Bird Box Page #18

MALORIE:

Oh thank god.

(emotional)

Where are you, Rick? Are you safe?

Are... are you with others?

106.

RICK (V.O.)

We’re a community here. Seventy-

three of us and counting.

MALORIE:

Rick... Do you, do you have room

for three more?

Asked as if it were the most important question on Earth.

RICK (V.O.)

Of course.

Malorie sits down. Suddenly weak-kneed.

Boy and Girl huddle close.

RICK (V.O.)

Where are you coming from?

MALORIE:

Riverbridge. Upper east side, near

state highway one-eighty.

RICK (V.O.)

(beat)

You’d have to take the river.

MALORIE:

What’s wrong with the river?

EXT. RIVER - DAY

Catching up to the trip on the river.

Late in the afternoon. The sun hangs low.

Short-haired Malorie rows.

Girl plays with her three puzzle pieces.

They all hear something, ahead. Rapids.

MALORIE:

Children? It’s nearly time.

GIRL:

For what?

MALORIE:

To look.

This is what’s wrong with the river.

Girl whips her head around at Malorie-- “look?”

Malorie steadies the boat with the oar. Slows down.

107.

Birds SQUAWK and CAW in flight overhead.

MALORIE (CONT’D)

There are many rocks here, and the

water is shallow in places. But we

need to land before the waterfall.

BOY:

I thought we weren’t supposed to

look. Ever.

Malorie takes a breath.

MALORIE:

This time is different. We can’t

miss the first landmark. The

statue. Remember the steps?

GIRL:

Eighty-six, forty-four, thirty.

MALORIE:

Good. Landmarks?

BOY:

Statue. Bridge. Car. Stone.

A hundred migrating birds above them.

All making noise now.

GIRL:

Malorie? Birds.

MALORIE:

That’s a good sign. It means

everything’s all right.

The row boat gently moves downstream.

Overhead:
The birds chatter, in migration.

It’s a chorus of normalcy.

The sound of the river rapids gets nearer.

MALORIE (CONT’D)

We’re close. I am going to look

now. Okay?

Malorie grabs for her blindfold.

Hooks a thumb underneath it.

But a new sound gives her pause:

The birds. They sound more aggressive.

108.

The chatter becomes a psychotic symphony.

CLOSE ON THE FLOCK in midair.

They crash headlong into each other.

They pick at their wings mid-flight.

They attack one another.

Beaks. Feathers. Blood.

Drops of blood land on Malorie’s face.

Around them:
splashes. Everything is not all right.

Birds dropping like feathered meteors.

Boy and Girl tense up.

BOY:

They’re falling out of the sky!

A blackbird crashes into the boat with them.

Wings convulsing. Neck broken.

Then:
Their boat suddenly stops with a jolt.

BOY (CONT’D)

What happened?

MALORIE:

We hit a rock.

In the shoebox, their budgie begins CHIRPING.

Girl stiffens in alarm. TIGHT ON her face:

GIRL:

(sotto)

No we didn’t.

The boat tilts slightly, from external weight.

And then that god-forsaken sound, close to our ears:

The signature, UNEARTHLY CRY of one of those things.

Malorie, Boy and Girl clamp their hands over their ears.

In the distance:
A DOZEN MORE SOUNDS just like it.

Malorie grips the oar-

Then stabs in the direction of the noise-She

comes in contact with something. Resistance.

109.

In retaliation, it capsizes the boat.

They all start to SCREAM as they go into the river-FROM

UNDERWATER:

Malorie splashes in, toppled off the boat.

BOY and GIRL drop in nearby, but travel faster underwater in

the current, their limbs wheeling for purchase-

Overhead, on the surface, the boat upends.

Malorie reaches out for Boy as he passes by-Her

blindfold still around her face-

And then the water cavitates at Malorie’s leg and something

SPLASHES in and grabs hold of her ankle-But

the foaming water and chaos is too much to get any sort

of distinct look at it-- is it a hand? A claw? It’s pale-

Boy and Girl drift past, still carried by the water--

Malorie kicks hard-- gets free, goes up for air-

EXT. RIVER’S EDGE

Boy and Girl cling to the embankment.

Boy climbs to shore and helps Girl up.

BOY:

Malorie!

No response.

FARTHER BACK, Malorie emerges from the water, gasping for

air. Her blindfold has been torn away in the current.

She coughs, keeps her eyes closed.

Splashes behind her. Something advances.

BOY (O.S.) (CONT’D)

Where are you?

Malorie launches in the direction of his voice.

MALORIE:

Go! Find the statue!

Boy leads Girl off the shore, reaching ahead still

blindfolded, arm outstretched until it touches-

110.

A FIGURE towering over Boy.

Made of stone.

The Virgin Mary, eight feet tall.

Boy touches it. Confirms it.

Then he calls out to Malorie:

BOY:

Here, it’s here!

ON MALORIE, trying to zero in on Boy’s voice.

She changes course and moves for them--

MALORIE:

Keep talking!

BOY (O.S.)

We’re at the statue!

Behind Malorie-- sound of something reaching shore.

And farther back-- MORE splashes.

Five. Ten. A dozen. All zeroing in on them.

Boy and Girl stand at the statue, full of fear.

Remarkably, Boy still has the shoebox with budgie inside.

It CHIRPS in alarm, telling them what they already know:

GIRL:

They’re coming!

Malorie gets there first.

MALORIE:

I’m here, I’m here.

GIRL:

Malorie. I can’t run that fast.

All three know that. The creatures are moving in.

Malorie crouches down to speak close to them.

MALORIE:

You two follow the steps. Go. Now.

Boy doesn’t need to be told twice. He grabs Girl and goes.

But Girl’s head still faces Malorie, asking:

GIRL:

What are you going to do?

111.

Malorie stands up and faces back the way they came.

At the sound of the dozen creatures closing in.

MALORIE:

COME AND GET ME.

Then she turns and runs in a different angle from her kids.

BOY’S FOOT stomps the ground until it finds a paved path.

BOY:

Start counting.

He pulls Girl by the hand.

STAYING WITH BOY AND GIRL as they run, Boy clutching the box.

Girl counts to herself, her mouth moving-Their

feet slapping along a gravel path until-Baseboards.

Wood. A guard rail. A babbling brook.

They’re on a bridge. Still running.

Girl’s arm cracks against the railing.

Boy course-corrects.

After the bridge the path intersects a road-And

ahead:
a stalled CAR in the ditch.

GIRL:

Eighty-two, eighty-three-They’re

early. Boy collides with the car.

They both get their breath. Boy shouts back:

BOY:

Car!

GIRL:

Are we going?

BOY:

Wait.

They breathe hard.

FINDING MALORIE running blindly but full-tilt through tall

grass, small branches of trees whipping her.

STAYING WITH MALORIE like we did with Boy and Girl-

112.

She keeps her arms outstretched-Moving

fast-MALORIE’S

POV:

Black. Her breath is hard and heavy.

Her heartbeat is strong, palpable.

The sounds of her feet crunching in tall grass.

In one forward speaker, distantly: Boy’s voice.

BOY (O.S.) (CONT’D)

Malorie!

Malorie pauses.

The monsters stampede behind her: A mountain of sound,

crashing foliage, snapping branches. Getting closer.

The sound of Malorie’s feet thump again until suddenly-A

GLIMPSE OF THE WORLD as Malorie trips into the brook just a

few feet from the bridge, eyes flitting open on the way down-MALORIE

(O.S.)

Rate this script:5.0 / 1 vote