ALL OF US STRANGERS
Written by
Andrew Haigh
Based on the novel "Strangers" by Tai chi Yamada
BLUEPRINT PICTURES
INT. ADAM'S APARTMENT - DUSK
1 1
A view of London stretches south past half-built tower
blocks rising above the Victorian housing stock.
This is the view from inside an apartment, twenty-seven
floors up. As twilight comes, our focus shifts to Adam
[45] gazing out the window.
Something on the horizon catches his attention. It looks
like the glint from a shard of glass or the light from a
distant star: a guide, maybe a warning.
INT. ADAM'S APARTMENT - TWILIGHT
2 2
Adam wakes on the sofa, woozy from a dream. It is silent
in the room; the sound of the city blocked by the triple-
glazed glass.
His flat is comfortable and well-looked after. Furniture
is all carefully selected and the shelves are lined with
books, DVDs and records.
Adam lies still for a while, more than a while, watching
light fade from the room. He sits up, switches on a lamp.
His stomach grumbles.
He looks down at his hands resting on his belly and rubs
his thumb gently against his finger. The room is quiet
enough to hear the sound of skin stroking skin, such a
strange, sensual sound.
INT. ADAM'S APARTMENT - NIGHT
3 3
Adam opens the fridge door, the "buzz" of the appliance
loud in the silence. There's nothing to tempt him, just
leftovers and soggy salad in bags.
He takes out his phone and orders from his `favourites'.
Suddenly, the building's fire alarm comes on, a howl in
the silence. Adam contemplates whether to ignore it.
2.
INT. TOWER CORRIDOR - NIGHT
4 4
The alarm is louder now. Adam walks the long corridor to
the elevator knocking gently on each door that he passes.
He doesn't pause for an answer. He knows no-one is in.
INT. TOWER ELEVATOR - NIGHT
5 5
The alarm continues as Adam descends to the ground floor,
his reflection thrown into infinity by the mirrors lining
the walls.
INT. TOWER LOBBY - NIGHT
6 6
The lift doors open. Adam passes rarely-used sofas, the
rolling news playing on a large TV. There's no security
guard at the desk.
Blue lights from a police car travel across the wall and
onto Adam. He turns to look for the car through the large
glass windows but it has already passed.
I/E. TOWER - CONTINUOUS
7 7
Adam heads through the doors into the landscaped gardens
secured by a metal perimeter -- the meeting point in case
of a fire. He's the only one to have left the building.
There are signs of construction everywhere, new towers
going up, but the cranes are still. Hoardings on his own
block promise community through mocked-up photos of
friends gathering in apartments and drinking on a roof
terrace.
Adam cranes his neck to look up at his building. There
are few signs of life but Adam spots a faint glow on the
sixth floor, the flickering light of a television. In
that glow he sees the shape of a man. Watching him.
The alarm suddenly stops. Calm is restored. Adam's phone
pings. He checks the app: food is getting close. When he
looks back at the window, the man is gone.
3.
INT. ADAM'S APARTMENT - NIGHT
8 8
Sweet & sour pork balls lie half-eaten on the counter as
Adam watches HELLRAISER by Clive Barker (1987), a classic
(queer) horror with a soaring score.
He is loading his vape with weed when the doorbell rings;
an ugly, glitchy sound as if rarely used. He pauses the
DVD. Adam is not expecting anyone.
INT. ADAM'S APARTMENT / CORRIDOR - NIGHT
9 9
Adam opens the door to find a man in his twenties holding
a half-empty bottle of whisky, shit-faced drunk, his eyes
tired and heavy. This is HARRY (28).
He wears a green sweatshirt with stains on the front. The
corridor is quiet but for an extractor fan somewhere in
the building, humming, groaning.
HARRY
Hello.
ADAM
(cautiously)
Hi.
HARRY
I saw you looking at me from the
street. I've seen you a bunch of
times, coming and going with your
head down. One day it will be for
real, that alarm.
Harry looks down the corridor towards the elevator. They
can hear it open and close but no-one get outs.
HARRY (CONT'D)
We're basically the only ones
here. Can you fucking believe it?
They still haven't got a security
guard yet.
He turns back towards Adam, anxious in Harry's presence,
not wanting to engage.
HARRY (CONT'D)
I'm Harry.
(CONTINUED)
4.
9 CONTINUED: 9
He smiles, offers up his hand. Adam has no option but to
shake it.
ADAM
Adam.
The extractor fan stops. Harry searches for the source of
the missing sound.
HARRY
How do you cope?
ADAM
With what?
HARRY
Listen?
They both listen. Silence.
HARRY (CONT'D)
It's so quiet. London's out there
but we can't hear a fucking thing.
Harry edges closer, almost conspiratorially. Adam backs
away.
HARRY (CONT'D)
I play music but it's worse when
it ends. I even bought one of
those white-noise machines. It's
like someone's in the corner of
the room, whispering about me. We
can't even open the windows but I
guess they don't want us to jump.
Bad for business, bodies broken on
the concrete. Who's gonna move in
then? You want a drink? It's
Japanese.
Harry lifts up the bottle. He really does seem fucked.
Adam wants him gone.
HARRY (CONT'D)
It's meant to be the best in the
world but I couldn't tell you why.
(CONTINUED)
5.
9 CONTINUED: (2) 9
ADAM
No thanks.
Harry looks at him for longer than is comfortable.
HARRY
How about I come in anyway? If not
for a drink then for whatever else
you might want.
There is a desperation to Harry's tone that is unnerving,
his sexual intention clear.
ADAM
I don't think that's a good idea.
HARRY
Do I scare you?
ADAM
Excuse me?
HARRY
We don't have to do anything if
I'm not your type.
(leaning in)
There's vampires at my door.
What a strange thing to say.
Adam closes the door in his face. Adam waits, uneasy. He
puts his ear to the door. Harry's still there.
HARRY (CONT'D)
Everyone is meant to be kinder
nowadays but surprise fucking
surprise, nothing has changed.
Adam feels a stab of guilt, Harry's as alone as him, but
he waits and waits until he is sure Harry is gone. When
he finally opens the door, the corridor is empty. Adam
closes and double locks the door.
EXT. TOWER - NIGHT
10 10
From the vantage point of a half-built tower, we zoom out
as Adam walks to the window, taking a long drag on his
vaporizer.
(CONTINUED)
6.
10 CONTINUED: 10
Pulling out further, we reveal Harry's apartment on the
sixth floor, the television still on. Harry is by the
window finishing off his whisky.
He starts to scream at the top of his lungs. Only no one
can hear him through the triple-glazed windows. Not Adam.
Not even us.
EXT. TOWER - DAY
11 11
Harsh cut to a new day, the sun watery, a warm summer
morning.
INT. ADAM'S APARTMENT - DAY
12 12
Adam flicks through his eclectic LP collection ordered by
the year of release. The sleeves become more battered and
torn as he goes back through time.
He picks THE CIRCUS by ERASURE (1987). On the inside of
the album sleeve is some handwriting, a little childish.
It says `Dec 1987'.
The title track plays as Adam sits at his desk trying to
write a script. His fingers rest on the keys but nothing
comes. The flash of the cursor taunts him, hovering like
a heartbeat over the start of a scene.
INT. ADAM'S APARTMENT - DAY TO DUSK
13 13
Adam opens the top cupboard -- a place for comfort food.
Devonshire Custard. Rice Pudding. He takes out a pack of
Ginger Nuts and opens them.
He eats two in quick succession, wiping the crumbs from
his sweatshirt which fall to the floor with a sprinkle.
As the sun sets, Adam stands by the window. He sees Harry
sitting in the garden below. He looks forlorn, all alone
down there.
7.
INT. ADAM'S BEDROOM - NIGHT
14 14
A white noise machine plays the sound of the wind. Adam
lies in bed, half-awake, half-asleep; that time of night
when nothing feels entirely real.
With a remote control, he raises the blinds just enough
to see the horizon of the city. There is that glint, that
shard of light beckoning him.
15 INT. ADAM'S APARTMENT - DAY 15
Adam takes a piss, a shower. He makes coffee. At his desk
near the window he types on his laptop, looser and more
curious. EXT. SUBURBAN HOUSE. 1987.
He sits back, looks at the words, his cursor spiralling
around the screen. He doesn't know what to write next.
INT. ADAM'S BEDROOM - DAY
16 16
Adam pulls out a plastic storage box from under his bed,
the lid covered with a layer of dust. Inside are hundreds
of old photos, random snapshots of a life.
Adam flicks back through time as he did with the record
sleeves; back through drunken moments in the noughties,
university in the nineties, school in the eighties, long-
vanished enemies and friends.
There are other things in the box too: a few old birthday
cards. Aged 10. Aged 11. Adam opens one, it says simply
`Love from Mum and Dad'.
Some diaries, school exercise books, some of them backed
with old wallpaper to stop them falling apart. Some sugar
packets from an American themed Restaurant. And a chrome
RONSON VARAFLAME lighter. Adam tries it. It doesn't work.
Then he finds what he's looking for: a photo of himself
aged about two sitting in a red pedal car in the front
garden of a semi-detached suburban house, his mother by
his side. It looks like the late seventies.
Adam smiles softly but not sadly.
8.
INT. ADAM'S BEDROOM - DAY
17 17
Adam stands at the window in his bedroom. There is no
sign of Harry this time but his attention drifts to a
train heading away from the half-built tower blocks. He
can almost hear the soothing rhythm of the carriage on
the tracks.
INT. TRAIN - DAY
18 18
Adam is on the train. The carriage is quiet. The sunlight
flashes through the window. He closes his eyes and feels
the warmth on his face.
EXT. SANDERSTEAD STATION - DAY
19 19
Sanderstead is a suburb thirty minutes from London just
south of Croydon. It is small and conservative but not
particularly wealthy.
Adam stands on the platform as the train pulls away. The
station is quiet, only a few people around. It all seems
familiar to Adam yet only half-remembered.
EXT. ALLEYWAY - DAY
20 20
Adam walks down a long ginnel flanked by wooden fences,
taller than he remembered. There is a sweet melancholy
that comes from being back. He hears voices behind him,
some kids, but when he turns around, no one is there.
EXT. FAMILY HOME - DAY
21 21
Adam stands outside a small semi-detached house with a
garage and a low-hedged front garden. He takes a photo
from his pocket, the one with his mother and the little
red car.
Is this even the same house? There is now white render on
the brick walls, and the window frames, once green, are
black. There is even a new tree reaching as high as the
roof.
(CONTINUED)
9.
21 CONTINUED: 21
Adam notices a YOUNG BOY watching from a bedroom window.
It is hard to see him clearly. A WOMAN appears behind the
boy, raises her middle finger and shoos Adam away.
EXT. HIGH STREET - LATE AFTERNOON
22 22
Adam walks along the high street: 1950's architecture,
mock-Tudor, mediocre shops on the street level. Adam is
caught by a scent sparking a memory.
EXT. SANDERSTEAD PARK - AFTERNOON INTO DUSK
23 23
Adam eats his chips at a picnic table near a playground.
He flicks through a handful of photos brought with him,
mainly of him and his Mum.
In one photograph, Adam finds his 7-YEAR-OLD-SELF on a
swing in the same playground where he sits now. Eating
the same soggy chips.
Adam walks through the park as the sun falls. TEENAGERS
sit on rugs drinking beer. Some LADS kick a ball around.
Somewhere is a game of cricket.
He reaches a line of swaying trees, the wind picking up.
Adam walks through the tree-line to find the landscape
drop away with a distant view to London. Adam has no
memory of this place.
He sits on the ground as the sun sets. He watches the
grass blow in the breeze. Suddenly the wind stops. A
stillness falls. Adam turns around, sensing he's being
watched.
At the tree-line, he finds a MAN, younger than Adam,
watching him. It is hard for him to see his face, the
light obscure, but Adam feels a rush of adrenaline, a
tingle of fear.
With a subtle gesture, the man beckons Adam to follow as
he walks back through the trees, the wind returning. Adam
hesitates, then gets up.
As Adam follows him from a distance, the light continues
to fade, turning bluer and darker. Adam can't get a good
look of his face. Before too long, the man arrives at the
park gates.
(CONTINUED)
10.
23 CONTINUED: 23
He stops. Turns back to Adam. Their eyes lock. The blood
drains from Adam's face. Surely it can't be him? The man
smiles, then crosses the road.
EXT. SANDERSTEAD HIGH STREET - TWILIGHT
24 24
Close to darkness now. The street-lights come on. Adam
crosses the road as the man heads into an off-license.
Adam approaches and cautiously peeks through the window,
the dirty glass distorting the man's face. A car alarm
goes off and Adam turns to find the source.
When he looks back to the shop, the man is standing in
front of him. He has a bottle of whisky (Bells, 1980's
label) and a packet of fags (purple Silk Cut, 1980's
label).
MAN
Hi.
The man offers Adam a cigarette. Adam shakes his head as
if in a dream. The man lifts up the bottle.
MAN (CONT'D)
I thought something strong might
be good for a night like this.
Adam tries to speak but no words come. The man smiles and
lights a cigarette (with the lighter from Adam's box
under the bed). He exhales a smoke ring into the air.
Adam follows it skyward.
MAN (CONT'D)
Shall we go?
ADAM
Where?
MAN
Home, of course.
EXT. SUBURBAN STREET - TWILIGHT
25 25
The man flicks the butt of his fag onto the ground. He
stamps on it with his trainers, eighties in style.
(CONTINUED)
11.
25 CONTINUED: 25
They have arrived back at the house from the photograph,
but the red pedal car from his childhood is now there. A
wooziness builds.
MAN
She's gonna be over the moon to
see you.
The man knocks on the door. A car passes, an old Granada
looking like new. The front door opens but from where
Adam stands he can't see who it is.
MAN (CONT'D)
Guess who I found loitering in the
park?
WOMAN
Surprise me.
Adam recognizes the voice instantly. His eyes fill with
tears. As the woman pops her head around the corner, we
recognize her too.
She is the woman from the photo. His mother. Only younger
than Adam. And if this is his mother, then this man must
be his Dad. She looks at Adam, unsure it's really him.
MUM
Is it him?
DAD
It's definitely him. Look at the
eyes.
Then suddenly, she sees.
MUM
Yes.
(she smiles)
It is you.
ADAM
Hi.
MUM
Don't just stand there. Get
yourself inside.
(CONTINUED)
12.
25 CONTINUED: (2) 25
Adam doesn't even hesitate. He steps inside as if in a
trance. His `mother' shuts the door behind him as we pull
out wide to reveal the house.
It looks different now (just for now), the white render
gone, the window frames now green, and an orange Cortina
parked in the drive.
INT. FAMILY KITCHEN - NIGHT
26 26
The room feels like it belongs in the mid-eighties. Adam
sits at the kitchen table as his Mum gets a packet of KP
dry roasted peanuts from the cupboard and puts them in a
bowl. His Dad gets some glasses and opens the whisky. He
pours the largest for Adam.
DAD
So where are you living now? Not
round here that's for sure.
ADAM
I'm in London.
MUM
How fancy.
DAD
Whereabouts?
MUM
Do you live by yourself?
Adam downs his whisky in one. His Dad pours him another.
His mother joins them at the table with the peanuts but
no-one touches them.
DAD
Do you own your own place?
ADAM
It's just a flat.
DAD
I knew it!
(to his wife)
I told you he'd have done well.
(MORE)
(CONTINUED)
13.
26 CONTINUED: 26
DAD (CONT'D)
It can't be cheap living up there
in the smoke.
MUM
What do you do?
ADAM
I'm a writer. I'm not particularly
rich though, not really.
MUM
A writer?
(to her husband)
And what did I tell you?
His mother cannot control her excitement. She jumps up
and kisses Adam over and over again on the top of his
head like he was a child, her child. He can't help but
laugh, finally relaxing a little.
MUM (CONT'D)
I always knew you'd be creative.
What kind of writer? You know how
I love Stephen King. Carrie, Cujo,
Different Seasons.
ADAM
I'm not a proper writer. I write
scripts, a few films. TV when I
have to.
MUM
This is so bloody exciting. If I
knew the neighbours I'd run over
and tell them right now.
She sits back down.
DAD
I've always said that writers know
less about the real world than
almost anyone else.
He winks at his son to let him know he not serious; it's
to wind up his wife. She bashes her husband on the arm.
MUM
What the hell do you know? You can
barely write joined-up.
(CONTINUED)
14.
26 CONTINUED: (2) 26
Adam smiles at this gentle mocking. It brings him back.
His mum takes a cigarette and lights it, inhaling deeply.
MUM (CONT'D)
A writer. Our son.
That hits Adam squarely between the eyes. His Dad reaches
over and places his hand on his.
DAD
We're very bloody pleased to see
you doing so well.
Adam looks down at his hand. It stays there long enough
for Adam to experience his touch, his Dad's thumb gently
stroking his skin. Then he reaches for the whisky.
DAD (CONT'D)
But enough of that poofy stuff.
Our boy is home so let's get
fucking drunk.
The `poofy' remark lands on Adam but he ignores it. He
swigs down his whisky and hands the glass back for more.
INT. FAMILY KITCHEN - NIGHT
27 27
Adam lets the night wash over him. They are all drinking
more and more. Still no-one eats the peanuts. Adam stays
quiet, enjoying their stories of him as a little boy.
We hear snippets. Like overlapping dreams. What about the
time he wiped his poo on the anaglypta walls. Or that day
he got hit by a Ford Granada when he tried to pedal his
red car onto the main road.
EXT. FAMILY HOME DRIVEWAY - NIGHT
28 28
It is a little cold outside, a chill blown in. Adam's
mother hugs him tightly, kisses him on the lips. His
father does the same thing, a kiss full on the lips.
DAD
It's been so bloody nice to see
you again. We weren't sure we ever
would but here you are.
(CONTINUED)
15.
28 CONTINUED: 28
ADAM
Here I am.
MUM
Come back soon. One of us will be
in.
ADAM
I will.
But there is a sense from Adam that this can't possibly
be real, that it can't happen again.
MUM
Please.
There is an insistence in her tone as if she needs this
as much as him.
INT. MINICAB - NIGHT
29 29
Adam sits in the rear, his eyes heavy. A `traffic light'
air-freshener hangs from the rear view mirror. It rocks
back and forth.
TAXI DRIVER
Best get you home before your
missus sends out a search party.
Taxi drivers always assume you have a wife. Adam says
nothing. He smells his sweatshirt for signs of the night:
smoke, booze.
TAXI DRIVER (CONT'D)
Out with your mates?
ADAM
No.
Adam tries to wrestle with the ramifications of tonight.
ADAM (CONT'D)
I was with my parents.
16.
EXT. MINICAB - NIGHT
30 30
Adam's eyes start to close as he watches the approaching
city sparkle through the window. New buildings going up
but the streets are quiet. A smile, almost euphoric,
comes over his face.
INT. TOWER LOBBY / ELEVATOR - NIGHT
31 31
Adam, still a little drunk, heads through the lobby to
the elevators. Harry is waiting at the lift with his back
towards him. Adam considers and then decides to join him.
ADAM
Hello.
HARRY
Hi.
Harry looks burnt-out, exhausted. He avoids eye contact.
But the lift opens and they both get inside. The mirrored
walls mean they can't ignore each other for long.
HARRY (CONT'D)
I'm sorry for the other night.
ADAM
Don't worry about it.
But Harry seems deeply ashamed, with a vulnerability now
that Adam finds attractive. The lift arrives on the sixth
floor and Harry gets out. Adam feels emboldened.
ADAM (CONT'D)
I do like whisky if you want to
come --
Harry turns back to Adam but the doors shut between them
before anything else is said and Adam is left staring at
his reflection in the textured steel doors. What a
strange fucking night.
INT. ADAM'S BEDROOM - NIGHT
32 32
Adam looks at the photos again. He finds himself aged 11,
a melancholy kid. He stands beside his parents who look
exactly as they did tonight, right down to the clothes.
(CONTINUED)
17.
32 CONTINUED: 32
He lies back on top of the bed clothes. He holds the
photo to his chest, a look of blissed-out exhaustion on
his face.
Delicate beads of sweat start to appear on his forehead
but he doesn't seem to notice. He coughs, once, the photo
jumps in his hand. He coughs again...
INT. ADAM'S BEDROOM - DAY
33 33
The blinds are open, sunlight weak through the windows.
Adam wakes slowly, hungover, undressed now. He sits up as
if trying to remember a fading dream.
INT. ADAM'S APARTMENT - DAY
34 34
Adam puts on a record: 1987's NOW THAT'S WHAT I CALL
MUSIC 10. He chooses the track BUILD by THE HOUSEMARTINS.
He lays some photos over the kitchen counter including
one of his YOUNGER SELF AGED 9 stirring flapjack mixture
with his Mum in the same kitchen as last night.
Adam sits at this laptop, the music continuing. Writer's
block seems to have gone. His mind is alive. As he types,
his eyes redden with tears, not with sadness but rather
something sweeter.
INT. ADAM'S APARTMENT - DUSK
35 35
Music is gone. It is quiet now. Adam stands by the window
as the sun drops behind a cloudy sky, lights coming on in
distant towers. He sees Harry again sitting down below.
This time Adam uses a pair of binoculars to get a closer
look. Sensing he's being watched, Harry turns to look up.
Adam is embarrassed but waves softly anyway. After a few
tentative beats, Harry waves back.
INT. ADAM'S APARTMENT - DUSK
36 36
There is a knock at the door. No doorbell this time. Adam
opens up to find Harry standing there.
(CONTINUED)
18.
36 CONTINUED: 36
HARRY
Hello.
ADAM
Hi.
HARRY
Hi.
ADAM
Do you want to come in?
A beat of doubt as Harry looks down the corridor and then
back to Adam. He smiles, tentatively.
HARRY
Okay.
INT. ADAM'S APARTMENT - DUSK
37 37
Harry takes in the apartment: the records, the books on
the shelving unit. Adam hovers behind.
ADAM
How long have you lived in the
building?
HARRY
Long enough. I work for the
company that owns it. They rent it
to me for close to cheap. I work
from home most of the time anyway.
ADAM
What do you do?
HARRY
I.T. I wanted to do something else
but never worked out what that
something was.
ADAM
Do you want a drink?
He turns around to face Adam.
HARRY
What have you got?
(CONTINUED)
19.
37 CONTINUED: 37
ADAM
Vodka. Some beer. Weed if you want
that instead.
HARRY
Weed is better.
(with a small smile)
I'm off alcohol.
Harry's got a nice smile, kind about the eyes. He walks
to the window to look at the view. Adam sits on the sofa
and loads up his vaporizer. They are silent for a few
moments, both a little awkward.
HARRY (CONT'D)
All these towers going up but
there is nothing to do. Do you
like living here?
ADAM
I bought it off-plan. I read that
was the smart thing to do. I'm
hoping it'll get better when
people move in. If more people
move in.
HARRY
You got friends nearby?
ADAM
Not really. You?
HARRY
Not really.
ADAM
Mine have all moved out of London.
They want gardens for their kids.
They want to be near grandparents
so someone can look after their
kids.
HARRY
I'm guessing you didn't want to
move too.
ADAM
What am I going to do in Dorking?
It's not for people like me.
(CONTINUED)
20.
37 CONTINUED: (2) 37
Adam inhales on the vape. Harry finally sits beside him.
Looks at him.
HARRY
You are queer, right?
Adam exhales slowly with a smile. The room is so silent.
We can hear every breath.
ADAM
Yeah.
HARRY
(smiling)
That's good.
ADAM
Well -- gay. I can't get used to
calling myself `queer'. It was
always such an insult.
HARRY
(thinking on that)
It's probably why we hate `gay' so
much now. Gay meant lame and shit.
Those trainers are gay. That
haircut's gay. This sofa is gay.
Your school bag's gay.
Adam smiles. He takes another hit.
HARRY (CONT'D)
Queer does feel polite somehow
though. Like all the dick
sucking's been taken out.
Adam laughs. Harry is happy he's made Adam laugh. It
relaxes him. Adam hands the vape to him. There is a
silence again.
HARRY (CONT'D)
I'm assuming you're not with
anyone. I never see you with
anyone.
ADAM
I'm not.
(CONTINUED)
21.
37 CONTINUED: (3) 37
HARRY
Are you often single?
ADAM
Often?
HARRY
Uh-uh.
ADAM
I suppose so. What about you?
HARRY
Yeah. But not for want of trying.
In the silence that follows, Harry inhales on the vape.
Adam watches him. The action feels incredibly sensual,
bringing an erotic charge. After he's exhaled, he puts
the vape down and looks at Adam.
HARRY (CONT'D)
How about I kiss you?
ADAM
Okay.
Harry leans close enough to Adam to kiss him but not yet.
They look at each other, both getting hard. Harry smiles.
Finally, Harry leans in. It is slow at first, then more
passionate. They kiss for a while until Adam pulls away,
breathless.
HARRY
What is it?
ADAM
It's been a while. I've forgotten
how to breathe my way through it.
It is Adam who leans in this time. They kiss some more.
Harry tugs off Adam's top. He's a little self-conscious.
HARRY
You don't need to worry about that
with me.
(CONTINUED)
22.
37 CONTINUED: (4) 37
Harry takes off his own top, more confident. He undoes
his belt, unbuttons his flies. Adam reaches out to touch
him.
Harry unbuttons Adam's jeans and rubs Adam's cock over
his underwear. Adam tries to sit up, to feel Harry, but
he pushes him back onto the sofa.
Harry pulls down Adam's underwear and goes down on him.
Adam closes his eyes, his lips falling apart.
INT. ADAM'S APARTMENT - TWILIGHT
38 38
There is barely any light left. Adam and Harry sit still
on the sofa, breathing deeply. Adam has cum on his belly
and his chest.
Harry leans over as if to kiss Adam but instead ducks to
lick the cum off Adam's chest. As he comes up, Harry
grins before kissing him. Adam pulls back at first, but
then let's him.
INT. ADAM'S APARTMENT - NIGHT
39 39
Harry wanders around the apartment only half-dressed as
Adam puts his clothes back on. Harry finds the photos on
the kitchen counter.
HARRY
Is this you?
ADAM
Afraid so.
HARRY
You were cute. I hate my photos. I
was a fat kid. If you're a fat kid
no-one asks why you don't have a
girlfriend.
He looks at the photo again and smiles.
HARRY (CONT'D)
We'd have been friends for sure.
Bunked off football to spy on the
boys.
(CONTINUED)
23.
39 CONTINUED: 39
Adam likes the sound of that. Harry picks up a photo of
his Dad smiling for the camera.
HARRY (CONT'D)
This your dad?
ADAM
Yeah.
HARRY
He's handsome.
ADAM
I'm trying to write something
about them.
HARRY
Is that what you do?
ADAM
Yeah.
HARRY
How's it going?
ADAM
Strangely.
HARRY
What does that mean?
Adam looks at the photos.
ADAM
I've tried to not write about them
for years but all people want now
is the personal. It will probably
be good for me. Or not. Depending
if people like it.
Harry smiles, then looks back at the photo of Adam's dad.
HARRY
I don't see my Dad much. Do you
see yours?
ADAM
They died just before I was
twelve.
(CONTINUED)
24.
39 CONTINUED: (2) 39
HARRY
Both of them?
ADAM
A car crash. Not the most original
of deaths.
HARRY
That's horrible.
ADAM
Yeah.
HARRY
Who looked after you?
ADAM
I went to Dublin. I lived with my
Gran.
HARRY
Fuck. I'm sorry.
ADAM
It was a long time ago.
HARRY
I don't think that matters.
Harry looks back at one of the photos. Adam is touched by
the emotion on Harry's face.
HARRY (CONT'D)
I'd like to see you again.
ADAM
Okay.
HARRY
I could stay the night if --
Harry really wants this but Adam's reticence is clear. He
smiles.
HARRY (CONT'D)
How about not tonight?
ADAM
I do want to see you again,
honest, but maybe just not --
(CONTINUED)
25.
39 CONTINUED: (3) 39
HARRY
You don't need to explain.
ADAM
Thanks.
Harry can wait. He puts the photo back on the kitchen
counter. It is of Adam in his dressing gown sitting with
his mum on the stairs, red tinsel around the bannister,
the age he was when they died.
EXT. TRAIN - DAY
40 40
A rumbling train ploughs through a dark tunnel and out
into a blustery day. The trees billow as storm clouds
build in the sky.
EXT. ALLEYWAY - DAY
41 41
The clouds break. Heavy rain soaks Adam as he runs down
the alleyway. Without an umbrella, he's soon drenched to
the bone.
EXT. FAMILY HOME - DAY
42 42
It's still raining when Adam arrives. He hesitates before
he knocks but his excitement at being back is clear. It's
not long before she answers.
MUM
Sweetheart!
ADAM
Hi. Mum.
MUM
You came back.
ADAM
Of course I came back.
INT. FAMILY HOME HALLWAY - DAY
43 43
Mum shuts the door. They stand in the hallway. The rain
slows outside.
(CONTINUED)
26.
43 CONTINUED: 43
Some of those photos from the box under Adam's bed are
now framed on the walls. He knows it makes no sense but
he doesn't care. He is just glad to be back.
MUM
You need to get those wet clothes
off before you catch your death.
ADAM
I'll dry.
She comes over to him, fussing like a mother would to a
young child.
MUM
Don't talk rubbish. You're leaving
a puddle on the floor.
Adam takes off his jacket but he's soaked through. She
starts pulling at his sweatshirt.
MUM (CONT'D)
Jesus, you're sodden. Take them
off.
ADAM
I'm not taking my clothes off!
MUM
Don't be silly, it's only me.
Jeans too, they're drenched. I'll
put them in the hot press.
Unable to resist, or not wanting to resist, Adam lets her
help him take off his sweatshirt.
MUM (CONT'D)
It's just me today. Is that okay?
She seems insecure all of a sudden. Worried she won't be
enough.
ADAM
Of course.
(CONTINUED)
27.
43 CONTINUED: (2) 43
MUM
Good because there's so much I
want to know. I want to hear
everything! C'mon, jeans!
Adam takes off his jeans. He stands there in his under-
pants and t-shirt, still damp from the rain.
MUM (CONT'D)
Now get upstairs and change.
ADAM
Upstairs?
MUM
To your bedroom!
She makes a face as if he's being crazy and she heads off
to the utility room. Adam rubs dust from one of the
photos. We've seen it before, him stuffing his face with
chips.
Walking upstairs, Adam feels the bannister with his hand,
looks up at the sky through the window, down at his feet
on the thick carpet. Memories trickling back.
His bedroom is the first room at the top of the stairs
but he pauses before opening the door. A little afraid
somehow.
INT. ADAM'S OLD BEDROOM - DAY
44 44
The past hits him hard. There is his old single bed. The
walls plastered with posters from Smash Hits and Look-In.
Toys in a box in the corner.
His school books lie in a neat pile on his little desk.
Adam opens the drawers to see pens and pencils, a half-
eaten pack of ginger nuts.
Some of the LP's from his apartment are here too. Adam
picks up FRANKIE GOES TO HOLLYWOOD'S `WELCOME TO THE
PLEASUREDOME'.
He opens the wardrobe to find his old clothes. His school
uniform. He takes out the jacket and holds it up against
himself. It looks tiny.
(CONTINUED)
28.
44 CONTINUED: 44
MUM
I guess nothing's gonna fit
anymore.
Mum stands in the doorway holding some dry clothes.
MUM (CONT'D)
I got some of your Dad's things
instead.
She hands them over, feeling Adam's T-shirt, still damp
from the rain.
MUM (CONT'D)
T-shirt too. I'll dry it with the
rest.
Adam dithers, then takes it off. She watches him closely.
MUM (CONT'D)
God. Look at you.
ADAM
What?
MUM
You were just a boy and now you're
not. You look totally different
and yet it's still you.
She reaches out and touches his chest ever-so-gently. She
touches him in the same place that Harry licked off the
cum.
MUM (CONT'D)
I thought you'd be hairier. Like
your Dad. I like a hairy chest if
I'm honest. Christ. You know who
you look like?
ADAM
Who?
MUM
Like my father. Or how I remember
him when I was a little girl.
Isn't that mad? It's like seeing
both of you at the exact same
time.
(CONTINUED)
29.
44 CONTINUED: (2) 44
She laughs away a few tears as Adam puts on his Dad's
clothes, ill-fitting but with a smell he remembers.
MUM (CONT'D)
I wish you'd got to meet him, my
Dad. You'd have liked him, always
with the stupid jokes and silly
puns.
The oven suddenly pings repetitively downstairs,
something ready.
MUM (CONT'D)
I've made your favorite. I hope
it's still your favorite. I'll
make some tea and then you can
tell me everything.
INT. FAMILY HOME / KITCHEN - DAY
45 45
Adam eats a gooey flapjack, more golden syrup than oats,
perfectly cooked and fucking delicious. Mum takes two
mismatched mugs from a mug tree and brings them to the
table where a teapot is waiting. Adam's mug is from
CHESSINGTON ZOO.
MUM
Your Dad told me not to ask, and
I'm guessing you're not married
because I don't see a ring, but
have you got a girlfriend?
Adam smiles, awkwardly.
MUM (CONT'D)
I'm picturing her with brown hair,
maybe curly, not too skinny. Smart
obviously.
ADAM
You mean like you?
MUM
That's nice you think I'm smart.
A long beat as Adam purposely chews on the flapjack,
hoping to avoid the question. He hadn't imagined he'd
have to come out today.
(CONTINUED)
30.
45 CONTINUED: 45
MUM (CONT'D)
Well?
ADAM
What?
MUM
Do you?
ADAM
I don't have a girlfriend.
MUM
That's a shame.
She seems disappointed. Adam considers taking another
bite of the flapjack but puts it down. He struggles to
find the words, amused at his own reticence.
ADAM
I don't have a girlfriend because
I'm not into girls, into women.
MUM
What do you mean?
ADAM
I mean I'm gay.
His voice cracks with unexpected nerves. It is clear Adam
still needs her validation, or fears her rejection. This
is a surprise even to him.
MUM
As in homosexual?
ADAM
Yes, as in -- that.
MUM
Really?
ADAM
Uh-huh.
MUM
Since when?
(CONTINUED)
31.
45 CONTINUED: (2) 45
ADAM
Since a long time ago.
MUM
How long ago?
ADAM
Forever.
MUM
But you don't look gay.
ADAM
I don't know what that means.
MUM
It means what it means. You know
what it means.
She seems a little irritated by his news. She picks up a
flapjack but puts it back down. Adam tries to use humour
to diffuse the situation (a defense mechanism every gay
person knows only too well).
ADAM
I bet you're glad you don't know
the neighbours now.
MUM
(ignoring him)
I must admit, I'm a bit surprised.
I'm not sure how to feel about it.
ADAM
You never thought that it might be
a possibility.
MUM
Of course not. What parent wants
to think that about their child.
No parent I know.
This makes Adam a touch defensive.
ADAM
I'm very okay with it. I have been
for a long time.
(CONTINUED)
32.
45 CONTINUED: (3) 45
MUM
Are people nasty to you?
ADAM
Things are different now.
MUM
So they aren't nasty?
ADAM
Not out loud.
MUM
Does everyone know? Are you open
about it, I don't know, on the
high street, down WHSmiths?
Adam's amused at the specificity of her fears, fears that
somehow feel more about her than about him.
ADAM
It depends on the high street. And
yes, everyone knows.
MUM
Don't you want to get married and
have kids?
ADAM
I can have kids. And men can get
married. Women too.
MUM
(shocked)
To each other?
ADAM
Yes.
MUM
Why?
ADAM
What do you mean why?
MUM
Isn't that like having your cake
and eating it?
(CONTINUED)
33.
45 CONTINUED: (4) 45
Adam is not sure how to answer that.
MUM (CONT'D)
Do you want to get married and
have kids?
The very idea seems alien to her.
ADAM
I don't know. It wasn't a
possibility for such a long time.
It didn't seem worth the effort to
want it.
There is a long beat. The sun goes behind a cloud, the
room darkens. Neither were expecting this conversation
today.
Mum gets up and walks to the sink. She pours away her tea
and looks out towards the garden, clearly a little upset.
ADAM (CONT'D)
Are you okay?
MUM
I'm fine.
ADAM
Are you sure?
MUM
I suppose I never did know what
was going on in your odd little
head. You were always running
away. Do you remember?
ADAM
Yes.
MUM
There was the time you got to the
train station but you'd lost your
money on the way and couldn't buy
a ticket.
ADAM
Five pounds from Grannie.
(CONTINUED)
34.
45 CONTINUED: (5) 45
MUM
Yes. That was it. Where were you
hoping to go?
ADAM
I don't know. London I guess.
MUM
Or the time you got as far as the
bottom of the garden but cut your
thumb on an old milk bottle. You
came running back, all sheepish,
blood all over your shirt, banging
and banging on the window to be
let back in.
She comes back over and gently takes his left hand. She
finds the scar, just the palest of lines on his thumb.
MUM (CONT'D)
There it is. Just.
She sits down with a heavy sigh, remembering perhaps the
sadness of her little boy. Adam rubs the scar with his
forefinger (we've seen this gesture before).
MUM (CONT'D)
They say it's a very lonely kind
of life.
ADAM
They don't say that anymore.
MUM
So you're not lonely?
ADAM
If I am it's not because I'm gay.
Not really.
MUM
Not really?
(a fear rising)
And what about this awful ghastly
disease. I've seen the gravestones
on the adverts. Should I be
worried about it?
(CONTINUED)
35.
45 CONTINUED: (6) 45
ADAM
Mum! Jesus. Please. It's very
different now. It's all very
different.
MUM
Well. I guess I wouldn't know
about that.
The strange reality of their situation fills the silence
that follows. A mother, younger than her son, living in
the present but from a time in Adam's past.
She finally picks up a flapjack and takes a bite. It is
burnt. They all are now.
MUM (CONT'D)
Not enough butter. Are you going
to tell your Dad?
ADAM
I never thought I'd have to.
MUM
Maybe it's for the best if I tell
him. You know what men are like.
He's a lot less open-minded than
me.
ADAM
If you think that's --
MUM
I do.
A strained silence follows. She's not angry with her son.
Not at all. It is clear that she loves him but something
hangs in the air that can't be fixed right away.
MUM (CONT'D)
Your clothes should be dry by now.
You can take the flapjacks if you
want. I'll not be eating them.
36.
INT. TRAIN - AFTERNOON
46 46
Adam stares out of the window at passing graffiti, moving
as if animated. He is pretty okay with his sexuality but
his mother's reaction has thrown him off-balance.
A group of teenage boys sit close by. Adam turns to see
one of the lads unselfconsciously raising his t-shirt to
show the other boys his stomach. He catches Adam staring.
Adam turns away quickly and looks out of the window. He
is sure he can see the words poof queer faggot spray-
painted onto the brickwork.
It's there only a second before the train blasts into a
tunnel with a violent shift of sound. His image appears
in the dark reflection, his face stretched and contorted
by the surface of the glass. It seems to express how he
feels.
EXT. TOWER BLOCK - LATE AFTERNOON
47 47
Adam walks back to his apartment, the sun bright and hot
in his face. It is making him sweat.
INT. ADAM'S APARTMENT - LATE AFTERNOON
48 48
Adam closes the door and slumps slowly to the floor. An
anxiety builds, a tension in the back of his throat. A
nausea gathering strength.
INT. ADAM'S BATHROOM - LATE AFTERNOON
49 49
Adam takes off his top. He's burning up, like he might
puke in the sink. He tries to calm himself with short,
shallow breaths.
Looking in the mirror, Adam feel his glands. They seem
tender and sore. In the reflection he notices five small
lesions appearing on his chest.
But when he looks down they are no longer lesions, just
the outline of his mother's fingertips where she touched
him. Adam traces them with his own fingertips when the
door bell rings.
37.
INT. ADAM'S APARTMENT - DUSK
50 50
Adam, his t-shirt back on, opens the door to find Harry.
He can see that something is up with Adam.
HARRY
What's wrong?
ADAM
I'm okay.
Harry goes to feel Adam's forehead but Adam pulls away;
not used to being looked after. Harry smiles, then goes
in again with the back of his hand. Both of them enjoy
the tenderness of this exchange.
HARRY
You're hot.
ADAM
It's probably just a chill. I got
wet in the rain.
HARRY
When did it rain?
Adam doesn't answer. Harry looks at him.
HARRY (CONT'D)
Why don't you have a hot bath? My
nan said there was nothing a bath
couldn't solve. Literally fucking
nothing.
ADAM
I don't like baths.
HARRY
Fuck off. Who doesn't like baths?
Harry pushes past Adam into the apartment and heads to
the bathroom.
ADAM
(calling after him)
I don't want you catching whatever
I've got.
HARRY
You said it was a chill.
(CONTINUED)
38.
50 CONTINUED: 50
ADAM
It is. I'm sure.
HARRY
So there's nothing to catch.
INT. ADAM'S BATHROOM - NIGHT
51 51
As the bath fills, the mirrors steam. Adam gets undressed
still self-conscious getting naked in front of Harry.
HARRY
There's no need to be shy.
ADAM
Easier said than done.
Harry comes close.
HARRY
I can close my eyes if that makes
you feel better.
He pretends to close his eyes then takes a cheeky peak.
It makes Adam laugh. He touches Adam's chest, the same
spot his mother did. When Harry's hand leaves his skin,
the red marks from Adam's mother are gone.
INT. ADAM'S BATHROOM - MOMENTS LATER
52 52
Adam sinks into the bath, the water immediately bringing
relief.
HARRY
Better?
ADAM
Yes.
(then)
I'm sorry.
HARRY
What for?
ADAM
This is not very sexy.
(CONTINUED)
39.
52 CONTINUED: 52
HARRY
Feels pretty fucking sexy to me.
Kneeling beside him, Harry puts his hand under the water
and strokes his chest.
HARRY (CONT'D)
I've been thinking about you a
whole heap today.
ADAM
Thinking what?
HARRY
When I saw you. Before. Coming and
going. I always imagined you were
smart. It was a relief to know you
were.
ADAM
Why do you think I'm smart?
HARRY
Just a vibe. I like you've got
`Walden' on your shelf. I've
always wanted to read it. Always
liked the idea of living in the
woods.
ADAM
(with a smile)
I haven't read it yet. But yes,
I'd like to live in the woods.
Harry likes even more that he hasn't read it yet. Harry's
hand moves a little lower under the water. It's taking a
while for Adam to fully relax.
HARRY
I thought about watching crappy TV
with you on a Friday night. Eating
take away on your sofa watching
old episodes of Top of Pops from
before I was born.
Harry leaves a pause. His hand goes down to his crotch.
Adam tenses at first, smiles, then relaxes.
(CONTINUED)
40.
52 CONTINUED: (2) 52
HARRY (CONT'D)
I thought about something else
too.
ADAM
What?
HARRY
I thought about fucking you. Or
you fucking me. I don't care
which. Are you into that?
ADAM
It depends.
HARRY
It's okay if you're not. We don't
all need to be into fucking.
ADAM
I wasn't for the longest time. For
obvious reasons. Now it depends on
who's asking.
HARRY
Obvious reasons?
Harry is wanking Adam off now.
ADAM
You know. Aids. Terrified out of
my mind. That I'd get sick and
die. Even a blow job could send me
into three months of sweats and
swollen glands. I bet that's hard
for you to imagine now, that fear.
HARRY
A little.
Harry leans in and kisses Adam as water slaps gently on
the sides of the bath.
41.
INT. ADAM'S BEDROOM - NIGHT
53 53
On the bed, they kiss. Harry undresses. Soon they are
fucking, facing each other. Slow and soft. We `feel'
rather than observe. It is close, intimate. The walls
seem to breathe, match their rhythm as they get close to
cumming...
INT. ADAM'S BEDROOM - NIGHT
54 54
Adam lies with Harry. Adam seems a little preoccupied
with thoughts. Music plays on a bluetooth speaker. An
insomnia playlist.
ADAM
You said the other day you don't
see you Dad so often.
HARRY
Yeah.
ADAM
And your mum too?
HARRY
Yeah.
ADAM
How come? They know you're --
queer, right?
HARRY
Of course.
ADAM
And they're okay with it?
HARRY
Yeah, they're okay. But they're
pretty old-school. Less okay than
everyone's meant to be. They've
got used to it, sort of. If I
don't say too much.
Adam shifts in the bed, up onto his elbow, inviting Harry
to talk.
(CONTINUED)
42.
54 CONTINUED: 54
HARRY (CONT'D)
You could say I've drifted to the
edge, right up to the edge, almost
over the edge.
ADAM
What do you mean?
Harry turns over to meet him.
HARRY
Edge of the family. My sister and
her kids, my older brother who
just got married, they've got that
spot in the centre. But it's okay.
ADAM
Why's it okay?
HARRY
I don't go home much.
ADAM
Doesn't that make you sad?
HARRY
It's inevitable really.
ADAM
Why?
HARRY
I always felt like a stranger in
my own family anyway. Coming out
just puts a name to the difference
that had always been there.
They are silent a while. Adam deep in thought. Thinking
about today, of course. His mother. Her reaction. How it
made him feel.
HARRY (CONT'D)
You okay?
ADAM
Yeah. It's funny though. It's so
much better now, of course it is.
(MORE)
(CONTINUED)
43.
54 CONTINUED: (2) 54
ADAM (CONT'D)
Most of the scabs have healed but
it doesn't take much to be back
there again, does it? Skin all
fucking raw, feeling how you used
to feel.
Harry smiles with understanding. More than sex, it's a
mutual understanding of something shared that brings
deepening intimacy. Harry leans in and kisses him. As
they break away...
ADAM (CONT'D)
Am I still hot?
Harry feels his forehead again.
HARRY
No.
ADAM
Will you stay tonight?
Harry nods. Of course he will. They cuddle up and drift
into a deeper silence. But neither fall asleep just yet.
Adam's eyes remain open, far too many thoughts in his
head.
EXT. TOWER BLOCK - DAY
55 55
A breezy summer day. Fast moving clouds. Adam sits at his
desk, writing. It feels a little harder for him to work
today. He looks up and out of the window.
INT. ADAM'S APARTMENT - CONTINUOUS
56 56
Passing clouds create moving shadows on the wall as Adam
stares out of the window. In the reflection, a plane cuts
a line across his neck.
INT. TRAIN - DAY
57 57
Adam sits in the opposite direction of travel as if his
childhood home is dragging him back. He sees a family at
the end of the carriage.
(CONTINUED)
44.
57 CONTINUED: 57
A TUBBY BOY (9) with dusty blond hair sitting with his
older brother and sister, looking out of the window like
he might just cry.
A train suddenly passes with a roar. It makes Adam jump
and in the reflection of the window, his image flickers
in the light, untethered.
INT. ALLEYWAY - DAY
58 58
Adam heads down the alleyway as the wind picks up. Fallen
leaves blow across the ground as if Autumn has come.
Three BOYS, around 13 in age and dressed in 1980's school
uniform, pass in the opposite direction. Adam hears them
laugh, whisper names.
He spots an old five-pound note, wedged under the bottom
of a fence (from the story of running away). Adam goes to
pick it up when...
INT. FAMILY LOUNGE - DAY
59 59
The lounge has comfy sofas and textured wallpaper. Dad
flicks through some LP's as Adam picks up an ornament on
the mantlepiece, a figurine of a woman, a long-forgotten
memory.
DAD
She'll be back soon, I'm sure.
ADAM
I wanted to talk to her.
DAD
I know you did.
(picking a LP)
This was your Grandad's favorite.
I never liked it at the time but
the sentiment's grown on me.
He puts the needle on the vinyl. It is the same record-
player we saw in Adam's apartment only now it looks new.
The song is mournful and melancholy.
(CONTINUED)
45.
59 CONTINUED: 59
DAD (CONT'D)
(re: the figurine)
If you want to see your mum really
lose her shit go ahead and break
that bloody thing. Sit yourself
down.
Adam puts the figurine down but doesn't sit down yet. The
record crackles to life as Adam's Dad sits on his chair.
He lights a fag.
ADAM
She told you then.
DAD
Yep. I was scared you wouldn't
come back. I hope you're not too
disappointed in her.
Adam turns around to look at his Dad.
ADAM
I'm not.
DAD
She just needs to rearrange some
things in her head. Stories she'd
built up. She'll soon realise it's
not actually about her.
Adam smiles. Waits a beat. Then sits down on the sofa
beside his Dad. He might even take a drag of his fag.
ADAM
What about you?
DAD
What about me?
ADAM
How do you feel about it?
DAD
It was hardly a shock. I always
knew you were a bit tooty fruity.
Adam laughs.
(CONTINUED)
46.
59 CONTINUED: (2) 59
DAD (CONT'D)
You couldn't throw a ball for shit
however much I tried to teach you.
ADAM
You make me sound like a horrible
cliche.
DAD
Can you throw a ball?
ADAM
Not at all.
They both laugh again. Softly, and perhaps with a little
regret.
Adam pulls at a thread of material from the arm of the
sofa. He wraps it around his ring finger. It makes the
blood swell in his fingertip.
DAD
Would you have liked me to have
known?
ADAM
I don't know.
DAD
I would hear you cry in your room
after school. Did the boys bully
you?
ADAM
Not just the boys.
DAD
What would they do?
ADAM
(with a shrug)
They'd call me a girl. Refuse to
play with me. Flick drawing pins
at my face and flush my head down
the loo.
DAD
Kids are such little cunts.
(CONTINUED)
47.
59 CONTINUED: (3) 59
Adam smiles but it is a painful memory. He's silent a
moment.
ADAM
Why didn't you come into my room
if you heard me crying?
DAD
Why didn't you tell me what was
happening at school?
ADAM
You answer first. You can be
honest.
DAD
I didn't want to think of you as
the kind of boy that other lads
picked on. I knew that if I was at
your school, I'd have probably
picked on you too. I can't imagine
that's very nice to hear.
ADAM
I think I always knew that anyway.
It's probably why I never told you
what was happening to me.
That makes his Dad sad, and a little ashamed. He looks
over to the record playing...
DAD
You know my dad thought I was a
big softy too. He thought I had
too many feelings for a boy.
He stubs out the fag, gets up, and walks towards the
record player. Adam snaps the piece of thread from around
his finger, the blood coming back.
DAD (CONT'D)
I think that both of us, him back
then and me with you, were just
products of the time. Or is that
letting us off the hook?
Dad takes the needle off the record, having enough of the
song.
(CONTINUED)
48.
59 CONTINUED: (4) 59
DAD (CONT'D)
When she told me, I did think of
some of the jokes we'd make. How
we used to do impressions of your
English teacher mincing around
with his limp wrists.
ADAM
You'd tell me over and over again
not to cross my legs like a woman.
He turns around to face Adam.
DAD
Did I?
ADAM
I still think about it every time
I cross my legs.
Adam's Dad looks deflated -- the weight of his mistakes
weighing heavy. Adam can't help but want to soften.
ADAM (CONT'D)
I have good memories too.
DAD
I hope so.
His Dad needs to know he did something right. Adam makes
a gesture to the corner of the room.
ADAM
I remember how much you loved to
decorate the tree. You went crazy
for it. Every year. And you'd
always let me put the fairy on
top.
His Dad remembers it well and his eyes bubble with tears.
He comes over to his son.
DAD
I'm sorry I never came into your
room when I heard you crying.
ADAM
Really. It's okay.
(CONTINUED)
49.
59 CONTINUED: (5) 59
DAD
It's not okay though, is it?
ADAM
Dad. I get it. It was so long ago.
But all of a sudden, Adam feels like he's back again, a
young boy balling his eyes out in his bedroom not sure
why everyone thinks he's a freak.
DAD
Do you want a hug now?
ADAM
(voice cracking)
Yes, please.
Dad gets up and Adam follows. He lets his father hold him
tight allowing his body to relax, collapse into his arms.
Adam catches sight of the two of them in the mirror above
the fireplace. Adam can see himself as an ELEVEN-YEAR-OLD
BOY being held by his dad.
INT. TRAIN - DAY
60 60
As he returns home, Adam feels a lightness of being. He
doesn't notice that some of the passengers are staring at
him.
INT. ADAM'S APARTMENT - DAY
61 61
Adam pushes Harry up against the wall and kisses him. It
is playful and hot. He pulls off Harry's top, hungry and
passionate, laughing, taking control.
INT. ADAM'S BATHROOM - DAY
62 62
Adam dries himself off after a shower as Harry gets out
to join him at the mirror. He looks at Adam's reflection,
pallid in this light.
HARRY
You okay? I hope I've not being
tiring you out.
(CONTINUED)
50.
62 CONTINUED: 62
ADAM
No. I feel great.
Harry comes up behind him, stroking his shoulder gently,
kissing him on the back of the neck.
ADAM (CONT'D)
Let's go out tonight.
HARRY
Really? Where to?
ADAM
`OUT' out.
HARRY
What do you mean?
ADAM
Have you been to Duckie? I think
it's still clinging on. I used to
go all the fucking time, too many
times.
Harry is still resistant.
ADAM (CONT'D)
Please?
INT. TUBE - NIGHT
63 63
Adam and Harry head out for the night, the tube is busy
and boisterous. A straight couple that look queer make-
out in front of them as if no-one is watching. Adam and
Harry's reflections distort behind them.
EXT. ROYAL VAUXHALL TAVERN - NIGHT
64 64
`DUCKIE' is a famous queer night, an institution, and the
queue is surprisingly long. A passing car blasts its horn
but it's hard to tell if its condemnation or celebration.
51.
INT. ROYAL VAUXHALL TAVERN - NIGHT
65 65
Inside, it is packed, like a flashback to another time.
The club is a converted Victorian pub with black walls
and sticky floors.
The music is loud: 80's new-wave and 90's indie. `I WANT
A DOG' by the PET SHOP BOYS plays as Adam and Harry push
through the crowds towards the bar.
Both seem a little nervous but it doesn't take too long
for them to relax. People dancing. Making out. Getting
drunk.
INT. ROYAL VAUXHUALL TAVERN - LATER
66 66
The music has changed. GRACE JONES and `LA VIE ON ROSE'.
A gentle euphoria in the air. We gaze through dancing
bodies as Adam and Harry drink fizzy pints of lager at
the bar.
Harry has nearly finished his pint already and is keen
for another. He seems different in here, like something
is being unlocked. Adam cups his hand to Harry's ear who
can't really hear him.
ADAM
Fuck me. I've missed this feeling
whatever that feeling is.
HARRY
I can't hear you.
ADAM
Do you dance?
HARRY
Of course. If I'm wasted enough.
ADAM
Then let's get wasted.
Harry downs his drink. Adam orders more. Adam talks about
the old days, all the old clubs, all the guys he pulled.
They both watch the crowd as the song reaches a glorious
mid-climax, hands in the air, people together, very gay.
52.
INT. ROYAL VAUXHUALL TAVERN - NIGHT
67 67
DEPECHE MODE and `SHAKE THE DISEASE'. Adam stands at the
bar counter, struggling to get served. Harry is nowhere
to be seen.
Adam notices someone staring at him, barely out of his
teens but full of swagger and confidence. The YOUNG GUY
looks at Adam with something like pity in his eyes.
Feeling a little paranoid, Adam checks his reflection in
the mirror above the bar, rearranges his hair, the glass
stretching his image. He is relieved to see Harry in that
reflection coming back from the loos.
HARRY
Look what I found in my wallet.
He shows a baggy to Adam.
HARRY (CONT'D)
Fuck knows when I bought this.
ADAM
What is it?
HARRY
Coke, I think. Maybe.
Adam catches sight of that confident kid again. What's he
staring at? Adam looks back to Harry.
ADAM
Let's do it.
INT. ROYAL VAUXHALL TAVERN TOILET - NIGHT
68 68
The bass of DEE-LIGHT'S `DEEP ENDING' pulsates through
the walls of the cubicle, blasting louder every time
someone opens the door to the bathroom.
Two lines of powder are lined up on the cistern. It takes
Adam a few goes to snort it and it catches the back of
his throat. It's been a while.
But Harry is clearly a pro. His line goes down with ease.
Too much ease. He stands up, sniffs.
(CONTINUED)
53.
68 CONTINUED: 68
HARRY
Shit. Doesn't taste like coke.
Think it's K.
ADAM
Ketamine?
HARRY
Have you had it before?
ADAM
No. Will you look after me?
HARRY
I'll do my best.
ADAM
Then fuck it.
They make out for a while, messily.
INT. ROYAL VAUXHALL TAVERN - NIGHT
69 69
The music is louder now, the dance floor rammed. `DEATH
OF A PARTY' by BLUR. A strange choice for a dance floor.
A sexual, slow-motion car crash of a song.
Glowing with sweat, Adam and Harry dance with lusty drug-
fueled vigour. The young guy from the bar passes him with
a few young handsome friends in tow. They all seem to be
staring at Adam.
Adam follows them with his gaze as they head to the side
of the dance-floor and he catches sight of himself in the
mirror over their shoulders. Adam slows down. He stops
dancing.
Only his reflection continues to dance, clothes damp with
sweat, the mirror, the image, pulsating. Adam watches
himself look up at the ceiling, arms aloft, letting go,
grinning from ear to ear.
Suddenly we are high above, gazing down on Adam as if we
have become his POV of his out-of-body experience. As he
reaches for Harry, pulling him close, making out, we
crash towards them...
54.
INT/EXT. "DEATH OF A PARTY" - NIGHT AND DAY
70 70
We are back in the flat. The song continues, pulsating
heavy over images of time passing, of a relationship
building.
They stand naked in front of each other, still sweating,
senses alive. We can literally see their hearts pulsating
in time with the music.
They sleep entangled, and in the morning, they kiss in
the soft light of a new day. They make eggs. They taste
good. Time throbs onwards as the sun rises and falls.
Adam works, tired, skin clammy. Typing. Dreaming. They
eat take-away on the sofa watching FRANKIE GOES TO
HOLLYWOOD on an old `Top of the Pops'. They drink and get
stoned and dance around like they're back in the club.
They watch HELLRAISER curled up in bed on a projector
screen. Harry is grossed out, laughing, needing Adam to
protect him.
Later, they lie opposite each other, a slight tension or
fear as the lights of the club, blue strobes, start to
flash through the windows.
INT. VAUXHALL TAVERN - NIGHT
71 71
Back in Duckie again -- or perhaps some other club night.
The music continues, sweat and strobing lights, throwing
us in and out of darkness. Harry seems off his head, his
eyes rolling back.
Someone offers Adam poppers and he inhales deeply, the
screen throbbing as he closes his eyes. When he opens
them again, Harry has gone.
He's somewhere off in the crowd. Adam sees him dancing
with other guys. Is he kissing them? Are they kissing
him? Does Adam even mind?
He catches his own reflection in the mirror again. A howl
of pain flashing in the strobe, an existential howl like
the figure in Francis Bacon's `A Study after Velázquez's
Portrait of Pope Innocent X'.
(CONTINUED)
55.
71 CONTINUED: 71
Adam pushes through the crowd, desperate to get a closer
look. The strobe starts to flash blue and in one of those
blasts of light he sees his mother drinking in one of the
reflections. His father too, drunk.
Adam screams for his parents, screams for Harry but he's
vanished. The clubbers around him start to get out of his
way, fear and horror on their faces.
Suddenly, Adam wretches into his hands. He stumbles and
falls, through bodies and space until he hits the dirty
floor...
INT. ADAM'S CHILDHOOD BEDROOM - NIGHT
72 72
Adam wakes in darkness trying to work out where he is. He
feels the texture of his sheets -- multi-coloured candy
stripped winceyette.
He reaches out to touch a patch of woodchip wallpaper on
the wall that has been picked off.
INT. FAMILY HOME - NIGHT
73 73
Adam opens his door to the landing upstairs. He wears a
terry-cloth dressing gown, the carpet thick under bare
feet.
He walks down the stairs, he touches the banister again.
There is red tinsel wrapped around this time like we have
seen from old photos.
Adam can hear music quietly coming from the lounge. He
stops at the door. Slowly, turns the door handle.
INT. FAMILY HOME - NIGHT
74 74
A fire crackles in the hearth. Mum and Dad unpack baubles
that have been in storage. They've both had a few drinks.
Adam breathes in the scent of the Christmas tree. `Top of
the Pops' is on the TV. 1987.
MUM
Adam?
(CONTINUED)
56.
74 CONTINUED: 74
She looks at him, concerned.
MUM (CONT'D)
What's wrong?
ADAM
I'm okay.
DAD
You look like you've been up to
something.
Adam is pale and clammy, his eyes dark with shadows. His
mother comes over and feels his forehead with the back of
her hand. Just like Harry did.
MUM
You're really hot.
She looks back at her husband.
MUM (CONT'D)
He's very hot.
ADAM
I'm fine.
She looks at Adam as if wanting to say something, make an
apology, but she can't find the words. Adam's Dad steps
in. He holds up a brightly coloured bauble with a smile.
DAD
Get yourself over here.
Adam likes the idea of that and he goes to decorate the
tree. Mum comes to join them as the PET SHOP BOYS hits
the 1987 No 1 spot on `Top of the Pops' with "ALWAYS ON
MY MIND".
After a few beats, she sings gently along with the song,
almost to herself but loud enough for it feel like the
apology she can't find the words for.
(CONTINUED)
57.
74 CONTINUED: (2) 74
MUM
And maybe I didn't hold you / All
those lonely, lonely times / And I
guess I never told you / I'm so
happy that your mine / If I made
you feel second best / I'm so
sorry I was blind...
Adam appreciates the gesture. She takes a few steps back
and looks at the over-decorated tree.
MUM (CONT'D)
Too much?
DAD
No such thing.
He hands Adam a fairy for the tree with a knowing smile.
It's been a while since Adam's seen it. He reaches up and
puts it on the top.
DAD (CONT'D)
Okay, get together.
He has his camera on the side table, set on self-timer.
The three of them gather around the tree and the flash
goes off. They all smile. The Christmas lights flicker.
INT. ADAM'S CHILDHOOD BEDROOM - NIGHT
75 75
Adam is in bed now. His mum gives him two dissolvable
painkillers that melt and fizz on his tongue. She looks
at him still concerned but wants to reassure.
MUM
You'll feel better in a jiffy.
ADAM
Mum?
MUM
Yes, sweetheart.
ADAM
Do you think any of this is real?
MUM
Does it feel real?
(CONTINUED)
58.
75 CONTINUED: 75
ADAM
Yes.
MUM
Then there you go.
A flicker of fear in Adam's expression.
ADAM
For how long?
MUM
I can't answer that. I suppose we
don't get to decide when it's
over.
She kisses him on the forehead.
ADAM
Will you promise me you'll stay
home tonight?
MUM
Where would we go?
ADAM
To the Walsh's?
MUM
(a memory sparked)
The Walsh's?
ADAM
Just promise you won't go out.
Please.
MUM
I promise. We'll just be in the
bedroom.
She leaves, closing the door. The room is thrown into
darkness. Adam turns on to his side and tries to sleep,
but he starts to feel sick.
Blue lights seem to flash through the curtains. And then
something else: a subdued crying from the corner of the
room.
(CONTINUED)
59.
75 CONTINUED: (2) 75
Adam peers into the shadows, sure he can see himself AGED
11, crying in the corner. Adam turns on the bedside light
but there is no-one there.
INT. HALLWAY - NIGHT
76 76
Adam comes out onto the landing. He spies a crescent moon
through the frosty window.
He taps gently on his parents door.
MUM (O.S)
What is it?
ADAM
I can't sleep.
Adam pushes open the door against the thick carpet.
INT. MUM AND DAD'S BEDROOM - CONTINUOUS
77 77
Adam breathes in the smell of the room, familiar and
comforting.
MUM
Do you want to get in?
ADAM
Can I?
MUM
Of course.
Adam's Dad grunts and rolls over, leaving a space for
Adam in-between.
ADAM
It smells the same in here. Aramis
and Comfort fabric softener.
That makes her smile. As Dad falls back to sleep, Adam
and his Mum talk in whispers, almost sensual.
MUM
You'd creep in here night after
night saying you couldn't sleep.
(MORE)
(CONTINUED)
60.
77 CONTINUED: 77
MUM (CONT'D)
You were scared of so many things:
murderers breaking in, rabies,
nuclear war. Do people still get
rabies?
ADAM
Not so much.
MUM
I was desperate for you to grow up
just so I could get a good night's
sleep.
ADAM
I'm sorry.
MUM
Why are you sorry? I'm the sorry
one. I should have relished you
driving me bananas.
Adam smiles. It softens his anxiety. Mum is silent a beat
but she has a lot on her mind.
MUM (CONT'D)
After it happened, did Granny take
you to Dublin?
ADAM
Yes.
MUM
That's what we thought. Why did
she want to move back to Ireland?
ADAM
She wanted nothing more to do with
England. She was done with the
place.
MUM
Why?
ADAM
She'd lost her daughter.
MUM
Oh. I see.
(a beat)
Is she still alive?
(CONTINUED)
61.
77 CONTINUED: (2) 77
ADAM
No.
MUM
Of course not. What about your
Dad's lot? I'm rather glad you
didn't go live with them.
ADAM
No.
MUM
Gosh. All gone. Were you okay over
there with my mum? Did you fit in
better? At school.
ADAM
I made sure I did.
She sighs heavy.
MUM
I hate that I wasn't around for
you at the time you must have
needed us the most.
ADAM
That wasn't your fault.
MUM
I hate even more that I wasn't
around for you even before. Not
really.
ADAM
Why do you think that was?
MUM
Why? I don't know. I was so
anxious about it all. Restless
too, for more. I'd like to think
I'd have got better at it in time.
Given time.
ADAM
You know when I was a teenager,
even later, much later, I would
plot it all out.
(CONTINUED)
62.
77 CONTINUED: (3) 77
MUM
What do you mean?
ADAM
All the things we might have done
together. All in intricate detail.
Birthdays meals at the Whitgift
Centre. Alton Towers. Trips up to
town. The Planetarium. London
Dungeon.
MUM
I always wanted to go there.
ADAM
Holidays we might have gone on.
MUM
Disneyland?
ADAM
Yep. My 14th birthday. It rained
non-stop and Space Mountain was
shut for repairs. We fought the
whole time.
MUM
Why did we have to fight?
ADAM
Because that's what everyone did
with their parents. They fought
and bickered and pretended they
were ruining each other's lives.
MUM
Did we make up?
ADAM
We didn't need to make up. It was
enough to know that we got to come
home together, back here.
His Mum smiles, sadly, the imagined memory feeling almost
real. But it isn't real. A fear creeps into the room. A
knowledge that none of this can last.
She looks at Adam with growing concern as sweat appears
on his forehead, his anxiety building.
(CONTINUED)
63.
77 CONTINUED: (4) 77
She touches his brow as Dad turns over in the bed,
putting his arm around Adam, rubbing his chest. It
becomes almost sensual.
Adam turns over to find it is no longer his Dad. It is
Harry.
ADAM (CONT'D)
What are you doing here?
HARRY
You're okay.
ADAM
(whispering)
You shouldn't be here.
Harry kisses him. Adam resists at first but then softens
his gaze, relishing the intimacy, sinking into it. Until
he notices blue lights flashing through the window again,
brighter this time.
MUM
Adam? What's happening? Who's
there? Someone's here.
She sounds increasingly panic-stricken. Adam turns over,
but she's gone. And when he turns back to Harry, he's
gone too.
Adam is alone, the blue flashing lights of a police car
spiralling across the ceiling. Suddenly, he is an ELEVEN-
YEAR-OLD BOY again. He gasps for air.
INT. TRAIN AT VICTORIA STATION - DAY
78 78
Adam wakes, exhaling. He is on the train at the station.
Everyone is getting off. On the platform, walking away,
he is sure he can see Harry.
EXT. VICTORIA STATION - DAY
79 79
The station is busy. Adam leaves the platform barrier and
weaves through the rush-hour commuters, all ignoring him.
He tries to keep his eye on Harry but loses him in the
crowd.
(CONTINUED)
64.
79 CONTINUED: 79
MUM (O.S)
(a whisper)
Adam?
Adam pivots around to see his Mum in the distance, behind
the barriers, urging him back to her. One of her eyes is
missing, leaving nothing but a bloody hole.
INT. PLATORM / TUBE - DAY
80 80
A tube roars onto the platform. Doors open. Passengers
push in and out of the carriage without consideration.
Adam gets in and stays standing.
As the train jerks into the tunnel, the lights flicker.
Adam thinks he sees Harry in the next carriage down but
when the lights come back on he is gone.
Adam is sweating now, unstable on his feet. He coughs,
then again, more uncontrollable. People look up as a fear
of contagion ripples down the carriage.
The train bursts onto a platform. Adam spies old posters
through the windows as the tube slows: Chessington World
of Adventures, Drunk Driving, AIDS Awareness. As people
get off, Adam goes to sit down.
Hurtling forward through the tunnel now, Adam finds his
reflection in the tube windows. He looks distorted, full
of pain. It's as if his reflection is screaming, trapped
in a circus mirror or a monstrous kaleidoscope. He tries
to get up...
EXT. STREETS - DUSK
81 81
Adam stumbles back to his apartment, trying to avoid his
reflection, like a barrage of pain made visible in the
windows of passing buses and cars.
INT. TOWER ELEVATOR - DUSK
82 82
Adam staggers into the lift, his reflection bounced into
infinity by the mirrored walls. He shuts his eyes and
sinks to the floor.
65.
INT. CORRIDOR - NIGHT
83 83
The lift doors open and Adam stumbles to his flat. He
calls out for help but no-one comes.
INT. ADAM'S APARTMENT - NIGHT
84 84
Adam shuts the door and falls to the floor. He tries to
control his breathing but he can't. Someone is knocking
at the door, louder and louder, calling his name, we
don't recognize the voice.
Adam ignores it. He staggers to the bedroom, gets himself
in bed, curls himself up into a ball as a hand reaches
out for him in the darkness...
INT. ADAM'S APARTMENT - DAWN
85 85
It is Harry reaching for him. He also seems shaken, as if
he hasn't slept. The dawn rises through the window behind
him.
ADAM
Harry?
HARRY
It's okay.
ADAM
What day is it?
HARRY
I wish I'd never found the baggy.
I never could go anywhere without
taking something.
ADAM
What day is it?
HARRY
Sunday.
ADAM
How can it still be Sunday?
Harry's eyes redden.
(CONTINUED)
66.
85 CONTINUED: 85
HARRY
You kept screaming out for your
parents in the club, over and over
again. And I didn't know what to
do, so I took you back here and
just lay with you until you fell
asleep.
Adam is grateful for the care but is close to breaking.
Tears build in his eyes but he tries to keep it in.
ADAM
I don't think I'm very well.
HARRY
No. I don't think you are.
ADAM
Am I sick?
Harry leaves a beat then...
HARRY
You look scared.
The emotion in Adam finally breaks.
ADAM
I am scared.
Harry pulls him close as Adam's tears turn into sobs that
sound like howls of pain.
EXT/INT. APARTMENT - MORNING INTO AFTERNOON
86 86
The sun drops lower in the sky as we push past half-built
towers towards Adam's apartment. Inside, he drifts in and
out of a restless sleep. Even when awake, it feels closer
to a dream.
He showers. He brushes his teeth. Studies his face in the
mirror. He knows he looks worn out, consumed. He watches
Harry try to make scrambled eggs in the kitchen. When he
looks back to Adam, he gives him a gentle smile.
(CONTINUED)
67.
86 CONTINUED: 86
ADAM (PRE-LAP)
I was sleeping in their bed the
night they went out. I was meant
to go with them, Christmas drinks
at the Walsh's house, but I didn't
want to go. Their son was always a
dick to me at school so I
pretended to be ill.
Adam and Harry, both exhausted and hungover, sit at the
kitchen counter with the eggs barely touched by either.
Maybe Harry is smoking now.
ADAM (CONT'D)
I tried to get my Mum and Dad to
stay in, but they'd never miss a
party.
Adam takes a sip of tea from an old mug. We recognize it
from his parents' house -- the one from CHESSINGTON ZOO.
There is a knock on the door, the same knock we heard
last night. Adam looks towards it.
ADAM (CONT'D)
Two police came to the door, a man
and a woman. It was dark outside.
Really cold too.
Flash to a memory. We open the door, back at the house.
The POLICEMAN is there, it is only him we see. He looks
like Harry. We stay in this memory only for a moment.
ADAM (CONT'D)
I don't remember what she looked
liked but he had kind eyes and a
shadow of stubble like it was
drawn on. When he told me what
happened all I could think about
was wanting to touch that stubble.
Adam shakes his head with a smile.
Adam takes another sip of tea. What follows is recalled
without too much emotion. As if being told about someone
else.
(CONTINUED)
68.
86 CONTINUED: (2) 86
ADAM (CONT'D)
The car crashed after skidding on
black ice. Both of them had been
drinking. Dad died right away but
they took Mum to St Mary's in
Croydon. She died a few days
later.
HARRY
Did you get to see her?
ADAM
You mean to say goodbye?
HARRY
Yeah.
Adam takes out a chip of porcelain from his mouth. It has
snapped off the rim of the mug. He rubs it between thumb
and finger.
ADAM
Granny thought it would scar me
too much. My mum was pretty fucked
up. She lost an eye when she went
through the windscreen.
HARRY
Jesus.
ADAM
I went looking for that eye. I
didn't want anyone else to find
it. I thought it would be by the
side of the road staring up at me.
I did find a tiny piece of
windscreen glass. In my head it
had blood on it but I'm not sure
that's true.
Harry smiles reassuringly but says nothing.
ADAM (CONT'D)
The nurse said Mum woke up once
before she died. She must have
been really confused waking up
like that, having no-one around
she knew. My dad not there. Me not
there.
(CONTINUED)
69.
86 CONTINUED: (3) 86
HARRY
I can't even begin to imagine how
you felt. How lonely you must have
been.
ADAM
Truth is I've always felt lonely,
even before. This was something
else. A quiet terror. Like now
I'll always be alone. Then as I
got older it kind of solidified
into a knot or a ball of tangled
Christmas lights.
Adam touches his solar plexus.
ADAM (CONT'D)
It's not like I wanted to die or
anything. I didn't want to be in
that car. It's more like the
future just didn't matter so much
now they weren't around. Does that
make sense?
Harry seems to understand that feeling only too well.
HARRY
Yes. I understand how easy it can
be to stop caring about yourself.
He reaches out and gently strokes Adam's arm. Adam lets
that hang a moment in the air. It is reassuring for both
of them to feel each other's touch.
ADAM
It's why these last weeks have
been so extraordinary. To actually
care about something. To feel that
a future might be possible.
Harry can't help but think Adam is talking about the two
of them. And he feels the same way.
HARRY
Yeah.
But Adam's expression darkens.
(CONTINUED)
70.
86 CONTINUED: (4) 86
HARRY (CONT'D)
Adam.
In Adam we see something evolve; a decision to bring
Harry further into the story. Harry shivers as if the
window is letting in a draught.
ADAM
Will you come with me?
HARRY
Where to?
ADAM
Home. To where I used to live. So
you can see for yourself.
HARRY
See what?
Adam doesn't give an answer. Harry looks down at his
forearm as all the hairs slowly rise.
EXT. TRAIN - DUSK
87 87
A train heads out of the city back to Sanderstead. We
follow it from high above.
INT. TRAIN - DUSK
88 88
Adam is not alone this time. He holds Harry's hand. The
sunlight blasts through the window and it's making Harry
sweat.
EXT. FAMILY HOME - TWILIGHT INTO NIGHT
89 89
The once-decorated Christmas tree has been left in the
driveway, brown and threadbare. Adam's red pedal car is
there too, all busted up. The wind rustles the large
trees in front of the house.
HARRY
Should we be here?
(CONTINUED)
71.
89 CONTINUED: 89
ADAM
These were saplings when I was
born. Can you believe that?
They're the same age as me.
Adam knocks on the front door but there is no answer. He
looks through the glass. There are no lights on.
HARRY
Whose house is it?
ADAM
My parents.
HARRY
But who lives here now?
ADAM
It's okay. You don't need to
worry.
But Harry is afraid. Adam knocks again, louder. The wind
picks up; not a harsh winter wind but lighter. Delicate,
more wistful. Stranger.
HARRY
Adam?
Harry's voice sounds strained. Adam peers through into
the lounge. It is dark. Nothing but shadows. He calls up
to the front bedrooms.
ADAM
HELLO?
Nothing. What if they are gone? Adam passes Harry and
moves towards the gate by the garage. Harry can do
nothing but follow.
INT/EXT. BACK GARDEN - CONTINUOUS
90 90
Adam bangs on the textured glass door at the side of the
kitchen. No answer. The lights are off. Then again on the
french doors at the back of the house. Still nothing.
Adam takes some steps back into the garden for a view of
the upstairs windows.
(CONTINUED)
72.
90 CONTINUED: 90
No lights on anywhere, the curtains closed. Anxiety
builds as the wind picks up. For both of them.
HARRY
We shouldn't be here.
ADAM
(calling up)
WHERE ARE YOU?
HARRY
Adam?
Adam ignores him. He goes to the french doors. Bangs on
the window again. Harder this time. Still nothing. Adam
looks to Harry as if he holds the key.
ADAM
Where are they?
HARRY
Who?
Adam cups his hand over his face to look through the
glass, more manic now.
ADAM
My parents. This is our house. You
see the wallpaper? The table. We
had fish and chips every Friday at
that table so my mum could pretend
we were still Catholic.
Harry is starting to freak out, his chest tight. Scared
out of his mind. Terrified that Adam has lost his mind.
He tries to be more forceful.
HARRY
I want to go home. Let me take you
home.
ADAM
This is my home.
HARRY
It used to be. Not anymore.
ADAM
They have to be here.
(CONTINUED)
73.
90 CONTINUED: (2) 90
Adam desperately rattles the handle. Harry sees a flash
of Adam in the reflection as a hysterical NINE-YEAR-OLD
BOY tries to be let back in.
ADAM (CONT'D)
(desperate)
MUM? DAD?
Adam can feel his parents slipping away. Harry tries to
pull him from the door, but Adam pushes him off, angry,
afraid.
ADAM (CONT'D)
You can leave if you want. I'm not
going.
It is Harry that spots them first. Then Adam. Standing
through the windows, deep in the shadows of the house:
Adam's Mum and Dad. They look, for the first time, like
apparitions.
ADAM (CONT'D)
MUM!
(to Harry)
Can you see them? Tell me you can
see them.
In the reflection of the glass, Adam can see a terrified
Harry stepping away from the doors into the darkness of
the garden as his mum gets closer towards him.
The pull for his parents, his need to be with them, is
too strong. He ignores Harry as he vanishes into the
background. Adam bangs his fist on the window one more
time.
ADAM (CONT'D)
(desperate)
Please. Let me in.
His fist shatters a pane of glass into thousands of tiny
pieces, not like normal glass but like a shattered
windscreen of a car.
INT. MUM AND DAD'S BEDROOM - MORNING
91 91
Adam wakes in his parents bed to find Mum and Dad looking
out the window, whispering to each other, the light soft.
(CONTINUED)
74.
91 CONTINUED: 91
They seem older, clothes more worn. There is a dust sheet
over the dressing table.
Mum seems resistant to something that Dad is saying but
Adam can't hear the words
ADAM
Why didn't you let us in?
MUM
(turning around)
You're awake.
ADAM
Is he here? Harry.
MUM
No.
Mum sits beside him and lifts up his hand. There are no
cuts from the broken window, only a raised red scar on
his thumb. As she rubs it gently, it fades.
MUM (CONT'D)
But we did see him.
ADAM
I really wanted you to meet him.
Him to meet you.
MUM
I know. But I don't think it works
like that.
DAD
He seemed like a handsome fella
mind you.
MUM
Is he a special friend?
ADAM
You mean boyfriend? You can say
the word.
MUM
Is he your boyfriend?
(CONTINUED)
75.
91 CONTINUED: (2) 91
ADAM
I don't know. I think so.
MUM
Are the two of you in love?
ADAM
In love?
Adam lets out a chuckle. As if the idea is preposterous.
As if he doesn't quite believe Harry could be in love
with him. Dad comes over and sits on the bed alongside
them.
MUM
Why's that so strange?
ADAM
I don't know. I don't think I've
been in love before. Not really.
I'm not sure what it's meant to
feel like.
MUM
Oh sweetheart.
DAD
He certainly seems to care about
you, a whole heap. In my not so
humble opinion.
(a beat)
Do you think you'd like to be in
love with him?
ADAM
Yes.
Saying it out-loud has a profound effect on Adam. That
makes his parents happy. There is a long beat. Mum and
Dad look at each other and smile sadly. They know what
has to come next. Adam knows it too. It has drifted into
the room like a ghost.
DAD
Son --
ADAM
Don't say it.
(CONTINUED)
76.
91 CONTINUED: (3) 91
DAD
We have to.
ADAM
Please don't.
DAD
We think it's best you don't come
visit us anymore.
ADAM
Mum?
MUM
(reluctantly)
You're going to keep coming and
coming, I just know you are. We
can see what it's doing to you.
ADAM
I don't care what it's doing to
me.
He pulls his parents towards him into the bed.
MUM
Yes you do.
ADAM
What if I come less? Just once in
a while, now and then. Only at
Christmas.
DAD
You have to have known this
wouldn't last forever.
ADAM
I'm not asking for forever but
it's not been long enough. It's
not been anywhere near close to
long enough.
MUM
How could it ever be?
Dad gently takes control.
(CONTINUED)
77.
91 CONTINUED: (4) 91
DAD
Listen. I've got an idea. How
about we go to your favorite place
in the whole bloody world? I'm
sure it's still there.
MUM
Next best thing to Disneyland.
DAD
And a damn sight cheaper.
Adam laughs gently.
DAD (CONT'D)
What do you think?
MUM
Tiger?
Adam nods. He knows it is the right choice, the only and
inevitable choice.
INT. MINICAB - LATE AFTERNOON
92 92
The three of them sit silently in the back of a taxi as
they drive towards Croydon.
EXT/INT. WHITGIFT CENTRE - LATE AFTERNOON
93 93
The family arrive at the WHITGIFT CENTRE, a brutalist
concrete shopping centre, faded, falling apart. Inside,
it is virtually empty as they take the escalator to the
ground floor.
INT. AMERICAN THEMED RESTAURANT - DUSK
94 94
The restaurant is adorned with American flags and cheap
paraphernalia. Adam sits opposite his parents, who both
try to be light and jovial. There is no-one else there.
The waitress comes over but her eye contact is only with
Adam. He tries to summon the same spirit as his parents.
To give this `last supper' some joy.
ADAM
It's not very busy.
(CONTINUED)
78.
94 CONTINUED: 94
WAITRESS
No-one comes anymore. I'm amazed
we're still open.
ADAM
It was one of my favorite places
as a kid.
WAITRESS
Uh-huh.
He looks at the menu. His parents too. The waitress is
silent. She doesn't look in their direction.
ADAM
(to the waitress)
Can we get the family special?
WAITRESS
It's a lot of food.
ADAM
That's fine.
She smiles and leaves. A long beat.
DAD
I want to ask something.
MUM
Oh God. Don't ask him.
DAD
I have to.
(to Adam)
Was it quick?
MUM
Jesus. I told you not to.
DAD
How can you not want to know?
MUM
What if it was slow and horribly
painful?
DAD
What difference does it make?
(CONTINUED)
79.
94 CONTINUED: (2) 94
MUM
It makes a big difference.
ADAM
It was quick.
MUM
It was?
ADAM
Yes.
MUM
For both of us?
ADAM
(lying)
Yes.
MUM
You don't look like you're sure.
Don't be fibbing. No secrets now.
ADAM
It was quick.
MUM
Okay. Phew. That's a relief of
sorts. It's been playing on my
mind.
The waitress arrives quicker than expected with the
`family special', a large tray of burgers, shakes and
fries.
WAITRESS
Enjoy.
ADAM
Thank you.
She leaves them staring at the mountain of food.
DAD
You know I'm not really very
hungry.
MUM
Me neither. Can we even eat?
(CONTINUED)
80.
94 CONTINUED: (3) 94
They start to laugh. It's contagious, the three of them
together. After a while, the laughs fade. Mum and Dad
seem tired, eyes watery and distant as if whatever exists
inside is fading.
DAD
What do you think we should say to
each other? I'm not sure I've much
wisdom to share. Maybe Adam, being
older, should be sharing some with
us!
ADAM
Maybe we don't need to say
anything.
DAD
Maybe. Although I will say that
getting to know you has made us
very proud.
ADAM
I'm not sure I've done much to be
proud of. I've muddled through at
best.
DAD
But you've got through it, some
very tough times, I'm sure. And
you're still here. That's what
we're proud of.
Adam throat tightens. Dad's voice gets quiet. His eyes
cloud over. He seems a little drunk.
DAD (CONT'D)
Wow. Fuck. I'm feeling, I don't
know what I'm feeling...
ADAM
Dad?
DAD
Yes, son.
(CONTINUED)
81.
94 CONTINUED: (4) 94
ADAM
(his voice cracking)
Stay a bit longer.
DAD
I don't think so.
Adam's Mum takes her husband's hand.
MUM
I love you, darling.
DAD
You sure? Sometimes I was never so
sure.
MUM
Whatever problems we had, I'm glad
I get to be with you at the end.
DAD
Me too. You always did feel a
little bit like my lifeboat.
She reaches out and strokes his face, gently. Kisses him.
Dad likes that. He looks back at Adam.
DAD (CONT'D)
I know I was never good at saying
it -- I couldn't get the words
out, but I do love you, very much.
Somehow even more now that I know
you.
That is almost too much for Adam, his eyes filling with
tears, his face crumpling. His Dad takes his hand and
holds it tight.
DAD (CONT'D)
It's important you believe me.
ADAM
I do. And I love you too Dad.
Suddenly his Dad exhales heavy and slumps in his chair,
life draining from his eyes.
ADAM (CONT'D)
(voice breaking)
Did you hear me? Dad?
(CONTINUED)
82.
94 CONTINUED: (5) 94
Mum gasps, reaches for her eye, inhaling sharply, her
eyes tightly closed, terrified.
ADAM (CONT'D)
Mum?
Her eyes open wide in a panic.
MUM
Adam? Are you there?
ADAM
Yes.
MUM
I can't see you. Why can't I see
you? Are you there?
Adam reaches out and takes the hand that covers her eye.
He brings it back to the table.
ADAM
I'm here, Mum.
MUM
Oh yes. There you are. I can feel
you. Your skin is warm.
ADAM
It's okay. I'm here.
Adam looks down at her hand now in his own, her skin
almost transparent like she is now eighty years old, as
if they have had a full life together.
MUM
Promise me you'll try with this
Harry boy. I'd have liked him, I
just know it.
(a beat)
He might need a bit of looking
after mind you. Such a sad face.
Adam doesn't answer.
MUM (CONT'D)
You hear me?
ADAM
Yes.
(CONTINUED)
83.
94 CONTINUED: (6) 94
MUM
Good. That's good. I hope you can
make each other a little happier.
She starts to sway a little as if she is seeing a song in
her head, drifting away, but with a slight smile.
ADAM
Mum?
MUM
(her voice faint)
Are you still there?
ADAM
Yes.
MUM
You're such a kind and gentle boy.
And then she is gone. They are both gone. Adam sits alone
in the restaurant surrounded by burgers and fries, tears
streaming down his face.
INT. TRAIN - TWILIGHT
95 95
Adam returns on a busy train, surrounded by people who
know nothing of what he's been through, laughing,
talking, life carrying on.
EXT/INT. TOWER - NIGHT
96 96
Adam returns to his block to find the alarm going off,
just like on the first night. No-one seems to have left
the building.
Adam cranes his neck and looks up at the tower, only a
few lights on. He hesitates but decides to enter anyway.
He has someone he wants to see.
As Adam heads into the lobby, we stay outside. We look up
to catch the flicker of a TV coming from the sixth floor.
The alarm suddenly stops.
84.
INT. TOWER ELEVATOR - NIGHT
97 97
As the lift rises through the floors, Adam's reflection
seems normal. He looks into that image and gives himself
a timid smile.
He takes a photograph from his pocket: the one his Dad
took of the three of them around the tree. Only now the
photo is old and faded and Adam is eleven-years old.
Adam feels a sense of calm looking at the photo, a sense
of something having changed, and rather than put it back
in his pocket, he finds a place for it in his wallet.
The lift reaches Adam's floor. As the door opens, he
makes a decision. He presses the button for the sixth
floor.
At first as he descends, he smiles. He checks his hair in
the many mirrors. But slowly -- the closer he gets to the
sixth floor, his mood changes. He can feel something.
INT. SIXTH FLOOR CORRIDOR - NIGHT
98 98
A strange reality hits Adam. He has never been to Harry's
apartment. He doesn't know which flat is his. But he can
hear a television playing.
Adam follows the sound down the long corridor, louder and
louder until he's finally outside a door. He knocks -- no
answer.
He knocks again. Nothing. Adam can feel in his gut that
something is wrong. He tries the handle. It is unlocked
and the door opens.
INT. HARRY'S APARTMENT - NIGHT
99 99
The smell hits Adam first, stale and fetid. Dirty dishes
and take-away boxes festering with mould. An old horror
film plays on the TV. Adam finds empty baggies on the
kitchen counter.
He turns off the TV with the remote control. Silence now.
He looks towards the bedroom, door closed. Every muscle
stiffens.
(CONTINUED)
85.
99 CONTINUED: 99
ADAM
(a near whisper)
Harry?
Adam walks towards the door, fear building with each slow
step. His fingers hover over the handle. Sliding the door
open, Adam is hit by a sickening stench.
He looks away. His heart racing. Adam tries to catch his
breath. Then something dawns on him, a truth perhaps he
has always known.
He looks back to find Harry curled up on the bed, turned
away, foetal position. He wears the very same clothes he
wore on that first night.
And there is the same bottle of Japanese whisky by his
side -- empty. It's clear from the state of his body that
he's been there some time.
Adam edges towards Harry and sits by the side of the bed.
By the man he has fallen in love with. He reaches out to
touch the body but before he finds contact...
A noise. The front door opening and closing. Adam gets up
from the bed and walks out of the bedroom. He finds Harry
standing there, wearing the same clothes as the body in
the bed and is confused, agitated.
HARRY
I came to see you but you didn't
answer the door. Why are you down
here?
ADAM
(barely a whisper)
I came to find you.
Harry notices the half-empty bottle of whisky now held in
his hand as if he had no idea it was there. It sparks
some kind of painful memory.
HARRY
I don't want you down here. You
shouldn't be here.
Adam edges closer, keeping Harry from the bedroom door.
(CONTINUED)
86.
99 CONTINUED: (2) 99
HARRY (CONT'D)
I don't want you to see my place
like this. Not like this. I don't
understand why you're here.
ADAM
I said goodbye to them and came to
find you.
But Harry isn't listening. It's as if Harry is piecing
together what happened to him. The truth bubbling up. An
agitation grows in him, a quiet terror. He spots the
empty baggies on the kitchen counter. He picks one up.
ADAM (CONT'D)
It's okay, Harry.
HARRY
But it's not okay.
Harry rubs his chest with his fist as if he has a knot of
pain stopping him breathe. We have seen Adam do this same
action.
Adam comes closer as Harry thumps his chest harder and
harder. In the window's reflection, and only there, Harry
sees himself scream. Adam grabs Harry's fist in his own
hand. Holds it tight. Harry's grip softens.
HARRY (CONT'D)
Adam?
ADAM
I'm here.
Harry's eyes fill with tears, drowsier all of a sudden,
drugs and drink through his veins.
HARRY
I was so frightened. That night. I
just needed to not be by myself.
ADAM
And I'm sorry I was so scared. To
let you in.
But Harry's focus is now on the bedroom behind. As if he
remembers what happened to him, as if somehow he's always
known.
(CONTINUED)
87.
99 CONTINUED: (3) 99
HARRY
I'm in there, aren't I?
ADAM
Let's just go upstairs.
HARRY
I can smell it, taste it in the
back of my throat.
He looks at Adam not in shock, nor anger, but terrible
sadness. His face collapses on the brink of tears.
HARRY (CONT'D)
How come no-one found me? Where
are my friends? My brother and
sister. Where are my mum and dad?
ADAM
I found you.
HARRY
But I don't want you to see me
like that. Not like that. In
there.
Harry seems so ashamed with himself, disgusted almost --
with the very idea of himself. Adam knows what to say. He
has never been so sure of anything.
ADAM
You are not in there. This is you,
here. With me.
Adam grabs hold of Harry as he breaks into sobs. Letting
out the pain he has stored for so long. Adam knows that
all that matters in this moment is that he eases Harry's
pain. That is what love means. We push in close as they
kiss through Harry's tears.
INT. ADAM'S BEDROOM - NIGHT
100 100
It is dark, floating free from the confines of the tower.
We are back in Adam's bed now. He has let him in. They
lie together facing each other at first.
(CONTINUED)
88.
100 CONTINUED: 100
Harry is grateful. They are silent a moment. Harry is
getting sleepier and sleepier.
HARRY
I saw her. Your mum. Your dad too.
At the house.
ADAM
They saw you too.
HARRY
They did?
ADAM
My dad said you looked like a
handsome fella. They'd have liked
you. They both would.
HARRY
That's good to know. Did you get
to say everything you wanted to
say?
ADAM
I don't know. I got to be with
them
HARRY
It's good that you were all
together.
ADAM
Yeah.
A long beat. Harry looks at Adam, glad he is not alone.
Both of them glad to not be alone.
HARRY
I'm scared.
ADAM
I know.
HARRY
What do you think happens now?
ADAM
I don't know.
(CONTINUED)
89.
100 CONTINUED: (2) 100
HARRY
How long will this last?
A beat. A memory of something Adam's Mum said to him.
ADAM
I can't answer that. I suppose we
don't get to decide when it's
over.
(then)
For now, why don't I just hold you
a bit longer.
Harry looks as if he may be about to say something but
decides against it. They don't need to declare their
love. Actions are enough.
Harry turns over and lets Adam hold him from behind. The
same position Harry was in downstairs. But now he is no
longer by himself.
HARRY
(barely a whisper)
It's so quiet in here. I never
could stand how quiet this place
was. Will you put a record on?
ADAM
What would you like?
HARRY
You choose.
The piano introduction to THE POWER OF LOVE by FRANKIE
GOES TO HOLLYWOOD starts to play. We don't need to know
how. Adam whispers with the opening words.
ADAM
I'll protect you from the hooded
claw / Keep the vampires from your
door.
Harry smiles.
As the song builds, Adam holds Harry tighter, comforted
at last, cared for at last, no longer strangers. Harry's
breathing slows.
"Love is the light, scaring darkness away".
(CONTINUED)
90.
100 CONTINUED: (3) 100
As the music soars, we pull away from them. It seems like
they are almost dancing, swaying together, for how long
we won't ever know.
Further and further we come. Out of the room. Spiralling.
Into the night. Adam and Harry fall away as we rise into
the stars.
Finally, as the music crescendos, Adam and Harry are no
more than a glint in the dark sky.
A guide not a warning.
"Make love your goal".
"THE POWER OF LOVE"
CONTINUES AS THE
END CREDITS ROLL
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