What is happening?
-What is it that you all have in common? -KATE: We're all alone.
My father ran away and left me when I was three.
We're asking you to go on a mission.
A risky, undercover mission, and unfortunately,
one that can only be accomplished by children.
BENEDICT: Hidden messages coming from the Institute on Harbor Island.
You four are going to infiltrate the institute as my secret agents.
What makes you think that four kids can stop all of this?
Not just kids.
BENEDICT: Four extraordinary kids.
CONSTANCE: The Mysterious Benedict Society.
L.D. CURTAIN: Welcome, new students.
I'm your headmaster, Dr. L.D. Curtain.
NUMBER TWO: L.D. Curtain is your brother.
-He's the man we've been hunting. -Yes.
L.D. CURTAIN: This gallery contains my most prized invention.
-The Whisperer. -Textbook mind control.
Not just of Stonetown, but the whole world.
-Goodbye, free will. -It's go time.
Yes, Kate. We're going to raid the tower.
(rattles)
L.D. CURTAIN: Security to the Whispering Room.
-Code Red. -ANNOUNCER: All available security--
I am not some damaged person in need of self-healing!
Or some...
-STICKY: He's gonna wake up any second. -REYNIE: And he called for help.
-What are you doing? -All that is left is to break its will.
It's a machine.
THE WHISPERER: Why can't you just go along?
(screams) Yes!
(electricity crackles)
STICKY: Whoa, she did it.
L.D. CURTAIN: This is Curtain.
Stand down. The Emergency is over.
What does it feel like? Having no memory.
It felt like searching.
For the answer in front of me.
It was you, Kate.
It was always you.
-I am so proud of you. -I want to come live with you.
I've been thinking about that, too.
Have you given any thought to your continued studies?
I was hoping to go to the Boatwright Academy.
Oh, you richly deserve that.
You'll be valued there.
-Constance. -Respectfully decline.
-Decline? -The adoption.
I will stay here, but let's not paper this.
-REYNIE: What are you going to do? -BENEDICT: I'm going to find him.
I won't give up on him.
-Whisperer is just a souvenir. -Really?
I've got something better.
Well, this could be interesting.
BENEDICT: My dear Society,
in the years since we've all been together,
life has taken some surprising turns, hasn't it?
(mice squeaks)
Out of nowhere, we find ourselves in unexpected places.
Seven seconds.
How is yours so much faster?
I just crafted a plant-based dietary supplement
that increased her mitochondrial function.
(Madge tweeting)
("Find Your Way Back" by Jefferson Starship)
BENEDICT: With amazing new people experiencing things
we never imagined possible.
Or in the everyday surprise of that elusive state known as harmony.
(Madge whooshing)
("Find Your Way Back" by Jefferson Starship continues)
Yes, there is joy in the unexpected.
It can make life more colorful.
More exciting.
Innovative.
Not efficient.
-I'll trade time for fun. -That's a good bargain.
-(Madge squeaks) -Madge.
What you got there?
BENEDICT: But...
not all surprises are good.
Smooth sailing can suddenly become rough waters.
That's why it is so important that we have each other.
And that's why I invite you all on a new adventure.
We're family.
And though everyday life might send us in different directions,
when we encounter these squalls,
it is time for this family to regroup.
(theme music)
HANNAH: Our esteemed guest is Dr. L.D. Curtain.
That's me.
HANNAH: Do people just stop you on the street and say thank you?
(laughs) Now, why would they do that?
Perhaps because you single handedly solved The Emergency?
One of the greatest crises of our lifetime.
-Yeah. -People call you a hero.
Oh, no, no, no.
I'm just a simple man.
Well, I am a man who saw a problem
and sniffed out the rogue scientist responsible.
-Dr. Garrison. -Yes.
Do you feel personally betrayed?
Of course, I do. I do.
But this isn't about me. I'm just...
I'm just thankful that I had the unique intellect
and know-how to solve the problem.
For everyone.
-And now your latest venture, Happiness. -Happiness.
Lectures, television specials,
-a new book. -Um-hm.
You've become a guru of sorts.
Ridding the world of sadness, one person at a time.
-Yes. -They say you can make anyone happy.
(L.D. Curtain laughs)
I can't control what they're saying, but yes.
I can.
Oh, a raised eyebrow.
Don't you want to be happy?
All the time?
Aren't the ups and downs what make us human?
No. I think that's your inner naysayer.
Why not choose happiness?
Let me ask you.
Did you know you deserve it, Ana?
Did you know you can opt-in to joy and good feeling?
With me, that's possible.
Choose...
happiness.
What is it?
I'm certainly feeling an overwhelming sense of well-being.
Isn't it wonderful?
(suspicious music)
RHONDA: Come, have breakfast.
I'm not hungry.
You say that before you have tried my Dutch baby.
Babies.
Three, two, one.
(phone rings)
(in French)
Who is this? Where's Rhonda?
My friend, you should know better by now.
I do. I was just working on a character of my own.
-Global traveler. -Very convincing.
-How are you? -Doing real good.
The clues are demanding, but fair. The children are going to love it.
Oh, I'm so excited to see you.
Hey, we have unfinished business.
ANNOUNCER: The Stonetown loggers establishing a smooth rhythm,
but it's no match for raw Norwegian power.
And the win goes to the team from Bergen.
(screaming) No!
The Euro Cup is in Antwerp this year. We'll get redemption there.
Ah, so that's where you are.
-Antwerp. -(chuckles)
Nice try. You know I can't tell you that.
-How's Mr. Benedict? -Hmm.
Irritable, annoying at times, just irritable at others.
He's still hung up on the injustice.
I think the scavenger hunt is just as much for him as it is for the kids.
Agreed. I just wish they... Oh, wait.
Where is he going? Mr. Benedict?
Hello?
-Where are you going? -Oh, to the train station.
-We are going to a symposium. -A symposium?
Yes. Look.
Are you even invited to speak?
Well, I'm an esteemed scientist. They'll...
It's not an open mic.
Well, as we wait for the children, I thought we could use this time for good.
Don't you think? And, and the truth cannot wait any longer.
No one wants to hear the truth.
You tried this multiple times, Mr. Benedict,
and no one is interested.
The important thing is that The Emergency is over.
Who cares that your brother gets all the credit
and you're mocked and seen as a downer?
-Who's mocking me? -It doesn't matter.
People are back to their lives. That's what matters.
So, maybe just call it victory
-and enjoy it? -(clears throat)
No one is safe with my brother as some guru
with all this influence. This is...
We seem pretty safe.
-(breathes deeply) -Hey, it's okay to be jealous of him.
-None of this is fair. -Excuse me.
The truth is important.
It's not even a high level conference, even the middle tier.
I'm not jealous. Excuse me.
Mr. Benedict!
BENEDICT: Excuse me.
-NUMBER TWO: Mr. Benedict. -Excuse me. Out of the way.
NUMBER TWO: Mr. Benedict.
Excuse me. Excuse me. Mr. Benedict.
Where...
Mr. Benedict.
Mr. Benedict?
Hey!
(suspenseful music)
It says to pack for an adventure,
maybe a few extra clothes.
Anything I need, it's in my bucket or can be gotten
with the things in my bucket and carried in my bucket.
I'll pack a tiny go bag or gorp.
-That's not necessary. -What about...
this?
It's a multi tool.
I whittled it for the bucket.
Oh, that's really nice, but I don't have a room...
You fit a winch in there.
I can take care of myself.
I know you can, Kitty Cat, but it's my job to take care of you also.
Additionally.
We should go.
What if I got my own bucket?
A pail, perhaps?
That'd be cool.
We've got plans this summer.
We're going to send a grapefruit into low Earth orbit.
That sounds amazing.
Please come. We could use you on the heat shields.
I'd really love to,
but I have this reunion thing I have to go to.
Oh, I'm sure that'll be great too.
Ready to go?
Sure. But it's almost 11:00.
Oh, the postman. Yes, he is punctual.
I just wrote Sticky so many letters.
There must be some backlog or forwarding issue.
This could be the day the dam breaks.
You're going to see him really soon. You're going to see all of them.
I wonder if you're nervous to see them again,
if it'll be the same?
People like to communicate in different ways.
Sometimes it's as simple as that.
Besides, no matter how much time has passed,
they know you and they care about you.
And that won't change.
But still, we can wait.
Good to see you.
(quirky music)
(car door closes in distance)
You got everything?
MS. PERUMAL: Have a great time, okay?
(car door closes)
Everyone looks gangly and weird.
We've all grown.
No. That's not it.
Should we hug?
-Uh... -Don't be repulsive.
We got to mark the occasion.
Okay. We're back.
Elephant in the room. Constance killed a machine with her mind.
Yeah, I've got questions.
Me too. Let's go inside.
KATE: Is it really been a year?
("Make Me Smile" (Come Up And See Me) by Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel)
-Dog man? -Gather the kids.
RHONDA: It's so nice to see you, truly.
This was supposed to be a joyous occasion.
-But? -Mr. Benedict and Number Two...
are missing.
What do you mean?
-Her sentence seemed pretty clear. -How? What happened?
Benedict and Number Two have been traveling across Europe,
planting clues for a scavenger hunt, which would lead us all to a big reunion.
Fun!
What? It sounds like fun.
They just missed their second compulsory check in.
-I don't... -It's a foolproof, fail-safe system
we enact for security abroad.
And you know, Number Two. Missing it once, never.
Twice? Unthinkable.
-They've gone silent. They've disappeared. -What do we do?
Milligan and I need to put all our efforts into finding them.
And of course, the scavenger hunt is off.
I'm very sorry.
MILLIGAN (in French): Thank you, François.
RHONDA (in French): Anything you can tell me could be interesting.
Unfortunately, we haven't found anything either.
The trail went cold and time is of the essence...
-(indistinct chatter in French) -(telephone ringing)
(in English) So, when do we leave for Europe?
We want to be part of the search. I know we can help.
-I'm sorry, Reynie, but no. -MILLIGAN (in Japanese): Thank you.
(in English) No.
I understand it emotionally, but it's unrealistic.
RHONDA: Potentially counterproductive.
Dangerous.
I was saving that for last, but yes, it could be very dangerous.
Too many unknowns. It's a no.
A firm no.
I'm very sorry.
RHONDA: I've called Ms. Perumal and the Boatwright Academy.
You'll all be taken home very shortly.
It's hard, I know. But...
we'll take care of it.
We'll find them, yeah?
I don't understand. We should be going.
Why are they leaving this in other people's hands?
They're just being logical and safe.
We don't know where they are or what happened.
We do unsafe things all the time. That's our signature.
Anybody want to see the first clue to our canceled scavenger hunt?
-I lifted it from Rhonda. -Why?
If I give you a reason, will it comfort you?
-Maybe. -Mr. Benedict is gone.
Maybe down a well, maybe into a propeller.
Either way, we will not be seeing him again.
Constance.
He would want us to go on a scavenger hunt.
Perhaps as his final gift to us. His legacy.
Come on, Reynie.
Maybe the prize is a new sweater vest.
No, the prize is a reunion with him.
He made us a set of clues to lead us to where he is.
Where he was.
We can use these clues to get to Europe and find Mr. Benedict.
Or at least find the well.
This will get us close to the last point of contact.
We'll pick up the scent from there.
Rhonda and Mulligan will never let us. You heard them. Too dangerous.
-Then I'm in. -Me too.
I crave the frontiers of human experience.
They told us we're capable of doing anything.
And you know what we've done and who we are.
We're the mysterious Benedict Society.
So let's go after them.
What's the first clue?
"Looking for something? Open me.
I'm sure that your something inside of me lies."
Rhyming is the lowest form of poetic expression.
"What is sought, depends on the seeker."
"Others for nature. Still others for nurture."
That's it? It's impossible.
Nothing can hold all those things.
And that's coming from someone with the magic bucket.
-Where are you going? -The library.
-(car horn honking) -(Benedict groans)
(thudding)
Driver? (chuckles)
Driver?
-Might as well be a mannequin. -Just implacable.
(clears throat) Excuse me.
Driver.
(screams) Driver!
(thuds)
-Oh, oh. -Hm?
-Pork rillette? -No.
No?
Hm.
Well, at least the provisions are good for our kidnapping.
Yes, yes, yes.
Why be so thoughtfully curated if we were meant harm?
(laughs)
Well, many sociopaths are unfailingly polite.
Well, this could easily be a benefactor, a powerful benefactor.
But yes, someone who wants to help. Yes. (chuckles)
The dictionary, of course. It's alphabetized.
"Hope comes after despair, but before surprise."
And, "What I mean lies inside of me too."
-The definition for dictionary is... -In the dictionary.
But which dictionary?
Benedict's kind of obsessed with them.
There are 17 in the house, 28 if you count foreign languages.
Last time I checked.
A lot has happened since you left, George.
Many dictionaries acquired.
With that many, we need to split up.
-Sticky, library. You guys-- -Benedict's study.
(Reynie murmurs) Dictionary, dictionary...
I've never understood his shelving system.
There is no system.
I'm sure the library at Boatwright is crazy organized.
It is. Pretty much everything is.
I imagine.
How are things, like, I don't know, the mail delivery situation?
-Mail delivery? -Just a random example.
-How does that work? -We just go down to the P.O.
Everybody has a mailbox. Nothing special.
Though it's kind of funny.
They have these tables where student clubs set up.
Rocketry, debate, you know?
-One day, doing the Bees. -The Bees?
The Bees, Brady Beesley?
Anyway, they dressed up in all black,
set up a table with a blank black sign and blank nametags.
Nothingness Club. They got, like, 25 people to sign up.
-It was hilarious. -Cool.
So anyway, seems like the mail delivery system is in good shape.
I'm not sure what you're talking about.
But I've missed you.
It's good to see you.
(gentle music)
-I want to know about rural life. -Okay.
-Do you milk a cow? -On occasion.
-Slop the hog pen? -If called for.
-Harvest? -Only during harvest.
What do you harvest? Loneliness?
-It's definitely not lonely. -Oh, yes.
Just you and your father against the world.
-Kind of like you. -Ha.
What's it like, having Benedict for a dad?
-Not dad, roommate. -Okay.
Respectful distance, intelligent conversation.
I allow him to believe he's good at chess.
He brings me nutritious food.
I don't even know what I'm looking for.
-Finally, some truth. -What?
I was talking about the dictionaries.
You can needle me all you want, but you like me.
You admitted it.
Hello.
What's going on?
Just trying to increase my vocab.
Not a lot of books on the farm.
Oh, you'd like more books on the farm? I'd be happy to place an order.
I know that my collection skews heavily towards historical thrillers.
No, it's good. It's good.
Okay, then.
Nothing you need help with? Nothing going on?
Nope.
I'll see you in a bit.
Shut up.
-Is there a dictionary in there? -No. No, I'm just snooping.
I found it.
STICKY: A book in a book.
"Travelers should always keep journals.
Journals should always keep secrets.
Read quickly and move on.
Bon voyage, Mr. Benedict."
What's it say?
This is... gibberish.
Wait, the last word on each page is in italics.
"Take down roses
and severely take your chances.
Take up sewing...
Take my... bait... answer...
dogfish... shortcut... learn the passage...
cold cut, shortcut, uppercut."
-That's it. -KATE: Okay, then.
-Very clear. -What does it mean?
Does anyone feel like they've entered a trance?
Maybe it's something structural.
Uh, hidden compartment within a hidden compartment?
Structural. Yes. Give me that.
-What are you doing? -Constance.
The pages with different sizes. I have to separate them.
It's called deckle edge. It's a premium way to buying books.
Mr. Benedict would never ask us to desecrate a book.
-Yeah, I feel unclean. -CONSTANCE: Well, the clock's ticking.
Better move quickly.
We read it slowly. He said to read quickly.
"Take the shortcut."
Take the shortcut.
-What's the shortcut? -It's a ship.
-A ship? -Not just a ship.
It's the fastest ship in the world.
I subscribe to Maritime Monthly.
-George, as a young man, that is sad. -What?
It's an incredible window into the world.
There's news, politics, opinion, recipes.
The point is, Benedict knows you love things nautical.
Yeah, we've talked about it a lot.
He knew you'd know.
So, it's the ship.
-Which is in port right now. -How...
In the nautical community,
we always know the whereabouts of the flagship class vessels.
Everybody knows that, Kate.
So if the idea was that we were supposed to leave today...
We better get to the harbor.
Just go to the harbor? Then what?
He'll have worked it out. This was the plan.
It will become clear. I have faith.
So, are we really going to do this?
REYNIE: We're gonna find them.
But we all have to agree.
Are we doing this?
We're doing this.
(thuds in distance)
(telephone ringing)
(in German) Hello, this is Rhonda. Yes?
(suspenseful music)
(in French) Respond, please!
(in English) Your ride will be here soon.
Milligan!
KATE: Sorry, we had to take matters into our own hands.
Don't worry. We'll be careful. Bon voyage.
MS. PERUMAL: What?
(ship horn honks)
ANNOUNCER: Last call for the SS Shortcut.
All passengers aboard.
Last call for the SS Shortcut.
REYNIE: Weatherall, Kate?
Muldoon, Reynard?
Is there another name they might be under?
Try Mr. Nicholas Benedict. They have to be here.
As I told you, it's very rare to have tickets left for pickup.
LAURA: They would usually be hand delivered and signed for.
Hand delivered.
Almost without exception.
Please, other people need service.
(ship horn honks)
-That was the second warning. -REYNIE: Please.
We're just, will calling a few more names.
That's not a verb, sir.
Rhonda Kazembe. Milligan?
I'm sure you can understand why you are losing credibility.
And we do have very limited time.
Next, please.
KATE: Did not foresee being failed by the ticket situation
-before we even start. -We need to think of something.
This plan... it was naive at best.
Where are you going?
-We need to be on that boat. -Ship.
Call it a boat on board and you'll get a stern reprimand.
-Stern. -What?
-Oh, nice. -Guys, I need ideas.
If all this isn't a sign, I don't know what is.
They need us.
REYNIE: Who knows what danger they could be in?
(Constance whistles)
(light music)
("Stand Back" by Stevie Nicks)
It's time, sir.
(birds chirping)
(sighs)
Well, at least they've given us a nice breakfast.
How pleasant of him. (sighs)
Oh.
Oh, him.
Oh, so good to see you, brother.
(chuckles)
And your associate.
I demand our immediate release.
Release? From what?
Well, don't limit your perspective, Associate.
Number Two.
I'm not privy to your organizational flow chart.
-Why? -Why what?
Why are we here?
Oh, I can't wait to share that with you.
I know that you'll be...
elated.
(tense music)
(ship horn blaring)
(upbeat music)
(panting) Too late.
-WOMAN: Bon voyage. -MAN: Bon voyage.
This is... a bit of a surprise.
That's as eminently fair to say.
This really isn't like Reynie.
It's just like Kate.
We told them there was nothing they couldn't do.
It's who we asked them to be.
-Maybe... -They believed us.
(uplifting music)
(closing theme music)