P A L I N D R O M E

By Thomas Parish

1. P A L I N D R O M E

FADE IN ON:

1. INT. CAR, - DAY

1.

Car dashboard. Theres variety of dials and numbers. Littered with an untidy mess of scraps of paper, pens and loose change. A cheap mobile phone is noticeable among the mess.

All is silent apart from a muffled conversation from the outside.

Then the drivers door swings open, this is ANNA, a twentyyear-old woman covered in scarves, hats and gloves to protect her from the cold of a British winter.

She throws a CARDBOARD BOX of office supplies into the passenger seat, closes the door and with a long sigh bangs her head on the steering wheel.

CUT TO:

2. 2. INT. OFFICE DAY 2.

Starting in Black and White, this sequence gradually changes to full colour,

Its a warm summers morning in England and ANNA walks nervously between long rows of cubicles, sat inside each is a customer service operator, absent mindedly talking on their headset, and the office is bustling with drones carrying paperwork and drinking coffee.

ANNA is the only female in the entire building and is attracting a lot of attention from the other workers, she can feel the men watch her as she passes them, but ANNA darent turn back to face their gaze. Instead she holds her briefcase close to her chest and speeds towards the end of the row.

A large oak wood office with frosted glass windows sits on the far side, overlooking all of the workers cubicles, inside the dark shape of a man smoking is clearly visible. A golden name plaque reads Mr. Briggs, N.V.O Floor 19

ANNA stands outside the wooden office, her face is bright red. She hesitates for a moment, takes a deep breath, then reaches for the door handle.

CHARLIE STOP! You cant go in there!

ANNA spins around, a young man in white shirt and black tie stands behind her. ANNA in a state of panic, garbles her words. (CONTINUED) 3

3. CONTINUED: ANNA Im, Mr. Briggs, See him. I, Sorry CHARLIE (Chuckling) Its okay, come sit down Ill make you an appointment. ANNA Thanks. CHARLIE leads ANNA over to his desk, its separate to the rest of the workers, and rather plain by comparison. An old time computer hums quietly next to a little name badge that reads C H A R L I E CHARLIE takes the seat behind his desk, and gestures for ANNA to take the seat opposite. He taps a few keys on his computer, and neatens a few piles of paperwork that had been laid out for him. CHARLIE Right, good morning, Miss? ANNA Anna. CHARLIE Miss Anna, Okay. (Types on computer) What business to you wish to address Mr. Briggs with? ANNA Im here for the internship, heres the letter I received. (CONTINUED)

4. CONTINUED: CHARLIE Okay (Taps on the computer) Aha! Yes, here it is, youve got an appointment booked for half eleven today, (Glances at his watch) Which gives us about an hour and a half. ANNA Oh?

Charlie picks up a stack of unread papers and places them in a tray labelled outgoing. Next he stands up and pulls on his jacket. CHARLIE (Smiling) Tell me Anna, Do you like ice-cream?

MONTAGE VARIOUS A) EXT. CAF, - DAY A bright and Sunny Day, CHARLIE and ANNA eat ice cream. B) INT. OFFICE, - DAY ANNA leaves MR. BRIGGS office extremely happy and hugs CHARLIE. C) INT. OFFICE, DAY Late Summer, ANNA is working at her desk while Charlie watches her from the other side of the room. D) INT. OFFICE, - NIGHT ANNA looks tired and is still flicking through paperwork, a coffee cup is placed on her desk by a passing worker, it reads Dont give up, - Charlie ANNA cant help but smile.

(CONTINUED) 5

5. CONTINUED: E) INT. OFFICE, - DAY Autumn, CHARLIE is working through a stack of papers, ANNA sits down next to him with two ice creams both smile at each other. F) INT. RESTAURANT, - NIGHT ANNA and CHARLIE sit opposite each other, laughing. G) EXT. ANNAs FLAT, - NIGHT Early Winter, ANNA and CHARLIE stand outside the door, CHARLIE kisses her, ANNA blushes and heads inside, CHARLIE walks away. H) INT. OFFICE, - DAY Heavy snow falling, ANNA is carrying two cups of coffee along the aisle, when a chubby middle aged man slaps her ass from behind. ANNA jumps, then turns around in a fit of anger splashes the coffee in his face. I) INT. OFFICE, - DAY The Chubby Middle aged man with severe burns along his face and arms is being tended to by paramedics, ANNA is being spoken to by a large policeman, ANNAS eyes begin to water. J) INT. OFFICE, - DAY MR. BRIGGS hands ANNA a box of her office supplies and points to the door. K) EXT. OFFICE BUILDING, - DAY ANNA walks past an ambulance as she crosses the car park towards her car. END MONTAGE ANNA walks past two male paramedics that stand near her car, they watch her as she walks past. ANNA pretends not to notice them. PARAMEDIC #1 (Muttering) Crazy bitch. The colour from the image drains back to black and white. 3. INT. CAR, - DAY 3.

We watch ANNA, her forehead pressed against the wheel, the cold air creating swirls as she breathes heavily, still staring into the dashboard of the car. (CONTINUED) 6

6. CONTINUED: After a while, ANNA begins to shiver; she reaches for her car keys in the CARDBOARD BOX, she fumbles among folders and large paper documents before finding what she was looking for.

Her set of CAR KEYS look battered and old, and on the fob is a passport sized picture of ANNA and a young man, the text, With love from Charlie barely visible through the scratched plastic covering.

ANNA reaches under the wheel of the car to start the engine, it moans like a wounded animal as the engine struggles to start.

ANNA (To the Car) Just once, just once would you start?

The engine continues to splutter, ignoring ANNAS request.

ANNA lets out a loud, long moan of annoyance before collapsing onto the steering wheel completely.

ANNA Please? Almost instantly, the engine starts, it still sounds like the car is past its prime, but never the less, it runs, at least for now.

(CONTINUED) 7

7. CONTINUED: With a nod of thanks, ANNA now fiddles with the heating; but her gloves are too clunky to be able to press the tiny controls.

In a fit of frustration she tears at her gloves with her teeth, and then frantically shakes them off. One flies wildly behind her, the other onto the floor.

ANNA flicks the heating onto FULL and pulls out of the car park. We can now see the road as a passenger in the car.

There is thick layer of snow on all the pavements and buildings, whereas the roads have become awash with black slush, ANNA drives past a car embedded in a lamppost, the driver is being tended to by paramedics.

ANNA keeping one eye on the road, she pats the dashboard in an attempt to find her mobile. Looking down for a moment to see where among her crap it was hiding. She spots its distinctive shape stuffed into the cup holder.

Suddenly a loud horn blows, ANNA looks up to see a gigantic lorry barreling towards her. She had drifted into the opposite lane while her attention was elsewhere.

ANNA yanks at the steering wheel, narrowly missing the Lorry, but the car skids on the black slush. ANNA struggles to pull the car under control, and begins to swerve off the road.

(CONTINUED) 8

8. CONTINUED: One final and desperate, fight for control brings ANNA back on the road, the cars around her are honking horns and yelling abuse. ANNA slows down as the cars shes with approach a set of traffic lights.

Seeing her moment she launches for her phone. Quickly dialing in a number we cant see. The traffic lights change to green, and cars begin to move. As ANNA brings the phone to her ear, she accelerates into the crossroads.

ANNA Hello? Charlie its me. {Beat} Listen I{Beat} It was an accident. {Beat} Yes, but{Beat} I thought he{Beat} No I didnt I{Beat} Im driving back now, can you just? Stop. Shouting. Ive heard enough(CONTINUED)

9. CONTINUED: Then louder than anything heard before, the sound of a car crash, as metal ploughs into metal. A swirl of fire and a spray of red mist splatter onto the camera lens. Before dropping into a surreal silence as we see ANNA tumbling out of her car, face cut and bloody.

We look at the car crash from ANNAS POV, her arm lies distorted and bloody in front of us still holding the mobile, and we feel the darkness closing in around us as ANNA struggles to fight blacking out. Slowly sound resumes though still muffled.

A pair of smart shoes, black and polished approach ANNA without haste. Calmly walking before stopping just short of her arm. A black gloved hand takes the phone, places it beside ANNAS arm smashes it with its heel.

Just before ANNA falls unconscious, she manages to hear one final sentence.

AGENT #1 (O.S) {To Earpiece} Phase one of the Palindrome sequence is complete, beginning Phase two

FADE TO:

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10. Run Main Titles.

Slowly the Darkness, becomes NAVY blue in colour, Semitransparent white bubbles drift across screen, at first infrequently before increasing to several at once. The camera loses focus as it zooms out, refocuses. Revealing passing DNA strips as they break apart and form in an opposite formation, another zoom out.

We now see golden drops flare on the screen causing, golden ripples to expand across the screen, another zoom out. Now we see neuron like activity, light particles run across the tree like branches, and occasionally the golden ripples will connect with these particles, changing their colour and accelerate them along their routes.

Keep zooming out until a whole network is revealed, pulsing with a golden colour. A final massive zoom out now positions us looking at a young woman's eyeball. The eye is motionless, dead. Then a golden sparkle flickers across her iris, her pupil dilates and refocuses directly on the camera, looking straight at the audience.

The Title Appears:

P A L I N D R O M E

End Main Titles:

FADE OUT:

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