INT.

SEATTLE HOTEL ROOM - LATE MORNING

JUDE wakes up in double hotel bed alone.

The side of the bed next to her is empty but has been slept
in. She sits up to see the detritus of the night before.

Drunk bottles of wine. Flowers. A pizza box. JUDE slumps as

she remembers.

Her clothes are all over the floor. The sort of underwear you
keep for special occasions.

There are two hotel robes on the floor. JUDE chooses one
based on smell. She puts it on. It comforts her.

JUDE steps and stands on broken glass, wincing. She sits back
down on the bed to examine her foot. She eyes a broken
drinking glass and a wine stain on the wall.

JUDE (V.O.)
I get that you’re probably going to
hate me.

INT. HOTEL BATHROOM - SHORTLY AFTER

A miserable JUDE brushes her teeth, looking in the mirror.

She cries a little as she brushes.

JUDE wipes her eye with the hand that has been holding the
toothbrush, smearing toothpaste foam into her eye. She
grimaces.

JUDE (V.O.)
I’d like to say I don’t care. But I
do.

INT. HOTEL BATHROOM - MOMENTS LATER

Steam fills the room. JUDE in the shower, pained by the

pressure of the water.

JUDE (V.O.)
And I’d like to say I’m sorry.
But I’m not.

INT. HOTEL BATHROOM - SHORTLY AFTER

JUDE wraps a towel around herself, having showered. As the

steam from the shower clears, JUDE looks towards the bathroom
mirror. She frowns. Then...
 2.

She smiles for the first time, suddenly deeply moved. Her
hand goes to her mouth.

INT. SEATTLE HOTEL ROOM - CONTINUOUS

JUDE, inspired, is racing to get dressed (in last night’s

little dress, shoes and coat).

She clambers over a CLEANER who has let herself in.

JUDE
Sorry, glass! Don’t come over!

JUDE throws her towel over the glass to cover the glass.

JUDE points to the flowers.

JUDE (CONT’D)
You take them. For you. We’re
alive, lady!

EXT. SEATTLE STREET - SHORTLY AFTER

From above, JUDE running back and forth, trying desperately

to hail a cab, wearing her little black dress and shoes from
the night before.

Eventually, one comes.

INT. CAB - CONTINUOUS

JUDE gets in.

JUDE
Airport. Tacoma. Emergency.

INT. HOTEL BATHROOM - CONTINUOUS

The CLEANER looks at the message left in saliva on the

bathroom mirror made clear by the steam. It reads:

I LOVE YOU

Under, an outline of a cock and balls.

JUDE (O.S)
- and I love that you know how to
make me laugh, and your stupid face
and I know it’ll be crazy
but....and -
 3.

INT. CAB - CONTINUOUS

JUDE is making a speech, finding the words as she goes.

JUDE
Every minute I spend without you is
a waste and I’ sorry I was a douche
last night I was just scared. I’m
scared. It’s my whole life. Your
whole life, their ...
But then I woke up without
you...and that scared me more.

The DRIVER is listening.

DRIVER
Yeah.

JUDE
Yeah?

DRIVER
I would definitely go to bed with
you.

JUDE
Thanks. You too. Not really.
Is there music?

Music over -

EXT. SEATTLE ROADS - DAY

The taxi drives and winds and overtakes.

EXT. I-90 BRIDGE - DAY

Seattle traffic all along the I-90 bridge. Jude’s cab slows
as it joins it.

INT. CAB - CONTINUOUS

They’re stationary. JUDE’s agitated. She checks her phone for

the time.

JUDE leans forward to see what the hold up is. She sees the
heavy traffic. Maybe more cabs up ahead?

JUDE
Are those..lights?
 4.

She thinks she sees available cabs further along the bridge.

JUDE scrabbles in her purse and hands the DRIVER the fare so
far.

JUDE (CONT’D)
Sorry doll, I gotta try.

JUDE gets out of the cab, before he can even reply.

EXT. I-90 BRIDGE - DAY - CONTINUOUS

JUDE made a run for it, maybe even taking her heels off,
along the bridge, trying to reach a cab further ahead in the
queue.

But JUDE begins to slow as the cab she has her eye on pulls
too far into the distance. The traffic is finally moving.

Eventually, she frantically manages to hail down a cab

passing but it’s...

...the same cab.

INT. CAB - CONTINUOUS

JUDE gets in, a little sheepish.

JUDE
Heeey.

DRIVER
I gonna wait on the freeway stuck
here for twenty dollars?!

JUDE
Sorry...

They crawl on.

JUDE is staring at the family photographs the DRIVER has on

his dashboard. In apology, she tries to restart a
conversation.

JUDE (CONT’D)
That your wife?

DRIVER
Yes. And my daughter. Most
important thing in the world, the
only thing: Family.
(MORE)
 5.

DRIVER (CONT'D)
/ I work sixteen hours days, I work
on holidays, I work New Years,
always -

/ During the above, Jude’s PHONE rings. It reads ‘BLAKE’.

JUDE
Ooh, it’s him!

JUDE panics for a moment, then answers.

JUDE (DOWN PHONE) (CONT’D)

Hey, you on the plane yet?

The DRIVER turns round to watch her, since they’re stuck in

traffic again.

JUDE (CONT’D)
Oh shit. I...- I was trying to get
to you, to say....Okay. I woke up
scared shitless. And.. I think of
your stupid face and ..... your
mirror penis made me cry...

This isn’t going to plan. JUDE eyes the DRIVER, she can’t do
this in close up.

JUDE (CONT’D)
Sorry, I had a.. plan.

JUDE puts a finger up to the driver, pulls a face - ‘one

minute, sorry!’

She gets out of the cab again -

JUDE stands on the bridge, her phone to her ear.

JUDE (CONT’D)
Can you hear me?

JUDE walks to the bridge edge, looking down at the massive

drop, down to the water, a terrifying leap.

JUDE (CONT’D)
I’m sorry I said no. I’m sorry I
freaked out. I - you were right.
No more hotel rooms no more lying.
You there?!

She laughs nervously as he says something in response.

JUDE (CONT’D)
I’m saying do what you have to. I
love you. Let’s do it.
(MORE)
 6.

JUDE (CONT’D)
(to be heard clearly) LET’S DO IT!
YES! I’m all in!

She grins with the euphoria of the emotional jump.

JUDE turns back. The traffic has moved on. Her taxi driver
has pulled far away. She waves to him, jumps with joy and
gives him a thumbs up to say ‘I did it!’ The DRIVER puts his
own thumb up through the window of his cab as he drives away.
JUDE hangs up, euphoric.

Then JUDE realises she’s waved goodbye to her lift. She looks
around, lots of cars but no other cabs. Of course. She
realises she’s stranded. Oops.

She shrugs it off, too adrenalised to mind, and begins a

triumphant walk of shame back home.

From behind, as her adrenaline wears off, we see JUDE start

to limp slightly as she walks, as the pain of the cut to her
foot returns.

CREDITS

CUT TO:

SUPER: SEATTLE, SIX MONTHS EARLIER

INT. GLASS OFFICE, THESYSTEM COMPANY, SEATTLE - DAY

JUDE sits, cross-legged in a chair, like a child.

STACY BLACK, 40, a very fit, tanned man with bleached hair,
sneakers and expensive 3/4 length trousers is standing,
facing her in this glass cube of an office.

STACY
Game? No.

JUDE
No.

STACY
Design?

JUDE
Maybe. Sound?

STACY
Pff.
 7.

JUDE
Does Sound mean anything?

STACY
Anything means anything at this
point.

JUDE (CRINGING)
Really...?

STACY
They’re gonna parade my head round
this place on a spike. I’m shitting
it Ben’s gonna leave. And I think
Tino’s got an interview at Valve.

JUDE (SHAKES HEAD)

No one’s going anywhere. They love
you. You’re paranoid and insane.

STACY
Thanks.

Through the glass behind STACY, Jude’s POV, we can see a

group of THESYSTEM EMPLOYEES looking in from another office,
watching their private conversation.

INT. ANOTHER GLASS OFFICE AT THESYSTEM - CONTINUOUS

MOPHES, a big dude with ambitious facial hair, sits with

JUSTIN, TINO, BRYAN and TRUDY.

JUSTIN
Think she’s fired?

TINO
Someone is.

MOPHES
It’s not her fault. Incentives are
fine.

BRYAN
Pfft, And the reason we have a
loading screen during an end
mission.

JUSTIN
If one more person says loading
screen I swear I will lose my shit.

Beat. These aren’t the guys to resist that.

 8.

INT. STACY’S OFFICE - CONTINUOUS

JUDE’s POV as she watches JUSTIN ‘half-jokingly’ lose his

shit in the other office. This isn’t unusual.

JUDE
Anyway what about me - I might
leave?!

STACY
Only way you leave, they set up a
company in your apartment building,
you go in in your pyjamas -

JUDE
I come here in my pyjamas! I slept
here leading up to shipping!

STACY
Not saying you’re lazy! Saying you
know what you like, you like what
you know.

JUDE makes a ‘what the fuck does that mean’ gesture.

JUDE
I was the one that said hover-
boots!

STACY (IN APOLOGY)

Please J. You can’t leave, I’d
fucking kill myself.

JUDE enjoys the moment.

JUDE
It’d help if you kept your cock out
of it.

STACY
By ‘it’ do you mean your vagina?

JUDE
No I mean ‘the situation.’
Which is what I call my asshole.

STACY breaks into a smile.

STACY
/ Listeen, it’s supposed to be a
surprise. But. They are giving a
Special Contribution Award,
tonight. I’m not supposed to tell
you.
 9.

JUDE (TOUCHED)
Really?!

STACY
Yeah. So, wear something nice.

JUDE (DELIGHTED)
..Okay! Cool.

They notice that all the EMPLOYEES in the nearby glass office
are pressed against a different wall of glass, excited about
something they can see downstairs. STACY goes over to look
down to the lower floor.

He presses his hands against the glass, then beckons JUDE

over.

STACY
Hey come look, come look, the sim’s
here!

JUDE goes over and looks past Stacy’s hands presse don the
glass down to a large FLIGHT SIMULATOR pod being wheeled in
to the open plan floor beneath. Many EMPLOYEES are gathering
around it, itching to look.

JUDE
What did you get now..?

INT. OPEN PLAN DOWNSTAIRS FLOOR AREA, THESYSTEM - SHORTLY

AFTER

EMPLOYEES swarm around the FLIGHT SIMULATOR.

The delivery is being supervised by BLAKE, a British man in

his 40s.

He stands out. He’s dressed more formally, a bit old-

fashioned, in a dark red corduroy jacket and a shirt. He
looks a bit like a literature professor among the
sportswear/metal t-shirt, more urban males.

They are not showing the simulator quite enough respect for
BLAKE, who is in charge of its delivery.

BLAKE
Is there a place this is going?

/ STACY makes his entrance, almost rubbing his hands. JUDE a

bit behind.
 10.

STACY
Awesome! Who feels the neeed for
speeed!?

JUDE deliberately ignores him and it. She makes for the exit,
stopping to give MOPHES a greeting hand-clasp/shoulder bump.

MOPHES
Hey, dude, you coming straight to
the hotel?

JUDE (WITH SOME DREAD)

I got a thing first. I’ll catch you
there.

BLAKE has spotted her (a rare woman and an attractive one)

In background: JUSTIN jumps in to the sim to steer on it.

JUSTIN (SUNG)
Highway to the Dangerzone!

STACY
How do we start this up, velvet?

BLAKE
This is a multi-plane FSI for
professional use, it doesn’t just
plug in.

BLAKE watches JUDE leave.

As she walks, she picks up and munches on a slice of pizza

from one of the many tables of free employee food.

BLAKE is struck by her. This is the first time he sees her.

The very first step on the way to ....

FLASH-FORWARD: EXT. BLAKE’S FAMILY HOME, NORTH LONDON -

EVENING

BLAKE outside his own front door, in the future now. A black
cab has dropped him off. He is dragging a suitcase with
flight labels on it. The family home glows warm against a
dark night. His keys are raised in the other hand.

He looks ill, like he can’t bring himself to go in.

BLAKE leans his head against the wood of the door, not yet
able to insert the key. He gulps in air.

He closes his eyes, puts the key in his mouth, tasting it.
Absorbing the shape of home as it has been til now.
 11.

Eventually he manages to put the key in the lock. And turn

it.

The sound of a woman screaming.

FLASHBACK: EXT/INT. MELISSA’S HOUSE - EARLY EVENING

A front door opens to JUDE. It’s opened by MELISSA, her

sister, a large woman in flowing clothes.

The women are both screaming in greeting.

MELISSA is carrying a small child covered in tomato sauce.

JUDE is carrying a pack of beers.

MELISSA
Beer!

JUDE
Child!

They kiss awkwardly.

JUDE (TO THE TODDLER) (CONT’D)

Oh my god your face is so
beautifully disgusting I want to
rip it off and eat it -

As they pass through to the kitchen -

JUDE (CONT’D)
- I’m sorry I can’t stay.

MELISSA (TO THE TODDLER)

She’s always so sorry!

JUDE
There’s one night in the year I
can’t do, I said in the email -

MELISSA
I know, I can’t believe I arranged
it round my life, not yours..

JUDE begins taking her shoes off, as it’s that kind of house.

EXT. MELISSA’S GARDEN - LATER ON

There is a BBQ going on. The small garden teems with children
and a few parents. Lots of color except JUDE who is all in
black.
 12.

MELISSA and FRAN (Jude’s mother) stand with JUDE.

JUDE plays with her nephew RUSSELL. He is climbing on her and

each time she lowers him to the ground, pretending she killed
him. Throughout...

JUDE
Aggghh noooooooo you’re dead.

MELISSA
So it’s a party, basically?

JUDE
No, we’re up for Best Game and Best
Sound and Best Design so I’m...

She mimes diarrhea and makes a raspberry sound.

RUSSELL
Diarrhea!

JUDE
‘Diarrhea in your face!!’

FRAN
I looked your game up on google and
a lot of people seemed angry.

JUDE
Yeah, they get angry, ma, that’s
what they do.
But also I’m getting a..special
contribution thing -

They look confused.

FRAN
Because you’re a woman?

JUDE
Or because I’m amazing...?
- ‘Oh no you’re dead!’

MELISSA
They don’t really understand what
dead means.

JUDE
It means when all your organs shut
down. Like nana.
Hey is dad coming?
 13.

MELISSA (MOVING JUDE AWAY)

Let’s get something to eat

CUT TO:

EXT. BY THE BBQ - MOMENTS LATER

JUDE and MELISSA and RUSSELL hovers.

MELISSA
He left this shitty - (hits her own
mouth in self-chastisement) gruff
message on my phone saying it was
too far. Who knows he might be
dying or whatever, but if he’s not,
he’s being the.. B-word.

JUDE
...Black?

MELISSA makes a ‘you’re so funny’ face.

MELISSA
It’s probably good he’s not here
with... - (gesture towards their
mom)

JUDE
God! They haven’t been together
since I got my period!

RUSSELL
What’s a period?

JUDE
It’s like diarrhea but for girls
made out of blood and dead babies.

MELISSA
Why do you do that?

JUDE
It’s true. And entertaining.

GRAHAM, MELISSA’s husband, comes over. He’s a middle-aged guy

whose look has fully embraced ‘suburban dad’.

GRAHAM
Hey Jude, fucking Mariners, you
see?

JUDE
Crazy!
 14.

GRAHAM hands RUSSELL a hot dog.

GRAHAM
Here you go.
(to Melissa) Honey, you wanna do it
now?

RUSSELL (RE. HOT DOG)

It’s pink.

JUDE
Of course it’s pink, you’re eating
a pig, dude!

RUSSELL, frowns at his hot dog, perplexed.

MELISSA (TO JUDE, IN RETALIATION)

Is that what you’re wearing, to an
awards ceremony?

EXT. THE LAWN - A WHILE LATER

MELISSA is giving a speech to a circle of assembled adults.

JUDE is now wearing a dress she has borrowed from her sister.
She looks uncomfortable.

MELISSA
And then we were blessed with
Moses, eighteen months later, who
has always been the serious one,
little soldier man. Then, in the
summer of 2012

JUDE (RAISING HAND)

Just - while we’re between
children, which I know is never
that long(!) I have to go, I dunno
if it’s ruder to just leave..or
say..

MELISSA
They’re equally rude.

JUDE approaches and hugs MELISSA.

JUDE (PRIVATELY)
It’s clear where this is going -
from everything, and the clothes,
so congratulations.

MELISSA
We’re fostering.
 15.

JUDE
Wow! That is..extra good! You’re
amazing.
You’re amazing people!
See ya later, animal eaters!

JUDE leaves, breaking the assembled social circle and hurried

towards freedom.

EXT. MELISSA’S HOUSE - STREET - EVENING

JUDE has her bag and a bottle of beer still in her hand,
comes out of the front door....But GRAHAM has followed JUDE
out.

GRAHAM
Hey, Jude, sorry, I should have
told you about this before -

JUDE
Hey, it’s your child. Well. It’s
not. But.

GRAHAM
You gotta sec,? You wanna...?

She knows what he means. She thinks. Relents.

INT. JUDE’S CAR, RESIDENTIAL STREET - SHORTLY AFTER

GRAHAM is smoking from a plastic bong in Jude’s passenger

seat. In the back, Jude is changing out of the dress into her
former clothes. Their relationship is entirely sexless.

JUDE
What, she got a black hole between
her legs, she’s dragging in other
people’s kids now?

GRAHAM
We’re gonna pay you back.

JUDE
I don’t care!

GRAHAM
It’s something she always wanted,
we’ve always talked about it - it’s
nothing to do with / the money
 16.

JUDE
I don’t care. I leant it to you.
It’s yours. And I’m a fan of..all
that. It’s like getting a rescue
dog but a kid.

JUDE gets out of the back and gets in the driver’s seat. She
takes a hit from the bong.

JUDE (CONT’D)
It’s just weird you know I made a
choice not to have that expense,
now I’m paying for someone else’s
kids -

GRAHAM
Hey - !

JUDE
I just didn’t think I’d be paying
for someone else’s else’s kids?!

GRAHAM
It was one time for the mortgage.
We’re not buying him.

JUDE
I get it.

GRAHAM
I know if Mel knew she’d say thank
you.

JUDE isn’t so sure...

GRAHAM (CONT’D)
I’ll pay you back right now if you
...-

Beat. He doesn’t mean it.

GRAHAM (CONT’D)
Really soon.

JUDE sees the time.

JUDE
Shit. I gotta go.

GRAHAM
You’re a mensch.
 17.

JUDE rolls her eyes at his trying to be Jewishness as GRAHAM

starts to get out of the car. As he leaves, JUDE can’t help
herself.

JUDE (CONT’D
I’m a generous person, okay? But at
christmas - which is your thing -
and I get presents for every one of
you guys, and I just get a scarf,
maybe...remember that.

GRAHAM (NODS, THINKS)

Yeah. Melissa normally does the...

JUDE
Sure she does.

JUDE starts her engine.

INT. JUDE’S CAR - SHORTLY AFTER

JUDE drives through Seattle. As she drives she suddenly

thinks to cover the bong on her passenger seat...but with her
hoodie which she struggles out of. It’s kind of dangerous.

Over -

JUDE (V.O.)
I think I would have had a kid too,
if I’d had a wife. A free baby-
sitter. You can have sex with. And
not get arrested. I know it works
the other way round. I just.
Literally have never seen that.

EXT. HOTEL, SEATTLE - NIGHT

A plush, large hotel, hosting an awards ceremony. Its metal

tower glows against a starlit sky. People in black-tie
stream in beneath. (Mostly youngish white men in suits.
Presumably with their ‘babysitters’ at home).

INT. HOTEL BALLROOM - CONTINUOUS

An awards ceremony for VIDEO GAMES, just before its start.

Round tables with wine and silver-ware. An impressive stage.

EMPLOYEES greet each other, table to table.

Video entertainment. Trails for big nominated games.

 18.

We see JUDE from a distance find MOPHES, a very good friend.

MOPHES and JUDE, head towards their table.

CLOSE IN on THE SYSTEM TABLE. STACY is already there, among

others. They all greet each other.

STACY puts his hand in the middle of the table. They put
theirs on top.

TOGETHER
If you die in real life you die in
the game.

Fireworks go off on stage. Applause. Excitement.

INT. HOTEL BAR - NIGHT

BLAKE, alone at a table. A sterile, corporate place. He’s had

a few drinks.

The WAITRESS collects his cheque. She has the kind of

permanent, rictus grin and barely-present eyes that Brits
mistake for contempt.

WAITRESS
You need change with that?

BLAKE
...I don’t know if I need change.
It’s difficult, I don’t want to say
yes, cos that seems insulting.
You’ve been fine.

WAITRESS
Aw.

BLAKE
This whole charade was much better
in stages, when you took it and
brought it back, then I left
whatever and - none of this eye
contact.

WAITRESS (NOW FAKE SMILING)

I’ll be back shortly with your
change.
 19.

BLAKE (AFTER HER)

You see now I don’t even know if
you liked my accent or if that was
part of this whole thing... Tina.
How do I know what’s real?!

CUT TO:

INT. HOTEL BAR - NIGHT - SHORTLY AFTER

The change plate is put back in front of BLAKE. There’s

thirty dollars. He fingers it. Guilty, he leaves the lot and
gets up.

INT. HOTEL ROOM AT THE SAME HOTEL - LATER

BLAKE is lying on his hotel bed, clothed, with his TABLET out
in front of him. The Seattle skyline blinks in the distance.

He is video-calling HELEN, the name reads large on the

screen. No answer.

‘DO YOU WANT TO LEAVE A VIDEO MESSAGE?’ the screen asks.

‘YES’ Blake selects.

BLAKE
Hey... Helen. I know I’m not
supposed to...But.
...I yelled at a waitress... If you
want to know the ripple
effects.....

A long, uncomfortable pause as he thinks of what to say next.

He can’t think of anything.

BLAKE (CONT’D)
Fuck.

He stops recording. ‘SEND?’ The screen asks. BLAKE selects,

‘NO.’

BLAKE turns over, vaguely foetal, puts his hands down his
pants and leaves it there in a vaguely comforting gesture.

INT. EVENT VENUE - NIGHT

The awards ceremony in full swing. A montage of awards being

given out:

Best Sound, Best Visuals, Best Game.

 20.

TheSYSTEM loses them all.

A short, obese guy in a loud suit - the host, BARROW -

retakes the stage.

During the beneath we cut between him and Jude’s expectant

face as she runs her tongue over her teeth and subtly
prepares to go up.

BARROW
The last award tonight we’re going
to celebrate someone’s Lifetime
Achievement. One of the oldest
companies we have here tonight,
TheSystem, changed the face of
gaming fifteen years ago with a
character called Gravy Manhattan.

An image of GRAVY MANHATTAN flashes up; a large-chested

warrior woman who’s part-cat. JUDE looks proud. And not
totally dissimilar.

BARROW (CONT’D)
And the success of that first RPG,
meant they could carry on exploring
and re-working that furrow, right
up until today.

Different images of Gravy Manhattan from successive games.

The character changes a tiny bit with each game. There’s a
small reduction in bosom size and a big improvement in
graphics.

BARROW (CONT’D)
So tonight we applaud that
company’s...consistency of vision.
And their place in history as we
celebrate.....Stacy Black!

Stacy gets up, completely expecting it.

But so does JUDE.

As the name called sinks in, JUDE stops her journey and
changes her faux-pas into enthusiastic clapping, as if it’s a
travelling standing ovation.

Stacy, on the stage -

STACY (PAINED)
Thanks for doing that, Bar. I know
it’s past your bedtime.
 21.

We get a close up of JUDE’s face subtly registering her

disappointment.

INT. HOTEL ROOM - NIGHT

In Blake’s hotel room, he is half-heartedly masturbating on

the bed.

The door opens and the WAITRESS from downstairs comes in and
stands by the bed. She’s warm and smiles brightly throughout.

(Fantasy sequence).

WAITRESS (AS IF AT A TABLE)

So how we doin’ here?

BLAKE look a little sheepish and surprised.

WAITRESS (CONT’D)
Don’t do that, don’t be all
sheepish like you didn’t call me
over. What’s it gonna be?

BLAKE tries vainly to get hard and masturbate.

WAITRESS (DEADPAN) (CONT’D)

Tits? Pussy. Ass. Bent over ass.

She sits on the bed next to him as he masturbates.

WAITRESS (CONT’D)
You don’t even find me attractive.
But that’s part of it, right?
That’s the - (scrunches up
face/sound of aggression)

BLAKE’s will is fading.

WAITRESS (CONT’D)
Or not.

The fantasy isn’t working out. The WAITRESS gets up and back
into customer service mode -

WAITRESS (BRIGHT, DEVASTATING)

(CONT’D)
We all done here?

She makes to leave.

BLAKE stops masturbating, flaccid. The waitress has gone.

 22.

BLAKE sighs, pulls his pants up. He grabs his wallet and a
security pass from the nightstand.

INT. EVENT VENUE - NIGHT

THESYSTEM lot are miserably nursing drinks around their

table. The awards are over and the room is quite loud and
raucous. STACY returns to the table and puts his award down.

STACY
God, this is what they give you
when you die. This is the phone
call Joe Pesci gets at the end
of.... (mimes gunshot to head)

JUDE (IN FRONT OF ALL)

Fuck you, Stacy.

STACY
Fuck me?! I’m just saying. We can’t
put it on the box this doesn’t mean
anything except you’re done,
retire.

JUDE
You said I was getting it.

STACY
No I didn’t?! I said they were
giving an award -

JUDE
And I should wear something nice.

STACY
I thought we’d go on somewhere.
Ohhhhh. I can see that’d be
confusing.

JUDE
Yeah.

STACY
God I’d be mad.

JUDE
I am fucking mad!

STACY
No, I mean I’d be mad if they gave
it to you. For what, Best Loading
Screen?
 23.

The other GUYS around the table react to this.

JUDE (GETS UP)

Are you fucking kidding!?

No one comes to her defence. They’re too pissed at the

results. Not even MOPHES. Infuriated, JUDE leaves,

STACY
Jude! I’m breaking your balls! J!

JUDE passes:

GUEST (BACKGROUND)
- No it’s about speed, it’s / speed

OTHER GUEST (BACKGROUND)

/ No, dude, it’s a trick

A GUEST at the next table, showing off his magician hobby,

pulls the tablecloth out from under bottles/glasses and
knocks them all to the floor. During, STACY chases after
JUDE.

STACY (AFTER JUDE)

J! JJ! JJ Abrams! Come on, Jay and
Silent Bob, this is ego!

INT. GLASS OFFICE, THESYSTEM GAMES COMPANY - LATER THAT NIGHT

JUDE, wearing headphones, controller in hand, eyes glazed, is

lost in her game (Gravy Manhattan) on the huge screen in
‘Stacy’s office’ (where we saw them meet before). All the
other offices are dark. No one else around. It’s peaceful.

She dies in the game. Text comes up reading -

YOU ARE DEAD

JUDE, takes off the headphones, gets up and wanders over at

the glass side of the upper office. She looks down to see a
side room (the rec room) lit when nothing else is.

A change in focus shows STACY’s HANDPRINTS still on the glass

from earlier. JUDE sees them and begins to clear them off
with her sleeve.

As she finishes, BLAKE comes out of the lit rec room, rolling
up cable and piling it.

She watches him. Eventually, he looks up. This is the first

time she sees him properly.
 24.

JUDE (V.O.)
When you design a game you’re
creating an experience for a
stranger. It’s a long-distance
seduction. Sprinkling rose petals
from the door to the bed. You just
have to make sure you know what to
do when they get there.

This first glance will lead to....

INT. AEROPLANE - ON DESCENT - HEATHROW, EVENING [PRESENT]

JUDE in coach in her airplane seat.

She looks nervous. Her eyes are red. She takes out a tissue
and blows her nose.

A BA FLIGHT ATTENDANT comes down the aisle. She wears a badge

reading ‘HELEN’. JUDE stops her -

JUDE
Excuse me, can I get a landing
card?

‘HELEN’ kneels down beside her, close, professional. Beat.

‘HELEN’ (BRITISH)
Why don’t you fuck off back home.
And leave my family alone.

‘HELEN’ stands up and walks on.

Directly behind her, another BA FLIGHT ATTENDANT, the same

woman, but in reality, giving out landing cards. She reaches
JUDE.

FLIGHT ATTENDANT (VERY NICE)

Would you like a landing card?

JUDE nods, takes one.

PRESENT TIMELINE: INT. REC ROOM, THE SYSTEM - NIGHT

JUDE flying the flight simulator. BLAKE watches over her.

Lights play across their faces.

She is in view of the runway. She begins veering wildly.

BLAKE
Now just, straighten up, no the
other -.... Pull back.
 25.

The plane tips and goes hurtling away from the runway, upside
down, towards the ground.

BLAKE (CONT’D)
Okay,...too late.

JUDE
Never too late!

JUDE is play-screaming...as she crashes.

We pull out to see the rec room is full of old arcade

machines, a pool table, an Oculus Rift platform, fridges with
free drinks. It’s a geek’s wet dream. And now there is also a
FLIGHT SIMULATOR. JUDE gets off it.

JUDE !
That’s hard and boring.

BLAKE
It’s not a game. It’s to learn how
to not kill actual people.

JUDE
Where’s the fun in that?!

BLAKE (RE. THE SIM)

These are normally provided to
professionals. It’s tens of
thousands of pounds worth of
training.

JUDE !
Yeah, my boss is a dick.

BLAKE
I wondered. It’s installed now
anyway. So.

JUDE doesn’t want him to go.

JUDE (NODS)
You wanna see something actually
fun?

EXT. RED, DUSTY PLANET / INT. OCULUS RIFT - NIGHT

BLAKE’s POV: VR computer game.

The vista of a red, dusty other world. We move around, taking

in the swirling mists.
 26.

INT. REC ROOM - CONTINUOUS

JUDE has set BLAKE up playing the Oculus Rift virtual reality
headset. He has the mask on, the headphones. He is completely
sealed.

JUDE is watching him. She is smoking her pot pen (e-

cigarette with weed fluid.

JUDE ! (SHOUTING)
You okay?

She watches him. He can’t hear her.

JUDE
You know I thought you were gay at
first. But now I see you move
around I think you’re just...
fancy.

Nothing.

JUDE !
You know right now I could do
anything to you / -

BLAKE (TOO LOUD)

/ This is amazing! I can smell
ganj?!

She laughs at him. She puts the pot pen in his mouth. He
smiles around it.

FLASHFORWARD: INT. BAGGAGE CLAIM - HEATHROW, EVENING

[PRESENT]

JUDE, looking pale, dragging her bag out into....

INT. HEATHROW AIRPORT TERMINAL - EVENING [PRESENT]

JUDE comes out into the airport terminal and looks around.

Everything seems a bit different. The brands. The fonts. The

intonation.

JUDE walks on, searching for a face. It’s all a bit

unnerving, anxious.

Eventually she sees BLAKE, desperately looking around, then

looking at his phone.
 27.

INT. MOCAP STAGE, THE SYSTEM COMPANY - NIGHT [PAST]

JUDE has brought BLAKE in to the Mo-cap stage, a large space,

lit beautifully where they shoot cut scenes and fights. Empty
right now.

BLAKE
You film stuff here?

JUDE !
Mo-cap you know with the -

BLAKE
Oh the things with the... balls?
They’re hilarious.

JUDE, showing off, walks over to another door on the other

side of the stage. She takes out a ring of keys and begins to
unlock it.

INT. GUN ROOM, THESYSTEM COMPANY - SHORTLY AFTER

A large closet space with stored helmets and mo-cap suits.

Walls lined with dummy guns. Some fluorescent, to distinguish
them from the real thing, some obviously sci-fi weaponry.
BLAKE and JUDE enter.

BLAKE
Whoa!

JUDE !
Obviously not real. We use them for
shooting. Not (mimes gun shooting).
Shooting. (mimes camera shooting)

BLAKE surveys the room, his hands stay in his pockets as he

turns. JUDE looks at him, takes a dummy red pistol off the
wall.

JUDE ! (CONT’D)
I’ve never seen a man keep his
hands in his pockets in here.

BLAKE
I’m not big into guns.

She points the pistol at him in play. She advances on him.

She changes aim at different parts of him. (Improvised)

JUDE (PULP FICTION)

Everybody be cool this is a
robbery!
 28.

BLAKE playfully puts his hands up.

She aims it a his temple.

BLAKE
Am I in trouble?

JUDE (IN CHARACTER)

You tell me.

She makes the sound of a gun cocking. It is surprisingly

good. Beat.

BLAKE
Do you want me to disarm you?

JUDE
I’d like to see you try(!)

BLAKE
Okay.
You’re very attractive. And A bit
scary.

JUDE drops the gun to her side, game over.

JUDE
Aww I’m not scary!

BLAKE uses this opportunity to take the pistol from her limp
hand and throw it away.

BLAKE
Done.

There is a beat of tension between them. The good kind.

INT. HEATHROW TERMINAL - EVENING [PRESENT]

BLAKE and JUDE meet up and hug in greeting. She waves him
away from kissing her, indicating she’s ill and doesn’t want
to give it to him. BLAKE re-hugs her in sympathy, pushes her
hair behind her ear.

They’re nervous about seeing each other, best behaviour, kind

but polite.

INT. GUN ROOM - THESYSTEM COMPANY - NIGHT [PAST]

JUDE and BLAKE have passionate, dirty sex against the wall.
 29.

(We carry on intercutting the dirty, stranger sex with their

polite, sweetly nervous trip across London)

INT. HEATHROW TERMINAL - EVENING [PRESENT]

BLAKE takes Jude’s bag and drags it for her, like a

gentleman, out to the taxi rank.

INT. GUN ROOM - THESYSTEM COMPANY - NIGHT [PAST]

JUDE and BLAKE fuck on the floor. She is flat on her front,
him on her. JUDE starts to make noises like she’s orgasming.

BLAKE (IN HER EAR)

Don’t. Pretend.

JUDE puts her hand under herself and begins to rub herself
hard.

INT. BLACK CAB - NIGHT - EVENING [PRESENT]

It’s raining. JUDE and BLAKE are sat in the back of a cab as
it travels in London streetlight.

BLAKE puts his hands on hers, softly, polite, a middle-aged

pat.

INT. GUN ROOM - THESYSTEM COMPANY - NIGHT [PAST]

We see BLAKE from behind, masturbating over JUDE. She’s

turned onto her back. He straddles her.

Eventually BLAKE gets to the point of orgasm. He cums,

collapses onto her as if shot from behind.

Heavy breathing. Comedown. Deflation. JUDE looking up over

his shoulder.

JUDE
Did you cum...?

Her serious sex face becomes a cheeky smile at her joke.

EXT. NORTH LONDON STREET - NIGHT - [PRESENT]

JUDE gets out of the cab outside the flat they will be
staying in. She looks up. Her expectant smile becomes a
serious, let down face.
 30.

The building looks unimpressive, ugly modern, foreboding. Her

face can’t hide that. BLAKE and JUDE stand separately as the
cab drives away.

INT. KITCHEN/LOUNGE, RENTED FLAT - LATER - NIGHT

JUDE and BLAKE enter into a small kitchen area.

JUDE hugs him with an awkward squeal. She’s making positive

effort but we feel her uncertainty underneath.

BLAKE
You must be knackered.

JUDE (STUFFED UP)

I don’t even know.

JUDE pulls herself up to sit on the kitchen surface. It takes

her two goes. She rubs the surface with her hand. The pattern
is cheap, old-fashioned. BLAKE turns on the kettle to make a
cup of tea.

BLAKE
I should do you a lemsip.

JUDE
Is that a sex thing?

BLAKE
Please. If you tried to suck me off
you’d suffocate.

JUDE (REF KETTLE)

Is this all ours then? Have we got
a pot?

BLAKE
Kettle.

JUDE
Black.

BLAKE
It belongs to the flat.

JUDE
We should have something that’s
ours.

BLAKE
We will.
 31.

JUDE
No now, we should get something.

BLAKE looks at the oven clock which blinks 01:32.

BLAKE (UNSURE)
Really?

JUDE smiles encouragingly at him, nodding, trying.

INT. PETROL STATION, EAST LONDON - EARLY HOURS OF THE MORNING

A bumper pack of cheap pink toilet roll and a newspaper are

on the counter. Both JUDE and BLAKE put cash on the counter.

INT. GUN ROOM - THESYSTEM COMPANY - NIGHT [PAST]

JUDE and BLAKE lie, post-coital, on the floor.

BLAKE
Is Jude short for any/thing?

JUDE (FINGER ON HIS LIPS)

/ Shh. No names. I don’t even wanna
know your name.

He makes a confused face.

JUDE (CONT’D)
Mostly because it’s Blake.
I’m gonna give you a different
name.

She smiles.

JUDE (CONT’D)
....I’m gonna christen you...

JUDE makes the sign of a cross on his head.

JUDE (IMPROVISE NAME) (CONT’D)

Scott. Bakula.

BLAKE (TOUCHES HIS HEAD)

What’s that - ?! Ugh -

JUDE
..It’s yours!?

She’s used his ejaculate.

 32.

FLASHFORWARD: INT. BEDROOM, RENTED FLAT - FUTURE

JUDE is curled up, asleep in bed. JUDE has pink toilet roll
clutched in her hand for her running nose.

BLAKE comes to bed in pyjama bottoms. He strokes her hair.

INT. BEDROOM, RENTED FLAT - SHORTLY AFTER - NIGHT

BLAKE gets into bed in just pyjama bottoms. He looks hot.

JUDE stirs, straddles him.

BLAKE
You okay?

JUDE ! (NODS)
It’s important, it’s the first time
in the bed, in the country! Oh my
god in the country!

BLAKE (POSH)
We do things differently here.

JUDE (IN PLAY)

No! I’m a virgin!

BLAKE
We’re both virgins.

JUDE
You’re sort of my first. Every
other guy had a bit of his penis
missing
so....

BLAKE
I have all my penis.

Blake’s PHONE, on the night stand, starts to ring. It’s a

vibrate and a bell sound. BLAKE ignores it and guides himself
into her underneath. The PHONE stops. The PHONE starts.

JUDE looks at it. It reads HELEN. It won’t stop ringing.

Then suddenly, it’s joined by a sound neither of them have

heard before, the harsh buzzing of a very loud door alarm
they stop and stare at each other.

BLAKE suddenly bustles up and heads out of the bedroom. JUDE

sits, waits, unnerved. She puts her underwear on, just in
case.
 33.

After a few moments, BLAKE comes bursting back in, still in

pyjama bottoms, wildly anxious.

BLAKE (CONT’D)
She’s left her. This is - Just.
This’ll really fuck her up.

BLAKE tries to tidy away Jude’s clothes.

MIA (O.S.)
..Dad?

BLAKE turns. JUDE crouches by the bed, in panic.

Then JUDE dives under the bed as the door opens...

Under the bed, the following unclear:

MIA (O/S) (CONT’D)

Where’s she gone?

BLAKE (O.S.)
Mum had to go on an emergency.
She’s fine. But you’re gonna stay
here.

MIA (O.S.)
Where’s here?

BLAKE (O/S)
Why don’t we get you to the loo
first?

MIA starts to cry.

MIA (O.S.)
This bed is funny!

Sounds of BLAKE comforting her (hey, hey).

MIA’s FEET pad right towards JUDE’s face under the bed and
stare at her like monsters.

The bed bows as MIA lies on it and BLAKE cuddles her to

comfort her. This goes on for a while with them both lying
down. Then, on the other side of the bed, a hand comes down,
Blake’s. He twitches, searching for Jude’s.

JUDE holds his hand. They hold hands as he calms Mia, and
then, eventually, he drops it. JUDE waits in the dark.
 34.

INT. KITCHEN/LOUNGE, RENTED FLAT - LATER

In the kitchen, the oven clock blinks 3:47.

INT. BEDROOM, RENTED FLAT - FANTASY SEQUENCE

Under the bed, JUDE sees BLAKE kneel down by the bed,
smiling, he offers her his hand.

JUDE comes out and BLAKE starts to kiss her reassuringly,

passionately. He throws her on the bed, which is empty. Goes
to go down on her.

BLAKE
I care about this. This is what I
love.

Removing her knickers, his hand finds resistance between her

legs.

BLAKE (CONT’D)
Are you on?

BLAKE smiles and moves his hand down her body to take her
tampon out. His smile drops and he moves down to look.

JUDE
What?

BLAKE (DISTURBED)
Is that string?

JUDE (UNNERVED)
No..What is it?
I can feel it..

BLAKE
It looks.. like a tail.

JUDE (FREAKED OUT, FEELING SOMETHING)

Something’s..-

JUDE jumps out of the bed, afraid. Under the skin of her
breastbone and upper arms a lump scuttles around, then
another. BLAKE stares at her blankly from the bed.

BLAKE
You’ve got mice.

CUT TO:
 35.

INT. BEDROOM, RENTED FLAT - CONTINUOUS - NIGHT - REALITY

JUDE wakes from anxiety dream an under the bed.

She’s alerted by Blake’s hand, clicking for attention, in the

gap at the side. She listens. Silence. She sidles, painfully
and quietly out to the door side of the bed. She raises
herself up, very, very gently.

We see BLAKE lying in bed with a sleeping MIA, his 8 year old
daughter.

INT. BEDROOM, RENTED FLAT - DAWN

BLAKE looks up at her, very gently lifting himself up. JUDE

gestures he sit back down! JUDE backs out of the room.

INT. KITCHEN/LOUNGE AREA, RENTED FLAT - CONTINUOUS

JUDE has none of her own clothes, but luckily her purse is on
the floor out here. She looks around for anything else.

BLAKE comes out of the bedroom.

BLAKE (WHISPERING)
Are you okay?

JUDE ! (WHISPERING)
Yeah, just -

MIA (O.S.)
Mum?

The voice is getting closer.

JUDE panics, she desperately mimes, ‘GO!’ pushing Blake back

in, shutting the door.

JUDE sees Blake’s coat. She puts his coat on over her
underwear and his shoes, quickly.

The only other things out there are what they bought from the
petrol station. She looks at the toilet roll.

CUT TO:

JUDE closing the door gently.

 36.

EXT. LONDON STREET - DAWN

JUDE shuffles down a London road in a large coat and men’s

shoes. No one else around at all.

JUDE reaches a red post box on the pavement. She has never
seen one before. She pauses and puts her hand in its mouth.

JUDE walks on into the night.

INT. BEDROOM, RENTED FLAT - CONTINUOUS

MIA is still in the bed. BLAKE at on the edge, is staring at

his phone, no answer from JUDE. He gets back into bed with
MIA, one arm over her.

INT. RECEPTION, SMALL HOTEL - DAWN

JUDE is being checked-in by a very tired looking woman in her

sixties wearing a dressing gown and thick glasses. JUDE fills
out some sort of form.

JUDE (V.O.)
I think you’d rather regret the
things you did do, right?

INT. HOTEL ROOM - DAWN

JUDE lies in a hotel room bed. Looking up. Alone.

JUDE (V.O.)
And I’m not saying I regret
anything.

We drift into view of the en-suite hotel bathroom, where, in

a small splash of color and hope, Jude has replaced the white
hotel toilet roll with a roll of cheap pink stuff.

JUDE (V.O.)
You can’t help who you love.

INT. BEDROOM, RENTED FLAT - NIGHT

MIA is pretending to be asleep for her dad but is actually

staring at one of Jude’s SHOES on the other side of the room.

JUDE (V.O.)
Or who you don’t.
 37.

END