The Royal Tenenbaums · written by Wes Anderson & Owen Wilson · 2001

Royal watches a performance of Margot’s new play, which receives mixed reviews and closes within two weeks.

Scene 137 of 143 · ≈ 1 min on screen · Act three

Father
Narrator

Find another scene in The Royal Tenenbaums

Act oneAct twoAct three

Begins 1:55 into a 1:59 film

The story so farBefore scene 137

After losing his hotel room, Royal claims he has only weeks to live so he can move back in with his estranged family; as the truth unravels, he must find a way to be useful and earn a place in their lives.

Scenes 1–39
Royal is absent from the children’s adult lives, and their family remains shaped by his betrayals and abandonment.
Scenes 40–47
Royal wants a path back to Etheline and the children, and claims impending death will give him one.
Scenes 48–50
He returns to the house and openly asks his children for a chance to make things right.
Scenes 51–90
Royal tries to reconnect through schemes, misjudgments and genuine care, learning that affection alone cannot erase old injuries.
Scenes 91–92
Royal admits to Etheline that he hoped to win her back and remove Henry, revealing the motive behind his return.
Scenes 92–110
Royal loses the household and faces separation again; Richie’s suicide attempt exposes the family’s deeper pain.
Scenes 111–133
Royal returns to a useful place in the family by listening to Richie and protecting Ari and Uzi during the wedding-day crash.
Just before
Scene 134
On the roof, Margot and Richie smoke cigarettes from her old hiding place and wonder about the falcon’s white feathers.
Scene 135
Royal buries Buckley behind the shed while Chas, Ari and Uzi grieve beside him.
Scene 136
Etheline and Henry marry in a judge’s office two days after the wedding-day crisis.
Scene 137
This scene

137INT. THEATRE. NIGHT.

A stage-set for a play that appears to take place in a network of tree houses on a tropical island. A father introduces his daughter to a group of native tribesmen.

FATHER

This is my adopted daughter, Elaine

Levinson.

The house is sold out. Royal sits in the front row with the other Tenenbaums. He laughs quietly and shakes his head. The rest of the audience is silent.

NARRATOR (V.O.)

Margot’s new play, The Levinsons in the

Trees, was produced at the Cavendish

Theatre.

CUT TO:

Margot standing alone outside the theatre, under the marquee, smoking a cigarette.

NARRATOR (CONT’D)

It ran for just under two weeks and

received mixed reviews.