There is darkness...
There is light.
There are men and women.
There's food.
There are restaurants.
Disease.
There's work.
Traffic.
Days, as we have known them.
The world, as we imagined the world.
How do you feel about heading home?
I've just fallen asleep.
You have? I haven't.
I have a tight time sleeping with someone else in bed.
You're kicking me out?
I have to go to work soon anyway.
We danced and drank all night, we go back at your place,
you fucked me, and now you wake me up and kick me out?
I can't sleep with another person in bed.
That's funny. -That's the way it is.
I didn't know you've started smoking again.
What do you feel like doing? -Throwing stones.
At what? -At seagulls.
Sweetheart...
-You'll find someone. -Shut up and throw.
I suppose I should go back to work.
Come.
Lebanon?
Moroccan.
That's funny. -What's funny?
Seeing you today. -It's hilarious.
Come with me for a minute, will you?
We're wanted in the hospital.
Aren't you going to ask me why I haven't come to work?
Have you been sick? -Not sick. Just not happy.
Well, it's the same thing.
Unhappy on account of men. -No kidding?
So, why are we wanted for?
-To see a patient. -Why?
What's going on?
We're just going to find out.
Well, you know, he is very pissed off.
Excuse me, when can we take him back home?
We just need to talk to him, and...
He needs to and explain the whole thing again? -Well...
Look. Listen... He called me and told he was coming home.
And then, all of a sudden his voice changes, and he bursed into tears.
And then he starts telling me that he doesn't see any meaning in life.
He's not usually like that.
He is a truck driver. -Okay.
Then he pulls over the side and says he's fine again.
He said, he can't smell anymore.
He can't smell anymore?
I told we'll find hospital. Because, you know, that isn't normal, is it?
Hello... Donald.
Stephen Montgomery here, again.
Hi, I'm Susan.
Hi, Stephen. Hi, Susan.
You can't smell anymore?
That's right, Susan. I can't smell anymore.
But is your mood back to normal?
I've been sitting here nearly eleven hours, my mood is not great.
But you don't feel any other discomfort, other than the lack of smell?
No, Susan.
And has anybody else in your family or work had similar experiences?
I haven't got a clue 'cause I'm sitting here, aren't I?
What do you want from me?
I just want your opinion. -I'm an epidemiologist, Stephen.
So why am I talking to this guy?
Because we have seven more just like him in Aberdeen.
Five in Dundee.
Eleven here in Glasgow ... Eighteen in Edinburgh.
About one hundred reported cases in England...
And then we got France, Belgium, Italy and Spain.
They all appeared in the last 24 hours.
How were they infected? -I'm not sure they are.
Meaning?
All the early indications suggest no connection between them at all.
No contact. No pattern. Nothing.
Is my wife still in there? Let me speak to my wife.
Please, let me speak to my wife.
Maybe we should just go.
So we won't panic.
Michael, that table of twelve just sat down.
Are they at the bar? -Yes, at the bar.
By the way, you're a true champion. What is the matter with you?
What are you talking about? We'll start with the table seven.
That girl was a sweetheart.
What girl?
You just fucked her and dumped her, didn't you? You're little baby.
Teresa, where are those salads?
Okay, one oysters, soup, an antipaste, two ducks and a stake rare.
Tell them to eat the breakfast.
Strawberries, heat the milk for the coffee.
They want to fuck the nice guy, they don't want to fuck the asshole.
How about those ravioli, boys? How long? Three minutes, chef. -Right, right, right.
Chef... -How do we know it's fresh?
We smell it? -No, check the eyes.
Eyes should be clear and gills should be red, not pink.
And the smell? -Fishy?
You should smell the fish, but if smells fishy than it's not fresh.
You should smell the sea. Do you smell the sea?
Mostly smells like fish.
Richard, get me another fucking sea basket.
One day...
One day, son, you'll be in love. And you'll be miserable.
Table seven! That's your karma. -All done!
Truly in love and miserable.
Richard, I need that pot back! Richard!
-Hi, Jen. -Hi, sweetheart.
Really?
Do you want to come with me? -Of course I do. -Great.
I can find someone else, if you're busy.
Don't worry, It may not be that serious.
I'll call you as soon as I know more. Ok?
Would you give me a cigarette? -I'm on the phone!
Who are you talking to? -It's nothing.
It's just a guy asking for cigarette.
Okay, okay, bye. -Have you got a light?
How about boarding and lodging?
No, I don't know your name. Do you have one, though?
Shit.
Oh, dear.
I'm Michael. I work at the restaurant, there.
All right, sailor.
-I am chef. -Good for you.
Come on, guys. What do we got?
We've checked all the Scottish cases but we have no obvious match.
There is no proteine mutating, no prions. Nothing.
There's nothing to say it's a virus.
There's nothing that matches anything we know.
But it is fair to say it isn't obviously that is contagious.
It's fair to say it's spreading. Okay.
It can be environmental, it could be a toxin
we know nothing about. It could be terrorism.
Okay, it's not contagion, I'll tell them...
It may disappear in a short way, and don't panic.
Maybe they put something in the water.
Overwhelmed with grief...
People are hit with all they have lost.
Lovers they never had...
All the departed friends...
The think of all the people they hurt...
First overwhelmed with grief.
And then no sense of smell.
That's a disease.
They called it "Severe Olfactory syndrome".
SOS.
This is obviously a cause for concern,
and requires a high state of alert.
But it's not a cause for alarm.
They say it is not contagious.
But who would believe that?
Nothing.
How should we call the night?
I do not know how what the fuck should we call it.
Let's go chase some pretty ladies.
You chase and I'll pick up the peaces.
I don't feel like it, James. -Come on!
That happens when you have too much high class fun.
Enjoying in the Europs finest.
I'm going to get Entonoks, quick! -What is that?
Entonoks. Laughing gas.
Richard, don't... You'll make him feel...
James, leave him alone. James!
I recommend it for you especially, sir. -James, put it back.
What? Wait, wait. Stop.
Smell my finger? -Yes, I smelled it.
How does it smell? -Oranges.
Wrong. Balls!
Man dead! Man dead! Quickly. Evacuate!
Good night. -See you later.
See you, boys. -Good night.
Keep smiling. -Buy, James.
Got your own smokes tonight, sailor?
I am still a chef.
My dad called everybody a sailor.
His worked in a dock all his life.
Never went sailing anywhere, but he called everybody a sailor.
All right.
Even the people he didn't know. Hello, sailor. Goodbye, sailor.
Well you can call me sailor if you like. Or Michael.
When I was a child, I found it really embarrassing.
Now I do it myself.
Are you hungry?
People aren't eating in restaurants these days, and we got a lot spare food.
This is...
Mac Fish. Fish is my thing.
Good?
I'm a bit greedy when I eat. -That's all right.
I had eating disorders when I was younger.
Trying to catch up.
What do you do ... when you're not eating?
Death and misery. -What?
I am an epidemiologist.
I'll get something sweet.
This is a mango jelly, and... chocolate macaroni. And...
I didn't make these, I don't know what the fuck it's called
but I think it's with coconut ... God...
All that sailor stuff, reminds me of him.
My dad.
I miss him so much...
We had so much fun together, he could always make me laugh.
I'm... Let me get you...
This is... This is clean. -Thank you.
I'm okay.
You're all right.
Do not stand so close. You don't know.
No, they say it's not contagious.
We do not know. That's just something we tell people.
Look... Would you like me to get you back to your home? Yes? Come on.
Take that cloth.
Hey!
It's gone.
The smell. All gone.
Well, I...
It was a crazy evening. -Yes.
Good morning.
Well, this has its benefits.
Yes.
We were in Algarve once, Maggie and me.
We came home, and found the freezer full of food made a power cut.
I've never smelled anything so disgusting in my life.
I'll never forget it.
Maybe you will.
I've met someone. -Okay.
I'm pathetic.
Not even sure I like him. -Okay.
Actually, I think he is a smooth asshole.
It will probably come back.
By the moment, our customers won't be able to smell, so...
Don't prepare light.
Bring out the big guns, all right?
Life goes on.
The food becomes spicy.
Salty.
More sweet.
More sour.
You get used to it.
The greater loss are all the memories that are no longer triggered.
Smell and memory were connected to the brain.
Cinnamon might have reminded you of your grandmother's apron.
The scent of cut hay could awoke a child who had a fear of cows.
Diesel oil might bring back memories of your first ferry crossing.
Without smell an ocean of past images disappears.
I'm off work. -Congratulations.
Are you okay? -Yes.
Any more news of death and misery? -Not really.
I was a really good smeller.
I bet you were. -I was!
Do you want a cigarette? -No, thanks.
Something else, then? -Like what?
Are you hungry? -No.
I can cook you something special.
Or buy you buy a lollipop.
We could go for a coffee and an apple pie and licorice.
A glass of wine? Some fresh air?
Come on!
My sister got married a few years ago, came to stay for a month...
And met a guy.
And then a good job came up.
And now, ladies and gentlemen ...
We'll call for a new smell. The scent of the forest after a spring rain.
We imagine a path underneath our feet.
We see that we moist colors surrounding us.
And we feel the wet branches, against our faces.
And now imagine...
We pass between the trees.
Come on.
And we begin joining in the air.
Deep inside and enjoy the moment.
Humidity level is high.
At the lower... There's the fungi, the water leaves.
In the middle is tall, fresh grass.
A crisp and almost invigorating scent.
And at the top, we feel not only the leaves and the rain,
but also, the sky.
On a day like this, we can smell the sky itself.
What should we do now?
Well now you can invite me back to your place.
I don't know if I want.
Well you can just start walking home and I'll follow you.
I should have made a better effort to sniff you
the first time you were lying here.
Pity.
What do you want? -What do I want?
Yes.
Soon I'd like to close my eyes and try to go to sleep.
Which is a big deal to me because usually I can't sleep in bed with someone.
I need to be by myself. Okay?
Now? -Now, yes. -You want me to leave?
I live here, so I guess you'll have to.
Now? -Yes, please.
Did I say something wrong?
Let me give you my card, in case you want to, you know...
call me or something. -You have a card?
I lead a catering company that doesn't do very well.
Not very many clients. Lots of cards.
You can call me. My number's there, and address.
I guess you know where I work, so...
Do you know this is the Day of the Lord? The prophesy has been spoken!
Do you pray?
Come back, if you will! This is the day of the prophesy!
Hello.
No flowers?
She loved flowers, Michael.
Ian got married.
In the church.
Apparently she is pregnant... his bride.
And what about this Michael?
What about him? -He sounds nice.
I do not know. I usually pick assholes.
They can't all be assholes. They just can't.
I'm trying to take care of myself.
Right. You do that a lot, don't you?
Fuck you, sailor!
Let me see...
What do you say? -One for you. And one for you.
Not just a soap. Big soap. Big soap.
Apparently. Big tobacco, big Cola,
for this coctail to start selling "Fruity flavour oxygen".
In order to create a proper market, we should need a big soap.
And the big soap will fill the environment with enough organophosphate
to temporarily disable your central nerve system.
That's why I stopped washing.
In case you are wandering what the smell was...
You're full of shit.
The Environmental Grief assures
the start of ecological apocalypse.
Caused by pollution and genetically modified plants and hormones.
Intelligent claims that it is an attack on the free world.
All indicators point the fundamentalists.
The fundamentalists talk of God's punishment on a world of unbelievers.
And promise that all pure people with the right faith
will regain their sense of smell, in the final days.
Others talk of a corruption in capitalist system,
Military virus to stimulate the economy.
And there are other theories.
There is so much hatred in the world!
So much hatred!
So much hatred in the world. -Stephen!
Stephen, calm down! -Easy!
They are going to blow us up. They want to destroy us.
So much hatred, so much hatred.
So many sharp edges, so many sharp edges.
It's okay. -Sharp things.
We just have given him maximum sedatives.
It will pass in a second.
So many sharp edges. -It's okay.
We are so soft. -It's all right.
We are so soft.
Are you all right? -I can't die alone.
I am here with you. I'm Barbara.
I work in research. I have seen you in the canteen.
Calm down. What is your name?
It betrays us... Yes, it betrays us.
Michael, come on. -No, listen.
Your body takes away the color of your skin. -What?
And betrays you...
Bring some water over here! -What's wrong with him?
I have seen it. The end. You're all alone.
Do not say that.
James, you'll die all alone.
Don't say that! -You're all alone!
Michael, stop. Michael, don't say that.
First, the terror.
Do not leave me, Michael. Do not leave me, Michael.
And then the moment of hunger.
This is how the sense of taste disappears from our world.
They don't even have the time to give the disease a name.
Do you think we will lose and the other senses too?
Smell and taste are related. They are two chemical senses.
So, the other ones will be all right, then? -They might.
We'll just have to wait and see. -That's right, sailor.
And what happens if you're wrong?
Then we are fucked.
It's still out there. Who? -The World.
What can you see? -People.
What are they doing? -They are heading off to work.
What should we do?
We go to work as well.
Do we kiss each other first?
Maybe.
I'd like to see each other again. We probably do.
Maybe even this evening.
Maybe.
And I'm looking forward to that. -Yes!
I may not have a job anymore.
Forget it, Michael. We are closed. We are closed.
We will open again.
People can't smell, they can't taste.
They're going to buy flour and fat.
That's all you need to survive.
Take a hit on that. Go on.
Now that is a damn expensive brandy. Damn, damn expensive.
But you might as well drink surgical spirit, or sniff glue.
Doesn't matter. It's flour and fat. -It does matter.
There is no difference. -No, I think you're wrong.
Life goes on.
They will come back. People will ask each other to dinner again.
They will toast each other in there, while we take care of their needs.
We will sell them flour and fat. -No, anything but flour and fat.
We will be all right.
Slowly, things returned to normal. And life goes on.
People do what they did before as best they can.
Within a few weeks, taste becomes a distant memory.
And different sensations take its place.
And restaurants are all about offering another person a dinner.
Letting yourself waited on.
Listening to the trickle of vine and the clink of glasses.
Not only has the food received a special attention
but also the temperature of the food and it's consistency.
And we tried it all. From the freezing-cold to the scorching hot.
It was dry, it was moist, it was crisp.
it was spongy, crunchy and it was all at the highest level, up to the including desert
a light pudding with caramelised nuts and a bright orange sorbet
dark blue on blackberrys and black currant.
Cheers on that.
Great. -Life goes on.
My dad let me shave him once.
I was eight.
I managed to do it without a single scratch. I was very proud.
And then...
He went to the sink and he shaved himself all over again as if I haven't been there.
I was devastated.
Your turn.
Try. It's soft.
Would you like to go dancing? -Sure.
And get drunk. -Sure.
And smoke cigarettes. -Always.
Enjoy in the pleasures all day?
Let's have them. All of them.
I've got a soap in my eye.
Let's play a game, sailor. -What game?
Is called "Make me special."
What are the rules? -Only one.
Just tell me something. -Something?
Something other people don't know about you.
Something secret. -Like what?
My sister has got two kids. I sometimes hate them.
I can't have children.
My ovaries are crippled. My eggs are no good.
Because of not eating.
I pretended I'm not that into them, I have an interesting job...
Anyway...
I can't have them.
Your turn.
I had a girlfriend.
You don't get this game, do you?
No, I had a wedding planned.
And she got sick.
She was already sick.
You can smell that there is something wrong inside
that there is something damp in the basement.
I didn't stay with her.
I didn't look after her. I ran away.
I make myself visit her grave.
First that was once a week, and then maybe
once a month, now even less...
I go there to feel guilty, you know?
I thought I would feel guilty for the rest of my life, but...
Actually it's starting to fade.
You're an asshole. -I am.
It works.
I'm an asshole. -So am I.
A couple of assholes.
Mr. and Mrs. asshole.
That's the situation here, in Bangkok, Thailand.
We call it the "Severe hearing loss syndrome".
We still do not know much about it. Anger, rage, hatred.
And then they go deaf.
And how does it spread?
I can't hear you. I don't know what to do.
Tell me what to do!
Don't just stand there looking at me.
I think it's okay to panic now.
And that's basically what the world does.
Severe hearing loss syndrome.
Spreads from Thailand.
Across India, to China, Russia and beyond.
Rage...
Anger...
Hatred.
And then, the loss of another sense.
All the uninfected can do, is waiting.
Can you still get film on those? -Yes. I got this stuff from my uncle.
He was a collector. -What did he collect?
Polaroid cameras.
Very aggressive.
Yes?
Yes. We stick to the 2006 plan.
Stephen? -Okay.
It's still valid.
Isolate the first ones and get ready for the others.
They say the child was born in Berlin with all the senses.
Might be a chance of antibodies.
What is going on?
Somebody is infected on the third floor. They are sealing it off.
Who owns that restaurant? -Me.
You're shutting down. -Give me a fucking brake!
Everywhere are shutting down.
The council wants you and your staff
to cook for the quarantine.
We have thousands of people held up in their homes, sport arenas...
They all need to be fed, three times a day.
Here is the menu and budget for the coming week.
There is plenty of restaurants.
If you don't want the job, just say no.
All I need to hear is...a no. -All right. We'll do it.
That's very moving. I even got tears.
Fuck you.
Look, we are just trying to do our jobs.
We're trying to keep everything working.
Make sure the pasta is al dente.
Fat and flour. Fat and fucking flour.
You are homeless. -Shit.
You can choose between the gym full of those non infected,
and the bus station, or you can come home with me.
Tough one.
What?
Oh, Jesus!
So all of a sudden we are living together?
Mr. and Mrs. asshole.
We can play "Make me special" games.
We can play lovers, we could fuck.
But you're just like all the others.
Don't think that you matter, because you don't.
You're nothing. You're just passing time.
It is not difficult to understand.
It's just fucking...and eating. And fat and flour.
You go out there, you lie down on your back, and spread your legs.
Or else take your profound conversation and your emotions and fuck off.
You're just a pair of ears and a mouth. An ass and a cunt.
And If I may surprise you to know that everyone else has that, too.
A pair of ears and an ass hole. Fat and fucking flour.
Nothing special. Accept she is infertile.
Fat and flour.
Fat and flour! Fat and fucking flour!
Let me in!
If you are deaf, stay at home.
Hang a sheet from your window. Food and water will be delivered.
Hello!
Can you hear me?
Pardon?
Have you ever seen anybody else?
I hope you can hear this.
Whatever I said to you, I didn't mean it.
It wasn't me. It was the disease.
It was not you. It was not you.
It was not me. It's nobody. Nothing.
Nobody is here. Nobody. No.
Disease. Which disease?
Where is it? Where are you hiding, you fucking...
Where are you?
I think you should come back to me.
I need you to believe me.
It's me.
Why? Why? Why?
I need you to come back.
I love you.
We will keep you informed.
Deaf? Stay at home.
This is the safest place to be.
Keep your television on.
We will keep you informed.
Michael? I was right.
Wanna throw some stones?
There are two movements now.
There are the people who run through the streets grabbing all they can
People who do not believe in anything, but the end of the world.
Then, there is the other movement.
Farmers going out to milk their cows.
Soldiers reporting on duty.
Those who believe that life will go on somehow.
Or just don't know what else to do.
People prepared for the worse.
But hoped for the best.
They concentrated to the things that were important to them.
All the things beyond fat and flour.
Once we thought of the Ice age as something that cracked up,
Glaciers slowly spreading.
Temperatures gradually dropping.
But recently a number of intact mamuts have been discovered
full stomachs full of undigested grass.
The cold must have hit them like a blow from a cloud.
That's how the darkness descends upon the world.
But first, the shiny moments.
A shared flinching of the brain's temporal lobe
A profound appreciation of what it means to be alive.
But most of all, a shared urge to reach out to one another.
To offer warmth.
Understanding.
Acceptance.
Forgiveness.
Love.
It's dark now.
But they feel each other’s breath. And they know all they need to know.
They kiss.
And they feel each other’s tears on their cheeks.
And if there was anybody to see them, then they would look like normal lovers.
Caressing each other's faces. Bodies close together.
Eyes closed.
Oblivious to the world around them.
Because that's how life goes on.
Like that.