The movie starts with Job 38:4, 7 “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?...while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy?"
This is how God answers Job when he demands God to answer him why such painful misfortune should happen to him.
There are 4 main time zones in the movie:
1. 1950s (when the boys are about 7, 9, 11); 2. 1960s (when R.L. dies at 19); 3. now (perhaps 1990s, when Sean Penn plays Jack); 4. at eternity (beach / heaven).
The movie starts with grown-up Jack (Sean Penn), the eldest son, saying it was brother and mother who led him to God. Then Mrs O’Brien (Jessica Chastain) appears as a little girl. She says that the nuns told her there are 2 ways through life: nature vs grace. Nature is the nature of man to live on his own with instincts for survival. Grace is to to believe in God and be guided by Him. The nuns said all those who live by grace will not come to a bad end. Mrs O’Brien says she would be true to God whatever comes.
In the 1960s a postman comes to deliver the message that R.L., the second son (Laramie Eppler) has died in a war (probably Vietnam). Mrs O’Brien is heartbroken. She says she wants to die and be with R.L. (because R.L. has always been her favorite son. R.L. is true and kind and talented in music and art). After the funeral, Mrs O’Brien's mother (Fiona Shaw) tries to console her, saying life must go on and Mrs O’Brien has still got the other 2 boys.
Mr O’Brien (Brad Pitt), with tears rolling in his eyes, regrets having been so tough to R.L. when he was young, and once criticized him for not turning the pages properly for him at the piano and R.L. hit himself in the face. Mr O’Brien says he made R.L. feel shameful, but it should be his own shame.
Time flashes to modern city traffic and sky scrapers. Now Jack is an architect living in the city, troubled in life and work, distanced from his wife. He remembers his brother R.L., who was true and kind. R.L. died when he was 19. Working in sky scrapers which block the sky, Jack looks troubled. He sighs how greedy the world and people have become. Jack asks how he has lost contact with God. He calls Dad to apologize for something he said about R.L. and says he thinks of R.L. every day. Then he sits at his desk thinking about his childhood.
Jack sees a tree outside the office building on ground level. It seems to remind him of something. Then Jack hears the voice of little R.L. : find me! Jack goes back to 1960s to see mom and dad when R.L. died. He wonders how she coped with the loss.
Mrs O’Brien walks in the woods with a roll of dried tears on her face, asking God why. Is it because she has not been faithful enough? Mrs O’Brien asks God where He was when R.L. was killed. God answers like in Job 38:4-7: when I created the world, where were you?
Then comes the sequence of creation: big bang, the universe, galaxies, the sun, the earth, volcanoes, steam, the sea, murky bubbling water, single celled organisms (protozoans), then multi-celled living organisms, spiral DNAs, jelly fish, one jelly fish of different color (mutations), then another species of curly swimming fish, a swimming amphibian, birds, a big dinosaur (Elasmosaurus) wounded on the beach, sharks (killing and bloodshed), small cute dinosaur (Parasaurolophus)wandering in the woods and ends up wounded and helpless at the stream. A bigger dinosaur (Troodon) comes to lord over it (nature) and yet doesn't kill it (grace). Then a meteor hits the earth and kills all dinosaurs. Time passes. Jack asks when did God first touch his heart?
Time flashes back to 1950s. Mr and Mrs O’Brien start a family and the 3 boys: Jack (Hunter McCracken), R.L., Steve (Tye Sheridan) are born one after another. Mrs O’Brien teaches Jack God lives in the sky. Jack has been jealous since he was a toddler. He knows mother loves R.L. more.
At the dining table Jack feels awkward and oppressed. Mr O’Brien demands his sons to call him 'Sir' and ignores Mrs O’Brien's words (when she tries to say the teacher praises Jack) and cares only about his music (jumping up from the dining table and says: Brahms!). He wanted to be a musician but got distracted in his career and regrets it all his life.
Jack closes the screen door too loudly. Mr O’Brien makes him close it quietly for 50 times and count aloud. He makes Jack take care of the grass in the yard and often scolds him for not doing it well.
As the boys grow up, they see sickness (the man rolling on the grass with epilepsy and the spastic man walking unsteadily outside the supermarket), crime, suffering and pain. No one talks about or explains such things to them. Mr O’Brien teaches the boys to be tough and fierce to advance in this world and says Mrs O’Brien is naive.
Mr O’Brien tries to teach Jack boxing seriously and pushes him to the ground. Then he teaches R.L., who is slow in reaction and sticks out his tongue when punching. Mr O’Brien keeps saying “Hit me!” but R.L. doesn’t respond. Mr O’Brien gives up teaching him.
Mrs O’Brien tells the boys bed time story. Jack asks her who she loves most. Mrs O’Brien says she loves the three of them the same, but apparently she loves R.L. more. R.L. asks Mrs O’Brien to tell them a story before they were born. Mrs O’Brien talks about flying on a small plane as a graduation present. Jack says in his heart: make me good and brave. He adores his mother and imagines how she flies and floats in the air.
Mr O’Brien plays the piano with R.L. playing the guitar. Jack watches jealously.
A boy dies in the swimming pool. Steve asks Mrs O’Brien, "Are you going to die, Mom? You're not that old yet". Jack sees an image of Mrs O’Brien in a glass coffin. Jack is puzzled and asks God why he would let a boy die. He asks "where were you?" and why God would let any bad thing happen. There was a fire in the neighborhood and a boy was burned to half bald. Everyone fears and avoids this boy. Jack says why he should be good when God Himself is not.
At the church the pastor talks about the book of Job and explains that Job's friends mistakenly thought that Job did something wrong secretly and so he was punished by God. But actually misfortune can happen to anyone. No reason is needed. Therefore one should only seek for something eternal instead of material things on earth that cannot last. Leaving church Mr O’Brien talks about a barber who got rich and now owns half the estate of the town. He drove through some luxurious houses and then takes the boys to the poor quarters of the town where black people live.
Mr O’Brien tells Jack Toscanini said “it could be better” after recording a piece 65 times. Then he talks about his inventions and patents. He gets frustrated with his business dealings and is jealous of his superiors. He teaches his sons to go with the stream and never say "I can't".
Trouble often comes at meal times. Mr O’Brien tells Steve to leave the dining table because he giggles, and scolds Jack for defying him. Jack sees his father's weaknesses: arrogant, doesn't care how others feel, setting rules that he himself doesn't follow. Jack asks why his father is hurting them and oppresses his mother.
Jack sees the changing faces and hypocrisy of adults (an intimidating clown, a grotesquely tall man in the attic).
During a meal, Mr O’Brien asks R.L. to shut up. Then he himself scratches the dish loudly with his fork. R.L. says "be quiet". Mr O’Brien is furious and says "what did you say?" R.L. was scared and confused and timidly added "please..." when Mr O’Brien sprung up to hit him. Jack tries to stop his father and says "leave him alone!" Mr O’Brien locks Jack up in the closet and pushes R.L. out of the house. Mrs O’Brien is very angry and later fights with Mr O’Brien but gets suppressed.
Then Mr O’Brien went on a long business trip to China and Europe to sell his patents. The boys feel freed and happy. They have a good time with their mother.
Jack plays with a gang of naughty boys, letting off fire crackers and sending a live frog to the sky tied to a rocket. Jack throws stones at the windows of a deserted house. Mrs O’Brien finds out and Jack is afraid that she would tell his father.
Jack starts to have interest in a girl. He teases her in class and follows her after school. He is attracted to a young female in the neighborhood and often watches her do laundry and wash her feet.
One day Jack sees R.L. sitting at the doorstep playing the guitar quietly. Jack plays with a bottle opener (?) and asks R.L. to put a wire into it. R.L. is skeptical, but he says, "I trust you". Jack runs with R.L. asking him many times if he'd call him a liar. R.L. repeatedly answers no. Jack fights with R.L. but R.L. doesn't want to and asks Jack to quit, but Jack keeps pushing R.L. and makes him angry. Steve watches.
R.L. paints a picture. Jack ruins it with water. When Mrs O’Brien asks him to come back to explain, he refuses and says he'd only do what he wants and blames Mrs O’Brien for letting Mr O’Brien walk all over her.
As night falls, Jack sees through the windows of neighboring houses and finds families fighting, parents yelling at each other in front of their children. He also watches the young female dressed in lingerie alone in the house.
Naughty boys egg Jack on to find out what adults do not tell them. Finally he breaks into the house of the young female and steals a piece of lingerie. He is scared and throws it away in the river. Mrs O’Brien notices something wrong with Jack. He cries and says "I can't talk to you. Don't look at me".
Mr O’Brien comes back. Jack feels oppressed in his father’s presence. Then there are more conflicts between Mr and Mrs O’Brien.
Mr O’Brien commands that Jack call him 'father', not 'dad' and that he should not interrupt him. Jack tries to interrupt but gets scolded. Jack says to his father "you can throw me out of the house anytime; you'd want to kill me".
Mr O’Brien is lying under his car to repair it. Jack walks by and thinks about killing his father. At last he just goes away and prays to God to let his father die instead.
Jack feels troubled and asks himself what he has started and how he can return to innocence like other kids.
Jack takes R.L. to the river to play with an air gun and asks R.L. to put his finger at the mouth of the gun. R.L. is skeptical but still trusts Jack. Jack fires at R.L.'s finger. R.L. runs away in pain and cries. Jack looks wretched, shameful and guilty. Later the boys are playing in some deserted houses. Jack says to a well, "what I want to do, I can't; I do what I hate" (refer to Bible Romans 7:19). Jack tries to make amends with R.L., kisses his elbow and makes him smile. R.L. doesn't talk to him. Jack gives R.L. a thick wooden plank and asks him to hit him if he wants to. R.L. pretends to hit him with the plank. Jack says, "Sorry. You are my brother". Jack sits depressed. R.L. touches his hands, touches his shoulder and pats his head. Jack feels relieved and redeemed.
Jack asks God what He is trying to show him through these things. He knows God is always talking to him.
Jack is playing in the streets and sees the half bald boy. He helps him string the cans to play as stilts. Now he looks at the boy differently, with no more fear or disgust. He pats the shoulder of the boy under his burnt scalp. He knows now how to deal with the unfortunate boy.
Jack goes to see his father gardening. He sees his father's plants eaten up by worms. Jack squats down to help his father pull out badly-eaten leaves.
Mr O’Brien confesses "I want to be loved because I'm a big man" and that he thinks too much about himself and neglects the beauty surround him (his wife and boys). He says he disgraces them. He knows he is nothing and is a failure despite how fiercely he has fought in the world. He comes home and tells Mrs O’Brien that the factory is closing down. Either he'd lose his job or have to move to a job nobody wants. Jack sees his parents talk about this crisis.
Mr O’Brien tells Jack he's been tough on him and he's not proud of it. He says the boys are all that he has and ever wants to have. Jack also apologizes and says he's more like his father than his mother. He bonds with his father again.
Jack carries Steve on his back and they are both crying. The O’Briens have to move and leave this place where the boys have grown-up. Jack is sad but then he sees a tree blossoming with many pink flowers and he smiles. R.L. buries some of his favorite collected items (a small dead dried fish). Mrs O’Brien says "The only way to be happy is to love; unless you love, your life will flash by". The empty house sees the family leave.
Time flashes to Mrs O’Briend in the woods in 1960s. Mrs O’Brien, who has asked God why He has taken her son, now seems to remember something and understand.
Grown-up Jack says to God, “Keep us. Guide us, till the end of time".
R.L. says to Jack: follow me! Jack follows an angel to the great canyon and enters a door frame on the rock. He sees young Jack leading him to somewhere. Then come scenes of the universe again with some kinds of explosion, which may signify judgment day. On a beach which designates heaven Jack reunites with many people of the past, the half bald boy, Steve, his mother and his father. Finally Jack sees his long dead brother R.L.. He carries R.L. up. Then Mr O’Brien hugs R.L. lovingly. When Mrs O’Brien sees R.L., tears roll down her face. She is so happy to see R.L and hugs R.L.. They both look at grown-up Jack with passionate eyes.
Then back home in an indefinite time, adult Jack sees Mom open the door that leads to a strange, vast piece of white land, at the end of which are mountains with the color of sunset. R.L. is reluctant to go and walks back and forth near to the door, playing with his hands. With two angels at her side, Mrs O’Brien says, "I give my son to you" and sends R.L. to God. Then she herself walks through the white land (not sure when).
The once barren sunflower field in their old home town blossoms with many sunflowers.
Back to now, grown-up Jack takes the lift down to ground level. He sees the sky and clouds reflected on glass windows of sky scrapers and smiles (for the first time).
Last scene: a bridge and a sea gull flying.
THE END
(Some scenes may not be in correct sequence; this is how I remember the story after watching it 5 times.)
2011/07/18
The Tree of Life (as I saw it after 4 times)
The movie starts with Job 38:4, 7 “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?...while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy?"
This is how God answers Job when he demands God to answer him why such painful misfortune should happen to him.
There are 4 main time zones in the movie:
1. 1950s (when the boys are about 7, 9, 11); 2. 1960s (when R.L. dies at 19); 3. now (perhaps 1990s, when Sean Penn plays Jack); 4. at eternity (beach / heaven).
The movie starts with Mrs O’Brien (Jessica Chastain) as a little girl. The nuns told her there are 2 ways through life: nature vs grace. Nature is the nature of man to live on his own with instincts for survival. Grace is to to believe in God and be guided by Him. The nuns said all those who live by grace will not come to a bad end. Mrs O’Brien says she would be true to God whatever happens.
In the 1960s a postman comes to deliver the message that R.L., the second son (Laramie Eppler) has died in a war (probably Vietnam). Mrs O’Brien is heartbroken. She says she wants to die and be with R.L. (because R.L. has always been her favorite son. R.L. is true and kind and talented in music and art). After the funeral, Mrs O’Brien's mother (Fiona Shaw) tries to console her, saying life must go on and Mrs O’Brien has still got the other 2 boys.
Mr O’Brien (Brad Pitt), with tears rolling in his eyes, regrets having been so tough to R.L. when he was young, and once criticized him for not turning the pages properly for him at the piano and R.L. hit himself in the face. Mr O’Brien says he made R.L. feel shameful, but it should be his own shame. Mrs O’Brien walks in the woods with a roll of dried tears on her face, asking God why. Is it because she has not been faithful enough?
Grown up Jack (Sean Penn), the eldest son, says it's brother and mother who have led him to God. Brother R.L. was true and kind. He died when he was 19. Now Jack is an architect living in the city, troubled in life and work, distanced from his wife, and sees how greedy the world and people have become. Jack asks how he has lost contact with God. He calls Dad to apologize for something he said about R.L. and says he thinks of R.L. every day. Then he sits at his desk thinking about his childhood.
R.L. says to grown up Jack: find me! Jack goes back to 1960s to see mom and dad when R.L. died. He wonders how she coped with the loss?
Mrs O’Brien asks God where He was when R.L. was killed. God answers like in Job 38:4-7: when I created the world, where were you?
Then comes the sequence of creation: big bang, the universe, galaxies, the sun, the earth, volcanoes, steam, the sea, murky bubbling water, single celled organisms (protozoans), then multi-celled living organisms, spiral DNAs, jelly fish, one jelly fish of different color (mutations), then another species of curly swimming fish, a swimming amphibian, birds, a big dinosaur (Elasmosaurus) wounded on the beach, sharks (killing and bloodshed), small cute dinosaur (Parasaurolophus)wandering in the woods and ends up wounded and helpless at the stream. A bigger dinosaur (Troodon) comes to lord over it (nature) and yet doesn't kill it (grace). Then a meteor hits the earth and kills all dinosaurs. Time passes. Jack asks when did God first touch his heart?
Time flashes back to 1950s. Mr and Mrs O’Brien start a family and the 3 boys: Jack (Hunter McCracken), R.L., Steve (Tye Sheridan) are born one after another. Mrs O’Brien teaches Jack God lives in the sky. Jack has been jealous since he was a toddler. He knows mother loves R.L. more.
As the boys grow up, they see sickness (the man rolling on the grass with epilepsy and the spastic man walking unsteadily outside the supermarket), crime, suffering and pain. No one talks about or explains such things to them. Mr O’Brien teaches the boys to be tough and fierce to advance in this world and says Mrs O’Brien is naive.
Jack closes the screen door too loudly. Mr O’Brien makes him close it quietly for 50 times and count aloud. He makes Jack take care of the grass in the yard and often scolds him for not doing it well. At the dining table Jack feels awkward and oppressed. Mr O’Brien demands his sons to call him 'Sir' and ignores Mrs O’Brien's words (when she tries to say the teacher praises Jack) and cares only about his music (Brahms!). He wanted to be a musician but got distracted in his career and regrets it all his life.
Mr O’Brien tries to teach Jack boxing seriously and pushes him to the ground. Then he teaches R.L., who is slow in reaction and sticks out his tongue when punching. Steve doesn't give a punch at all and Mr O’Brien gives up teaching him.
Mrs O’Brien tells the boys bed time story. Jack asks her who she loves most. Mrs O’Brien says she loves the three of them the same, but apparently she loves R.L. more. R.L. asks Mrs O’Brien to tell them a story before they were born. Mrs O’Brien talks about flying on a small plane as a graduation present. Jack says in his heart: teach me to be good and brave. He adores his mother and imagines how she flies and floats in the air.
A boy dies in the swimming pool. Steve asks Mrs O’Brien, "Are you going to die, Mom? You're not that old yet". Jack sees an image of Mrs O’Brien in a glass coffin. Jack is puzzled and asks God why he would let a boy die. He asks "where were you?" and why God would let any bad thing happen. There was a fire in the neighborhood and a boy was burned to half bald. Everyone fears and avoids this boy. Jack says why should he be good when God Himself is not.
At the church the pastor talks about the book of Job and explains that Job's friends mistakenly thought that Job did something wrong secretly and so he was punished by God. But actually misfortune can happen to anyone. No reason is needed. Therefore one should only seek for something eternal instead of material things on earth that cannot last. Leaving church Mr O’Brien talks about a barber who got rich and now owns half the estate of the town. He drove through some luxurious houses and then takes the boys to the poor quarters of the town where black people live.
Mr O’Brien gets frustrated with his business dealings and is jealous of his superiors. He teaches his sons to go with the stream and do not say "I can't".
Trouble often comes at meal times. Mr O’Brien tells Steve to leave the dining table because he giggles, and scolds Jack for defying him. Jack sees his father's weaknesses: arrogant, doesn't care how others feel, setting rules that he himself doesn't follow. Jack asks why his father is hurting them and oppresses his mother.
Jack sees the changing faces and hypocrisy of adults (an intimidating clown, a grotesquely tall man in the attic).
During a meal, Mr O’Brien asks R.L. to shut up. Then he himself scratches the dish loudly with his fork. R.L. says "be quiet". Mr O’Brien is furious and says "what did you say?" R.L. was scared and confused and timidly added "please..." when Mr O’Brien sprung up to hit him. Jack tries to stop his father and says "leave him alone!" Mr O’Brien locks Jack up in the closet and pushes R.L. out of the house. Mrs O’Brien is very angry and later fights with Mr O’Brien but gets suppressed.
Then Mr O’Brien went on a long business trip. The boys feel freed and happy. They have a good time with their mother.
Jack plays with a gang of naughty boys, letting off fire crackers and sending a live frog to the sky tied to a rocket. Jack throws stones at the windows of a deserted house. Mrs O’Brien finds out and Jack is afraid that she would tell his father.
Jack starts to have interest in a girl. He teases her in class and follows her after school. He is attracted to a young female in the neighborhood and often watches her do laundry and wash her feet.
Mr O’Brien comes back. Then there are more conflicts between Mr and Mrs O’Brien. Jack sees through the windows of neighboring houses and finds families fighting, parents yelling at each other in front of their children.
Naughty boys egg Jack on to find out what adults do not tell them. Finally he breaks into the house of the young female and steals a piece of lingerie. He is scared and throws it away in the river. Mrs O’Brien notices something wrong with Jack. He cries and says "I can't talk to you. Don't look at me". Jack asks himself what he has started and how can he return to innocence like other kids.
Mr O’Brien plays the piano with R.L. playing the guitar. Jack watches jealously. R.L. paints a picture. Jack ruins it with water. When Mrs O’Brien asks him to come back to explain, he refuses and says he'd only do what he wants and blames Mrs O’Brien for letting Mr O’Brien walk all over her.
Mr O’Brien commands that Jack call him 'father', not 'dad' and that he should not interrupt him. Jack tries to interrupt but gets scolded. Jack says to his father "you can throw me out of the house anytime; you'd like to kill me".
Mr O’Brien is lying under his car to repair it. Jack walks by and thinks about killing his father. At last he just goes away and prays to God to let his father die instead.
Jack plays with a bottle opener (?) and asks R.L. to put a wire into it. R.L. is skeptical, but he says, "I trust you". Jack runs with R.L. asking him many times if he'd call him a liar. R.L. repeatedly answers no. Jack fights with R.L. but R.L. doesn't want to and asks Jack to quit, but Jack keeps pushing R.L. and makes him angry. Steve watches.
One day Jack sees R.L. sitting at the doorstep playing the guitar quietly. He takes R.L. to the river to play with an air gun and asks R.L. to put his finger at the mouth of the gun. R.L. is skeptical but still trusts Jack. Jack fires at R.L.'s finger. R.L. runs away in pain and cries. Jack looks wretched, shameful and guilty. Later the boys are playing in some deserted houses. Jack says to a well, "what I want to do, I can't; I do what I hate" (refer to Bible Romans 7:19). Jack tries to make amends with R.L., kisses his elbow and makes him smile. R.L. doesn't talk to him. Jack gives R.L. a thick wooden plank and asks him to hit him if he wants to. R.L. pretends to hit him with the plank. Jack says, "Sorry. You are my brother". Jack sits depressed. R.L. touches his hands, touches his shoulder and pats his head. Jack feels relieved and redeemed.
Jack goes to see his father gardening. He sees his father's plants eaten up by worms. Mr O’Brien tells Jack he's been tough on him and he's not proud of it. He says the boys are all that he has and ever wants to have. Jack also apologizes and says he's more like his father than his mother. He bonds with his father again.
Jack is playing in the streets and sees the half bald boy. He helps him string the cans to play as stilts. Now he looks at the boy differently, with no more fear or disgust. He pats the shoulder of the boy under his burnt scalp. He knows now how to deal with the unfortunate boy.
Mr O’Brien confesses "I want to be loved because I'm a big man" and that he thinks too much about himself and neglects the beauty surround him (his wife and boys). He says he disgraces them. He knows he is nothing and is a failure despite how fiercely he has fought in the world. He comes home and tells Mrs O’Brien that the factory is closing down. Either he'd lose his job or have to move to a job nobody wants. Jack sees his parents talk about this crisis.
Jack carries Steve on his back and they are both crying. The O’Briens have to move and leave this place where the boys have grown up. Jack is sad but then he sees a tree blossoming with many pink flowers and he smiles. R.L. buries some of his favorite collected items (a small dead dried fish). Mrs O’Brien says "unless you love, your life will flash by". The empty house sees the family leave.
Time flashes to 1960s, Mrs O’Brien, who has asked God why He has taken her son, now seems to remember something. Grown up Jack sees Mom and Dad at this time.
Grown up Jack says God talks to him through his mother and brother. God is always talking to him. He asks God to "guide us till the end of time".
R.L. says to Jack: follow me! Jack goes to the great canyon with his wife (?), enters a door frame on the rock. He sees young Jack leading him to somewhere. On a beach which designates heaven Jack reunites with many people of the past, the half bald boy, Steve, his father, his mother. And finally his long dead brother R.L.. Mr O’Brien hugs R.L. lovingly. Mrs O’Brien sees R.L. and tears roll down her face. She is so happy to see R.L and hugs R.L.. They both look at grown up Jack with passionate eyes.
Then back home in an indefinite time, adult Jack sees Mom open the door that leads to a strange, vast piece of white land, at the end of which are mountains with the color of sunset. R.L. is relunctant to go and walks back and forth near to the door, playing with his hands. With two angels at her side, Mrs O’Brien says, "I give my son to you" and sends R.L. to God. Then she herself walks through the white land (not sure when).
The once barren sunflower field in their old home town blossoms with many sunflowers.
Back to now, grown up Jack takes the lift down to ground level. He sees the sky and clouds reflected on glass windows of sky scrapers and smiles (for the first time).
Last scene: a bridge and a sea gull flying.
THE END
This is how God answers Job when he demands God to answer him why such painful misfortune should happen to him.
There are 4 main time zones in the movie:
1. 1950s (when the boys are about 7, 9, 11); 2. 1960s (when R.L. dies at 19); 3. now (perhaps 1990s, when Sean Penn plays Jack); 4. at eternity (beach / heaven).
The movie starts with Mrs O’Brien (Jessica Chastain) as a little girl. The nuns told her there are 2 ways through life: nature vs grace. Nature is the nature of man to live on his own with instincts for survival. Grace is to to believe in God and be guided by Him. The nuns said all those who live by grace will not come to a bad end. Mrs O’Brien says she would be true to God whatever happens.
In the 1960s a postman comes to deliver the message that R.L., the second son (Laramie Eppler) has died in a war (probably Vietnam). Mrs O’Brien is heartbroken. She says she wants to die and be with R.L. (because R.L. has always been her favorite son. R.L. is true and kind and talented in music and art). After the funeral, Mrs O’Brien's mother (Fiona Shaw) tries to console her, saying life must go on and Mrs O’Brien has still got the other 2 boys.
Mr O’Brien (Brad Pitt), with tears rolling in his eyes, regrets having been so tough to R.L. when he was young, and once criticized him for not turning the pages properly for him at the piano and R.L. hit himself in the face. Mr O’Brien says he made R.L. feel shameful, but it should be his own shame. Mrs O’Brien walks in the woods with a roll of dried tears on her face, asking God why. Is it because she has not been faithful enough?
Grown up Jack (Sean Penn), the eldest son, says it's brother and mother who have led him to God. Brother R.L. was true and kind. He died when he was 19. Now Jack is an architect living in the city, troubled in life and work, distanced from his wife, and sees how greedy the world and people have become. Jack asks how he has lost contact with God. He calls Dad to apologize for something he said about R.L. and says he thinks of R.L. every day. Then he sits at his desk thinking about his childhood.
R.L. says to grown up Jack: find me! Jack goes back to 1960s to see mom and dad when R.L. died. He wonders how she coped with the loss?
Mrs O’Brien asks God where He was when R.L. was killed. God answers like in Job 38:4-7: when I created the world, where were you?
Then comes the sequence of creation: big bang, the universe, galaxies, the sun, the earth, volcanoes, steam, the sea, murky bubbling water, single celled organisms (protozoans), then multi-celled living organisms, spiral DNAs, jelly fish, one jelly fish of different color (mutations), then another species of curly swimming fish, a swimming amphibian, birds, a big dinosaur (Elasmosaurus) wounded on the beach, sharks (killing and bloodshed), small cute dinosaur (Parasaurolophus)wandering in the woods and ends up wounded and helpless at the stream. A bigger dinosaur (Troodon) comes to lord over it (nature) and yet doesn't kill it (grace). Then a meteor hits the earth and kills all dinosaurs. Time passes. Jack asks when did God first touch his heart?
Time flashes back to 1950s. Mr and Mrs O’Brien start a family and the 3 boys: Jack (Hunter McCracken), R.L., Steve (Tye Sheridan) are born one after another. Mrs O’Brien teaches Jack God lives in the sky. Jack has been jealous since he was a toddler. He knows mother loves R.L. more.
As the boys grow up, they see sickness (the man rolling on the grass with epilepsy and the spastic man walking unsteadily outside the supermarket), crime, suffering and pain. No one talks about or explains such things to them. Mr O’Brien teaches the boys to be tough and fierce to advance in this world and says Mrs O’Brien is naive.
Jack closes the screen door too loudly. Mr O’Brien makes him close it quietly for 50 times and count aloud. He makes Jack take care of the grass in the yard and often scolds him for not doing it well. At the dining table Jack feels awkward and oppressed. Mr O’Brien demands his sons to call him 'Sir' and ignores Mrs O’Brien's words (when she tries to say the teacher praises Jack) and cares only about his music (Brahms!). He wanted to be a musician but got distracted in his career and regrets it all his life.
Mr O’Brien tries to teach Jack boxing seriously and pushes him to the ground. Then he teaches R.L., who is slow in reaction and sticks out his tongue when punching. Steve doesn't give a punch at all and Mr O’Brien gives up teaching him.
Mrs O’Brien tells the boys bed time story. Jack asks her who she loves most. Mrs O’Brien says she loves the three of them the same, but apparently she loves R.L. more. R.L. asks Mrs O’Brien to tell them a story before they were born. Mrs O’Brien talks about flying on a small plane as a graduation present. Jack says in his heart: teach me to be good and brave. He adores his mother and imagines how she flies and floats in the air.
A boy dies in the swimming pool. Steve asks Mrs O’Brien, "Are you going to die, Mom? You're not that old yet". Jack sees an image of Mrs O’Brien in a glass coffin. Jack is puzzled and asks God why he would let a boy die. He asks "where were you?" and why God would let any bad thing happen. There was a fire in the neighborhood and a boy was burned to half bald. Everyone fears and avoids this boy. Jack says why should he be good when God Himself is not.
At the church the pastor talks about the book of Job and explains that Job's friends mistakenly thought that Job did something wrong secretly and so he was punished by God. But actually misfortune can happen to anyone. No reason is needed. Therefore one should only seek for something eternal instead of material things on earth that cannot last. Leaving church Mr O’Brien talks about a barber who got rich and now owns half the estate of the town. He drove through some luxurious houses and then takes the boys to the poor quarters of the town where black people live.
Mr O’Brien gets frustrated with his business dealings and is jealous of his superiors. He teaches his sons to go with the stream and do not say "I can't".
Trouble often comes at meal times. Mr O’Brien tells Steve to leave the dining table because he giggles, and scolds Jack for defying him. Jack sees his father's weaknesses: arrogant, doesn't care how others feel, setting rules that he himself doesn't follow. Jack asks why his father is hurting them and oppresses his mother.
Jack sees the changing faces and hypocrisy of adults (an intimidating clown, a grotesquely tall man in the attic).
During a meal, Mr O’Brien asks R.L. to shut up. Then he himself scratches the dish loudly with his fork. R.L. says "be quiet". Mr O’Brien is furious and says "what did you say?" R.L. was scared and confused and timidly added "please..." when Mr O’Brien sprung up to hit him. Jack tries to stop his father and says "leave him alone!" Mr O’Brien locks Jack up in the closet and pushes R.L. out of the house. Mrs O’Brien is very angry and later fights with Mr O’Brien but gets suppressed.
Then Mr O’Brien went on a long business trip. The boys feel freed and happy. They have a good time with their mother.
Jack plays with a gang of naughty boys, letting off fire crackers and sending a live frog to the sky tied to a rocket. Jack throws stones at the windows of a deserted house. Mrs O’Brien finds out and Jack is afraid that she would tell his father.
Jack starts to have interest in a girl. He teases her in class and follows her after school. He is attracted to a young female in the neighborhood and often watches her do laundry and wash her feet.
Mr O’Brien comes back. Then there are more conflicts between Mr and Mrs O’Brien. Jack sees through the windows of neighboring houses and finds families fighting, parents yelling at each other in front of their children.
Naughty boys egg Jack on to find out what adults do not tell them. Finally he breaks into the house of the young female and steals a piece of lingerie. He is scared and throws it away in the river. Mrs O’Brien notices something wrong with Jack. He cries and says "I can't talk to you. Don't look at me". Jack asks himself what he has started and how can he return to innocence like other kids.
Mr O’Brien plays the piano with R.L. playing the guitar. Jack watches jealously. R.L. paints a picture. Jack ruins it with water. When Mrs O’Brien asks him to come back to explain, he refuses and says he'd only do what he wants and blames Mrs O’Brien for letting Mr O’Brien walk all over her.
Mr O’Brien commands that Jack call him 'father', not 'dad' and that he should not interrupt him. Jack tries to interrupt but gets scolded. Jack says to his father "you can throw me out of the house anytime; you'd like to kill me".
Mr O’Brien is lying under his car to repair it. Jack walks by and thinks about killing his father. At last he just goes away and prays to God to let his father die instead.
Jack plays with a bottle opener (?) and asks R.L. to put a wire into it. R.L. is skeptical, but he says, "I trust you". Jack runs with R.L. asking him many times if he'd call him a liar. R.L. repeatedly answers no. Jack fights with R.L. but R.L. doesn't want to and asks Jack to quit, but Jack keeps pushing R.L. and makes him angry. Steve watches.
One day Jack sees R.L. sitting at the doorstep playing the guitar quietly. He takes R.L. to the river to play with an air gun and asks R.L. to put his finger at the mouth of the gun. R.L. is skeptical but still trusts Jack. Jack fires at R.L.'s finger. R.L. runs away in pain and cries. Jack looks wretched, shameful and guilty. Later the boys are playing in some deserted houses. Jack says to a well, "what I want to do, I can't; I do what I hate" (refer to Bible Romans 7:19). Jack tries to make amends with R.L., kisses his elbow and makes him smile. R.L. doesn't talk to him. Jack gives R.L. a thick wooden plank and asks him to hit him if he wants to. R.L. pretends to hit him with the plank. Jack says, "Sorry. You are my brother". Jack sits depressed. R.L. touches his hands, touches his shoulder and pats his head. Jack feels relieved and redeemed.
Jack goes to see his father gardening. He sees his father's plants eaten up by worms. Mr O’Brien tells Jack he's been tough on him and he's not proud of it. He says the boys are all that he has and ever wants to have. Jack also apologizes and says he's more like his father than his mother. He bonds with his father again.
Jack is playing in the streets and sees the half bald boy. He helps him string the cans to play as stilts. Now he looks at the boy differently, with no more fear or disgust. He pats the shoulder of the boy under his burnt scalp. He knows now how to deal with the unfortunate boy.
Mr O’Brien confesses "I want to be loved because I'm a big man" and that he thinks too much about himself and neglects the beauty surround him (his wife and boys). He says he disgraces them. He knows he is nothing and is a failure despite how fiercely he has fought in the world. He comes home and tells Mrs O’Brien that the factory is closing down. Either he'd lose his job or have to move to a job nobody wants. Jack sees his parents talk about this crisis.
Jack carries Steve on his back and they are both crying. The O’Briens have to move and leave this place where the boys have grown up. Jack is sad but then he sees a tree blossoming with many pink flowers and he smiles. R.L. buries some of his favorite collected items (a small dead dried fish). Mrs O’Brien says "unless you love, your life will flash by". The empty house sees the family leave.
Time flashes to 1960s, Mrs O’Brien, who has asked God why He has taken her son, now seems to remember something. Grown up Jack sees Mom and Dad at this time.
Grown up Jack says God talks to him through his mother and brother. God is always talking to him. He asks God to "guide us till the end of time".
R.L. says to Jack: follow me! Jack goes to the great canyon with his wife (?), enters a door frame on the rock. He sees young Jack leading him to somewhere. On a beach which designates heaven Jack reunites with many people of the past, the half bald boy, Steve, his father, his mother. And finally his long dead brother R.L.. Mr O’Brien hugs R.L. lovingly. Mrs O’Brien sees R.L. and tears roll down her face. She is so happy to see R.L and hugs R.L.. They both look at grown up Jack with passionate eyes.
Then back home in an indefinite time, adult Jack sees Mom open the door that leads to a strange, vast piece of white land, at the end of which are mountains with the color of sunset. R.L. is relunctant to go and walks back and forth near to the door, playing with his hands. With two angels at her side, Mrs O’Brien says, "I give my son to you" and sends R.L. to God. Then she herself walks through the white land (not sure when).
The once barren sunflower field in their old home town blossoms with many sunflowers.
Back to now, grown up Jack takes the lift down to ground level. He sees the sky and clouds reflected on glass windows of sky scrapers and smiles (for the first time).
Last scene: a bridge and a sea gull flying.
THE END
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