Nocturnal Animals

1 INT. MORROW GALLERY, LOS ANGELES. PRESENT DAY. EVENING. 1

Red frizzy hair flies across our screen in slow motion.

Glimpses of tinsel, and a transparent peignoir momentarily

hide a large pair of sagging breasts swinging from side to

side and bouncing up and down. Dead silence as the movement

gradually speeds up to real time. We slowly pull back to

reveal that our image is that of a giant nude woman dressed

in nothing but tiny bits of glitter, white vinyl boots and a

small tulle cape. She is gyrating madly and flinging her head

around in some sort of windstorm. As we pull back further we

come to understand that what we are looking at is an art

installation:
a floor to ceiling LCD screen.

The sound of breathing. A close up of a woman’s eyes now

fills our screen. SUSAN MORROW, 42, handsome. Sleek. There is

a very slight hint of panic on her face as she stares across

the crowded, brightly lit room.

Abruptly our sound snaps on at a deafening decibel level as

we hear what seems like a thousand voices screaming over each

other.

The screens cover the four walls of the gallery and the

effect of wall to wall, floor to ceiling breast and ass

jiggling is oddly impressive. The obese women on the LCD

screens are nude but dressed in bits and pieces of Americana:

one is playing the part of a cheerleader with red tinsel pom

poms, one a majorette twirling a baton while another wears a

beauty queen’s ribbon and waves small American flags. They

taunt us and tease us.

On raised plinths scattered around the room are incredibly

life like sculptures of seemingly the same corpulent women on

our video screens. These women appear to be dead and are

lying face down. Nude except for jewelry, shoes and small

bits of tinsel wrapped around their ankles and waists.

The room is jammed with people laughing and talking. The

crowd is a collection of what passes in contemporary Los

Angeles culture as the chic and fashionable. Photographers

track several of the guests as the flash of their cameras

heightens the excitement in the room.

OUR CAMERA GLIDES HIGH ABOVE THE ROOM CAPTURING THE CROWD AND

THE WOMEN ON THEIR PLINTHS.

2.

2

EXT. FREEWAY, LOS ANGELES - HIGH ABOVE THE TRAFFIC. EVENING2

-- CONTINUOUS.

OUR CAMERA HOVERS HIGH ABOVE THE CROWDED FREEWAYS OF LOS

ANGELES.

WE CUT BACK AND FORTH FROM OVERHEAD SHOTS OF THE NUDE WOMEN

ON PLINTHS TO OVERHEAD SHOTS OF THE CROWDED FREEWAYS OF LOS

ANGLES AS NIGHTFALL SLOWLY OVERTAKES THE CITY.

3

INT. MORROW GALLERY, LOS ANGELES. NIGHT -- LATER. 3

Silence. The gallery is now empty. A small crew of men in

white shirts and dark ties clear away the last traces of the

party. Susan is sitting on one of the plinths deep in

thought. A nude sculpture lying face down is behind her. The

women on the screens continue to gyrate on all four walls.

4

EXT. FREEWAY, LOS ANGELES - HIGH ABOVE THE TRAFFIC. NIGHT 4

-- LATER.

Susan’s car weaves it’s way through the night.

5

EXT. MORROW RESIDENCE, LOS ANGELES. NIGHT -- MINUTES LATER.5

Susan pulls up to a pair of large stainless steel gates. The

glare of her headlights reflects off of the gates and

temporarily blinds her as she shields her eyes. She hits the

remote and the massive gates glide open. She drives in as the

gates close behind her.

As the gates lock in place, another car pulls into the

driveway. The glare of the headlights blinds us so that we

cannot make out anything but the silhouette of the driver. We

see clearly however from the large logo on the hubcap that

the car is a vintage dark brown Mercedes. The car door opens

as the driver lowers his foot onto the gravel drive.

We cut back to the house to see Susan’s silhouette as she

walks towards the front door. The house is dimly lit and

seemingly empty.

6

EXT. LOS ANGELES. THE NEXT DAY -- MORNING. 6

3.

SEVERAL SHOTS OF THE LOS ANGELES SKYLINE REVEAL A FOGGY GREY

MORNING.

7 EXT. MORROW RESIDENCE, LOS ANGELES. MORNING -- CONTINUOUS. 7

Our camera glides across the surface of a black swimming pool

littered with leaves. We pull back to reveal a vast unkempt

lawn and a large Jeff Koons “Balloon Dog” sculpture on a

plinth. There are tools, equipment and a small crane next to

the sculpture. Despite the neglected feeling of the grounds

the house is impressive. Long, low, and elegant.

8 INT. MORROW RESIDENCE, LOS ANGELES. MORNING -- CONTINUOUS. 8

We move into the living room which is an expanse of grey

carpet and low velvet sofas. There are several very large art

crates lining the hall. The house is beautiful but cold and

empty.

Our camera moves down a long corridor towards a door at the

end. The hallway seems endless. A large white Calder mobile

moves slowly over a fireplace at the end of the hall as the

breeze from the air-conditioner stirs it.

Susan stands underneath the Calder in front of an enormous

television with a remote control in her hand. Pressing it

over and over.

As we approach the door the sound of the television becomes

louder and louder. We can hear two women’s voices as they

shriek with laughter.

TELEVISION VOICE 1

And all that decolletage of yours

should get you more dickoletage

than that dude’s got! And as I can

recall, you were the one that told

me that when he came it was as thin

as coconut water! Honey, that’s a

deal breaker for me!

TELEVISION VOICE 2

It was that thin.

4.

TELEVISION VOICE 1

Well I see we’re settling for less

now!

The women break into hysterical laughter once again.

We cut to Susan’s face. Her mouth literally hangs open as she

stands staring at the television and holding the remote in

her hand trying to get the television to turn off.

SUSAN:

Beyond.

She tosses the remote on the bed in disgust and walks out of

the room leaving the television still on.

9 INT. MORROW RESIDENCE - ENTRY HALL. MORNING -- CONTINUOUS. 9

CHRISTOPHER, 38, wearing a dark suit and tie is placing the

mail on a small desk.

CHRISTOPHER:

Mrs. Morrow, a package arrived for

you. I found it in the mailbox this

morning. May I ask you who you

would like on duty this weekend?

SUSAN:

Actually, why don’t you give

everyone the weekend off.

CHRISTOPHER:

Are you sure?

SUSAN:

Yes. We might go to the beach house

and if not it might be nice to have

the weekend alone.

CHRISTOPHER:

I’ll let everyone know.

SUSAN:

Thank you.

Susan stares at the package for a moment. It is a simple box

wrapped in plain brown paper.

Susan begins to rip the wrapping off of the box. As she does

she cuts her finger on the edge of the paper.

5.

She winces, looks at the blood and then quickly puts her

finger in her mouth.

SUSAN (CONT’D)

Damn it. Christopher, I’m sorry but

could you help me open this? I just

cut my finger. Paper cut.

CHRISTOPHER:

Of course.

SUSAN:

Thank you.

Christopher rips the paper off of the package. Inside is a

neat grey linen archival box and a hand written note.

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