"MARNUS"

(draft one)
Written By

Dillan Thiagarajah
INT. LIVING ROOM. DAY.
We are introduced to the film with fast paced shots (FPS) of
a person waking up and getting ready for the day - turning
alarm clock off, putting on slippers, eating food, brushing
teeth. Everything is hectic and loud music plays in the
background.
MARNUS: (male teenage boy, clean look, in his own world,
introverted, quiet, quirky, keeps to himself) Marnus sits on
the couch in silence. He switches on the T.V. and changes
the channel. As he is relaxing and checking his phone a
female talks in the background on the T.V. Then he looks up
and puts his phone down to listen.

JACINDA: (female in late 30’s, cool, calm, collected, simple

and forward, always looking out for the greater good).
JACINDA
(OS. calm and assuring)
From this Thursday at 12am, New
Zealand as a country will be
entering Level 4. Everyone will be
on lock down over the next four
weeks.

DAY 1: FADE IN AND OUT ON SCREEN

INT. AROUND THE HOUSE/CAR. DAY.

Another set of FPS show Marnus switching the T.V. off,
putting on some shoes, grabbing his car keys, starting the
car. The same clips play in reverse order and we see bags
of groceries being placed on the kitchen bench at the end.

INT. LIVING ROOM. DAY.

Marnus walk into shot and sits down on the couch in the same
spot as he was in before leaving to the shops, the air is
filled with silence. He switches the T.V. back on and
Jacinda is still talking.

JACINDA
(OS. still calm and assuring)
I can tell you all now that
essential services will stay open
over the course of the upcoming
weeks. There is no need at all for
anyone to go out and bulk buy. We
will not run out of products.
Marnus turns the T.V. off and walks out of shot.

(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED: 2.

MARNUS
(as he stands up)
Well then.

INT. KITCHEN. DAY.

He walks over to the kitchen bench where he begins to unpack
the hundreds of dollars’ worth of groceries he just bulk
bought.

MARNUS
(in front of his groceries)
Hello team.
Marnus awkwardly laughs and walks out of frame towards the
cupboard holding cans of food.

EXT. BACKYARD. DAY.

Multiple shots of things outside in the yard (washing line,
plants, birds) swaying gently in the wind, resonating a
peaceful world.

INT. BEDROOM. DAY.

Marnus sits there with a pen in his hand and a whiteboard
laying in front of him. He begins to write something down:
’THINGS TO DO IN QUARANTINE’. However, he makes a mistake
while writing quarantine but can’t erase it as he finds out
he is using a permanent marker.
MARNUS
Nice.
He swaps his pen to an actual whiteboard one and continues
to write - not worrying about the spelling error. He writes
down a list of things he will do throughout his 4 weeks in
quarantine (eg. drink 2L water, sleep 8 hours, exercise
daily). His main goal being: GROW A PLANT.
MARNUS
That’s better.

Marnus stands up and walks out of frame.

 3.

INT. AROUND THE HOUSE. DAY.

FPS of Marnus completing his new list of normal daily
activities (exercising, cleaning, drinking water).

EXT. BACKYARD. DAY.

Marnus walks into shot and places a plant down on the
ground. He then picks up a shovel and begins to dig a hole.

FPS OF MARNUS DIGGING.

Marnus scoops up the last of the dirt from the hole he dug
for his plant and places his plant into the hole, pats the
dirt around it down.

He dusts off his hands and walks out of frame.

MARNUS
(OS. forgetfully)
My shovel!

Marnus walks back in frame, picks up his shove, then walks

back out of frame.

EXT. BACKYARD. DAY.

TIME LAPSE OF SUN SETTING.

INT. BEDROOM. MORNING.

DAY 2: FADE IN AND OUT ON SCREEN

Alarm clock goes off and Marnus turns it off. He goes up to

his calandar and crosses off the date.

INT. AROUND THE HOUSE. DAY.

FPS of Marnus completing his daily activities as seen in

previous day (different exercise + room being cleaned)

EXT. BACKYARD. DAY.

Marnus walks in shot and waters his new beloved plant, gives
it a little pat, then takes a seat next to it.

(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED: 4.

MARNUS
(positive tone)
It’s just you and me now matey.
Marnus hangs around with his plant for a while then gets up
and walks out of frame.
FADE TO BLACK

INT. BEDROOM. MORNING.

DAY 7: FADE IN AND OUT ON SCREEN

Alarm clock goes off and Marnus turns it off. He goes up to
his calendar and crosses off the date. Marnus now looks
slightly run down and has a scruffier look to him - his hair
is messy and his clothes don’t have a sleek look as before.

INT. AROUND THE HOUSE. DAY.

FPS of Marnus completing his daily activities as seen in
previous day (different exercise + room being cleaned).
However, Marnus is not as energetic as he was previously.

EXT. BACKYARD. DAY.

Marnus walks in shot and waters his new beloved plant, gives
it a little pat, then takes a seat next to it.
MARNUS
(thoughtfully)
It’s werid ya know. I thought this
whole isolation thing would drive
me bonkers, but it’s pretty much
normal for me because I never go
out or do anything in general...

Marnus hangs around with his plant for a while then gets up
and walks out of frame.
(MATCH CUT TO NEXT DAY)

INT. BEDROOM. MORNING.

DAY 15: FADE IN AND OUT ON SCREEN
Alarm clock goes off and Marnus turns it off. He goes up to
his calendar and crosses off the date. Marnus now looks much
more run down and looks like a complete mess.
 5.

INT. AROUND THE HOUSE. DAY.

FPS of Marnus completing his daily activities as seen in
previous day (different exercise + room being cleaned).
However, Marnus has no energy at all now and is barely
completeing his activities.

EXT. BACKYARD. DAY.

Marnus already sits in frame with his watering pot next to

him. He sits there facing his plant and talking to it.
MARNUS
How’s quarantine treating ya?

Lucky you, I haven’t got to see the

family in over two weeks now...
Kinda wishing this whole would be
over with so that I could go and
see some people.

By the way, I used up all of our

broadband so you’re my only friend
at this point in time. I hope
that’s okay with you.

Well, good chat. See ya tomorrow

matey.

INT. BEDROOM. MORNING.

DAY 27: FADE IN AND OUT ON SCREEN

Alarm clock goes off and Marnus hops out of bed without
turning it off. He walks past his calendar and doesn’t
crosses off the date. Marnus now is a a full blown mess.

He walks down the stairs staring at his phone and enters the
kitchen where he looks up and smiles.

INT. KITCHEN. DAY.

MARNUS
(excitedly)
You guys are here! Wait, how did
you all get in? Who cares! You guys
are actually here!

Marnus’ family all smile back at him and he walks over to

get some breakfast with them.

(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED: 6.

MARNUS
(smiling)
By the way, I’ve got someone for
you all to meet.

EXT. BACKYARD. DAY.

Marnus takes his family to see his plant. They all stand
around it and stare at it.

MARNUS
He was my only friend, but I guess
now since you are all here I don’t
need to worry about him anymore...
Marnus and his family walk out of frame leaving the plant of
it’s own gently swaying in the breeze.

INT. KITCHEN. NIGHT.

MARNUS
I hope you guys like the cake. It
was made a couple days ago so it
might be a little dry now...
FPS of Marnus’ family look up and smile. Continued FPS of
Marnus finishing his piece of cake and washing his dish.

MARNUS
Well then, I am off to bed. See you
all in the morning!
Marnus walks out of frame and we hear his footsteps has he
goes to his room.

INT. BEDROOM. NIGHT.

Marnus is laying in bed about to fall alseep, when he hears

a loud sound come from downstairs. He gets up to go and
investigate.
He walks back into the kitchen and his dad is at the kitchen
table.
 7.

INT. KITCHEN. NIGHT.

MARNUS
Hey, could you guys please keep it
down. I’m trying to sleep man.

Marnus rubs his eyes and looks back at the table. His dad is
not there anymore. He rubs his eyes again and his plant sits
on the table. He rubs eyes again and his dad appears. He
does this over and over until his plant sit’s there on its
own.

DAD PLANT
Sure. We’ll keep it down.
Marnus’ eyes widen and he screams. He turns his head to the
living room where he see’s two more plants (mum and sister).

MUM PLANT
Sorry, I’ll turn the T.V. down as
well, how about that?
SISTER PLANT
Shut up and just go to sleep dummy.
FPS of Marnus runs out of the room slamming the door behind
him. He runs to his plant outside with a torch and it sits
there as it was. Marnus tries to get his breath back.

MARNUS
Bruh, I do be going crazy though. I
thought the dang plants were
talking to me. LOL.
FRIEND PLANT
Hello Marnus. How are you?
Marnus’ eyes beam open and stare at the plant. FPS of Marnus
getting down on the floor and starting to dig out the plant
with his bare hands.

The shovel from the start of the film slowly rises above his
head and bonks him from behind.
Marnus falls to the floor and the shovel rises above his
head and hits him a couple more times for good measure.

FRIEND PLANT
Silly boy, only had to stay sane
for one more day. Weakling.
The film ends with a shot of the plant gently swaying in the
wind, with Marnus’ head laying in the background.