Is It Just a Bonfire

8/9/2019 Is It Just a Bonfire

1/10

OVER BLACK

SUPER: “BIRTH”

EXT. CITY SIDEWALK - DAWN

A littered street shows a busy city gone empty. A man islimping toward us--

OTTO LACY(28), is a theatrical chain smoking nut case. A tiedye T-shirt with blazer-kind of fellow. Keyword: Incongruous.

OTTO LACY (V.O.)So, my name is Otto Lacy, and somepeople think I’m insane. I know,crazy would’ve rhymed, but I like

to portray myself as a patternlessperson. They ask me “Are you onsomething?” I say “No, I’m justhigh on life. That, and the allergyprescription for my own brain.”

Otto presses “SEND” on his phone. He limps on towards us--

OTTO LACY (V.O.)Crazy or not though, I might be afucking idiot. Not just cause Ilook like someone threw me and aclothes donation box into a wind

tunnel, but because I just postedthe rules to my life on theinternet, expecting people to care.

--and past us.

OTTO LACY (V.O.)These rules are limiting. Noisecancelling. I see them as my ownprison bars, about yay inches thickand written out of what I hope issteel solid will power rather than

flimsy desperation. I won’t be freeuntil I figure out why there’s areason to be free.

EXT. ICE CREAM STAND - MORNING

Otto stares blankly ahead, dual wielding a smoke and a frostycone next to the stand. The owner CRANKS out its awning.

OTTO LACY (V.O.)So, I’m a strange man longing for astrange journey. But I can’t goalone.

(MORE)


2/10

A strange captain needs an odd master gunner and some weird powder monkeys.

With the awning out, the owner stares forward, like Otto.

OTTO LACY (V.O.)Fellow outcasts of society... Bychoice of course, it woulddefinitely be a choice. Failingthat, if the turnout isn’t what Ihoped it would be, no worries.

EXT. PLAYGROUND - DAY

Otto swings and smokes. Kids play around him.

OTTO LACY (V.O.)I’ll just kill myself. I’m notbeing overdramatic. I willliterally blow my fucking brainsout. Repaint 39 Anderson Street ina nice shade of romantic velvet.

Otto stops swinging and takes a long, SIZZLING drag.

OTTO LACY (V.O.)(Blowy exhale)

The gun is cocked and ready on myliving room table, next to the

remote for my 50 inch window ofdistraction and a piece of papersaying “Fuck it, I tried.” Laziestsuicide note ever?--

EXT. PARK - DAY

Otto squats in a park, feeding bread crumbs to some ducks.

OTTO LACY (V.O.)--Sure. But I’m tired of trying to

put together this life shit all by myself. It’s hard.

One of the ducks nip his hand, Otto gestures “What the fuck?”at it, THROWING crumbs everywhere to the ducks’ delight.

We turn from Otto and the green park to a DIRTY STREET--

OTTO LACY (V.O.)I’ll just do what Renee does whenshe gets bored with those tenthousand piece jigsaw puzzles shepersistently fails at.

--Settling on a DUMPSTER.

2.

OTTO LACY (V.O.) (CONT'D)


3/10

OTTO LACY (V.O.)Chuck that shit.

RENEE(28), Long blonde hair, runs on screen and HURLS apuzzle box saying “10 000 PIECES” into the dumpster.

INT. EMPTY BAR - DAY

Otto walks up to the female BARTENDER(20). He points at abottle of whiskey behind her.

OTTO LACYCould I get some of the, um...Fermented grain juice, please?

She turns to see what he’s pointing at.

BARTENDEROh, the blended whiskey?

OTTO LACYYes please.

She grabs the bottle and a glass.

BARTENDERA glass? Neat?

OTTO LACYYes please.

She pours Otto a glass of blended whiskey.

BARTENDERSeven dollars, ten cents, please.

OTTO LACYThank you.

The bartender ducks behind the bar. Otto leaves a 20 DOLLARBILL on the counter.

He grabs the glass and limps away. We follow.

OTTO LACY (CONT’D)(mumbling to himself)

We are all--

The bartender pops back up to notice the big bill.

BARTENDEROh! Thanks!

OTTO LACYYou’re welcome!

3.


4/10

OTTO LACY (CONT’D)(mumbling to himself)

--Fragmented robot parrots.

Otto sits down by a corner table with his whiskey. He looksat his WATCH. It STOPS. He sets it back to 4 PM.

He takes a big gulp of scotch and closes his eyes.

FREEZE FRAME

OTTO LACY (V.O.)I joined the forum seventeen monthsago. Ever since, my brain’s beenrewired. For better or for worse,I’ve woken up. In finding this massive new outlook on life, I’vegrown frustrated, and now, the only

thing making me sad is not knowinghow to get happy.

Otto’s face comes back to life and he takes another drink ofhis whiskey. He looks straight up into the ceiling.

FREEZE FRAME

OTTO LACY (V.O.)I know I’m not alone in tastingthis bitter irony, and I want tofind out why we don’t like theflavour. So I’m setting up this

social experiment to explore why we’re in this mess in the firstplace. My name is Otto Lacy andnow... I’m writing with conviction.I invite you to do the same. Willyou join me?

Otto downs the rest of the whiskey.

EXT. MISTY FIELD AND FOREST - DAWN

Feint guitar chords gently cut through a thick misty morningon a field with a forest at the far end. They belong to--

EXT. MISTY EDGE OF FOREST - CONTINUOUS

ELLIOT BOWMAN(24), strumming from a rock. Elliot thinks alot. He wears blue jeans and plaid shirts, because they’reunassuming and comfortable.

BENJI HEPBURN(24), wears his black polo shirt because it’sassuming and uncomfortable. The struggling artist swings a wet paintbrush at a canvas. Most of the yellow paint misses.

A SPLAT of paint hits Elliot’s guitar. He stops playing.

4.


5/10

OTTO LACY (V.O.) (ECHO)Will you join me, Elliot Bowman?

ELLIOT BOWMANI just don’t like the rules, youknow?

Benji tilts his head at his canvas. He RIPS up some dewygrass from the ground and JAMS it into the brush bristles.

OTTO LACY (V.O.) (ECHO)Will you join me, Benji Hepburn?

BENJI HEPBURN(mumbling to himself)

What am I doing?

ELLIOT BOWMAN

We’ve got it pretty figured outalready haven’t we? I mean, we’reon the right track at least. Benji?

BENJI HEPBURNI don’t know man...

ELLIOT BOWMANWhat, how is signing a paper saying“do this”, “do that”, gonna help usto discover anything? We don’t wantto limit ourselves.

Benji sighs and starts painting small circles. He constantlyinspects all corners of his work, fully engrossed.

BENJI HEPBURNNah man, nah, nah, nah, nah. It’snot about discovering shit... Or well... Of course it is, but wedon’t know WHAT the fuck we’redoing. I won’t say we’re nottrying, but EVERYONE tries ALL THETIME, and they all just fucking die wishing they’d quit their jobs or

gotten laid more.

OTTO LACY (V.O.) (ECHO)Will you join me, Kimberly Royce?

KIMBERLY ROYCE(24), sits on another rock. Her hands are fullyoccupied by a lit spliff and an extravagant milkshake. Kimgenerally doesn’t mind.

She takes a drag and holds the spliff up for grabs.

KIMBERLY ROYCEFucking cool facade though!

5.


6/10

BENJI HEPBURNThat’s not enough.

Benji nabs the joint and takes a BIG hit. Kimberly giggles asBenji returns to his canvas.

BENJI HEPBURN (CONT’D)We’re just being weird! It doesn’t mean shit! The closest we’ve cometo enlightenment is sucking thatfucking roach! Not good enough!

ELLIOT BOWMANYou’re saying Otto’s “enlightened”?

Elliot air quotes without letting go of his guitar.

KIMBERLY ROYCE

Otto has a plan, dude.

Benji snaps his fingers and points at Kim in appreciation.

BENJI HEPBURNExactly, Kim-baby. Otto doesn’tknow. But he’s got a solid concept.Hard work. It’s the only way peoplehave accomplished anything. Otto’sjust knows that being your ownbrain’s fucking yes man doesn’t doanyone any favours. There has to besome kind of friction.

ELLIOT BOWMANI think I want to do it. I’m justscared? I mean, if it doesn’t work.

Elliot tunes his guitar.

Kimberly takes a drag from her spliff.

Benji swings his paintbrush once.

BENJI HEPBURN

You know, I fucking love whenthings don’t work.

INT. GARDEN CENTRE - DAY

KENZIE PETIT(26) is crouching down, closely inspecting anORCHID. She’s got high, red eyes and a bewildered look on herface. She’s an aussie hippie.

Behind her, two hairy man-legs are waiting.

KENZIE PETITYep. This is definitely the one.

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7/10

The legs bend down to reveal an equally stoned, blonde, long-haired DUDE, SCOTT CANNON(26), Aussie, same vibe.

SCOTT CANNONWow... It’s absolutely gorgeous.

KENZIE PETITI told you, Scott! It... it justpulls you in, aye?

They turn the plant and inspect it thoroughly before Scott’seyes wander off and get stuck on the wall.

OTTO LACY (V.O.) (ECHO)Will you join me, Scott Cannon?

SCOTT CANNONHey, you know that thing that Otto

said... On the forums.

OTTO LACY (V.O.) (ECHO)Will you join me, Kenzie Petit?

Kenzie turns to Scott waaay too slowly.

KENZIE PETITYeah, I know. I think he’s ontosomething.

SCOTT CANNONHe knows what he’s talking about,

aye? Why do you think he picked us?

KENZIE PETITI don’t know... I’m happy he did.

SCOTT CANNONYeah, makes you feel a bit special.

KENZIE PETITYeah, I just think he knows like...that the meaning of life... Couldbe right...

They turn their faces to the orchid and Kenzie lays hersoftest index finger on the orchid’s petals.

KENZIE PETIT (CONT’D)There.

Scott gives Kenzie a big smiley kiss on the cheek as shestays entranced by the plant.

SCOTT CANNONAll we can do is explore, aye.

KENZIE PETITI fucking love exploring.

7.


8/10

INT. SMALL FORGE - DAY

15 by 15 square feet, cramped with tools, horseshoes, knives,anvils and metal sculptures. Hammers by the dozen, dirtycloths. Only a handful of items not covered in soot.

OTTO LACY (V.O.)Hardwick, I don’t have a clue whoyou are. You have one single post.

One anvil is pulling us in. We end up on top of it.

OTTO LACY (V.O.)Honestly, It’s not even anything Iparticularly resonate with.

A pair of tongs holding a white-hot ring slips onto theanvil.

We SMASH into the top of the anvil.

CUT TO BLACK

FADE IN:

With a TINNITUS ring, we see the hammer being lifted from us,revealing the blacksmith from the ring’s point of view.

OTTO LACY (V.O.)But fuck me if there isn’tsomething. That unexplainable

factor.

We’ve become the ring.

Like a roller coaster ride, we’re being lifted up, just to bethrown straight into a tub of water.

PSCCCHHHHHHHH!!! The boiling bubbles form a curtain,dissipating immediately, revealing--

-- A HAND, growing HUGE as it GRABS us--

-- Out into the air and into a WHITE CLOTH.

We RUFFLE around -- losing all sense of direction, like goingfor a spin in a washing machine.--

--A moment later, we get chucked on a counter with a PENG.

OTTO LACY (V.O.)We’re not even on first name basis,and believe me, I can’t even motivate this... But fuck it!Hardwick, will you join me?

8.


9/10

Away walks COLBY HARDWICK, age 35, fully kitted out inblacksmith’s gear with a body that isn’t letting the imagedown. He rinses his hands off at the far end of the forge.

He comes back and snags us. We get a door in our face as hegrabs the handle to walk outside.

EXT. LAKESIDE - CONTINUOUS

Out in the sun, Colby carries us down to a nearby lake.

He sits down on a chair by the grassy beach, we settle on atilted view of a lake for a second.

CUT TO BLACK

...ATTENUATED DOG WOOFS...

EXT. LAKESIDE - CONTINUOUS

Colby opens his eyes from a blink. Another blink decides we’re him.

He looks around at the nature surrounding him. Stillness.

He holds up his hand in front of our face, inspecting hisnewly made RING on his ring finger.

COLBY HARDWICK

I fucking love making things.

INT. KITCHEN - NIGHT (MUTE)

LUKE FOWLER(35), cynical writer, tall, bald and lanky sits byhis kitchen table, writing a note.

OTTO LACY (V.O.)So if you choose to come, we’ll goto this lake. We won’t give anynotice, we’ll just go. Leave your

jobs, it doesn’t matter. I’ll sendyou a letter in the mail withcoordinates to a meeting point.Don’t leave that behind. Take them with you, or burn them. I recommendburning them, I’m a sucker for that weak symbolic shit.

Luke leaves the table. The note reads--

I’ll be gone for a while.

I won’t be reachable.

All the best, Luke.

9.


10/10

OTTO LACY (V.O.)We’ll stay until we’re done and we’ll write our asses off. I’vehand picked people for this. People with different perspectives.

EXT. BACK GARDEN - DAY (MUTE)

Kenzie trims a bush in her luscious garden.

OTTO LACY (V.O.)Different opinions, but all withconviction and a burning fuckingdesire to figure it out.

EXT. TREE - EVENING

Elliot sits in a tree, looking out over a field.

OTTO LACY (V.O.)Some of us are observers, some ofus are artists, a few seekadventure. I know that I haven’t misjudged you. I know that we cando this. I know that we can find--

CUT TO:

INT. OTTO’S LIVING ROOM - NIGHT

Otto is on his couch, staring at his laptop.

OTTO LACY (V.O.)But then again...

He closes the lid, revealing a revolver and six bulletsbehind it.

Otto grabs the gun and loads three bullets.

OTTO LACY(while loading)

I invited eighteen people... Nineare coming, the other half aren’t.Three bullets, three blanks.

He spins the chamber and puts the gun back on the table.

He takes a deep breath and SETS HIS WATCH BACK.

Otto turns his head up and looks straight at us, deadpan.

He closes his eyes.

Otto puts the gun to his temple. Pulls the trigger -- CLICK.

10.

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Is It Just a Bonfire