The audience began to file out slowly, as if they were still processing what they had just seen.
Some walked in silence, others laughed nervously. Some chatted with friends about the moments that had made them jump out of their seats, while others still couldn't bring themselves to break the tension with words.
"I'm going to dream about that smile, I swear. I'm dreaming about it tonight," a girl murmured as she walked toward the exit, clinging tightly to her boyfriend's arm.
"Don't be scared. It wasn't that bad. I'll protect you if that demonic entity shows up at home tonight," he said with a grin, trying to sound brave.
"Idiot, you're making the same mistakes Drake made at the beginning," she shot back, glaring at him.
Without warning, she gave him a light elbow in the ribs. "If you buy a Ouija board, I'll kill you myself."
He laughed, shrinking slightly, not daring to argue.
Still inside the theater, two girls remained seated, not having stood up yet. Their faces were streaked with tears.
One wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her sweater, while the other mumbled between sobs.
"I can't believe they killed him. He was so sweet… the way they looked at each other…"
"Now he's dead, and she… she's not even herself anymore…"
Matt, who was still watching the audience's reactions, noticed the two girls crying in their seats and frowned in confusion.
"Are they crying?" he whispered to Owen, who nodded once he spotted them too.
What they didn't know was that those two girls had come to see the stars of Paperman, and ended up watching one of them die and the other become possessed by a demon.
Once the room had mostly emptied, Owen, Matt, and the others began to leave.
"Well, aside from those two weird girls, most people were shocked and scared, especially by the ending," said Matt, walking beside Owen.
Owen looked around. His family. Sophie's family. Friends. The cast. All wore the same expression: satisfaction. It hadn't been a waste of time.
At that moment, a woman approached them from the side aisle, a festival badge hanging from her neck.
"Owen Ashford? Matt Rogers?"
Both turned at once.
"I'm Nadine, from the festival programming team," the woman said, extending a hand with a professional yet warm smile.
"Hi, nice to meet you," Owen said, shaking her hand. Matt did the same.
"I just wanted to congratulate you personally. The screening was a success. That doesn't always happen, and even less so in the midnight slot. The feedback I heard as people left was very positive," Nadine said.
Matt grinned at that.
"We already have a second screening confirmed for the sixth day, as you know," Nadine continued, "but I actually wanted to talk to you because we're considering scheduling a third screening, an extra one, on the final day of the festival."
Owen and Matt exchanged a quick look.
"A third one?" Owen asked, a little surprised. He had hoped for a third screening eventually, but not this soon.
"Yes," Nadine said. "You filled the theater, and a lot of people came in during the last twenty minutes before the show asking if there were any tickets left. So the projections for the second screening are excellent. With the positive word of mouth, a third showing is totally feasible."
"That's great. Will it be in the same theater?" Matt asked, ever ambitious.
If the word of mouth spread fast, combined with the wait between the second and third screenings and the YouTube trailer, it was very likely they could draw more than 250 people for the third showing.
Nadine lowered her voice slightly, as if what she was about to say required discretion.
"Actually… The Blumhouse movie wrapped up about fifteen minutes ago. According to our team, they only filled about 60%. Not terrible, but the reception at the end was cold. Many people left without saying a word. Others looked underwhelmed."
Matt wanted to smirk, but Owen gave him a light elbow.
"Oh, that's a shame," Owen said, pretending to sound genuinely sorry.
"Yeah, so if everything gets confirmed in the next day or two, it's very likely your third screening will be held in the main theater, five hundred seats. I can't promise it yet, but, the directors are pretty excited," Nadine said.
"Great, thanks," said Owen. It was already a win for them to have a third screening lined up, even if it stayed in the smaller 250-seat room.
"Thank you, for bringing this film to our festival," Nadine said with one last smile before taking her leave.
When Owen turned around, he found many eyes on him and Matt.
Sophie, her family, Tyler, and the others were all watching from a few meters back, and judging by their expressions, it was clear they'd overheard the part about the third screening.
Elizabeth was the first to approach. Her eyes were wet, but she held back her tears with a calm smile.
"It was a great film, Owen. Really. Your performance was very good, you've improved so much these past few months," she said, and Edward nodded beside her.
James, Emily, and Sarah also came to congratulate him.
"You were amazing," said Sarah bluntly. "What you did in the anxiety scenes, the way you showed everything without even saying it out loud, it was incredible. You have to teach me how to do that."
From the memories he had of the body's original owner, Owen knew that he used to teach Sarah how to act, standing in front of the mirror, repeating lines with different emotions. So her comment didn't surprise him.
Sarah had never been entirely sure what she wanted to do; she was versatile, she liked acting, singing, and dancing.
"It's harder than acting in front of a mirror or memorizing lines," Owen said calmly.
"Then I want to learn. I want to be an actress. Seriously," Sarah said without hesitation, arms crossed, her gaze firm.
James raised an eyebrow slightly. Edward crossed his arms but stayed silent. Elizabeth simply watched, her face a mix of pride and concern.
It wasn't the first time Sarah had said it, but it was the first time she said it with that kind of conviction and determination.
"Sarah… not everyone is Owen. Hollywood is a tough world," James said in a tone that tried to sound neutral, though it didn't quite succeed.
He was trying to protect his sister from disappointment and the brutal side of the industry, but he didn't know how to do it without sounding condescending or hurtful.
"Yes, he's had clear passion and talent since he was a kid," Edward agreed seriously.
Elizabeth remained silent, her expression unreadable.
Owen raised an eyebrow, surprised by the sudden praise from both his father and brother. They were not men who handed out compliments lightly. If they said something like that, it was because they meant it.
And what they said, wasn't a lie.
The original Owen had been born with undeniable passion. Since childhood, he had acted naturally, stood out in school plays, and showed an understanding of the stage that many adults envied.
Even when he began to drift during high school, he kept landing leading roles.
His talent never disappeared, it just drowned in parties, alcohol, and later, worse things.
Then, in college, he ruined everything: rejecting roles that didn't challenge him, turning his nose up at any project that didn't feel inspiring or starring.
And so, he fell apart.
"So what? I can't have that same talent or passion?" Sarah snapped, her tone sharp, filled with restrained anger.
"That's not it, I just don't want you to take it lightly. It's your future," James said.
"I'm not taking it lightly," she shot back instantly. "It's just that every time I bring this up, you two act like you already know I'm going to fail."
The silence in the family circle grew heavier. The murmurs of people chatting about the film echoed faintly around them.
Matt and Sophie watched from a short distance away, aware that the conversation had suddenly turned tense.
Sarah frowned even more at the silence, and when she noticed her mother staying quiet, saying nothing at all, her frustration grew.
Just as she was about to lash out and ask why her mother never supported her the way she had supported Owen, a calm voice broke the tension.
"I'll teach you."
Sarah turned toward Owen, her expression, seconds away from exploding, softened.
"Really?" she asked quietly.
"Seriously. And when the time comes," Owen said, pausing with a half-smile, "I already have a few roles in mind where you could fit in."
Sarah froze. She looked at him, first surprised, then skeptical, and finally, happy.
All she'd wanted was for her brother to give her advice, to teach her how to express emotions better, how to let go, how to trust herself. But this was so much more.
Edward and James exchanged a glance. Once upon a time, they might not have taken Owen's words too seriously.
But now they knew that Owen had written Paranormal Activity, sold an original script to A24, and released two short films with glowing reviews, short stories that, while brief, had been widely praised.
He was no longer the unstable kid who turned down roles out of pride. He was someone with clear ideas, concrete projects, and the mind of a storyteller.
"Thank you!" Sarah said, throwing her arms around Owen.
As she hugged him, she shot a proud, defiant smile at the others, as if to say without words: See? He believes in me.
Owen had seen plenty of movies and shows where Sarah could play roles, supporting or even leading.
One role that came to mind for the future was Rachel Green from Friends. Sarah had those Rachel vibes: spoiled, blonde, charming.
Owen accepted the hug. In his past life, he had been a Friends fan. He'd watched all twelve seasons in full.
And now, Friends didn't exist here.
It was true that it was already 2022, but Friends had a timeless kind of humor, it never went out of style. The nostalgia for the 1990s could make the show a massive hit.
He just needed money. Because, of course, he wasn't planning on selling the script to anyone. He would finance it himself, to have total creative control.
If he managed to finance Friends out of his own pocket, he was sure he'd be super famous and rich by then. After all, he'd need several million to pull it off.
He also wanted to play one of the three male leads, but if Sarah was going to be Rachel, of course, he wouldn't play Ross.
He loved all the Friends characters, but honestly, Ross didn't suit him. In this reality, he looked far too handsome to pull off someone like Ross.
He'd have to choose between Chandler and Joey.
Would it count as nepotism to give Sarah the role of Rachel?
Yes and no.
Nepotism is the use of one's position of power to benefit family or friends, granting them opportunities or favors regardless of merit or ability.
From an outsider's perspective, that's probably exactly what it would look like: "The producer's sister got the part because she's his sister."
But Owen had no intention of giving Sarah any major role unless she proved she had the talent. She could ruin the whole project if she wasn't up to the task, especially in something as iconic as Friends, or any other film or series.
Still, it was undeniable that Sarah had a massive advantage:
-She didn't need to audition just to be noticed.
-She didn't need to find an agent or land a background role just to get a chance.
-She had a brother who wrote scripts, financed his own films (so far one feature and two shorts), produced his own projects, and was building his own path in Hollywood.
If Sarah proved she had real talent, even if she wasn't brilliant right away, Owen would help her grow. He would teach her, train her, give her advice and scenes to practice until she was ready.
Did that give her an unfair advantage over other equally talented girls without connections? Yes.
But that's how Hollywood worked.
Talent without opportunity withered away in thousands of shared apartments across Los Angeles.
And access without talent eventually collapsed, no matter how many connections one had.
What mattered was that Sarah showed commitment, discipline, and steady improvement. If she didn't, Owen wouldn't give her any role beyond a cameo or a small supporting part that didn't require much acting skill.
"When do we start?" Sarah asked, still hugging Owen.
"We'll set up practice soon," Owen replied, then his gaze shifted toward his father, whose expression looked tense.
"Sarah still has a whole year of high school left. That's plenty of time to figure out if this is really what she wants. And if it's not, she'll still have time to change paths, pick another career, whatever she wants," he said, trying to ease his father's worries. Like any parent, Edward was concerned about his children's future.
Edward nodded.
After that brief family discussion, Owen noticed Christian and Martha in the distance.
They were talking, but when they caught Owen's gaze, they looked back at him. Martha gave a slight nod. Christian smiled faintly.
Understanding the signal, Owen stepped away from his sister, said a few words to his family, and walked toward Christian and Martha.
From afar, Matt, Sophie, and the others watched in silence.
Sophie narrowed her eyes, trying to read their body language. Sarah followed him with her gaze as if something far bigger than herself depended on that meeting.
A couple of minutes later, Owen came back toward the group at an unhurried pace, his usual calm expression intact, as if nothing could truly shake him.
"Well?" Matt asked, stepping forward first, barely hiding his nerves.
Sophie, Sarah, and the others waited anxiously.
"They liked it. Martha was impressed by the turnout and that the theater was full. They want to see how the audience reacts in the second and third screenings, and also how the buzz develops," Owen said.
"Buzz?" Edward asked, raising an eyebrow, puzzled.
"Online chatter: Reddit, Twitter, word of mouth. Whether there's momentum, if the film generates attention beyond the festival," Matt explained, a slow smile forming on his face.
"Is that good?" Emma asked.
"Very good. It's not a closed deal yet, but if things keep going this way, they'll want to make one," Owen replied.
"Yes!" Matt shouted, loud enough to make several people turn their heads.
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