"MARNUS"

Written By
Dillan Thiagarajah
 OVER BLACK:
Title Card: MARNUS

Music fades in. It’s soft and serene.

’Sandstorm’ by Mereba ft. JID
CUT TO:

INT. AROUND THE HOUSE. DAY.

FADE IN:

MONTAGE:
A plant stands tall next to a couch in the corner of a
living room.
A plant sits on a staircase on its own.

A plant looms in a dining room with draped curtains on both

sides of it.
A plant stands in a gloomy garage with a shovel next to it.
Dirt is scattered on the floor and a liquid is seen spilled
on the floor to the side.
A photo of a family who are on holiday hangs on a wall.
There are 5 people in the photo.
CUT TO:

INT. LIVING ROOM. DAY.

The room is minimalistic: white walls, naturally lit, red
couch and a tall plant stands next to the couch.

"Inside, it’s killing me baby."

A boy (male, teenager, clean look, in his own world,
introverted, quiet, keeps to himself) sits on a couch with
his headphones on. This is MARNUS.

He takes his headphones off and enters back into reality.

The music fades out and the room fills with silence.
He switches on the T.V. and checks his phone. The
distraction takes him away from reality once again.
A female begins to talk on the T.V. He looks up with
interest and puts his phone down to listen.

(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED: 2.

JACINDA (O.S.)
(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.

MONTAGE OF MARNUS:
Snatching his car keys off a bench and putting on some
running shoes.

Smashing the ’start’ button on his car.

Opening the car door, jumping out and then slamming the door
closed behind him.

Opening the car door, throwing some bags in, hopping back in
and then slamming the door closed.
Kicking his shoes off and dropping his keys back down, in
the same spot where he picked them up from.

Dropping multiple bags of groceries on the kitchen bench.

INT. KITCHEN. DAY.

Marnus stands in the kitchen unpacking the hundreds of
dollars’ worth of groceries he just bought.
JACINDA (O.S.)
(still calm and assuring)
I can tell you now that all
essential services will stay open
over the course of the upcoming
weeks. There is no need for anyone
to go out and bulk buy. We will not
run out of products.

Marnus warily smiles and lets out an awkward laugh. He walks

out of frame towards the cupboard, holding a stack of cans
in his arms.
CUT TO:
 3.

EXT. BACKYARD. DAY.

Outside in the yard a washing line slowly sways, as do the
plants along the fence line. A bird sits on the fence and
flies away. The world seems slow, as if everything has
stopped for a moment in time.

CUT TO:

INT. BEDROOM. DAY.

The room is very simple. The walls are bare and there is a
bedside table next to the bed.
Marnus lays on his bed looking around the room with a pen in
his hand. He sits up and rapidly taps the pen on a
whiteboard in front of him.
He begins to write something down; ’THINGS TO DO IN
QUARANTINE’. However, he makes a mistake and writes
’QUARANTIEN’, but can’t erase it. He turns the pen around
and finds out he is using a permanent marker.

MARNUS
Shit.
He shakes his head in disapproval, swaps his pen to an
actual whiteboard one, and continues to write - no longer
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 everyday, clean up the house and exercise
regularly). His main goal is to: GROW SOME PLANTS. Marnus
looks at the list and the corners of his lips rise.

Marnus bounces off his bed and walks out of frame.

The camera changes focus to a plant on his bedside table.
CUT TO:

INT. AROUND THE HOUSE. DAY.

MONTAGE OF MARNUS COMPLETING HIS NEW LIST OF ACTIVITIES:

Drinking water from a big 2L water bottle.

Running on a treadmill - with sweat dripping all over him.
Cleaning the kitchen floor and using bleach on the tiles.

Laying down and reading a book: ’The Boy With Two Heads’.
 4.

EXT. BACKYARD. DAY.

The washing line from earlier stands on the side, still
rotating in the breeze.
Marnus walks into shot wearing gumboots and gardening
gloves. He places a plant on the ground, then picks up a
shovel and begins to dig a hole.
FPS (FAST PACED SHOTS) OF MARNUS DIGGING FEROCIOUSLY.

Marnus scoops out the last bit of dirt from the hole and
places the plant in. He hits the dirt around it with his
shovel, using an unnecessarily large amount of force.
He dusts off his hands lets out a deep and heavy breath,
then walks out of frame.

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

back out.

EXT. BACKYARD. EVENING.

TIME LAPSE OF SUN SETTING.

FADE TO BLACK

INT. BEDROOM. MORNING.

DAY 2: FADE IN AND OUT ON SCREEN
An alarm clock begins to blare and Marnus wakes up to turn
it off. He hops out of bed and goes up to his calendar to
cross off the date.
The same photo of the family from the start of the film is
placed next to the calendar. One of the family members has a
plant in place of them.

CUT TO:

INT. AROUND THE HOUSE. DAY.

MONTAGE OF MARNUS:
Drinking water from a big 2L water bottle.
Doing a series of core exercises (sit ups, Russian twists,
leg raises).

(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED: 5.

Cleaning up his room and throwing a blood stained top in the

laundry basket.
Drawing a picture of a flower, similar to the one he planted
the day before.

EXT. BACKYARD. DAY.

Marnus walks into shot holding a watering can and waters his
new beloved plant. He gives it a gentle pat, then takes a
seat next to it.
JACINDA
(in Marnus’ head)
I urge you all to stay local.
(the word local echoes)

MARNUS
(positive tone)
You seem a bit lonely, mate. Here’s
a friend for ya.

FPS OF MARNUS DIGGING A NEW HOLE NEXT TO HIS CURRENT PLANT.

He places in a plant, just like the current one and
ferociously smacks the dirt around it.
Marnus sits down with his two plants and enjoys a moment
with them. He then gets up and walks out of frame.
FADE TO BLACK

INT. BEDROOM. MORNING.

DAY 7: FADE IN AND OUT ON SCREEN

The same alarm clock begins to blare and Marnus wakes up to
turn it off. He jumps out of bed and goes up to the calendar
to crosses off the date. Two of the family members in the
photo now have plants in place of them.
Marnus now looks slightly run down and has a scruffier look
to him - his hair is messy and his clothes don’t have a
clean look as they did the previous days.

CUT TO:
 6.

INT. AROUND THE HOUSE. DAY.

MONTAGE OF MARNUS (WITH LESS SPRING IN HIS STEP):
Drinking water from a big 2L water bottle.

Struggling to do different push up variations (incline,

decline and regular). His arms tremble under the pressure.
Cleaning the bathroom and rubbing off a dried up red liquid
on the basin.

Playing piano - a light-hearted and melodic tune.

EXT. BACKYARD. DAY.

Marnus walks into shot and waters his two plants. Once
again, he gives them a little pat and sits with them.
MARNUS
(thoughtfully)
It’s weird ya know. I thought this
whole isolation thing would drive
me into the ground, but it’s almost
normal for me because I never do
anything in general...
You guys on the other hand.

Marnus begins to stand up.

MARNUS (CONT’D)
Here’s another friend for y’all.

FPS OF MARNUS DIGGING ANOTHER HOLE

He places a plant inside of it, then ferociously smacks the
dirt down as he has the other two plants.
Marnus hangs around with his plants for a while, then gets
up and walks out of frame.

INT. BEDROOM. MORNING.

DAY 15: FADE IN AND OUT ON SCREEN

The alarm clock blares again and Marnus slowly wakes up to
turn it off. He hobbles over to his calendar and crosses off
the date.

(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED: 7.

Now, three of the family members in the photo have plants in

place of them. Marnus and an older man are the only ones
left in the photo.
Marnus now looks like a complete mess - as if he has come
home from a night out partying.
CUT TO:

INT. AROUND THE HOUSE. DAY.

MONTAGE OF MARNUS (WITH VERY LITTLE ENERGY):

Slowly sipping coffee out of a mug.
Walking on a treadmill and tripping over on his own feet -
almost falling off in the process.
Attempting to read a book but instead falling asleep,
resulting in the book falling onto his face, which wakes him
back up.

EXT. BACKYARD. DAY.

Marnus lays on the ground with his watering pot next to him.
He talks to his three plant buddies.

MARNUS
How’s quarantine treating you all?
Lucky... I haven’t got to see the
family in over two weeks now. Kinda
wishing this whole thing would be
over so I could go and see some
people.
(takes a pause)
By the way, I used up all of our
broadband. You guys are the only
people I can talk to. I hope that’s
okay.
The plants sway in the gentle breeze.
MARNUS (CONT’D)
Well, good chat. See ya tomorrow.
FADE TO BLACK
 8.

INT. BEDROOM. MORNING.

DAY 27: FADE IN AND OUT ON SCREEN
The alarm clock goes off and Marnus falls out of bed without
turning it off. He limps up to the calendar and barely
manages to cross off the date.
Marnus is now a full blown mess.
The photo of the family is back to its original state. All
the family members are in the photo. There are no longer any
plants.
CUT TO:

INT. AROUND THE HOUSE. DAY.

MONTAGE OF MARNUS (WITH ZERO ENERGY):
Drinking coffee out of a jug.

Eating toast and falling asleep; only to be startled by the

sound of the toast falling onto his plate.
Drinking more coffee, out of a bigger jug.
Sleeping on the couch.

Drinking more coffee and then walking up to his room where

he falls asleep again.
(As the montage happens, the day slowly turns into night).

MATCH CUT:

INT. BEDROOM. NIGHT.

Marnus is in bed sleeping, when he hears a loud sound come
from downstairs. He becomes curious as to what it is, so he
quietly hops out of bed to go and investigate.
CUT TO:

INT. KITCHEN. NIGHT.

Marnus walks into the kitchen and his dad (the man from the
photo on the wall) stands by the bench top.

(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED: 9.

Marnus shakes his head in disbelief and rubs his eyes. He

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

DAD PLANT
Sorry to wake you... Are we being
too loud?
Marnus’ eyes widen. He snaps his head to the living room,
where he see’s three more plants (the other family members
from the photo).
MUM PLANT
I’ll turn the T.V. down, how about
that?

SISTER PLANT
Just shut up and go to sleep dummy.
BROTHER PLANT
(inaudible plant sounds)

(All plants are the same as the ones he planted outside.)

Marnus screams and runs out of the room, slamming the door
behind him.

EXT. BACKYARD. NIGHT.

Marnus struggles to catch his breath as he digs another
hole, at a rapid speed. Dirt is being flung everywhere and
he has no intentions of stopping.

FPS OF MARNUS DIGGING A HOLE.

He finishes digging the hole, throws his shovel on the
ground, and runs away.

He comes back, dragging a heavy sack - which leaves a red

liquid trail behind it. He takes the sack over to the hole
and drops it in.
A deep thud sounds as it hits the bottom of the hole. Marnus
buries the sack, slamming the dirt every now and then with
his shovel.
Just before the the entire hole is filled we see Marnus stop
and rush off again.

(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED: 10.

He comes back and closes in on the hole - holding a plant.

He gently places it into the hole and fills the rest of the
dirt back in.
He finishes filling the dirt in and gives it a couple whacks
for good measure.
The same song from the start of the film fades in.
’Sandstorm’ by Mereba ft. JID

He smiles, lets out a deep, breath and falls onto his back.
He lays on the ground, under the moonlight, staring up at
the stars in the night sky.
MARNUS
(singing along)
"Inside it’s killing me baby.
Outside I’m cucumber cool. We might
just really be crazy."
(the words ’be crazy’ echoes)
FADE OUT:

T H E E N D