the second draft of my screenplay

1. 1
HOW TO GRIEVE
Screenplay By
LUCY PROUTEN

2. 2
EXT. DAY - A CHURCHYARD
‘Softly as I leave you’ by Matt Monro plays. MARGOT and
MAYA sitting together on a bench. They are both dressed
in all black. Margot stares into the distance and Maya
sits with her knees to her chest, her arms crossed, also
staring into the distance. It is clear Maya has been
crying.
Cuts to a gravestone
Cuts back to Margot and Maya sitting on a bench.
Cuts to black. ‘HOW TO GRIEVE’ appears on screen. Music
fades out.
INT. DAY – MARGOT'S BEDROOM
Margot is laying on her bed.
MARGOT
(singing quietly)
Softly as I... no.
She stops and changes pitch. She smiles.
MARGOT
(singing quietly)
Softly as I...
She stops again. This time as if she has remembered
something. Her smile changes to a look of sorrow.
MARGOT
(quietly)
As I leave you.
She is silent. She closes her eyes and reaches for a
pillow behind her. She screams into the pillow.
(Continued)

3. 3
Margot removes the pillow from her face and takes a deep
breath. She sits up and looks towards her bedside table.
MARGOT
Alexa, play Frank Sinatra.
INT. NIGHT – MARGOT'S BEDROOM
‘It had to be you’ by Frank Sinatra plays. Margot slow
dances around the bedroom with her teddy bear as if it
was a real person.
Cut to Margot sitting on the floor surrounded by photos.
‘I’ll never smile again’ by Frank Sinatra plays. She
picks up a photo and stares at it in despair.
Cut to the photo. It is a picture of a young girl and an
older woman.
Cut to Margot’s face. She looks as if she is about to cry
but she doesn’t.
Cut to Margot in bed. ‘Put your dreams away’ by frank
Sinatra plays. She tosses and turns in bed, struggling to
get to sleep.
Cut to Margot’s face as she stops trying and lays still
staring at the ceiling.
INT. DAY – MARGOT'S BEDROOM
We see Margot staring into the camera as if it was her
mirror. ‘That’s life’ by Frank Sinatra plays quietly in
the background as she hums along. She looks tired and
gloomy.
Cut to Margot’s lips. she pats red lipstick faintly on to
her lips, as if to distract from her tired eyes and
lifeless face. The music is interrupted by an aggressive
knock on the door.
MARGOT
(she sighs)
Alexa, pause.
(continued)
MARGOT

4. 4
(shouting)
Yeah?
Maya opens Margot’s bedroom door. OLIVER is standing next
to her.
MAYA
Oliver’s here.
Oliver walks into the bedroom and Maya shuts the door
behind him.
Cut to Margot. She seems unhappily surprised. She walks
over to Oliver; they stand opposite each other with some
distance in between them.
MARGOT
(surprised)
What are you doing here?
OLIVER
(angrily)
What am I doing here? Margot, I
haven't seen you in two weeks. You’ve
been ignoring my calls and messages,
and if you’ve been at college then
you’ve been avoiding me there too.
What's going on with you?
Margot sits on her bed; she doesn’t say anything. It is
painfully silent.
OLIVER
(emotionally)
Right. So that’s it then. It's over.
Fine I’ll...
Oliver stops suddenly. Cut to the order of service from
Margot’s Grandmothers funeral on her bed side table. Cut
to Oliver as He immediately sits down next to her and
puts his head in his hands.
(Continued)
OLIVER
(shocked)

5. 5
Margot I... I'm so sorry... I
Margot interrupts Oliver. She remains facing forward, but
he turns and looks at her.
MARGOT
I didn’t cry. When my mum told me. I
didn’t cry. She just... she held me
in her arms. I hated it. I hated that
moment. I knew it had happened before
she told me, I could tell as soon as
I walked downstairs that morning.
Everything was... still.
Cuts to Margot.
MARGOT
I didn’t cry. I still haven't cried.
It's been two weeks now! I hear Maya
crying every night through the walls
and I... I just lay awake and wonder
what's wrong with me, why am I not
crying.
Cuts to Margot as she turns to look at Oliver.
MARGOT
I don’t know what I'm supposed to be
doing. I don’t get it. I don’t know
how to grieve.
Cuts to Oliver looking at Margot. He puts his arm around
her.
(Continued)
OLIVER
Everyone grieves in different ways,
there's no step by step guide. Do it
your way and take as much time as you
need. You are so strong and I'm

6. 6
always here... even if you don’t want
to talk to me.
They smile at each other. Oliver puts his arm around
Margot as she rests her head on his shoulder.
INT. DAY – MARGOTS BEDROOM
Text on screen ‘ONE YEAR LATER’
Margot is sitting on her bed and talking to Oliver on the
phone. She is noticeably more cheerful than when we last
saw her and she is wearing brighter clothing.
MARGOT
Yeah, I'm good but I miss you! How
was the first night of freshers?
There is a knock on the door.
MARGOT
Hold on, I'll call you back... Come
in!
Maya opens the door and walks into Margot’s bedroom
holding a radio.
MAYA
Mum just brought in the last box of
stuff from grans house, she thought
you’d want this.
Maya hands Margot the radio. Cut to Margot looking at the
radio. Her mood suddenly changes. She doesn’t know how to
react but eventually she smiles.
(Continued)
MARGOT
Thank you.
Maya leaves the room and shuts the door. Margot turns on
the radio and ‘softly as I leave you’ by Matt Monro
plays. A tear falls down Margot's cheek as she smiles
softly.
Cuts to black.

7. 7
END