Mother! Page #2

Mother notices the man beam at the compliment.

MAN:

(to Mother)

It’s hard to come by. I had to

share. Won’t you join?

HIM:

She’s not much of a drinker.

MOTHER:

I drink.

MAN:

Well here, let me put a little in

your tea.

HIM hopes she will. But she decides against it.

MOTHER:

(blush)

I’m fine with tea. Thank you.

HIM laughs and stands up, moving to sit next to Mother,

kissing her hand.

9.

HIM:

The good doctor here is about topublish a major paper-

MAN:

“About” is generous. I still have

reams of research to write up.

HIM:

And he’s moved here to finish it.

There’s an awkward silence. Mother fills in the silence.

MOTHER:

And what brings you to us?

MAN:

Well they told me I could find aroom here.

HIM:

He thought we were a bed andbreakfast.

Mother laughs. A half laugh. After another beat he

continues.

HIM:

We always talk about how this placeis too big for the two of us.

Mother looks at HIM. A pause.

MAN:

Well I really should be going, ifI’m going to find-

HIM:

Nonsense. It’s late, stay the

night.

MAN:

No, I couldn’t.

HIM:

Please, we’d enjoy the company.

(turns to Mother)

Right?

Mother stutters, but covers.

MOTHER:

Yes, of course.

10.

MAN:

Are you sure?

HIM:

Positive.

MAN:

Well then, I’ll just grab the restof my stuff. That’s incrediblykind and generous. I just left it-

Man starts to cough as he heads out the door.

HIM:

You all right?

MAN:

I’m fine, just went down the wrong

tube...

They follow him into the

FOYER:

As he exits. Once they’re alone, she turns to HIM.

MOTHER:

We don’t know him.

HIM:

He’s a doctor.

MOTHER:

He’s a stranger. We’re just goingto let him sleep in our house?

HIM:

You want me to ask him to leave?

He looks at Mother. She subtly shrugs.

But then, Man returns with a TOTE BAG.

HIM:

Is that all?

MAN:

That’s everything.

HIM helps the man and takes the bag.

Man pops a cigarette in his mouth and lights it with a METALLIGHTER.

11.

MOTHER:

Um, we don’t smoke.

MAN:

That’s smart...

MOTHER:

In the house, I mean.

MAN:

Sorry.

Man flicks the cigarette out the door.

MOTHER:

I’ll go get you some linens.

HIM:

I’ll show you to your room.

As HIM leads Man to the guest bedroom, Mother heads down intothe

BASEMENT:

Next to the boiler are stacks of moving boxes. She starts to

rifle through them to find some sheets and towels.

Then, she hears a RUMBLE from the wall behind the boiler. A

strange noise.

She nears the back WALL behind the boiler. She hears the

RUMBLE again. She turns on a light and inches closer to the

wall.

Then something BANGS against the wall. Mortar dust in the

air. She YELPS and stumbles back.

The nearby boiler turns on. This calms her. Must be

connected.

Upstairs, she enters the

GUEST BEDROOM:

The man’s bag is there, but they are not. She starts to make

the bed when she hears them down the hall.

She follows the voices to the stairwell just beneath the

12.

STUDY:

And stops to listen.

MAN (O.S.)

Oh and this, I love this. How come

you have so many copies?

A brief pause.

HIM:

Well I wrote it.

MAN:

Oh my. That’s you? I’m a huge

fan.

HIM:

You’ve read it?

She smiles to herself glowing in HIM’s success. She moves

INSIDE:

HIM and Man stand before the book case. They notice her.

MAN:

I’ve read it many, many times.

Your words changed my life.

HIM smiles with false modesty.

MAN:

I’m sorry, you must hear that allthe time.

HIM:

Not really, no.

Man spies something else on the shelf.

MAN:

(notices something)

And that?

He points at the beautiful CRYSTAL FORMATION resting on astand. The same from the opening of the film. It’s framed

boldly in the center of the bookshelf.

MAN:

What is it?

13.

He reaches for it. But HIM reaches quickly to stop him.

Then, he carefully takes it down from the shelf himself.

HIM:

Careful, this is very, verydelicate. It was a gift.

MAN:

A very special gift. Is it from

you?

He looks at Mother.

MOTHER:

No.

HIM doesn’t let it out of his hands. He shows it to Man as

he cradles it.

HIM:

When I was younger, I losteverything in a fire.

MAN:

I’m sorry.

HIM:

It’s hard to imagine what that

means. Losing everything. Your

memories, your work, even yourdirty toothbrush. I didn’t even

know if I could ever create again.

Until, I found this in the ashes.

Isn’t that remarkable? It gave methe strength to start again.

He holds the crystal. Man holds his breath.

HIM:

And then, I met her.

(to Mother)

You...

(back to Man)

And she breathed life back into

every room.

He carefully sets the crystal back on the shelf. It takes a

moment for Man to remember where he is.

HIM:

She re-did all of it.

Man is still thinking about the crystal.

14.

HIM:

Every last detail.

MAN:

(waking up)

By yourself?

MOTHER:

Mmhm.

MAN:

So you’re not just a pretty face.

That’s a bit rude. Mother darkens.

MOTHER:

I just came up to say I’m going toget ready for bed.

MAN:

I’m sorry, I didn’t mean-

Man coughs. The cough gets worse and doesn’t let up.

HIM:

You okay? Want some water?

MOTHER:

Are you all right?

Man waves it off and points at his empty whiskey glass.

HIM starts pouring, turns to Mother.

HIM:

I’ll be up soon.

(now to Man)

You’re sure you don’t want somewater?

She retreats.

LATER:

In the middle of the night, Mother sleeps. She reaches for

HIM, but the bed is empty.

She sits up concerned. The

15.

STUDY:

Is empty. She continues downstairs and smells cigarette

smoke. In the

GUEST BEDROOM:

She peeks into the empty room. A glass bowl filled withcigarette butts sits next to his METAL LIGHTER.

She frowns. Then, she hears coughing from the

GUEST BATHROOM:

Standing with his back to her is HIM. He gently strokes thenaked back of Man who violently coughs into the toilet.

Mother can’t believe it.

MOTHER:

Is everything all right?

HIM spins around.

HIM:

He drank too much. He’ll be fine.

She tries to get a better glimpse of Man. There’s something

on his back. An open wound maybe?

MOTHER:

What is-HIM

(strong whisper)

Give him some privacy.

The force of the words startle her. Suspiciously, she

retreats back into the

GUEST BEDROOM:

Her chest gets tight as she loses her breath. She spots the

METAL LIGHTER again.

HIM (O.S.)

Get it out. Let’s get it all out.

Passive aggressively, she SLIDES the METAL LIGHTER off thebureau into the gap behind the furniture.

16.

When she gets to the

MASTER BATHROOM:

She tries to take a full breath but she can’t fill her lungs.

She opens the medicine cabinet. There’s a few empty amber

bottles. She finds one with yellow powder. She adds it to a

glass of water. She drinks the tincture.

Slowly her breath settles. She feels a lot better.

Later in the

MASTER BEDROOM:

She crawls back into the empty bed. The next morning in the

KITCHEN:

Mother preps breakfast. HIM wanders in, rubbing sleep from

his eyes. He kisses her forehead.

HIM:

Good morning.

MOTHER:

Morning.

HIM:

Smells great.

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