Chapter 1: The Gliding (2016)

You finish rearranging the pillows and take stock: Comfy couch? Check. Tea? Check. Calming, scented candles? Check. Blinds lowered? Well, they always are but you double-checked anyway. Yep, tonight's definitely the night. You pop open the case and once again look at the DVD, almost featureless save for the words "THE GLIDING (2016)" written on the front in permanent marker. You've tried watching this obscure horror film several times but it always got too much for you before it was over. Tonight, however, you're going to best it once and for all. You settle in while the DVD player winds up and take a sip of tea. There's no fancy menu; it just boots straight into the movie with an opening scene you're now very familiar with:

A large, ostentatious ballroom filled with guests. The camera glides past them, picking up small snippets of conversation before slowing and settling on a dancing couple in the crowd: two women, one in a bespoke tuxedo with flowery brocades, the other in a lavish gown studded with gems. The lady in the tux compliments the other woman's appearance, saying that "for all of our host's splendour, it yet pales in comparison to you." The lady in the gown blushes briefly before they pick up the dance again. The scene focuses for a while on the couple's dancing and even on this rewatch, you are still impressed by the choreography at work here; these two actors must have been dancing professionals. But the tragedy strikes: in the finale of the dance, the lady in the tux leads the other woman into a fast spin and you hear the sound of something tearing. The lady in the gown falls to the floor, covering her face. The lady in the tux kneels next to her, obviously concerned, but when he gently takes the other woman's hands to check, the camera reveals a face of muscle, tendon and bone, without any skin! There's a shocked gasp from the crowd as the lady in the gown quickly gets up and grabs a small pile off the floor before dashing out of the ballroom.

The scene shifts, showing a carriage arriving at a dark, dilapidated manor. It cuts to a parlor indoors, where that lady in the gown is sobbing, her face lying on display on a table in front of her. A voice from off-screen tells her that she was warned it would not hold up under heavy strain. She should've just socialized at the edges of the party, and none would have been the wiser. "But," the voice reminds, "all is not lost. For the true beauty of my gift is that I always have another for you to start again." At this point the camera pans to show that the voice belongs to a hooded figure, her face completely obscured, who's sitting near the other woman.
"For as long as you can pay the price." the figure - The Stitcher, as you call her - adds.
To this, the gowned lady nods quietly, taking a small bundle of bloodied rags out of her purse.

You pause the movie here for a moment to calm yourself down a little. Sure, it's technically cheating but you really want to get to the end of it this time! And the movie still has to pick up the pace, so now's probably the best time to slow your pulse before you get swept up again. After another sip and a few deep breaths, you resume the film.

The next several scenes cut between different characters to establish the theme further: people visit the Stitcher to get a new chance at life or to further a personal goal, and she agrees to help them in exchange for a price: always unspecified, but always some kind of small package stained with blood. The Stitcher's "aid" also always takes the form of exchanging the petitioner's face for another, one supposedly more suited to their desires and goals. And initially, this works: the stablehand finds favor with a noble and starts moving up in life. The merchant strikes a deal that makes business boom. The noblewoman from the first two scenes - you know it's her because she wears the same dress - now moves in a different circle and finds romance. However, the characters invariably slip up somewhere and their fortunes quickly turn for the worse, at which point they visit the Stitcher again, who berates them for not following her rules but still offers them another chance if they are willing to pay once more. And all three of them ultimately accept her deal.

At this point there's a montage of the Stitcher performing her work, skillfully wielding a needle and skin-tone thread to sew the next set of faces on her clients, her own face always obscured in shadows. It's honestly a mesmerizing sight: the gleam of the needle, the smooth flow of the thread, her quick, efficient movements that nonetheless have little bits of flair to show her mastery. For a moment you lose yourself - feeling the little pricks on screen as if she was working on your face - but you quickly shake it off: you know it's not real.

After this, the film cuts to several constables investigating a body. A carriage pulls up and out steps the tuxedo lady from the first scene, still smartly dressed in waistcoat and trousers. The constables address him as "Lord Beatrice Bryant" and question him - the body belonged to one of his maids. When he sees the body he has a brief moment of shock - her face was violently removed! - but passes it off as a sudden bout of grief to the constables. As he gets back in the carriage, his face turns grim, and the next several scenes show Bryant questioning his staff and asking several other nobles about the gowned lady who danced with him in the ballroom.

Meanwhile, the stablehand -now personal servant to another noble- is meeting with the Stitcher and explains he wants out: the pressure of his new life is more than he can handle and he wants his original face back. The Stitcher reminds him that her first deal was a point of no return; even if she were to give his face back, it would have to be stitched on and he would still need to follow her rules to keep it from falling off. This shocks the stablehand but the Stitcher soothes him, telling him to sleep on it and return tomorrow if he's sure of his decision.

The movie cuts back to Lord Bryant at another party, trying to once again catch the trail of the gowned lady. He spots her dancing with a man, and he elbows his way through the crowd before cutting in and taking the man's place. As they resume dancing, Lord Bryant makes several remarks about the lady's previous outing but she feigns ignorance. Bryant is at first not buying it, but as they pick up their pace the lady falters in her steps, leading him to conclude that "you wear her face but not her feet; who are you, really?" The lady flees the party and Bryant gives chase, grabbing her by her necklace but it breaks, and she gives him the slip by hiding in an alley.

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Once Lord Bryant gives up, the lady makes her way to the Stitcher's manor, panicking that someone, somehow recognized her new face. The Stitcher calms her down, and asks her to start from the beginning...

The next day, the stablehand arrives and tells the Stitcher his mind is made up, he wants his old face. She agrees, but tells him that this time, her price will be more... specific.

Lord Bryant finds himself now at the office of a wealthy merchant, having them appraise the necklace and asking if they know its origin. They study the necklace for a while, complimenting its craftsmanship, but alas, they would not know the maker. However, they did hear from one of their clients that a famous craftsman is to attend a ball tonight, perhaps His Lordship would have better luck there. After Lord Bryant leaves, the merchant gives a note to a messenger boy, telling him to make haste.

Once more the film cuts to a lavish ballroom, where the gowned lady is making idle gossip on the sidelines. Lord Bryant is announced and she freezes for a moment, but he passes her by and she sighs in relief as he does not recognize her. Lord Bryant, meanwhile, brusquely moves his way through the crowd towards the stablehand, now dressed in finery and discussing the art of the jeweler with a few nobles. Bryant introduces himself and asks if he could get a private appraisal on a family piece, apologizing for the suddenness of the request. The stablehand agrees, and tells Bryant not to worry as the host was so good as to have prepared a room for just such an event. Now in private, Bryant presents the necklace and asks if he could discover its origins. The stablehand scoffs, stating that "the jewel whose hand I cannot trace, has yet to made." He grabs the piece and studies it for a while, commenting on the marvelous cut of the gems. Bryant agrees, at least, "if one likes glass" he adds, holding up another gem. "A real jeweler would've spotted the fakes immediately." Bryant states, pouring himself and the stablehand a glass of brandy. "So why don't you sit down with me and tell me who you really are."
To this, the stablehand pulls out a dagger, saying that "Unfortunately, Lord Bryant, for me to do so would first require you to die!" before lunging forward. Bryant quickly flicks his brandy in the stablehand's face and then knocks the dagger away! The stablehand grabs him and the two struggle briefly before a tearing sound is hear and Bryant pushes the stablehand - whose face is now partially peeling away - down on the table, demanding to know what devilry is at work here.

In the ballroom, the gowned lady is joined in conversation by another noblewoman but as she turns around to greet the newcomer, recognition dawns in her face - at least the face she is wearing now, for the other woman is wearing her face from the first scene! The newcomer, similarly, recognizes the face the gowned lady is wearing and lunges for her, shouting that "that belongs to me, you thief!" The crowd parts away in shock as both ladies fall to the floor in their struggle until finally, the gowned lady grabs at the newcomer's face and yanks until, with a more overt, sickening, tearing noise, it comes free. But her look of triumph is soon replaced by the horror of what she's done, as she stands in the crowded room holding a bloody face in her hand, that horror only doubled by Bryant re-entering the room, who spots her just as she flees.

This is as far as you got last time. Now, the scene shifts once more to the Stitcher's manor as the gowned lady storms through the front door. She makes her way through the manor until she confronts the Stitcher down in her operating room, who is busy preparing the stablehand's old face for the upcoming surgery. The noblewoman rages, telling her that everyone is on to them now thanks to the Stitcher reusing people's faces -is her original one out there as well? The Stitcher counters, saying "faces don't exactly grow fully-formed on trees, and that those we want, we must source locally." She then berates the noblewoman once more, stating it's their fault for always seeking the spotlight: "I caution each of you with my gifts but none of you ever listen; you just endlessly chase the sun and are then shocked you get burned." The gowned lady, cowed, asks her what their next step is, to which the Stitcher replies she is leaving, already casually moving to pack up her equipment. Realization dawns on the noblewoman's face: the Stitcher is abandoning her! She grabs a scalpel off the table and lunges, but the Stitcher effortlessly backhands her away with inhuman strength. As she looms over the prone lady, another slam of the door interrupts her. The noblewoman coughs out a laugh - that must surely be Lord Bryant, hot on her trail! "Over here," she shouts, "in the basement!" but the Stitcher clenches a hand around her throat before she can say more. Bryant arrives, demanding the Stitcher to let the lady go: the stablehand confessed and by now the constabulary are moving to seal all the city exits - there's nowhere for her to run! The Stitcher ponders his words: true, they would arrest her on sight but would they do the same to the honourable Lord Bryant? She makes him a deal: the lady, for his face. But he must choose quickly: she will definitely run out of air if he dawdles! Bryant, his arm twisted, agrees, but on one condition: he must first see her collection of faces to find a suitable replacement - surely she would not leave him faceless in the deal? The Stitcher agrees, shifting her grip and bodily hauling the noblewoman along with her to a pull a curtain on one of the the walls, revealing a grisly collection of pinned faces from all ages and backgrounds! Several pins are empty, and as Bryant studies the macabre collection she busies herself hanging the stablehand's face back where it belongs. Bryant makes a few comments on some of them while quickly grabbing a pair of vials from a nearby counter. When the Stitcher next turns to him, he says he's almost made up his mind but would like her input: would she go for that face up there - the older, distinguished lady - or would she take the one a few rows below - the one with the more angular features? As the Stitcher turns to inspect them, Bryant throws the two vials at her and they strike her in the shoulder with a bubbling, hissing noise! The Stitcher drops the noblewoman and Bryant swiftly moves her to the exit, but before they can make it the Stitcher throws her now-burning cloak at the door! The camera slowly pans up, accompanied by cracking, snapping, revealing a face-

You stop the movie entirely, body shaking and sweating, bile rising. You hurry to the bathroom to heave but nothing comes out. As your nausea flares you tear the paper covering the mirror, getting a good look at yourself, the muscles, tendons and bones of your face. You know it doesn't have to be like this; that you could have it all back again if you could just just pay the price!

Could you?

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