Pontypool

The film begins with an oscilloscope display of the waves of radio announcer Grant Mazzy's radio monologue. As the monologue goes on, the oscilloscope image shows a small bubble appear and grow to almost bursting. This turns out to be the key to the film: Mazzy's monologue has released a virus into the language. In the small town of Pontypool, Ontario, Grant Mazzy is driving on his way to work. When he pulls over to stop in the middle of a snowstorm, he is startled by a woman banging against his window while repeating an indistinct word, then seemingly repeating Mazzy's utterings before staggering away. At the radio station, Grant's shock jock style and on-air persona entertain his technical assistant, Laurel-Ann, while irritating his station manager, Sydney. Helicopter reporter Ken Loney calls in with a report about a riot at the office of Dr. Jon Mendez that has resulted in numerous deaths. After Ken is unexpectedly cut off, the group tries to confirm his report, but their witnesses are disconnected before being put on the airwaves. After they are contacted by the BBC for breaking the story, Ken calls back and says he has taken refuge in a grain silo. He describes the rioters as trying to eat one another or even themselves. When one of the rioters attacks the silo, Ken's call is interrupted by an audio transmission in French. Laurel-Ann translates the transmission, which is an instruction to remain indoors, not to use terms of endearment, baby talk, rhetorical discourse, or the English language and not to translate the message. Pontypool is declared to be under quarantine. A confused and disbelieving Grant attempts to leave, but a horde of people attacks the station, and Grant, Sydney, and Laurel-Ann lock themselves inside. As Laurel-Ann shows signs of instability, Dr. Mendez arrives at the radio station through a window and hides with Grant and Sydney in the soundproof booth. Ken calls in and, while on the air, succumbs to the virus. Laurel-Ann begins to slam her head against the sound booth's window and chews off her lower lip. Mendez hypothesizes that a virus has infected certain words in the English language; only certain words infect certain people who then find another person to kill themselves with. Sydney receives a call from her children, only to hear them becoming infected. Outside the booth, Laurel-Ann vomits a large amount of blood and drops dead. Mendez suspects this has happened since she failed to find a victim. The horde then breaks into the radio station, attacking the sound booth. Sydney records a loop of Grant's voice and plays it on an outside speaker to draw the mob away. Mendez starts repeating the word "breathe", but immediately starts speaking Armenian upon realizing that the virus is exclusive to the English language, which prevents the virus from infecting him. In response, Grant and Sydney start speaking French. When the recording fails, the mob returns but Mendez lures them away, saving Sydney and Grant, who now lock themselves in the equipment room. While Grant tries to figure out how to reverse the symptom, Sydney begins obsessively writing on the walls and door, and is infected by the word "kill". Grant convinces her that the word "kill" now means "kiss" and her symptoms subside. Hoping to stop the virus, the pair go on the air, spouting a series of self-contradicting and confusing phrases to help their infected listeners, ignoring warnings from the authorities trying to get them off the air. While an amplified voice from outside counts down from ten, Sydney joins Grant in the booth and they kiss. An explosion can be heard when the film cuts to black. Over the black, news reports of further outbreaks of the virus suggest that the quarantine failed, spread by the news itself and eventually reaching England, the source of its targeted language. In a post-credits scene, Sydney and Grant (now known as "Lisa the Killer" and "Johnny Deadeyes") survive the virus and continue speaking English by maintaining a system of improvisational roleplay as the screen shifts from black and white to color. Alternative ending (radio play)[edit] Whilst the radio play version of the story changes a few features, such as the more visual elements being restyled for audio or removed all together; it also features an alternative ending. In this ending when Grant convinces Sydney that "kill" now means "kiss" she asks Grant to "kiss" her (in the film version she says "kill" leading to them kissing). Soon after when broadcasting his own obituaries of Laurel-Ann and Mendez (who Grant assumes will meet his demise eventually), he confirms the death of Sydney, implying that he "kissed" her at her request. Grant, now completely alone, realizes that he has become infected through the word "paper". Resigned to his fate, he allows himself to be taken by the word, repeating it over and over again, before finally uttering one different word: "trap".