Bates Motel Page #2

NORMA LOUISE:

What do you think?

Norman just laughs.

NORMAN:

This is crazy, Mom.

6.

NORMA LOUISE:

It’s not crazy. We’re going to run

this place. We own a motel, Norman

Bates! Come on, I want to show you

the house...

She takes off like a little kid. Norman is skeptical.

INT. BATES HOUSE - MOMENTS LATER

We are inside the dark foyer as the DOOR SQUEAKS OPEN letting

some LIGHT in. Norma and Norman step in. The atmosphere is

dark and heavy:
old Victorian furniture and dusty velvet

drapes, etc. Norma walks through, turning on lights and

opening curtains, etc...

NORMA LOUISE:

...I bought the whole thing, house

and motel, on a foreclosure.

Everything came with it -

NORMAN:

Awesome. You can’t buy furniture

like this anymore. Mostly because

no one wants it -

NORMA LOUISE:

Yeah, yeah. I know. It’s ugly. So

we’ll use it for now and redecorate

as we get ahead. You have to

imagine this room without all this

crap in it -- just simple elegant

furnishings - open space - light,

linen drapes -- fresh flowers. The

space is actually awesome -

She really sees it. Has a vision for this place. Then --

NORMA LOUISE (CONT’D)

C’mon, I’ll show you the

upstairs...

She trots upstairs. STAY ON NORMAN a beat, not seeing her

vision. Just seeing some butt ugly furniture.

EXT. UPSTAIRS HALLWAY - MOMENTS LATER

Norman is looking in the doorway of a bedroom with a peaked

roof and a garret window.

NORMAN:

I like this room.

7.

Norma appears behind him.

NORMA LOUISE:

Oh. Yeah, it’s a cool room but I

put you down here closer to me...

She takes his hand and pulls him along the hallway.

She shows him his room. The bed is up against the wall that

connects to her room.

NORMA LOUISE (CONT’D)

This is your room...

STAY WITH THEM as she pulls him into the room next to it...

NORMA LOUISE (CONT’D)

And this is my room!

We may or may not notice the beds are about as close as they

could be without actually being in the same room. Norman

does not look thrilled, by any of this. She leans toward him

and puts her hands on his shoulders.

NORMA LOUISE (CONT’D)

Norman, we’ve been through a lot.

This is a chance to start over -

NORMAN:

Maybe some people don’t get to

start over. Maybe they just bring

themselves to a new place.

She looks him right in the eye. She knows he’s anxious. She

wants to assure him.

NORMA LOUISE:

They do get to start over. But

they have to try. And they have to

believe...

He looks at her with exhausted affection. “You’re an idiot.”

NORMAN:

Are you going to ask me to clap if

I believe in fairies?

NORMA LOUISE:

(smiles; f*** you)

Yes.

(then)

Norman. For me. It’s all going to

be good. You’ll see.

8.

EXT. BATES HOUSE - LATER

Night is falling. Norman is outside, getting some of the

boxes out of the U-Haul. He stops for a moment, hears a

coyote howling. Looks around.

NORMAN’S POV - THE LANDSCAPE

It’s dark and isolated. Thick woods and mountains. A few

scattered, rural properties up the road.

RESUME NORMAN:

He picks up the last box and heads toward the house,

seeing...

HIS MOM’S SILHOUETTE

Against the shades in her bedroom. There’s something about

it that looks and feels both haunting and sexual. (NOTE: It

should be reminiscent of the iconic silhouette from the

original movie.)

RESUME NORMAN:

Focusing on it for a long moment, like he’s almost getting

mentally lost -- going somewhere else. Then he comes out of

it. Starts lugging the heavy box up to the house.

NORMAN:

(sarcastic affection)

“It’s all going to be good,

Norman...”.

SMASH TO MAIN TITLES.

END TEASER:

9.

ACT ONE:

EXT. BUS STOP - DAY

The next morning. We are CLOSE ON NORMAN who waits at a

SCHOOL BUS STOP about five hundred yards from the motel,

listening to music on his phone, earbuds in. He is staring

at the landscape, lost in his own head, pensive and stoic and

agitated all at once. WE HEAR the MUSIC (OVER) - it’s the

cacophonous and angry “EROICA” by Beethoven.

NORMAN’S POV - THE LANDSCAPE

Wild and isolated. MUSIC PLAYS OVER. Suddenly a GIRL’S

SMILING FACE comes into frame. This is BRADLEY KENNER, 16,

pretty, bright, and effortlessly sexy. She has a depth to her

that makes her seem older than she is - in a good way. She

takes the earbuds out of his ears and smiles a completely

winning smile. END MUSIC.

BRADLEY:

You’re new.

A CABAL OF CUTE TEENAGE GIRLS circle around him. Fresh meat

in a small town. Studying him like he’s in a petri dish.

Norman, not used to this kind of overt attention, covers his

anxiety. Smiles slyly.

NORMAN:

This must be a really small town -

The girls, JENNA, HAYDEN, LISSA, start pummeling him with

questions. Overlapping each other -

BRADLEY:

What’s your name?

NORMAN:

Norman Bates.

JENNA:

When did you move here, Norman

Bates?

NORMAN:

Last night -

BRADLEY:

Where? What house?

NORMAN:

Here. The house at the motel -

10.

HAYDEN:

Ohhh, you bought the motel -

LISSA:

You actually going to live here or

are you just flipping the property?

NORMAN:

We’re not flipping -

LISSA:

(to Hayden; meaningfully)

He’s not flipping -

JENNA:

You have any brothers?

NORMAN:

An older brother. He doesn’t live

here. Just me and my mom -

BRADLEY:

You have a girlfriend?

Everyone goes silent. Norman feels a little awkward.

NORMAN:

Um, no.

They all smile. A CONVERTIBLE BMW pulls up. The girl behind

the wheel, KENNEDY (17) smiles...

KENNEDY:

Want a ride?

BRADLEY:

(re:
new car)

You got it! Oh my God it’s

amazing!

The girls all jump in the car. (We may or may not notice all

the girls have really nice, expensive clothes and accessories

for “small town” kids. Weird.) Bradley grabs Norman’s hand -

BRADLEY (CONT’D)

C’mon -

Norman doesn’t know what he’s getting into but isn’t about to

say “no, I’ll wait for the bus.” He glances toward the

house, a little anxious, hoping his Mom isn’t seeing this.

11.

INT. BMW - MOMENTS LATER

It’s squished. Norman sits in the middle of the back seat, a

girl on either side. Bradley is on his lap. The girls are

all chattering away, acting like this is all completely

normal. Norman is, on one level, enjoying it, and on

another, deeper level, completely overwhelmed and freaked

out.

HAYDEN:

-- I totally would have hooked up

with him but he had left the party

with Kelly. The slut -

JENNA:

Oh sure - why is she the slut just

because a guy you’re hot for blew

you off and went with her? I

personally think he’s the slut -

BRADLEY:

I agree. Points for Jenna.

HAYDEN:

I don’t care if he’s a slut or not.

I just want to get him naked. Sue

me -

Bradley glances down at Norman who is starting to sweat a

little. He looks uncomfortable. (The chatter should continue

in the BG.)

BRADLEY:

Am I too heavy?

NORMAN:

Um, no. You’re fine.

Bradley takes his phone. Puts her number in it. Takes a

picture of herself and adds it to her contact in his phone.

Rate this script:3.3 / 3 votes