CREEP (2014) Ending Explained
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Short filmTranscript
00:00 (whooshing)
00:02 How's it going, folks?
00:05 Welcome to FoundFlicks.
00:06 On today's Inning Explained,
00:07 we're looking at the found footage thriller, Creep,
00:10 following a young videographer
00:11 that answers an online ad for a job in a remote town
00:14 to record the messages of a dying man.
00:16 When he notices the man's odd behavior,
00:19 he starts to question his intentions.
00:21 I really like this one,
00:22 as it manages to do a lot with very little.
00:25 It's pretty much just two dudes talking,
00:27 but impressively, thanks in no small part
00:29 to the multi-layered performance of Mark Duplass,
00:31 this one is a delightful oddball found footage tale.
00:35 Duplass and his brother Jay are generally regarded
00:37 as ushering in the subgenre known as mumblecore
00:40 with their feature debut, The Puppy Chair,
00:42 the style known for its naturalism
00:44 in both performance and dialogue,
00:46 as well as predominantly being improvised,
00:49 which then spawned its own subgenre, mumblegore,
00:53 featuring the same naturalistic approach,
00:55 but combining that with horror elements,
00:57 of which creep might be the most successful overall.
01:00 As it's mostly dialogue,
01:02 they tow this line constantly of things being weird,
01:05 funny, and creepy, appropriate,
01:07 and also an undercurrent of scary that works really well.
01:10 And this was actually a lot funnier than I remembered,
01:13 but funny in a very peculiar and even unsettling way,
01:16 which is an impressive feat that, again,
01:18 makes this one a standout as a classic for these reasons,
01:22 and also makes very good use of the found footage style
01:25 to glean many scares as well.
01:27 It's simple, effective, and downright memorable
01:29 considering its minuscule budget.
01:31 And it's no surprise that this comes from Blumhouse.
01:34 Where would we be without those guys?
01:36 There is a lot to dissect with the creep character
01:39 and what his whole deal is,
01:40 so we'll be focusing on who he says he is
01:43 versus who he actually is,
01:45 the truth lying somewhere in between,
01:47 along with explaining the ending
01:48 that gives us further context to the creep's personality
01:52 and sets things up nicely for our story
01:54 to continue in Creep 2.
01:55 We meet our constantly filming videographer Aaron
01:58 on his way out into the mountains for a filming job.
02:01 A thousand bucks a day, discretion appreciated,
02:03 is all the listing said.
02:05 And he admits that he doesn't even know the guy,
02:07 longingly considering it could be
02:08 some beautiful, lonely woman waiting for him,
02:11 writing it off as just a thought.
02:13 Yeah, not exactly,
02:14 but ascending into the heavily forested area,
02:17 he arrives at the remote house,
02:18 having to climb a large set of stairs
02:20 already winded by the time he reaches the door.
02:23 There's no answer when he knocks
02:24 or uses the little buzzer thing,
02:26 and no response when he tries to call either.
02:28 Seeing an ax ominously sticking out of a tree stump below,
02:32 he opts to wait in his car,
02:34 assuming the guy isn't going to show.
02:36 Just then, he appears at the car window, startling Aaron,
02:39 introducing himself as Joseph, smiling creepily,
02:42 saying they're gonna have a great time today,
02:44 telling him he has a kind face,
02:46 opening the door to lure him out.
02:48 Joseph asked for a hug to break the ice,
02:50 asking him to trust him,
02:52 promising that this won't be weird at all.
02:55 Uh, it's already weird.
02:56 He calls the cabin his family's vacation home,
02:58 reminiscing that there's many memories in these walls,
03:01 and Joseph is anxious to get started with his video project.
03:04 As he divulges to Aaron,
03:06 he used to have cancer
03:07 and quickly beat it into remission with chemo,
03:09 but two months ago, started getting dizzy spells,
03:11 having cognitive misfirings,
03:13 and learned that he had a huge brain tumor.
03:16 Being inoperable, he only has two months to live.
03:19 However, he's still hopeful that he can beat it
03:21 with the power of positive thinking.
03:23 Okay.
03:23 And in case he doesn't, reveals he's married
03:25 and his wife is pregnant with their first child,
03:27 called Buddy,
03:28 intending to record a series of video messages
03:30 for his unborn son to remember him after his passing,
03:33 a la the 90s Michael Keaton melodrama, "My Life."
03:36 He hands over the cash up front,
03:38 calling their arrangement no longer a business transaction,
03:41 but a partnership and journey into art,
03:43 telling Aaron they're going to do great stuff,
03:46 clearly excited, going for a high five.
03:48 If things didn't already seem a bit off here,
03:51 Joseph's first thing that he asks Aaron
03:53 is to follow him into the bathroom,
03:54 settling in for a nice bath,
03:56 or as he recalls with his father when he was a child,
03:59 tubby times!
04:00 And since he might not have tubbies with his own son,
04:02 does so now, miming an invisible baby with stinky toes,
04:05 which is totally bizarre and hilarious.
04:07 Though things turn somber after a soak,
04:10 disappointed, thinking of his limited time left,
04:12 either being in pain or sad,
04:14 wanting things to be happy,
04:15 and considers that he could just end things right now,
04:18 and slinks under the water,
04:20 appearing to try and drown himself.
04:21 Aaron freaks, and Joseph emerges,
04:23 laughing it off as just a joke.
04:25 Wanting to take him somewhere,
04:27 they need some coats first,
04:28 sending Aaron down to a closet.
04:30 When pulling away a curtain,
04:31 he's frightened by a weird wolf mask on the shelf.
04:34 But Joseph explains it's just Peach Fuzz,
04:36 the friendly wolf that his dad created for him,
04:39 with a theme song and everything to boot.
04:41 Joseph puts on the masks and sings the song for him
04:43 in a nice little performance there.
04:45 Their destination is some kind of
04:47 supposedly magical healing spring
04:49 that only the pure of heart can utilize.
04:51 Excitedly running into the woods to his son,
04:54 "Let's go cure some cancer!"
04:55 I guess thinking that this spring will cure him.
04:57 They stop when Joseph says he heard something in the woods,
05:00 and randomly just straight up bolts off,
05:02 leaving Aaron yelling after him in confusion.
05:04 He does track him down,
05:06 Joseph popping up to scare him again.
05:08 Just another prank.
05:09 But this time, he turns the camera on Aaron
05:11 to get his reaction,
05:12 calling what he witnessed
05:13 an incredible near-death experience.
05:15 As for a brief moment,
05:17 he could see on Aaron's face
05:18 that he thought his life was in danger.
05:20 And Joseph could see in his eyes
05:22 a split second where he wanted to kill him,
05:24 feeling that there is an animal somewhere inside of Aaron.
05:27 Joseph asks about the axe in front of the house
05:30 and if he thought that he might kill him with it.
05:31 Aaron admits that he did, which he finds funny.
05:34 It seems that they've been walking for quite a while,
05:36 Joseph promising they're on the right path,
05:38 coming across a sign,
05:39 but it's just for a sewage water system.
05:42 Aaron, growing uncomfortable,
05:43 asks if he knows the way back
05:45 since they took so many different paths.
05:46 Joseph saying it doesn't matter,
05:48 they need to keep going forward.
05:50 You can't find a miracle with ropes attached to us
05:52 and runs off again.
05:53 Discovering a lookout point,
05:55 he has something to show the doubtful Aaron down below,
05:57 what looks like a heart-shaped formation in the rocks,
06:00 exactly what they were looking for.
06:02 Maybe he's not so crazy after all.
06:03 Both climb down into the water,
06:05 cleaning and purifying themselves
06:07 in the supposedly magic waters.
06:09 Joseph carving in their initials in a rock
06:11 with a heart around it
06:12 and offers to take him to a place in town for some pancakes.
06:15 Almost like they are really bonding
06:17 and starting to actually become friends here.
06:19 At the restaurant,
06:20 Joseph again turns the attention
06:22 to the man behind the camera,
06:23 asking Aaron if there's anything
06:24 he's ever really been ashamed of in his life.
06:27 Him divulging a story from when he was a kid
06:29 and had a monitor on him that detected wetness.
06:32 When playing on the monkey bars,
06:33 he needed to take a whiz,
06:34 but didn't want to stop playing
06:36 and ended up pissing his pants,
06:37 setting off the monitor,
06:38 leaving him lying on the ground depressed
06:40 with piss all over him and an alarm loudly beeping.
06:42 Yeah, that's pretty embarrassing stuff.
06:45 Joseph tells him he appreciates him sharing that
06:47 and asked for a turn himself,
06:48 revealing that he was watching
06:49 and took pictures of Aaron
06:51 when he first arrived at the house,
06:53 excusing that he was nervous
06:54 and wanted to get to know him
06:56 before he got to know him
06:57 that it might make him less scared.
06:59 He apologizes,
07:00 and even though that is definitely unsettling and weird,
07:02 Aaron plays along that it's fine
07:04 and agrees to move past it.
07:05 How much can you put up with Aaron?
07:07 That seems to kind of be the question here.
07:09 Regardless, when they make it back to the house that night,
07:11 Aaron is ready to call it a day.
07:13 Joseph is a little taken aback
07:14 as he was going to pour him a whiskey
07:16 to commemorate their great day together.
07:18 And after some more prodding,
07:19 Aaron relents to having one drink.
07:22 Joseph asked why he took the job in the first place,
07:25 for the money, he admits,
07:26 then asking if he has money problems,
07:28 telling him it's nothing to be ashamed of
07:30 and reveals that it took him some time
07:31 to accumulate his own wealth.
07:33 After thinking, Joseph wants to give Aaron some money,
07:36 him turning uncomfortable
07:37 and turning down his gracious offer.
07:39 So Joseph tries a differ tactic.
07:40 If Aaron had an excess of food,
07:42 wouldn't he share it with him?
07:44 Well, yes, Aaron agrees.
07:45 Joseph considers it the same thing.
07:47 He has an excess of money and Aaron needs it.
07:49 So what's the problem?
07:50 He's still unsure, but he tells him to check his boot
07:53 as there's already a check in there,
07:55 which he immediately looks down at, but it's another joke.
07:58 But as Joseph said, since he looked,
08:00 that means he must need the money
08:01 offering to help them figure it out.
08:03 And toast to us.
08:05 After a single sip, Aaron is like,
08:06 "I'm out," going to grab his coat.
08:08 Joseph confused, asking why he's leaving
08:11 and blurts out that he lied to him,
08:13 asking about what?
08:14 Peach fuzz, he says.
08:15 He tells him it's something he can't tell another living soul
08:18 and needs to get it off his chest before dying,
08:20 asking him to sit down and turn the camera off,
08:23 still hearing their audio over a black screen.
08:25 He proceeds to tell quite a story
08:28 involving the internet
08:29 and his wife's concerning browsing habits.
08:31 When his internet started to slow down,
08:33 a coworker suggested that it might be due
08:35 to the browser history being full.
08:37 And when he looked for himself, saw unspeakable things,
08:40 mostly bestiality porn.
08:41 And with only two people in the house,
08:43 it must have been his wife, Angela, responsible.
08:46 When confronting her, she outright denied it.
08:48 And over time, the lie began to tear apart their marriage.
08:51 So he took matters into his own hands,
08:53 asking her to come up to the cabin,
08:55 but left due to being called for work.
08:57 He wasn't really called for work, though,
08:58 going down to a store and buying a wolf mask,
09:01 coming back to the house three hours later.
09:03 He climbed through the window while his wife was asleep
09:05 and had ravenous, animalistic intercourse with her,
09:08 saying he had never seen her so happy
09:10 and escaped out the window.
09:11 This is ridiculous.
09:12 He came back the next morning as himself,
09:14 asking about her night,
09:15 her only offering that it was fine with a little smirk.
09:18 And they never spoke of it again.
09:20 But the internet was back up to speed
09:22 as her desires had been fulfilled.
09:24 Woo wee, that is pretty messed up for sure.
09:27 But hey, so what if it's a little kinky?
09:28 It saved their marriage, right?
09:30 No, still weird.
09:31 Naturally, Aaron is only becoming more alarmed
09:33 with each passing moment they're spending together
09:35 as they return to filming Joseph's outro for the video.
09:38 And after one take, Aaron's like,
09:40 "Yeah, that was great, gotta go,"
09:41 searching for his keys,
09:42 while Joseph, on the other hand, wasn't feeling it,
09:44 asking for another take.
09:46 Obviously shaken, Joseph is concerned his story scared him
09:49 and offers that he should just stay the night.
09:51 There's plenty of beds here
09:52 and they'll find his keys in the morning.
09:54 And somehow does convince him to stay,
09:56 not that he can go anywhere without his keys anyway.
09:58 And Joseph rubs his arm, apologizing for raising his voice.
10:01 Aaron seems calmer now, pouring them another drink,
10:04 both agreeing it was the right move
10:06 for him to stay the night.
10:07 And both chug their drinks down,
10:09 Joseph with a much larger one.
10:11 They try to do more takes and Joseph is really feeling it,
10:14 thinking the drink tasted odd.
10:16 Clearly, Aaron drugged him,
10:17 Joseph's speech getting slurry as he does more takes.
10:20 And later, he's passed out snoring,
10:22 mumbling why did he do that,
10:24 lulling him back to sleep to search his pockets
10:26 for his keys, being careful not to disturb his slumber.
10:29 Finding his cell phone, it starts to ring,
10:31 rushing into the bathroom to answer
10:33 where he learns the truth about his new friend.
10:35 Thinking that it must be Angela,
10:36 the woman asked to speak to Joseph
10:38 and he tries to explain that he's here
10:40 to film her husband's cancer thing.
10:42 She doesn't speak to this,
10:43 but tells him he's gotta get out of there now.
10:45 He asks if he's in danger,
10:47 her saying her brother has problems,
10:49 getting serious that he needs to leave immediately.
10:52 Wow, so obviously Joseph has been lying
10:54 about literally everything up to this point.
10:56 And now we know for sure that he has more nefarious
10:58 intentions here than he initially let on.
11:00 When he returns to the living room,
11:02 Joseph has vanished to Aaron's horror,
11:04 searching the house for what he now knows
11:06 is his dangerous new friend.
11:08 He spots the back door slightly open,
11:10 cautiously stepping outside,
11:11 darting his view around the darkness.
11:13 Joseph appears, exclaiming, "Death is coming!"
11:16 Staring blank-eyed and just keeps kinda creepily
11:19 standing there for a few moments.
11:20 "Nothing we can do now," he oddly continues,
11:23 then starting to get upset and breaks down sobbing,
11:26 crying that he doesn't want to die and going in for a hug,
11:29 telling Aaron he loves him and is a good friend.
11:32 Woo, boy, yeah, this guy's got some major problems.
11:35 Aaron tells him that he knows what's really going on here,
11:37 that he's troubled, and offers to help,
11:39 promising that he's not angry.
11:40 All he wants is his keys and then they can go from there.
11:43 Joseph keeps staring off,
11:44 then frantically runs back inside and downstairs.
11:47 Aaron follows after, encountering Joseph
11:49 in his peach fuzz mask, locking the door.
11:51 He asks if he's going to let him go,
11:53 him shaking his head no, then asks why he's doing this,
11:56 just to scare him, him nodding in response.
11:59 Aaron is all, "Okay, you win, I'm terrified, dude,"
12:02 asking him to step aside and let him go.
12:04 Joseph starts growling and rubbing the door,
12:06 rushing the camera, which cuts to static.
12:09 Without knowing exactly what happened,
12:11 we come back to footage of Joseph
12:12 dragging some garbage bags and starting to dig a hole,
12:15 assuming it's a chopped up Aaron inside,
12:18 but pull away, seeing that Aaron did manage to escape,
12:20 thinking this was all over until a few days later,
12:23 this footage on a disc was sent to him in the mail,
12:26 meaning that Joseph knows his address,
12:28 but decides to pretend it didn't happen,
12:30 filing the disc away.
12:31 But it turns out it's not so easy to forget after all,
12:34 Aaron waking up from having bizarre nightmares
12:37 of him and Joseph in a hot tub,
12:38 Joseph wearing his peach fuzz mask
12:40 and Aaron wearing his own baby wolf mask,
12:42 realizing that he's giving him a tubby,
12:44 feeling something weird in the water,
12:46 he pulls out his hand, finding it covered in blood,
12:48 groaning he's really got to forget about this guy.
12:51 The next day, finding a huge box marked fragile
12:54 on his doorstep with no return address,
12:56 he's pretty sure he knows where it came from,
12:58 kicking and banging on the box before opening,
13:00 inside he finds a kitchen knife and another disc.
13:03 On it, Joseph is out of lake,
13:04 apologizing for the previous grave digging video,
13:07 calling it manipulative and an emotional response,
13:10 excusing himself as he wasn't in the right headspace,
13:13 as Aaron did drug him and all,
13:14 having found the empty Benadryl bottle,
13:16 which he's actually impressed by,
13:18 deeming it a cool move,
13:19 and just wants to clear the air, he says,
13:22 and reveals that if he hadn't found the third item
13:24 in the box to pause the disc and dig deeper.
13:27 There Aaron finds a baby wolf stuffed animal,
13:29 which weirdly mirrors his nightmare,
13:31 and Joseph goes on to explain that he loves wolves
13:34 because they love deeply, but don't know how to express it,
13:37 generally doing so in violent ways,
13:39 but deep down inside that they have a good heart,
13:42 even if they are misguided and murderous,
13:44 all plainly referring to himself and his broken mental state.
13:47 The stuffed animal reminded Joseph
13:49 of that first moment in the woods where he scared him
13:51 and saw that murderous glint in Aaron's eyes,
13:54 encouraging him to embrace his own inner wolf,
13:57 to take the knife and murder it,
13:59 proclaiming when you get inside,
14:00 all this beautiful stuff comes out,
14:02 almost like he's trying to groom Aaron
14:04 to becoming a killer like him.
14:05 Aaron doesn't use the knife instead,
14:07 opting for his hands to rip the wolf open,
14:09 retrieving a silver heart locket.
14:11 Inside, it's pictures of the two of them,
14:13 J and A forever inscribed, moaning,
14:16 "Oh my God," in anguish at the strange gift,
14:19 the disc ending with an ominous, "See you soon, buddy."
14:21 Obviously terrified, Aaron reinforces the locks in his house
14:25 and tries to report him to the police,
14:26 but with no real name or address to use
14:29 as he learned that house was rented,
14:30 there's not much that they can do to his frustration.
14:33 Sarcastically saying,
14:34 "Oh, I'll certainly be sleeping soundly tonight.
14:36 "Thanks a lot, lady."
14:38 That night, he's awoken by another similar nightmare,
14:40 this time turning very real,
14:42 when hearing a bang behind him.
14:44 He flips his shit and turns on all the lights in the house,
14:46 grabbing the knife and asking if anyone is there,
14:49 not noticing Joseph standing right at his front door
14:51 when he leaves the room,
14:52 quickly ducking out of sight when he returns.
14:55 Hearing more sounds from outside,
14:56 Aaron grabs the camera, drawn into a dark back alley,
14:59 discovering only a knocked over trash can,
15:01 moaning about raccoons
15:03 and not knowing just how close Joseph was.
15:06 This becomes abundantly clear later
15:07 when back in bed asleep,
15:09 the camera flips on thanks to Joseph
15:11 and he cuts off a lock of his hair,
15:13 Aaron having no idea of his violation until the next morning,
15:16 discovering the screen on his window broken
15:18 and a disc left behind labeled, "My last video."
15:21 Here, Joseph seems regretful and genuine,
15:24 but at this point,
15:25 there's no reason to trust anything he says and is upset,
15:28 in particular for him throwing
15:29 his special best pal locket in the trash,
15:32 feeling his heart broken
15:33 and admits that this sent him into a spiral of bad
15:36 and negative thoughts about Aaron,
15:38 but ultimately felt that he was right to throw it away
15:40 because they were never truly friends at all,
15:42 since he did make up every single story about himself
15:45 he told in their time together.
15:46 He divulges that he wants to be honest,
15:48 and if true,
15:49 this moment does help us understand Joseph
15:51 a bit more in his history,
15:52 lamenting that he doesn't know what's wrong with him,
15:54 but feels that he's been pretending his whole life.
15:57 Initially, he was told to be an actor,
15:59 but didn't like that because it wasn't real
16:01 and could only get off if it was real,
16:03 illuminating the reason for his whole character show
16:06 here tonight and lying about everything to Aaron,
16:08 continuing that some doctors found him crazy
16:10 and others didn't.
16:11 Meds, whatever, none of it really helped,
16:14 leading to him becoming distant
16:15 and burning every bridge in his life.
16:17 Now, all he really wants is someone to talk to,
16:20 asking for a second chance to meet Aaron to explain himself,
16:23 offering that he'll be here at Lake Gregory
16:25 tomorrow at 11 a.m.,
16:26 panning around showing it's a wide open public space.
16:29 No way he can hurt you, bud.
16:31 Going even further emotionally,
16:32 saying who he really is is a lonely person
16:35 that just needs a friend.
16:36 Ah, poor Joseph.
16:38 The obvious sociopath and nutball just needs a friend.
16:41 While it admittedly does sound very convincing,
16:43 this guy is good.
16:44 And poor naive and actually decent human being to a fault,
16:47 Aaron decides to meet him the next day,
16:49 but he ain't no fool,
16:50 taping the meetup from his car
16:52 and keeping his phone on the ready speed dialed to 911.
16:55 Good thinking, dude.
16:56 He takes a seat on the park bench,
16:57 looking out to the scenic view,
16:59 eventually joined unknowingly by Joseph in a trench coat,
17:02 walking right up behind him and staring,
17:04 incredibly never turning around.
17:06 Joseph pulls out his peach fuzz mask and ax,
17:09 lifting them up and smacks it down
17:10 right into the middle of Aaron's skull,
17:12 turning once more to a still frame,
17:14 this time watched by Joseph later.
17:16 He's impressed by his safety plans,
17:18 but he too wonders why he never turned to look behind him.
17:21 He then understands why,
17:22 calling Aaron the greatest man to ever live.
17:25 No matter what he did to him in their weird day,
17:27 he always went along with it
17:29 and continue believing that Joseph
17:30 truly didn't intend to harm him
17:32 and for the first time actually seems to be real with us,
17:35 giving Aaron the honor of loving him the most,
17:37 the favorite of all of his victims.
17:39 Getting obvious pleasure,
17:41 he continues the footage murdering Aaron
17:43 and gets startled by himself rushing the camera.
17:45 We see that Joseph continues his murderous adventures
17:48 after this and get a peek at his full catalog.
17:51 Already getting a call from another new victim,
17:53 Bill, about a job,
17:54 telling him he's looking forward to meeting him.
17:56 He opens a cabinet full of tapes and discs,
17:58 one movie for each of his previous murders
18:00 and each time must have subjected them
18:02 to the same video, cat and mouse setup we saw with Aaron.
18:05 Certainly this whole act is how he gets his thrills.
18:08 He kept pushing Aaron further and further as the day went on
18:11 almost like trying to get him
18:12 to reach a breaking point and leave,
18:14 but after a while it became obvious
18:16 that Aaron is simply too nice to ever actually doubt Joseph,
18:19 which of course proves to be his fatal downfall in the end.
18:22 It does seem that Joseph really did value their friendship
18:25 in an obviously twisted way
18:27 and was being truthful at points about this,
18:29 but ultimately everything to Joseph is just an act,
18:32 acting for real as he said,
18:34 doing this whole elaborate setup to get his rocks off.
18:37 There's also something to Joseph
18:38 that he's actually creating movies with his victims,
18:41 a kind of art in his own mind.
18:43 As he tells Aaron in the beginning,
18:44 this is going to be an artistic journey,
18:47 just not in the way that he would have ever imagined it.
18:49 That wraps it up for this inning explained for "Creep",
18:51 but that isn't the end of our killer creeps adventures
18:54 as a few years later they followed this up with "Creep 2",
18:57 which is a kind of very creative subversion
18:59 of the format of this film,
19:00 finding our character in a very different place
19:03 than presented here.
19:04 It allows us to get a much deeper insight
19:06 into who he really is underneath the act.
19:09 So yes, I will be taking a look at the sequel coming soon,
19:12 but before we go, don't forget you can send me suggestions
19:15 for any movies or TV shows you'd like to see me explain
19:18 by sending them my way
19:19 on any of my social media accounts @foundflix.
19:22 Oh, excuse me, I need to take this, sorry.
19:24 Yes, hello?
19:27 Yeah, so calling about the job.
19:29 $1,000 a day, discretion appreciated.
19:32 Excellent, I will see you soon.
19:34 Thank you so much.
19:36 Looks like I got work to do.
19:38 (man laughing)
19:42 ♪ It's Fuzzy's my best friend ♪
19:46 What did you guys think of "Creep" and its ending?
19:48 What's your favorite found footage horror film?
19:50 Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.
19:52 Make sure to like, subscribe and follow.
19:53 Thanks for watching FoundFlix, see you next time.