Screenplay

SURRENDER 

By Johnny Austen-Jones 

EXT. URBAN STREET SETTING - DUSK

A grim, urban street in South East London. The streets are mainly empty. 

FADE IN:  

Close-up -- behind the waist of person (walking hastily), identity unknown (victim). Can hear laboured breathing and a pounding heart.

Two perpetrators, out of frame are following behind, calling for his attention. The following dialogue is muffled. 

PERPETRATOR 1:

Yo...... Yo! Yo I know you can hear me!

Despite the calls, he continues to walk, now at a quicker pace.

PERPETRATOR 1:

Fucking turn around!

A gloved hand abruptly reaches into the frame, grabbing the jumper of the victim. The victim turns to face the perpetrator. 

The camera is still down by his waist, now facing the tracksuits and bottom of a hoodie of the perpetrator. A confrontation ensues, the dialogue still muffled.

PERPETRATOR 1:

What you got on you g. Lemme see your phone. 

VICTIM:

I don’t have my phone on me, I swear

PERPETRATOR 1:

Bro get your fucking phone out, now!

VICTIM: 

You can -

PERPETRATOR 1:

Don’t make me back it out.

Perpetrator lifts his hoodie to reveal a menacing kitchen knife tucked into his waist.

VICTIM:

I don’t have anything on me!

Jump cut to Perpetrator 1 reaching for the knife, followed by another, as he hastily moves the the knife into the victim - the eerie score intensifies and the camera tilts up to the sky.  The victim grunts and muffled shouts are heard as the perpetrators flee the scene. 

OTHER POSSIBILITY: Camera falls down with the victim, still obscuring his identity. A trickle of blood travels along pavement. 

CUT TO:

Credit Sequence: “Surrender”

EXT. URBAN STREET SETTING - NIGHT

 

A bustling, urban street in South East London on a dark winter evening. Crowds of pedestrians, shoppers and others can be seen walking along the pavements outside the shops or trying to cross the road. The noise of cars hooting, or of scooters, flying past is deafening. We follow a young man of 18 years, wearing baggy jeans, a hoodie and a black gilet on his journey home; his name is travis.

As he is walking, his phone vibrates. He takes out his phone revealing one message in a line of many others from "Dad".

ON TRAVIS' IPHONE SCREEN

DAD

Where are you?

Putting his phone away.

TRAVIS

Shite

A melancholic score fades in, as we track TRAVIS walking home, jump cutting to different parts of his journey. He reaches the house and slowly opens the door

CUT TO:

INT. TRAVIS' HOUSE - NIGHT

His DAD is perched on the bottom step of the staircase, despondently staring down at the floor with his phone in his hand. He looks up as Travis enters, but returns his gaze to floor as he walks past and avoiding eye contact. 

TRAVIS

You 'right Dad? (Hanging up his keys) Sorry I'm late.

DAD doesn't reply

TRAVIS

Dad, I'm sorry I'm late, I got held up at school.

DAD still doesn't say anything

TRAVIS

(Nodding his head in disbelief and with a bit of frustration) Hello?

DAD checks his shoulder, gets up with a grunt and walks straight past TRAVIS into the living room, as though he weren't there. A high pitched ringing noise plays at the same time as the suddenly distorted, heavy breathing of Travis

TRAVIS

(With confusion and concern) Dad. Dad?

Before DAD walks over to a rough-looking sofa and sits down, he leaves his phone on a stall in the middle of the room. Travis meanwhile continues in his attempts to speak with his Dad.

TRAVIS

Dad, I sai-I said I was sorry. Jesus. (with a raised voice) Can you hear me?

Confused and frustrated, Travis turns to leave. But as he does so, DAD's phone begins to vibrate on the stool. TRAVIS reaches to get it, but DAD gets there first. Cautious, he answers it. A police officer is waiting on the other end 

DAD

Hello?

POLICE OFFICER (V.O.)

Hi there, am I speaking to Travis Coleman's Dad?

DAD

(A sense of dread washes over his face) Yes, why?

POLICE OFFICER (V.O.)

I uh...don't know how else to tell you this. Your son's body has been identified in a stabbing

The conversation fades out and the score intensifies.

Close-up -- Overwhelmed with emotion, TRAVIS stumbles backwards. The wobbles, mimicking his unstable movements.

TRAVIS

What?

DAD, in utter shock, slides the phone down the side of his cheek. 

TRAVIS

Dad. Dad.

POV of Travis -- he looks down and sees blood seeping through his shirt from his stomach. It is at this point that Travis realises that he is actually bleeding out on a street and that everything prior has been a manifestation of his denial in the face of death.

TRAVIS

What's happening. Why am I bleeding, have I been stabbed?   

Travis rubs his face into his arm. His speech is out of sync with his mouth movements.

TRAVIS

What's happening to me? Please help me.

Portrait of Travis -- his eyes struggle to stay open, as if he is in and out of consciousness.

TRAVIS

I don't want to die. I don't want to die like this.

Portrait of DAD/POV of Travis -- looking straight down the lens, with comfort

DAD

You have to let go 

The ringing noise becomes louder and louder, while the dialogue and background noise fade out. 

CUT TO:

EXT. OPEN FIELD/FOREST - DAY (DREAM SEQUENCE)

TRAVIS runs through a forest in SLOW MOTION, as though he is running from something. Heavy breathing plays simultaneously. Birds chirp and the wind rattles the leaves of the trees. The sunlight filters through the grand array of trees, catching the glass of the lens. He comes to a halt and turns around, accepting his inevitable fate

ABRUPT CUT TO:

EXT. URBAN STREET SETTING - NIGHT

Overhead close-up -- TRAVIS lays dead on a pavement. His face is pale white and his eyes remain open but completely still. Sirens and the distant conversations of police officers and medical professionals can be heard.

CUT TO BLACK

Directed by Johnny Austen-Jones