TWILIGHT (2008)

*CUT TO THE CHASE*

NOTE: This spoiler sent in by Caroline

The movie starts out in a forest, watching a deer at a pool of water. Something is hunting the deer, but we’re not shown what. Suddenly, it realizes there is something there and takes off. A few seconds later, a dark, shadowy figure takes the deer down.
Meanwhile, in Phoenix, Bella (Kristen Stewart) is shown on top of a hill potting a small cactus for her to take with her. Her voice-over explains that she is moving away from her eccentric mother and stepfather to allow them alone time while he travels with his minor league baseball team. Her mom tells her that she doesn’t have to go to Forks, but Bella says it is okay and she wants to.

Bella’s voice-over continues as we drive across a bridge into Forks, a small town with a population of a little over 3000 in it. She introduces her dad, Charlie, and the setting: the place in the U.S. that gets the most rain and cloud coverage than any other city and a place she only spent two-weeks each summer. They pull up to Charlie’s place and unload her things from the police cruiser (Charlie is the police chief) and he takes her stuff up to her room saying he’s cleared off a shelf in the bathroom for her (“Oh yeah, one bathroom” she says). The room has all of her old stuff and art supplies in it. He explains that he just had someone pick out new bedding for her (“You like purple, right?” “Yeah, purple’s nice…”). They stand awkwardly for a moment before he excuses himself and Bella’s voice-over says that one of the good things about Charlie is that he doesn’t hover.

The next scene introduces Billy Black and his son Jacob as they drop off a truck for Bella. Charlie bought it from them, and Jacob rebuilt the engine, so he shows her the ropes on it, telling her the little tricks she’ll have to remember to shift, etc. She asks if he needs a ride to school. He says no, he goes to school on the reservation (he is a Quilette Indian). She nods, and then heads off to school where she is starting her first day in the middle of March. She tries to go in unnoticed, but Erik Yorkie catches up to her and introduces himself. He jokes with her that he can show her the ropes, make lunch dates, etc., and she politely declines, saying she prefers to suffer in silence. He kids that he is going to do a special article on her in the school newspaper and she sort of freaks at that and tells him not to. In gym class, she sucks at playing volleyball and totally nails a kid named Mike Newton in the back of the head. She goes up and apologizes, and he uses the moment to flirt with her. She is obviously not interested, but another girl who jogs up, Jessica, definitely wants Mike to be interested in her, so she flirts a little bit and is fake nice to Bella. During lunch, another girl, Angela, snaps a picture of Bella saying it is for the article in the school paper, but Erik says there won’t be one, Mike flirts a bit more, and another kid (Tyler) comes up and steals Mike’s chair. Jessica uses the opportunity to scoot up closer to Bella, blocking Mike from sitting closer to Bella again.

Enter: the Cullens. Through the window to the cafeteria the Cullens are seen walking into the room. Bella asks who they are, and Jessica dishes on them: The Cullens are Dr. Cullen’s foster kids. The blond is Rosalie, the shorthaired guy is Emmet. And it is weird and creepy that they are “together” because they all live in the same house, even if they aren’t really related. The next girl is Alice, and she’s really weird, and she’s with Jasper. Jessica calls Dr. Cullen a matchmaker, and Angela says she wishes Dr. Cullen would adopt her. In comes Edward (Robert Pattinson), and Jessica tells Bella to not even bother because he doesn’t date because obviously none of the girls here are good enough for him. Bella says that wasn’t even her intention, and looks at Edward. He looks sort of angry as he looks back at her, so she looks away.

Off to Biology class, and Bella walks in, sees Edward staring at her, and walks right in front of a fan that blows her smell his way. He looks absolutely sick, like he’s trying not to puke, as he smells her. But the only empty seat is next to him, so she takes it, and he shoves one of the tapeworms in her direction. He has black eyes. When she sits down, she sniffs her hair trying to figure out what is wrong. Right before the bell rings, Edward bolts. Bella goes to the school office for something, but ends up leaving after she overhears Edward trying to get out of the class. He bolts from that room, too.

Later, she and Charlie go to a diner for dinner. Everyone there tries to help her remember them, but she really can’t, and she’s obviously uncomfortable with all the attention. One guy comes up and says he was a Santa Claus one year, and Charlie reminds him that she was 4 when that happened.

Now we cut to some sort of energy plant or warehouse. A man is running down stairs and away from something or someone. However he gets stopped by his pursuers and is attacked.

Bella comes down the front steps and slips on ice. Charlie (who has just pulled up in her truck) helps her up. He explains that he just bought new tires since they were getting bald and it was getting icy out. She thanks him, and he tells her he’s off to go look into an attack at a local plant. He says it was some sort of animal. She heads off to school, and the voice-over informs us she has every intention of going and asking Edward what his problem was. Thing is, when the Cullens pull up in a re convertible and a white jeep, Edward is not with them. Over the next few days he is still a no show. Finally, though, he is in biology one day. He actually starts talking to her, introducing himself as they start looking at slides through a microscope (first team to correctly identify all four slides gets a golden onion!). They talk about the weather, how she’s not fond of it, why she moved to Forks, etc. He walks her to her locker, still asking question while she holds the golden onion, when she asks if he got contacts because his eyes were really dark last time she saw him. He stutters through an answer (“Its the fluorescent lights”) then takes off.

Outside, she’s getting her stuff together to get in her truck. She looks over her shoulder and sees that Edward is staring at her. Suddenly, Tyler’s big blue van hits ice when swerving around a car backing out of its spot. He loses control and is headed straight for Bella! But out of nowhere comes Edward, who grabs Bella and puts up his hand, which leaves  a huge dent in the van and stops it. Edward and Bella lock eyes, and he knows he’s obviously done something really stupid. He takes off as the other students rush the van and Tyler rolls down his window and apologizes profusely.

 

At the hospital, Bella is trying to calm down Tyler as Charlie walks in and tells Tyler he’ll deal with him later (basically tells him he’s going to suspend his license). Dr. Cullen comes in, examines Bella and asks what happened. She says she was really lucky because Edward was right there rescued her. Tyler starts apologizing again and Charlie jerks a divider curtain shut. Dr. Cullen releases Bella, and Charlie advises her to call her mom. As Bella heads off around a corner she notices Edward, Dr. Cullen, and Rosalie talking. Rosalie is saying that what Edward did risked the whole family, Dr. Cullen notices Bella and stops the conversation, and Bella asks to talk to Edward. He tries to convince her that she hit her head and that he was standing next to her the whole time. She insists that he was across the parking lot and wants to know what happened. He tells her to get used to disappointment because he’s not saying anything.
That night she wakes up in the middle of the night. Edward is in her room. She turns on the light and he’s gone. That is the first night she dreamed about Edward.

The next day, Bella gets to school and everyone is crowding around for a field trip. Mike tries to ask Bella to the prom, but she’s not paying attention at first, watching Edward. She finally tells him to ask Jessica because she will be in Jacksonville that weekend (she’s making it up, though.) On the trip, Edward asks her what is in Jacksonville and dodges her questions and tells her they shouldn’t be friends. Jessica interrupts telling Bella about going to prom with Mike. Outside, again, Bella finally spits out that she thinks Edward regrets saving her. When Alice asks if she will be joining them on their bus, Edward says its full.

Back at school, Erik invites Bella to La Push, the beach down on the reservation, with the “gang” (Angela, Tyler, Mike, and Jessica). She says she’ll go, then drops an apple. Edward does a neat trick (he had been halfway across the room, for one) by catching the apple with his foot and sending it up to his hands (look for the iconic book cover to ‘Twilight’ in this moment). She says, “Your mood swings are giving me whiplash.” He explains that they really shouldn’t be friends. She asks if he will answer her questions. He says no, but he’d like to hear her theories. She says radioactive spiders, or kryptonite. He says, “Those are all superheroes, but what if I’m the bad guy?” She says he’s not, she trusts him. He says, “Don’t.” She asks if they can just hang out and invites him along to the beach that weekend. He asks which beach and she tells him, and he backs out.

At La Push, the guys and Jessica are getting ready to surf when three of the locals show up, Jacob, a friend, and Sam. They ask if they can hang out, and Jessica tells them to keep Bella company since her date baled on her. Jacob, a little miffed, asks who that was. Jessica says it was Edward, and Sam makes the comment that the Cullens can’t come to La Push. Later, Bella asks Jacob what Sam meant by that. Jacob says that it is a really scary story, and tells her that, according to legend, the tribe is descended from wolves, and that Jacob’s grandfather came across the Cullens hunting. They were told that the Cullens were different, and they set up a treaty (there is a great montage of wolves, the Indians, and the Cullens in clothes from the 1930’s here). The Cullens would never come on there land. Bella asks what they are. Jacob says it is just a story.
At home, Bella starts looking up Quilette legends and comes across a book that is sold in a bookstore that is in a town close by called Port Angeles. The next school day is bright and sunny, and Jessica tells Bella (who is obviously looking around for ‘someone’) that the Cullens never show on sunny days. They always go hiking and camping. Angela runs up excited because she asked Eric to prom and he said yes (Bella encouraged her in doing that at La Push). They decide to head into Port Angeles to find dresses.

Some guys walk by the shop they go to and whistle and catcall at them. The girls brush it off. Bella isn’t interested in the dresses, but she tells the girls that all the dresses they try on are good. Jessica points this out, and Bella says she wants to get to this bookstore and that she will meet the girls at dinner. She takes off and buys her Quilette legend book. On her way back in town (it is dark now) she sees two of the guys who walked by the shop. She turns around and takes another road, but she ends up surrounded by all four. They start pushing her around when suddenly a silver Volvo whips around the corner. Edward gets out and tells Bella to get in, then growls (like, really growls!) at the guys. They back off and flee in terror. He gets in the car and speeds off, telling Bella to distract them so he doesn’t go back and kill those perverts. They get to the restaurant and Jessica and Angela have already eaten. Edward wants to make sure Bella eats, though. Through their conversation in the restaurant, Edward reveals that he can read thoughts, which is how he found Bella. He goes around the room, naming the thoughts that everyone is thinking (“Money, sex, money, sex, cat”). But he can’t read Bella’s thoughts. In the car ride home, Bella accidentally touches Edward’s hand as she tries to adjust the temperature. His hands are cold, she says. He doesn’t say anything. They pull up to the police station in Forks, where Bella sees her dad’s cruiser and Edward sees his father’s car. Dr. Cullen comes out having examined he body of another person who had been “attacked by an animal” (he makes serious eye contact with Edward). Bella asks if it is the same animal that attacked the man at the station. “Yes” (serious eye contact again). She goes in and comforts her dad because it was a friend of his who was killed (remember Santa man?). He gives her some pepper spray, just to help her “ol’ man feel at ease.”

Back at home, she starts looking up various legends about “cold ones” and finds legends on vampires from all different cultures. The montage ends with the image of Edward leaning in for the kill – herself.

At school the next day, she locks eyes with him, then deliberately walks past him and into the forest. She tells him she knows what he is (this is shown in the trailer), that he’s impossibly fast, cold, pale, etc. He tells her to “say it.” “Vampire” she says. But she’s not scared. He sort of wigs out and takes her further up the mountain (running super fast!) and shows her what he does in the sunlight (he sparkles), that there is no prey that can escape him, and he is very strong (he rips up a tree limb and smashes it against a boulder). He calls Bella his own drug, his own brand of heroin that he could kill at any time. She insists that he won’t.

The next few minutes is tied up in a montage of the two of them together in a meadow and just generally getting to know one another. He tells her that he and his family is “vegetarian” so they don’t eat humans. Alice sees the future, but other than that he is the only other one with an additional “gift.” He shows up at her house one night having snuck through her window, and he tells her he wants to try something. He instructs her to remain very still, then leans in for the kiss. She gets a little carried away, and pulls him on top of her, but he freaks out and throws himself backwards. He can’t lose control, and she apologizes for losing control herself.

Edward tells Bella he wants to introduce her to his family, and she’s afraid they won’t like her. Complications arise when Edward “hears” Billy coming, and he takes off as Billy pulls up, but not before they see each other. Billy, while talking to Charlie about the attacks, tells Bella that he wouldn’t want anyone to get hurt (implying the Cullens are dangerous).

The next day, Edward walks Bella into his HUGE, practically all glass, house where the family is preparing an Italian dinner for Bella (even though none of them eat human food). She explains she’s already eaten and doesn’t want to inconvenience them, and Rosalie flips out, breaking a glass bowl, and starts ripping in to Edward about how this is going to turn out bad for the family. Bella realizes she means that if she is the next meal, and Alice introduces herself by giving Bella a hug and telling that she does smell good (good to eat, that is). Edward is obviously embarrassed, and herds Bella off upstairs while Esme, Dr. Cullen’s wife, says, “That went well!” In Edward’s room, there’s no bed, but a bunch of music. He tries to help Bella dance, but she doesn’t dance. “I’ll have to make you,” he says, to which she replies, “I’m not scared of you” (again, trailer moment). Edward whisks her off to the trees where they get a really good view of the mountains and lay of the land.

Somewhere in here is a scene where Charlie is with some other people and dogs as they track the animals/vampires that are responsible for the attacks. They find the footprint of the woman who is involved headed east, but that is all. Charlie and Bella end up at the diner again and are asked if there has been any progress on the attack cases. There hasn’t, but they’re working hard. Charlie then starts asking Bella about boys (Mike and the other boys are outside the diner goofing off). Bella says she’s not interested in any of them.

One morning, Bella comes to Charlie, who is cleaning his shotgun, and tells him that she is sort of dating Edward and that he wants to meet her dad. He’s in the driveway, so Charlie snaps the gun shut and decides to just get things over with. Edward introduces himself to “Chief Swann” and tells him that Bella is going to play baseball with his family. Charlie chuckles a bit at that (Bella is no good at sports), but says ok. On her way out, Charlie asks Bella if she still has that pepper spray.

 

At the game, a thunderstorm rolls in and Alice says it is time to start. Bella plays as umpire, and Carlisle, Rosalie, and Jasper all take turns at bat. Esme catches, Edward and Emmet are outfielders, and Alice pitches (this is the coolest scene, too!). All is going well until Alice sees the three vampires who have been attacking lately coming into the clearing. She gathers everyone up, and Edward apologizes to Bella for putting her in danger. At first things seem to be going well, and they are about to resume the game with the newcomers Laurent, James, and Victoria, when James catches a whiff of Bella. “You brought a snack!” Edward freaks out and they all stand at the ready to attack. Carlisle suggests they all leave, and the three go. But Edward knows that James is a skilled tracker, and he’s not going to give up. He wants to get Bella out of town immediately. She talks him into taking her back to the house where she can stage a fight and leave so that Charlie will be safe. Bella ends up saying the exact same things to her dad that her mom said when she was leaving him so that she (Bella) can leave without Charlie trying to follow. It works – James is going to leave Charlie alone. Edward and Bella get back to the house where Laurent is warning the Cullens that James will never give up and to not underestimate Victoria. The Cullens formulate a plan after Laurent leaves, and Alice, Jasper, and Bella all head off to Phoenix. Emmet, Edward, and Rosalie run into the forest with some of Bella’s clothes to create a fake trail.

Alice, Jasper, and Bella make it to Phoenix and are waiting. Alice sees that James leaves the fake scent and is headed toward a place with a lot of mirrors. Bella recognizes the place that Alice draws as an old ballet studio she went to, and gets a call from Edward who is on his way to Phoenix. He wants to leave with Bella for a while until James gives up. Victoria is still around, and Esme and Rosalie are protecting Charlie’s place.

Bella gets a call from “home”, which turns out to be her mom, who sounds frantic. James then takes over and tells Bella to go to the ballet studio and her mom won’t be hurt. She sneaks off from Alice and Jasper and ends up at the studio, where she hears her mom’s frantic voice. She opens a closet and sees a TV with her as a little girl and her mom. James turns up and explains that he borrowed the tape, and a camcorder, and he starts recording as he tortures Bella by throwing her across the room and breaking her leg. He tells her to tell Edward to avenger her, but she says no. Edward flies in and a grisly fight ensues. James ends up getting back to Bella and biting her wrist. Edward finally pins James and rips  chunk from his neck as Alice, Jasper, Emmet, and Carlisle arrive. They take care of James, lighting a fire and tearing him to bits (Alice is pretty good at breaking necks!), and Carlisle and Edward start working on Bella. She is screaming and writhing in pain from the bite, and Carlisle tells Edward he needs to draw the venom out of her. He does, but it doesn’t look like he will be able to stop for a minute. Carlisle tells him to “find the strength”, and Bella blacks out.

Bella wakes up in the hospital to her mom, who explains that she “fell down a flight of stairs and through a window.” Bella, of course, knows what really happened, but doesn’t say anything. Her mom leaves, and Edward, who hasn’t left the room once, “wakes up” and apologizes (again) and says that Bella should go to Jacksonville with her mom. Bella panics, and tells him not to leave her. He promises not to.

Back in Forks, Edward and Charlie are waiting uncomfortably for Bella to come down the stairs. She comes down, fully decked out in a gorgeous prom dress, and Edward and Bella head off to prom. Jacob is waiting for Bella outside, and he comes with a warning from his dad. Billy has paid Jacob to tell Bella to break up with Edward, and that “we will be watching you.” Jacob laughs it off, and Bella tells him to make sure he gets paid. Edward and Bella head into the prom, but go outside after a couple minutes. Edward helps Bella dance on his feet, and she finally says that she wants to become a vampire, that she’s chosen a life with him. He asks why a long life with him wouldn’t be good enough, and tells her that he doesn’t want to end her life. She says its good enough for now.

Panning out, we see a woman watching the two dance from an upstairs window. When she turns around, we recognize Victoria. She shakes her hair down and smiles evilly before walking away from the window.

Edward is too late to save Bella from killer vampire James who hurts her and manages to bite her and provoke the transformation. Edward's family arrive in time stop him from going into a killing frenzy and dispose of James themselves, while Edward struggles to cure Bella without killing her.  Bella wakes up at the hospital, with everybody thinking she had an accident because of her legendary clumsiness.
Bella convinces her mother to let her stay with her dad, and near Edward. She convinces Edward no to leave despite his desire to save her from his kind, but he refuses to turn her into a vampire as he despises his own monstrous condition. They end up going to the prom together, where Jacob Black gives Bella a message from his father, saying that she should leave Edward and he'll be watching them. The movie ends with Bella and Edward in a romantic dance, as James' girlfriend Victoria watches them with tears and an evil smile.