Manson 1.8 - Forming

Manson - Forming

Genre: Biography / Crime

Director: Antonio Campos

Writer: Lon Charles

Cast: Jim Sturgess, Julia Garner, Natalia Dyer, Juliette Angelo, Beau Mirchof, Danika Yarosh, Thomas Dekker, Sammi Hanratty, Tania Raymonde, Philip Baker Hall, Malina Weissman, Ethan Embry and Joshua Close

Plot: 1968. Charles Manson (Jim Sturgess) brings his guitar to 10050 Cielo Drive the current residence of Terry Melcher (Ethan Embry) to audition for him for a potential record deal. Melcher didn't invite Manson and doesn't want to deal with him, especially after what he heard from Dennis Wilson about Manson's behavior toward him. Melcher asks Manson to leave several times, but Manson only does so after Melcher threatens to call the police.

Bobby Beausoleil (Thomas Dekker) and Catherine Share (Tania Raymonde) are crashing on the couch of his musician friend Gary Hinman (Joshua Close) in Topanga. They spend the day smoking marijuana and taking mescaline and playing music together. Leslie Van Houten (Sammi Hanratty) arrives at the house. While Bobby and Catherine have sex on the couch, Leslie gives Hinman a handjob. Afterward, Hinman gives Leslie several tabs of mescaline. Leslie then leaves the house.

Mary Brunner (Julia Garner) gives birth to a baby in the kitchen of a small rundown house. Manson cuts the umbilical cord with his teeth. Manson is elated to see the child, who Mary and Manson name Valentine. Susan Atkins (Natalia Dyer) enters the house with Dianne Lake (Malina Weissman) and Lynette Fromme (Juliette Angelo). They are excited to see the baby. Susan jokingly asks Manson when he's going to give her a baby. Manson informs them that they can't stay at the house they've been squatting in anymore, and they must hit the road. This upsets Mary, and Manson promises they can stay one more night before heading out in their van.

Manson shows up the next morning outside of the house with an old bus he tells Mary that he borrowed for them all to travel in. Manson drives the bus down the road. Mary Brunner and baby Valentine, Susan Atkins, Ella Jo Bailey (Danika Yarosh) and Dianne Lake are on-board when Manson absent-mindedly drives the bus into a ditch. He gets out and looks at the damage. The bus looks fine, but it is stuck in a deep ditch along the isolated roadway. He tells the women that they will camp there for now. He tells them he is going to hitch hike into town for some supplies and tasks them with making a camp fire and looking for any food in the area.

In the morning a police car driving by notices the back of the bus sticking out of the ditch and stops. The cop finds Manson, Mary, Dianne and Susan sprawled out nude around the camp fire. He rouses the group and asks them for identification. The cop immediately realizes something fishy with the identification and radios for another squad car to meet him at the location. Manson tries to go back into the bus, but the officer stops him.

Manson and the women are taken to the police station where they are charged with possessing fraudulent driver's licenses. Manson is asked about the bus, telling him that it was reported stolen a week ago, but Manson insists that they found the bus there and just took advantage of it to camp out. Once the group is finally released, Manson announces that driving around and camping is going to draw too much attention to themselves. They need to find someplace isolated where they can thrive and be their own community. Susan says she knows of a place.

Manson asks Charles Watson (Beau Mirchoff) if he can get Dennis Wilson's car running again so that they can drive out to where they are going to live. Watson takes a look under the hood of the car and then tries to start the car. Watson tells Manson that the car is out of gas. Manson asks Watson if he has any gas. Watson gives Manson a confused look, but Manson doesn't register it and waits for a response. Watson says there's a gas station down the road. Manson just looks at Watson in the eyes. Watson starts walking down the street toward the gas station.

Manson, Mary, Dianne, Lynette, Susan and Ella Jo are all crammed into the car as it pulls up to the run-down Spahn Movie Ranch. Manson looks around the place and announces that he believes they were destined to come there. They are home. The nearly-blind owner of the ranch, George Spahn (Philip Baker Hall) yells out at them from his shack and asks what they think they're doing. Manson introduces himself to the old man and offers him a deal. They will help Spahn out around the ranch in exchange for being able to live on the land. Spahn isn't sure about the deal. Manson gives Lynette a look, and she goes over to Spahn, takes him by the hand, and seductively leads him inside the shack.