Animal Kingdom

TITLE CARD ON BLACK: 'This is fiction.'

1 INT. SUBURBAN BATHROOM - DAY 1

20 year-old DANIEL HORDERN stands at the sink of a neat

bathroom, his face covered in shaving foam.

DANIEL:

(yells)

Mum!

He dips his blade in the basin and drags it across his cheek. Hewinces in pain.

DANIEL:

(yells)

Mum!

GAIL HORDERN appears in the doorway.

GAIL:

What's the matter?

DANIEL:

Where's dad's razor?

GAIL:

What for?

DANIEL:

Mine's blunt. I'm gonna be late forwork.

GAIL:

Don't you have spare ones?

DANIEL:

Where's dad's?

GAIL:

You can use mine.

DANIEL:

Where's dad's?

GAIL:

You can use mine.

DANIEL:

No.

GAIL:

Why? What's wrong with

(CONTINUED)

Animal Kingdom - GREEN REVISIONS 2.

CONTINUED:

DANIEL:

It's disgusting, mum. Don't worry

about it.

2 INT. POLICE STATION - AFTERNOON 2

Daniel enters, back pack over his shoulder. He nods to the dutysergeant at the front desk and swipes himself in.

3 INT. POLICE STATION / LOCKER ROOM - AFTERNOON 3

Daniel enters. His partner, PETER SIMMONS (22), is dressed inuniform, closing up his locker.

DANIEL:

Sorry, mate.

PETER:

I'll see you out there.

Peter exits.

4 INT. POLICE STATION / WEAPONS DESK - AFTERNOON 4

Daniel, now in police uniform, is handed his service revolver bythe weapons clerk. He signs for it and rushes out.

5 INT. POLICE CAR - NIGHT 5

Daniel is on patrol with Peter. Peter drives. It's late. Theradio crackles. They sit in silence a while.

DANIEL:

She's leaving messages on the machine

now at, like, three in the morning and

mum's, like, screaming at me to get

her to stop, but you know, yeah, but

how?

PETER:

She'll quit it eventually. She'll get

bored.

DANIEL:

Maybe. I dunno if crazy people get

bored. You know what I mean?

The radio crackles. OVER comes the male voice of police radiocommunications centre VKC (D-24).

VKC (D-24)

Richmond 49. Do you copy?

(CONTINUED)

Animal Kingdom - GREEN REVISIONS 3.

CONTINUED:

Daniel lifts the radio receiver.

DANIEL:

Richmond 49. We copy.

VKC (D-24)

49. What’s your current position?

DANIEL:

49. We’re heading west on Bridge Roadtowards Church.

VKC (D-24)

49, Boroondara's units are all tied up

at present. Can you head over to 48

Darcy Street in Hawthorn? A Mrs Burnie

of that address has reported a white

Commodore sedan in the middle of the

road. Says it looks abandoned, windows

are smashed.

DANIEL:

49. Roger. We'll give it a look.

6 EXT. SUBURBAN STREET - NIGHT 6

Daniel and Peter pull up behind the white sedan in a quietneighbourhood. They get out to inspect. Their radios crackle.

They head to the driver's side. Peter shines his torch throughthe broken window, then opens the door. He shines the torchunder the steering column. Wires dangle. He climbs in the frontseat and shines the torch around the floor of the car. Daniel

crouches on the road beside him.

A SHOTGUN BLAST rips into Daniel's head. Peter spins, splatteredwith blood and flesh. Semi-blinded he dives out of the car in an

attempt to grab the assailant. A blast rings out, hitting him inthe body.

Another blast echoes down the street. Three figures in thedarkness sprint from the scene. A light goes on in aneighbouring apartment block. The street is still.

7 INT. J'S AND JULIA'S APARTMENT / LOUNGE - DAY 7

JOSHUA 'J' CODY (17), wearing one oversized rubber dishwashingglove, sits on the couch beside his mum, JULIA CODY (35), who isasleep, chin on her chest, in front of game-show TV. J watchesthe TV intently.

Two paramedics appear at the open door with kit bags. They rushin and go straight to work on Julia.

(CONTINUED)

Animal Kingdom - GREEN REVISIONS 4.

CONTINUED:

PARAMEDIC:

What's she had?

J:

Heroin.

The paramedic draws Narcan into a syringe and administers. Theother checks her pulse. J watches the game show.

PARAMEDIC:

Not responding. We'll need a MICA.

8 INT. J'S AND JULIA'S APARTMENT / LOUNGE - LATER 8

A young POLICE OFFICER crouches before J who is sitting on thecouch, numb. A few people mill around behind them.

POLICE OFFICER:

Is there somewhere you can go tonight?

J:

Yeah.

She pulls a card from her work folder.

POLICE OFFICER:

If you need any help, you can give

these people a call. There'll be a

range of services they can provide

that you might find helpful. OK?

J nods, blank. She smiles, stands and begins talking loudly tosomeone off screen. J stares at the card.

POLICE OFFICER:

Alright, I'm gonna head over to that

one in Caulfield before the traffic

hits.

9 INT. J'S AND JULIA'S APARTMENT / LOUNGE - NIGHT 9

J is on the phone. He waits for an answer, strangely blank.

J:

(into phone)

Grandma. It's J [...] Josh [...] Yeah,

good. Um, Mum's gone and OD'd and

she's died and so [...] Yeah, I'm OK.

Sorry, I probably should have said it

slower and not just go and blurt it

out and that. I don't really know what

I'm supposed to do now and [...] They

took her away.

(MORE)

(CONTINUED)

Animal Kingdom - GREEN REVISIONS 5.

J(CONT'D)

CONTINUED:

An ambulance came [...] Yeah, theyturned up and took a statement andthat, but I told them I was 18 and nowI don't really know what to do. Theydidn't say anything about, you know,

like am I supposed to organise thefuneral and that? I don't really knowwhat I'm supposed to do now, with thepaperwork and arrangements and that. Ijust remember when Grandpa Donny died

you were all over it, you know what Imean?

10 I/E. J'S AND JULIA'S APARTMENT - NIGHT 10

J sits on the couch with two bags packed beside him. Hearing anoise, he get up, opens the door and watches JANINE 'SMURF' CODY

(57) climb the stairs. She sees J. She bends over, out ofbreath.

SMURF:

Puffed... Have you got your bags,

sweetie?

J goes to her. She holds him.

RUN OPENING TITLES.

12 EXT. CODY HOUSE - DAY 12

A single-storey, exposed brick, early-70s house. It is flat-

roofed and semi-buried in lush, but overgrown garden, almostlike a bunker obscured from neighbours and the street.

13 INT. KITCHEN / CODY HOUSE - DAY 13

Two men sit at a kitchen table. BARRY 'BAZ' BROWN (35) iscounting a sizeable wad of cash, stacking it in front of him.

He counts the money into three piles. Opposite sits DARREN CODY

(22) in designer T-shirt, sunglasses on his head. Smurf is atthe bench stuffing fruit into a juicer.

BAZ:

Nine-four.

He wraps elastic around the pile and hands it to Darren.

DARREN:

Twenty minutes work. No shots fired.

BAZ:

Three weeks prep. This is getting

stupid.

(CONTINUED)

Animal Kingdom - GREEN REVISIONS 6.

CONTINUED:

SMURF:

Have you heard from him?

BAZ:

No. I know where he is, but I haven'theard from him.

SMURF:

Where is he staying?

BAZ:

I told him I wouldn't tell anyone.

SMURF:

He's my son.

BAZ:

(smiling)

I told him I wouldn't tell anyone. Hewas really specific about the 'anyone'part.

J appears in the doorway in an over-sized T-shirt. The men lookup, startled. Baz gathers the money and packs it in a bagquickly, but calmly. Darren shoves his in his man-purse.

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