THE LESSON - SHORT FILM SCRIPT
CHALLENGE
Discussions about the negative influence of social media are quite common (unfortunately, rightfully so), particularly regarding their impact on relationships among young people. A significant number of teenagers and young adults are willing to do a "lot of things", much like other YouTubers and Instagram/TikTok influencers, to achieve quick and effortless popularity, even if it means sacrificing their own identity.
"SOLUTION"
With that in mind, I have written a script for a short film that critiques todays trends and moral standards dominating in modern society.
SYNOPSIS
MILICA (17) and MILOS (17) are teenagers who create video content for the social media platform "YouTube". At a house party hosted by their mutual friend TOMA (18), they encounter three more of Milos's friends: BANE (20), DJOLE (19), and DEKI (18), with whom they spend the rest of the evening. As the night progresses, Milica gets drunk and starts performing a striptease in front of the other guests, while her boyfriend Milos records everything. The next day, the video is uploaded to Milos's YouTube channel and quickly spreads across all other social media platforms.
The morning after the eventful night, Milica realizes that her striptease is circulating on all social media platforms. Angry and tearful, she calls Milos, demanding to see him. After a meeting and a short walk through the park, they are intercepted by a black SUV, and three masked kidnappers take them captive. A MIDDLE-AGED MAN (50) witnesses the event and starts following the kidnappers in his car, informing the police of their movements.
The SUV stops in front of an abandoned hangar in the city's outskirts. They all enter the hangar, and the kidnappers start verbally harassing Milos. After some time, Milica pleads with the "kidnappers" to stop the torment. The masks come off, and Milos realizes it is all just a "prank." Soon after, the police arrive and arrest everyone, while the entire event is recorded on camera.
The footage ends. It is posted on the social media platform "YouTube" from an unknown account. It has over a million views, 50,000 likes, and is trending as the top video. An UNKNOWN USER (cursor)leaves a like on the video.
TREATMENT
INT. BUILDING – NIGHT
MILICA (17) and MILOS (17) creak open the entrance doors of an old, dilapidated building. Milica, an attractive brunette of average height, is dressed in a black dress and heels, her hair is loose with bright red lipstick on her lips. Milos, an athletic-built guy in tight ripped jeans, with his shirt half-opened under a black leather jacket, climbs the stairs, taking two steps at a time. Ready and dressed, they head to a house party happening on the third floor at their mutual friend TOMA's (18) place. Loud, turbo-folk MUSIC ECHOES through the walls. Milica holds onto the wooden staircase railing with one hand, giggling and taking selfies on almost every third step, bragging about her YouTube channel's successes. Milos teases her that his YouTube channel is much better and of higher quality. He urges Milica on, reminding her they are already 2 hours late for the party.
INT. BUILDING – NIGHT
Milica and Milos arrive on the third floor, which is completely covered in graffiti. Due to the dim light, they can barely find the door to apartment number 23. Milos presses the doorbell. Toma, with red eyes, holding a beer and a joint in his mouth, opens the door for them, while behind him in the dimness of the apartment, turbo-folk MUSIC BLARES. He asks them where they've been and tells them they don't know what they've been missing. Taking a step back, he gestures for them to "come on in." He closes the door to the apartment.
INT. APARTMENT – NIGHT
It's pitch black inside the apartment. Only the lights of a disco ball and the tips of lit cigarettes are visible. Milica and Milos hang up their jackets and make their way through the crowd to get drinks and find a place to sit. As they enter from the hallway into the living room, they bump into three of Milos's friends: BANE (20), DJOLE (19), and DEKI (18), wearing white shirts with brand names. The three of them are thrilled to see their "buddy" and each tosses him a "high five." They immediately mention and admire his successes as a YouTube star. They say they'd be bored if Milica and Milos hadn't shown up. They ask Milica and Milos to stay and "chill" with them and have a few drinks, to which they agree.
INT. APARTMENT – NIGHT
Djole adjusts his "fancy" glasses and sees some people getting up from the checkered bed and is pushing his friends to take their place on it. They all sit down and "squeeze" onto the bed. As the disco ball spins, it illuminates parts of paintings by some contemporary artist hanging on the walls. In front of them is a large amount of alcohol on the table (vodka, whiskey half-empty, a pack of beer bottles). Milos grabs a beer bottle from the table, chugs it all down and starts a conversation with his friends. Milos's friends lean "over each other" complimenting Milos's girlfriend.
INT. APARTMENT – NIGHT
Time passes as Milos keeps talking with his friends, drinking who knows which beer in order. Milica, seated at the edge of the bed, twirls her hair, stares at her phone, and adjusts her Polka Dot Tights. As she is getting, she starts tugging at Milos's shirt and calling out his name to get his attention. He casually turns around and gestures for her to wait. Milos stays nonchalant, while Milica, feeling revolted, grabs a bottle of whiskey from the table and starts drinking.
INT. APARTMENT – NIGHT
Milica, already quite drunk, visibly intoxicated, gets up from the bed and joins the crowd. She starts dancing and continues drinking. With loud music playing, the atmosphere heats up as drunken teenagers roam and jump around the apartment. A few of them in the background play Beer Pong and laugh.
INT. APARTMENT – NIGHT
Suddenly, a bottle slips from Milica's hand, shattering on the floor. She clumsily steps on the broken glass with her black heels, making her way through the crowd, and bumps into the dining table pushed into the living room corner. Sitting on the table, she crosses her legs, kicks off her heels, throws them onto the table, and stands up. Undoing the buttons of her dress, she is swaying to the music and starts doing striptease.
INT. APARTMENT – NIGHT
The dancing crowd suddenly stops. They turn towards Milica, the music stops, and the lights come on. Miloš gets up from the bed, and together with his friends, he turns to see what's happening. Milos's friends comment in surprise on Milica's behavior and tell Milos to pay attention and see what she's doing.
He notices the crowd gathered around the dining table. Pushing through the crowd, he sees Milica topless, wearing her underwear and tights.
Everyone laughs, and Milos, acting as if the situation doesn't involve him, takes out his mobile phone and starts recording. Milica removes her red bra and throws it into the rowdy crowd, while some of them splash her with drinks.
At one point, she falls off the table. A guy and two girls from the crowd help Milica up, lifting her and covering her with her dress.
INT. APARTMENT – NIGHT
Milos stops recording, angrily grabs his jacket, and storms out of the apartment without saying goodbye. As he leaves, he spits on the floor upon exiting the apartment and calls his girlfriend a whore.
INT. MILICA'S ROOM - DAY
Morning. The blinds are drawn, allowing only some daylight to filter through. Milica wakes up groggy, partially dressed in polka-dot stockings and topless. She stretches out on her rumpled white bed, her hair tousled, and her makeup smeared on her face. In the corner of the room, a large Winnie the Pooh plush "sits" on the armchair. On the table beside the bed is a pile of makeup and a metal box from which jewelry spills out. Her high heels and black dress are visible on the shaggy gray carpet. Milica grabs her mobile phone to check the time. However, her phone is fileld with a "pile" of notifications, messages, and missed calls related to the video Milos posted on his YouTube channel.
INSERT: messages on the phone in sequence: "Milica, is that you?!", "Your parents must be so proud of you!", "You should start doing porn!"
She opens the video and sees herself almost completely naked, performing a striptease. She notices that the video has also been posted on Instagram, Facebook, and has been shared numerous times. Tearfully, she buries her head in the pillow, gets up from the bed, and starts throwing things around the room.
INT. MILICA'S ROOM – DAY
Milica throws clothes out of her closet and cuts up all her underwear, then a lock of her hair. She throws a metal box full of jewelry onto the mirror, causing it to shatter. Soon, Milica regains her composure, sits on the bed, and starts typing messages with a slight smile on her face. Then, she calls Milos and curses him out when he answers, demanding they meet immediately to discuss the whole situation.
EXT. PARK – NIGHT
Wearing a branded red tracksuit and a pair of Nike's, Milos stands waiting at the park entrance. In the distance, he sees Milica, wearing black leggings, an oversized hoodie and black sneakers, crossing the road towards him. Nervously tapping his foot, he rehearses apology lines (opening his mouth as if preparing to give a speech). Milica approaches him slowly, and without a word, they start walking.
EXT. PARK – NIGHT
As they stroll through the semi-lit park, Milica giggles and texts someone on her phone. Milos watches her bewilderedly, attempting to apologize for his actions. He tells her he loves her, begs for forgiveness, and says he has deleted the video from his channel. He reaches out to her, wanting to hug her. Milica shrugs slightly, listening to his apologies. Milos repeats his words as if on a loop, and as they walk step by step, they reach the park exit. Shortly after, Milica forgives Milos on the condition that he never records her again, to which Milos nods affirmatively. With a goofy smile on his face, he looks at her and repeats that he loves her more than anything in the world.
EXT. PARK – NIGHT
As she fixes her ponytail, Milica tells Milos to turn into a dimly lit street to visit a Chinese store located there to buy some jewelry.
EXT. STREET – NIGHT
Milos and Milica, turn left from the park towards the street where the Chinese shop is located. They arrive at the closed store. Turning around, Milos suggests they go to the newly opened pastry shop in town. Mid-sentence, a black SUV without license plates screeches to a halt in front of them at full speed. As they stand frozen in shock, three masked individuals dressed in black suits jump out of the car and put bags over their heads. Their cries for help are barely audible.
Milos is forcefully thrown into the trunk, while Milica is pushed into the car with kidnappers. The whole event is spotted by a skinny MIDDLE AGED MAN (50) with long blue hair wearing "Windsor" glasses. He unlocks the door of his red car, observes what's happening, and records the entire situation on his mobile phone. As The SUV starts moving, the Man gets into his car, and starts following it.
INT. CAR – NIGHT
He immediately calls the police, informing them of the ongoing abduction and providing video evidence to confirm it. He informs them he's chasing the vehicle and directs the police on his movement.
CROSS CUT:
INT. CAR – NIGHT
The kidnappers yell in the car, threatening Milica and telling her they're taking her somewhere. They scare her with the promise of a wild party tonight while turbo-folk MUSIC BLARES on the radio. Milica's cries for help barely make it through, and there's no sound from Milos.
EXT. CAR – NIGHT
The SUV stops at the city's outskirts. As Milica and Milos, shocked in silence, are forcibly removed, a red car passes at a safe distance. One of the kidnappers unlocks the padlock on the door of an abandoned hangar with a sign reading STOKOIMPEKS (former meat food factory with a "bull" logo) and they all enter the building.
INT. HANGAR - NIGHT
They open the doors, pass by several torn sacks, and reach the central area where one chair and a stand with a camera are located amidst scattered sand. One of the kidnappers ties Milos to the chair, another approaches the camera and switches it on, while the third holds Milica behind the lit camera. They start verbally harrasing him.
The kidnapper who tied up Milos turns around and retrieves a machete from a metal box laying in the sand. He begins to touch Milos with it all over his body. They threaten to rape his girlfriend and then decapitate him. Milos finally speaks, screaming in fear, asking what is happening and where Milica is.
Milica screams and begs the "kidnappers" to stop torturing him. She shouts that they've gone too far and that it's been enough, she rushes in front of the camera, throws herself at Milos, and removes the bag from his head.
With eyes wide open, Milos stares at the "kidnappers" who take off their masks, and he, with his mouth agape, stares at his friends Bane, Djole, and Deki, still not comprehending what's happening. They tell him to relax in unison, laughing, and telling him he's been "pranked". Milos is furious and threatens that he'll kill them all and tries to get up from the chair to which he's tied. They all surround him, trying to calm him down, realizing they've gone too far. He struggles harder and falls to the floor along with the chair.
SIRENS WAIL as a police patrol arrives. Heavily armed policemen arrive at the "crime scene" and storm into the abandoned hangar. They arrest everyone as the alternating cries of Milica and Milos echo, both proclaiming themselves victims. The camera continues to record everything.
CROSS CUT:
INSERT: Desktop computer - live streaming of the arrest in the hangar on YouTube from an unknown channel.
CROSS CUT:
INT. APARTMENT - NIGHT
There is a desktop computer on the desk from which the live broadcast of the kidnapping is being streamed on YouTube from an unknown channel.
INSERT: Desktop computer - the video ends. It has over a million views, 50,000 likes, and is the top trending video, with an UKNOWN USER (cursor) also leaving a like on the video.
