Room Page #17

Cube vans rolling up. He sees a woman, slick, driven, 50s get

out of an SUV. This is the Hostess, the same one we saw on TV

in Room.

94 OMITTED 94

95 OMITTED 95

96 INT. DINING ROOM - DAY 96

Jack is fascinated by the machinery. The boxes, cords,

tripods and lights.

He stands near the camera crew, listening to them talk,

watching them set up their gear.

97 INT. LIVING ROOM -LATER 97

Jack, looking through the back window, watches the camera

crew follow his mom and the hostess around the yard. They

pretend to talk. Ma is dressed in her best outfit. Nancy

approaches Jack.

NANCY:

Time for you to go upstairs, Jack.

Remember what your Mom said.

98 INT. LEO’S DEN - LATER 98

The house is quiet apart from two muffled voices. Jack looks

over to see Leo asleep in a chair.

99 OMITTED 99

100 INT. HALLWAY - CONTINUOUS 100

Jack creeps out of the room and down the hall. He walks down

the stairs - gingerly, but on his feet.

101 INT. LIVING ROOM - CONTINUOUS 101

Jack edges into the living room, finding an enthralling

circle of lights and cameras focussed on his mother and the

hostess in their chairs.

The center of the room is shadowless and ultra-vivid, exposed

by many bounces and fills. Ma and the Hostess face each other

in two armchairs brought in for the occasion.

HOSTESS:

You are an amazing, inspiring,

courageous, beautiful young woman.

(MORE)

(CONTINUED)

101 CONTINUED:

HOSTESS (CONT'D)

I know all our viewers are amazed

by the intelligence and poise and

endurance and inner strength you

displayed during your ordeal.

(MORE)

(CONTINUED)

101 CONTINUED:
(2)

HOSTESS (CONT'D)

Truly, an amazing test of

character.

MA:

Thank you. Thank you so much. I

hope they all know how much their

thoughts and prayers have meant the

last few weeks. To our whole

family.

Jack is enthralled.

HOSTESS:

And Jack. Your son. By all accounts

he is a normal, high-functioning,

happy little boy. Amazing.

MA:

He is. He’s my life. I never could

have survived without him.

HOSTESS:

You made life as normal and

nurturing as you could given the

environment. You gave him a

childhood. How did you manage to do

that?

MA:

I... I didn’t think about it. I

didn’t plan it. When I found out I

was pregnant with Jack, it just

seemed like a terrible joke. You

know? To bring someone into that

place, it just seemed so wrong. I

was in a very scary frame of mind.

I thought the devil was controlling

my life. In a way he was.

Ma makes an effort to control her emotions.

HOSTESS:

Are you okay?

LAWYER:

(interjecting)

I'm getting the feeling my client

needs to -

Without taking her eyes off Ma, the Hostess holds her palm

out to the lawyer. Her tone is brusque, matter of fact.

(CONTINUED)

101 CONTINUED:
(3)

HOSTESS:

Just a minute, please.

MA:

Then, everything was different once

Jack came, because he was so

beautiful and I had to keep him

safe.

Ma, calmer, pulling herself together.

HOSTESS:

When he’s older will you talk to

him about his father.

MA:

Jack's not his.

The Hostess thinks she's getting an astonishing scoop.

HOSTESS:

I beg your pardon, are you

MA (OVERLAPPING)

A father's a man who loves his kid.

HOSTESS:

So true, in a very real sense, but

the genetic relationship

MA (OVERLAPPING)

That's not a relationship. Jack's

nobody's but mine.

The Hostess decides to change tack.

HOSTESS:

You breastfed Jack for five years -

in fact, viewers may be startled to

learn that you still do.

MA:

In this whole story, that's the

shocking detail?

The hostess looks over a a colleague, down at her notes.

HOSTESS:

Did it ever occur to you to ask

your captor to take Jack away?

MA:

Away?

(CONTINUED)

101

CONTINUED:
(4)

HOSTESS:

To leave him outside a hospital,

say, so he'd be found.

MA:

Why would I

HOSTESS (OVERLAPPING)

So Jack could be free. The ultimate

sacrifice, of course, but for him

to have a normal childhood...

MA:

He had me.

She starts to stand, dragging her mic pack with her. The

lawyer steps in. Chaos.

102

INT. NANCY'S HOUSE - KITCHEN - EVENING 102

Later. Hushed. Jack eating at the table. Leo reads the

sports pages nearby, a silent companion.

Jack can hear Ma, in the lounge, talking low to Nancy. He

recognizes low sobs: Ma is crying.

Jack stops eating halfway through a mouthful, can't swallow.

103

INT. NANCY'S HOUSE - MA'S OLD ROOM - NIGHT 103

Night. Jack wakes, sensing himself alone. No Ma in the bed:

he touches the mark her body's left. No Ma in the room.

104

INT. NANCY'S HOUSE - LANDING - MOMENTS LATER 104

Jack walks on tiptoe down the landing.

The last door is the bathroom, and there's a crack of light.

Jack taps very quietly on the door, remembering the rule.

JACK:

Ma?

He goes to the top of the stairs and considers descending.

Then he creeps back to the bathroom, whispers a bit louder.

JACK (CONT’D)

Ma?

(CONTINUED)

104 CONTINUED:
104

He tries the handle, but the door opens only a few inches.

Frightened he starts to bang on the door.

JACK (CONT’D)

(shouting)

Ma! Ma!

An adult torso, Leo’s, comes into the frame, driving with

full force against the door which gives a little. Jack puts

his face to the gap and sees Ma’s hair spread out on the

floor.

105 INT. NANCY'S HOUSE - LANDING - NIGHT 105

A little later. Jack gets glimpses of chaos: on the bathroom

floor, TWO PARAMEDICS working on Ma (who responds just enough

that we know she's not dead), Nancy in the bathroom doorway,

Leo trying to calm her.

But no sound. It’s as if Jack has been deafened by an

explosion.

Later:
as Ma is carried out in the background, Jack sits on

the floor. We push in on him; he is hypnotized by the

flashing ambulance lights on the wall.

106 INT. NANCY'S HOUSE - MA'S OLD ROOM - DAY 106

JACK (V.O.)

There's so much of place in the

world, there's less time because

the time has to be spread extra

thin over all the places like

butter, so all the persons say

hurry up, let's get going, pick up

the pace, finish up now. Ma was in

a hurry to go boing up to heaven

but she forgot me, Dumbo Ma, so the

aliens threw her back down

craaaaaaaash and broke her.

Next morning. Jack in a ball on the bed. He opens his fist;

Bad Tooth, all he has of Ma.

In the background we hear the phone ringing.

LEO (O.S.)

(from hallway)

Hello?

(pause)

Jack, come here. It's for you.

107 INT. NANCY AND LEO’S HOUSE - HALLWAY - CONTINUOUS 107

Jack arrives. Leo holds out the phone. A pause then Jack

takes it, holds it too far away: his first call.

NANCY (FILTERED)

Hi, Jack. I've got someone who

wants to talk to you...

MA (FILTERED)

Is he there? Put him on.

LEO:

He's on. He's waiting.

MA (FILTERED)

Jack?

JACK:

Ma?

She struggles to get control of her voice.

MA (FILTERED)

Are you doing OK?

Jack is stumped by this question.

JACK:

Come back.

Rate this script:4.5 / 2 votes