Movie Script Scene-By-Scene Breakdown: “Nine Days”

A breakdown of the screenplay for the 2020 drama fantasy starring Winston Duke and Zazie Beetz and winner of that year’s Sundance Film Festival Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award.

Plot summary: A reclusive man conducts a series of interviews with human souls for a chance to be born.

You may download the screenplay here.

Here is a scene-by-scene breakdown of the screenplay.

Nine Days
Scene-By-Scene Breakdown
By v.c. rhone
GoIntoTheStory.blcklst.com

Logline (on Amazon Prime/STARZ): 
 A man interviews five unborn souls to determine which one can be given life on Earth.

Reading Notes: 
 There are three script versions:
 1. White dated 5/31/2019
 2. Blue dated 7/25/2019
 3. Yellow dated 8/2/2019
 
 The script I read is “Yellow” however the Header on the script says “White.” More than likely the header is mislabeled because this did not read as an early draft. It appears that some of the scenes were moved around in the final edit of the film, and many were omitted on the script. The script ending and film ending are also different.

The film has a runtime of 2 hours and 3 minutes. The script is 110 pages. This is an action-driven script with more action than dialogue, and strong visual imagery.

For the purposes of this exercise, I am breaking down the script’s scenes and will not reference the film in the breakdown.

Order: World / Protagonist Established

Opening Image: A TV Screen with color bars and bar tone.

Pages 1–2: 
 We zero in on the screen and it turns white revealing the POV of a newborn baby. A violin song begins coupled with an image that is grainy, blurry, but through the haze we see smiling parents. Next, we experience a series of montages showing various stages of the newborn baby’s life. It’s a girl, AMANDA. We see her at 12-months old, then 3-years old playing with a toy violin. We stop in at ages 5, 7, 9, 12, 15, 17, 21, 23, 27, and finally 28 years old. We realize the violin music we have been listening to is Amanda playing. All of these moments are from her POV, and this final image is her rehearsing with large orchestra. She plays a solo that moves the conductor and other musicians. We pull back through the micro dots of the TV and are now in real time in a living room. We see a man, WILL, sitting on a couch watching these moments. A VCR records the images on the TV. He stops recording, ejects the tape, then writes notes on a notepad.

Pages 3–4: 
 Will walks into a file cabinet room revealing dozens of file cabinets. He opens one labeled “Amanda” further revealing decades worth of meticulously organized VHS tapes, folders and handwritten notes documenting Amanda’s life. Will returns to the living room and we see the first time, multiple TV screens all playing the lives of several other people. Through a montage, we watch as he records and take notes for RICK, who is constantly bullied and at 5.122 days since selection, MICHELLE, no new or relevant events and at 7,789 days since selection; LUIZA, at her last dance class before her wedding and at 10,291 days since selection; and FERNANDO, paraplegic in a wheelchair and at 9,679 days since selection. As it gets darker, on the TV screens, the people prepare to sleep. We see their bedtime routines on the screen and one-by-one, the screens go black except for one, Amanda’s. She plays her violin at a rehearsal studio. With no one else there, she walks around the studio heading to the bathroom. She enters the bathroom and washes her face, staring at herself in the mirror. The POV gives us a clear shot of her, and it looks as though she and Will are staring at one another.

Pages 4–5: 
 Will works in a makeshift woodshop fixing a homemade spotlight. He attempts to tighten its light bulb but with a strong spark, the bulb explodes. Will looks for other bulbs. Unsuccessful, he leaves into the dark desert of night with a simple lantern lighting his path. Eventually he arrives at a dumping ground of sorts retrieving several light bulbs and additional VHS tapes.

Page 5: 
 As Will walks back he passes by a house similar to his own. The lights are on revealing another man watching several TVs from his couch. Will returns back to his home and Amanda’s TV is still on as she struggles with insomnia, unable to sleep. Will pulls up a chair and gets close to the TV as though he’s keeping her company through the night.

Page 6: 
 It’s a new day and Will harvests tea leaves in his backyard. There is no sun. Through a series of shots and quick scenes, we see him in his video projection room sweeping the floors. He puts notes away in the cabinet room. He irons clothes in his office. He boils water making tea. His alarm goes off on his watch and he goes into the living room.

Order: SOMETHING ISN’T RIGHT

Pages 6–8: 
 All of the TVs are on. He lowers the volume on all of them except for Amanda’s. He puts in a VHS tape that reads: Amanda — Concerto Day, and presses record. On Amanda’s TV we see a flyer for the concert. She lays it on the bed and looks at her violin for a long time. Will is puzzled by this action. The doorbell rings and Will walks to the front door opening it to reveal KYO, wearing business attire and holding a paper grocery bag. He announces that he brought “supplies.” To which Will asks, “Did you come here to bring supplies or to watch the concerto?” Kyo confesses, “Both.” He directs Kyo to the kitchen where he discovers rotting food in the fridge because Will usually does not eat. He empties out the rotten food, replaces it with the fresh groceries, and pours tea for himself and Will.

Pages 8–11: 
 Kyo returns with tea but notices something seems off. Amanda is playing her violin as Will looks on. Kyo notes that Amanda never practices right before a concert. Will excuses himself to “get dressed” for the occasion. He puts on the shirt we saw him iron earlier. Kyo catches a glimpse of Luiza on her screen trying on her wedding dress. He asks Will when she will get married. Will responds, “In eight days.” Will returns dressed in a tie, ready to watch Amanda’s concert. While they are waiting a country song starts playing. Will and Kyo look over and see Fernando, preparing to bathe. He struggles without the use of his legs but finally gets into the tub. Kyo points to Amanda’s TV and notes that she’s heading to her concerto but driving too fast. And suddenly, AMANDA’S CAR HITS A CONCRETE WALL AND SHE DIES. Her TV cuts off.

chaos: the Protagonist Enters an unfamiliar situation

Pages 11–13: 
 Will and Kyo are in shock. They search Amanda’s files looking for clues. Will stares at the black screen of Amanda’s TV. He wonders if she drove into the wall on purpose as he did not see her turn the wheel to avoid hitting it. They sit in silence when suddenly, AMANDA’S TV TURNS ON REVEALING COLOR BARS AND BAR TONE. The sound echoes throughout the home carrying out into the darkness of night like a beacon.

Pages 13–14: 
 DAY ONE. It’s now daylight. The bars and tone are still present on the TV screen. From a distance we see someone walking through the desert. The bar tone gets louder as the we approach the person, now in their perspective. As the person approaches the door, we finally see it is a MIDDLE-AGED WOMAN (ANNE). She presses the doorbell. The bar tones fade. Will opens the door and invites the woman inside.

Pages 14–16: 
 Inside Will’s office, the woman takes a seat as he retrieves a notebook. He offers her tea and retrieves it. Although the woman “knows things” she has never experienced the things that she knows so drinking tea is new for her. Will asks if he may call her “Anne.” He snaps a polaroid shot of her. He asks how old she is and ANNE, the middle-aged woman, responds that she is four hours old. He begins a pre-interview of sorts asking her a series of questions then announces that she is being considered for “selection” — the chance to be born. Anne asks how many days the process is. Will responds, “Nine days.”

Pages 16–19: 
 Will begins a series of more intense testing with Anne. He gives her a scenario in which she must decide if she will let a child die by hanging or intervene to save the child knowing it could cost her life. She indicates that she would save the child. Will thanks her for coming, walks her to the front door and watches her leave.

Pages 19–23: 
 Through a montage we see Will interviewing many other candidates and snapping their photos using a Polaroid camera. MIKE, 20s, shy and introverted; ALEXANDER, 40s, funny looking man; and OLD MAN; MARIA, 20s, an innocent beauty; CANDIDATE #1, a quiet thinker; KANE, 35, self-confident, CANDIDATE #2, a young woman; CANDIDATE #4, a man in shock; CANDIDATE #3, a sensitive crier. Person after person is asked the same series of questions. During his exchange with Kane, Will explains to him that the depth of his senses intensifies when they become alive. Any emotions experienced where they currently are — feeling, emotion, or sensation — are much less. He reveals that he knows this because of a previous experience he had as a living person. One by one, each candidate leaves. Some we will see again. Some we will not.

Pages 23–25: 
 Now alone, Will plays and replays Amanda’s crash on the video projector in the projection room; stopping and rewinding several times. The doorbell rings. He pauses the video and answers revealing Kyo who has stopped by for tea. He sees the light from the projection room and asks what Will is watching. Will lies and says nothing. Kyo sips his tea and Will looks through the candidates’’ folders. Kyo watches the TVs when the doorbell rings. Will ignores it. Kyo encourages him to answer but Will rebuffs him saying that everyone else arrived on time. The doorbell continues ringing and Kyo answers.

Pages 25–30: 
 We hear Kyo and the candidate talking. Annoyed, Will prepares the office for the interview. Kyo enters with THE CANDIDATE (EMMA), 30s, serene, observant. He asks the woman if she minds being called “Emma” but she wants to choose something else. Will tells her that it’s temporary and that if she is selected, she will get another name. She responds that if she’s not selected it will be the only name she will ever have. Will lets her choose a name. She thinks for a moment and says, “I like Emma.”

Kyo snaps her picture with the Polaroid camera. Will explains the process to Emma and ask if she has any questions. She wants to know if Kyo is Will’s boss. Will lets Emma know that Kyo cannot interview. Emma asks why. Kyo reveals that he has never been alive. Uncomfortable by her curiosity, Will avoids eye contact with Emma and quickly transitions into one of the test questions we saw him ask the other candidate about saving a fictitious son’s life.

He becomes animated, loud and dramatic, as he was before. However, Emma doesn’t react. She remains calm; her demeanor never changing. Without pause, Emma offers that she cannot answer the question because no matter the answer it seems the people holding her and her fictitious son hostage will kill her son no matter what. Ever curious. She wants to know why. Will lets her know that the person holding her son hostage is a bad man. She wants to know why. He tells her, “Because that’s the way it is.” Emma wants to know if that’s the way the story is or if that is the way the world is.

Neither of them never really answers the other’s question and eventually Will thanks her for coming and tells her he has everything he needs.

Pages 30–31:
 Kyo looks through the window and watches Emma walking away. Will watches the TVs with Emma’s folder by his side. Kyo wants to know what Will thinks of her. Will is still hung up on the fact that she never answered his question. Kyo suggests that she is more unique than everyone else. Will suggests that this is a sign that she will fall on the battlefield. They argue when Kyo suggests that this is not war. Will dismisses him. Kyo leaves. Will grabs Emma’s folder and looks at her picture. Then he stares at Amanda’s TV, still broadcasting color bars.

Pages 31–32:

Will walks into the projection room and looks at the VCR with Amanda’s tape still inside. He presses play and again, we see Amanda’s car crash. He rewinds the tape back to Amanda’s final rehearsal the day before the concerto. He stops the tape and goes back further, then presses play again. Amanda sits at the table with her friends, when a line of people starts dancing conga around the tables. Amanda and her friends join in. Will listens to her laugh, immersed in thought.

Pages 32–36: 
 DAY TWO. We follow the candidate Alexander from behind as he walks to Will’s house. He rings the doorbell. Will answers and welcomes him inside giving him a tour of his home. We now see a montage of the different candidates being presented to the house by Will. As he’s showing one of the candidates, Maria, the bathroom, she asks if she can turn the shower on to feel the water. Another candidate stares at all of the TVs on the wall in the living room. He admires the real world. Will encourages him to keep watching.

Will gives pencil and paper to Kane and instructs him to write anything he wants that he observes. (Note: In the script, “block of papers” and “paper” and “notebook” are used interchangeably. “Notebook” is being used for consistency.) We see the other candidates also watching the TV and writing things in their notebooks. He gets to Mike who tries to hide his notebook. Will asks to see it and after some back and forth, Mike hands it to him revealing a very well-drawn sketch. Will asks if he can keep it. Mike agrees but on the condition that he not show it to anyone else.

Page 37: 
 Will watches more videos of Amanda as a violin song plays. Through a montage we see Amanda in various stages from her childhood. At 7 years old, climbing a tree. Playing soccer with her cousins. Running at the beach. Jumping on the sofa. Sitting in a grocery cart while her dad pushes her.

The violin song intensifies as we now see less happier moments… Amanda sees her mother crying by herself. She sees a group of boys hurting a dog. She sits by herself at school during lunch, studying musical scores as her classmates make fun of her. The violin song fades, and the final clip shows Amanda coming back home after climbing a tree. She watches her parents argue and then her dad slaps her mom on the face.

Will pauses the video when there is a knock on his door. As he heads to the door, we see several VHS tapes on the table and notes that he has been writing about Amanda.

Pages 37–39:
 Will answers the door revealing Emma with a plate of fruit. She bites into a peach and offers him fruit. He refuses reminding her that he’s like her and does not get hungry but can eat if he chooses to, but he chooses not to eat. Emma glances at the wall and sees the projection of Amanda’s parents arguing. She walks away. Will closes the door and heads to the projector. From the other side of the door, they face one another, and Emma asks what it feels like to be alive. Will replies, “Perhaps you’ll find out.” Emma smiles and walks away.

Pages 39–40: 
 Will fixes the spotlight. He replaces the bulb and shines the light onto the floor like stage lighting. He reaches for a large file cabinet but when he unlocks and opens it it’s a passage leading to a secret room. He enters holding the spotlight. He exits without the spotlight. He closes the cabinet door and locks it

He enters the office room and sees Emma’s notebook, along with other candidates. He flips through the other candidate’s notebooks while we intercut with life moments in the notebooks that candidates have highlighted.

He gets to Mike’s notebook, intercut with a man walking on the beach, stepping into the water and feeling the waves coming and going. Will gets to the last page of Mike’s entries — a crumpled drawing of the beach. Will separates Mike’s notebook from the rest of the candidates.

He then starts going through Emma’s notebook pages. Page after page, full. He flips through the pages revealing that her entire notebook has recorded life moments that she observed. This is all intercut with these moments playing out on the TVs.

The rhythm of the images becomes faster and faster and then suddenly — STOPS. Will reaches the end of her notebook.

CHAOS: THE PROTAGONIST ADAPTS TO THE SITUATION WHILE SEARCHING

Pages 40–41:

DAY THREE. Kane sits on the couch watching the TVs. Will returns his notebook to him. Kane asks what Will thought about his entries. “Anything you didn’t like?” he asks. “That you want me to improve?”

Will tells him it’s better not to think that way. Kane expresses his desire for Will to be straightforward with him since he only has seven days left. He wants to know the rules so he can “play the game.”

And just like that, Will announces that he’s changing the assignment.

Pages 41–42:
 We now see Will talking to Maria. He goes over the new rules explaining that instead of picking their favorite moments, he wants them to pick something they don’t like. As Will talks Maria stares at his mouth then his lips. She blushes and looks down, avoiding eye contact.

Will notices something is different with her but he chooses not to give it any attention.

Next, we see Will talking to Alexander about the new rules. Alexander asks when they will have a beer together. He tells Will that he found some bottles in the fridge. He suggests that they throw a few steaks on the grill and “call some chicks.”

“I’m busy these days,” Will responds. “But thanks for the invite.”

Pages 42–43:
 Emma sits in the living room watching Fernando’s TV as he visits the police department in his wheelchair. All of the officers stop what they’re doing and talk to him. It’s evident that he was a beloved officer.

Will comes in. He sits and watches Fernando’s TV with Emma. After a moment he tells Emma that he read her notebook. She asks what he thought. He tells her she could be more selective. Emma watches Will watch Fernando’s TV and asks if he remembers all of them.

He does.

She wants to know if any of them have ever remembered him. He subtly hesitates and then responds with, “No.”

Pages 43–45:
 Will is by himself in front of Fernando’s TV. He writes on paper as he watches. ON FERNANDO’S TV we are at a bus stop (Fernando’s POV). Everything is quiet. No jokes. No laughs. No small talk from former colleagues. The bus arrives. Fernando uses the lift to get inside, then rides to the disabled area as the bus leaves. He looks through the window and we see his reflection. He is clearly upset.

Will hears something then turns to see Mike standing behind him. We cut to the office and Mike and Will sit across from one another. Mike has just received the news that he’s out. He asks if he did anything wrong. Will assures him that he didn’t.

“I knew…. I wasn’t good enough for this,” Mike says.

Mike tells him it has nothing to do with good or bad. He also tells him that in the end it’s not about the time you spend. He comments on how Mike lived every second with honesty and intensity.

Silence. Mike is devastated.

Will slides a piece of paper in front of him and asks him to write down the most meaningful moment that he observed. Will tells him he will do his best to recreate the moment for him to have the experience.

Pages 45–46
 At night in the projection room, video images of Amanda are projected onto the wall. Amanda at 8 years old opens a gift — a box of crayons. Fast forward to another clip of Amanda at home drawing on paper with her new box of crayons. Amanda gives the drawing to her aunt. Her aunt asks, “Who did you draw here…”

Amanda tells her it’s her friend. Amanda’s mom says in the background, “Oh, the friend again.” Amanda says that she doesn’t really talk to him but he’s always with her. Her aunt asks what his name is.

“Will,” Amanda says. “His name is Will.”

Watching, Will stops the tape. He sits and stares. Total silence.

Pages 46–47:
 At the dumpster ground at night, Will and Kyo walk around filling a utility cart with wood and metal. Kyo talks incessantly. He talks about how he was helping another interviewer “Joan” with two candidates who kept asking where they all came from.

Pages 47–51:
 DAY FOUR. It’s a new day. We hear a hammer, jigsaw, and saw coming from the garage. Throughout the day, candidates sit in the living room watching the TVs, as the tools rattle on in the background. Later in the afternoon Maria stares at the TVs and takes notes. We get close on her paper as she has written “Will” down as her “crush” then quickly scribbles over it.

At night, Emma watches the TVs. The incessant sound of the saw and hammer persists. Ever curious, Emma stands up and walks through the house, getting closer to the source of the sound. In the garage, Will and Kyo are building an unidentifiable item. Emma steps in without being noticed. They work awhile before Will finally spots her and asks what she is doing. Emma offers to help. Will tells her she needs to focus on her assignment. Emma continues asking questions. Kyo finally lets her know that they’re working on a last wish. He starts to explain that when a candidate is eliminated, they get a last wish. Will interrupts and says they’re creating a moment for the candidate to experience.

Emma offers to help. Will tells her that she won’t get any extra time to complete her assignment. She tells him she’s already done for the day. The three of them all work together, sanding wood. They’re both impressed with Emma’s natural skill. As they work Emma asks both Kyo and Will if they could pick a moment, what would it be? Kyo smiles then notes how people react in movies when they reach the top of a mountain. He then yells like “Tarzan.”

Will deflects by saying he’s lived before and there is no moment. Emma presses him gently for an answer until he finally snaps back with, “Enough!”

Pages 51–53: 
 Later. They have finished the now-wrapped-object and put it on the floor in front of the secret cabinet room door. Kyo announces he’s going to make tea. Will thanks Emma for helping. She asks if they’re doing the “last wish act” tomorrow and Will tells her that she’s not allowed to watch. She tells him that she’s willing to finish her assignment early to come watch. Will dismisses her comment by asking Kyo to walk her to the front door.

On their way to the front door, Emma asks if all of the interviewers do this last wish act for their candidates. Kyo tells her that Will is the only one. Kyo tells Emma that Will was special during his time of living. He reveals that the first time he saw Will he was on one of those TVs. He tells Emma how talented, sensitive, and caring Will was. So much so that he struggled his whole life to fit into a world that was vastly different from who he was.

He tells her that he wanted to do more to help him but that they can’t do a lot from where they are. As they reach the door, Will asks Kyo if he can show him something.

Pages 53–55:
 In the projection room, Will plays and stops a VHS tape, using clips to illustrate his point as he talks. He tells Kyo that he’s been going through Amanda’s entire adult life, looking for answers. He plays a clip of Amanda at her mom’s funeral noting that she did not cry and didn’t cry much throughout her life. It’s apparent that Kyo is unhappy with Will’s investigation as his “face is numb.”

Will continues and tells Kyo that there is one time that Amanda cried. It was when she played the violin. Kyo asks why he’s doing this. Will says he just wants to know what happened because he needs to know. He feels it’s his duty.

Kyo reminds Will that his duty is to choose someone. And Kyo’s duty is to make sure he chose correctly. He continues by letting Will know that he feels there was no better choice than Amanda. Whether her car crash was on purpose or not. He asks if Will agrees. Will doesn’t respond. Kyo let’s himself out and leaves.

Page 55:
 After leaving Will’s place Kyo walks in the desert at night, deep in thought. He sees someone coming closer. It’s a man crying. He’s a candidate… former candidate. Kyo passes by him as the man continues walking, aimlessly, hopeless. We go wide as Kiyo keeps coming walking, but we can no longer see the man.

Pages 55–58:
 DAY FIVE. Kane sits at the desk in the office. Will asks if he wants to talk about the moment he doesn’t like. As Kane talks, we intercut with flashback scenes from the TVs. Kane tells Will that he’s been following Rick who is constantly picked on and beat up by his classmates. Kane doesn’t like what the kids do to Rick. But what he hates most is what Rick DOESN’T do. He never reacts and never defends himself.

When Will asks what he would do differently, Kane responds that he would hit back. Will refers to that response as violence. Kane calls it justice.

Later, Maria is now in the office. Intercut with the flashback of the moment she’s talking about — an amateur tennis match. She talks about how well the player did and came so close to winning but ends up losing after letting his emotions get in the way.

Another candidate, Alexander talks about the monotony of a woman working in a donut factory who does a repeated job of getting a box, putting donuts in it, then passing it down for another worker. As he talks, we see it play out on the TV.

Now we get to Emma, who sits across from Will. She tells him that she did what he asked, and she chose one moment that she has been watching closely. Will asks what she doesn’t like about this person to which she responds with no hesitation, “He hates himself.”

She continues with, “He thinks he’s a failure and that everything inside him is worthless and shameful, so he puts up walls around him…”

Will notes that the man seems irreparable. But Emma pushes back and says there’s still something there. They’re interrupted by Kyo announcing that Mike has arrived.

Pages 58–60:
 Moments later we’re inside the cabinet room with noise coming from the other side of the cabinets. Kyo opens the door to the secret room and invites her in. He leads her to a hiding place and tells her not to let Will see her.

They open the object they built the night before and the spotlight hangs over it. Mike shows up, wearing shorts and a t-shirt. Emma watches Will talk to Mike like a director before an actor performs a scene. Mike looks down and sees sand. Will gives him a “Walkman” and he presses play releasing the sound of the beach — waves, birds, people…

Mike closes his eyes, walks on the sand and enjoys his last experience. It’s the happiest we have ever seen him. After quite some time the spotlight fades and the tape ends. Will approaches Mike. Knowing what’s coming, Mike’s breathing intensifies. Will gently lays his hand on him to calm him down. We now just see their two shadows on the floor. Mike’s shadow fades away and there is now only silence.

Pages 60–62:
 Later, Will enters the living room and sees Emma watching the TVs, as if she has been there the whole time. He thanks her for her help then revisits the conversation they had earlier about the man who doesn’t like himself.

For the first time, he opens up and reveals that in high school the man was part of a theater group. Although he never liked it, he primarily did “insignificant” roles with a few lines and quickly got off the stage before being noticed. Before the opening night of a big show, the main actor was sick, and the man was asked to replace him since he had the best memory. Will recounts not only the successful performance but how it was a defining moment and how he experienced “a glimpse of something he never touched before, and that he would never touch again…”

Emma asks if the man would like to experience that moment again. Will responds with, “No. Because it would make him feel alive again.”

He says he’s telling her this because he believes she has talent and if she is ever going to survive, she will need to be tougher in a way that this man wasn’t.

Emma ponders his comments for a moment and then says, “How do I know the man is telling the truth, now that I found out he was a great actor?”

They look at each other and Will almost smiles as he leaves.

Page 62:
 Will stands in the middle of the soundstage room where they create experiences for the candidates. The spotlight creates a pool of light on the stage. He stares at the light but does not step into it.

Pages 62–64:
 Emma drinks tea at the kitchen table. Kyo walks in and she asks why he does this job. They have a revealing conversation where Kyo tells her that the interviewers all have aspirations and expectations if they do their job well as they have heard stories about this happening. Emma asks about Will and Kyo lets her know that Will is different. He wants the opposite of what everyone else wants — to vanish once and for all.

Page 64:
 Through a cracked door we see Will watching Amanda’s car crash projected on the wall. Kyo leaves and walks through the desert at night, eventually making a decision…

Pages 64–68:
 DAY SIX. Maria sits in the living room. She’s scribbled over a word that we can’t see. Now we cut to her staring at herself in the bathroom mirror. She looks at her hair then pulls it back, imagining what she would look like with a different hairstyle. We then cut to the projection room and Maria is in the room with Will with her hair in a different style. There is an image of a spider on someone’s arm projected onto the wall and she says how she would respond if the spider was on her arm.

We now go through a series of these types of hypothetical situations with different candidates. We get to Emma. She watches Rick being bullied by violent kids, and he’s not reacting. Will asks what she would do and she says she would talk to the kids. Will tells her it will not work but she doubles down and says she would talk to them again. We now go back to Alexander’s session. Will leaves the room and returns with two bottles of beer.

We go back to Maria who is exhibiting stranger than usual behavior. Her responses to the sample “test” questions are so random that Will pauses the tape and simply hands her the rest of the test questions to study on her own. She seems as though she might tell him what’s really on her mind but instead, she says she can’t remember what she wanted to say.

Later in the evening Will sits at his desk reading over the assignments. Maria enters and tells him that she left her assignment on the desk. He thanks her. She keeps staring at him. She then simply nods and exits.

CHAOS: THE PROTAGONISTS FINDS WHAT HE HAS SEARCHED FOR

Pages 68–72:
 Will enters the projection room and finds Maria’s notebook. He scoops it up and uncovers paper folded into an envelope from her addressed to him. He opens the envelope and reads the letter. We do not see what the letter says but when he’s done reading it, he sits a moment, thoughtful. After a long pause, the doorbell rings.

Will answers the door revealing Kyo and COLLEEN, a middle-aged woman with a calm demeanor, who is also an interviewer. Kyo reveals that Colleen chose a candidate who is connected to Will — Amanda’s cousin, Cecily. She inserts one of her own VHS tapes showing Cecily’s POV reading a letter. It’s a suicide note written by Amanda. Will, is in disbelief as he never saw Amanda write the letter. Colleen tells him that sometimes it’s hard to keep track of everyone. Will refuses to believe that Amanda took her own life, and he says repeatedly, “That’s not hers.” Eventually he explodes and kicks Kyo out.

Pages 72–73:
 Will paces back and forth in the cabinet room repeating aloud, “She didn’t do it… She didn’t do it…” Eventually, he can no longer believe his own words. He opens Amanda’s cabinet, grabs a handful of her VHS tapes and accidentally drops them. He stares at the tapes on the floor, then erupts punching the cabinets harder and harder. A few seconds later he composes himself, stares at the space for a moment, grabs the tapes and puts them back into the cabinet, shutting it as though nothing ever happened.

Pages 73–75:
 DAY SEVEN. A new day as Will sits in his office talking to someone who sits opposite him. He is delivering the news that they are not being selected. He slides a piece of paper over the table and ask them to write down a truly meaningful moment. We now see that he’s talking to Maria. She asks if it’s because of what she wrote to him, upset with herself for sharing how she felt about him. He assures he that it is not the reason. She tells him that she loves him to which he reminds her that she has known him for less than seven days and they have barely talked. “There’s no way you can love me,” he says. She continues to profess her love for him and asks if they can be together in a moment of her choosing. He tells her that she must be by herself during the selected moment. Regretful, she repeats how she had a chance and threw it all away. Will watches her in silence.

Pages 75–77:
 Later, Will stares at the TVs in the living room. He focuses in on Fernando’s TV. We are now watching Fernando’s POV on the projection room wall as he chases down a fugitive eventually coming face to face with him and getting shot. The fugitive escapes and Fernando falls to the ground, later realizing he cannot feel his legs. The image is paused, now revealing Emma and Will watching the scene in the projection room.

Will asks Emma what she would do in that situation? When she says she does not know, Will demands an answer. She continues saying she cannot give him an answer. Will becomes increasingly angry, which Emma has not seen before. She grabs his shoulder, trying to calm him. He violently jerks his arm away and says, “Don’t touch me!” and walks away.

Pages 77–79:
 Later, we’re close on Kane’s face showing him watch the same video with Will, who pauses the tape at the moment Fernando is shot and asks Kane what he would do. Without hesitation Kane responds that the moment the fugitive moved, he would be dead. Later, Will assesses Kane’s primal reaction by making a quick movement at Kane, who instinctively raises his fists, ready to fight. Will immediately “rewards” him with an envelope containing a special invitation.

Later in the afternoon, Will shows Alexander Fernando’s video and asks what he would do. Alexander jokingly asks if he can phone a friend. Will, grabs his arm and twists is behind his back. Alexander tells Will that he is hurting him, and Will tells him that what he’s feeling is not even a fraction of the pain he would feel if he were alive. He eventually releases his grip on Alexander and walks away.

Pages 79–80:
 Will works on a wooden piece in the garage. The doorbell rings, but he keeps working. It rings again and he doesn’t react. We eventually hear the door open and Kyo comes into frame wearing a suit and holding a bouquet of flowers.

Pages 80–81:
 Later in the living room, we see Kyo’s flowers inside a vase. On one of the TVs, there is the POV of a woman staring at a mirror wearing a wedding dress. It’s Luiza and today is her wedding. Will and Kyo watch together as the wedding day montage starts capturing special moments from the wedding. Will watches everything attentively. Kyo congratulates him and notes how happy Luiza looks. Will doesn’t respond. He simply stands up and says he has to get back to work, and leaves.

Pages 81–83:
 DAY EIGHT. Alexander sits at the office room table waiting for Will. After a long beat, Will enters and apologizes for keeping him waiting. He also apologizes for his behavior the day before. Alex tells him it’s his fault too for not taking the question more seriously. Will also reveals to him that he does not fit the vacancy he’s applying for, which means he is not being chosen. Alexander does not go gently into the night and begs him for another chance before finally erupting in anger. Will gives him an opportunity to recreate an experience for him but Alexander refuses to play along. He calls him a sad, hypocritical, judgmental coward then storms out.

Page 83:
 At the end of the day Emma comes form the kitchen eating a peach. She looks through the cracked office room door and sees Will sitting at his desk, eyes closed, with a disturbed expression. She stares at him for a moment then goes back to the projection room.

Pages 84–86:
 The doorbell rings and it’s Maria. Will thanks her for coming and then we cut to the soundstage. The room is bathed in darkness except for a single spotlight on a stationary bicycle in the center of the stage. Maria sits on it wearing headphones. Will turns on the video projector. On the wall, a POV of a bicycle ride, plays in front of Maria. This is her recreated experience. She rides through a variety of landscapes and sceneries until the projector turns off, the spotlight fades to black and it dark on the soundstage. Her breathing increases. She begs Will to spare her, and he tells her there is nothing he can do. She looks down at her hands and they start to disappear. She begs for another chance and begs him not to let her go. Will starts humming a song, like a father trying to calm a child. Maria eventually quiets down and starts to hum the song with him until she completely disappears.

Pages 86–88:
 Will and Kyo enter the cabinet room from the secret room when they hear sounds from the living room. Emma is there. Will reminds Kyo that he asked him to dismiss Emma for the day, but Kyo “forgot.” Will, feeling it was intentional, asks Kyo why he’s doing this. Kyo tells Will that he wants to help open his eyes. Will admits that he doesn’t feel Emma fits the vacancy and he thinks he will eliminate her that same night. They have a heated exchange as Kyo accuses him of wanting to send someone tougher and Will accuses him of wanting to send someone who is a prey. Will tells Kyo he’s jealous and can never understand because he has never been alive before. Kyo suggests that Will give Emma a chance. They turn their heads suddenly and notice that Emma’s been standing there watching and listening to them.

When they notice her, she quietly responds with, “It’s Rick.”

Pages 88–89:
 Will, Kyo, and Emma watch Rick’s TV showing his POV running away, chased by an angry teen threatening him like never before. Will asks Emma what happened, and she tells them that Rick finally reacted.

Rick keeps running until the bully reaches Rick and tackles him to the ground. Rick grabs a rock and hits the bully in the face. The bully stumbles and falls and Rick unleashes years of anger on him, beating the kid unconscious.

Rick drops the rock and looks at his bloodstained hands. Realizing what he has done, he lets out an animalistic, guttural scream as Will Kyo and Emma stare at the image.

CHAOS: THE PROTAGONIST PAYS A PRICE FOR WHAT HE HAS FOUND

Pages 89–92:
 In the hallway, Emma is about to leave when she notices an envelope on the doorknob. She opens it revealing a special invitation.

Kyo comes into the kitchen and sees Will at the table. For the first time, Will is actually drinking something — a bottle of beer. Kyo is surprised that Will decided against eliminating Emma. Will tells him a joke about a man with no arms to break the ice. Kyo reveals that he had no idea Will was funny. After a long silence Will asks Kyo why he thinks Amanda did it.

“She’s dead, Will,” Kyo says. “Why does it matter?”

Will comes back with, “It matters because she is dead.”

Will blames himself saying he should have seen the signs and Kyo reminds him that even if he had seen the signs, there is nothing he could from where they are. Will laments that all he can do is keep sending candidates into chaos and challenging them to survive it. He fears that Emma is too much like him. Kyo challenges him to focus on the good memories, but Will has resigned within himself that no matter what, it’s just one same thing — hurt as sharp as a dagger. And in that very emotional and vulnerable moment, Will says, “Now… I know that she felt the same way.”

Pages 92–93:
 In the projection room, a video of Amanda playing the violin is projected onto the wall. We intercut with Alexander walking alone in the desert as Amanda’s song continues playing. He walks aimlessly into a haze of fog and disappears. We cut back to Amanda’s video as she plays her violin, tears coming out of her eyes, clouding our POV shot.

Will watches. He once thought that she was just feeling the music and playing with all of her heart, but now he knows better. He stops the tape. There’s silence and then… Bar tone.

We cut to the desert. Later. A large flame lights up the night as we get closer and realize that Will is burning all of Amanda’s tapes and notes. Everything that he ever recorded or wrote about her in the last 28 years goes up in flames and turns to ash. Simultaneously, the color bar tone escalates louder and louder.

Back in the living room we’re close on the color bars of the TV when suddenly the tone stops, and the color bars are replaced by a warm magenta-orange screen. The colors pulse becomes darker and lighter and has a rhythm of a beating heart as though a new life is about to begin.

Pages 93–95:
 DAY NINE. A new day as we follow Emma walking through the desert. It is the first time we see the world through her perspective. She stops in front of Will’s house and rings the doorbell. She takes a deep breath and looks around, realizing that she might not see any of this again. Her hands tremble slightly and suddenly Kyo opens the door. Kane is already there, waiting and watching TVs. Kyo introduces them then excuses himself into the kitchen to help Will. Both Emma and Kane take notice that today is their last day. Emma asks if he’s afraid. He quickly replies, “No, are you?” To which Emma reveals, “Yes, I think I am.”

Pages 95–99:
 Later in the backyard, Will, Kyo, Kane, and Emma sit around a table of leftover food. Will is the only one who did not eat. Kyo, Kane and Emma exchange stories about the most disgusting thing they have watched. Will discourages the conversation, but Emma and Kane are all too eager to chat. Kyo kicks things off with his gross, but humorous tale. Things take a turn, however, when Kane relays a gruesome story about the murders of two little girls. Emma says that wasn’t the type of “disgusting” Kyo was referring to. She is curious to know why Kane brought up an “isolated case” knowing it was not in keeping with the spirit of the conversation.

Kane tells Emma that those types of things happen all the time to which Emma argues that these cases are exceptions and not the norm. Kane disagrees. He asks, “What world have you been watching?!”

Kyo interrupts and asks Emma to share her “disgusting moment.”

Emma shares her story about a toothbrush being used to clean a dirty toilet and everyone laughs when she reveals that an unsuspecting house guest later uses that same toothbrush.

ORDER: THE PROTAGONIST RETURNS TO HIS FAMILIAR WORLD/SITUATION

Pages 99–100:
 Kane and Emma sit side by side in the projection room waiting for Will. Eventually he enters, pulls out a chair and reveals that he hasn’t made up his mind, yet. To help him, he makes one simple request.

“I want you to tell me why the person in front of you doesn’t deserve to be alive.”

The same people who were just laughing together are now forced to destroy each other. Emma stands up and leaves.

Pages 100–101:
 EPILOGUE. It’s early morning. Will eliminates the last candidate. He speaks to someone we can’t yet see letting them know that he wants them to take advantage of their remaining hours to write down a moment truly meaningful for them.

It’s Emma.

Will tells her to take her time thinking about it. He hands her a piece of paper and within seconds she writes her response and hands it to him. He is silent for a moment before telling her that she has to pick something else, but she tells him it’s the only thing she can think of. He stares at the paper for a moment, lays it on the table, then slides it back to her. He cannot honor her request.

Page 101:
 Will stands in the middle of their “experience” soundstage. He looks around then looks up at the spotlight. He closes his eyes. We hear rumblings of an audience mumbling before the start of a play. The noise fades then suddenly, the spotlight turns off.

Pages 101–102:
 Kane and Will sit on the couch. Will gives him the last set of instructions on the transition he’s about to make. Upon hearing the instructions about his senses and all of the other sensations and physical changes he will go through; he thanks Will and says that he’s sorry for Emma. To which Will replies, “No, you’re not. But that’s why I chose you.”

Pages 102–105:
 Will organizes papers and folders from the last nine days. There’s a knock on the cabinet room door. It’s Kyo telling Will that Emma was there to say goodbye. Will doesn’t respond. He simply keeps organizing the folders. Kyo walks back to the front door and tells Emma that Will is busy with other work. She understands. Kyo extends his hand, but Emma hugs him. Kyo is moved by this gesture. Emma walks out the front door into the great “nothingness” outside in the desert. Kyo returns to the cabinet room door/corridor to tell Will that Emma is gone. Nothing. Will still ignores him. Kyo stares at the closed door, then leaves.

From inside the office, we see the cabinet room door closed. The door opens and Will enters taking another look at Emma’s “last wish” paper on the desk. He picks up the paper and discovers that there is something handwritten on the actual desk!

She writes that by the time he reads this she will probably no longer exist. She tells him how she took the liberty to write all of the beautiful moments she experienced in the house in hidden places. Incredibly moved Will searches through the house and finds several of her messages. Amanda’s violin song starts to play and increases in intensity.

A series of shots of Will going throughout the house making beautiful discoveries intercut with flashback images of those moments unfolds. Words on a wooden box during Mike’s last wish; Something written on the desk below the projector from Maria’s last wish; words on the dinner tablecloth from their last dinner together; unnoticed moments spread everywhere…

ORDER: THE PROTAGONIST HAS CHANGED AS A RESULT OF HIS JOURNEY

Pages 105–110:
 The front door bursts open. Will storms out the door running through the desert, looking for Emma. In the distance, he spots her and calls out for her. She turns her head, a small dot moving very slowly. Heart pounding, sweat pouring from his forehead, he is no longer in his safety zone. Nervous, anxious, scared… feelings he only felt when he was once alive.

Emma suddenly understands what she is about to watch. She sits on the ground and becomes his audience. Time stands still. Will closes his eyes then opens them, finally turning to Emma. He then begins his monologue — the same one he once performed in high school so may years ago…

A mixture of emotions. An indescribable mix of joy, anger, ecstasy, sadness. In a completely vulnerable state, he and Emma both shed tears as he continues delivering the lengthy and meaningful monologue…

And then a moment of pure silence as he is broken by the very last verse he speaks, “Failing to fetch me at the first keep encouraged…missing me one place search another; I stop somewhere… waiting for you.”

Emma discovers through Will’s monologue what it’s like to be alive. She smiles delicately, fulfilled.

Will stares at Emma and in a flash, a remembrance — He sees Amanda, smiling.

Closing Image: Will finally smiles.

Kudos to V.C. Rhone for preparing this scene-by-scene breakdown.You may download a PDF of the breakdown here.

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