I Declare War

Synopsis: Armed with nothing more than twigs, their imaginations and a simple set of rules, a group of 12-year-olds engaged in a lively game of Capture the Flag in the neighborhood woods start dangerously blurring the lines between make-believe and reality. Paint-filled balloons = Grenades. Trees = Control towers. Sticks = Sub-machine guns. The youthful innocence of the game gradually takes on a different tone as the quest for victory pushes the boundaries of friendship. The would-be warriors get a searing glimpse of humanity's dark side as their combat scenario takes them beyond the rules of the game and into an adventure where fantasy combat clashes with the real world.
Genre: Action, Comedy, Drama
Director(s): Jason Lapeyre, Robert Wilson (co-director)
Production: Drafthouse Films
  2 wins & 1 nomination.
 
IMDB:
6.0
Metacritic:
58
Rotten Tomatoes:
73%
NOT RATED
Year:
2012
94 min
$9,825
Website
87 Views


Stay down.

Did you see anyone?

Go.

Down, down! I need a grenade!

One steamboat, two steamboats...

- three steamboats...

- Where are you guys? Come on!

Four steamboats...

five steamboats, six steamboats,

seven steamboats...

I need a f***in' grenade!

Nine steamboats...

Ten steamboats!

No, it's yours.

You're dead.

Kenney, have you

killed anyone else?

- No.

- Any of ours been killed?

No. I just saw Joker.

He's still alive.

- What about them?

- We know Scott's dead.

Yeah, who else?

Then we'll assume they're all alive.

I need to know where Quinn's base is.

You two, go on recon.

Check everywhere we've used before.

F*** that. We can find out right now.

Ow! Hey!

- Where's your base?

- Screw off!

You can't interrogate the dead!

Leave him alone.

What?

He's right. Once you're dead,

you go home.

You can't be interrogated.

It's a rule.

F*** the rules.

It's too hot for rules.

I'm not a cheater.

Go home, Scott.

I'm going to win fair and square.

You're going to lose,

fair and square.

Dude, this is P.K.

He doesn't lose.

Lose what? His virginity?

Huh. I heard

he lost it to your mom.

What did you say, ass-face?

Stop it, now!

I want a tactical strategy

assimilation in thirty minutes.

Now, go!

So, where the hell were you

when I was calling for help?

Kenney was there.

You didn't know he was there.

- Sure I did.

- Okay, yeah, well...

...you still sent me

out there to get shot, right?

To get Scott to come out?

Only because I knew Kenney

was there and Scott would be killed.

Don't worry, Paul. We're a team.

What are you doing after the war?

You're coming over, and we're eating

pizza and watching a movie.

What movie?

Patton?

- Again?

- Yes.

Now get out there

so that I can win this war.

- P.K.'s your best friend, right?

- Yeah.

He's kind of an a**hole.

- No, he's not.

- With all his stupid rules.

Oh, you think it's a coincidence

that he's won every single game

of war he's ever played?

C'mon, just follow your orders.

Find the base, then go back to P.K.?

That's the stupidest thing

I've ever heard.

If we find the base, let's just

kill everyone and take the flag!

Shut up! You think

Quinn doesn't have a plan?

He's been planning this war

against P.K. for months now.

You're gonna screw it all up.

- You're such a b*tch right now.

- No, I'm not!

You're P.K.'s b*tch.

I'm nobody's b*tch.

I'm gonna march

right into their base,

stick my gun right

in Quinn's stupid face,

blow his head off,

shoot everyone else,

grab the flag... aah!

Skinner.

Well, if it isn't some

of P.K.'s little soldiers...

and the general's best friend.

We rule.

Ow!

Hey!

- Grab his gun.

- What?

You can't do that.

Why? You gonna tell P.K. on us?

Kick him again, Sikorski.

Aagh!

Grab him.

A girl.

- You're a girl.

- Sorry.

I can help, though.

Sure.

You can be the arts

and crafts squadron.

Since when do girls even like war?

Actually, this is my first war.

God!

I dunno. I can appreciate war.

Strategy, tactics, stuff like that.

Like chess.

You play chess?

Yeah, I play a lot of chess.

Huh. Yeah, me too.

Hm. That's funny.

But don't get me wrong.

I'm serious.

I'll kill people.

I have killing techniques.

Like what?

Just, you know...

techniques.

Okay.

Let me show you something.

Cool.

Look at this.

Oh, you're kidding.

Nope.

- Did you build that?

- Yeah.

I mean, I got the idea

off the Internet, but I built it.

You get it, right? What it's for?

A bomb.

That's the bomb.

Yeah.

Unfortunately, it can only carry

the weight of one grenade.

What if you broke the amount

of paint up into two balloons?

- Or five?

- Thought of that.

But then the balloons

aren't heavy enough

to break open

when they land on someone.

What if you didn't tie them closed?

Yeah.

Just push the hook through the rubber,

and then when it retracts,

they get pushed off the hook and fall.

That's awesome.

That's really great.

Sorry about the arts

and crafts thing before.

It's okay. Sorry

about the a**hole thing.

When did you call me an a**hole?

I didn't. But I was thinking it.

We have to be ready for anything.

He could sap us.

What does that mean?

Dig a tunnel right under our position,

and then wham!

A hand sticks out of the ground

and smashes a blood grenade into you.

You're dead.

This is the first guy I've fought who...

who actually knows this stuff.

He's using tactics,

he's using strategy.

In a way, this is the first

real war I've ever fought.

Which is why I have to win it.

But you always win.

This is different.

This is the moment of truth,

a real test of what I'm good at.

You mean, being a know-it-all dick?

No, he means war.

Hey! You get picked last,

you don't talk back

to superior officers.

What the f*** are you wearing?

It's a bandolier. For shotgun shells.

For your toy air rifle?

Back off, Joker.

He's our priest.

- Our priest?

- That's right.

Every unit needs a priest.

To write letters home for the men

who have both arms broken.

Does he jerk them off, too?

- Hey!

- We need to be focused.

Besides, these are

against the rules, anyway.

I wasn't using it to call anybody.

You can have it back after the war.

What are you doing?

Sullivan!

Whoa.

You can't be here.

Ah, f*** your rules, P.K.

Look what they did to me.

You think they give a sh*t

about the rules?

I'm here to talk to Joker.

Fine. But only

about the rule violation.

- What happened?

- Skinner.

He took Kwon prisoner,

and then that b*tch Sikorski

kicked the crap out of me.

- He took Kwon prisoner?

- Yeah.

I want you to find them

and I want you to stomp on them.

Yeah. Definitely.

- Skinner?

- Yes.

Didn't know he had it in him.

You don't know a lot of things.

Uh... Kenney.

Thanks.

You'll get a special citation for this.

Screw off.

We have to move fast.

Quinn's not going to go for a prisoner.

He'll kill Kwon as soon

as Skinner brings him in.

Which is why we have to get

to him before Quinn does.

- Joker, get me Caleb.

- Caleb?

He doesn't even carry a weapon.

Caleb is a weapon.

Take Wesley.

I'll stay here and guard the flag.

Okay?

Okay.

Nobody takes my best friend prisoner.

He knows you're smart. He's gonna

be expecting something big.

Maybe you should just rush him.

Can't just rush him.

He's way too smart for that.

But... I know what you're saying.

Maybe I'm overthinking it.

This isn't the Hundred Years' War.

He's only got five guys.

He's not France.

France.

What about France?

Sorry. I love France.

Me and my two best friends

have a pact to go together

for a year after high school.

Oh.

They just have the most delicious food,

and great architecture,

and Paris.

It's all just very...

Quinn, can I talk to you?

We are talking.

I know.

Can I tell you something?

Sure.

I'm glad you picked me for your team.

Sure. No problem.

It's, uh, working out

better than I thought.

I mean, I was kind of

hoping you'd pick me.

You were?

Yeah.

Oh.

Okay, well, I'm glad we could...

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes

Jason Lapeyre

All Jason Lapeyre scripts | Jason Lapeyre Scripts

0 fans

Submitted on August 05, 2018

Discuss this script with the community:

0 Comments

    Translation

    Translate and read this script in other languages:

    Select another language:

    • - Select -
    • 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
    • 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
    • Español (Spanish)
    • Esperanto (Esperanto)
    • 日本語 (Japanese)
    • Português (Portuguese)
    • Deutsch (German)
    • العربية (Arabic)
    • Français (French)
    • Русский (Russian)
    • ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
    • 한국어 (Korean)
    • עברית (Hebrew)
    • Gaeilge (Irish)
    • Українська (Ukrainian)
    • اردو (Urdu)
    • Magyar (Hungarian)
    • मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
    • Indonesia (Indonesian)
    • Italiano (Italian)
    • தமிழ் (Tamil)
    • Türkçe (Turkish)
    • తెలుగు (Telugu)
    • ภาษาไทย (Thai)
    • Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
    • Čeština (Czech)
    • Polski (Polish)
    • Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
    • Românește (Romanian)
    • Nederlands (Dutch)
    • Ελληνικά (Greek)
    • Latinum (Latin)
    • Svenska (Swedish)
    • Dansk (Danish)
    • Suomi (Finnish)
    • فارسی (Persian)
    • ייִדיש (Yiddish)
    • հայերեն (Armenian)
    • Norsk (Norwegian)
    • English (English)

    Citation

    Use the citation below to add this screenplay to your bibliography:

    Style:MLAChicagoAPA

    "I Declare War" Scripts.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 21 Dec. 2024. <https://www.scripts.com/script/i_declare_war_10473>.

    We need you!

    Help us build the largest writers community and scripts collection on the web!

    The Studio:

    ScreenWriting Tool

    Write your screenplay and focus on the story with many helpful features.


    Quiz

    Are you a screenwriting master?

    »
    What is "blocking" in screenwriting?
    A The planning of actors' movements on stage or set
    B The prevention of story progress
    C The construction of sets
    D The end of a scene