DREAM SCENARIO
Written by
Kristoffer Borgli
FINAL DRAFT
DREAM SCENARIO 1
1 EXT. PAUL'S HOUSE - BACKYARD - MORNING 1
It's a quiet morning in a suburban neighborhood. SOPHIE, a
twelve-year-old girl, is seated by the patio table, while her
father PAUL is hosing the lawn. Suddenly a set of keys falls
from the sky and through the patio table, shattering the
glass. Sophie is startled, but Paul doesn't seem to mind. A
shoe suddenly falls from the sky and lands on the lawn. Then
a person with one shoe falls from the sky, landing right by
the pool.
SOPHIE
Dad?
PAUL
It's OK sweetie.
Sophie suddenly starts to slowly levitate off the chair.
SOPHIE
Dad, Dad. Dad, help me!
She tries to hold onto the chair, but it lifts up with her.
She keeps getting pulled upwards through thin air, she's now
several feet up and the chair slips out of her hands.
SOPHIE (CONT'D)
Dad, please help me! Please help
me, please!
Paul is indecisive, just standing there, unable to act as we
hear the screams of his daughter disappearing into the sky.
2 INT. PAUL'S HOUSE - KITCHEN - MORNING 2
We are in an upper middle class home during a weekday
breakfast. Paul and his wife JANET are listening to Sophie
retell her dream.
SOPHIE
And um, I guess ... and then I woke
up.
PAUL
Why didn't I do anything?
SOPHIE
I don't know.
PAUL
It's like the third time now, why
am I always just standing there?
(CONTINUED)
DREAM SCENARIO 2
2 CONTINUED: 2
JANET
Don't make her feel guilty about
her dreams, Paul.
PAUL
You don't see me that way, right?
That's not how you think I'd react
in real life?
SOPHIE
If I was floating?
PAUL
Remember that time you almost
drowned? How fast I reacted.
JANET SOPHIE
She was four. I remember you telling me
about it.
HANNAH, their 15 year old daughter, pops her head into the
kitchen on her way out.
HANNAH
Bye!
JANET
Hannah!
She returns.
JANET (CONT'D)
Remember you have to be home with
Sophie tonight.
HANNAH
No, that's tomorrow night.
PAUL
No, the play is tonight, it was
always tonight.
HANNAH
Really? She can't she be alone for,
like, a few hours?
SOPHIE
(sotto)
I don't mind..
JANET
You already agreed to this.
(CONTINUED)
DREAM SCENARIO 3
2 CONTINUED: (2) 2
HANNAH
OK, fine. Bye!
3 INT. PAUL'S HOUSE - FRONT HALLWAY - MOMENTS LATER - MORNING 3
Paul is getting ready to leave for work.
JANET
So, should I just meet you there
or?
PAUL
Yeah probably, I'm not sure how
long it'll take with Sheila, so...
JANET
Are you nervous?
PAUL
No. Not really. I think it'll be
good, I think she'll understand,
hopefully apologize, and that'll be
that.
JANET
Can you record it?
PAUL
Are you serious?
JANET
Yeah, just the audio. On your
phone. I want to hear how she
reacts.
PAUL
(smiling)
Wow, so vindictive Janet.. I'll
think about it.
JANET
But, you should go, you're gonna be
late.
PAUL
No, I'll be fine.
JANET
Have a good one.
PAUL
You too.
(CONTINUED)
DREAM SCENARIO 4
3 CONTINUED: 3
He gives her a peck and leaves.
3A INT. OSLER UNIVERSITY - HALLWAY - DAY 3A
Paul is running through the hallway, late for class.
4 INT. OSLER UNIVERSITY - LECTURE HALL - DAY 4
Paul is giving a lecture to his students. There's a projected
image of a zebra to his side.
PAUL
So when talking about adaptive
strategies, why does the zebra look
the way it does? You can spot it
miles away, so it's not very
functional, right? Any theory on
how the black and white stripes
could be a benefit?
He looks around the room in hope for a response. He notices
two of his students, GRETA and ANDY, whispering about him.
PAUL (CONT'D)
No one?
He clicks a button for the next slide. This time it's a herd
of zebras hunched together.
PAUL (CONT'D)
From what we know, the camouflage
isn't effective in terms of
blending in with the environment,
rather it's about blending in with
the herd. You see, predators need
to identify their prey, they can't
just attack the whole group. So if
you stick your head out you make
yourself a target. Does that make
sense?
Paul notices the same two people still whispering and
seemingly talking about him.
PAUL (CONT'D)
Hi. Hey! Focus.
They just stare at him for a beat, then start whispering.
ANDY
Is this how it went?
(CONTINUED)
DREAM SCENARIO 5
4 CONTINUED: 4
GRETA
No, it's different now.
PAUL
Do you wanna share your discussion
with the class?
GRETA
(to Paul)
Sorry, no.
PAUL
Ok, because you just made
yourselves a target by speaking
when you weren't supposed to. You
get the analogy?
GRETA
I get the analogy.
PAUL
Ok. Good. So in contrast, can
anyone think of instances where
"sticking out" can be an
evolutionary benefit?
MILES, another student raises his hand.
PAUL (CONT'D)
Yes..
MILES
Mating?
PAUL
Mating.
5 INT. RESTAURANT MADRE - LATER - DAY 5
Paul approaches AVERY, the hostess of the restaurant, which
just opened for the day.
AVERY
Welcome to Madre.
PAUL
Hi... I have a table... for
Paul...?
The hostess just stares at him for a moment.
(CONTINUED)
DREAM SCENARIO 6
5 CONTINUED: 5
PAUL (CONT'D)
What?
AVERY
I'm sorry, don't I know you?
PAUL
I don't know, do you?
AVERY
Yeah, I . . .
PAUL
Well, Osler, maybe? I'm a professor
there.
AVERY
No, I didn't go there. Have you
been with us lately?
PAUL
No.
AVERY
Yeah. Okay. Sorry... I'm just going
through some major deja-vu or...
Brian, right?
PAUL
Paul.
6 INT. RESTAURANT MADRE - DINING ROOM - MOMENTS LATER - DAY 6
Paul is now seated alone in a mostly empty restaurant. He
suddenly remembers to take out his phone and starts an audio
recording. He puts the phone on the table and after a few
beats SHEILA arrives, a fifty-something academic with a
friendly face. She waves and smiles as she approaches.
SHEILA
Hi Paul, it's so nice to see you.
PAUL
Yeah, it's been too long Sheila.
SHEILA
I barely recognized you, wow.
PAUL
Oh yeah? The beard maybe?
SHEILA
No it's the whole... You know...
(CONTINUED)
DREAM SCENARIO 7
6 CONTINUED: 6
She makes an awkward gesture.
PAUL
So how long are you in town for?
SHEILA
Just a few days. Visiting my
brother. How's everything with you?
You're still at Osler, right?
PAUL
Yeah I am. And, you're publishing
another paper, I heard!
SHEILA
Oh yeah. We're just doing final
revisions now, so it's looking
good.
Sheila starts perusing the menu.
PAUL
Where'd you end up? Which
publication?
SHEILA
Uh... Do you want to-- Should we
look at the menu?
PAUL
Yeah. Which publication though?
SHEILA
Uh... Nature.
PAUL
Nature?
Paul is starting to sweat.
SHEILA
Yeah, we're happy about that, I
mean it's been a while. So... Yeah.
PAUL
Why haven't you contacted me?
SHEILA
What?
PAUL
Why am I not being credited?
(CONTINUED)
DREAM SCENARIO 8
6 CONTINUED: (2) 6
SHEILA
What do you mean?
PAUL
Come on. Swarm intelligence? Ant
colony algorithms?
SHEILA
Yeah?
PAUL
Sounds awfully similar to my
research, no?
SHEILA
Well, I... Do you mean from grad
school?
PAUL
Yes! You weren't even interested in
networks back then, you were all
about senescence!
SHEILA
Yes, I mean, yes, I've expanded my
interest over the last thirty
years?
PAUL
Are you using "antelligence." You
know I coined that, right?
SHEILA
I'm not using "antelligence." Look
there's a big difference between
talking about an idea and actually
doing all the work.
PAUL
No, no I've been working. I've got
a book.
SHEILA
Uh, do you have a publisher?
PAUL
Well, I want to finish it before I
take it out, I don't want to be
influenced by any sort of corporate
agenda.
SHEILA
Can I read a draft, or?
(CONTINUED)
DREAM SCENARIO 9
6 CONTINUED: (3) 6
PAUL
Oh, why? Do you need more material?
SHEILA
Come on, Paul, let's be adults
here. How far along are you?
PAUL
Well, I haven't really started the
actual "sitting down and writing"
portion of it yet... But I
7 INT./EXT. PAUL'S CAR/PARKING LOT - LATER 7
Paul is now sitting in his car, alone, listening back to the
audio recording via the car stereo bluetooth.
PAUL (V.O.)
"So, this kind of ruins everything
for me, Sheila. It's just a
complete appropriation. I mean...
Can you at least credit me?"
SHEILA (V.O.)
"There's nothing wrong with just
being a professor, Paul. You don't
need to be a researcher too."
PAUL (V.O.)
"Please Sheila, I need this!"
He stops the recording out of embarrassment and deletes it
and starts driving.
8 EXT. THEATER - MOMENTS LATER 8
Paul is waiting for Janet outside the theater. There's
another person out there smoking a cigarette who keeps
looking at him. It seems like the man is trying to place
Paul, on the verge of talking to him, but doesn't. Then Janet
arrives.
PAUL
Jan!
JANET
Hi!
PAUL
You got the tickets?
(CONTINUED)
DREAM SCENARIO 10
8 CONTINUED: 8
JANET
Yeah. How'd it go?
PAUL
Oh, you mean with Sheila?
JANET
Yeah?
PAUL
Yeeh, well... Yeah, you know it's
technical. I mean she totally saw
my argument, but we didn't fully,
you know, resolve it yet.
JANET
Really? So what's next?
PAUL
I'll figure it out.
JANET
Was she defensive? Did you record
it?
PAUL
Oh... No, I kind of felt, you know,
unethical or whatever. You wanna go
inside?
9 INT. THEATER - HALL - NIGHT 9
A wide shot of the audience watching the play. We slowly zoom
in on Paul and we can sense that his mind is elsewhere. A few
rows back, far to the side, there's a woman who keeps trying
to get a good look at Paul.
10 INT. THEATER - LOBBY - NIGHT 10
The play has ended. Paul and Janet are walking through the
lobby as they talk about the experience. From deep in the
crowd we hear someone shouting.
CLAIRE (O.C.)
Paul. Paul!?
Paul and Janet stop and turn to see CLAIRE, the woman we saw
staring at him earlier.
CLAIRE (CONT'D)
Ah! I thought that was you!
(CONTINUED)
DREAM SCENARIO 11
10 CONTINUED: 10
PAUL
Claire? Hi! My god...
CLAIRE
Oh, it's so good to see you.
PAUL
You just saw the play?
CLAIRE
Duh, yeah. Of course.
PAUL
This is my wife, Janet.
CLAIRE
Oh hi, I'm Claire.
They shake hands.
JANET
Hello, Janet.
CLAIRE
When did you get married?
PAUL
Oh. Wow. That's about... Well,
let's see...
JANET
Fifteen years.
PAUL
Yeah, fifteen years ago.
CLAIRE JANET
Well, I'm so glad I ran in to --I'm sorry. How do you two
you. You've been on my mind a know each other?
lot lately.--
PAUL
Oh, well, Claire and I used to
date.
CLAIRE
Yeah, wild right? Anyway, you've
been on my mind recently.
PAUL
Yeah? I uh... I haven't thought
about you in a while..
(CONTINUED)
DREAM SCENARIO 12
10 CONTINUED: (2) 10
CLAIRE
Okay? Good to know I guess?
(Chuckles). Anyway, the reason that
you've been on my mind is because
you keep popping up in my dreams.
PAUL
Really?
CLAIRE
Yeah. Like, a lot in the last few
weeks.
We can feel the tension rising between Janet and Paul.
CLAIRE (CONT'D)
It's so strange. You don't do
anything, you're just there, even
if the dream's completely unrelated
to you. Like, the other night: a
good friend of mine was lying in
the street, hit by a car, bleeding,
dying in my arms, right? And
then... this is just in the dream
of course. And out of nowhere,
there you are! Just strolling by!
We see a QUICK CUT of a dream: Claire is crying over someone
dying in the middle of the street after being hit by a car.
She turns around to see Paul just standing there, in the
street, watching, half-smiling nonchalantly.
PAUL
Wow, I'm--Well, I mean that is so
strange.
Paul looks over to Janet, who's not as bemused as him.
PAUL (CONT'D)
So I don't intervene at all? I
don't help out?
CLAIRE
You're still doing that?
PAUL
What?
CLAIRE
Searching for the insult? No, you
don't do anything, but it's not
like I blame you. I was gonna say
that my therapist suggested I reach
out.
(MORE)
(CONTINUED)
DREAM SCENARIO 13
10 CONTINUED: (3) 10
CLAIRE (CONT'D)
That maybe you and I need to sort
something out. You know:
subconsciously.
JANET
Did -- Did you know he was here?
CLAIRE
No, no, no. I just happened to see
you guys! Which feels like a sign,
you know? Synchronicity.
PAUL
Okay. Okay, Yeah...
CLAIRE
Do you think we could grab a coffee
or something? You know, just catch
up and stuff?
Paul glances quickly over at Janet and back to Claire.
PAUL
Yeah, we... we could do that. Sure,
why not? I mean, you know... Yeah.
CLAIRE
Should I take your number?
PAUL
Oh, uh. Okay, yeah.
CLAIRE
Okay. Put your number in there.
Claire takes out her phone and gives it to him. He types in
his number and stores it under his name.
CLAIRE (CONT'D)
(to Janet)
Did you like the play?
JANET
I did, yeah. Yeah...
Paul hands her phone back. She looks at his name.
CLAIRE
What, you changed your last name?
PAUL
Yeah. I took hers. We thought it
was... I thought it was appropriate-
- I wanted to.
(CONTINUED)
DREAM SCENARIO 14
10 CONTINUED: (4) 10
Janet smiles at him mockingly.
11 INT. PAUL'S HOUSE - BEDROOM/BATHROOM - NIGHT 11
Paul is brushing his teeth in the bathroom right next to the
bedroom, while Janet is getting ready for bed.
JANET
Why'd you get all red?
PAUL
Well, I was just taken aback by the
whole situation. Wouldn't you react
the same if some old boyfriend
cornered you like that?
JANET
I don't think I'd turn into a
stuttering fool.
PAUL
I don't think I was stuttering...
JANET
She seemed really happy to see you.
PAUL
Well, yeah, but not because... It's
because of these dreams!
JANET
Why are you defending her?
PAUL
Are you just trying to pick a fight
with me right now?
JANET
No, I'm just nervous what this
women will do to you when I'm not
there.
PAUL
"Do to me?" What is she going to do
to me? Jump me?
JANET
Why did you ask if she was married?
PAUL
I was making conversation!
(CONTINUED)
DREAM SCENARIO 15
11 CONTINUED: 11
JANET
Ok, well, maybe I'm exaggerating a
little bit, but I'd be lying if I
said I wasn't worried at all.
PAUL
That's fair. But I'm just meeting
her for coffee, that's it. I love
you.
JANET
Have you ever fantasized about
other women?
Beat.
PAUL
Yeah, of course I have.
JANET
But never cheated.
PAUL
Oh my god, Janet. Do you really
think I'm that cool? Do you think I
could handle the emotional burden
of having an affair?
JANET
(smiles)
No. No, you're right...
PAUL
Just try not to let your
neuroticism hijack you.
JANET
Oh come on, not the gender
psychology bullshit again!
PAUL
We both know you score high in
neuroticism, it's best to just own
it and be pragmatic about it.
JANET
Yeah, well you score high in...
Assholeness.
PAUL
I score high in "assholeness"?
(CONTINUED)
DREAM SCENARIO 16
11 CONTINUED: (2) 11
JANET
(sarcastically)
Yeah, so, just own it. Be pragmatic
about it.
PAUL
How about this: I'll keep it very
formal when I meet her, I won't
even smile, would that work for
you?
JANET
She might like that.
12 INT. DINER - DAY 12
Claire and Paul are having that coffee date, and Paul is
smiling.
CLAIRE
... Yeah, well, it's just so
intense, you know. And I usually
don't even remember my dreams.
PAUL
Wow... I feel like I want to
apologize for barging into your
head like that.
CLAIRE
No, it's okay, it's just funny, you
know? Anyway, thanks for meeting
me.
PAUL
Of course.
CLAIRE
There's actually something I want
to ask you...
PAUL
Oh yeah? What?
CLAIRE
Would it be OK if I wrote about
this?
PAUL
What do you mean, in what way?
(CONTINUED)
DREAM SCENARIO 17
12 CONTINUED: 12
CLAIRE
Well, I write for this magazine
called The New Inquiry?
PAUL
Really? You're publishing?
CLAIRE
Well, it's just online. It's more
like a blog. Nobody really reads
it.
PAUL
What... What sort of stuff do you
write about?
CLAIRE
Mostly psychology... Jungian stuff.
Paul laughs a little.
CLAIRE (CONT'D)
Yeah, okay. I knew you'd scoff at
that.
PAUL
Sorry I didn't mean to. What, you
want to write about me?
CLAIRE
No, I want to write about the
dreams, about randomly seeing you,
just that. It's just very on brand
for what I do.
PAUL
I mean... yeah, if you don't
portray me as this inadequate loser
like in your dreams.
CLAIRE
You're seriously insulted?
PAUL
No, of course not, I'm joking.
CLAIRE
So you'd be OK with it?
PAUL
Yes, yeah. Go ahead.
CLAIRE
Yes. Thank you. Yes.
(CONTINUED)
DREAM SCENARIO 18
12 CONTINUED: (2) 12
Paul almost says something.
CLAIRE (CONT'D)
What?
PAUL
No, it's just... My wife suspected
you had ulterior motives.
CLAIRE
Like what?
PAUL
Well, that you still had feelings
for me, that you missed me?
CLAIRE
Really? That's so funny. Why would
she say that?
PAUL
Oh... I mean... I don't know I...
CLAIRE
Oh shoot. I have to run. Uhm...
well thank you. Thanks for doing
this, really. I guess I'll see you
in my dreams.
PAUL
Hah! Yeah... of course not!
13 INT. OSLER UNIVERSITY - HALLWAY - DAY 13
Paul is walking through the hallways of the university when
he overhear, MILES and JESSIE two students talking around the
corner.
MILES
Is it him?
JESSIE
Yeah, it's Paul for sure.
MILES
That's so weird, we're basically
having the same dream.
JESSIE
I know, it's so random. It's just
like... Paul, every night for some
reason.
(CONTINUED)
DREAM SCENARIO 19
13 CONTINUED: 13
Paul nonchalantly walks around the corner. Jessie and Miles
see him and stop talking.
PAUL
Hi.
JESSIE
Hey.
PAUL
You guys... Good?
JESSIE
Yeah... You?
PAUL
Yeah...
Paul keeps walking, and then we hear Miles and Jessie both
burst into laughter. Paul starts rushing down the hallway.
14 INT. OSLER UNIVERSITY - BRETT'S OFFICE - CONTINUOUS - DAY 14
Paul enters his colleague, BRETT's office. Paul just stares
at Brett for a moment.
BRETT
What?
PAUL
Have you been dreaming about me?
BRETT
Have I been dreaming about you?
PAUL
Yeah.
BRETT
Ever in my life, you mean?
PAUL
No, recently.
BRETT
I don't know, I don't keep track of
things like that.
Paul, scans the room for anything out of the ordinary.
BRETT (CONT'D)
You're kind of freaking me out,
what's going on?
(CONTINUED)
DREAM SCENARIO 20
14 CONTINUED: 14
PAUL
Nothing...
Paul leaves the office to Brett's confusion.
15 INT. PAUL'S HOUSE - DINING ROOM - LATER - DAY 15
The family is eating dinner together.
PAUL
Can we please put our phones away
and have a real conversation?
Sophie and Hannah both look at Paul with slight annoyance.
They look over at Janet, but she doesn't budge. They
reluctantly put their phones down.
PAUL (CONT'D)
So... How was school today Sophie?
A smartphone placed on a console table in the hallway starts
ringing. Paul deliberately ignores it.
SOPHIE
Dad.
PAUL
It's fine, I'll call them back
later. Tell me about your day.
HANNAH
Can you turn the sound off at
least?
PAUL
Yes, I'll do that next time.
JANET
It'll stop soon.
PAUL
Sophie? Didn't you guys decide
which character you're going to be?
For the play? Or-
It keeps ringing.
PAUL (CONT'D)
Let me just hang up.
We follow Paul as he walks into the kitchen. He looks at the
screen. It's his friend RICHARD.
(CONTINUED)
DREAM SCENARIO 21
15 CONTINUED: 15
PAUL (CONT'D)
I have to take this!
SOPHIE
(to Janet and Hannah)
That's not allowed!
He answers and walks further into the living room for
privacy.
PAUL
Richard! Hi!
RICHARD (V.O.)
Is this a good time? Do you have a
minute?
PAUL
Yeah, what's going on?
RICHARD (V.O.)
So... Where do I start.
PAUL
Wow, it sounds serious.
RICHARD (V.O.)
No, it's funny. You know sometimes
I have these dinner parties, right?
PAUL
Yeah? Is this finally the invite?
RICHARD (V.O.)
No, it's... Uh... I just had one.
PAUL
Oh... OK, and?
16 INT. RICHARD'S HOUSE - DINING ROOM - FLASHBACK - NIGHT 16
We see RICHARD, a well-dressed professor, seated at his long
table for a dinner party with an eclectic group from the
intelligentsia, all mostly in their 40s and 50s. They're
listening to NAOMI, a New Yorker type journalist, telling a
story.
NAOMI
So, I've told this to my husband ad
nauseam, but it's about a recurring
dream I've had. Or not so much a
specific dream, but a specific
person I keep dreaming about.
(MORE)
(CONTINUED)
DREAM SCENARIO 22
16 CONTINUED: 16
NAOMI (CONT'D)
He looks perfectly average, he's a
remarkable nobody, who just shows
up. He just occupies the space like
an awkward guest at a party that no
one really knows.
RICHARD
You mean like Sidney?
They all look over to SIDNEY, another guest in his 50s who
actually kind of resembles Paul. They all laugh assuming it's
a joke, but Naomi responds:
NAOMI
Yeah, kind of! Yes.
They laugh again. But then Richard's wife, CARLOTA, enters
the conversation.
CARLOTA
I have also ... I've also had that
experience. I already told Richard
about it. I did, I told you...
RICHARD
Yes and I'm kind of upset, to tell
you the truth. She's dreaming about
another man!
CARLOTA
Yeah, very similar to yours Naomi,
except in my case it's this guy
that we sort of know, this old
friend of Richard's, Paul.
RICHARD
Well, we went to the same
university.
(then to Carlota)
He's actually not that memorable.
He's kind of boring. I don't get
why you're so into him.
CARLOTA
(laughing)
I'm not into him!
NAOMI
What does he look like?
CARLOTA
Well, he does actually kind of look
like Sidney.
(CONTINUED)
DREAM SCENARIO 23
16 CONTINUED: (2) 16
NAOMI
Do you have a picture?
17 INT. PAUL'S HOUSE - TV ROOM - PRESENT 17
We see part of Paul's reaction to the dinner party flashback.
18 INT. RICHARD'S HOUSE - DINING ROOM - FLASHBACK - NIGHT 18
Richard gets his phone out and opens Facebook to find a photo
of Paul. He then passes the phone to Naomi to show her.
19 OMITTED 19
20 OMITTED 20
21 OMITTED 21
INT. PAUL'S HOUSE - DINING ROOM - MEANWHILE
22 22
Sophie, Hannah and Janet all react to the sound of glass
hitting the floor and breaking in the kitchen. They get up.
23 INT. PAUL'S HOUSE - HALLWAY OUTSIDE KITCHEN - CONTINUOUS 23
Paul's body is on the floor with the phone and broken glass
scattered beside him. Janet runs over and shakes him.
JANET
Oh, my God. Paul, Paul! Oh, my God.
We can hear Richard yelling through the phone on the floor.
Janet takes it.
JANET (CONT'D)
Hey, wait -
She hangs up, shakes Paul's face and he comes to.
JANET (CONT'D)
What happened? Hey.
DREAM SCENARIO 24
24 INT. PAUL'S HOUSE - HOME OFFICE - LATER 24
Paul is sitting by his desk holding an ice-pack to the bruise
on his head as he's checking his Facebook. There's close to a
hundred message requests. He clicks to see them.
PAUL
Janet! There's like a hundred
messages on here!
No response from Janet. Paul keeps clicking through.
Janet walks into the office.
PAUL (CONT'D)
Probably Claire's article. She
must've linked it to my profile or
something! Somebody wants to
interview me!
JANET
Why are you so excited?
PAUL
Why? What's wrong?
JANET
This is strange Paul. Maybe you
should take a minute and think
before you do anything drastic.
25 INT. PAUL'S HOUSE - HOME OFFICE - DAY 25
Edited video montage of local news - flashy news graphics and
a little anthem transitions to a zoom interview with Paul,
sitting in his office with a shirt, jacket and tie.
PAUL
(smiling and joking)
Why me? Uh, I don't know, I'm
special I guess!
Transition to more graphics and Paul's Facebook photo, as we
hear the news anchor:
JOURNALIST (V.O.)
An area man has found himself at
the center of a strange "dream
epidemic", which scientists are
struggling to make sense of.
They cut to a zoom interview with a sleep scientist.
(CONTINUED)
DREAM SCENARIO 25
25 CONTINUED: 25
SLEEP SCIENTIST
So we actually don't know what's
causing this, but it's sort of like
a dream version of the "Mandela
Effect," which is when multiple
people report having the same false
memory without any logical
explanation. Now, then there's
something called "astral
projection", right? This is a
spiritual type of dream visitation.
Scientifically this is dubious, of
course, but it has been reported.
It's a very interesting time in my
field.
They cut the sleep scientist off, to show info-graphics of a
poll they've conducted.
JOURNALIST (V.O.)
Our online poll shows thousands of
reports of the phenomenon.
They cut to an interview with Paul via zoom.
PAUL
But I'm always inclined to think
rationally that anything
supernatural has to be socially
constructed, but this one is...
Mysterious. Even for me.
26 INT./EXT. PAUL'S HOUSE - TV ROOM/BACKYARD - NIGHT 26
That news segment is on the TV in the living room. Paul is on
the phone in the background, Janet seems somewhat skeptical
of the whole ordeal, while Sophie and Hannah are watching the
TV.
PAUL
(to his phone)
No mom, I don't know. I didn't do
anything. I don't know either(...)
Do you remember Claire?(...) What
are you getting so upset for, Mom?
I'm fine. I'm missing the whole
segment now...
HANNAH
This is gonna be so weird to
explain at school...
DREAM SCENARIO 26
27 INT. OSLER UNIVERSITY - LECTURE HALL - DAY 27
Paul steps into the lecture hall. It is unusually full. Some
start clapping as he arrives, and the rest follow suit.
The whole room is cheering, and some are recording on their
phones. Paul can't help smiling as he tries to calm them
down.
PAUL
Ok.. Ok.. Please, calm down. Calm
down. Thank you.. Who's really here
for the lecture on "kin selection"?
Show of hands.
Around 20% of the class raises their hands.
PAUL (CONT'D)
Ok, the rest of you, I'll give you
five minutes before I start the
lecture, OK? Ask me anything.
Andy holds up his hand.
PAUL (CONT'D)
Yes, you.
ANDY
How does it feel to go viral?
PAUL
Hah! Well we can discuss that when
we get to memetics later this year.
GRETA
Why is this happening?
PAUL
I have no clue! My guess would be
as good as yours.
ELI
Are you gonna do, like, Stephen
Colbert or anything?
Students laugh.
PAUL
Not a chance. I actually enjoy my
anonymity, if you can believe that.
Paul scans the room again with enthusiasm.
(CONTINUED)
DREAM SCENARIO 27
27 CONTINUED: 27
PAUL (CONT'D)
Ok... you!
Another student, ROBBIE, chimes in.
ROBBIE
I think maybe I had a dream about
you but it's like super blurry, and
like, I wanna like be better at
remembering them... And Uh... How
do I do that?
PAUL
I'm not really an expert here.
Keeping a dream journal is a common
exercise, but isn't seeing me in
class enough?
The students laugh. More people raise their hands. Paul looks
at his watch.
PAUL (CONT'D)
Who's certain they've actually had
a dream about me?
Around 15 students raise their hands.
PAUL (CONT'D)
Ok. Let's explore this, this might
get us somewhere interesting. Does
anyone want to share the content of
their dream? Yes, you.
ANDY
Well uhm... I'm in this forest,
wandering around, eating these
strange mushrooms. And I'm in like
a full tuxedo, for some reason, and
there's other people also dressed
up, but they're all scared, like,
frozen in fear. And then I realize
it's because of this really tall
man running towards me.
28 EXT. FOREST - DUSK (DREAM) 28
We see Andy walking around, eating mushrooms, in a full
tuxedo, passing other people in tuxedos who are standing
still, facing away from him. Suddenly he hears something, and
sees a very tall man in the distance, seemingly chasing him.
Andy runs away, then sits down behind a big rock to try to
hide, frozen in fear. Out of nowhere, Paul is suddenly in
front of him just casually walking around.
(CONTINUED)
DREAM SCENARIO 28
28 CONTINUED: 28
ANDY
Hide.
Paul just keeps casually strolling around. There's more of
the colorful strange mushrooms on the trees around.
PAUL
Are you talking to me?
ANDY
Yes, Paul. He'll kill us! Paul.
Paul sees the mushrooms, takes a closer look.
PAUL
I've never seen these, beautiful.
ANDY
No! No!
We hear the killer off camera, the camera whip pans, and we
smash cut to:
29 INT. OSLER UNIVERSITY - LECTURE HALL - DAY 29
ANDY
And that's all I remember.
The students laugh.
PAUL
Huh... Interesting... So I'm
looking at the mushrooms... Instead
of helping.
ANDY
Oh... I suppose, yeah.
PAUL
Ok. Let's hear another one. Anyone?
30 INT. OSLER UNIVERSITY - ATRIUM - NIGHT (DREAM) 30
We're in the main atrium of the university. There's about
seventy students there, all panicking and screaming because
there's an earthquake happening. Tables are shaking, people
are pushing each other out of the way as they panic. Things
are breaking as they hit the floor and there's smoke
everywhere.
(CONTINUED)
DREAM SCENARIO 29
30 CONTINUED: 30
A person hiding under a table is eating a dead rabbit and
another student has her face and arms covered in snails. The
rest of the students are either running away or trying to
hold onto whatever they can find. Greta is scared for her
life, but notices in the chaos of it all: Paul just standing
there, not bothered by the ordeal. He smiles at her.
31 INT. OSLER UNIVERSITY - LECTURE HALL - DAY 31
PAUL
Ok, so, I'm just observing again...
But that's funny... Interesting
one. Anyone else?
32 INT. GREENHOUSE - DUSK (DREAM) 32
ELI, another student, is standing alone in an abandoned green
house. He takes a tooth out of his bloody mouth, then sees
that Paul is standing outside watching him.
33 INT. MANOR HOUSE - DAY (DREAM) 33
LEAH, one of Paul's students, is stuck on top of a full piano
as there are alligators on the floor trying to eat her, in
the middle of a big living room in a manor house. Paul is
standing far away just staring at her.
34 INT. OSLER UNIVERSITY - LECTURE HALL - DAY 34
Students laugh again.
PAUL
It ends like that?
LEAH
Yeah! That's, uh, all I can
remember.
PAUL
Does anyone have a more original
one? Maybe where I'm actually doing
something?
They all look at each other, nobody raises their hands.
PAUL (CONT'D)
No one? Ok, well, let's just hear
them anyway, who's next?
DREAM SCENARIO 30
35 INT. OSLER UNIVERSITY - LECTURE HALL - LATER 35
They've reached the end of class, and the whole time was
spent talking about their dreams. A few of the students have
now lined up by the door to take photos with Paul. We can see
Paul try to hide his excitement as he poses.
36 INT. PAUL'S HOUSE - KITCHEN - MORNING 36
Like in the opening scene, the family is having breakfast.
This time Hannah comes in and sits down with them.
HANNAH
Dad.
He looks over, she snaps a photo.
PAUL
Oh my god, delete that.
HANNAH
No it's fine! I'm just sending it
to Kyle.
PAUL
Who's Kyle?
HANNAH
Tammy's friend. He doesn't believe
you're my dad for some reason.
PAUL
Oh... You guys are flirting?
HANNAH
Nooooo... He's just asking about
you.
PAUL
So I'm finally cool, huh?
HANNAH
Well, I wouldn't go that far.
PAUL
(playful)
You hear this Janet? She's saying
I'm a cool dad now!
HANNAH
(while smiling)
I didn't say that!
(CONTINUED)
DREAM SCENARIO 31
36 CONTINUED: 36
SOPHIE
Can you drive me to school today?
PAUL
You want me to?
She nods, Paul checks his watch.
PAUL (CONT'D)
I guess I can make it. Janet, does
that work?
JANET
Yeah, take her.
37 INT. ARCHITECTURE FIRM OFFICE - DAY 37
Janet is by her desk at the boutique architecture firm where
she works, and her colleague CHRIS is chatting her up.
CHRIS
Dude, this is like so insane. Like,
how's he dealing with all this?
JANET
We're not even the type of people
that like attention, you know? The
whole thing is so bizarre.
CHRIS
So bizarre. So bizarre. My sister
is actually, like star struck that
I know you, you know. She sent me
this article and she's like: "Check
this guy out, Paul." And I was
like: "Uh, that's Paul Matthews. I
know his wife."
JANET
That's so funny.
CHRIS
Yeah. They also talked about Paul
on this podcast I listen to.
JANET
Oh yeah?
CHRIS
Yeah. Also I was listening to this
podcast that I like. They were
talking about Paul.
(CONTINUED)
DREAM SCENARIO 32
37 CONTINUED: 37
JANET
Oh yeah?
CHRIS
Yea. They were relating Paul to,
like, this old internet meme, and
then they were talking about how,
like, all memes will become dreams
or something like that.
JANET
Ph, that's interesting...
CHRIS
It is interesting.
JANET
How is the museum going, by the
way?
CHRIS
The what?
JANET
The museum.
CHRIS
Oh, yeah. No, it's good. It's good.
I feel like there's a few
challenges for us to still wrap up,
but overall it's going good. Thanks
for asking.
JANET
Great. I know it's not my project,
but I'd love to be involved
somehow.
CHRIS
Oh yeah, no thanks, I feel like
we're in a pretty good position.
JANET
Yeah. You know, just, if you wanna
bounce ideas, or want some
feedback.
CHRIS
Yeah. No, yeah. I think, uh...
yeah. You just want to bounce ideas
back and maybe just... yeah.
DREAM SCENARIO 33
38 INT. PAUL'S HOUSE - MAIN BEDROOM - NIGHT 38
Janet is in bed, Paul is undressing.
PAUL
I thought you weren't on that
project?
JANET
Well, I wasn't, but now Chris wants
me on.
PAUL
Well that's great, I'm happy for
you! We also got an invite to one
of Richard's famous dinner parties.
JANET
Really? When?
PAUL
On the fifth. Can you believe it?
After all these years. I was
tempted to say no, but I think we
should go.
JANET
Hey Paul...
PAUL
Yeah?
JANET
Why do you suppose you're not
showing up in my dreams?
PAUL
(jokingly)
Well, because you get the real
deal, it wouldn't be fair if you
got both.
Janet doesn't bite.
PAUL (CONT'D)
Are you jealous?
JANET
I don't know... I mean, rationally
I'm not, but...
PAUL
Maybe I should give you a little
visit..
(MORE)
(CONTINUED)
DREAM SCENARIO 34
38 CONTINUED: 38
PAUL (CONT'D)
What would you want me to do, what
would you want to see... In your
dream?
JANET
Wow, uhm... I want to see you...
Remember when you wore that Talking
Heads suit for Halloween?
PAUL
Yeah?
JANET
There was just something about it.
Something kinda weird and sexy. You
should wear that... And save me...
From, like, some situation.
PAUL
That's your sexual fantasy? The sky
is the limit here, and you settle
for me wearing a comically large
suit?
JANET
I don't know! I'm not good under
pressure! Just show up naked? On a
horse? With a huge penis? Is that
better?
PAUL
Who has the huge penis? Me or the
horse?
JANET
You!
PAUL
I'm doing the David Byrne suit,
it's been decided.
JANET
No, let me think about it.
PAUL
No, you immediately said the suit,
and that's what you're getting.
JANET
Fine!
(beat)
Do you think other people are
seeing you naked? In their dreams?
(CONTINUED)
DREAM SCENARIO 35
38 CONTINUED: (2) 38
PAUL
Does that turn you on?
JANET
Does it "turn me on"?
They exchange bedroom eyes.
PAUL
Maybe somebody's dreaming about me
right now.
JANET
Yeah?
They both start breathing heavier.
PAUL
Maybe a bunch of people... At the
same time.
JANET
How many?
PAUL
Hundreds? Maybe thousands?
They're both enjoying the role play.
JANET
Oh, that is so irresponsible of
you... I can't accept that.
PAUL
What are you going to do about it?
JANET
I'm going to make sure you stay
right here.
39 INT./EXT. PAUL'S HOUSE - LATER - NIGHT 39
- Tristan walks around the neighborhood at night, wearing
dirty sweatpants and a hoodie. He sees Paul's house.
- He walks around and tries a back door, which is also
locked. He notices the glass door by the porch, which he
discovers is unlocked.
- He enters and goes to the kitchen, finds a knife, and then
proceeds to walk upstairs.
(CONTINUED)
DREAM SCENARIO 36
39 CONTINUED: 39
- He walks up the stairs and heads towards the bedroom.
- He enters, and is now standing right before the bed
staring at sleeping Paul.
TRISTAN
I have to kill you Paul... I have
to...
He starts crying, which wakes both Paul and Janet up, who
both immediately react.
PAUL
What are you doing?
The man is still just crying.
PAUL (CONT'D)
Who are you?.
(to Janet)
Call the police.
Tristan drops the knife on the floor, Paul gets up slowly and
picks it up.
PAUL (CONT'D)
What are you doing in our house?
TRISTAN
I'm sorry, I'm sorry.
PAUL
Get out!
Sophie, who is now awake and standing in the hallway, starts
screaming. Hannah comes out of her room too.
SOPHIE
Oh, my god.
PAUL
Hannah, Sophie stay back!
SOPHIE
Mom! Mom!
JANET
Do something!
PAUL
Hannah... Hannah take Sophie to
your room and lock the door.
(CONTINUED)
DREAM SCENARIO 37
39 CONTINUED: (2) 39
TRISTAN
I'm sorry.
PAUL
Put down the knife.
TRISTAN
I can't, I have to kill you.
JANET
Do something Paul!
TRISTAN
I have to. I have to. I have to
kill you.
Tristan suddenly has a fit, lies down on the floor and
screams. Paul is worried and perplexed, unable to act.
40 INT. PAUL'S HOUSE - LIVING ROOM - MORNING 40
Paul and Janet, now dressed and tired, are at the dining
table drinking coffee. DAVID, a police detective, sits across
from them.
DAVID
He's had manic episodes in the
past. It seems that he stopped
taking his medications.
PAUL
So what's going to happen to him?
DAVID
Psych evaluation, date with a
court, and then a judge will
decide.
PAUL
So he might be back out?
DAVID
After possibly serving a sentence,
yes.
Paul and Janet exchange worried looks.
DAVID (CONT'D)
You know, fame can come with some
less-than-desirable side-effects.
(MORE)
(CONTINUED)
DREAM SCENARIO 38
40 CONTINUED: 40
DAVID (CONT'D)
Strangers might want to talk to
you, some of them might be mentally
unstable, you should be prepared
for that.
PAUL
I'm not getting a gun.
DAVID
Well, I'm not necessarily talking
about weapons. You have no alarm in
the house, and you had an unlocked
entry point. That makes you
vulnerable. You could consider a
dog.
PAUL
Sophie, our daughter, is allergic.
DAVID
Well, then you may want to consider
moving to a new house, keep your
phone number and address unlisted.
JANET
No, we're not moving. I grew up in
this house.
DAVID
Security cameras. Tasers.
Strengthening your deadbolts.
Securing your windows. Self-
defense classes. It seems like you
were pretty helpless in this
situation.
MONTAGE: As we keep hearing this dialogue we see Janet and
the police officer walk around the house, both inside and
out, to look for potential weaknesses and possible
improvements. Paul feels weak next to the composed officer
and keeps a little distance.
41 INT. PAUL'S HOUSE - FRONT HALLWAY - LATER THAT MORNING 41
The detective has left. Paul and Janet are now alone in the
front hallway.
JANET
Maybe we should cool this thing
off. You know, this is why I was
skeptical in the first place.
(CONTINUED)
DREAM SCENARIO 39
41 CONTINUED: 41
PAUL
Oh, you knew specifically that this
would happen?
JANET
This kind of thing, Paul. Strange
consequences...
42 INT. OSLER UNIVERSITY - BRETT'S OFFICE - DAY 42
Paul is in conversation with his colleague Brett in private.
BRETT
I think she's right. Take it as a
warning. I really feel like you're
playing with fire here.
PAUL
What do you mean? What am I doing?
BRETT
Going on TV, playing along with the
story, this thing is clearly
working like catnip for lunatics.
PAUL
What do you mean "playing along"?
BRETT
Do you actually believe people are
randomly dreaming about you? You
don't think it's because you're
popping up all over the news and
one the internet?
PAUL
Well yeah, maybe that accounts for
some of it, but it doesn't really
explain everything.
BRETT
Ok, so you think something magical
is happening?
PAUL
Well, why is it just me? Why not
you, or anyone else for that
matter?
BRETT
So you believe in metaphysics if it
proves you're special?
(CONTINUED)
DREAM SCENARIO 40
42 CONTINUED: 42
PAUL
No. I don't know, I'm still
processing it, but that guy was
just some delusional man with his
own wild ideas, I don't think
that's going to be a recurring
event.
BRETT
But why risk it?
PAUL
Well if people know who I am it's
just easier to for me to get my
foot in the door.
BRETT
Which door are we talking about
here Paul?
PAUL
A publisher. For the book I wanna
write?
BRETT
Oh, Ok. Am I sensing a little
midlife crisis here?
PAUL
Oh come on, you're the one who just
bought a fucking Kawasaki!
BRETT
Ok, calm down.
43 INT. NYC - CORPORATE BUILDING - LOBBY - DAYS LATER - DAY 43
Paul is waiting in a comically modern chair in the lobby of a
high rise building belonging to a talent agency. MOLLY, an
assistant in her mid twenties, comes out of the elevators to
pick him up.
MOLLY
Paul?
PAUL
Hi, yes.
MOLLY
Hi, I'm Molly. They're ready for
you upstairs.
(CONTINUED)
DREAM SCENARIO 41
43 CONTINUED: 43
PAUL
Great.
They enter the elevator together.
44 INT. NYC - CORPORATE BUILDING - ELEVATOR -CONTINUOUS- DAY 44
They're alone in the elevator and an awkward silence emerges.
Molly starts laughing.
PAUL
What?
MOLLY
It's nothing.
PAUL
No, come on.
MOLLY
It's just... Really weird to see
you in real life.
PAUL
Oh, you've been--
MOLLY
-- Nonstop. Every night. It's
crazy, man.
PAUL
Wow. Well, I hope I'm... Behaving.
She laughs again.
MOLLY
Well, no... You're not. No. Not at
all.
Ding! Elevator door opens.
45 INT. NYC - CORPORATE BUILDING - CONFERENCE ROOM - DAY 45
TRENT is sitting by the end of the conference room table with
his colleague MARY, when Molly and Paul walk in.
MOLLY
I got Paul here.
TRENT
There you are!
(CONTINUED)
DREAM SCENARIO 42
45 CONTINUED: 45
PAUL
Here I am.
TRENT
Paul, Trent. Hey. I have been
dreaming about this meeting.
PAUL
Aw, yeah, me too.
TRENT
Really?
PAUL
Oh you mean-- literally dreaming?
TRENT
You know I've actually had dreams
about this very meeting. I think
they were just normal dreams
though, not part of the whole
"who's this weird guy in my
dreams".
PAUL
Oh -- I'm weird?
TRENT
No, I mean.. You're not weird. No,
the whole thing is weird. Right? I
mean, Molly's dreams have been
nuts.
MOLLY
Trent!
TRENT
You wanna talk about weird. But
this is my colleague Mary Wiggins.
MARY
Hi, Paul.
TRENT
Sit down!
PAUL
Here?
TRENT
Wherever you want. How are you?
How's life?
(CONTINUED)
DREAM SCENARIO 43
45 CONTINUED: (2) 45
They sit.
PAUL
Well, things have been pretty
different since, you know, since
the dreams started.
TRENT
Yeah, how fun is that? I mean, I
wish I was the one people were
dreaming about.
MARY
Me too!
45
PAUL
Yeah, no, it's something.
TRENT
Well, we're...we're just so excited
to have you here.
MARY
Oh, yeah, we're really fired up.
It's probably really overwhelming,
right, to walk into a room like
this, it's like: "who are these
people? What am I doing here?"
Maybe we should back up and just
talk about what we do.
TRENT
Yeah, yeah, so we started
"Thoughts?" earlier this year, so
we're a pretty new agency, and we
focus mostly online -- sort of
trying to holistically pair brands
and more, shall we say
unconventional celebrities, if that
makes sense? And I think of you,
right now, in this moment, Paul, as
the most interesting person in the
world.
Paul laughs.
TRENT (CONT'D)
I mean it! I mean it. And we don't
just throw that around.
MARY
No we really don't throw that
around.
(CONTINUED)
DREAM SCENARIO 44
45 CONTINUED: (3) 45
Paul looks over at Molly who is gazing at him.
TRENT
I mean, the advantage that you
have, Paul, is that your impact is
not just tied to any one social
arena. I mean, you're not just
famous for people on TikTok or for
people who read, say, The New
Yorker. You're in people's minds,
when they sleep, which means that
anyone who's dreaming, you know,
could be your audience.
MARY
How amazing is that? Who can say
that?
TRENT
You know, is that a big enough
audience? So, you know, we've been
brainstorming a bunch of cool ideas
that we want to talk about with
you. But before we get into any of
that, we were just kind of curious
what you're thinking. Where do you
want to go? What do you want to
achieve? What are your "dreams"?
MARY
What are your "dreams"?
PAUL
Well, I've been meaning to write a
book for a few years now. I just
never found the time.
TRENT
Ok, so you're a writer? That's
awesome. You know, we talked about
selling your life rights to a movie
studio actually.
MARY
Oh because with all the buzz around
this, I think we could probably get
a six figure deal. And that's life
rights.
PAUL
Really? Life rights?
MARY
The rights to your life!
(CONTINUED)
DREAM SCENARIO 45
45 CONTINUED: (4) 45
TRENT
Anyway, here's somewhere cool that
we thought might be a good place to
start. Sprite.
MARY
Sprite...
PAUL
Sprite?
TRENT
Yeah, they want us to run their
social, I think somebody over there
must have lost their minds or
something, but they're down to go
pretty weird with it. So we thought
it could be fun if maybe they,
like, tweet a new photo of you
every night, holding a can, with a
fun little caption, just to really
manifest that connection in
people's minds and to hopefully
alter the phenomenon, at least
temporarily, to make people dream
about you and the product,
together.
MARY
How amazing would that be, right?
And if we couldn't figure that out
we could always just suggest that
it did work, and we could build
stories around that.
TRENT
(to Mary)
Yeah, absolutely, I mean if we fail
all-together then we... that's kind
of a fun story, too. You know, like
we tried to make people dream about
Sprite and it didn't work. I mean,
it's so dumb, that it's kind of
cool. You know, it kind of works.
PAUL
Can I just--
TRENT
Yeah?
PAUL
Can we go back to the book?
(CONTINUED)
DREAM SCENARIO 46
45 CONTINUED: (5) 45
TRENT
What book?
PAUL
My book. The book I want to write.
I just want to make it clear that I
actually don't want this whole
phenomenon to be what I'm known
for. I don't want that to be the
main thing on my Wikipedia, you
know?
TRENT
Ok... So... What are you thinking?
PAUL
Well, I'm an evolutionary
biologist. That's what I've
dedicated my life to. So whatever
we do, I want it to be related to
my doctorate.
MARY
Wow, wow. Ok see I didn't know
about that at all.
TRENT
Well, you're famous for the dreams,
right? I mean that's why anyone's
interested. So it might be a bit of
a stretch to get you into a totally
different space.
PAUL
I'm a tenured professor, I'm
already in "the space".
TRENT
Ok, well...Just to give us a point
of contact as to what we're talking
about, who are some of the big
names that you like, in that space?
PAUL
Well. There's a bunch. Robert
Sapolsky, his career has been
pretty admirable.
TRENT
Oh is he, um... No, I don't think
I'm familiar with him, actually.
PAUL
Herman Tig maybe?
(CONTINUED)
DREAM SCENARIO 47
45 CONTINUED: (6) 45
TRENT
Who?
PAUL
Herman Tig.
MARY
Yeah, I know that name.
PAUL
Oh, you do?
TRENT
Well, these are not really
celebrities I suppose.
PAUL
No. that's the point. I don't care
about fame, I just see this as an
opportunity to get some recognition
for my work, you know? One door
opening another door.
TRENT
Yeah, no I get that you're talking
about an audience pivot... which I
think is very smart, I just don't
know if you can pivot that hard
right now without a significant
drop-off. I mean a book about...
What? Plants?
PAUL
Yeah, well I'm not really
interested in doing Sprite ads.
TRENT
No, no, no. Well that's just one
example, though, Paul, we have a
ton of ideas.
MARY
Oh, that is just the very tip of
the iceberg, we have so many
ideas... Um, one idea we had was to
make Obama dream about you. That
would get you into some of those
"high culture" spaces you've been
mentioning. I know Malia, so we can
make it happen.
(CONTINUED)
DREAM SCENARIO 48
45 CONTINUED: (7) 45
PAUL
Maybe this isn't really what I'm
looking for, I don't think we're
really speaking the same language
here...
TRENT
No, Paul... If that's how you're
feeling, then I'm failing, ok? Can
we just... Can I... can we start
over?
Trent turns around, away from Paul. Molly and Mary are
confused, they haven't seen Trent like this before. While
Trent is still facing away, Paul feels like he needs to say
something.
PAUL
I just thought you guys could help
find a publisher.
Trent turns back around.
TRENT
First off I would like to
apologize... I lied earlier. I
never dreamed about you, I just
thought that would be a fun way to
start the meeting. Ok but what is
absolutely true is that I have been
thinking about you a lot, and I
just really feel that we're gonna
do something very special together.
So let's just say we move forward
with your plant book..
PAUL
I never said anything about plants.
TRENT
Oh no. Your... your book, about..
Evolutionary...?
MARY
Plants.
PAUL
It's about ants.
MARY
Ants!
(CONTINUED)
DREAM SCENARIO 49
45 CONTINUED: (8) 45
TRENT
Ants. Ok! Great. Well, let's say we
go forward with that, we'll help
you set that up.
PAUL
(skeptical)
Really?
TRENT
Yes. I just... I really want to
work with you Paul... I mean, like
I said... "Most interesting person
in the world".
PAUL
Ok, but then... no ads, no Sprite.
We're focusing on the book.
TRENT
Yes. And you know, if you're not
feeling Sprite, we'll respect that,
I would just ask in return that you
hear out our pitches and just keep
an open mind, you know, especially
with things like Sprite because,
you know, the door is kind of wide
open there, right now. And they're
ready to have that conversation
with you.
MARY
And that door closes, I'll just
say.
PAUL
Yeah ok.
46 INT. NYC - CORPORATE BUILDING ELEVATOR - LATER 46
Molly and Paul are in the elevator.
MOLLY
So, plans for the night?
PAUL
Uhm... No. I've got a really early
flight back, so...
Beat.
(CONTINUED)
DREAM SCENARIO 50
46 CONTINUED: 46
MOLLY
If you want to get a drink, just
let me know. I could come near you
if that's easier. They have you at
the Ace, right?
47 INT. NYC - HOTEL ROOM - LATER 47
Paul is sitting on the bed of his hotel room chatting with
Janet on the phone.
PAUL
They were so great! They really
know their stuff. They're gonna set
me up with a publisher, get the
book rolling.
JANET
Oh wow! That's great! Now you just
have to write it.
PAUL
Yeah... Of course.
JANET
So what did they say?
PAUL
They called me "the most
interesting person in the world
right now."
Janet starts laughing.
PAUL (CONT'D)
What?
JANET
No... Nothing. I'm sure that's very
flattering.
PAUL
No, they specifically said they
didn't just throw that around.
JANET
Okay.
PAUL
I don't think they were just saying
it to make me feel good Janet,
They're already talking to big
clients who want to work with me.
(CONTINUED)
DREAM SCENARIO 51
47 CONTINUED: 47
JANET
Like who?
PAUL
Like.. I mean, and this was just
one example, but they mentioned
Sprite--
JANET
Sprite? You're gonna work with
Sprite?
(to someone else)
I'll be right there.
PAUL
Who's there?
JANET
Chris. Our deadline is tomorrow, so
we're just here finishing up.
PAUL
Right. Where are the kids?
JANET
They're out trick or treating...
With Kyle.
PAUL
Oh, Kyle. Ok.
JANET
Yeah, well, congrats Paul. I'll see
you tomorrow then?
PAUL
Yeah... Ok. Well, they also talked
about Obama too... Like, maybe
he'll dream about me?
JANET
Ok...?
PAUL
I...I'm just saying it wasn't just
Sprite.
JANET
You don't have to impress me Paul.
I love you.
PAUL
I love you too.
(CONTINUED)
DREAM SCENARIO 52
47 CONTINUED: (2) 47
JANET
Ok. See you tomorrow.
PAUL
Yeah... Bye.
They hang up. Paul is just sitting there.
48 INT. NYC - HIP BAR - NIGHT 48
That night, Paul has met up with Molly at a trendy hipster
bar in the lower east side of Manhattan. The clientele are
mostly in their late twenties or early thirties. Paul and
Molly are seated at a table drinking cocktails. There are
Halloween decorations and some of the patrons are dressed up
in spooky outfits.
MOLLY
Did you read that article about
people dreaming backward in
Australia?
PAUL
No?
MOLLY
It wascause of, like, the
gravitational pull or something?
They mentioned you in it so.
PAUL
How do they dream in China then,
upside-down?
Paul laughs at his own joke. Molly blushes a bit.
MOLLY
So, how long have you been a
professor?
PAUL
Oh wow, I think... what... about
twenty years...? Since ninety-six.
MOLLY
I was born in ninety-six!
Paul looks over to the bartender.
PAUL
Check please!
(CONTINUED)
DREAM SCENARIO 53
48 CONTINUED: 48
Molly doesn't get the joke. She turns around as if confused
if he's actually getting the check.
PAUL (CONT'D)
No, no I'm kidding... Like, you're
too young for me...
MOLLY
Aren't you married?
PAUL
No, I wasn't implying... it's a
joke.
MOLLY
Yeah, no, I mean, I get it...
PAUL
Oh... Ok. But, yeah I am married...
How about you?
MOLLY
No, I'm not really seeing anyone or
anything. I'm focusing on my career
right now, you know?
PAUL
Yeah, you mean with the agency?
MOLLY
You hated it so much didn't you?
PAUL
No, it's just... It kind of felt
like...
MOLLY
A cult?
PAUL
Yeah, sort of.
MOLLY
I mean, I tried telling them: "he's
a super smart professor, he's gonna
see through the bullshit." But
honestly though, like the Sprite
thing is cool, you should do it.
PAUL
Yeah? I'm struggling to imagine
anyone seeing my face and
immediately craving a Sprite.
(CONTINUED)
DREAM SCENARIO 54
48 CONTINUED: (2) 48
MOLLY
I would.
She gives a flirty look.
PAUL
Can I ask you something?
MOLLY
Yeah, what?
PAUL
I felt like you implied something
earlier... About your dreams...
She blushes.
MOLLY
It's embarrassing...
PAUL
What? Do I act weird or something?
MOLLY
I don't know if I should say.
PAUL
Well it's just dreams, I won't
judge... You don't really get to
decide what happens... So...
MOLLY
Uh...Well... uhm... We fuck.
Paul blushes.
PAUL
Really?
MOLLY
I have the most intense sex dreams.
Usually I'm, like, home and it's
late and I'm alone and I'm watching
TV or something. And then ...
49 INT. NYC - MOLLY'S APARTMENT - NIGHT (DREAM) 49
Molly is in her kitchen, dressed in a sweatsuit and slippers.
She pours herself a glass of wine and walks over to the
living room area. She sits down on the couch and continues to
watch TV. She looks over to a dark corner of the apartment
where she suddenly notices what looks like the silhouette of
a person.
(CONTINUED)
DREAM SCENARIO 55
49 CONTINUED: 49
MOLLY
Is someone there? Who are you?
The person just stands there.
MOLLY (CONT'D)
Hello?
Paul slowly emerges from the dark corner. Molly is startled.
MOLLY (CONT'D)
Who are you, how did you get in
here?
Paul walks over to her calmly. Molly responds with a calm
voice:
MOLLY (CONT'D)
Please, don't hurt me.
Paul sits down on the couch next to her and licks her
earlobe. Molly closes her eyes and moans. Paul moves his hand
down towards her crotch.
MOLLY (CONT'D)
I'm so wet.
They start making out.
50 INT. NYC - HIP BAR - MEANWHILE - NIGHT 50
Paul is sweating listening to this story. Molly is suddenly
embarrassed again.
MOLLY
I'm sorry, I've had like, one drink
and I'm like, no filter.
PAUL
No no, it's fine, it's fine.
MOLLY
No, it's so graphic, I'm sorry.
PAUL
No, I'm glad you told me. Usually
what I hear is that I'm just...
Passively hanging around. Kind of
nice to hear I'm doing something.
MOLLY
Yeah, I guess I'm lucky.
(CONTINUED)
DREAM SCENARIO 56
50 CONTINUED: 50
PAUL
Well, I don't know about that.
MOLLY
No, it's sooo good, trust me.
QUICK CUT: We see a second of the dream scenario of Paul
having passionate sex with Molly on her couch.
Paul's heartbeat rises.
PAUL
Do you want another drink? I need
another one. Martini, right?
Paul gets up. He's getting anxious.
MOLLY
Dirty.
PAUL
OK.
Paul walks over to order. As he stands by the bar he looks
back over to Molly. She's checking her phone. Paul keeps
staring, and suddenly Molly turns over and smiles, he quickly
turns back towards the bartender. He orders two more drinks.
PAUL (CONT'D)
Can I get another cabernet and one
martini, please?
51 INT. NYC - HIP BAR - LATER - NIGHT 51
They are a few drinks deeper in the conversation. There's a
bigger crowd in the bar now, more noise around them.
PAUL
... And that's the thing with the
zebras. The camouflage is for
blending in with the herd. Because
the lion can't hunt the whole
group, it has to identify a single
target... Right?
Paul notices Molly not paying attention.
PAUL (CONT'D)
What?
MOLLY
Sorry, but those people are staring
at us.
(CONTINUED)
DREAM SCENARIO 57
51 CONTINUED: 51
Paul looks over to see a crowd in the corner of the bar who
seem fixated on him.
MOLLY (O.C.) (CONT'D)
I mean, at you obviously.
PAUL
(stressed)
Jesus... Should we not be here,
maybe? Or, should we just--
MOLLY
Why? What's wrong?
PAUL
No, I mean... I just don't want,
you know, any rumors... I mean, if
I'm meeting Obama... And...
MOLLY
What do you mean?
PAUL
No, I mean... I'm, I'm not used to
this.
MOLLY
Should we...... Uhm...
PAUL
What?
MOLLY
I can't get it out of my head, and,
I'm here with you and so... Ok,
fuck it: can you do me a favor?
PAUL
What?
A 30 year old guy dressed up as Paul, bald piece and all, for
Halloween walks in. It startles Paul.
52 INT. NYC - MOLLY'S APARTMENT - NIGHT 52
We hear a key at the door and we see Molly and Paul enter her
apartment. They're both a bit drunk. Molly flips the light
switch and walks over to the kitchen.
MOLLY
Yeah, so this is me.
She takes out a bottle of wine and pours two glasses.
(CONTINUED)
DREAM SCENARIO 58
52 CONTINUED: 52
PAUL
It's nice... Small... And nice.
MOLLY
Well, I don't have rich parents,
so...
PAUL
No, it wasn't a jab, I mean, it's
cozy. You've done a good job.
MOLLY
Sit down.
She gestures him towards the couch. He takes a seat. She sits
next to him. They both take a sip of the wine.
PAUL
So...
MOLLY
So...
They look at each other. Molly laughs.
MOLLY (CONT'D)
So... This is insane. You have no
fucking idea how crazy this is to
me.
PAUL
I shouldn't even be here.
MOLLY
No, please, don't leave.
PAUL
I think I'm a bit drunk.
MOLLY
Me too. Just stay. Please... You
just got here, just stay for a
second.
Paul scans the room and sees a bike.
PAUL
Is that a... Fixed gear?
MOLLY
Uhm... No. It's like a... Regular
one...
(CONTINUED)
DREAM SCENARIO 59
52 CONTINUED: (2) 52
PAUL
Ah... So... How do we do this?
MOLLY
Oh, Uhm. Okay. I feel like I want
to change first, is that cool?
PAUL
Sure.
MOLLY
Okay two seconds.
Molly leaves to her bedroom. Paul spends the moment doubting
his actions, gets up from the couch, but suddenly she comes
back in a sweatsuit and slippers, just like in her dream.
MOLLY (CONT'D)
Everything good?
PAUL
Yeah... Uhm... So... Where do you
want me?
MOLLY
Could you remove your jacket?
PAUL
Uhm, sure.
Paul removes his jacket.
MOLLY
Okay, now would you stand in that
corner over there?
PAUL
Over there?
MOLLY
Yeah.
Paul walks over to the corner.
MOLLY (CONT'D)
Get all the way up against the
wall.
Paul does what she says and fades into the darkness of the
corner as he presses up against the wall with his back. We
can barely see him, just like in the dream. Molly starts
breathing heavy.
(CONTINUED)
DREAM SCENARIO 60
52 CONTINUED: (3) 52
PAUL
Okay, did that work for you, or-
MOLLY
Sorry, sorry, Shut up! Please,
just... I'm sorry, just, can you
just go on for a little more?
PAUL
Just... You know... I'm married.
MOLLY
I know, we can stop any time you
like, just please, Let me just..., a
little longer.
Beat.
PAUL
Okay.
MOLLY
This time, please don't speak this
time. Just do the dream.
Paul leans back in to the corner again. Molly starts
breathing heavier. He stands there for a good minute, then he
walks out of the corner towards her, still in character.
MOLLY (CONT'D)
Who are you?!
She moans a little. He sits down right next to her.
MOLLY (CONT'D)
Please don't hurt me.
Paul doesn't know what to do next.
MOLLY (CONT'D)
(whispering)
Touch me.
Paul is conflicted, hesitant, but finally moves his hand
slowly over her thigh and up to her crotch. Molly moans even
louder. Paul is starting to sweat, his forehead now dripping.
She's waiting for him to do something.
PAUL
What?
(CONTINUED)
DREAM SCENARIO 61
52 CONTINUED: (4) 52
MOLLY
It's just... In the dreams you
usually, like, take the lead..
PAUL
Yeah? What... What do you want?
She stares at him for a beat and then starts making out with
him. He follows her lead. Then she starts removing his belt,
and at that moment Paul involuntary farts.
MOLLY
Oh.
PAUL
I'm sorry, it's just-- nerves...
biologically speaking, it's...
healthy
MOLLY
Yeah, it's fine.
PAUL
It's a sign of a healthy.. Uhm..
Gastro.. Uhm--
MOLLY
It's fine. Relax.
PAUL
Ok.
Molly reaches back to continue. She moves slowly and
sensually, she continues removing his belt, and Paul then
prematurely ejaculates.
MOLLY
Did you just cum?
Paul farts again, he's incredibly embarrassed. He has no
words, he takes his jacket and leaves.
53 INT. NYC - HOTEL ROOM - NIGHT 53
Paul is lying in his hotel bed later that night. A clock
indicates 4:33 AM. He's not able to sleep at all. He takes
the clock, throws it against the wall in anger and
frustration and tries to force himself to sleep. We see him
slowly falling asleep, his face twitching a bit.
DREAM SCENARIO 62
54 INT. PAUL'S HOUSE - SOPHIE'S BEDROOM - MEANWHILE - NIGHT 54
- Sophie is sleeping. Her hand starts twitching. We see a
QUICK FLASH of Paul coming out of her closet in an eerie way
and walking towards her fast. She screams.
- Sophie wakes up with a jolt. She's scared. She walks over
to the closet. She hesitates but opens it, and no-one is in
there. She goes back to bed but can't sleep.
55 OMITTED 55
56 OMITTED 56
57 INT. PAUL'S HOUSE - LATER - DAY 57
Paul is back home from the airport, his travel bag next to
him on the floor as he's reading from the latest Nature
magazine.
PAUL
Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Yeah, you Fuck!
He slams the magazine onto the table to show a page with the
headline: "Sheila Harper's "Antelligence theory" changes the
way we understand the hive mind." There's a photo of her
smiling underneath.
58 INT. OSLER UNIVERSITY - DORMITORY - NIGHT (DREAM) 58
Paul knocks on one of the dorm room doors and Greta opens.
She seems surprised to see Paul there, and leaves the
security chain attached.
GRETA
Professor? What's going on?
PAUL
Can I come in?
GRETA
Why?
PAUL
I need help with something...
GRETA
Ok...? What?
(CONTINUED)
DREAM SCENARIO 63
58 CONTINUED: 58
PAUL
I don't want to stand here in the
hallway and explain.
GRETA
Well, can it wait? I'm in the
middle of something.
PAUL
Just five minutes...
GRETA PAUL (CONT'D)
I'll come out-- I'd be better if we sat down.
Greta's face turns pale, she removes the chain and lets Paul
in. Once inside he freezes, mute, for a few beats. Greta
seems confused.
GRETA (CONT'D)
So... What's going on?
PAUL
That was a mistake.
GRETA
What do you mean?
PAUL
What just happened. That was a
mistake. You shouldn't have done
that.
GRETA
I don't understand--
PAUL
You're just so fucking stupid
sometimes. Do you know that? Have
you heard that before?
GRETA
Okay, okay, please leave...
Paul stares at Greta for a few beats, then rushes over and
starts strangling her. There's a fight. He pushes her up
against the wall, she struggles, they end up on the floor. He
keeps strangling her, her face now turning red as she's
gasping for air. Her eyes tear up. He keeps going, putting
even more pressure on. Eventually her life fades out of her
body, she stops breathing.
DREAM SCENARIO 64
59 INT. OSLER UNIVERSITY - LECTURE HALL - MORNING 59
There's only five students present when Paul arrives.
PAUL
Where is everybody?
The students look at each other.
ROBBIE
I'm not really sure.
60 OMITTED 60
61 INT. OSLER UNIVERSITY - HALLWAY - NIGHT (DREAM) 61
Andy is walking through the hallway alone, late. He's the
only one left in the building, and there's an eerie feel to
it. Suddenly, out from one of the classrooms, Paul comes
running into the hallway with a hammer in his hand, smashing
it over Andy's head who falls to the ground. Andy immediately
has a seizure, Paul leans down and flips him around, looks
him in the eye and continues to hammer his face in.
62 INT. OSLER UNIVERSITY - BRETT'S OFFICE - LATER - DAY 62
Paul is shocked by the story. What we just saw was the
retelling of Andy's dream.
PAUL
I'm shocked.
BRETT
Yeah, and they got worse, some are
even sexual in nature, so they
don't feel comfortable being in
your classes right now.
Scattered throughout their conversation we see little flash
cuts of the student's nightmares.
PAUL
Jesus, they had some bad dreams and
now they're not gonna show up for
class? I mean, we can't just accept
that?
BRETT
I don't know what to do here.
Obviously, I have to take the
students' concerns seriously, too.
(CONTINUED)
DREAM SCENARIO 65
62 CONTINUED: 62
PAUL
Yes, of course, but... Isn't this a
bit of an overreaction? They're
dreams, it's not real. I'm not
actually doing anything to them.
BRETT
As I said, this is really new
territory. I think I just need to
consult with HR.
PAUL
Do you, Brett, as my friend, and
not speaking as the dean of Osler,
think that we should pause the
semester because some students are
having bad dreams?
BRETT
Well, I haven't had one of these
dreams so I can't really speak to
the--
PAUL
No, no, no, don't say "lived
experience."
BRETT
But it sounds like they've actually
been traumatized.
PAUL
Trauma is a trend these days, it's
a joke! Everything is trauma.
Arguing with a friend is trauma.
Getting bad grades is trauma. They
need to grow up!
63 OMITTED 63
64 INT. RICHARD'S HOUSE - NIGHT 64
Paul and Janet are finally doing that dinner with Richard who
is now reluctantly greeting them in the hallway.
JANET
Hi, Richard.
RICHARD
Hi!
(CONTINUED)
DREAM SCENARIO 66
64 CONTINUED: 64
PAUL
Richard! Carlota! It's been too
long!
They hug. Paul notices the empty hallway and no sounds coming
from the house.
PAUL (CONT'D)
Are we the first ones?
RICHARD
Oh, actually it'll just be us.
PAUL
Really? I thought this was gonna be
one of your famous "bring people
together" things.
Carlota and Richard seem a bit uneasy.
RICHARD
Yeah, we... Uh... We thought it
would be nice with just us four.
PAUL
OK... Yeah... More wine for us!
Paul pretends to drink straight from the bottle he brought,
as a joke.
65 INT. RICHARD'S HOUSE - DINING ROOM - LATER 65
That bottle is now opened on the table. Richard pours
everyone a glass. There's tension in the air. Paul raises his
glass.
PAUL
Cheers guys.
Richard and Carlota cheer him back with low enthusiasm.
PAUL (CONT'D)
(to Carlota)
So, Carlota, I heard you're at a
new practice now?
CARLOTA
Yeah, I am.
PAUL
Yeah?
(CONTINUED)
DREAM SCENARIO 67
65 CONTINUED: 65
CARLOTA
Yes.
Awkward silence.
JANET
This is so good by the way.
PAUL
Oh my gosh, these Brussels sprouts
are amazing.
RICHARD
Yeah, got them from... Shelly's.
PAUL
Ah!
New awkward silence.
PAUL (CONT'D)
So I'm starting to think maybe Nick
Bostrom was right about the
simulation theory. That would sure
explain a lot about, you know, my
whole situation.
Richard looks over at Carlota, who doesn't seem engaged.
RICHARD
Oh yeah, remember Nick, Carlota?
Swedish guy, philosopher at Oxford.
PAUL
He was here?
RICHARD
Yeah, once or twice.
PAUL
Invite us both next time... He'd
probably love to speak with me...
PAUL (CONT'D)
Wasn't I the one who even told you
about him?
RICHARD NO,
I don't think so...
Janet sees that Carlota has zoned out.
(CONTINUED)
DREAM SCENARIO 68
65 CONTINUED: (2) 65
JANET
Carlota, are you still doing your
pottery?
Carlota chokes on her food and coughs. Richard pats her back.
CARLOTA
Please! Don't be so rough!
RICHARD
Sorry... You OK?
CARLOTA
You're slamming my back!
Paul and Janet are baffled by the awkwardness.
PAUL
Everything good?
Carlota doesn't answer.
RICHARD
She's had a rough day at work,
so...
PAUL
Ah. Ok.
More silence.
Carlota's lower lip is starting to shiver.
We see a FLASH CUT of Carlota's nightmare. Paul is strangling
Carlota from behind with a metal wire normally used for
pottery, in her pottery studio.
JANET
Oh no, what's the matter?
CARLOTA
Sorry, I can't do this... I can't.
Carlota storms out. Richard runs after Carlota. We can hear
them discuss loudly.
PAUL
(to Janet)
What the hell is going on?
JANET
I have no idea.
Richard comes back down. He seems distressed.
(CONTINUED)
DREAM SCENARIO 69
65 CONTINUED: (3) 65
JANET (CONT'D)
Richard, what's wrong?
RICHARD
Uh... Guys, I think we need to wrap
this up. Carlota isn't feeling
well.
JANET
Is she... Ill?
RICHARD
Uhm... Well... She uhm... It's you
Paul... She's had some pretty
brutal nightmares lately.
Paul is caught between two states: trying to show sympathy,
but also being fed up with this phenomenon.
PAUL
Oh... Wow... Shit... I just
couldn't......
JANET
I'm so sorry, you could have told
us.
RICHARD
I convinced her not to cancel, I
shouldn't have done that.
PAUL
Well...
(beat)
Should the three of us still finish
though? Would be a waste to just--
RICHARD
--No you have to leave.
PAUL
Really?
RICHARD
Yeah, really! Why do you think no
one else is here?
66 INT. OSLER UNIVERSITY - BASKETBALL COURT - DAY 66
In what looks like an emergency crisis consultation, all of
Paul's students have gathered, sitting on chairs on the
basketball court while CANDICE, a woman from HR addresses
them.
(CONTINUED)
DREAM SCENARIO 70
66 CONTINUED: 66
CANDICE
The basic idea with Cognitive
Behavioral Therapy is that we'll go
through gradual exposure to what we
feel is threatening us, to
familiarize with it instead of
fearing it. What doesn't kill us
makes us stronger, right?
The students look at each other.
CANDICE (CONT'D)
I know that a lot of you have had
upsetting dreams about your
professor. The dreams suggest that
Paul Matthews is a harmful person,
and your mind is trying to keep you
safe by creating certain emotional
triggers, motivating you to avoid
him. I want to defuse those
triggers by showing you that Paul
is in fact a kind, loving and
harmless human being.
She holds up a photo of Paul smiling to everyone. One of the
students is visibly upset by this. Candice then puts the
photo down.
CANDICE (CONT'D)
OK. So, I'm going to invite Paul in
to the room. He's going to step
inside that door aaaaall the way
over there. And he's going to stay
at that safe distance until
everyone feels it's comfortable to
invite him closer. All right? If
anyone feels unsafe you may calmly
state "Candice, I don't feel safe
at this moment." Does everybody
understand that?
The students nod and say yes.
CANDICE (CONT'D)
All right. Paul?!
After a few anticipating beats, Paul opens the door at the
far end of the court and takes two steps in. Everyone stares
at him, there's a few awkward beats before Candice
interjects:
(CONTINUED)
DREAM SCENARIO 71
66 CONTINUED: (2) 66
CANDICE (CONT'D)
Ok, that wasn't so bad, was it?
Let's have him step forward, get a
little bit closer. Paul?
Paul takes a few slow steps closer. The students start
feeling uneasy.
CANDICE (CONT'D)
Paul is not going to hurt you. Can
we let him get even a bit closer..?
Nobody responds.
CANDICE (CONT'D)
Paul, step closer please.
Paul takes a few more steps, inching closer, then stops. He's
now at a half-court distance from the students. Tension is
building. Candice waves Paul closer, and he takes another few
steps. Tension is at a peak, everyone is frozen in
anticipation.
PAUL
So...
A student starts running towards the doors, which triggers
the rest of the students to follow, as though they just
realized Paul is holding a gun. Candice yells at them to
stop, Paul is just standing there, disappointed.
67 EXT. OSLER UNIVERSITY - MOMENTS LATER - DAY 67
Paul is on foot through the campus, walking to the parking
lot. All the students in the campus area are scowling at him,
following him with judgmental looks as though he's an outlaw
being banished from the town. We can tell Paul feels a bit
nervous, like as if the whole crowd could suddenly turn
violent. When he finally reaches his car he sees someone has
graffitied "LOSER" on it. He turns around and looks at all
the students who are watching him from a distance.
PAUL
Hey! HEY! Who did this? Tell me
now! Stop being little fucking
brats! Who the fuck did this?
This aggressive behavior seems to confirm their belief that
Paul is evil, and some seem upset and frightened. One of the
students is recording Paul on his phone.
DREAM SCENARIO 72
68 INT. PAUL'S HOUSE - DINING ROOM - LATER - NIGHT 68
The family is having dinner.
JANET
So what did Brett say?
PAUL
"See it as a little vacation" - can
you believe it? I'm a tenured
professor and they're basically
letting the students run the
school.
JANET
So how long are you not gonna be
working?
PAUL
I don't even know if I want to go
back at this point, you know? I
should just go all-in with the
book.
HANNAH
What did you do? Like, why did
everything change?
PAUL
I didn't do anything, Hannah.
HANNAH
You must have done something.
PAUL
Well, I didn't... So...
HANNAH
Have you seen twitter?
PAUL
No?
HANNAH
There's like thousands of people
sharing nightmares, about like
torture and rape and--
PAUL
Enough! Ok, new rule: no phones at
the table and no discussion of...
The dreams... OK?
(CONTINUED)
DREAM SCENARIO 73
68 CONTINUED: 68
HANNAH PAUL (CONT'D)
I'm just saying I understand You already broke the rule,
why your students-- Hannah Let's start over. No
mention of this by the table
ever again. Please.
There's an awkward silence.
JANET
Are you gonna clean that stuff off
the car?
69 INT. ARCHITECTURE FIRM OFFICE - DAY 69
Janet is having a private meeting with Chris in a glass
cubicle at the office.
JANET
They're kicking me off the project?
CHRIS
It seems like they just want to be
extra careful moving into the final
stages, just as a precautionary
measure.
JANET
Because of Paul?
CHRIS
You know, I'm really against, like,
cancel culture and everything but I
think it would be better if you
kept a lower profile until the
whole scandal dies down... Does
that make sense?
71 INT. PAUL'S HOUSE - SOPHIE'S BEDROOM - NIGHT 71
Sophie is in bed and Paul is about to turn off the lights in
her room.
SOPHIE
They call you Freddy Krueger... At
school.
PAUL
Oh... Do they... Do you know who
that is?
SOPHIE
I google'd it.
(CONTINUED)
DREAM SCENARIO 74
71 CONTINUED: 71
PAUL
Yeah... They're just trying to
tease you.
SOPHIE
Julian said you tied him up and cut
off his toes and ate them.
PAUL
You think I would cut someone's
toes off?
Beat.
SOPHIE
No?
PAUL
Dreaming is like a psychosis,
Sophie, our brain decides to start
hallucinating at night, which is
part of its housekeeping process,
we need that to happen, for some
reason.
SOPHIE
But why are you so mean in the
dreams?
PAUL
It's their dreams, I have nothing
to do with it. You understand that,
right?
SOPHIE
I guess...
PAUL
Good night.
72 INT. PAUL'S HOUSE - MAIN BEDROOM - NIGHT 72
Paul and Janet both get into bed without talking to each
other. After a long period of silence, Paul tries to bargain
for peace:
PAUL
I'm just gonna stay at home
tomorrow. If you want me to... Cook
or something...
JANET
Who's Molly?
(CONTINUED)
DREAM SCENARIO 75
72 CONTINUED: 72
PAUL
What?
JANET
You have texts from someone named
Molly.
PAUL
Oh, she's just an assistant... At
the agency. She's just setting up a
call.
JANET
You never mentioned her.
They stop talking again.
73 INT. PAUL'S HOUSE - MISC - DAY 73
MONTAGE: We see multiple tableaus of Paul dressed in
sweatpants and a T-shirt, going about his day inside the
house: making himself breakfast, trying to play piano,
attempting to exercise in the basement.
74 OMITTED 74
75 INT. PAUL'S HOUSE - HOME OFFICE - DAY 75
While googling himself on the computer, Paul is talking to
his agents on his cell phone's speaker.
TRENT
Two seconds Paul, I'm just trying
to connect Mary to the call.
PAUL
Yeah, no problem.
MOLLY
Hi, Paul.
PAUL
Who's this?
MOLLY
It's Molly. I'm just listening in.
PAUL
Oh hi Molly, how... how are you?
(CONTINUED)
DREAM SCENARIO 76
75 CONTINUED: 75
TRENT
Hello? Is everybody on?
PAUL
I'm here Trent.
TRENT
Mary? You on too?
Silence.
MOLLY
Oh, Trent: Mary just texted me, she
had the wrong link.
PAUL
Should we just start?
TRENT
Uhm... Yeah, we could start. We
could catch up--
Paul sees a TMZ article about him with the headline
"PAULTERGEIST: NIGHTMARE PROFESSOR'S ANGRY MELTDOWN" with a
video of him screaming at his students, without showing the
context of the vandalized car. Paul is shocked and gets out
of his chair and paces around the room.
MARY
Hello?!
TRENT
Oh there you are.
MARY
Can you guys hear me?
TRENT
Yeah... Paul?
PAUL
Yes, I can hear you. What's going
on guys?
MARY
Ok. Hi. What a crazy week, right?
Uhm. So obviously we have to change
strategies to adapt to the current
situation...
PAUL
Is Obama still a thing? That might
be helpful now, right?
(CONTINUED)
DREAM SCENARIO 77
75 CONTINUED: (2) 75
MARY
What?
PAUL
Obama. You guys were talking to
him, right?
MARY
Oh, I mean, Obama's not an option
anymore.
TRENT
Yeah, Paul, we're talking about a
complete 180, we have to think
fresh. Corporate culture won't
touch this. It's too risky.
Paul notices two students, Robbie and Miles, who are
loitering outside the house, immediately making him anxious.
MARY
But we are getting positive signals
from a different venue, the whole
kind of.. I don't want to say
"altright" but the kind of
antiestablishment space, you know?
Kind of the Jordan Peterson route?
TRENT
Yeah we could maybe get you on
Rogan or something, share your
experience getting cancelled and
just, like, pivot the convo to your
plant book..
PAUL
Guys.. No. I hate that idea.
MARY
Just so we can understand you
better, what exactly are you
opposed to?
PAUL
I don't want to be some "culture
war person"! I don't want to be
"controversial".
(CONTINUED)
DREAM SCENARIO 78
75 CONTINUED: (3) 75
TRENT
Ok. Ok. This is gonna go right
against what you're saying right
now, but... There's like maybe a
chance to go on Tucker Carlson this
week though...that's a big
audience. Just think about that,
don't answer now, just think about
it.
MARY
Yeah, and then there's France. For
some reason they love you over
there, even with the nightmares!
They love it!
Paul walks over to his window to get a better look at the
students who are now on his property.
TRENT
Yeah, we're building a fanbase over
there.
PAUL
Isn't there some type of charity I
can do, maybe?
MARY
No, that's sweet, but no.
TRENT
It might seem apologetic.
76 OMITTED 76
77 INT. DINER - LATER - DAY 77
Paul, wearing casual attire and a baseball cap for anonymity,
enjoys a meal while reading a Robert Sapolsky book at a local
diner. GRACE, the waitress then approaches him.
GRACE
Hi.
PAUL
It's good! Thanks.
Paul smiles then gets back to his reading, but Grace is still
hovering.
PAUL (CONT'D)
What?
(CONTINUED)
DREAM SCENARIO 79
77 CONTINUED: 77
GRACE
I'm so sorry sir, I hate to do
this, but there are some people who
aren't really comfortable with the
fact that you're here.
PAUL
Ok?
GRACE
Yeah..
PAUL
Well, if they're so uncomfortable
maybe they should leave?
GRACE
Uhm, sure yeah, but--
PAUL
I'm just enjoying my meal. I
haven't said or done anything.
GRACE
Right... I mean, I guess I could
tell them you're about to leave?
PAUL
Why should I leave, I haven't
broken any of your rules have I?
GRACE
Uhm... I mean, no, but...
PAUL
Great, then that's that, right?
GRACE
Uhm, yeah, I guess... Ok.
Paul gets back to his book and continues to eat. Grace leaves
to talk to the two people who were complaining. After some
moments another patron of the diner, a LARGE MAN, walks over
to Paul.
LARGE MAN
Hey. Hi. Would you do us a favor
and wrap that up? Nobody wants you
here, man. It'd be great if you
could just leave.
PAUL
Well, I'm staying.
(CONTINUED)
DREAM SCENARIO 80
77 CONTINUED: (2) 77
LARGE MAN
Are you sure about that?
PAUL
Yeah, I'm going to enjoy my food
and leave when I'm done... Ok?
LARGE MAN
Ok.
The large man takes his plate and spits on his food and puts
it back. Paul is shocked. The large man walks back to his
table, while Paul picks up his food and throws it at the guy.
78 INT./EXT. PAUL'S CAR - LATER - DAY 78
Janet is driving with a badly bruised Paul, plastered in
medical strips and gauze to cover cuts around his eye,
sitting in the passenger seat.
JANET
Listen... Maybe you need to be more
pro-active about this.
PAUL
What do you mean?
JANET
Make a public statement or
something... Maybe you should
apologize.
PAUL
I should apologize? Look at my face
for Christ's sake.
JANET
Just to get people off your back!
Off our back.
PAUL
No, that's ridiculous. I'm not
gonna do that.
JANET
You're not alone in this, I almost
lost my job!
PAUL
Which is completely uncalled for.
(CONTINUED)
DREAM SCENARIO 81
78 CONTINUED: 78
JANET
Sophie is getting picked on at
school, Hannah is depressed, we get
weird phone calls in the middle of
the night, people are breaking in
to our house!
PAUL
So are we going to let the
terrorists win? And who's to say
anything will be different if I
apologize?
JANET
So you're basically choosing for us
to be more miserable-
PAUL
Would you fucking stop!?
Janet is caught off guard by his temper.
79 INT. PAUL'S HOUSE - LIVING ROOM - NIGHT 79
Paul is preparing the couch in the living room for a night of
sleep. Janet switches all the lights off as she's going
upstairs.
Janet puts the lights back on and continues upstairs.
80 OMITTED 80
81 EXT. SUBURBAN NEIGHBORHOOD - DAWN (DREAM) 81
Paul is out jogging in the early morning mist. The streets
are completely empty, no one is out yet. Suddenly out of
nowhere an arrow hits him in the arm and gets stuck. Paul,
shocked and perplex tries to understand what has just
happened, and sees that a mysterious man in the woods next to
the road is approaching him with a crossbow in hand. Paul
starts running as he's also trying to prod the arrow out of
his arm. As he's running another arrow hits him in the back.
This one stings and slows him down, he can see that the
mystery man is catching up with him.
Paul then takes a turn and tries to shake him off. Another
arrow hits him in the leg, and he stumbles. He quickly hides
behind a tree. Paul is desperate and in pain. It's quiet. The
mystery man nowhere to be seen. He stays still for a while,
then starts looking around to see if he's safe to move again.
(CONTINUED)
DREAM SCENARIO 82
81 CONTINUED: 81
Then suddenly the mystery man appears in front of him, and we
can now see that the person who has been chasing him is in
fact another Paul. The nightmare version of Paul, who now
aims the crossbow at his face. The real Paul is extremely
uncomfortable having an arrow pointed at his face, which the
nightmare Paul seems to enjoy as he waits to pull the
trigger. Then suddenly he fires one off that goes straight
into Paul's neck, hitting the artery and making him bleed
heavily.
82 OMITTED 82
83 INT. MIDDLE SCHOOL - TEACHERS OFFICE - DAY 83
Paul, still with a visibly bruised face, sits next to Janet
in the office of Sophie's teacher KAYLA, who's standing in
front of her desk. There's a mirror on the wall, and Paul
catches a glimpse of himself and is reminded of his own
nightmare.
KAYLA
It seems like there's a consensus
between the parents, and if it's
not too much to ask, we'd like you
to sit this one out.
PAUL
But it is, it is too much to ask.
This is ridiculous. This is a huge
moment for her, of course I'm going
to be there!
JANET
Paul, please...
PAUL
What? They're imposing an exile!
I'm supposed to just accept that?
JANET
Don't be so dramatic.
KAYLA
We'll have someone record it, OK?
You'll get to see it, just not in
the room on the night.
PAUL
You're aware that I have a PhD,
right?
(CONTINUED)
DREAM SCENARIO 83
83 CONTINUED: 83
KAYLA
Yes?
PAUL
And you? BA?
KAYLA
MA.
PAUL
What I'm saying is that I don't
need your opinions on pedagogy.
KAYLA
I understand that you want to be
there, but at this point the
majority of the parents don't.
They're worried their kids will
feel unsafe, and obviously this
isn't totally unwarranted.
Kayla is gesturing towards Paul's bruised face.
JANET PAUL
Paul, why don't we make this Why don't you take my side--
easier on everyone and just-- Janet?
JANET (CONT'D)
Sophie shouldn't suffer just
because you want to make a point.
Don't make us all die on your hill!
An ASSISTANT knocks on the door and pops her head in.
ASSISTANT
(to Paul)
Hi, sorry to bother you. Do you own
the car that says "Loser"?
Paul is suddenly embarrassed.
PAUL
Yes...
84 INT. PAUL'S HOUSE - HOME OFFICE - NEXT DAY - DAY 84
Paul is seated by his computer, preparing to make a video
recording of himself. He spends time trying to make himself
look emotionally worked up. When he's almost brought himself
to tears he starts recording.
(CONTINUED)
DREAM SCENARIO 84
84 CONTINUED: 84
PAUL
Where do I begin?
(beat)
Let's start with this: I'm sorry.
I'm sorry I didn't address this
earlier, I'm sorry to anyone who's
had one of those terrible, terrible
nightmares. The reason I'm so
emotionally distressed right now is
because I've just had one myself.
I've experienced what so many of
you must have experienced: being
violently attacked and abused by a
man that looks like me. I have to
stress: that man is not me. And I
speak now from actual lived
experience. I'm one of you.
Paul starts tearing up.
PAUL (CONT'D)
I've been vilified in my life,
haunted in my dreams. My mere
presence upsets people... And not
because of what I've actually done,
but because of what people imagine
I've done. Should I really be
punished for that? Aren't I the
biggest victim of this whole
phenomenon? Just look at how it's
affecting my life!
Paul forces himself to cry. It's very operatic.
85 INT. PAUL'S HOUSE - SOPHIE'S BEDROOM - LATER - DAY 85
We hear a muffled argument between Paul and Janet in the
distance. Hannah and Sophie are both on their phones,
watching the apology video.
HANNAH
I'm actually gonna kill myself.
SOPHIE
What is he doing?
86 EXT. PAUL'S HOUSE - BACK PATIO - DAY 86
Paul and Janet are having a heated argument.
(CONTINUED)
DREAM SCENARIO 85
86 CONTINUED: 86
JANET
It was completely insincere and
self-serving.
PAUL
What? Which part?
JANET
It's embarrassing Paul! It's
embarrassing to be married to you
right now.
That comment hits Paul hard.
87 EXT. BRETT'S HOUSE - DRIVEWAY - LATER - NIGHT 87
Brett greets Paul in his driveway as Paul pulls out a gym bag
full of clothes out of his car.
PAUL
Thanks for letting me stay...
BRETT
Yeah... Just a little heads up, my
wife wasn't too hot on the idea, so
I think it'll be downstairs, if
that's OK?
88 INT. BRETT'S HOUSE -- BASEMENT - LATER 88
Brett is now showing Paul the guest room in his basement,
which besides the bed and a ping pong table is completely
empty. You can hear the buzz from the light fixtures.
PAUL
What's the smell?
BRETT
I think that's the propane tank...
I'll crack a window.
Brett shows Paul his depressing bed for the night.
PAUL
I can't just sleep on the couch
upstairs?
BRETT
I'm sorry man. Uhm... If you need
anything, just text me? And I'll
come down?
DREAM SCENARIO 86
89 INT. BRETT'S HOUSE - BASEMENT - NIGHT 89
Paul can't seem to fall asleep. He's bothered by one of the
light fixtures which is still on in the hallway. He walks
over in his underwear to kill it, but the nearest switch on
the wall doesn't seem to do anything. He finds another
switch, switches it, but yet again nothing happens. He keeps
walking around the basement looking for the right switch, and
he keeps getting more frustrated each time because none of
them work. Defeated, he goes back to the bed and tries to
sleep. The buzzing from the light seems to grow and grow in
volume.
90 EXT. MIDDLE SCHOOL - DUSK 90
Paul is in incognito mode, wearing unassuming clothes and a
baseball hat, waiting outside the school as parents enter to
see the play.
91 INT. MIDDLE SCHOOL - FOYER/HALLWAY/AUDITORIUM - NIGHT 91
The foyer is almost empty, just a few staff members who are
quietly talking. They give Paul a glance, but don't seem to
recognize him. He continues through the corridors leading to
the auditorium. PORTIA, a junior staff member notices Paul
and tries to stop him.
PORTIA
Hey... Excuse me? Sir?
PAUL
I'm seeing my daughter, she's on
stage.
PORTIA
You're Mr. Matthews, right?
PAUL
No.
PORTIA
You're not Paul Matthews?
PAUL
No.
The young staffer knows he's lying, but is left powerless.
Paul keeps walking and the staffer starts jogging back
towards the foyer for help.
PORTIA
Call security.
(CONTINUED)
DREAM SCENARIO 87
91 CONTINUED: 91
Paul reaches the auditorium, but the doors are locked. He can
hear music coming from inside and starts gently knocking.
Kayla, Sophie's teacher, opens the door and is immediately
shocked.
KAYLA
(whispers)
You can't be here Paul.
PAUL
Let me just watch, I'll leave
before it's over.
KAYLA
No, I thought we had an agreement.
PAUL
Come on, I just wanna watch for a
few minutes.
KAYLA
Please, Paul, respect our
boundaries.
PAUL
This is ridiculous, let me in!
Kayla is trying to push the door shut, which Paul is
blocking, but he suddenly moves away from the door as he sees
the young staffer now accompanied with a security guard deep
in the corridor. The door slams, then slowly creeks back open
as Kayla screams in pain from her fingers being jammed.
Several fingers are clearly broken and she's bleeding onto
the floor. Paul walks through the doorway to check on Kayla,
who keeps screaming and starts running down the aisle holding
on to her mangled hand, fingers broken so severely they are
bent impossibly out of shape.
KAYLA
He attacked me! Paul Matthews
attacked me!
The lights turn on, the play stops. Paul stands there,
perplexed. Paul sees Sophie on stage, and Sophie stares right
back at him. He tries to plead with the shocked parents.
PAUL
It was an accident! She wouldn't
let me in! I just want to see my
daughter! She wouldn't let me, it
was an accident!
Paul sees Janet seated next to an incredibly embarrassed
Hannah, and to our surprise Chris is there too.
(CONTINUED)
DREAM SCENARIO 88
91 CONTINUED: (2) 91
Janet can't believe what she's witnessing. Suddenly, the
security guard enters and Paul impulsively tries to run away.
SECURITY GUARD
Hey! Stop!
Then a bunch of the other parents jump up from their seat and
tackle Paul to the ground.
PAUL
No, it was an accident, an
accident! Sophie, it was an
accident! Get off me!
Sophie starts crying, Hannah and Janet are in shock as Chris
tries to comfort Janet.
CUT TO BLACK.
92 INT./EXT. TV SEGMENT FROM ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT - DAY 92
With a documentary style camera, we are introduced to a big
mansion in the Hollywood Hills where about ten influencers
live and work together. They are interviewed on camera,
intercut with observational footage of them working,
laughing, and living. Everyone is wearing the same piece of
high tech jewelry on their wrists (The "Norio") and dressed
in coordinated outfits.
CARTER
I think social media is over. I
truly do. If you can, like, promote
a song or like a product like
actually in someone's head? That's
way more powerful, you know?
HUNTER
It's really hard to do! I don't
think people understand that. They
think you can just, like, get a
Norio and like, that's it... Like...
No.
Shots of the "dreamfluencers" working in the house.
NARRATOR (V.O.)
Welcome to the Dream House in the
Hollywood Hills, where the next big
thing in advertising is happening.
A shot shows seven of the dreamfluencers lying on their backs
on the floor, with their eyes closed as though meditating,
with the Norio on their wrists, then:
(CONTINUED)
DREAM SCENARIO 89
92 CONTINUED: 92
CHLOE
"Dreamfluencer", "mindvertiser". I
don't think there's like an
official title yet.
HALEY
We work with everyone... Adidas...
Capitol Records. Like, combined,
you know, we're able to, like, do
thousands of hits every night.
DYLAN
I think people who judge it doesn't
really understand it. It's not that
weird. It's just like, we'll be in
your dream for a brief moment,
showcase some merch or play a hot
new track, say a few things, then
leave. That's it!
Close ups of the Norio watches they use.
NARRATOR (V.O.)
From mysterious phenomena to
internet controversy, the case of
Paul Matthews completely changed
the science of dreams.
Cut to interview with BRIAN, a 40-something scientist.
BRIAN
We had to rethink the whole field.
Consciousness is more complex than
we thought. Dualism was right, Jung
was right. There is a collective
unconscious, Paul Matthews proved
that, even if accidentally. The
Norio would definitely not exist
without him.
NARRATOR (V.O.)
Brian Berg is the inventor of the
Norio, a wearable device that
activates the brain during deep
sleep and promotes what is called
"lucid dream travel", which enables
users to appear in others dreams.
The device also has a sleep
incubation mode, which lets you
decide what to dream about.
(MORE)
(CONTINUED)
DREAM SCENARIO 90
92 CONTINUED: (2) 92
NARRATOR (V.O.) (CONT'D)
You can either buy one for about
five thousand dollars, or get the
ad supported version for free - if
you don't mind commercials.. In
your dreams.
BRIAN
Norio takes consciousness to a new
level. It interacts directly with
the sleeping brain and manipulates
the dreams as they are happening.
What's puzzling about Paul Matthews
is that he tapped into this on a
massive scale without even trying,
which is really hard to do even
with the Norio.
Four dreamfluencers sit next to each other and discuss Paul
Matthews:
HUNTER
They always bring up Paul Matthews
as, like, the cautionary tale.
HALEY
Yeah.. on one end it's like, this
industry probably wouldn't exist
without him, but then he also put
such a negative stamp on it.
AMBER
It's kind of crazy that he unlocked
this power just to, like, terrorize
people.
DYLAN
Yeah, why choose that when it's so
easy to spread positivity?
CARTER
When I first got the Norio I was
practicing on my mom, like, I would
try to enter her dreams every
night, just to, like, get good at
it. But she kept saying I was
taking the form of a table, like, I
was a talking table in her dreams.
It took me months just to figure
out how to control my appearance.
DYLAN
The mind is trippy, loose,
flexible, and abstract.
(MORE)
(CONTINUED)
DREAM SCENARIO 91
92 CONTINUED: (3) 92
DYLAN (CONT'D)
You're floating, dancing, swimming,
then, like, on fire, on a boat, on
the moon. I love this industry, I
love dream traveling. This is what
I want to do for life.
93 INT. PAUL'S NEW APARTMENT - MONTHS LATER - DAY 93
Paul, Hannah and Sophie are inside of an empty and
uninspiring three-bedroom apartment. Paul looks different,
many months must have passed. A REALTOR is showing them
around.
PAUL
Ah... Nice, OK. Girls, wanna look
at the bedrooms? See which ones you
like?
HANNAH
I don't like it.
PAUL
Go look at the bedrooms. Please.
The girls go to scope the bedrooms. The realtor and Paul stay
in the living room.
REALTOR
Uhm... My friend... Used to have
those dreams... So she claimed at
least.
PAUL
Oh... Huh... Yeah.
The realtor makes an awkward knife stab motion as a joke.
REALTOR
So what happened? It just stopped,
or? Feel like I haven't heard about
that in a while.
PAUL
Yeah, I don't know, people stopped
having them I guess. If I hear
anything now it's mostly abroad.
Sophie pops her head in.
SOPHIE
What's the smell?
(CONTINUED)
DREAM SCENARIO 92
93 CONTINUED: 93
REALTOR
Oh... I was told that the owners
were big animal lovers. It'll air
out in time I'm sure.
94 INT./EXT. PAUL'S CAR - EVENING 94
Paul has parked the car outside his old house. Before Sophie
and Hannah get the chance to get out, Paul interjects:
PAUL
Hey, before you leave... Have you
seen that guy Chris around the
house lately?
SOPHIE
Uhm... Yeah?
HANNAH
Yeah, like a week ago?
PAUL
Is he here often?
SOPHIE
... I mean, Not really?
PAUL
Does he stay over?
SOPHIE
I don't think so?
Hannah is concentrated on her phone.
PAUL
Hannah, does he stay over?
HANNAH
I don't know!
95 EXT. PAUL'S HOUSE - CONTINUOUS 95
Janet comes out of the house. Sophie and Hannah both take
their bags and run inside.
SOPHIE
Bye, dad.
HANNAH
Bye...
(CONTINUED)
DREAM SCENARIO 93
95 CONTINUED: 95
PAUL
Bye! I love you. I'll bring you
something cool from France!
Janet approaches Paul.
JANET
How was the place?
PAUL
Uhmm... It was nice. Good location.
JANET
Good.
PAUL
I don't think Sophie really liked
it... She kept asking why I don't
just move back in... with us...
JANET
Yeah... And cost-wise? Good?
PAUL
Yeah, you know, between the
settlement from Osler and the book
deal I should be fine. More than
fine actually.
JANET
Ok, great.
There's a hint of a smile lurking in Janet's expression.
PAUL
Yeah... Have you seen me in your
dreams lately by the way?
JANET
No? Why do you keep asking?
PAUL
Just curious...
(Paul checks his watch)
Shit, I'm late.
JANET
Where are you going?
PAUL
I've got a zoom call with the
publisher... They're trying to
expand the tour, might be a whole
month in Paris now, it's crazy.
(CONTINUED)
DREAM SCENARIO 94
95 CONTINUED: (2) 95
JANET
That's exciting. I guess I won't
see you before you leave then?
PAUL
It's in four days. I could swing
by...
Paul looks at her for a beat. He embraces her and she
whispers something in his ear. He looks back at her and she
laughs.
Cut back to reality.
JANET
No, that's fine. I'll see you when
you're back.
PAUL
Ok... Uhm... Well... Bye...
JANET
Bye...
96 INT. PAUL'S NEW APARTMENT - NIGHT (DREAM) 96
- Paul is getting to bed in his new apartment. He has almost
no furniture there. He folds his clothes on a little chair he
has set up next to the bed.
- He then walks to the kitchen to get a glass of water. The
dead animals are still there but he just steps over them,
barefoot.
- When he returns to his bedroom, there's a teenage boy
there, one of the dream influencers. He's wearing very
youthful trendy clothes.
DREAM INFLUENCER#3
Hey Paul. I love those on you.
Paul looks down, and he is suddenly wearing very flashy
sneakers. The boy starts dancing in a trendy Tik-Tok style.
DREAM INFLUENCER#3 (CONT'D)
Come on, try them out, dance with
me.
Paul is suddenly enraged and tries to punch the guy in the
face, but his punches are weak and slow, typical of dreams,
not really harming the guy.
(CONTINUED)
DREAM SCENARIO 95
96 CONTINUED: 96
DREAM INFLUENCER#2 (O.C.)
Please don't hit Dylan...
Paul turns around and sees another dreamfluencer behind him,
staring at him with a murderous look, which quickly turns
into a "sales pitch face" as he reveals a supplement pill
bottle in his hand:
DREAM INFLUENCER#2 (CONT'D)
... Cause your punches would pack
more heat with these ultra yummy
keto supplements from Alpha Monster
Gains. Oh fuck, let me try this
again... your punches would pack more
heat with these ultra yummy keto
supplements from Alpha Monster
Gains.
97 INT. PARIS - HOTEL - PAUL'S ROOM - NIGHT 97
Paul wakes up from the dream, a bit confused, in a hotel room
in Paris. The keen observer will notice him wearing a Norio
device on his wrist.
98 EXT. PARIS - STREET - DAY 98
Paul and Trent are walking through busy streets of Paris.
TRENT
First up is a magazine called Rue
Morgue. They write about myths,
cults, horror movies, stuff like
that.
PAUL
Did you bring a copy of the book?
TRENT
No, it's going straight to the
store, we'll see it there.
99 INT. PARIS - MANOR HOUSE - DAY 99
Paul is being photographed for a French magazine in a stylish
old manor house. There's a crew of about five people there,
makeup, wardrobe, and some assistants. Trent is also present,
watching from the sideline. CLAUDE, the thirty-something
photographer is instructing Paul.
The assistant picks up a movie prop, the knife glove from
Nightmare on Elm Street, and gives it to Paul, who
immediately hesitates.
(CONTINUED)
DREAM SCENARIO 96
99 CONTINUED: 99
CLAUDE
Can you put it on Paul?
PAUL
Uh, I'd rather not.
CLAUDE
What? Don't be silly Paul. It's
cool.
PAUL
No, I just... I don't want to.
CLAUDE
What? The glove is cool, I think
you should wear it.
PAUL
Can I say no?
CLAUDE
Come on, it makes sense, you're
nightmare guy, it's totally cool.
Paul looks at Trent, Trent nods approvingly, and Paul caves
and puts the glove on.
CLAUDE (CONT'D)
See, not so bad? Looks good.
Claude snaps some photos.
CLAUDE (CONT'D)
Could you stand behind the chair
Paul? And sneak up like a little
monster.
Paul does what he's told.
100 OMITTED 100
101 EXT. PARIS - STREET - DAY 101
Paul and Trent are walking through busy sidewalks in Paris,
again.
TRENT
No, it's still the store, but a
different room or something? Maybe
they need a bigger space?
DREAM SCENARIO 97
102 INT. PARIS - BOOKSTORE - DAY 102
Paul and Trent are greeted by JEAN, the manager of the
bookstore, who speaks English with a heavy French accent.
JEAN
Paul! Hi how are you? I'm Jean.
PAUL
Hi. Paul.
Jean goes for the French kiss hello, Paul awkwardly follows
suit.
TRENT
Yes... Bonjour.
As Trent and Jean kiss hello, Paul notices that there's
already a sizable turnout.
PAUL
Wow, big turnout.
JEAN
Oh that's for the other event. I'm
so sorry, there was a conflict...
They had to move you downstairs.
103 INT. PARIS - BOOKSTORE - STAIRWELL/BASEMENT - MOMENTS 103
LATER DAY
They walk downstairs to a smaller basement of the store. It's
drab and uninspiring. They have a plastic table and a chair
set up in the corner, with a huge stack of books with an
image of Paul and the title "Je suis ton cauchemar."
JEAN
Voila! So, this is it.
PAUL
Is that the book? I haven't
actually seen the physical copy
yet.
Paul walks over to the table and picks up a copy. It's really
thin, probably less than 100 pages.
PAUL (CONT'D)
Huh... OK.
TRENT
Wow, it's so thin...
(CONTINUED)
DREAM SCENARIO 98
103 CONTINUED: 103
PAUL
I guess it got shorter in
translation? "Je suis ton...." They
changed the title too?
JEAN
"I am your nightmare"? That's not
the title?
PAUL
Oh... It was supposed to be "Dream
Scenario." This is fine, I guess.
Yeah... It's fine. Probably works
better for the... Demographic.
He forces a smile to Jean and Trent.
104 INT. PARIS - BOOKSTORE - BASEMENT - LATER - DAY 104
A line has formed leading up to the table, eagerly awaiting
Paul to sign their copy of the book. It's not a big turnout,
even for the smaller location, but Paul seems bemused just by
the fact that he has fans here. FONTANE (38) a heavy set man
wearing a Rosemary's Baby t-shirt hands him his copy.
PAUL
Who do I make this out to?
We can hear footsteps from the large crowd upstairs, the
other event is so packed that dust from the ceiling lands on
the table in front of Paul. As he looks up, the light fixture
hanging from a chain falls off and lands on his forehead,
causing a cut.
PAUL (CONT'D)
Fuck!
Trent rushes over.
TRENT
Shit, are you all right?
Paul feels his forehead and then sees blood on his hand.
Someone hands him a napkin which he presses against his head.
Trent is looking for the manager for assistance.
TRENT (CONT'D)
Jean? Fuck where did he go?
105 OMITTED 105
DREAM SCENARIO 99
106 OMITTED 106
107 OMITTED 107
108 OMITTED 108
109 OMITTED 109
110 OMITTED 110
111 INT. PARIS - HOTEL - PAUL'S ROOM - LATER - NIGHT 111
Paul is looking at a video called "No Bullshit Guide To Dream
Travel" on his laptop as he puts his Norio on his wrist.
CUT TO:
Paul is now lying down on the floor, on his back, eyes closed
and really focused. He slowly raises his arms up in the air
as though reaching for something, as we hear the video guide
him. The camera pushes in slowly towards his face.
112 EXT. BIG EMPTY GRASSY FIELD - DAWN (DREAM) 112
It's a foggy morning, we're in a big open field. There's a
big stone fountain in the middle of it, and Janet is tied up
to it. Instead of water, there's flames at the base of it.
It's like she's a witch burned at the stake. She's helplessly
struggling to get out without much success. All of Janet's
movements are a little bit slow, and sounds are more
pronounced than normal. She notices someone coming towards
her. It's Paul. He is wearing that oversized Talking Heads
suit they discussed, indicating that we must be inside of her
dream, and that Paul has managed to get inside of it. Janet
smiles. He reaches for her, grabs her hand over the flames.
113 EXT. EMPTY SUBURBAN STREETS - SUNRISE (DREAM) 113
The two of them walk through a beautiful slightly foggy
suburban street with sunbeams shooting through the haze. Paul
is still wearing his Talking Heads suit as they walk side-by-
side holding hands. The birds are chirping. Paul does some
silly Talking Heads moves with his suit. Janet laughs. Then
he initiates a slow dance, and Janet follows.
PAUL
I wish this was real.
(CONTINUED)
DREAM SCENARIO 100
113 CONTINUED: 113
They look at each other for a bit. Both their eyes are
getting teary. Paul then suddenly starts to levitate off the
ground, away from Janet.
CUT TO BLACK
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