Developed

by
William Sampson

William Sampson
5509 White Willow Drive
Fort Worth, TX
(682) 319-7063
 CUT TO:

INT. DAVID’S CAR - NIGHT

DAVID (18) drives in his car. He is clearly distressed,

face red, tears streaming down his face.

Rock music plays softly in the background.

He looks at the passenger seat. Sitting in the seat is a

old film camera.

He looks back at the road, then the mirror, then back at

the road.

DAVID
(Screaming)
FUCK!!!

He floors it. Turns the music up to full.

Beat.

The car slams into a light pole.

JUMP CUT TO:

INT. JOSHUA’S CAR - SAME TIME

Inside the car we catch JOSHUA (15), MOM and DAD mid
conversation. Joshua is in Baseball gear, dirt on his
clothing. Music plays in the background. Dad is driving.

DAD
You played great out there Josh!

JOSHUA
(Chuckling)
Thanks.
(Beat.)
Uh- Why wasn’t David there
tonight?

MOM
He really wanted to Buddy, but he
said he was swamped with homework.

Beat.

DAD
He’ll be at the next one, Josh.

(CONTINUED)
 2.
CONTINUED:

Beat.

The crash is seen in the distance. The wreck is fresh,

smoke still comes from the engine block.

DAD
Ooh, what’s going on up here?

MOM
Hey, isn’t that-

The realization hits them. Dad pulls over up by the

wreck.

CUT TO:

EXT. JOSHUA'S CAR - CONTINUOUS

All three rush out, Mom faster than the other two. They
run to the car.

MOM
David?

She sees him through the window.

MOM (CONT'D)
DAVID!

The all three spring to him.

DAD
Josh call nine one one-

JOSHUA
-Is he okay-

DAD
-CALL NINE ONE ONE.

Joshua stays back, pulls out his phone and dials.

DAD (CONT'D)
DAVID!

Mom looks through the passenger seat window.

CLOSE SHOT ON DAVID’S BASHED-IN HEAD

Dad is on the driver’s side.

(CONTINUED)
 3.
CONTINUED:

He rips the door open, and pulls David’s lifeless body

out of the car. Mom meets him over there.

We focus again on Joshua who is on the phone. We hear the

screams of the parents in the background.

911 OPERATOR (V.O.)

(Through phone)
Nine one one, what’s your emergenc-

JOSHUA
(Hysterical)
My brothers been in a crash, and I
don’t know and-

Joshua continues on the phone

BACK TO DAVID LYING DEAD ON THE GROUND.

MOM
(Wailing)
DAVID!

CUT TO BLACK.

BEGIN OPENING CREDITS

The opening credits overlay the following montage:

BEGIN MONTAGE

- Rain at a cemetery.

- The funeral.

- Joshua riding in the backseat of the car.

- Josuha’s friends riding in a separate car.

- Joshua sitting alone at his house.

- The memorial.

- Mom cries.

- Dad drinks a beer.

- Joshua’s girlfriend: HAZEL (16) tries to sit down next

to him.

- Mom works in the kitchen.

(CONTINUED)
 4.
CONTINUED:

- Joshua, much to his dismay is surrounded by his

friends. All of which try to comfort him.

- Dad fights with Mom, he leaves in a flurry.

- Joshua lashes out at his friends.

- Joshua goes up to his room and slams the door. He locks

it and collapses on the bed.

SUPER: “Developed”

END MONTAGE

CUT TO BLACK.

INT. JOSHUA’S ROOM - HOURS LATER

Joshua is dead asleep on his bed.

Beat.

SUDDENLY there are knocks on the door.

MOM (O.S.)
Hey Joshie?

Josh wakes up.

JOSHUA
(Groggy)
Mhm?

MOM (O.S.)
Would you mind helping clean up?

JOSHUA
Yeah, I-I’ll be right there.

Joshua looks over at his phone. He lifts it up. The

screen has dozens of unanswered notifications.

Beat. He thinks of what might be said.

He decides to not say anything and exits.

CUT TO:

INT. KITCHEN - MOMENTS LATER

Joshua and his mother clean in the kitchen in silence.

(CONTINUED)
 5.
CONTINUED:

Beat.

JOSHUA
Um, where’s dad?

MOM
I’m not sure.

Beat.

JOSHUA
We need to clean up his room.

MOM
Already?

JOSHUA
Not like get rid of stuff, but we
should probably take out the food.

MOM
We should, shouldn’t we.

Beat.

JOSHUA
(Chuckling)
He wasn’t the cleanest was he?

MOM
(Chuckling)
No, he wasn’t.

JOSHUA
I’ll take care of it later today.

MOM
Thanks sweetie.

JOSHUA
Of course.

They clean in silence for a while.

SUDDENLY: The front door opens.

Dad walks in. He hugs Joshua.

DAD
Hey Josh.

JOSHUA
Hey Dad.

(CONTINUED)
 6.
CONTINUED: (2)

MOM
Where have you been?

DAD
I’m so sorry. I was in a bad place
yesterday and I-

MOM
I was in a bad place as well, you
forget he was also my son.

DAD
Please, let’s not fight-

MOM
I’m not fighting. Just reminding
you that it’s tough on all of us.

DAD
Sure sounds like you’re fighting.

MOM
Sure sounds like you want to
fight.

Joshua, realizing a fight is incoming, exits upstairs.

The parents continue to fight in the background as he

leaves.

CUT TO:

INT. DAVID’S ROOM - CONTINUOUS

Joshua walks into David’s room. The room is a mess, with

food everywhere, posters covering the walls. He sits down
on David’s bed. Looking to his side, he sees a Walkman.
He puts on the headphones and clicks play.

“Warning” by Green Day begins playing.

Joshua sees a photo on the nightstand of him and David in

the room.

FADE TO:

INT. DAVID’S ROOM - FLASHBACK

David and Joshua are sitting on the bed together. He

holds an old film camera.

(CONTINUED)
 7.
CONTINUED:

DAVID
Would you look at this?

JOSHUA
What am I looking at?

DAVID
This my friend is a [FIND CAMERA
NAME]. The absolute best film
camera on the market...
(Quickly)
In Nineteen Eighty Seven.

JOSHUA
And why do you have it?

DAVID
Because... it-it’s cool.

JOSHUA
(Unimpressed)
Wow.

DAVID
No no. Film photography is a lost
art form.

JOSHUA
Hey, David, wanna see something
cool?

Joshua pulls out his phone and opens the camera app.

JOSHUA (CONT'D)
This is a normal person camera.

DAVID
You know what... fuck normal
people.

JOSHUA
(Chuckling)
W-what?

DAVID
You heard me. In fact, Green Day
wrote the a song just for the
occasion.

David gets up and begins looking through his cassettes.

JOSHUA
A song about... fucking normal
people?

(CONTINUED)
 8.
CONTINUED: (2)

DAVID
(Laughing)
No, goober.

He finds the “Warning” Cassette. He puts it into the

cassette player.

DAVID (CONT'D)
This song is about giving the
finger to what society thinks. To
not just go with things because
that’s what we “should” do.

The music begins.

JOSHUA
Alright. This is pretty good.

DAVID
Here. Smile.

David takes a selfie with the camera with the two of

them.

DAVID
Perfect.

FADE TO:

INT. DAVID'S ROOM - EARLIER

Joshua, with a smile on his face, and the music still

blaring, begins to clean.

BEGIN MONTAGE

- He grabs a trash bag and begins putting all of the food

in it.

- He gets the trash off of his desk.

- He straightens up the room.

- He wipes down the surfaces.

- He puts the dirty laundry into the basket.

- He makes the bed.

- He re-hangs the falling posters

(CONTINUED)
 9.
CONTINUED:

- He vaccums the floor.

END MONTAGE

As the music fades out, Joshua approaches the closet. He

gets a phone call from Hazel. Joshua notices the ringing
phone. He takes off the headphones.

He sees who it is, and takes a second to decide wether to

answer it.

Eventually he answers the phone.

JOSHUA
Hey Haze.

HAZEL (O.S.)
(Through phone)
Josh. Hey.

JOSHUA
What’s going on?

HAZEL (O.S.)
(Through phone)
I wanted to check in on you. See
how you were doing, you kinda
lashed out last night.

JOSHUA
Yeah. I did. I was dealing with a
whole lotta shit, and I shouldn’t
have lost my cool last night but,
I did. I’m sorry, but I’m all good
now

HAZEL (O.S.)
(Through phone)
You don’t need to apologize. And
it’s okay to not be doing okay
right now. Your brother died just
over a week ago.

JOSHUA
Hazel, I’m doing fine. In fact I’m
cleaning his room right now.

HAZEL (O.S.)
(Through phone)
David’s?

JOSHUA
Yeah.

(CONTINUED)
 10.
CONTINUED: (2)

HAZEL (O.S.)
(Through phone)
Already?

JOSHUA
Yes Hazel.

HAZEL (O.S.)
(Through phone)
You know you can take a few days
off from life. Relax? Cool down?
Heal? Grieve?

JOSHUA
Dear Lord Hazel, you’re not my
fucking therapist. I am fine.

Silence. Joshua realizes he may have crossed a line.

JOSHUA (CONT'D)
I’m sorry I shouldn-

HAZEL (O.S.)
(Through phone)
It’s fine. I shouldn’t have
prodded.

JOSHUA
You wanna get dinner tonight? I
can’t handle my parents right now.

Joshua cleans up the closet as he talks.

HAZEL (O.S.)
(Through phone)
You sure you shouldn’t be with
them right now?

JOSHUA
They have been fighting for thirty
minutes, and I can’t take it
anymore.

Awkward beat.

JOSHUA (CONT'D)
Pizza sound good? Six thirty?

HAZEL (O.S.)
(Through phone)
I’ll be there.

JOSHUA
Sounds good.

(CONTINUED)
 11.
CONTINUED: (3)

HAZEL (O.S.)
(Through phone)
I love you.

He hangs up.

START SEQUENCE

He looks through the closet. He finds a tub and pulls it

out. Inside the tub are a bunch of boxes.

As he looks through the boxes, dramatic music builds in

the back.

He pulls out the first box labeled “FAMILY PHOTOS.”

Inside the box are a bunch of photos of the family.

Joshua looks through the photos for a minute.

He puts down the box and looks at another one labeled

“PHOTOGRAPHY.”

Inside the box are artistic photos of sunsets, bridges,

and other cinnematic spots.

The next box is labeled “EQUITMENT.”

Inside the box are a mess of cords and equitment.

The next box is labeled “DEVELOPING FLUID.”

Inside the box is jugs of fluid to develop photos.

Finally he finds a box labeled “UNDEVELOPED PHOTOS.”

As he opens the box the music climaxes.

Inside are rolls of undeveloped film.

He inspects the cartridges.

He pulls out his phone and googles “Film developing near

me.”

He finds a place.

He loads the rest of the boxes back into the tub, and
takes the undeveloped film with him to his car.

END SEQUENCE

CUT TO:
 12.

INT. JOSHUA’S CAR - LATER

He loads the film into the passenger seat of the car,

then drives off.

CUT TO:

EXT. CVS - DAY

Joshua takes the film out of his car and walks in.

CUT TO:

INT. CVS - CONTINUOUS

Joshua walks into the Walgreens, and straight to the

photo center.

WORKER
Hello! How can I help you today?

JOSHUA
Can I get this developed?

He gestures at the film.

WORKER
Thirty five milimeter?

JOSHUA
I think? I’m not really sure.

WORKER
Let me take a look...

The worker inspects the film.

WORKER (CONT'D)
Yeah, we can do this. For four
roles, it’ll be $37.50.

JOSHUA
Alright.

He pays.

WORKER
Perfect! You’ll get a text when
it’s ready.

JOSHUA
Great, thanks.

(CONTINUED)
 13.
CONTINUED:

Joshua leaves.

CUT TO:

EXT. NY PIZZA - LATER

Hazel sits alone at a table outside the Pizza shop. She

is on her phone.

She checks the parking lot.

She goes back to her phone and sighs.

Beat.

Joshua pulls up and gets out.

JOSHUA
Hey, sorry I’m late, I had
something I had to take care of.

HAZEL
You’re fine.

He sits down.

JOSHUA
Do I need to order?

HAZEL
I got it taken care of. Peperoni
Pounder sound good?

JOSHUA
I love you.

She laughs.

HAZEL
Things not great at home?

JOSHUA
No. Apparently when there’s a
death in the family, things begin
to spiral out of control.

Hazel doesn’t know how to respond.

JOSHUA (CONT'D)
It’s a joke. Sorry.

HAZEL
Oh!

(CONTINUED)
 14.
CONTINUED:

She chuckles.

JOSHUA
It’s weird. My mom blames my dad
for his death, my dad blames my
mom. But the really funny thing is
taht it’s no one’s fault. David
was fucked up in the head, and
that’s no one’s fault except for
his own.

HAZEL
Was he showing signs of struggling
before hand, or... I don’t know.
Anything?

JOSHUA
He started becoming more paranoid,
but I thought it was just the
drugs-

HAZEL
But the autopsy said he didn’t
have anything-

JOSHUA
You know what. Let’s just not talk
about David.

HAZEL
(Softly)
Yeah.

JOSHUA
How’s work?

HAZEL
Counting down the days until I
quit.

JOSHUA
That bad?

HAZEL
Yeah. I just feel like I’m not
respected there, and it’s awful.

WORKER 2 delivers their pizza.

WORKER 2
Here you go.

JOSHUA
Thanks.

(CONTINUED)
 15.
CONTINUED: (2)

They begin to eat.

HAZEL
When are you coming back to
school?

JOSHUA
When they make me. Counslers think
I should take a few more days off,
so that’s what I plan on doing.

HAZEL
Take your time. You need time to
mourn.

JOSHUA
Nah. I need time to get caught up
on practice for the game on
Sunday.

HAZEL
Josh, you need to drop this whole
macho man attitude.

JOSHUA
What?

HAZEL
Yeah, you act like nothing has
changed. That this is a normal
thing that’s happened to you.

JOSHUA
Shit happens Hazel-

HAZEL
Getting yelled at at work is shit.
Stepping in dog shit is shit.
Having your brother ram himself
into a street lamp at sixty miles
per hour is not everyday shit
Josh!

JOSHUA
Hazel.

HAZEL
Have you let yourself cry yet?
Just let it all out?

JOSHUA
You know I’m not a big crier.

(CONTINUED)
 16.
CONTINUED: (3)

HAZEL
Have you journaled? Punched a
wall? Screamed into a pillow?

JOSHUA
No! Hazel. I haven’t done any of
that “grieving shit” because it
dosen’t feel real. I still can’t
believe that my one brother, my
one support system is dead. I
haven’t accepted it yet, because I
am still waiting for him to pull
up in his car, barge into my room,
and tell me about the cool thing
he took a photo of.

Beat.

JOSHUA (CONT'D)
Now, can we please talk about
anything else.

HAZEL
Yeah. I’m sorry. Just know I’m
always here to talk.

JOSHUA
I know. Thanks.

HAZEL
Of course.

They eat in excrutiating silence.

JOSHUA
So. Crazy weather huh?

HAZEL
(Laughing)
Yeah. Wild.

CUT TO:

INT. JOSHUA'S ROOM - NIGHT

Joshua sits on his bed in silence. He looks through the

open doors and sees David’s room.

Beat.

Joshua remembers.

FADE TO:
 17.

INT. JOSHUA’S ROOM - FLASHBACK

The doors between the two rooms are open, connected by a

conjoining bathroom. David sits on one bed, Joshua sits
on another. Both pretend to be asleep.

DAVID
(Whispering)
Psst. Josh.

JOSHUA
(Whispering)
Yeah?

DAVID
(Whispering)
You awake?

JOSHUA
(Whispering)
No.

Beat.

DAVID
(Whispering)
Come here.

Joshua, reluctantly, stumbles over to David’s room.

CUT TO:

INT. DAVID'S ROOM - CONTINUOUS

Joshua lays down next to David.

JOSHUA
What’s going on?

DAVID
I can’t sleep.

JOSHUA
Me niether.

DAVID
What’s on your mind?

JOSHUA
School. Girls. The usual.

DAVID
Girls?

(CONTINUED)
 18.
CONTINUED:

JOSHUA
Yeah.

DAVID
Anyone in particular?

JOSHUA
There’s this one girl. Her name’s
Hazel-

DAVID
Oh?

JOSHUA
Yeah. And she’s really sweet and
pretty and I really like her.

DAVID
You should ask her out.

JOSHUA
That’s real funny.

DAVID
What’s funny about it? You like
her. She likes you-

JOSHUA
No she doesn’t.

DAVID
Have you met you? Who wouldn’t
like you?

JOSHUA
Shut up.

DAVID
You know I’m right.

Beat.

JOSHUA
Why can’t you sleep?

DAVID
The looming threat of death that
follows us all.

David looks over at Joshua.

DAVID (CONT'D)
The usual.

(CONTINUED)
 19.
CONTINUED: (2)

JOSHUA
Wow. Yeah.

DAVID
You know American Psycho?

JOSHUA
Yeah.

DAVID
Sometimes I feel like Patrick
Bateman - before he went all
murder-y.

JOSHUA
What do you mean?

DAVID
It’s just starting to feel like
I’ve been on my breaking point for
the past few weeks.

JOSHUA
You wanna talk about it?

DAVID
We are, aren’t we?

Beat.

DAVID (CONT'D)
Go to bed, you’ve got practice in
the morning.

JOSHUA
Alright.

He gets up.

JOSHUA (CONT'D)
Hey David?

DAVID
Yeah?

JOSHUA
Could you maybe not murder me when
you go full Patrick Bateman?

DAVID
(Smiling)
You’re safe, don’t worry.

They laugh.

(CONTINUED)
 20.
CONTINUED: (3)

DAVID (CONT'D)
Goodnight goober.

JOSHUA
Night.

CUT TO:

INT. JOSHUA’S ROOM - CONTINUOUS

Joshua gets in his bed.

JUMP CUT TO:

INT. JOSHUA’S ROOM - EARLIER

Joshua is still in his bed. He grabs the TV remote and

turns on American Psycho. He falls asleep.

CUT TO:

INT. JOSHUA’S ROOM - MORNING

Joshua awakens. He checks the clock, it reads “11:57”. He

grabs his phone to check his notifications.

He has one from CVS that reads “Your order is ready!”

He pops out of bed. He grabs a hat, and heads out.

CUT TO:

INT. GARAGE - MOMENTS LATER

Joshua barges in the garage. Dad is working in the garage

(cleaning, organizing, etc.).

Joshua heads to his truck.

DAD
Where you headin’?

JOSHUA
I’m- uh- meeting up with some
friends for lunch.

DAD
Okay, be back soon. I’m gonna want
some help with the yard.

(CONTINUED)
 21.
CONTINUED:

JOSHUA
Alright.

CUT TO:

INT. JOSHUA'S CAR - DAY

Joshua pulls out of the garage, waves at his dad, and

leaves.

CUT TO:

INT. CVS - DAY

Joshua walks into the CVS, and heads to the photo

counter.

JOSHUA
Hey, I have an order for Joshua.

WORKER
Alrighty...

The worker looks for his order, then hands it to him.

WORKER
Here you are.

JOSHUA
Thanks.

Joshua grabs four folders, each filled with 30-ish 4x6”

photos.

Joshua exits.

CUT TO:

EXT. CVS - MOMENTS LATER

Joshua walks outside, looks around, and sees a KPop

Burger.

He walks over with the photos.

CUT TO:
 22.

INT. KPOP BURGER - MOMENTS LATER

Joshua walks into the resturaunt and sits down in a

secluded booth.

WAITER walks over.

WAITER
Hello, welcome in. Can I get you
anything to drink?

JOSHUA
I’ll just have a water.

WAITER
All right, I’ll be right back.

The waiter exits. Joshua looks at the folders, each

folder labeled “1”, “2”, “3”, or “4” respectivly.

He grabs the “1” folder and opens it up. He pulls out the
photos. He begins to look through them. The photos are in
the following order:

- A photo of a sunset.

- A photo of a city street.

- A photo of a bridge.

- A photo of the baseball stadium.

- A photo of Joshua playing baseball.

He looks at this specific photo for a long moment.

- A photo of Joshua holding a medal.

- A photo of David and Joshua hugging. (Note: This photo

is off-centered, or not completly in focus.)

Joshua stares at this photo.

- A photo a trailhead.

- A photo of the woods.

- A photo of blood on the ground.

Joshua becomes scared. Maybe more frantic.

- A photo of a black shilouette.

Joshua stares at this photo - terrified.

(CONTINUED)
 23.
CONTINUED:

SUDDENLY: Waiter spills a glass of water on the photos.

JOSHUA
SHIT!

WAITER
I am so sorry, let me get you some
napkins.

Joshua attempts to clean up.

The waiter returns with napkins. She tries to clean.

WAITER (CONT'D)
Here.

JOSHUA
It’s fine, I got it.

Joshua is able to recover most of the photos, however the

one with the shilouette has running colors. Ruined.

WAITER
Once again, I am so sorry. Can I
get you anything else?

JOSHUA
A water?

WAITER
Right.

Waiter rushes off.

Joshua looks at the photos.

JOSHUA
(Under his breath.)
Dammit.

Waiter comes back with the water.

WAITER
Here you go.

JOSHUA
Thanks.

WAITER
Are you ready to order?

CUT TO:
 24.

INT. CONJOINING BATHROOM - NIGHT

Joshua stands in the bathroom, brushing his teeth.

He stares at the ruined photos, which he hung with

clothespins on the shower curtain to dry.

He grabs the photo with the shilouette, now more of a

black smudge, and inspects it.

FADE TO:

INT. JOSHUA’S ROOM - FLASHBACK

Joshua sits on his bed and does homework.

Beat.

His phone rings - it’s David.

JOSHUA
Hey what’s up?

DAVID (O.S.)
(Through phone)
Joshua, I need help.

JOSHUA
(Concerned)
Why, what’s going on?

DAVID (O.S.)
(Through phone)
I don’t know I keep seeing her,
and I don’t know what to do.

JOSHUA
A girl? Chasing you?

DAVID (O.S.)
(Through phone)
I’m being serious I think I’m
being followed.

JOSHUA
Where are you?

DAVID (O.S.)
(Through phone)
I was on a hike in the woods, I’m
on my way back now.

(CONTINUED)
 25.
CONTINUED:

JOSHUA
Okay work on getting out. Call me
when you get to the car.

DAVID (O.S.)
(Through phone)
Alright, thanks Joshie.

Josh hangs up.

FADE TO:

INT. CONJOINING BATHROOM - EARLIER

Joshua is back to brushing his teeth. He throws away the

photo, and spits out the toothpaste.