe is tied up next to Mifune.
-Act 2B-
Back on the island, Wolfhard and Cavill drag Hoult back to the camp. Butler yells for them to untie him and they do. As Butler goes to him, Cavill tells Hemsworth that they got the Jap and Hemsworth asks where Plummer is. Hoult tells Butler that Plummer was a Thing and that it couldn’t take him over in the saltwater. Hoult tells Butler that he’s not going to make it and says that he wants to be mercy-killed. Butler demands a gun and Cavill gives it to him. Butler shoots Hoult in the head.
After shooting Hoult, Butler turns around and yells at the others saying that he told them Plummer was one of those Things. Cavill grabs Shishido and forces him to look at Hoult and presses a gun against his head and says, “I say we shoot him.” Butler yells at him to let him go, saying, “No one is shooting the Jap.”
Hemsworth asks what Butler is talking about and what happened to Plummer. Wolfhard says, “There’s something you both need to see.”
Cavill & Wolfhard show the others the burnt mutated Japanese-Thing corpse.
We join them in mid-conversation. Cavill says, “Holland was one of them?”. Butler says, “Yeah, he played dead. I think only fire can kill it. And then Holland got to Mescal and imitated him perfectly before we burned them both. The only thing that was different was that his clothes were torn up. It tears your clothes apart when it takes you over.”
Then Butler realizes the Japanese were playing a different game. They weren’t trying to figure out who the Thing was. They were trying to make sure nobody got off that island alive. That’s why they attacked the camp the way they did. That’s why Mifune killed Holland.
But the American rescue ship is still coming. If they don’t uncover the remaining Things before it arrives, the Thing could get out. Butler says
Butler: “It wants to pass as one of us and get off the island. If the rescue ship gets here before we know who’s human, this Thing wins. The rescue crew will separate us, treat the wounded, and start moving men ship to ship before they understand what they were dealing with. The imitation is so perfect that no one would think anything was wrong. By the time anyone believes them, it could already be too late.”
Cavill: “The Japs know what’s going on. They’re coming to burn everyone.”
Wolfhard: “So we’re supposed to be burned alive?”
Hemsworth: “At least then, the Thing loses.”
Wolfhard pulls out the notebook, but it just has Japanese writing on it. They show it to Shishido and ask what it says. Cavill protests because they could be showing the enemy a secret message.
Cavill: “It could say to kill us all!”
Butler: “He’s in no position to do anything.”
Shishido tugs on his clothing and counts on his fingers. He points at the Japanese-Thing corpse and counts 1 then points back toward the beach and counts 2, then looks at the paper and counts 3, and 4, then tugs on his clothing miming ripping it.
He points to a section of the note at the end and points off toward the submarine and then tries to say something that they don’t understand. [Note: the real thing he is saying is that it is different handwriting]
Cavill asks what Shishido’s talking about and Butler says that the Thing rips through your clothes when it takes you over and that he knew Plummer was a Thing when he saw that he was wearing another sailors shirt.
Butler: “They were counting those Things based off of how many corpses were missing clothes. That’s what he’d been doing, he was counting and then burning the corpses. This one and Plummer are two, Holland was 3, there’s one more.”
They each look at each other. Wolfhard grips his rifle.
Each man looks at the others and they all grip their weapons. Hemsworth begins to raise his flamethrower. Cavill starts to pull his sidearm and the others follow immediately, creating a standoff.
Cavill defends his men saying that he’d know if they were different, but Butler says it’s impossible to tell if someone is an imitation. Wolfhard argues that Holland-Thing got to the sub, so Butler or Hoult could’ve been infected too. He says Shishido was pointing to the sub.
Hemsworth argues that Butler tried to kill Plummer-Thing.
Shishido can only watch helplessly.
Cavill tells everyone to lower their weapons and says that they are going off a piece of paper written by a Jap and half-explained by another Jap. Hemsworth says that the Japs want them to kill each other. They don’t know what reason Nakadai would think it’s on the sub. Hemsworth says that Butler tried to kill Plummer and Plummer tried to take Hoult and that he doesn’t think Butler is infected. Hemsworth lowers the flamethrower.
Butler asks if anyone has any identifying markings on their clothes that prove they are wearing the same clothes they came to the island with. Cavill says he’s wearing an officer’s uniform. Butler says it helps, but there were other officers on the island.
Hemsworth pulls up his chambray shirt to reveal his lucky ‘Notre Dame’ sweater underneath. Butler motions for Hemsworth to come to his side and he does.
Cavill reluctantly lowers his gun and motions Wolfhard to do the same. They drop their guns and kick them over to the others.
Hemsworth suggests simply burning their arms to see if they mutate. Wolfhard freaks out, yelling to Butler asking if he’s going to let Hemsworth call the shots.
Butler tells Wolfhard to relax and nobody’s burning anybody until they figure out who’s who.
Butler tells Hemsworth that he needs to talk to him privately.
Butler asks Hemsworth if he noticed anything strange about Holland or Plummer at all. Hemsworth says that he didn’t see Plummer after that night and assumed that he was killed.
Hemsworth says that there is something he needs to tell Butler.
Hemsworth says that the next morning he, Poulter, Hoffman, and Holland split up to do a sweep of the island. He says that they split up. He didn’t want anyone to know that he was going back to Garfield’s body to get his jacket because he left the Betty Lighter in the pocket along with his rosary beads. Butler asks how he got the lighter and Hemsworth said that Holland let him borrow it that morning. He knew how important the lighter was to everyone and didn’t want to be the one to lose it.
But when he got to the spot, Garfield’s body was missing his clothes. Hemsworth says that he thought it was the Japs trying to humiliate him. Butler asks if his body was burned and Hemsworth says no. Butler asks why he didn’t tell anyone and Hemsworth says that he had left Garfield to die alone because he couldn’t handle seeing Garfield die and he was ashamed that he was going back to get his jacket.
Butler pulls out the Betty Lighter and says that Holland had the Betty Lighter in his pocket when they got back to the sub. Hemsworth: “Do you think Holland was the one that stripped Garfield?”
Butler: “Maybe, but regardless, this means we need to go see if Garfield’s body was burned.”
Butler asks Hemsworth if he knew Holland spoke Japanese. He says no. Butler says to Hemsworth that this Thing was a Jap–if he assimilated Holland, then maybe that’s how Holland knew Japanese.
Back on the sub, Powell, Radcliffe, and Mifune are tied up.
Chalamet has the torch weapon and is “in charge” as the only verified Human on their side.
Hoffman says they need some kind of test to prove who is human
Back on the island, They get to Garfield’s body and find it naked with Garfield’s original jacket nearby with a bullet hole and blood in the back. Butler says that Garfield’s body hasn’t been burned, meaning there is a 5th Thing.
Butler sees the bullet wound in Garfield’s naked back and holds up the jacket to see the bullet hole in it. Butler says that Garfield was shot in the back and whoever stole his clothes is hiding the bullet hole in the back of Garfield’s shirt with Hemsworth’s jacket. Holland wasn’t wearing a jacket and Plummer was wearing the other sailor’s red-patched shirt, so neither of them had the bullet hole. Someone else stole Garfield’s clothes.
They turn to Wolfhard and tell him to turn around and remove his jacket. Wolfhard reluctantly complies and when his jacket is removed, it reveals a normal chambray shirt without a bullet-hole.
Butler says that either Poulter or Hoffman has the bullet hole in his shirt. They could both be Things, but one of them definitely is.
The revelation with Garfield’s missing clothes proves there is a 5th Thing, so two Things have not been revealed. That raises the odds that Wolfhard or Cavill are infected. Cavill’s officer uniform doesn’t rule him out because there were other officers on the island.
Cavill silently stares at Garfield’s corpse.
Back on the sub, Poulter asks Hoffman if there is a way to test their blood. Chalamet asks if Holland-Thing’s blood looked different. Chalamet notices that Holland’s blood is no longer on the floor. He asks if anyone cleaned it up and they say no.
Chalamet: “Well it didn’t just get up and walk away.”
Chalamet takes Hoffman to the Forward Torpedo Room where Holland-Thing and Mescal-Thing’s corpses are. Chalamet uses the torch to see and it looks like blood is pooling under the corpses, Hoffman asks for the torch and Chalamet reluctantly gives it to him. He kneels down and as the flame gets closer to the blood, it scatters. They both jump back. Chalamet says, “The blood’s alive.”
Butler tells Hemsworth that they know there’s a Thing on the sub and there could be one left on the island. Wolfhard says that the Jap could be lying about what it says and for all they know he’s a Thing. Wolfhard continues saying that the Japs unleashed this disease on us and, on top of that, they killed most of the crew, burned them alive, blew body parts off leaving them to slowly die overnight crying for their mothers, shot Garfield in the back, killed Spiegel–
Cavill can’t take it anymore, he grabs Shishido and throws him in the dirt and says he doesn’t care if he is one of those things or not. He tells Hemsworth to blast him with the flamethrower. Butler tells Hemsworth to stand down, but Cavill tells him to do it now. Butler says he is the senior officer and he has given a direct order.
Back on the island, Wolfhard tells Hemsworth that they don’t know what happened on the sub because Butler didn’t tell them. Wolfhard says, “what if everyone on the sub is one of those Things now? Butler could have easily changed his clothes on the sub.” Hemsworth says that Butler tried to kill Plummer. Wolfhard says it could be to throw them off. Butler tells Hemsworth not to listen to Wolfhard.
While everyone is distracted, Shishido breaks free from his hand-ties and grabs the notebook from Cavill and dives to the ground with it. Cavill jumps on Shishido, trying to get to the notebook. Shishido looks like he’s desperately trying to write something. Cavill grabs onto the notebook and he and Shishido both yank on opposite ends. Butler grabs Cavill and pulls him off of Shishido. The notebook breaks free and lands open on the ground. Cavill yells to blast Shishido now, but Hemsworth is frozen, staring at the open notebook. Everyone looks down and stops.
We see the notebook open to the missing page and, on the next page, there is a smear of graphite revealing a partial imprint left behind from the missing page.
Butler picks up the notebook and gestures for Shishido to give him the pencil, which he does. Butler continues shading the page, revealing a map with a circle around where their camp was.
Hemsworth asks what it is and Butler says it’s a map of the island showing the location of their camp. Butler says that there is some writing in Japanese and an arrow and shows Hemsworth and Hemsworth says, “Fuck, that’s our blindspot. How did the Japs know about that?” Cavill yells to blast Shishido saying that they killed Spiegel. Butler asks Hemsworth if they set up the camp before or after the others left and he says after.
Butler says somebody gave the Japs a map.
Cavill doesn’t know what to do with this information.
Hemsworth slowly raises the flamethrower toward Cavill.
Hemsworth: “Fuck. You just tried to kill the Jap.”
Cavill: “Yeah, because his buddy just torched Hoult.”
Hemsworth: “Or maybe it’s because you knew he could read what was in the notebook.”
Cavill: “Wait. What are you talking about? How would I give the map to the Japs?”
Hemsworth: “You could have left it near the bodies for them to find.”
Wolfhard: “Maybe the Jap followed us and drew it.”
Cavill: “Then how’d he know about the blindspot?”
Hemsworth: “Because one of you told him.”
Cavill: “Wolfhard wasn’t even there during the attack.”
Wolfhard: “You sent me to the lookout, sir. Hemsworth, c’mon. Put it down. Let’s think this through. Chief’s not one of them. Right Chief?”
Cavill (to Wolfhard): “It’s you. You knew what the lookout rotation would be.”
Wolfhard: “I didn’t even know where the blindspot was.”
Cavill: “Yes you did! This is bullshit! Butler, are you going to tell Hemsworth to stand down? I’d know if I were one of those things. You said it tears up your clothes. Where am I going to find another in-tact officer uniform? Why would it even want the Japs to kill us?”
Butler (deep breath): “It wants to get on the rescue ship. It could have been trying to get rid of the Japs. Or maybe it just wanted less people around to figure out what it’s doing.”
Wolfhard: “Even if Cavill did draw the map, it doesn’t mean he’s one of those Things.”
Cavill: “I didn’t draw the fucking map!”
Hemsworth (to Butler): “Oh shit, should I blast them both?”
Butler: “How did you guys find the notebook?”
Cavill: “Wolfhard picked it up when the Jap fled.”Wolfhard: “And I gave it to Cavill.”
Butler: “Was it missing a page when Wolfhard gave it to you?”Cavill: “I don’t fucking know! This is crazy! Why would I invite the Japs to kill me?”
Wolfhard: “Well, they didn’t kill you, but they got Spiegel.”
Cavill lunges at Wolfhard and tackles him to the ground.
Wolfhard yells that Cavill is the Thing. Butler yells for Cavill to stop and tries to pull Cavill off Wolfhard, but Cavill elbows Butler hard in the face, knocking him back.
Cavill begins strangling Wolfhard and Hemsworth yells to stop.
Wolfhard looks at Hemsworth with fear in his eyes and Hemsworth pulls out his sidearm pistol and fires several shots into Cavill knocking him to the ground.
Wolfhard gasps for air and gets up and begins to walk over to Cavill’s body.
Butler tells him to stay away from Cavill.
Wolfhard asks where the Jap is and they look around to see that Shishido is nowhere to be found. Butler tells Wolfhard to forget about it and ties him up and has him sit on a log.
Butler says they need to burn Cavill’s body, but Hemsworth says they need the flare gun. Butler slowly goes over to Cavill’s body. Tension builds as Butler anticipates the possibility that Cavill will get up at any moment. As he reaches for the flare gun, he notices something purple peeking out from Cavill’s breast pocket. He pulls it out and it’s the Madame Butterfly matchbook. He stares at it. Hemsworth asks what’s up and he turns and shows the matchbook saying, “Cavill didn’t change clothes.”
They both look at Wolfhard who begins twitching and mutating. Butler yells to Hemsworth to burn him. Hemsworth tries firing the flamethrower, but it doesn’t work–just spraying fuel at Wolfhard who grotesquely mutates as he moves toward Hemsworth. Hemsworth says it’s the pilot light.
Butler frantically tries to light the matches from the matchbook with no success before reaching for the flare gun and firing a flare directly into Wolfhard-Thing who bursts into flames. Hemsworth continues spraying fuel onto Wolfhard-Thing as he collapses in a ball of flames.
Butler tells Hemsworth to burn Cavill’s body just in case and tosses him the Betty lighter. Hemsworth uses the Betty lighter as a pilot-light for the flamethrower and Hemsworth burns Cavill’s body.
As Wolfhard-Thing and Cavill’s bodies burn, Hemsworth and Butler discuss what to do about Shishido.
Hemsworth: “He can’t be one of those Things, right? Not when he’s tried to help us kill it.”
Butler stares off into the ocean behind Hemsworth.
Hemsworth turns around asking what it is and sees it. A small black dot on the horizon.
Hemsworth grabs his binoculars and raises them to his face.
Hemsworth: “Oh shit. It’s us. What do we do?”
Butler: “We have to get back to the sub now.”
Hemsworth: “What if they are all Things? What do we do then?”
Butler: “I don’t know.”
Back on the sub, the men’s blood is collected in short glasses positioned in front of each person in the Wardroom. Poulter, Powell, Radcliffe, and Mifune have their hands tied behind their backs. Chalamet stands guard with the blowtorch weapon.
We see that Powell has managed to get free of his ties, but he acts like he is still tied up.
Poulter demands to know why he is tied up. Radcliffe is angry too, saying that they know he’s human. Poulter argues that he shouldn’t be tied up if Hoffman isn’t. Radcliffe yells that he doesn't want to be tied up next to Poulter. They all start yelling and Radcliffe manages to get up and knock Hoffman to the ground. Poulter tries to get up and Chalamet grabs him while trying to balance the torch weapon and ensure it doesn’t spill. Hoffman subdues Radcliffe. Hoffman and Chalamet lift Radcliffe together and place him back in his seat next to Poulter.
When they get him back in his seat, we see Powell staring at the glass in front of him. Hoffman yells that everyone is getting tested–even Chalamet and Radcliffe so that we are all on the same page.
First, is Chalamet. Hoffman heats up a butter knife with the torch’s flame and dips it in Chalamet’s sample. There is a slight hiss as some smoke rises. Hoffman says that Chalamet is negative.
Everyone is sweating from the heat of Chalamet’s torch.
Next, is Hoffman. Hoffman heats up a butter knife and dips it in his sample. Hiss. Chalamet says that Hoffman is negative.
Next, they test Mifune. He is negative as well. Poulter says, “C’mon, the Jap is negative? And I’m supposed to believe this?”
Then they test Powell. He is also negative. Hoffman looks confused. Chalamet says that Powell is clean. Powell looks at Hoffman and says, “Not what you expected?” Hoffman looks at Poulter. Poulter has a thousand-yard stare now.
Radcliffe says, “Can we get this shit over with!?” Hoffman gestures to Chalamet and says “alright, your turn” and looks over to Poulter who is still staring into space. Hoffman dips the hot knife into the glass and the blood jumps and squeals. Everyone is shocked. Chalamet screams and fumbles with the torch. Hoffman yells, “Wait!” but it’s too late. Chalamet pulls Radcliff onto the floor and douses him with the torch weapon. Radcliffe bursts into flames screaming in pain and writhes on the floor. They yell to put him out and Chalamet and Hoffman rush over and smother the flames, but Radcliffe is dead.
Powell leaps up and grabs Hoffman from behind with his forearm around his neck. Hoffman looks down at the bandage on Powell’s arm, now touching his face.
Act 3
Butler and Hemsworth are on the raft approaching the sub when they see smoke coming out of the Sub’s top hatch.
Hoffman argues that Powell switched his sample with Radcliffe and that he’s the Thing. Powell argues against this. Chalamet is freaking out, but his torch weapon has been spent.
At this moment, Butler and Hemsworth arrive. They drop down and Butler points his gun and Hemsworth points his flamethrower. Butler asks what happened and Poulter says that Chalamet burned Radcliffe and he’s human. Chalamet is falling apart. Hoffman yells for Butler to shoot Powell but Powell yells that it’s Hoffman. Butler says that they are human and Poulter says, “Bullshit”.
Hemsworth shows his Notre Dame sweater. Hoffman says he could have been contaminated like Powell. Butler argues, “Then everyone is contaminated.”
Hemsworth says that the American rescue ship is coming and that if they stay on the surface then the Thing wins. Hemsworth tells them to dive and they all look at each other for a beat and then Powell gives the order to dive and everyone runs to their stations.
In the Control Room, the crew frantically gets to work.
Powell (to Butler): “Radcliffe’s gone, I need you to work the dive controls.”
Butler rushes to the controls.
Powell: “Rig ship for dive!”
Hoffman glances at the board.Hoffman: “Still one red!”
Powell (to Hemsworth): “Get me green across the board or we’ll be breathing seawater!”
Hemsworth immediately takes off the flamethrower, drops it on the floor next to Butler, and sprints out of the room with Poulter. Hemsworth and Poulter secure the hatches.
The red light on the Christmas tree flips green.
Hoffman: “Green board!”
Powell: “Open the vents!”
The hull creaks. Everything begins sliding to one side of the room.
Butler: “She’s heavy forward!”
The flamethrower skids across the floor and bangs against the wall next to Hoffman.
Powell: “Ease the bubble! Stern planes!”
Butler fights the controls. He’s in over his head.
Powell: “Level her! Stop overcorrecting!”
Powell rushes over and starts working the dive controls. The hull moans, but slowly the level is corrected and everyone breathes a sigh of relief.
Butler looks over to see Hoffman with the flamethrower at his feet.
Hemsworth and Poulter arrive back in the control room.
Butler and Hemsworth make a beeline to Hoffman as Hoffman picks up the flamethrower. Butler puts his hand out. Hoffman looks at Butler’s hand and then hands the flamethrower to Hemsworth instead.
Butler tells Hoffman to turn around and remove his jacket and there is no bullet-hole in his shirt, so attention turns to Poulter.
Hoffman says they need to do a new test. Powell yells, “and who’s gonna run it?”
The hull of the sub continues to creak and moan.
Poulter starts freaking out not knowing what they are looking for. Butler yells at Poulter to remove his jacket right now. Poulter demands to know why, yelling that Chalamet just fried Radcliffe who was human. Hemsworth yells at him to do it or he’ll burn him. Poulter lunges at Hemsworth and pulls on the flamethrower. Butler shoots Poulter in the head and Poulter drops to the floor.
Hemsworth says to stand back because he’s going to burn the body, but Powell says they’ll suffocate if he starts burning bodies without the top hatch open.
Butler wants to see if the bullet-hole is under Poulter’s jacket.
Hoffman argues that Holland-Thing played dead and it is too dangerous to go touch him. Powell says to burn his blood to see if it reacts.
Just then, there is a deep metallic groan. Screws begin to explode violently causing saltwater to spray into the sub.
Chalamet looks at the gauge and gasps.
Chalamet: “We’re still dropping!”
They look over to the depth gauge and the needle is already in the red and falling.
Powell: “She’s not answering depth. Controls!”
The men scramble back to their stations.
Chalamet: “Oh shit! We’re going to implode!”
Chalamet clinches his eyes shut.
Powell runs back to the dive controls.
Butler: “C’mon, blow negative!”
Poulter: “Not yet! Level the bow!”
Powell ignores them–holding his breath as he works.
The hull continues to violently creak.
Butler: “Ballast, now!”
Powell yanks the lever to shoot the ballast. A violent roar of air blasts through the sub.
They all look at the depth gauge.
For a beat, nothing. Then the needle on the gage starts to inch back up.
Powell (exhales): “She’s answering.”
Once the sub has reached a safer depth, Butler tells Hemsworth that they need to know if Poulter was the Thing and says that the saltwater in the compartment complicates things because they don’t know if his blood will react. Hemsworth says, “Poulter was number 5.”
Butler wants to check Poulter’s shirt and makes a plan with Hemsworth to go in and cut the jacket off while Hemsworth watches with the flamethrower. Butler tells Hemsworth he’s going to go look for something to cut Poulter’s jacket off. Butler leaves.
In the Control Room, Hemsworth orders the distraught Chalamet to tie up Hoffman and Powell. Chalamet ties up Hoffman and then Powell. Powell tells Chalamet that he is his captain and orders Chalamet to do what he says. Hoffman argues that Powell is infected. Hemsworth holds the gun on them and tells Chalamet to finish up and then go bring Mifune in.
Chalamet finishes and leaves. Hoffman tells Hemsworth that Powell switched the glasses and Hemsworth tells him to shut up.
Then Chalamet returns, saying that Mifune is missing.
Elsewhere, Butler looks through various cabinets and comes across a Chambray shirt stuffed in a drawer. He pulls it out to see that it has the bullet-hole on the back. He’s shocked. Butler quickly turns to go tell the others, but sees Mifune standing there, free and holding his unsheathed katana. Mifune stabs Butler in the stomach.
Hemsworth stalks around the Sub looking for Mifune when he hears a noise. He goes to investigate and finds Butler bleeding out. Butler whispers that it could be Hoffman when Mifune sneaks up behind Hemsworth. Butler’s eyes widen and Hemsworth turns around just in time to grab the blade as it pierces his ribcage. Hemsworth grabs Mifune by the neck with both hands and squeezes. Mifune twists the blade and Hemsworth grits his teeth as we hear Mifune’s throat begin to collapse before they both fall to the floor dead.
Chalamet leaves Hoffman and Powell tied up in the Control Room. He comes back wearing the flamethrower and says that they’re all dead.
Powell says that it would take at least two people to even have a chance of surfacing the sub.
Hoffman and Powell argue to Chalamet that the other is the Thing.
Hoffman says that Powell switched the blood samples. Powell says that he did switch the samples because Hoffman switched his.
They argue back and forth about who is the Thing, pressuring Chalamet to take action now, saying that the sub is going to implode.
Chalamet is panicking–pointing the flamethrower back and forth between Powell and Hoffman. As the tension reaches its peak, Chalamet pulls his sidearm pistol, points it under his chin, and pulls the trigger, killing himself. His body slumps backwards and then there is only the sound of the creaking hull.
Hoffman and Powell look at Chalamet’s dead body and then back to each other. Hoffman says, “So now what do we do?”
We cut to Poulter’s body laying in a few inches of salt water. The camera lingers for a little too long.
We cut to Butler, Hemsworth, and Mifune’s bodies. We hear the muffled conversation happening between Hoffman and Powell but can’t make out what they’re saying. We cut to a close-up of Betty on the floor, having fallen out of Hemsworth’s pocket.
We cut to the island. Shishido is hiding in the foliage. He looks out and sees the American ship has reached the location the submarine was. We hold on a close-up of Shishido’s face as he watches the ship.
And then a muddy hand comes in from behind and covers Shishido’s mouth. We’re still holding on Shishido’s face and then we hear a voice whisper in Japanese: “We’re saved.”
The hand melts into Shishido’s face, fusing to it. Shishido’s eyes dart around before a sudden wave of realization.
We cut to Spiegel’s now open grave and then fade to black.
The end.