Vide Noir (film)

***This page contains spoilers for the Vide Noir film. It is highly recommended to watch the movie before reading.***

*This is about the film, there is also an album and a fictional drug by the same name.*

## Vide Noir

### Editing

Gaby Zamora, Thom Newell, Gates Bradley

***Vide Noir*** is a neo-noir mystery film set in Los Angeles in the 1960s. It follows the story of Buck Vernon (Victor Mascitelli) who is trying to track down his missing fiancée, Lee Green (Ashleigh Cummings) after she left Detroit to pursue her dream to become a singer. It captures "a surreal, nocturnal journey through the lens of a space-and-time bending drug."

## Teasers

There are teaser clips from *Vide Noir* in various content that Lord Huron has released, including in *Products of the Universe* and the *Alive From Whispering Pines* livestreams. Scenes with Lady Moonbeam are different from the film and feature different dialogue. It is likely that the filmmakers wanted to heighten the drama of these scenes in the final film. As well, certain lines of dialogue from other characters seem to be censored for content.

## Trailers

A teaser trailer for *Vide Noir* was released by Lord Huron on October 14, 2019, announcing the film for a 2020 release. Unfortunately, the release was delayed for two years due to world events. The official trailer for the film was released on October 19, 2022 by distributor 1091 Pictures, announcing the release for November 8, 2022. The trailer depicts scenes of Vernon, Green, Johnnie, Frankie Lou and Lady Moonbeam. Both trailers use "Ancient Names (Part I)" as the accompanying music.

A notable difference from other teaser footage is that Lou's line "Comparing Vide Noir to Rainbow is like comparing a spaceship to a Greyhound bus" instead compares Vide Noir to LSD.

## Synopsis

Vernon combs late-1960s LA looking for his missing fiancée and aspiring singer, Lee Green, while he struggles with hallucinations. On the way Vernon consults Lady Moonbeam, a fortune teller who advises him to "follow the emerald star." With this cosmic guidance, he finds a club where he encounters Frankie Lou, a lounge singer who gives him information about the titular drug, Vide Noir, and the club owner, Z'Oiseau, who has his girlfriend - Green - hooked on it. Vernon attempts to find Green at Whispering Pines Recording Studios, but is instead kidnapped by Z'Oiseau's men. Escaping them, Vernon encounters a World Ender member named Johnnie, who explains how Z'Oiseau had his men force him to overdose on Vide Noir, in an attempt to kill Johnnie off. Johnnie's urging and help leads Vernon to coincidently reencounter Lady Moonbeam, who is at the World Ender's clubhouse. She admits that she is not psychic and tries to dissuade Vernon from continuing his quest, but ultimately her information leads Vernon to Z'Oiseau's home and to Green.

## Plot

The film unfolds in a non-chronological and psychedelic fashion, beginning in media res, just after Buck Vernon wakes up on the ground in the woods in front of his car. He vomits and looks around, and turns off his car, stopping the "Buck & Lee" Voice-O-Graph record that is skipping inside. His face is covered in a black substance and he appears to be disoriented and confused about his circumstances.

He collects items from the ground and his car and in the process appears to gather his memories. The items include a small crystal bottle of Vide Noir, a folding knife, a teddy bear, motel keys, a red bandana, a map, a broken guitar, a shovel, a rifle, and the record. He remembers various fragments as he handles the items. As he picks up the record, he recalls a self-recording session with Lee Green, his missing fiancée.

Vernon lights a cigarette and notices the Emerald Star motif on the matchbook, which gives him a rush of memories that remind him how he got here, including images of Vide Noir, a crystal ball, a knife, a handgun and Green, as well as waking up in bed alone.

The film then flashes back to scenes of Vernon's drive out of Detroit on a quest to find Green, asking after her in diners and bars with her photograph. He is drinking on a dock when he notices a fortune teller's parlor and goes inside.

### I. The Emerald Star

    There, Lady Moonbeam directs him to "follow the emerald star" to find his love. Vernon recalls Green asking him when they are "going to get out of here" and he promises they can go wherever she likes once they save up a bit.

Vernon abruptly finds himself outside a nightclub with neon lights shaped like an emerald. Inside, he asks after Green, but the bartender says he can't help. Vernon takes a matchbook with the Emerald Star logo, then asks about the woman singing "The Silence of the Moon" with the band. The bartender is confused and says there is no singer, only the band playing an instrumental.

Another man at the bar reminisces about the singer, Frankie Lou, saying she had a beautiful voice and was murdered last year along with her lover. He claims that even though people called it a double suicide, someone black-brained them. He then asks if Vernon is looking for Vide Noir. Lou finishes her song, glancing back at Vernon before going backstage, and he follows her to her dressing room. He remembers Green singing in their apartment and crying in his car as he does so.

Vernon strikes up awkward conversation with Lou and learns she is Cambodian. When Vernon explains that someone told him she is dead, she asks him if it bothers him. Vernon inquires about Green, learning that the club owner, Z'Oiseau, is now dating Green and has her hooked on Vide Noir. Lou also tells Vernon about the effects of the drug, saying it helps obliterate the self, and the boundaries of space and time - all while recalling her death in her car. When Vernon presses, asking if she has tried the drug, she becomes upset and pushes him away. He notices the black tear running down her cheek and apologizes for his insensitivity, passing her his handkerchief. Lou describes some of her past to him, and how she came to be involved with Z'Oiseau when he approached her after a set and charmed her in Khmer. She reveals that Z'Oiseau found Vide Noir in Cambodia and used her, implicitly for his own success and to learn about Vide Noir, which she regrets. She regrets meeting him at all.

Lou then heads back to the stage, but when Vernon follows, there is only the band playing "Meet Me in the City." Vernon asks a server about a poster of Green, who is billed as "Fleur." The server reveals that Fleur is cutting a record in a studio, before noting that the presence of two men at the bar must mean someone is making trouble for their boss. Hiding from Z'Oiseau's men in a backroom, Vernon rummages through papers until he finds the card for Whispering Pines Music Studio. He escapes through a window, and returns to his car.

### II. Whispering Pines

Vernon fakes his way into the recording studio. Once inside, he sees an image of a snowy forest on the wall and then hallucinates that he is amongst these trees and that the master key to the Frozen Pines Motel is on the ground. He steps into the recording studio, with snow still on his boots.

     He tries to ask the other musicians about Green, and the sax player reveals that she is a junkie who doesn't show up for sessions, which causes Vernon to lose his temper. He fumbles with the music in the session and his cover is blown when the real guitarist shows up. Vernon tries to bluff his way out of the studio before fleeing.

Z'Oiseau's henchmen Hontanx and Jasper are waiting at Vernon's car, and have his gun. They knock Vernon out and he dreams of Green before waking in the trunk of his car.

### III. Frozen Pines

Vernon escapes the trunk of the car to find himself at the Frozen Pines Motel, where Hontanx and Jasper have stopped for some shuteye and ten minutes with a woman, respectively. Buck steals the motel master key, then takes back his car keys and gun from Hontanx's room.

Vernon drives through the desert, where he sees aurora and remembers or hallucinates moments with Green. She gets into his car and again entreats him to help her "get out of this place." "Ton Autre Vie" comes on the radio and she sobs, saying she should be singing instead of serving beer to plant workers. Vernon then slams on the brakes as he snaps back to reality because the body of Johnnie Redmayne is laying in his path.

### IV. Johnnie

Vernon gets out a shovel from his trunk and drags the body. Johnnie wakes up and pulls away, getting to his feet. He explains that Z'Oiseau had him black brained after he tried to foster a deal to get his gang, the World Enders, in on dealing Vide Noir. Johnnie learns that Vernon is seeking Green and gets fired up, encouraging Vernon to continue his search. He asks Vernon to go to his brother Alex - who helps lead the World Enders - to tell him what happened to Johnnie and to get help. Johnnie gives Vernon his red bandana and directions to the World Enders' clubhouse.

### V. The World Enders

Vernon finds the underground clubhouse where the Phantom Riders are performing Ancient Names (Part II). He tries to find Alex but two World Enders stop him, until Lady Moonbeam intervenes, saying she knows him. Before he can talk to Alex, police arrive and everyone flees the club. Vernon follows Moonbeam out into a culvert.

    Moonbeam admits she is not a real psychic and tries to dissuade Vernon from continuing his search for Green. Still Vernon presses her, finding out about a pinball joint where Z'Oiseau's nephew Tobey is selling Vide Noir. Moonbeam promises to tell Alex about what happened to Johnnie.

### VI. Big Mouth Tobey

    Vernon goes to the arcade and follows Tobey into the bathroom, where he pretends to be working for Z'Oiseau, checking on the nephew's operation. When Vernon asks for directions to Z'Oiseau's house, Tobey catches on that Buck is faking and pulls a gun on him. Buck manages to overpower him, slamming his head into the mirror. Tobey gives up the address before attempting to fight free, until Vernon slams the dealer's head against the sink.

    Vernon then takes some tickets from Tobey's pocket and exchanges them for a teddy bear in the arcade, before driving to the woods outside Z'Oiseau's house on Mt Monroe.

### VII. Mt. Monroe

    Arriving in the woods on Mt. Monroe, Vernon sits in his car and cuts open the teddy, pulling out a small bottle of Vide Noir. He puts the "Buck & Lee" record on his player, then remembers the day when they recorded "Lee's Song" in a booth in a music shop before he proposed to her with an emerald ring. Vernon's reverie is interrupted by Hontanx and Jasper, who attack him, break his guitar over his back, and pour a large amount of Vide Noir down his throat.

Vernon's next experiences are increasingly psychedelic. He drifts in dark water, with cosmic imagery and visions of Green and glimpses of Z'Oiseau and the Emerald Star. He then wakes in front of his car, bringing him back to the opening scene.

He takes his rifle and a tire iron, and walks through the dark forest, stumbling and falling on the ground. Gruesome hands rise out of the dirt and grasp at him. Vernon struggles away and leans against a tree to catch his breath, but the tree is covered in black larval creatures. He notices and pulls away, but one of them burrows itself into the base of his neck. He tries to cut it out with his knife, still seeing flashes of himself in the dark water and of the cosmos.

Vernon finds a pool of water and washes his face. He makes his way to Z'Oiseau's house where he sees Green out on the grounds in the distance. Vernon finds the door open when he reaches the house.

### VIII. Z'Oiseau

    Vernon wanders through the house looking for Green and finds her bedroom, where she has beautiful clothes, jewelry, and a music stand with a microphone. He hears a sound and hides in the closet from Hontanx, whom Vernon knocks out from behind with the butt of his rifle.

Vernon goes down the stairs and finds Green on a chaise longue, wearing a glittering dress and the emerald ring he gave her. She doesn't respond to him when he speaks to her, turning her eyes skyward.

Z'Oiseau enters the room and greets Vernon. He claims Green never mentioned Vernon, and probably has ten other men like him, such is her power. Z'Oiseau then asks if Vernon gave her the ring, and muses that it must have led Vernon to her, like the mystical calling ring in the Basque legend of the Tartalo. Z'Oiseau explains he calls Green "Fleur" after another legend, calling himself and Buck the seekers who can never possess her. Z'Oiseau also explains the origin of his own name.

All the while, Vernon entreats Green to come with him and she remains unresponsive. He asks Z'Oiseau what is wrong with her, and he explains that she is drifting on Vide Noir. Vernon accuses Z'Oiseau of solving all his problems with Vide Noir, noting the people he has black-brained. Z'Oiseau asks what Vernon saw when he was black-brained, and reiterates the spacetime bending properties of the drug, while noting that forgetting can be part of obliterating the illusion of self. Vernon tells Z'Oiseau he can keep it, and that he's taking Green with him, but Jasper appears at the door and Vernon fires his gun.

    Vernon struggles across the lawn with Green in his arms. He falls to the ground and holds a wound on his leg. Green wakes and questions why and how he is there, seeming confused when he says he is there to take her back to Detroit. She rejects him, saying she left him, she didn't want him to find her, and she doesn't love him. Throughout this, Buck seems confused, thinking they would still get married because she still wears the ring. She returns his ring, telling him he shouldn't have come, and walks away, leaving him bleeding on the lawn. He struggles to his feet as police sirens wail and grow louder.

## Cast

* Victor Mascitelli as Buck Vernon, a fool for love
* Ashleigh Cummings as Lee Green, an aspiring singer and fiancée to Vernon
* Kanya Iwana as Lady Moonbeam, a fortune teller who parties with the World Enders
* Joanna Bacalso as Frankie Lou, a Cambodian lounge singer
* Eddie Sandstrom as Johnnie Redmayne, a young gang member with the World Enders
* Todd Stashwick as Z'Oiseau, a mysterious drug dealer and club owner
* Ron Weisberg as Jasper, a snarky goon of Z'Oiseau
* Mariano Mendoza as Hontanx, a burly goon of Z'Oiseau
* Storm Wilbur as Tobey, weaselly nephew of Z'Oiseau
* David Alan Grier as Clipboard Guy, the surly session producer at Whispering Pines Music Studio
* Rick Dano as Drunk Man, the bar patron who gives Vernon information about Frankie Lou
* Kira Powell as Waitress, the club server who Vernon talks to about Fleur
* Bryan Kent as Bartender
* Jahred King as Bass Player
* Lief Gantvoort as Sax Player
* Ronen Bay as Studio Engineer
* B. J. White as Studio Doorman
* Uzuri Sims as Studio Wife
* Ryan Manual as Studio Producer
* Edwin Oghakpor as Viola Player
* Sacha Schneider as Flute Player
* Lauren Manzano as Cello Player
* Galen Howard as Davy, the guitar player Vernon pretends to be filling in for
* Francisco Decun, Mantha Balourdou, and Natasha Gregory as Jazz Club Skygazers
* Abraham Luna, Adrian Alderete, Simon Marin Rivas, Anthony Aamarena, Kevin Lam, Julio Almanza, Robert Silvas, John Lopez, Anthony Saddul, Tony Gracia, Adriana Gracia as World Enders
* Rhoda Pell as Diner Waitress
* Theodore Martinez as Piano Player
* Dash Riprock as Dive Barhand
* Jordon Ovitt, Eden McGuire, and Waverly Lim as Arcade Kids
* Peter Mendoza as Alex Redmayne
* Stevin Espinoza as Cobb Avery
* Lord Huron as the Phantom Riders
* David Beeks as Frankie's Sax Player
* Brandon Walters as Frankie's Guitar Player
* Moses Muñoz as Young Z'Oiseau
* Richard French as Tubbs Tarbell

## Soundtrack

Music for the film was written by Ben Schneider and Miguel Briseño. Many scenes include instrumental score pieces that were likely written specifically for the film and have not yet been released otherwise. Various Lord Huron songs are included in the film as excerpts or musical cues, almost exclusively from the Vide Noir and Long Lost eras. As film production was likely to have been near completion when it was announced but subsequently delayed, it is probable that it would have offered audiences the first glimpse of songs from the latter album. Both credited and uncredited songs are listed below in order of appearance.

* "Lee's Song" performed by Misty Boyce - first appears as a distorted version in the opening sequence
* "Lost in Time and Space" (uncredited) - instrumental version of intro/interlude plays during Vernon's travel montage
* "Emerald Star" (uncredited) - soft instrumental melody when Vernon visits the fortune teller

I. The Emerald Star

* "The Silence of the Moon (From *Live at George's Place*)" performed by Frankie Lou
* "Damn Right" performed by Mickey Driskill
* "Lee's Song" performed by Misty Boyce - minor key distorted version when Vernon hallucinates Green
* "Vide Noir" (uncredited) - small cue when Lou first mentions the drug
* "When the Night is Over" (uncredited) - small excerpt during Vernon's conversation with Lou
* "Meet Me in the City" instrumental performed by Lord Huron

II. Whispering Pines

* "Wait by the River" instrumental performed by Lord Huron - saxophone line differs, perhaps to indicate it is Fleur's "By the River"

III. Frozen Pines

* "Ton Autre Vie" performed by Lord Huron featuring Sarah Dugas

IV. Johnnie

* (uncredited score)

V. The World Enders

* "Ancient Names (Part II)" performed by Lord Huron (as the Phantom Riders)
* "Wait by the River" (uncredited) - minor key saxophone line during Vernon and Moonbeam's conversation in the culvert

VI. Big Mouth Tobey

* (uncredited score)

VII. Mt. Monroe

* "What Do It Mean" instrumental performed by Lord Huron
* "Lee's Song" performed by Misty Boyce
* "Lost in Time and Space" (uncredited) - instrumental version of intro/interlude during Vernon's Vide Noir trip
* "Postcard from Lord Huron XXI" (uncredited) - plays during the trip

VIII. Z'Oiseau

* (uncredited score) - possible resemblance to "Postcard from Lord Huron VI"
* "Time's Blur" (uncredited) - excerpt during Vernon and Green's conversation
* "Emerald Star" instrumental performed by Lord Huron

## Gallery

Buck Vernon in *Vide Noir*Frankie Lou in *Vide Noir*Lee Green in *Vide Noir*Lady Moonbeam in *Vide Noir*Johnnie in *Vide Noir*
## Easter eggs

* Members of Lord Huron appear in the nightclub and recording studio scenes in addition to appearing as the Phantom Riders.
* One of the posters in Z'Oiseau's club advertises "Kimberley Barons" - the graphic designer for the film is Kim Berens.
* On the cork board in the office of Z'Oiseau's club, there is a folded newspaper that resembles the Daily Trail's reporting on Cobb Avery's revenge spree (Headline "Who's Next?")
* In the notebook in the office of Z'Oiseau's club, Remy Fusil is scheduled to record at Whispering Pines Studios Jan 21-24.
* When Vernon is recovering his car keys from the Frozen Pines Motel room, Tubbs Tarbell is on the television speaking about the movie Gun Thunder, in an interview with an unknown person who Tarbell notes was in the army with the star Roy Casey. Tarbell refers to Casey in the past tense, as though he has passed away.
* When Vernon goes to the World Enders clubhouse, Cobb Avery is there, and when Vernon bumps into him, Vernon hallucinates being in a dark forest, the same one where he wakes at the beginning of the film. This could be a premonition or him snapping back to the present by this occurrence. It is unclear why running into Avery would have this effect.
* On Mt. Monroe, there is a refection of the Emerald Star neon in the pond that appears briefly.
* In the fortune teller scene, The Balancer’s Eye "Home Edition" is present, as seen in *Products of the Universe*. This is the only reference to the song in the film. It is likely just a re-use of the prop, since Moonbeam doesn't actually believe she can predict the future, and *Products of the Universe* takes place in a later time period. However, given the fact that Dale Frandor and Marsha Tanley seem a bit shady, it could also be they're hawking some pre-existing product as the supposed "Balancer's Eye."

## Questions and fan theories

* Vernon is already noted to suffer from intense hallucinations but it is unknown if these hallucinations are because he was black-brained or because of some pre-existing condition. It is possible that because he was black-brained, it detaches him from space-time, and any hallucinations before or after are the result.
* If Vernon was black-brained, how did he survive? Does his exposure to Vide Noir explain why he can see dead people? If so, how did he manage to find the clues he needed prior to that? These questions are a good example of the mind-bending properties of Vide Noir.

## Sources

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Vide Noir press release
2. ↑ IMDB
3. ↑ Kim Berens Design website
4. ↑ NPR interview