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First-Place Winner, May - October 2010
Screenplay Contest - Full-Length Series
"Uncanny"
Written by Geoff Inverarity
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
One of the original founders of the Gulf Islands Film and Television School, Screenwriter/Producer Geoff Inverarity has won awards for his work in poetry, creative non-fiction, and screenplay. He is a graduate of Aberdeen University, Queen's University in Kingston, and the University of British Columbia, where he received an M.F.A. in creative writing. He currently has a feature, “Dark Unicorn,” in development with Orca Productions, (Prod. Nick Kendall, Dir Nick Willing). His short screenplay, “Move Out Clean”, was the winning project pitched by Kelly-Ruth Mercier at the MPPIA Short Film Competition at the 2009 Whistler Film Festival.
Additional Writer Information:
geoffinverarity@shaw.ca
LOGLINE
Thirteen years after Dan's wife vanished in front of his eyes, she returns to reclaim her family.
SYNOPSIS
DAN (30), his wife, Amanda (28), and their daughter, ANNIE (3), play hide-and-seek under the covers in bed. When Dan and Annie pull back the comforter, Amanda has gone. Vanished. Dan searches frantically, but he can't find her. The police are called, but Amanda has left no trace; and there is no logical explanation for what has just happened. Eventually, Amanda's declared legally dead.
Thirteen years later, Dan, now a well-respected psychiatrist, is about to get remarried to the lovely SABRINA (35). Annie, now a troubled teen, resents this addition to her family of two. A growing sense of dread begins to surround Dan, and Annie's hostility towards Sab intensifies when Sab announces that she's pregnant. When one of Dan's patients commits a shocking and very public suicide, HARDY (30's), the hard-bitten female cop who investigated the original disappearance, and who's convinced that Dan knows more than he's saying, starts to take a new interest in Dan.
And then, as mysteriously as she had disappeared, Amanda comes back. To Dan, she's a real physical manifestation. Without telling the police or his family, Dan goes looking for answers, and his investigation begins to throw a very disturbing light on these mysterious reappearances of Amanda's. But instead of answers, Dan only finds more and more questions, and the questions become stranger and stranger. Amanda's not the only person to vanish without a trace. And not the only one to come back. But what is she now? Is she a ghost? An hallucination brought into being by Annie and Dan's deepest wishes? Dan begins to question his feelings for Sab as he gets more and more enmeshed with Amanda. He begins to understand that the past has a much stronger hold over him than he can admit, even to himself. Dan finds himself completely out of his depth, caught up in a passionate triangle. But who's he being unfaithful to? Is that really Amanda who lies beside him in bed at night, and makes passionate love to him?
Dan's attempt to meet RACHEL HARRIS (40's), a woman whose husband once disappeared as mysteriously as Amanda, ends in failure. Rachel's husband “came back” she tells him, but Dan can see there is something very wrong with him. Before Dan can question her about what she means, Rachel is brutally murdered in public by her husband. And now he's nowhere to be found.
Are all these happenings linked somehow? Is Dan the thread that connects them all? Hardy certainly seems to think so, and she believes that she's tightening the noose around Dan. But what if she's totally wrong and what is happening is something that is completely irrational? What if there is no solution to the murder mystery? Dan's in the embrace of something completely different. What happens is far stranger and more terrible than either Dan, with his belief in his own rationality, or the cop, with all her certainty that every mystery has a solution, can grasp. If Amanda can't have her family back, she's determined to destroy it, and Dan finds himself fighting for more than just his life. The world is collapsing around Dan and the people he loves while a malevolent force completely outside their control and understanding engulfs them .
LEGAL NOTICE
The UNCANNY screenplay, copyright, and story idea below is owned by Geoff Inverarity. No copying of any of the below pages is allowed, unless approved by owner.
SCRIPT FOLLOWS
EXT. COTTAGE -- DAY
Establishing.
The cottage sits on the ocean. A sandstone beach in front
of the house, thick forest behind it. A well-kept lawn,
green and lush.
A fenced, well-kept tennis court.
A swimming pool, two deck loungers beside a table and an
umbrella.
INT. COTTAGE, MASTER BEDROOM -- DAY
A beautiful, tranquil scene. Billowing white sheers, sunlight
in bars across the floor.
BLACK
SOUNDS: A SMALL GIRL GIGGLES.
MAN'S VOICE
I can hear her...
WOMAN'S VOICE
...but I can't see her. Maybe
she's... Under the bed! No. She's
not under the bed. Where could she
be?
MAN'S VOICE
Wait a minute. Here she is!
Light floods in to REVEAL a child's POV as the bedclothes
are pulled back.
REVEAL
INT. COTTAGE, MASTER BEDROOM -- DAY
The faces of stunning AMANDA (28, with a spectacular mane of
red hair), and hunky but sensitive DAN (30) are beaming down at us. On the floor in the background, an antique doll's house, elaborate and exquisite.
LITTLE ANNIE (3), filled with joy and excitement, gazes up
at her parents as they share a deep loving kiss. Look at
these people! This family is almost too good to be true.
Surely nobody could be happier?
ANNIE
Now you hide, Mummy. Hide.
Annie pulls the covers towards Amanda's face.
Smiling, Amanda lies down on her back. Little Annie pulls
up the covers.
INT. UNDER THE COVERS -- DAY
Sounds are filtered as if AMANDA'S underwater.
It's a very peaceful moment.
ANNIE (O.S.)
Right under.
Amanda lies still. The sunlight that's being filtered through
the sheet begins to be blocked out by the comforter.
The shadow rolls up towards her eyes.
INT. COTTAGE: BEDROOM -- DAY
ANNIE rolls the comforter over her mother. It's bunched up,
and the outline of Amanda's body is hard to make out.
INT. UNDER THE COVERS -- DAY
Darkness descends.
ANNIE (O.S.)
Say "Where's Mummy?"
DAN (O.S.)
Where's Mummy?
INT. COTTAGE: BEDROOM -- DAY
Annie and Dan take the comforter in their hands and haul it
back.
DAN/ANNIE
Here she...
Nothing there. Annie, giggling pulls the covers back further.
Nothing there.
Dan hauls back all the covers.
DAN
Here she...
The bed is empty.
ANNIE
Mummy?
She's gone. It's completely irrational. There's the
impression of her head on the pillow, but she's not there.
Little Annie treats it all as a part of the game.
Dan's baffled; he thinks somehow there's been a trick; he
can't figure out the trick, but he's sure Amanda must be
here somewhere. It's funny; it's infuriating. Suddenly
everything he does is ineffectual.
Things sink in very slowly. There's no frame of reference
for this.
DAN
Amanda.
No reply.
DAN (CONT'D)
Amanda. Come on. Where's Mummy?
Annie hesitates and looks at her father for guidance.
DAN (CONT'D)
(doubtful, trying to
keep it light)
Maybe she's... Under the bed!
He looks under the bed. Not there. Walks out of the room.
DAN (O.S.) (CONT'D)
Hey, Amanda! Christ, this is too
weird.
Annie opens the closet door.
INT. CLOSET -- DAY
As Annie enters the closet, the sounds fade very quickly.
She seems to be making her way through a thick forest; a
jungle of fabrics.
INT. COTTAGE -- DAY
Dan ransacks the house, sweating, terrified.
INT. CLOSET -- DAY
Annie walks on and on... She's enveloped in dresses hanging
from above, the arms of shirts, sweaters Dangling as Annie
searches amongst them.
She stops and stares.
A glimmer of light in front of her. She walks towards it,
and pushes through as white flares out around her.
INT. COTTAGE: BEDROOM -- DAY
Annie exits the closet. She's back, and nothing has changed.
Dan enters, distraught. He shakes his head helplessly at
Annie.
EXT. HOUSE -- DAY
Emergency vehicles. Dan and Annie sitting on the front steps.
A FEMALE DETECTIVE, HARDY (30's), putting away a notebook.
You can see she doesn't believe the story. Nothing more to
be done.
A series of dissolves show the vehicles disappearing one by
one, until the street's empty.
Finally, only Dan and Annie. Dan rests his head on his knees
and puts his hands over his head, defeated.
On Annie; intense.
TEENAGE GIRL'S VOICE (O.S.)
So where did she go?
MATCH CUT
EXT. HOUSE, GARDEN -- DAY
ON 16-YEAR OLD ANNIE'S FACE. Intense, yearning. Follow
Annie's gaze to A FAMILY: MOM, DAD, BABY, sitting on a travel
rug. Near silence; just the murmur of the doting parents,
the gurgles of the happy baby.
Noise swamps in as we realize they're just an oasis of calm
revealed in the midst of PARTY CHAOS. PEOPLE dressed for a
garden party stand and chat, eat and drink.
A teenage girl, MEREDITH (16), a brainless Queen Bee drawling
uptalker type, is waiting for the answer. Annie shrugs dunno.
Annie's strikingly beautiful, but she doesn't make much of
it. She outclasses Meredith, but she doesn't have -- and
she doesn't need -- Meredith's glamour or style. Hovering,
is Meredith's boyfriend, hunky MARK (18).
Across the party is Dan, who's aged well at 43.
Dan watches Annie, reading her yearning, feeling for her. A
voice breaks in on Dan's thoughts. It's a shrewd man in his
sixties, MORRISS.
MORRISS
No regrets?
Dan takes the drink he's offered.
They're looking at SAB (35), elegant, sophisticated, a sexy
and intelligent face. Sab, smiling, waves, and meets and
holds Dan's gaze. They read each other's lust.
DAN
Of course not.
MORRISS
She's a knockout.
DAN
She is. She has a good heart,
Morriss.
Sab has reached them. Greetings, kisses.
MORRISS
Congratulations. Well.
He looks at his watch.
SAB
You're leaving already.
MORRISS
I apologize. Thanks for a lovely
party, and congratulations again,
both of you. Dan, see you Monday.
Handshakes, back slaps, etc. Morriss walks away. Sab takes
Dan's arm; they stroll.
SAB
You trust him, don't you?
DAN
Absolutely I trust him.
SAB
What's it like, being hypnotized by
him?
DAN
It's relaxation. You learn to control
your thoughts. Totally different
from being hypnotized by your...
beauty.
SAB
Oh, you.
She pushes him playfully. They kiss again.
TEENAGE GIRL'S VOICE (O.S.)
I mean duh? She must have gone
somewhere.
Annie's been watching Dan and Sab kiss. Now she turns to go
face to face with Meredith.
ANNIE
What? I don't know. Nobody knows.
MEREDITH
WhatEVER. Mark, sweetie, go get me
a diet soda?
Mark's looking at Annie, not really tracking on Meredith.
Meredith doesn't catch this. Annie does, but she doesn't
get it.
MEREDITH (CONT'D)
MARK. Yah? A sod-ah?
He snaps to, and Meredith shoos him off as her cell phone
warbles. She answers.
MEREDITH (CONT'D)
Hey. Just hanging. Nothing. Not
much. We could chill. Whatever.
Call me in ten.
She shuts up her phone.
ANNIE
It's so great we have satellites.
Meredith doesn't do sarcasm.
MEREDITH
What kind of phone do you have?
ANNIE
I don't have a phone.
MEREDITH
Why?
Annie's losing interest in this conversation.
ANNIE
Because I don't want to talk to
anybody.
MEREDITH
You're strange. So OK, then they
declared your mother legally dead so
your dad could get married again?
ANNIE
Yeah.
MEREDITH
I wish somebody would declare my
mother legally dead. She's such a
fucking whore.
Annie's reluctantly drawn back in.
ANNIE
It doesn't work like that.
MEREDITH
Still, if she really loved you, she'd
have come back.
Annie approaches critical mass.
On Dan, just in time to see Annie pound on Meredith, who
goes down wailing.
DAN
Oh, for crying out loud. ANNIE!
Chaos.
Sab is pulling Annie away. Annie shakes her off furiously.
ANNIE
DON'T TOUCH ME!
SAB
Annie...
ANNIE
YOU CAN'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO!
Dan steps in.
ANNIE (CONT'D)
She...
DAN
Inside.
Annie turns on her heel as Dan attends to Meredith.
MEREDITH
YOU'RE WEIRD. YOUR WHOLE FUCKING
FAMILY IS WEIRD. PSYCHO BITCH!
Mark appears with the soda. He takes in the scene and leans
in to Annie.
MARK
So. You want to go out sometime?
ANNIE
What?
But Meredith's wailing swamps them.
MARK
Catch you later.
He winks and trots off. Annie watches him go, appalled.
DAN
Annie! Inside?
ANNIE
She said my mum didn't love me.
Dan's immediately conflicted. Deep love for Annie, guilt,
so much stuff. He steels himself.
DAN
Go now.
She stalks away.
INT. HOUSE, SPARE BEDROOM -- DAY
Annie glowers out of the window at Sab showing off her
engagement ring to a parade of ooh-ers and ah-ers. Dan is
composing himself. He catches Annie's gaze. She turns away.
INT. HOUSE, ANNIE'S BEDROOM -- NIGHT
Annie is listening to her ipod.
A tap on the door.
DAN (O.S.)
Annie?
ANNIE
Yeah.
Dan enters. It's awkward. Annie takes out the ear buds.
DAN
Hi. Annie, I know this is hard on
you.
ANNIE
God! Everybody keeps saying this is
hard on me. It's not hard on me.
DAN
It's a big change...
ANNIE
Really, I'm fine.
He nods.
DAN
I'm the same. I miss her every day.
She's not coming back.
ANNIE
Yeah. Still.
They share the moment.
DAN
I know, I know. But life ..
ANNIE
Goes on. Right.
They sit in silence.
ANNIE (CONT'D)
Do you think I'm weird?
DAN
For missing her? Of course not.
ANNIE
No. I just mean, you know, weird.
DAN
I never met a teenage girl who thinks
she's normal.
ANNIE
Thanks.
DAN
Oh boy. I don't think you're weird,
OK?
ANNIE
Yeah right.
DAN
Oh, Annie. Good night, then.
ANNIE
Good night.
Dan hesitates. This is where they each know they're supposed
to hug. Dan exits.
Annie pulls back the covers on her bed.
It's a moment; as if it's a strange echo of the past.
An ordinary empty bed. She gets in.
INT. HOUSE, MASTER BEDROOM -- NIGHT
Dan enters, troubled. Sab is waiting.
DAN
That's a few more grey hairs.
SAB
Grey suits you.
Sab pulls him towards her and kisses him, drawing him down
on the bed.
SAB (CONT'D)
I was watching you at the party.
You looked very distinguished today.
DAN
Distinguished?
She strokes his hair.
SAB
Did I ever tell you I have this thing
for older men?
She kisses him.
DAN
Oh, yeah?
SAB
Yeah.
He kisses her.
SAB (CONT'D)
Mm. Can't... resist them. Oh!
Their kisses become passionate. She moans as he begins to
kiss her breasts.
CONTINUED
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