Culture Shock

By
Nicole Maloney

Nicole Maloney
3221 Sharen Court
Joliet, IL, 60431
(815)953-3608
nicolem.maloney@gmail.com
 FADE IN:

INT-ELEVATOR - DAY
It is an after lunch time. People are coming back to work.
The elevator is almost full. We see a young woman CAMILLA,
25. She holds a book Master and Margarita by Bulgakov in her
hands. ALAN, 30, enters the building.
ALAN
Please! Hold the elevator!
Camilla holds the elevator doors. Alan makes to the
elevator.
ALAN
Thanks!
CAMILLA
No problem.
Camilla looks at her watch and sighs.

Alan notices the Russian letters on Camilla’s book.

INT-WAITING LOBBY-DAY

Camilla and Alan exit the elevator on the same floor. It is

a modern office filled with sunlight. Camilla checks in with
the female receptionist. She sits down on the couch and
notices Alan talking to the receptionist.
FEMALE RECEPTIONIST
Mr. Alan! Long time, no see! How
was your trip?Would you like some
coffee, or...
ALAN
It was ok. Please, don’t worry
about me and don’t tell Mrs. Roe
that I am here. I want to surprise
her.
Alan sits opposite to Camilla. She is reading the book. Alan
looks around and plays with a small white camel. (a typical
souvenir from Kazakhstan) Camilla notices the souvenir.
Mrs Roe walks out from her office.

(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED: 2.

ALAN
Hello Carol! How have you been?
MRS ROE
Oh Alan! It is so good to see! When
did you come back?

ALAN
Yesterday. I thought to see you
first...

Mrs. Roe notices Camilla.

MRS ROE
It’s very nice. I am glad you’re
back! Would you excuse me Alan!
Hello Camilla! I am so sorry for
keeping you waiting...
CAMILLA
Oh, don’t worry.
Camilla and Alan glance at each other

MRS ROE
I have bad news for you. I’m afraid
I won’t be able to go with
you...Why don’t you go by yourself,
email me ideas and we can set up
another meeting...How about that?
CAMILLA
Oh...I sure could go by myself...
ALAN
I could give her a ride!
MRS ROE
Oh, Camilla, please meet my nephew.
Alan its my new interior designer
who is going to take care of my
place in Hinsdale.
ALAN
Nice to meet you!

CAMILLA
You too
Camilla and Alan shake hands.

(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED: 3.

MRS ROE
That would be wonderful! Are you
sure you can go? (to Alan)
ALAN
Definitely
CAMILLA
I don’t want to intrude your plans
ALAN
You’re not! I am free all day. I’d
love to be a help
MRS ROE
So, I will see you later then.
Thank you, Alan.

Mrs Roe leaves.

ALAN
Are you ready to go?

CAMILLA
Yes.

EXT-DOWNTOWN CHICAGO STREET- DAY

Alan opens the door of his car. Camilla sits down on the
front seat.They drive away.

INT-ALAN’S CAR-DAY

CAMILLA
Thank you for helping me out.
ALAN
Where are you from? I couldn’t help
but notice your book. Bulgakov...
CAMILLA
I am from Kazakhstan
ALAN
That’s what I thought. I spent
about a year over there.I could
tell
CAMILLA
I saw the souvenir. I gave the
exact same one to your aunt.

(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED: 4.

Alan and Camilla smile at each other.

CAMILLA
Did you like it there?
ALAN’S STORY
ALAN
I did. It’s a beautiful country,
and I met some interesting people.
(Laughs) There was actually a girl
I don’t think I’ll ever be able to
forget. I met her online...

INT - APARTMENT - NIGHT

Alan is laying on his bed in the bedroom of a very upscale
apartment. The bed is a large king size bed, the sheets a
simple grey, matching the neutral colors of the spacious
bedroom. Propped up against his headboard he smiles down at
the laptop sitting on his lap.
On the screen messages are being exchanged between Alan and
ELAINA.
ELAINA
I was actually born in Russia, we
moved to Kazakhstan when I was
about 8.
ALAN
And you’re 25 now?
ELAINA
Yes! I’ve spent most of my life is
Kazakhstan, I barely remember
Russia

ALAN
I find it hard to believe that out
of all the men in Kazakhstan, you
can’t find one worth getting to
know.

ELAINA
I’ve been very sheltered by my
parents, they don’t allow me to
date while I live with them.

ALAN
But talking with strangers online
is fine by them?

(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED: 5.

ELAINA
Haha, well they don’t exactly know
I’m talking to a man right now,
they would be furious.
ALAN
Very sneaky, haha. So what is it
you want to do with your life?

ELAINA
All I’ve ever been interested in
was children.
ALAN
That’s very respectable, it takes a
lot of patience to work with
children.
ELAINA
Yes, but it’s so worth it, children
are so important to me!

ALAN
I agree, we need more people in the
world who are willing to protect
our children.

ELAINA
I swear we are so perfect for each
other, I could see you being a very
protective father.

ALAN
Ehhh, I’d have to see about that,
hahaha.

INT - APARTMENT - NIGHT

(A few months later)

ALAN
I’m going back to the US in about a
month and I’ve yet to meet you.
What’s up with that?
ELAINA
I would love to meet in person!
When are you free?

ALAN
Saturday, does that sound good for
you?

(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED: 6.

ELAINA
Yes! Did you want to meet at 2:00
Saturday afternoon in City Park?
ALAN
That sounds perfect! I’ll meet you
by the park entrance then!

EXT - PARK - DAY

Alan walks up to the entrance of the park, looking at a

picture of a young woman on his phone. The park is large and
fairly crowded, filled with trees, pathways, and benches.
Alan paces by the entrance slowly, looking around as he
surveys the different people. He sees a girl that looks just
like the one in his picture, and walks up to her.
ALAN
Elaina! It’s so great to finally
meet you!

ELAINA
It’s good to meet you too! I’ve
been so nervous all week.
ALAN
Same here. You look even prettier
in person.
ELAINA
(Laughing) Well I’m just glad you
aren’t some fat old American
business man.
ALAN
Maybe someday. (Laughing)
The two start to walk through the park, staying on the
trails as they talk.
ELAINA
This park is so beautiful this time
of year, I hardly ever get the time
to come and see it.

ALAN
Why’s that? Are you too busy with
school?

(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED: 7.

ELAINA
Oh no, I stopped going to school
after high school.
ALAN
Oh, well I remember you saying you
always are on the move, do you
work?
ELAINA
No, I stay at home mostly to help
my mother with the house, my
parent’s are very traditional you
know.
ALAN
But don’t you wish you could get
out and see more of the world?
ELAINA
Not really, I’ve only ever thought
about starting a family and taking
care of them. And building a home
of course.
ALAN
That’s cool I guess. I’ve never
really wanted a family-

ELAINA
Don’t be silly! You would make a
wonderful father!... I think we’d
make a wonderful family.

ALAN
Well let’s not get ahead of
ourselves (laughs nervously).
The two walk back to the entrance of the park, Alan
distances himself slightly from Elaina as they walk. They
pause for a moment as they get back to the entrance.
ALAN
Well, um... nice meeting you. But I
should be going, I have a lot of
work to do still.

ELAINA
Yes it was wonderful meeting you!
You should come over for dinner
tomorrow night!

(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED: 8.

ALAN
Oh, umm.. that sounds good. I think
I’d be able to do that.
ELAINA
Wonderful! We will eat around 6:30.
She hands him a piece of paper with her address on it, and
they say goodbye.

EXT - PORCH - NIGHT

Alan is standing outside of small home. He is dressed in a
nice jacket and dark jeans. He is holding a bouquet of
flowers. The door opens and a large MAN, 50, stands in front
of Alan staring at him for a moment.

ALAN
Hello, Mr. Chudakov? I’m Alan,
Elaina’s friend.
MR. CHUDAKOV
Yes, hello. Come in.
Alan steps inside of the small home, which is decorated with
many homemade knick-knacks.

INT - HOUSE - NIGHT

Alan stands in the entrance of the home, looking around as
Mr. Chudakov stares at him silently.
MR. CHUDAKOV
Elaina has never brought a man home
to meet us before, she has really
grown attached to you.
ALAN
Oh, well, Elaina is a very sweet
girl, it’s been nice getting to
know her.
The two walk into a living room, and Mr. Chudakov sits down,
beckoning Alan to sit across from him.

MR. CHUDAKOV
You are American, correct? Are you
here for business or pleasure?

(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED: 9.

ALAN
Yes, I came over for business to
help set up a company.
MR. CHUDAKOV
So you are leaving to return to
America soon, what were your
intentions talking to a girl who
lives in a country so far from your
own?

ALAN
Well I didn’t really-
Elaina walks into the room to greet Alan, who hands her the
flowers he has been holding. She takes the flowers and gives
Alan a kiss on the cheek. Alan flinches at the contact as he
looks at Mr. Chudakov out of the corner of his eye, who is
watching them.
MRS. CHUDAKOVA steps out of the kitchen and welcomes Alan to
their home, smiling warmly.

MRS. CHUDAKOVA
It’s so nice to meet you Alan,
Elaina has been telling us about
you!
ALAN
It’s nice to meet you too, Mrs.
Chudakova.
MRS. CHUDAKOVA
And you’ve even brought Elaina
flowers! I didn’t know you two were
that serious about each other.
ALAN
I don’t under-

ELAINA
Dinner is on the table if you are
all ready to eat!

INT - KITCHEN - NIGHT

The four of them sit around a small dinner table, which is

overloaded with foods. Mrs. Chudakova is putting some meat
on Alan’s plate.

(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED: 10.

MRS. CHUDAKOVA
Elaina is very taken with you. You
are all we heard about yesterday.

MR. CHUDAKOV
Yes, how long have you two been
speaking with each other?
ALAN
No-not long, it’s been mostly
friendly conversation anyway.
MRS. CHUDAKOVA
Elaina is a young woman, and
knowing her I doubt it was merely
friendly conversation (laughing).
MR. CHUDAKOV
Elaina needs to be getting more
serious about finding a husband.
Have you ever thought about
marrying, Alan?
ALAN
Well it hasn’t really crossed my
mind, I guess if I met the right
girl...

MR. CHUDAKOV
You are waiting for "the one"?
(Smirking) Perhaps you are not
ready to start a family.

Mrs. Chudakova starts clearing the table as they finish

eating.
MRS. CHUDAKOVA
Let’s give Elaina and Alan some
room to themselves.
Mr. Chudakov frowns but stands up from the table and exits
the room with his wife. Elaina leads Alan outside to the
porch.

EXT - PORCH - NIGHT

ALAN
Your dad is... intense.

ELAINA
Yes, he is just looking out for my
best interests though, he doesn’t
want me to become an old maid.

(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED: 11.

ALAN
(laughing)
I don’t think that will happen.
You’re a nice girl.

ELAINA
Do you mean it? I think you would
make a wonderful groom.
ALAN
(laughing)
I really don’t think I’ll be a
groom any day soon.
Elaina remains silent for a moment. After a bit Alan turns
to look over at her.

ELAINA
I think you should leave.
ALAN
What’s wrong?

ELAINA
Nothing! Obviously you have your
future all planned out, and it
doesn’t include me. If you’re just
going to lead me on then I don’t
see why you should stay!

Alan stands up as Elaina begins yelling at him, he begins to

placate her, but as he hears he parents walking towards the
door, he hurries towards his car and leaves without a
confrontation.

INT - APARTMENT - NIGHT

Sitting at his computer Alan gets a new message from Elaina,
apologizing and asking if they could meet again, saying how
she misses him. He shuts down his computer without
responding.

INT - CAR - DAY

ALAN
After that I blocked her from my
facebook, but she kept trying to
email and call me. Luckily she
eventually took the hint and
stopped calling.

(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED: 12.

CAMILLA
That’s terrible!
ALAN
Yeah, you really can find some nuts
online.

CAMILLA
It sounds terrifying, I can’t
imagine being in that situation.

The car stops as it pulls up in front of a large house, and

Alan and Camilla step out and enter the house.

INT - HOUSE - DAY

Alan follows Camilla around Mrs. Roe’s house as she takes

notes and comes up with ideas for the home. After a bit she
begins finishing up her tour of the home.
ALAN
Did you want to get something to
eat before I drive you back?
CAMILLA
That would be nice, I’d like that.

INT - RESTUARANT - NIGHT

Alan and Camilla sit at a table at a nice restuarant, the
place is dimly lit, and filled with many couples dining
around the room.

Alan and Camilla already have their food in front of them,

and are enjoying it over two glasses of wine.
ALAN
So you’re a nice looking girl,
surely you have some dating horror
stories?
CAMILLA
(laughing)
Well I do have one story that’s
fairly interesting...It didn’t work
out even though we were both from
the same country
BEGIN FLASHBACK:
 13.

EXT-CAFE-NIGHT
It is a young spring in Chicago. The streets are wet and
wrapped up all around with a bright red color of sunset. We
see CAMILLA (24) entering a small cozy cafe where she meets
her friend ARIANA(22). Camilla wears a winter white
sweaterdress and holds an umbrella.
CAMILLA
What was the emergency? I had to
skip class. Are you OK?

ARIANA
I am OK. So here is this guy, Jake.
We are both finally have time to
see each other again.

CAMILLA
And?
ARIANA
Well, he has a friend and...

CAMILLA
No, no, no!
ARIANA
Why not! Oh stop being such an Ice
Queen. He is very nice. Anyways,
you don’t have a choice. Here they
are (singing)
We see two young men approaching their table. Ariana
introduces Camilla to the guys. We leave them shaking hands.

INT-CAMILLA’S APARTMENT-NIGHT
Camilla and Ariana enter the apartment. Camilla lies down on
the bed. Ariana can’t stop talking.

ARIANA
So? What do you think?
CAMILLA
I don’t know... I mean he is OK.
But...
ARIANA
Nooo connection...Oh I know this
song. Can you please choose another
one? it’s been a year since you
came to the States. You need to
(MORE)
(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED: 14.

ARIANA (cont’d)
find a boyfirend...Don’t be so
serious! (sings)We are young and we
need to have fun!
CAMILLA
I don’t like the whole idea of just
"having fun" relationships. People
use each other and really do not
care about one another...I want
something different
ARIANA
Well, if you want something to
happen, make it happen!
CAMILLA
I....

We hear a phone ring. Ariana goes to pick it up and starts

giggling.
CAMILLA(CONTINUED)
Guess you are right...

She turns on her laptop and goes to her Facebook page. In

the news feed she sees an update from her old friends:
wedding photos, photos of babys and so on. Camilla googles
Kazakhs in America. She finds a link of a dating website.

She has a moment of huge ambivalence. She stands up, walks

around the room. then she comes back to her computer and
creates her profile.
Camilla instantly gets a message. She looks at the picture
of a guy. On the profile picture ASKAR(26) is a handsome man
in a navy business suit.
ASKAR
Hey gorgeous! I am from Kazakhstan
too and I am here in Chicago. We
should meet!

CAMILLA
Hello! We should!
ASKAR
Are you free tomorrow?
CAMILLA
Yes! What time?

(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED: 15.

ASKAR
Let’s meet at 7pm at Henri.
CAMILLA
The time is perfect! See you
tomorrow!

ASKAR
See you!

INT-HENRI’S RESTAURANT-NIGHT
Askar and Camila have dinner. It looks like they have a
good time.
ASKAR
I feel like we have known each
other for a long time!
CAMILLA
I feel the same.

ASKAR
Hope, we will continue our
friendship
Askar raises his glass and smiles at Camilla. She blushes
and raises her glass too. They drink the champagne.

INT-CAMILLA’S BEDROOM-DAY
It is an early morning. Camilla enters the room and opens
the drapes. The sunrise fills the room with a crimson
light.Askar is asleep. She sits down on the bed.
CAMILLA
Hey! Wake up! You will be late for
work. The breakfast is already on
the table.

Camilla kisses him on the forehead and leaves the room. He

opens his eyes. He looks at his watch then he gets up and
goes to the bathroom. We hear a text message sound. Askar
looks at his iPhone and smiles.

Askar and Camilla sit down at the table. After they finish,
Askar gets up, takes his coat and goes to the door.
ASKAR
What are you doing today?

(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED: 16.

CAMILLA
I think I’ll probably stay home and
study. Then I thought maybe we...
ASKAR
I can’t tonight.I will fly to NY
this evening.
CAMILLA
OK. You didn’t tell me about that.

ASKAR
I forgot. Sorry. But as soon as I
come back, I’ll call you.
CAMILLA
Call me when you get there!

Askar kisses her on the lips and goes out the door. It
closes.
Camilla goes to her room and sits down at her desk. She
turns on the music. She looks over her drawings and opens
the interior design software on her computer. She
enthusiastically starts working.

INT-CAMILLA’S APARTMENT-NIGHT

Camilla still at her desk in her PJs and robe. She has a cup
of coffee in her hands. Ariana stands at the doorway and
smiles
ARIANA
Hey!
CAMILLA
Hey! Where have you been last
night?

ARIANA
I was in heaven...
Camilla walks up to Ariana.
CAMILLA
What is going on?
ARIANA
I am engaged!
Ariana shows her ring to Camilla.

(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED: 17.

CAMILLA
I am so happy for you.
She hugs Ariana.
ARIANA
I want to celebrate! With you!
Tonight! I don’t care that I am far
from looking fabulous however I
feel fabulous! Let’s go out!

CAMILLA
Yes! Let’s celebrate! It is so
great!

INT-BAR LOUNGE-NIGHT

It is a modern lounge with a live jazz music on the

background. Camilla and Ariana enter the lounge. Camilla
looks at her phone. They sit down on the couch and order
drinks from the bar.

ARIANA
I’ll be back in a second.
Camilla dials Askar and then hangs up immediately. She
thinks for a moment. Then she dials Askar again. She leaves
a voice mail.

CAMILLA
Hey! It’s me. I guess you are still
up in the air. Anyways, call me
when you get to NY. Love you.

She hangs up the phone. Meanwhile, Ariana exits the lady’s

room. She passes several tables and notices a familiar face.
She looks again and realizes it is Askar.
She stands there for a moment. She makes couple of steps
forward and then back. A very big man starts flirting with
her. Askar invites his date to dance.
ARIANA
(continuing)
Really?! I am sorry but it is
a bad time. See this ring
Camilla tired of waiting walks over to the lady’s room and
sees Ariana standing behind a huge man. Camilla sees that
Ariana is trying to get away from the guy, she comes over to
Ariana and notices Askar. She sees him dancing with another
woman. Ariana takes Camilla’s hand. Camilla looks shocked.
 18.

A huge man realizing that Ariana is not interested, leaves.

Askar finally sees Camilla and Ariana.

INT - RESTAURANT - NIGHT

Alan and Camilla sit at their table with empty plates in

front of them. The restaurant has cleared out some and is
much quieter.
CAMILLA
I really miss Kazakhstan, I’m
planning on visiting over the
holidays.
ALAN
Really? I’m actually heading back
over the holidays for business.
CAMILLA
What a coincidence. (laughing)
Maybe we should go with each other
to protect ourselves from our exes.

ALAN
(laughing)
I actually know a nice cafe in
CITY, the CAFE NAME.

CAMILLA
I’ve heard about that place!
(smirking) It’s supposed to be very
secluded.

EXT - APARTMENT FRONT - NIGHT

Alan and Camilla exchange information as they say goodnight.
Camilla walks into her apartment, and Alan walks back to his
car and drives off, smiling along the way.