Nina Forever
We open with a man splayed out on the road, seemingly dead. His motorcycle is crashed a few feet away from him, smoking and beeping. Just when it appears that the man is dead, he comes to and moves.We cut to a supermarket parking lot, where Holly (Abigail Hardingham) is discussing the accident with some of her co-workers, and the man who had it, Rob (Cian Barry), who is a fellow employee. Rob had apparently caused the accident on purpose to commit suicide, despondent over the death of girlfriend Nina (Fiona O'Shaughnessy). Holly finds his actions endearing and sweet. "I'd love it if my boyfriend tried to kill himself because I died", she says.Her co-workers tell her that Rob failed in his attempt though and now he is stocking shelves for minimum wage. "Imagine being fucked by someone like that", Holly says, equating Rob's damaged psyche with sexual prowess. Her coworkers say she is weird and that she doesn't actually want to sleep with him, she just wants to be there when he finally succeeds in killing himself. They tell her she can't save him before going back to work. As they leave, Holly hears them snicker about the fact that despite being enamored with Rob, she has yet to speak to him.That night, Holly is in a car with her boyfriend, David, who is breaking up with her. David awkwardly asks to be friends, and Holly agrees at first. David then notes that perhaps he was too dark for her. When Holly inquires what he meant, David says that he considered her vanilla due to her being so nice. He immediately tries to backpedal, telling her that isn't a bad thing. Holly tells him to go fuck himself and leaves the car, saying he knows nothing about her.The next day, Holly is at work, ringing up customers' purchases while she watches Rob stock the shelves. At one point, Rob breaks a jar and cuts his arm, screaming an obscenity. His boss asks if he is okay and he storms off to the break room.Later, Holly goes back to the stock room and sees Rob sitting on a shelf listening to music. She gets his attention and asks to see his cut, as she is a paramedic in training. She takes a look at it, and Rob goes back to listening to his music. Holly asks what he is listening to, so he offers an ear bud and she listens with him. As she listens, Rob looks at her and for the first time notices her beauty. Holly grabs a pomegranate and tears it in half for Rob and her to share. As she digs into the fruit, Rob looks at her intently.At home that night, Holly cant sleep. She gets a text from an unknown number. It says "I really wish I'd kissed you." Holly smiles, realizing it was Rob that sent the text, and goes back to sleep.Rob and Holly go on a date. They seem for a minute ready to kiss. Rob then asks her why she spoke to him. Everyone else at work think of him as this fragile freak that is ready to kill himself. Holly notes that he does a pretty good impression of that stereotype. Rob smirks then walks off the sidewalk near traffic. Holly tenses, thinking Rob was going to try and kill himself with an audience. However, all he was doing was taking a shortcut across the street to get to the theater they are going to. After some convincing, Holly runs across and joins him, taking his hand when she reaches safety. Rob notices her action and they both smile.The next day, Holly thinks about the night before. Rob told her he didn't want to hurt her. Holly tells him he won't.Holly goes to one her paramedic classes where the instructor briefs them about what it means to be a paramedic. Intercut with the speech is Holly trying on her outfit at home for her next date with Rob. We see her in his apartment, taking off her clothes. The instructor concludes his speech saying that distance is one of the most important things to have in their line of work, as they must understand that they will not be able to save everyone.That night at Rob's apartment, they put on some music and drink a glass of wine. As they look at each other, Rob moves to kiss her, causing Holly to spill some wine. She apologizes then breaks the glass and laughs.We see a close up of Rob's bed. A small red dot on the pillow slowly becomes larger.Rob and Holly begin to undress and they move to the bedroom where they begin to have passionate sex. We see Rob has a tattoo on his back that says Nina Forever. As they continue to have sex, blood begins to seep into the mattress and sheets around them. A bloody hand crawls out from underneath the covers. Bloody hands grab Holly's feet. She thinks they are Rob's but they have their hands clasped together. They realize something is horribly wrong.Blood continues to soak the sheets and a body forms out of the bed, startling both Holly and Rob. It is a naked Nina, broken and bloody as she was on the day her car accident took her life. Nina is less than pleased to find a naked woman in her boyfriend's bed, despite the fact that she is no longer among the living. Rob introduces them to each other, and notes Holly works with him at the supermarket."How old is she, really?" Nina asks as her body contorts, barely able to stand or sit up due to her injuries. Rob replies that this isn't possible, that she is dead. "Yeah, but I kept my standards", Nina deadpans. During this time, Holly watches with shock, unable to comprehend what is happening. She believes Nina to be a hallucination, but when she goes to touch her, Nina slaps her hard across the face. Nina says she is Rob's girlfriend, and because they didn't break up before she died, she is technically not an ex. She orders Holly to get the fuck out of her room, and she cuddles up to Rob who says he doesn't want this. But Nina sweet talks and seduces him, leading him to kiss her as Holly watches. Holly goes back into the living room to collect her clothes in disgust. As Rob goes to her, naked and covered in Nina's blood, Holly runs out of the apartment. Rob turns around to look at the bloodied bed, but Nina is gone. "Fuck!", Rob says.The next day, Holly is at home, trying to process what happened. She bandages a cut she got stepping on a piece of glass and looks up Nina's obituary, that says she died after losing control of her car and was pronounced dead at the scene.Holly is at her classes but cannot concentrate on her studies. She gets a text from Rob saying she doesn't have to see him again and thanks her for trying to get through his depressive fog. Her coworkers snidely ask how her relationship is going with the suicidal stock boy and asks if his dead girlfriend has come up. Holly says it was mentioned then walks off, disgusted with their callous attitude.Rob is in his apartment, wrapped up in a blanket and curled up in a ball on his couch. He gets up to look up at the bed that is still covered in blood. He laughs nervously, trying to figure out an explanation for what happened, but finding none. Somehow, some way, Nina came back. Rob then proceeds to clean up the glass and all the blood. He takes off the bloody sheets and flips the mattress to the non-bloody side. He sees the blood trail caused by Holly's wound and cleans it up with a mop. He then takes the sheets to the laundry but realizing what it would look like, he trashes them and buys new ones.At the cemetery, he checks his phone for messages from Holly, finding none. In the car, he is spoken to by a woman, who is later revealed to be Nina's mother. She asks if he has found someone else to love. She tells Rob that if he hasn't it is okay, but if he has it is also okay to move on, that they all have to move on. Unsure of his status with Holly, unable to explain what happened the night before, and not wanting to hurt a woman he considers family, Rob tells her no. Nina's mother then tends to her daughter's grave.We cut the house of Nina's parents. Rob apparently still has dinner with them often. Nina's father is a bit unnerved that he still comes around so much, but tries to be as sympathetic as possible, knowing all three of them are in pain over losing someone they all loved. Over dinner, they ask him awkward questions about restarting his schooling and his motorcycle. Later, Rob and Nina's father read over the latest chapter of the dads book and asks Rob to read it, even though Rob can tell it is terrible. He does it because he wants to feel close to Nina still. Nina's father tries to tell Rob that he can do anything he wants in his life, and not let Nina's unfortunate death keep him from living his life. At the end of the night, Rob hugs Nina's mother and tells them hell see them next week. He then texts Holly saying how sorry he is, but he still gets no response.Rob sits at his apartment, staring at his bed. Rob is at work, unable to feel. At his apartment, he looks at a picture of Nina, before turning the frame face down.Sleeping on his couch, he hears noises in his bedroom and goes to investigate. As he looks in his room, he hears a knock on the door. It is Holly. Holly asks if Nina is there. Rob says no. Holly then asks him if he wants Nina to be there. Rob tells her no. Rob thought she wanted nothing to do with him anymore after what happened, but Holly reveals she saw all his texts and decided to see him after he stopped sending them. Rob brings her inside and warms up her freezing body and they begin to make out and get naked. Rob stops, realizing that if they try to have sex again, Nina will show up. We can cope, Holly says understanding. They begin to kiss again, but Rob stops once more. Rob shows her his tattoo of Nina Forever in shame, realizing his inability to let go all this time has perhaps caused this to happen. Holly kisses his back near the tattoo to display her sympathy and understanding.In bed, Rob and Holly proceed to make love again. Blood begins to pool in the bed. Holly sees it but tells Rob to keep going. Nina's hands reach out of the bed and grab on to Holly's breasts, gripping them tightly. To take her mind off what is happening, Holly tells Rob to kiss her. As they break away, they both see Nina once more in the bed, looking at them with disdain. Holly tentatively tilts her head to Nina's and kisses her. "You're so warm", Nina says. Rob kisses Holly who nods, letting him know it is okay. Rob kisses Nina then proceeds to keeping have sex with Holly until he climaxes. Holly turns back to Nina, trying to pleasure her with her hands. However, Nina explains that all she feels is her injuries and that Holly shouldn't bother trying to give her pleasure. Holly says she just wants her to feel good, but Nina curtly tells her to stop.Nina then proceeds to toy with Holly, telling Rob is just using her for sex. Nina will always be in Rob's head first because of the past they shared and the sexual fantasies they experienced together. She equates Holly to an oil painting that is still wet. The very fact that Nina is dead and has no next makes her most appealing to Rob.Rob then defends Holly, saying that SHE is his girlfriend and though they don't know how to fix this situation, they will deal with it. Nina says they cant break up because she died. Rob says he breaks up with her now, only to be told that wont help him either. Rob continues to argue with her, saying she cannot expect him to be alone forever. Nina notes that he isn't. Rob tells her just because he wants to move on, doesn't mean he wont forget her and what she meant to him. What the fuck does that mean? Nina asks. Rob tells her she is impossible and turns away from her on the bed. Holly, who has been on the edge of the bed getting dressed, listens as she is basically ignored by Rob and leaves. Rob says he doesn't know what Nina wants. "I don't want anything", she notes as death has robbed her of human desire despite the ironic fact that she does want something; to have Rob all to herself even if life itself separates them.Holly is seen walking alone on a stretch of road. Apparently the area is where Nina died.Rob wakes up, once again in a blood soaked bed. He walks out into his living room, to find Holly on his couch, holding a cup of coffee, and smiling at him. Despite everything happening, she loves him, and cares enough to handle this strange situation together. They go and throw away the latest round of ruined sheets and buy countless sets to replace them when Nina arrives.Holly talks to Rob saying she feels she should do a memorial of some sort for Nina, to show how much she cares. At a tattoo parlor, while Holly gets a tattoo, Rob explains how he first crashed his bike and how he wanted to get scars. Nina told him that he would probably die first but she would never die. Holly asks if he got the Nina Forever tattoo after her death, but Rob admits they got it the night of his first bike accident. Rob tells Holly about Nina's love of art, and printing presses and how it mattered to her. Rob asks Holly if she is sure she wants to her so much about Nina, but Holly says it is okay.One day, as Holly and Rob have sex again, Nina appears once more. Holly pulls off the bandage of her tattoo, showing she too got Nina Forever on her back. "What the hell Rob, you're branding them now?" Nina asks incredulously. Rob tells her that it was actually Nina's idea, to honor her. Holly tells her that she knows what this is about; Nina is afraid to be forgotten. She tells Nina that she won't be forgotten and she can never take her place, so it is okay to pass on. Nina begins to mock Holly for being a fool. She tells her point blank that she would prefer to be in oblivion then be back like this. Her reappearances have nothing to do with wanting Rob back. She is only back due his deep rooted agony over losing her. She reiterates that she doesn't want anything.As Holly gets dressed, Nina mockingly says the least she could do for her was read a book out loud. Holly gets mad, saying she will continue to fuck Rob as much as she wants and she will read to Nina if she wants but Nina will not drive her off. Holly asks if Rob is going to say anything. Rob tells Holly he loves her, only for Nina to interject that he cannot forget her. Nina tells Holly she still doesn't get it, pointing to their now matching tattoo of Nina Forever; Nina on some level wants to be forgotten. Because she is kept in spirit so much by Rob, her parents and now Holly, it makes even more difficult to get rid of her.Holly stands in the bathroom, apparently waiting for Nina to disappear from the bedroom.Holly asks if Rob wants Nina to come back. Rob says no, as they change their sheets to a red color this time. Rob says though he doesn't want Nina back, he doesn't know how to make her stop. Rob then gets an idea, asking if Holly will meet Nina's parents. Holly looks at him weirdly, but Rob explains that Nina's parents had hoped he would meet someone new. If he can show them that he is moving on with her, perhaps Nina's spirit will accept it too and move on.Holly and Rob meet Nina's mother at the cemetery. Rob talks to her privately first. Nina's mother cries and hugs him, happy he is starting to find peace. They proceed to have an awkward dinner with Nina's parents. Things get off to a bad start when Nina's father has to leave the kitchen when he sees Holly is sitting where his daughter used to sit. Furthermore, Holly becomes enraged to find out that Rob has a Ph.D. but is squandering his potential (plus the fact she knows little about his personal life) and that he has been going to see Nina's parents every week since she died. Rob tells her that they need him lest they dissolve into grief so Holly says he can have them and angrily gets on the bus, refusing to sit with him. Holly says she felt like she didn't matter to him. Rob tells her that isn't true. He is around Nina's mother a lot because in part he is all she has left in the world. He wanted her to meet Holly because he loves her. Holly tells him to prove it.At Nina's grave, Rob and Holly make out. God, you are dark, Rob exclaims. Holly unzips his pants and they sit on the gravestone, with Holly on top and they begin to have sex, literally, on Nina's grave. Nina shows up, and slides over the gravestone, coating it in blood. She tells them that the two of them are quite rude for having sex on her grave. She cradles Rob and once again, tears into Holly as she jerks Rob off, reminding her once more than she is nothing more than a sexual surrogate to assuage his grief over losing Nina. Rob pulls away in disgust and zips up his pants. Rob asks Nina if this how she wants to say goodbye. Nina says no, though crashing through a windshield wasn't how she wanted to go either. Sometimes you don't get a choice and you never really say goodbye.Nina crawls over to Holly close and tells her that she has been coddled her entire life and that she knows nothing and is nothing. She means nothing to Rob and to Nina and that will never change. You cant even put your own trousers on, Nina cackles. "NINA, STOP!" Rob screams.Rob holds Nina and tells her that he is finally letting go of her, that he is saying goodbye. He is going to their apartment and getting rid of every last trace of her. Nina looks and Holly. "I think he's going to ask you to move in with him", Nina says mockingly. "Do you think you can manage that Holly? Living in my house? Do you think you can eradicate every last trace of me?" "Yes", Holly replies. "I love you, Holly", Rob says.Holly moves in with her things. Holly notes that he wont be able to see Nina's parents anymore if they are going to make Nina disappear for good. Rob says he understands, and is willing to pay that cost. They hug. They begin to clean out the apartment, taking out anything directly related to Nina. As they eat dinner, Rob discusses getting her a car. Rob says he will sell his motorcycle, as he doesn't ride it anymore and he only feels up to walking. Holly kisses him in happiness.While Rob sleeps on the couch, Holly looks in a dresser and finds a dress that Nina wore. She takes it out and places it on the bed. Turning on a light, she looks at the printing press kit, Nina had.Later in bed, Rob is asleep but Holly is still awake. She thinks she hears a noise and looks under the bed but nothing is there. She then goes to bed.In the morning, Holly brushes her teeth, only to find a bloody Nina sitting in the tub. They apparently hadn't gotten rid of everything yet. Nina says she is angry they threw out all her stuff and mocks Holly more. Holly turns the mirror away until Nina disappears, leaving behind blood in the tub.Holly looks around the apartment, trying to find other things to destroy of Nina's. Nina shows up on a chair and asks Holly why she thinks she is still hanging around. Holly looks inside a book and finds a picture of Nina and Rob. "Fuck you, Nina", Holly sneers as she tears the photo up and throws it in the trash. She finds more stuff to throw away of Nina's.Nina is still there, watching TV on a laptop one night with Holly as Rob sleeps. As Rob wakes up, Holly notices the blood on the sheets and takes them away. Holly decides to take more drastic measures by painting the apartment white. You missed a bit, Nina mocks. Holly throws away yet more sheets and more potential Nina reminders.Rob comes home and says he sold the motorcycle and they will deliver it. He sees all the new paint and asks why the room is white. Holly puts on Nina's dress and drives off fast, parking near where she died, unable to figure out a next move. Rob comes home and sees her in Nina's dress, asking if that is a new shirt. Holly says yes. Rob then sits in his all white apartment alone.Rob visits Nina's mother, who tells him he deserves his new relationship, while her husband listens to music loudly in another room. She thanks Rob for everything, saying she couldn't go on without his help. She reveals that the love has more or less died in her marriage but she cant find the strength to leave after 30 years. The baggage she has would negate any chance of new happiness. Nina's mother begins to cry and asks if Rob is going to leave them. Rob tells "no, of course not."As Rob packs bags for a trip he is taking with Holly, Holly sits under the bed, looking at something. Rob tells her come along so they can start towards their trip. Holly tells him hes driving.In the backseat, Holly digs into her fingertip with a metal printing press tile. We see the apartment, stripped bare of most things, including Nina's printing press kit. Holly presses the tile in her fingertips. They get to the bed and breakfast they are staying at, and begin to have foreplay, using the tiles to mark each others bodies. They make one spelling out the word Fuck and Rob slowly stamps the word up her legs. Holly pulls her panties down in anticipation and Rob stamps her butt check. She then pushes Rob down on all on the tiles, until a design is printed on his back.Holly tells him to scratch her and make her bleed but Rob refuses. Holly calls him a coward and goes to use the press to make a scratch. However, Nina shows up at that moment and catches her arm in the press, causing her arm to start to break, telling Holly that this is what real darkness is. Rob tells her to stop, but Nina persists. Nina says Holly won; Rob has forgotten about Nina. However, Nina has gotten under Hollys skin, so she will continue to remain. Nina tells Holly she is not ready for a relationship with someone that doesnt need saving. Rob is finally able to pull Holly away from the machine when Nina lets go and tells her he is so sorry.It is at this point that Holly reaches her breaking point, telling Rob that she cannot do this anymore; she cannot be with him if Nina will never leave them alone. Though no one asks her, Nina interjects, saying Holly assessment is accurate, and that it hasn't really worked out.Rob sits on a beach alone, heartbroken.Holly sits in an ambulance, apparently having finished her training. But she too is miserable.Nina is at a crash scene, the same place Nina was killed. She sees a woman, and for a second, she looks like Nina. The woman asks if she is hurt. Holly holds her hand, tells her yes, but they are going to get her out of the car and that everything is going to be okay. Holly is later seen in the locker room, sighing in relief at a job well done. She looks at her arm and notices several bruises. As she undresses, we see her 'Nina Forever' tattoo.Holly sits with a co-worker of hers at a bus stop, who is ecstatic at the work they did. Nina looks at him and realizes that perhaps the only way she can be free, is also to move on, completely from Rob. She takes the mans hand and kisses him.Rob sits at a restaurant and looks at his phone and sees there are no new messages.Holly goes to the guys dorm room and is about to have sex when he notices the Nina tattoo, and inquires that if she was an ex and if Holly is bi. Holly pauses for a moment, and then proceeds to take off her clothes.At the restaurant, a red stain appears on the tablecloth. Rob is met by Nina's parents and tells them he got a new job. They are ecstatic for him and Rob awkwardly thanks them. Rob then finally says that what they are doing isn't healthy, and it isn't helping them heal at all. Nina's father then explodes on Rob thinking it is all about him. He asks Rob what he thinks it was like to see him every week, to help him back on his feet, to get him a job, for him to a constant reminder that his only child is dead and he isn't. He tells Rob he cant help but look at people his age and wonder why they get to live but Nina didn't. He tells Rob he can find someone else; their child is irreplaceable. He tells Rob that he cant stand there and say they didn't help him because they did. Rob tells them he is so sorry and leaves the restaurant.Back at the dorms, Holly takes off her panties, ready to have sex with the other guy. They have sex, and as Holly looks down at the floor, Nina appears. Typical, Nina whispers, thinking Holly's plan to have sex with another person to have no link to her was foolish. Holly then tosses the guy out of her room.The next day, Rob shows up at Holly's dorm. Rob says he had to see her, since she didn't respond to his texts. Rob tells her he's better and he loves her and he wants to be with her. Holly says they can't, and shows him her bed with the bloodstains. Rob recoils in shock, realizing that Holly already had sex with someone else, and yet Nina is still haunting her."I'm sorry", Rob says. Holly tells Rob it was never him that was the problem it was her. Holly had romanticized Rob's tragic link with Nina, and felt that she could fix him. Yet, her whole attraction was apparently around saving a guy with a dead girlfriend, so Nina had been linked to her from the very beginning. While Rob finally found his closure and is no longer haunted, Holly apparently always will since she idealized the tragic end of their romance. "Are you going to be okay?" Rob asks quietly. "Yeah", Holly replies, not believing it herself.We see Holly strip her bed of bloody sheets and change into night clothes.We cut back to a completely heartbroken Rob, who leaves the dorms and Holly though it is clear he does not want to. Holly is now apparently doomed to spend the rest of her life alone as every time she will get intimate with a guy, Nina will appear to taunt and mock her. Since she is no longer with Rob, who could see Nina (because they are linked) Holly must suffer this haunting alone with no hope of it ever ending.
comedy, adult comedy