Twist

Anthony remembers seeing Apocalypse Now for the first time when he was younger, astounded by the scene in which Martin Sheen breaks down and punches a mirror. Later, he discovered that the scene was unscripted, and Sheen was on drugs and actually having a mental health crisis. The director, Francis Ford Coppola, let the scene play out, even though Sheen cut his hand punching the mirror and stripped naked. He remembers this while in his hotel in Accra, Ghana, wondering what happened to Conway.

When they reached the waters of Ghana, Conway told everyone that they would fix the cable quickly and move on. That night, Anthony continued his letter to Joli. He woke the next morning to find the crew searching for Conway. He disappeared, and no one, not even Zanele, knew where he was.

In the year or so until Conway resurfaced, Anthony realized that there are two versions about Martin Sheen’s crisis in Apocalypse Now. The one that made it on screen, which was a fictionalization and piece of art, and the real event, the way he endangered himself and scared everyone around him.

After Conway’s disappearance, Anthony leaves the Georges Lecointe, landing on the shore in Accra. For days, he walks the city, hoping to see a sign of Conway. During his walks, he realizes that most of the tourists are the descendants of those taken from Africa and enslaved, returning home to find connection.

The Georges Lecointe stays in the water outside the city and repairs the cable. They contact Zanele, but she assures them that she does not know where Conway is. Anthony is interviewed by the naval police and assures them that there was no animosity between him and Conway. The naval officer tells him that she thinks Conway will wash up sooner or later.

Anthony visits the landing station on the shore, which the underwater cable feeds into. The city is disconnected from the internet, and he wonders when the crew will finish their work. At his hotel bar later, Anthony stumbles upon the naval officer again, who tells him that when she spoke with Zanele, Zanele informed her that she and Conway were separated.

The next day, Anthony returns to the landing station. The police hold a press conference and announce that they suspect Conway disappeared because of a domestic misunderstanding and likely returned home. Later, as Anthony watches the Georges Lecointe leave, its job done, he notices that its flag is from Mauritius. He wonders why a ship owned by a company in Brussels would bear a flag from a small island nation near Madagascar.

Anthony stays in Accra, renting a bungalow for three weeks to write his article. He struggles to shape the piece and wonders at how the company in Brussels will make billions off the repair, demonstrating how the legacy of European colonialist ties to Africa persists. To supplement his experiences on the Georges Lecointe, Anthony conducts phone interviews with experts around the world. His primary struggle, however, is finding a way to write the story without including Conway.

He realizes that including Conway will bring attention to him and Zanele, possibly spinning out of control. He decides to write his article around the theme that Conway is the leader of a firefighter brigade, responding to an emergency. Anthony waits for news of Conway’s remains washing ashore but never hears anything. He commits to his sobriety and exercise, and soon finds that he is the strongest he has been in years.

The only person Anthony sees while at the Bungalow is Veliane, the sister of the bungalow community’s watchman. She cooks and cleans for him, though she has a university degree, having written a thesis about fluid dynamics. They get along, and Anthony begins to see her as a friend. He continues working on his article and scouring the internet for news about Conway and Zanele, though she suspends all of her accounts.

One day, Zanele surprises Anthony by calling him. He offers his condolences, and she asks him to leave Conway out of his article. She tells Anthony that Conway asked her to tell him, hinting that she knows where he is and spoke with him. Anthony questions her, but she offers no other information.

As they speak, Anthony watches from his window as Veliane walks through the yard. When she bends down to feed the dog, it bites at her hand, and she falls. She quickly rises as the dog retreats. Anthony asks Zanele about Conway’s other name, but she refutes having any knowledge of it. She tells him to email her if he needs to be in touch.

Veliane returns to the bungalow and wraps a towel around her hand, though the cut from the dog’s bite is not severe. Anthony offers to pay for a doctor, but she refuses. Before she leaves for the day, she asks if the woman Anthony was speaking with was from South Africa. When he tells Veliane that she was, Veliane says she does not like her, and she thinks the woman “sounds slick.”

Over the next few days, Anthony, relieved that Conway is alive, works to finish the article and submit it. He notices that Veliane does not return, and when he asks her brother, he says Veliane will return in a few days. With the article finished, Anthony books his flights home and relaxes. He never leaves the bungalow.

Although he resists the urge to celebrate the article with a drink, he eventually finds himself driving to the local liquor store. He buys a case of wine and a bottle of liquor for the group of men outside the store. As he loads the wine into his car, he sees Veliane walk by. He asks where she has been. She tells him that she had a new job, but it did not last. He offers to give her a ride home, but she refuses. They part, and when Anthony returns to his car, he gives his wine to the group of men.

He drives after Veliane and finds her at the edge of the village. He apologizes for the dog that bit her and asks to walk with her. She leads him over a hill and into a field of ash, where people gather around barrels. She explains that they are harvesting minerals from discarded objects and trash, reclaiming the minerals stolen from their land. They will then sell it for money.

She points out a pair of boys stripping copper from a salvaged underwater cable and reveals that Conway helped them retrieve it from the ocean floor. When Anthony asks her if she spoke with Conway, she tells him that she did not, and he is long gone. He left on a boat going north.

Later, Anthony stands at the window of his bungalow, thinking of how everyone lives in different realities. He believes he understands Sheen in the scene from Apocalypse Now. He hits the glass a few times.