BEYOND - The script

BEYOND - Script

1. EXT. THE WOODS – DAY 

A WOMAN, whose face remains unshown, finds herself in the middle of the woods, barefoot and wearing ripped jeans and an old white shirt. 

She is surrounded by trees and a baleful atmosphere. Unconsciously, she starts walking down the dirt path with doubtful steps until she reaches a slow but continuous pace. 

The trees that completely surround the path move due to the soft wind. The woman’s unbuttoned shirt also moves slightly, imitating the branches as a consequence of the blowing wind coming from an unclear direction. 

The woman keeps walking without hesitation through the dirt of the path but stops when she hears her name being softly called, almost like A WHISPER. She suddenly stops walking and turns towards the direction of the noise –  towards the trees. The woman sees nothing out of the ordinary as she keeps turning on her place. Her breathing intensifies and gets louder in the empty woods, but she resumes her walk after seeing that there is nothing out there. 

The woman looks up to see thousands of branches intertwining and blocking her view of the clear sky. All of a sudden, her attention is directed to the subtle movement at her left. Out of nowhere, the woman sees a RED TOY TRUCK lying by the roots of a tree, covered with dirt and surrounded by leaves. The woman looks down at it from her position but directs her attention to her surroundings to see if there is anything else out of place. When she turns back to the red toy, she is SHOCKED to see it is nowhere to be found. 

She inhales loudly. Her chest goes up and down, trying to remain calm as nervousness starts creeping up her body. Her hands tremble more and more with each passing second and her breathing becomes louder with it. 

A HIGH PITCH SOUND wraps her ears which silences her anxious breaths. She screams, but there is no noise coming out. She can’t hear herself, only the noise that keeps ringing in her ears. 

After a moment, the sound stops abruptly. The woman softly gasps as she is able to hear herself again, as well as the natural sounds coming from the heart of the forest. She reinstates her posture and exhales once again before getting back on the path.

Her first steps are hesitant but she quickly recovers herself and follows the path pointed out indirectly by the trees. Her breathing is now constant, her walk synchronized to its pace, and every muscle in her body more relaxed than moments before. Something about the tranquility around her has that effect in spite of the supernatural incident moments earlier. 

She keeps walking through the path of dirt, paying attention to every sound, and finds herself walking by an OLD BROKEN MIRROR. The broken pieces slightly covered with dirt reflect her body, avoiding her face as she walks by. 

Once again, she stops when she notices a big piece of paper covered by dirt. The woman uses her bare foot to scatter what covers the big paper lying on the ground, until it is clear to see what it is: A MAP of the world with red lines and circles all over it.

For an instant the woman just observes what is by her grubby feet. She looks down to it for a few moments before walking over it, stepping on the map and leaving it behind. She decides that her goal is to see what is at the end of the path, so she holds her chin up and walks bravely. 

Determined, she walks holding her ground but suddenly jumps when a LOUD SCREAM echoes through the woods. As a consequence, she hears the sound of birds flying away but does not react like the first time. 

Her first reaction is to panic. She gets tense when she hears the loud noise echoing between the trees, but quickly regains composure and decidedly ignores her growing fears of what could be out there – just to get to the bottom of her curiosity.  

Her goal now is to see what is at the end of the path, now more than ever, so she quickly resumes her walking even though she is still eying the trees to her right. 

When she looks straight forward, she notices something white hanging from one of the trees at her left. As she gets closer, she differentiates A WHITE DRESS gracefully hanging from one of the branches. She thinks it is beautiful and walks hesitant towards the piece of clothing, surprised to have found it in the middle of the woods. The woman remains enchanted by the beauty of the dress as she reaches with her left hand for the soft material. She touches it briefly – her dirty hand contrasting with the pure white colour of the dress. But she does not stay long as the curiosity of knowing what is out there consumes her. She leaves the dress behind without looking back and finally reaching the end of the path. 

Once she finds herself at the end, where two different paths are to choose, she is worried and does not know what to do. There is no hint of what she should do for a few moments, until the voices start rising again. What was once an only whisper were now hundreds of voices, mixed and interlaced noises that disoriented and confused the woman. Her trembling hands and irregular breathing increment as the noise in her head gets louder. She knows there is nothing else to do but to choose. 

So she closes her eyes and a single tear escapes and runs down her cheek, staining it as it falls. 

CUT TO BLACK:

There is silence for a few seconds until the HEART MONITOR goes back to life, showing the constant beat of the woman’s heart. 

Showing that she is alive.