2. EXT. PLAYGROUND . DAY
There's a biting chill in the air. All is quiet and a
gentle wind blows. A feeling of melancholy pervades
underneath a dark and moody sky. Two teenage boys are
sitting side by side in a desolate playground.
ANDY
so how you coping? (silence)
MALCOLM
Yeah, I'm good.
ANDY
Malcolm. C'mon you know what I
mean.
MALCOLM
Yeah yeah, i'm doing fine.
INT. BEDROOM. DAY
Malcolm sees a note from his parents stating that they
are away for the weekend. He sluggishly walks upstairs,
each step is a struggle. He opens the door to his bedroom
and stops and stares at his bed, weirdly mesmerised by
the room that he has become so familiar with. He glances
at the bed again, suddenly his mind goes into overdrive
and he has a flashback. In this flashback he is staring
at his past self and his dead sister talking.
INT. BEDROOM. DAY
This is a flashback of his sister giving him a framed
picture of the two of them.
INT. BEDROOM. DAY
Malcolm is in the bathroom splashing his face with water.
Standing in front of the mirror he takes a long hard look
at the thing he calls his face. He takes a deep breath
and exhales.
INT. KITCHEN. DAY
After the intensity of the previous flashback Malcolm
proceeds downstairs, before he gets down the last step
the phone starts to ring. He reluctantly goes towards the
phone. He stares at it but decides not to pick it up,
instead he faithfully waits for the ringing to stop.
3. 2
After the phone stops ringing he goes to sit down. He
buries his head in his hands and covers his ears in an
attempt to block out all that is. He Picks up a
newspaper, holding the belief that its trivia will pacify
him, however his eyes are instantly confronted with a
depressing headline. He throws the newspaper on the
floor. Malcolm goes to make himself a cup of tea, as he
reaches to get a mug he accidentally knocks a picture. It
becomes apparent that it is the picture that his sister
gave him in the previous flashback. After the sight of
the framed picture broken lying helplessly broken on the
floor, Malcolm's head goes into overdrive and he begins
to have a nervous breakdown. This will be portrayed
through montage.
SERIES OF SHOTS
A. GRAVE YARD
A very depressing clip of Malcolm staring solemnly at his
sisters gravestone.
B. PICTURE SMASHING
A slow motion shot of the picture slowly falling towards
its sentimental demise.
C. ABI GIVING HIM THE PICTURE
Same footage of the flash back, conveying to the audience
how significant that particular memory was. The picture
was the last thing connecting him to his dead sister.
E. ANDY CONCERNED
Footage from the first scene in the playground.
F. MALCOLM CRYING (PRESENT)
A highly emotional moment depicting Malcolm curled up in
a ball, irreverently weeping while lying on the cold hard
floor.
(CONTINUED)
MALCOLM
Its not my fault (repeats)
G. PICTURE SMASHING
H. THE GRAVEYARD
I. CAR CRASH
4. 3
(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED: (2)
J. MALCOLM CRYING (PRESENT)
Malcolm banging his fists into the floor to show his
frustration.
K. PICTURE SMASHING
L. CAR CRASH
M. THE GRAVEYARD
N. ABI SMILING
O. ABI'S FACE SMASHED IN THE PICTURE
P. MALCOLM CRYING (PRESENT)
INT. KITCHEN. DAY
The breakdown is over. Its as if Malcolm is reborn. He
knows he has survived something significant.
Suddenly Malcolm feels a hand upon his back, as he looks
up he is met by a shockingly familiar face. It's his dead
sister. He can't quite believe his eyes.
ABI
It's okay... I'm here now.
MALCOLM
WHAT? HOW? You are dead, how are
you here? I'm going fucking
crazy.
ABI
No, Malcolm, no. I promise
You're not going crazy. (Malcolm
interrupts)
MALCOLM
Why does it have to be so hard,
why did you have to die, how come
I didn't die?
ABI
It was my time to go, and your
time will come too, but not yet
Malcolm, not yet.
MALCOLM
But I love you, you were the only
person in the world that truly
understood me, and you were taken
5. 4
Abi is gone and Malcolm is alone again. This experience
has deeply impacted him. He goes towards the couch that
he sat on before the smashing of the picture, he looks at
the newspaper that he threw, he looks at the smashed
photo across the room, and he smiles. He feels like a new
man. Then there is a sound bridge of the next scenes
dialogue. This sound bridge reveals that this whole film
was a just a series of events that Malcolm was describing
to his counsellor.
--
INT. OFFICE. DAY
(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED: (2)
away from me. You actually cared
about me unlike Mum and Dad.
Without you, I'm nothing. Its not
fair...and its all my fault, oh
God its all my fault.
ABI
Malcolm the past is a foreign
land, you can't go back there,
but you are here now, and right
now you have to stop giving power
to the things that you can do
nothing about. You have to get
over me.
MALCOLM
But I really don't know how.
COUNSELLOR
So what did she say? When you saw
her.
MALCOLM
She said that it wasn't my fault
and that I had to get better.
COUNSELLOR
This is very common in people who
have lost someone. This is called
an apparitional experience. I
think you'll be pleased to hear
that I feel that you have made a
break through.
(MORE)
6. 5
(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED: (3)
MALCOLM (cont'd)
MALCOLM
I hope so. (smiles)
COUNSELLOR
So i'll see you next week?
MALCOLM
Yeah, yeah you will!
A look of elation invades Malcolm's face. This signifies
how Malcolm feels about the progress he has made in
overcoming his inner demons and vices.
EXT. OPEN SPACE. AFTERNOON
After Malcolm's realisations in counselling, he suddenly
feels unstoppable. He starts walking with intense
conviction, this signifies the start of a new chapter in
his life, moving away from the pain of the past. As he
walks up primrose hill he gains a few minutes of pure
universal insight. This insight materialises in the form
of a voiceover. All that has happened to him starts to
make sense. He no longer resents his past nor does he see
himself as a victim. He is liberated. As he reaches the
top of the hill the voiceover reaches a climax, he turns
and stares directly into the camera lens. He smiles and
then it cuts to a black screen with his name in the
middle. "MALCOLM".
MALCOLM
I realise now after all of this,
after all my pain. That life
isn’t for the good times, or even
the bad times. Its for those
times when you truly feel alive.
When you get to a place where you
know you are significant, and you
know that you aren’t alone. You
could say that everything you go
through gives you something to
cherish, And when you get to a
good place and you feel like you
can take on the world, thats when
you remember that pain, that pain
that made you realise “I am
alive, Malcolm, YOU ARE ALIVE”.
