The Taking of Deborah Logan

Oh, this is a nice house, huh?

- Hi! - Is that the daughter?

Where shall we park?

- Uh, right here? I don't know. - Right here?

- Hi. - I'm Sarah.

- Sarah, hi. I'm Mia. - Hi, Sarah.

You spoke to me on the phone earlier.

- I'll just give you a hug. - Hi.

- I'm glad you're here. Hi. - Gavin.

- This is Gavin and Luis. - What's up?

Do I look OK? I gotta be all...tucked in.

- You look great. - Sorry.

I was gonna ask, do you want me a certain way or...

Um, no. Just...just be yourself. Almost, like, ignore these guys.

- Oh, really? - Yeah, yeah, yeah.

- They're invisible. - Yeah, that'll be easy!

- Ignore. - Wow!

Ma can come off kind of salty, but it's all an act.

- OK. - She's excited you're here.

She's been cleaning and dusting

like the president's coming to dinner or something.

Ma?

Well, she was back here.

You have the grant money, right? It said so on the flyers.

- Yes. - That's what we're counting on.

No, no, definitely. It's part of the deal.

Roanoke will also help underwrite

some of the healthcare costs as well.

Oh, wow. I love Roanoke.

Yeah, it...it has to be the right fit, though.

Of course.

- Please and thank you. - OK.

Kiss her ass.

- Smile. - Point noted.

I mean, I'm sorry. You know all this.

- Hey, Ma! - Yes, you did.

- Hello there! - Oh, Harris is with her.

- Hi. Oh, gosh. - Oh, yeah.

- Those people are here. - Hey, Sarah.

- The crew I told you about. - Nice to meet you.

They're here for the pre-interview. Remember, Ma?

They wanna make a movie about me!

- Isn't that right? - Yes, hopefully.

- What do you think of that? - I think it's a good idea.

You do? Well, we'll see.

Oh, I'm sorry. Yes, I'm being a bad hostess, aren't I?

- Here. You take that. - Do you need...

I'm just gonna take this and put this stuff away

so that I have it where it belongs for next time.

Of course.

What is of interest is that this is of an educational nature.

That interests me.

Um...

I'm not interested in being exploited.

Oh...

I'm not the butt of anyone's joke.

- Oh, no, no, no. - No, Mom.

Mrs. Logan, that is definitely not why we'd be here.

You know, actually my grandfather had the disease

so it's not just a grade for me.

- Oh, I'm sorry. - Yeah.

Well...

..I am a very private person...

..and, um...

..I'm just having second thoughts.

I think that you would be better off with someone else.

I'm sorry. I know you've driven a long way.

But I don't think I'm the candidate for you, so...

Mom?

What the fuck was that about your grandfather?

I thought they were on vacation in New Zealand.

She just needed a little nudging.

I thought you said these people were broke.

She's behind on the house, but she won't sell,

so Sarah's in a tough spot.

Guys, I want you to be on good behaviour, OK?

'Cause she's, like, a proper old lady.

So I don't wanna be, like, hounding them.

- Hey! - Hi.

- Hi. - Hi, Sarah.

- How's it going? - I'm so glad you're here.

Hello, hello. Welcome.

I didn't know you guys were gonna come in, like, right away.

- Right, I know. - We wanna capture it all, so...

I paint in here mostly now

because, you know, we don't entertain.

- She's an amazing artist. - No, it's just a hobby.

- I'm not an amazing artist. - You're prolific. There's a lot.

Oh, I used to know the name of this bird.

Looks like a blue-tailed finch, actually.

- Does it? Do you know birds? - Oh, oh, dude, no.

Well, maybe that is what it is. I don't remember.

Oh, is this Bavarian crystal?

It's better... Yeah, it's probably better not to...

Yeah, we won't be touching the old things.

You're a curious guy, huh? You wanna touch everything?

Do you guys have a Starbucks in town?

Oh, no, no.

This is Sarah's room. You can just take a look.

This was her room as a child. She loved cars.

We haven't touched anything since she was a child.

I kinda like leaving it like this.

She was a big ball player.

I was never really allowed in here.

I guess you found your room.

- Oh, this is us? - There's a blow-up mattress.

- I'm sorry, this is a little... - Yeah, this'll blow up.

..a little more minimal, a little rustic.

Say thank you to her. Thank you.

- Oh, no, it's, uh... - Say thank you.

- Thank you. - No, you have a different room.

- Oh, I didn't know. - There's no intermingling here.

Boys, stay there. And the door's closed.

- Deborah? - Yes?

Thank you for your, um...hospitality.

- Appreciate it. - We're gonna have fun.

- Right? - Yeah, man.

OK, good.

- My Aunt Edna's, um... - This is amazing.

Um... What's this... Bedroom set!

- Careful with that, sweetheart. - I know.

Yeah, there. That one's supposed to be there.

Were you ever in Germany?

No, I have not.

- Always been a regret of mine. - Mom, you went to Germany.

Remember?

- Well, that must, um... - Remember?

Oh, must've been a long time ago.

Well, but you were there. You loved it. Remember?

The story of Alzheimer's is never about one person.

My PhD thesis film posits that this insidious disease

not only destroys the patient,

but has a physiological influence

on the primary caregiver.

Alzheimer's occurs when abnormal protein fragments

accumulate in the hippocampus, killing neurons.

The disease then creeps towards the front of the brain,

wiping out neurons responsible for logical thought

and problem solving.

It then assaults the sensory region,

sparking terrifying hallucinations.

Eventually, it erases a person's oldest and most precious memories.

In end stage, Alzheimer's destroys the part of the brain

that regulates the heart and breathing.

When swallowing goes, death is not far behind.

- Take this one off. - Huh?

- Well, it's so military. - What do you think?

Let's just... Yeah.

Wouldn't you agree? I mean, you always look so pretty.

Whatever. OK, fine. Yep.

- Thank you. That's great. - Gone.

- Happy? - I am happy.

Awesome.

Is that a shirt of your dad's?

I guess I would have, you know, a senior moment.

Sure, you know, I'd put the toast in and it would pop up

and I'd put the...push it back down again or something.

Toast it twice. Big deal.

On several occasions, she left the stove on.

OK? Burnt up the spice rack, the whole wall.

If you remember your grandmother,

she was frightening.

She would leave a pot on the stove

until it melted right down to the little glass top.

- Maybe it's genetic. - So that was a clue.

I'm just saying what was a clue.

Mia asked what's a clue for me, and that was a clue.

Alright. That was a clue.

Deborah was exhibiting what we call MCI

mild cognitive impairment.

Through a battery of tests,

we were able to diagnose with 95% certainty

that she was in the early stages of Alzheimer's.

How did she take the news?

It's devastating, obviously, for anyone,

but Deborah's not someone to go down without a fight.

After the premature death of her husband, Dennis,

to a pulmonary embolism,

Deborah was forced to provide for 2-year-old Sarah

on her own.

She leveraged their house as collateral and would go on

to start a highly successful switchboard answering service

for the town of Exuma.

That was the way that professionals

received their messages

and, I guess, transferred information back in those days,

was through a professional answering service.

Everyone told her she was crazy at the time.

- Right? - They certainly did.

I was all alone with a small child.

You can't tell Mom not to do something

'cause then she will absolutely make sure she does it.

- I was the nexus of this town. - Yeah!

Doctors, lawyers, and Town Hall, everybody.

Three-Martini lunches and affairs

and philanderers and alcoholics and...

I had to cover for all of these people.

You didn't have to. You chose to.

Well, I did or they wouldn't have stayed with me.

- True. - I wouldn't have had a business.