ROCK BOTTOM By Max Banerjee
INT- S FAMILY ROOM- DAY is laying on his couch in the family room watching TV. is unshaven and has ratty clothes on. It is very dark except for the TV screen. The news is on covering the Bay Bridge attacks. There are a bunch of BEER CANS and EMPTY FOOD CONTAINERS laying around. EXPERT ON THE NEWS (O.S) The loss of a loved one after a tragic attack can cause extreme grief. looks at a PICTURE of his son hanging on the wall. It s a school picture of. sits up. INT- S FAMILY ROOM-DAY EXPERT (O.S.) My research also shows that the day a loved one disappeared is often the most traumatic day in a person s life. This trauma can lead to suicide. (V.O.) I wish I could have that day back. The same picture of is hanging on the wall. The room is a lot cleaner and daylight fills the room. enters the room, and follows closely behind. They stop in the middle of the room, and turns to face. You are coming home right after school and that s that. You are ruining my life. I don t give a damn what your friends are doing or what they think. Whatever.
leaves the room goes up stairs. stands where he is and shakes his head. HE turns and leaves the room. INT- S FAMILY ROOM- DAY is still sitting on the couch looking at the picture. He puts his head in his hands, and sobs a little. INT. S HOUSE- DAY I waited so long for you to come home. is at a DESK looking at some papers when he hears the TV. NEWS CASTER (O.S.) This just in, there has been an attack on the Bay Bridge. Thousands are feared dead. gets up and walks over and stands in front of the TV. A look of horror appears on S face. looks at his watch and then walks over and picks up the phone and dials a number SCHOOL SECRETARY (O.S) Cesar Chaves High School Is GLOVER at school? SCHOOL SECRETARY (O.S.) No, our attendance records show he didn t come in today. hangs up. INT. S home. Montage of pacing around looking at his watch and out the windows. looks more and more distraught as time goes on. He eventually sits down on the couch, and the scene fades to the current sitting in the same spot and position. turns off the TV and sits silent for a moment. The PHONE rings. looks at it and lets it ring
a couple of times before picking it up. Hello? It s MOM. How are you? S MOM (O.S.) Fine. S MOM (O.S) You couldn t have prevented this. I was a terrible parent S MOM (O.S) loved you. Remember his 17 th birthday? Ron looks over and sees a pair of HIKING SHOES sitting by the entrance to the room. He sits for a moment in silence. Yeah hangs up the phone. gets up and walks out of the room. INT-HALLWAY IN S HOUSE-DAY walks down the hallway and looks at different PICTURES of that are hanging on the wall. He pounds his fist on the wall and starts crying again. How could he love me? eventually reaches a door at the end of the hallway. HE opens a door and flips on a light. Ron pauses at the top of the stairs for a moment before he starts walking down to the basement.
INT- S BASEMENT-DAY walks over to his workbench from the bottom of the stairs. He rummages around for a bit and eventually produces a length of rope. Ron starts fiddling with the rope. HE finishes working on the rope and steps away from the desk. It s a noose. HE puts it into place over a ceiling bar. He puts a stool under the bar and stands on top. I deserve this puts the noose around his neck. He takes a deep breath, but before he steps off the stool he sees something off screen. He gets a confused look on his face. He is looking at a picture of and him standing in front of a mountain. They are both smiling in the picture. S expression softens. S birthday. EXT-MOUNTAINS/OUTDOORS-DAY and are sitting down next to each other, looking at a scenic landscape. reaches out and pats on the back. looks at Happy Birthday Son Thanks DAD. Let me take a picture places a CAMERA on a rock and stands next to. INT-S HOUSE-DAY is sitting at a computer smiling. He is looking at the photo that took of them on his
birthday. DAD look Ron walks over and looks at the photo. An expression of disgust/disappointment appears on his face It s terrible. looks up at and smiles. No, I like it. INT-S Basement-Day is standing on the stool still. He is staring off into space, and then snaps out of it and smiles. He takes the noose from around his neck and steps down from the stool. walks over to the picture and looks at it more. The doorbell rings. looks up and walks towards the front door. INT-FT DOOR ENTRANCE-DAY opens the door. It is very bright outside and has to shield his eyes because of it. At the door is his MOM and DAD and MARCUS. MARCUS MR. GLOVER, is alive. S MOM The DHS put him in prison. Let s go get him EXT-PRISON-DAY and his family are waiting outside a fence. Inside the fence is a building. and his family are all facing the building. has a worried expression on his face. The sound of a door opening can be heard.
DAD! (O.S.) S face changes to a big smile. He runs up to and gives him a big hug. My boy. The picture fades to black and then the picture of and appears. (V.O) I was happy to have him back. I wanted him to be happy too, so I made the changes I needed to make.