WHITE RABBITS AND AMAZONS ON THE JURASSIC COAST
Written by
Michael Sones [email protected]
+4407951666384
FADE IN:
TITLE CARD: WONDERLAND: OR DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE
“Begin at the beginning,” said the King gravely, “and go on till
you come to the end; then stop.”
— Lewis Carroll, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
The Jurassic Coast runs ninety-three miles along England's
south shore, from Exmouth in Devon to Studland Bay in Dorset.
It carries 185 million years of history in its cliffs. In the
18th and 19th centuries, these coves sheltered smugglers
hauling lace, wine, tea, and spirits. Today, the routes
remain—but the cargo is deadlier, and the smugglers far more
ruthless.
BLACK SCREEN.
ALICE (V.O.)
To me, it's just a fact that the
universe is a black hole of
sadness. And when things change, I
get overwhelmed. I melt down. My
friend Ruth — you'll meet her in a
second — says that's my autism
talking. That things aren't really
like that. She says the left
hemisphere of my brain is in
overdrive, pulling everything
apart. But why do I feel like it
disintegrates the ground I'm
standing on and I fall into a void?
What kind of useless brain does
that?
As she speaks, we FADE UP into a coastal seafront café —
bright, noisy, full of movement.
A LOUD CRASH — plates and cutlery shatter on the tile floor.
ALICE (V.O.)
Yeah. That’s me. Dyspraxia rides
again. Broken the fucking universe.
Genres:
["Drama","Mystery"]
Ratings
Scene
2 -
Fragments of the Past
INT. SEAFRONT CAFE – DAY
SUPER: BOURNEMOUTH, UK.
ALICE (18), a beautiful girl with long blonde hair in a
ponytail tucked through the back of her cap, is frantically
gathering broken crockery.
RUTH (18), her plump best friend, shorter, with dark curly
hair, stands nearby. Both girls wear T-shirts with the
following on the front: "BCP SCHOOL FOR GIRLS – SIXTH FORM
SURVIVORS '25".
On the back: WHITE RABBITS ON THE JURASSIC COAST. Ruth laughs
helplessly — and then bends to help Alice clean up the mess.
ALICE (V.O.)
That's me - the gorgeous one on the
floor. I love Ruth. She says she
loves me, too. Not in the way I
want, but hey, you can't have
everything. Honestly? I think it's
mean how she laughs when I mess up.
She says she's not being mean...
She says I look like Botticelli's
Venus. I kinda hoped she would
worship me, too. But anyway.
Unrequited love and all that. Not
to diverge too much from this very
weird story — This is the moment we
met Kat. And the craziest, jumbled
memory summer of my life began. If
you were expecting some sweet
summer gay rom-com... well, you
might wanna leave now. But for
those who stay, here’s Kat.
KAT FERRERS (30ish), with short-cropped red hair and sleeve
tattoos covering her muscular arms, has an Amazon warrior's
coiled presence. She sits at a table eating a full English
breakfast. A laptop is open beside her, and occasionally she
taps the keys.
Kat watches Alice and Ruth with a smile warming her face as
she scopes their T-shirts.
KAT FERRERS
Hey, girls. Just a second. Love the
shirts. BCP survivors?
Ruth and Alice approach Kat. They notice her laptop screen
monitor.
ON MONITOR
Across the top of the screen:
EXQUISITE ORNAMENTAL GARDEN DISPLAYS
Below that:
TRUSTMARK TRUE RATINGS
4.8 STARS 3000 reviews
Beneath this: a glorious peacock with a chessboard across its
tail.
BACK TO SCENE
Kat is playing an online game.
KAT FERRERS
Bosley still teaching Classics?
ALICE
Yeah, you a former BCP escapee,
too?
KAT FERRERS
Fair few years ago. Give him his
dues, Old Bos was a good teacher.
(laughs)
Used to call him “Mr Wandering
Eyes.”
Alice and Ruth laugh knowingly.
RUTH
He retired at the end of this year.
ALICE
Amazingly, he managed to get
through without any safeguarding
referrals or breach of trust
charges. Oh, manners. I'm Alice.
This is Ruth.
KAT FERRERS
Kat... You know... bragging a bit
here but Bos loved my EPQ on the
Amazons.
RUTH
So romantic - the story about
Achilles and Penthesilea is just so
great.
ALICE
What are you talking about?
KAT FERRERS
Achilles killed Penthesilea. They
stared into each other's eyes and
fell in love - at the moment of
death - too late.
ALICE
So great?... He kills her. Classic
heteronormativity. Boy meets girl.
End of girl. Huh! I think love is
always too late.
Kat looks at Alice with eyebrows raised.
KAT FERRERS
No secret that Cupid's arrow has
sure stung you. What was your EPQ?
ALICE
I'm neurodiverse. Change freaks me
out. I wrote about Ovid's
Metamorphoses. I thought, weirdly,
that writing about all those
changes might help me cope. I
nearly had a 100% breakdown.
RUTH
(laughs)
We thought she’d have to be
committed.
ALICE
Okay, enough.
KAT FERRERS
That's rough... What's that on the
back of your tees?
Alice holds up her finger to her mouth, wanting to shush
Ruth, who ignores her.
RUTH
Just a club. Alice's dad is a maths
professor. Says he is the great,
great something of Lewis Carroll.
That's why her parents called her
Alice.
KAT FERRERS
Wow! That’s interesting. Alice in
Wonderland. Now I get White
Rabbits.
ALICE
Don’t mind Ruth. She can’t help
being a cow sometimes. Probably
genetic.
RUTH
Moooo. Whatever. We'd better get
back to work. Great tattoos. Alice
has got one.
Ruth looks away, out to sea, guilt crossing her face in
waves.
Alice smiles.
KAT FERRERS
What’s your tat?
Alice shakes her head and smiles.
RUTH
She's good at smiling. Hiding
behind the mask.
ALICE
I've learned to smile until I
nearly disappear. Fucking
exhausting.
RUTH
You old Cheshire cat, you. What you
doing now?
ALICE
Why can't you fuck off sometimes,
see you next Tuesday? Sorry, not
you, Kat. Nice to meet you.
RUTH
Better get back to work. Nice to
meet you.
Kat watches them walk away.
IMAGE IN KAT'S MIND - FLASH OF MEMORY
Kat, 16, in a BCP sweatshirt, waits outside the school gates.
Her younger sister, Becky (12), also in BCP, bursts out,
beaming. They link arms and walk off together.
BACK TO SCENE
She glances at her Ruth and Alice again, blinks and rubs her
eye. She turns to the laptop screen. Then quickly away,
staring out to sea and the waves rolling in on the beach.
Genres:
["Drama","Coming-of-age","Romance"]
Ratings
Scene
3 -
Whispers of Danger at Studland Beach
EXT. STUDLAND BEACH - EVENING
Four golden miles of sand stretch between the white chalk
stacks of OLD HARRY ROCKS — named after a local 15th-century
pirate — and the distant curve of Poole Harbour.
The tide is low. Rock pools shimmer at the foot of the
cliffs, dark mirrors in the falling light. Gulls SCREECH and
glide on the breeze.
Ruth and Alice walk along the sand approaching the rock
pools. They stop to look out across Poole Bay at the
twinkling lights of Bournemouth.
ALICE
Bit spooky here.
(shivering)
Imagine running into the ghost of
Old Harry, coming back for his
buried treasure?
RUTH
Careful. You'll work yourself up in
a minute and be running around like
a headless rabbit screaming, "I'm
late, I'm late."
ALICE
Hilarious. Not. Better be careful,
yourself. One day you might tell a
proper funny joke and laugh
yourself to death. Anyway, your
joke is biologically illiterate. A
headless rabbit couldn't scream.
And Old Harry never would have
buried his treasure here - so close
to Poole.
EXT. STUDLAND BEACH CAR PARK - EVENING
Kat Ferrers stands with three men, DEAN, KEV, and JAY, all in
their early thirties, wearing jogging bottoms and hoodies,
looking down at the beach.
Through NIGHT-VISION BINOCULARS, Kat tracks Alice and Ruth,
tiny on the sand.
Kat lowers the binoculars. In her other hand, her phone. A
tracker app blinks.
KAT FERRERS
Shit. I know those girls. Turn
around.
Standing behind Kat, Kev reaches inside his hoodie pocket and
then wipes his nose, shifting from one foot to the other.
KEV
(sniffing)
Tough shit. They’re fucked if they
find one of the lifejackets.
Kat turns and looks at him coldly.
KAT FERRERS
You better not be.
Genres:
["Drama","Mystery","Thriller"]
Ratings
Scene
4 -
Tension on the Beach
EXT. STUDLAND BEACH - EVENING
As they carefully scramble among the rock pools, Alice spots
something orange, partially buried in the tidal sand, up
against a rock. She goes over to it and, scraping the sand
off, pulls it out.
ALICE
A lifejacket. What's it doing here?
RUTH
At least there is no body still in
it.
ALICE
I would be screaming and running
around.
RUTH
All kinds of things emerge from the
sea. Don't they, Venus?
ALICE
Hah! Hah! Not.
RUTH
Let me see it.
Ruth takes it from Alice and starts examining it.
RUTH (CONT’D)
Look, it's torn, must've been
gashed by the rocks.
She puts her hand into the gash and pulls out a plastic
package. Her eyes widen.
RUTH (CONT’D)
Fuck. Let's get out of here.
ALICE
Why?
RUTH
It's drugs. We'd better take this
to the police.
ALICE
You're scaring me. You think
they're around?
RUTH
Don't know, but let's get the hell
back to the car.
ALICE
Can't we just leave it?
RUTH
No, what if some little kids found
it?
ALICE
Didn't think of that.
Alice’s phone PINGS. She pulls it out of her pocket.
ALICE (CONT’D)
It’s my mum. Let me just text her.
RUTH
We haven’t time. We’ve got to get
going.
Alice ignores her. She types into her phone. Ruth shuffles
her feet impatiently.
RUTH (CONT’D)
Alice, for fuck’s sake.
ALICE
It’s mum. She’ll worry if I don’t
answer.
ON ALICE’S PHONE
At Studland Beach with Ruth. Leaving soon. Love Alice. Xxx
BACK TO SCENE
Her phone PINGS
ALICE’S PHONE
It’s getting dark. Please hurry home. Love Mum xxx
BACK TO SCENE
Ruth carries the lifejacket. Alice walks close beside her,
one arm nervously hooked through Ruth's. They head down the
beach toward one of the narrow paths winding up through the
dunes — a rough track cut through scrub and heather, leading
back to the car park.
As they turn up the path, they see Kat walking towards them,
three men trailing slightly behind. She’s looking at her
phone, and they can hear the PING! PING! Then, suddenly, from
the lifejacket comes a corresponding PING!
KAT FERRERS
Hi, girls. What you got there? Oh,
you've found one of my lifejackets.
I’d like it back, please.
ALICE
One of your lifejackets? What do
you mean?
KAT FERRERS
Alice, far too many questions. Just
give it to me, turn around, and
walk away down the beach.
The three men walk around Kat and stand behind the girls.
Alice’s jaw begins to tighten, and her eyes widen in fear.
ALICE
What’s going on? We just went for a
walk on the beach and found this
lifejacket.
DEAN
Ah, good. Lavinia will be pleased,
Kat.
KEV
(sniffs)
What we going to do with these two?
(laughs)
I can think of something.
ALICE
Fucking mysogynistic moron. Oh,
sorry, you probably don’t know what
mysogynistic means.
(MORE)
ALICE (CONT’D)
We don't know anything. We won't
say a word about the drugs to the
police.
RUTH
Oh,... Alice.
DEAN
Better take them to Lavinia and let
her decide.
Kev steps forward and tightly grabs an arm of each girl,
roughly pulling them along.
ALICE
Take your fucking hands off us.
KEV
You’re coming with us now. You
scream, I knock out your teeth.
KAT FERRERS
Stand down, Kev. They’re civilians.
Just school kids. Lavinia’s not
going to like you bringing them to
her.
Kev lets go of Alice and Ruth, who quickly scurry behind Kat.
KEV
You're not our
(sniffs)
c.o., Kat. We take orders from
Lavinia. We’ll let her decide what
to do. I'll take the girls with me.
Kat turns around and steps back a few feet, placing herself
between the men and the girls. Her hands are down by her
side.
KAT FERRERS
Shit. This is causing me a problem.
You’ve got the smarts of a dead
pigeon - just named your bloody
boss. Post code next? ... Ruth,
give me the lifejacket and start
backing down the path, girls. Now!
Ruth hurriedly thrusts the lifejacket into Kat's outstretched
hand.
Kev reaches into the pocket of his hoodie. Kat raises her
right hand - a small pistol with a suppressor.
The soft pop of a suppressed shot. A small hole appears in
the middle of Kev's forehead. He slumps silently into the
sand.
Dean and Jay quickly raise their hands.
RUTH
Jesus Christ. You shot him. You've
got a gun.
Alice stares at his body, wide-eyed, then starts to
hyperventilate.
KAT FERRERS
Pieces on the ground, ever so very
carefully, lads.
The two thugs remove their weapons from the pockets of their
hoodies and place them on the ground.
KAT FERRERS (CONT’D)
Ruth, get their guns.
Ruth bends down and scoops them up, barely able to hold them;
she is trembling so much.
JAY
Lavinia's going to be really pissed
off with you, Kat.
KAT FERRERS
I don’t give a rat’s arse. He was
using on an op. Give her this.
She throws the lifejacket at the thug, who catches it.
KAT FERRERS (CONT’D)
Now, walk down the beach and keep
walking. Don't turn around for
fifteen minutes. Or you'll be
breathing sand, too.
The thugs start walking.
KAT FERRERS (CONT’D)
Quick, let's go.
She takes the guns from Ruth, stuffs them in her waistband.
KAT FERRERS (CONT’D)
Now. Your phones.
The girls pull out their phones.
KAT FERRERS (CONT’D)
Tide’s coming in. Toss them into
the sea.
ALICE
What? Why?
KAT FERRERS
You heard me. Quickly. Into the
sea. We don't have long before the
police are all over this beach.
Alice looks at the phone in her hand. Makes to throw it but
doesn’t let go. Ruth’s splashes into the incoming waves. She
turns to look at Alice, who then follows suit with her phone.
Kat starts up the path, followed by Ruth, who pulls along a
panicky Alice.
EXT. CAR PARK - EVENING
Up in the car park, Kat approaches a Graphite Grey Skoda
Octavia vRS. In the nearly empty car park, a few spaces away,
is a Ford Fiesta.
KAT FERRERS
Get in.
ALICE
(through panicky breaths)
What about my car?
Genres:
["Thriller","Drama","Crime"]
Ratings
Scene
5 -
Into the Unknown
INT. KAT'S CAR - CONTINUOUS
Both girls climb into the back seat. Kat gets behind the
wheel and takes a deep breath. She takes the clips out and
tosses the guns on the seat beside her.
KAT FERRERS
Seatbelts. You don't have a car
anymore.
Alice turns her head, tears in her eyes, and glances back at
her car as they exit the car park.
ALICE
Or a phone.
RUTH
Where you taking us?
KAT FERRERS
You’re breathing ‘cause of me.
Lavinia gets her hands on you...
won’t even make a mortuary slab.
RUTH
You killed a man. Take us to the
police.
Kat's fingers tighten on the steering wheel.
ALICE
She'll go to jail. She killed him
because of us. It's our fault.
KAT FERRERS
You sure you're an A-level student?
There must be some brain cells
knocking about in there...
somewhere. I slotted him because he
had the I.Q. of a house brick, and
he was pulling out his piece.
RUTH
I still say take us to the police.
KAT FERRERS
Let me spell it out for you, bright
grammar school girls. You went for
a little recce on the beach. You
found a washed-up lifejacket packed
with fentanyl. I popped Kev so
you’d keep you breathing. Go to the
police. Not going to keep you or
your families safe. The moment you
walked along the beach and picked
up that lifejacket, it's like....
(laughs)
You followed a white rabbit and
tumbled down a hole. Alice...
Welcome to Criminalland.
ALICE
You been taking lessons in comedy
from my Dad? He fancies himself as
a stand-up, too.
Kat laughs.
KAT FERRERS
Somewhere in there, Alice, you've
got balls. Witnessed a dusting.
(MORE)
KAT FERRERS (CONT’D)
Kidnapped by someone who might be a
lunatic. And now you’re in a whole
new universe.
Alice’s face convulses.
ALICE
Oh. My. God. I couldn’t cope with
the last one.
Ruth grips Alice’s hand and squeezes it.
INT. KAT'S CAR - LATER
The car turns off the main road and onto a small side road
with a sign: SCYTHIAN RISE. Beneath that, another sign:
PRIVATE - NO TRESPASSING.
Genres:
["Thriller","Crime","Drama"]
Ratings
Scene
6 -
Arrival at Scythian Rise
EXT. SCYTHIAN RISE - NIGHT
The lane travels about a hundred yards. Dotted on its hedge-
lined borders are small statues with classical motifs - often
of satyrs and nymphs. They stop before a wrought-iron gate
with CCTV discreetly mounted on the pillars. Kat checks her
phone.
KAT FERRERS
Clear.
Presses some buttons, the gate opens, and she drives into the
courtyard.
A complex of farm buildings, a house, a Purbeck stone cottage
with a slate roof, a barn and several small outbuildings.
Parked up against the barn is a large telehandler, a cross
between a forklift and a crane. Chickens in a coop cluck and
geese squawk as they drive in.
Twinkling lights from a village down the hill and several
miles away can be seen in the distance.
They exit the car.
EXT. SCYTHIAN RISE - CONTINUOUS
Ruth points at the lights.
RUTH
Where's that?
KAT FERRERS
Corfe Castle. Try stumbling there
in the dark. You'll fall into a
quarry and bust a leg.
RUTH
Wasn't going to stumble anywhere.
Just asking.
ALICE
Who, what are you? You sell
statues. What are you going to do
with us? Are you a lunatic?
KAT FERRERS
Not a scooby. Got some mental admin
to do. But before you start
panicking and hyperventilating, I
wouldn't have saved you from
Lavinia just to kill you myself.
Disposing of your bodies would be
too much paperwork.
ALICE
You said you might be a lunatic.
We've got a right to know.
KAT FERRERS
I forgot. You take things
literally. Figure of speech. C'mon.
Genres:
["Thriller","Drama"]
Ratings
Scene
7 -
Under the Stars and Shadows
EXT. THE COURTYARD OF SCYTHIAN RISE - NIGHT
The clear sky is awash with the Milky Way stretching as far
as the eye can see. All three stare up at it.
KAT FERRERS
Fantastic. The Ojibwe Indians of
Ontario call it the Jiibay Miikana,
the Spirit Road.
RUTH
How do you know that?
KAT FERRERS
The Greeks called it the Milky
Circle - the milk spurting from
Hera's breast.
ALICE
A mine of mythology.
KAT FERRERS (V.O.)
At the moment, you are missing -
your parents will have called the
police. Your car is at Studland car
park. There is a dead body on the
beach. It will be presumed you have
been taken. Dorset police will be
going apeshit.
INTERCUT WITH:
EXT. STUDLAND BEACH – NIGHT
Blue strobes flash over the surf. Police photographers work
under floodlights. A sheet-covered body lies on the sand.
Officers comb the dunes with torches.
EXT. STUDLAND CAR PARK – SAME
A Ford Fiesta sits abandoned. Police tape flaps in the wind.
Detectives confer beside Ruth’s Ford Fiesta.
Genres:
["Drama","Thriller","Mystery"]
Ratings
Scene
8 -
Under Surveillance
EXT. ALICE’S HOUSE – NIGHT
Her parents, distraught, speak to uniformed officers. Her mother
clutches her phone, replaying unanswered calls.
BACK TO SCYTHIAN
RISE
RUTH
My poor parents. My mum's going to
have a heart attack.
Alice begins to cry.
ALICE
Can't we just wander in and say we
got lost? We promise we won't say
anything about you.
KAT FERRERS
Could do. But then they will ask
why you didn't phone? You can tell
them I made you toss your phones
into the sea.
RUTH
Oh.
KAT FERRERS
Well, lots to think about. By the
way, there are infrared motion-
sensitive CCTV cameras all over the
place.
Alice and Ruth follow Kat into the house. Alice pauses at the
doorway to look up at the Milky Way.
ALICE
(to Ruth)
I feel.... So small.
Ruth takes Alice’s hand.
RUTH
Tiny Alice... Tiny Ruth.
Kat leads them to a large farmhouse. There are CCTV cameras
everywhere, tracking them as they approach.
Genres:
["Drama","Thriller","Mystery"]
Ratings
Scene
9 -
Artifacts of Fear
INT. KAT'S HOUSE - CONTINUOUS
The light is switched on.
Blinking, the girls look around.
ALICE
Wow!
In the middle of the wall opposite the entrance is an
ammonite about 3 feet in diameter, surrounded by smaller
ammonites.
On the wall to the left, a large Greek amphora depicts
Achilles killing Penthesilea. Next to it on the wall, a
curved bow, and a framed picture of Kat, on horseback, riding
and firing an arrow.
ALICE (CONT’D)
Hey, that's cool. I took archery at
Guide camp. But on a horse? You an
Indian or something?
Swords and knives were spread across the other wall,
glistening in the spotlights.
A framed photograph of a younger Kat, wearing a white sash-
style uniform, being presented with a trophy by a much older
man, also wearing a flowing white sash uniform. The bronze
plaque on the frame reads: KAT FERRERS, SOUTH COAST WING CHUN
CHAMPION, 2010.
On a workbench is a three-foot-high ornamental peacock made
of glass and brass with various wires attached to it. Alice
and Ruth look at it.
Alice approaches a knife on the wall and reaches out to touch
it.
KAT FERRERS
Careful, razor sharp. You take a
finger off... Can't take you to
A&E. No anesthetics. Have to
cauterize it here. But, hey, no
worries, I’ve done it plenty of
times. You want to guess what the
squaddies used to call me?
ALICE
I don’t care to at this precise
moment.
KAT FERRERS
Blowtorch Kat.
ALICE
Brilliant. Kidnapped by a
pyromaniac. How can this get any
better?
Kat flicks open a lighter and sparks a flame. Alice quickly
snatches back her hand.
Ruth points at the ammonite.
KAT FERRERS
Over sixty million years old.
Brings it home - our transience.
One day, we're chickens. The next
day - feather dusters.
ALICE
God. I hate it when people talk in
cliches. Must be a design flaw in
the universe.
(starts speaking rapidly,
shallow breathing)
We call him Tortoise because he
taught us. Fishes always go with a
porpoise.
Ruth looks at Alice with alarm but she doesn’t slow down.
ALICE (CONT’D)
Why'd you save us? Why'd you kill
that man?
(MORE)
ALICE (CONT’D)
What are you going to do with us?
My parents will be really worried.
And I might not look like it, but
I'm really fucking scared!
Alice starts to cry. Ruth comes over to her, and the two
girls put their arms around each other and both sob.
Kat watches them, her eyes tear up, and she quickly wipes
them away before the girls notice.
RUTH
I'm really scared, too. You shot
that man! I've never seen anyone
dead before, never mind fucking...
ALICE RUTH (CONT’D)
Shot! Shot!
ALICE (CONT’D)
You told us you were a
businesswoman! Not a gangster! Now
you've abducted us!
KAT FERRERS
You're freaked out. I get that.
Let me show you to your room and
then in the morning we’ll chew this
over.
Kat opens a door off the main room.
Genres:
["Thriller","Drama","Mystery"]
Ratings
Scene
10 -
Confinement and Reflection
INT. SMALL BEDROOM - CONTINUOUS
It is a bare, small room with walls of Purbeck stone. A
couple of tiny windows up high let in air. There is a
bunkbed, a small dresser and another door.
Kat points at the other door.
KAT FERRERS
Toilet and shower. There’s no way
out. Windows too small. I’ll lock
the door - for now.
She leaves pulling the door behind her. The key turns loudly
in the lock. Alice and Ruth sit beside each other on the
lower bunk.
ALICE
What do we do now?
RUTH
Parents will be worried sick when
we don’t come home and they find
out about the shooting.
Ruth puts her arms around Alice and both girls start crying.
EXT. BATHROOM OFF KAT FERRER'S BEDROOM - NIGHT
Kat stares into the mirror. Shakes her head, rueful.
KAT FERRERS
What the fuck are you doing? Kev
was a dickhead. Lavinia would've
sliced these two to ribbons and
used them for fish bait. But now
what — Kat's army of White Rabbits?
She raises her arm, elbow bent, finger cocked like a gun.
Points at her own reflection.
Bang.
Recoil.
Bang.
Genres:
["Thriller","Drama"]
Ratings
Scene
11 -
A Game of Power and Consequences
EXT. THE VITALE FAMILY HOME IN BRANKSOME WOOD - DAY
The Vitale mansion is set in extensive, gated grounds in
Branksome Woods, a wealthy, forested area of the Bournemouth-
Poole conurbation.
A crescent driveway curves gently from the road, sweeping
past the front entrance before rejoining the street.
Several sports cars are parked near the house.
To the rear of the house is a large, elaborate ornamental
garden featuring various statues of Greek and Roman figures,
ornamental peacocks, and several real peacocks with
elaborate, fan-tailed displays wandering about.
INT. THE VITALE FAMILY HOME IN BRANKSOME WOOD - CONFERENCE
ROOM - DAY
A mid-size, functional room with neutral walls and soft
overhead lighting. A polished wood table anchors the space,
long enough to seat ten, with five chairs per side, with one
at the end.
One wall features a whiteboard and a mounted flat-screen
monitor, while the other holds a set of tall windows
partially covered by vertical blinds.
LAVINIA VITALE (55), tall, with cropped blonde hair,
manicured fingernails, and wearing a smart business suit,
sits at the head of the table. A locket hangs around her neck
which she strokes intermittently. A chessboard sits on the
table slightly off to one side of her.
Occasionally, she looks out to the rear garden, a slight
smile across her lips whenever she spots a peacock or peahen
entering an illuminated patch of the garden.
Jay and Dean sit at the table. ROBERT GRIMALDI, ERNIE CATADA,
and LEO MANFRED (all in their thirties) file in one after the
other and coil around the table like a three-headed snake.
Their tailored suits belie the air of predation conveyed by
their scarred faces, broken noses and watchful eyes. Manfred
carries a book: The Mad Ones: Crazy Joe Gallo and the
Revolution at the Edge of the Underworld.
Lavinia spots the title.
LAVINIA
What you reading that for, Leo?
Trying to get cultured? No Brit
gangsters worth readying about?
Manfred purses his lips.
MANFRED
Krays? Classless. At least Gallo
had some buzz.
LAVINIA
So what went wrong?
MANFRED
He got shot.
LAVINIA
No, I meant with the op.
JAY
Ferrers shot Kev.
LAVINIA
You mean she just pulled out her
piece and shot him?
DEAN
No, Kev wanted to bring the two
girls to you.
(MORE)
DEAN (CONT’D)
Ferrers seemed to know them. Kev
reached and then he was dead.
JAY
Ferrers said he was using.
LAVINIA
On an op? Fucking twat cokehead.
Turn around in her chair to look out the window and shakes
her head ruefully.
LAVINIA (CONT’D)
What would I have wanted with two
teenage girls? We would’ve had to
get rid of them. You know what kind
of heat that would bring? Why
didn’t you just let them go down
the beach? So what if they went to
the cops?
DEAN
Kev mentioned your name.
Lavinia shakes her head in disbelief.
LAVINIA
How stupid do you have to be to
fuck up something this simple?
Lifejackets washed overboard. Find
them using the trackers. Bring them
back. I didn’t want two fucking
teenage girls brought back with
them.
She sits for a moment, takes a few puffs on a vape. Looks at
the cloud which forms and disappears. She studies the
chessboard for a moment, moves a piece, and then types into
her phone.
LAVINIA (CONT’D)
Well, bright ideas?
A plaintive, repetitive crying sound splits the air.
ROBERT GRIMALDI
(laughing)
Those horny peacocks...always on
the lookout for... a piece of tail.
Grimaldi laughs again at his own joke.
LAVINIA
(wearily)
From age nine on, males surrender
brain cells to their dicks. It's
tedious. Just get on with the
business. I want Ferrers dealt
with. And those two with her.
Nobody fucks with us.
ROBERT GRIMALDI
Sorry, Boss. Leno - for the hit on
Ferrers. He's efficient and enjoys
his work. Says he's an artist - it
gives him a creative outlet.
The others nod their agreement.
LAVINIA
Done. See to it.
They stand and file out. She takes a few more puffs of the
vape. Watches the clouds dissipate. Then looks out the window
to see one of the peacocks, close to the window, tail spread
into a fan of a hundred jeweled eyes. Lavinia's expression -
unreadable.
Her phone buzzes, she looks at it, and moves a piece on the
chessboard.
Genres:
["Crime","Thriller","Drama"]
Ratings
Scene
12 -
A Wake-Up Call
INT. A DARKENED HOTEL BEDROOM - DAY
A phone rings several times. LENO (40), swarthy, muscular,
switches on the light and picks up the phone.
LENO
What the fuck are you calling me in
the middle of the night for,
Grimaldi? It better be good.
ROBERT GRIMALDI
It’s not the middle of the fucking
night. Lavinia.
LENO
It’s the middle of my fucking
night. Yeah. What?
ROBERT GRIMALDI
Got a job for you. You'll like it.
Ferrers.
LENO
(Smiling)
No shit! Worth being woken in the
middle of the night.
ROBERT GRIMALDI
Want to know why?
LENO
Don't give a shit. Pleasant dreams
for you.
Leno hangs up and turns out the light.
LENO (CONT’D)
A wet dream for me.
Genres:
["Crime","Thriller"]
Ratings
Scene
13 -
The Reckoning in the Basement
INT. THE VITALE ESTATE IN BRANKSOME - BASEMENT ROOM - DAY
The room is grey, dank, illuminated by neon strip lights.
Dean and Jay sit on two kitchen chairs. Dean's hands are
behind his back, wrists immobilized by plastic restraints.
Sweat pours down his face, his fear palpable. Lavinia sits in
a chair opposite. Next to her is Leno, fit, with short, dark
hair over a scarred face, a broken nose serving as the centre
piece.
LAVINIA
Kev's dead. He was a loyal man. His
wife and kid are without a husband
and a dad. How could you be so
fucking stupid?
JAY
Dean said to bring the girls to
you.
(hesitates)
He and Kev were using.
Dean sneers at him.
DEAN
You... little.... mummy’s boy.
Lavinia shakes her head in disbelief.
LAVINIA
This gang flies below the radar.
Why didn't you take the lifejacket
and let them walk off down the
beach? So what, they go to the
cops. The cops find nothing.
(MORE)
LAVINIA (CONT’D)
Now, the whole county is going
apeshit because they've
disappeared. I can't believe this.
Jay, get out of here.
Jay gets up and quickly exits.
LAVINIA (CONT’D)
Dean, what am I going to do with
you?
DEAN
I promise it won't happen again,
Boss.
LAVINIA
No, I promise it won't happen
again. Make it quick, Leno. I like
to do evolution a favor whenever I
can.
She gets up and starts to leave.
DEAN
Boss, no, no.
She shuts the door behind her.
Genres:
["Crime","Thriller","Drama"]
Ratings
Scene
14 -
Decisions at the Vitale Estate
INT. THE VITALE ESTATE IN BRANKSOME - CONFERENCE ROOM -
CONTINUOUS
The door opens Catada, and Manfred enter. They stand waiting
for Lavinia to acknowledge them. With a gesture of her hand,
she indicates that they sit.
LAVINIA
Where’s the money-man?
CATADA
Call of nature, be here in a mo.
They sit on the sofa. Manfred squirms a bit and then reaches
behind his back to pull out a snub .38, which he places on
the coffee table.
MANFRED
Digs into my back when I sit.
LAVINIA
I keep telling you to get a man-
bag. It’s more contemporary. You
can carry your books in it.
The door opens and Grimaldi enters. He’s about to speak when
Lavinia interrupts by holding up her hand.
GRIMALDI
Instructions, Boss?
LAVINIA
First, make sure Kev’s wife and
child are well-taken care of. She
gets the house and enough money to
keep them until little Gary is
eighteen.
GRIMALDI
Monthly or lump sum?
Grimaldi makes some notes on his phone.
LAVINIA
Yes, lump sum. Next - those girls
who are all over the news. Find out
where they live and tag their
houses. They will probably try to
phone their families. I want to
know where they are. I want
everyone on this but Dean.
CATADA
Why not Dean?
LAVINIA
I can forgive some mistakes.
(shakes her head)
I don't forgive stupid mistakes.
Dean no longer works for me.
Genres:
["Crime","Thriller","Drama"]
Ratings
Scene
15 -
Training for Survival
INT. SCYTHIAN RISE - THE KITCHEN - MORNING
A modern kitchen with large picture windows looking out over
the Purbecks and onto Poole Harbour in the distance.
Kat sits at the kitchen table. Laptop and peacock chessboard
open. She drinks coffee and taps on the keys. Alice and Ruth
enter.
KAT FERRERS
Morning girls. Good kip? Or was it
all dreams about unicorns and white
rabbits?
ALICE
You having a laugh?
RUTH
You sleep well after killing a man
and kidnapping two grammar school
girls?
KAT FERRERS
No dramas in the night. Lights out
as soon as I hit the pillow. Let's
put the grey matter to work. Pour
yourselves some coffee.
The girls pour coffee and join Kat at the table. She’s typing
into her laptop. Alice glances at the screen.
ALICE
Hey, Kat, why the peacocks? 4.8 on
Trustmark. That’s pretty good.
KAT FERRERS
How’d you know that?
ALICE
Saw it on your screen yesterday at
the cafe when I thought you were
just a businesswoman and not a
moonlighting assassin.
KAT FERRERS
Other way round.
Alice raises her eyebrows. Ruth smirks.
RUTH
She means she just moonlights as a
peacock salesperson. Real job is
hired killer.
KAT FERRERS
It's just my business. Decorative
garden ornaments - peacocks,
Grecian and Roman statues. Import,
sell online, to garden centers,
direct to certain customers. That
sort of kit.
ALICE
Three thousand reviews. Pretty
good.
KAT FERRERS
It's upper-end stuff. The customers
are fussy. And they often want it
customized.
ALICE
Customized peacocks?
KAT FERRER
Back to this business. You girls
stay here, I go waste Lavinia and
some of her gang. But - You show up
after a couple of days, when
Lavinia and co are dead. The police
will question you. You will tell
them about me.
Ruth wraps her arms around herself.
RUTH
What do you suggest? The only thing
I want is to be home in bed under
my duvet.
ALICE
Yesterday we were working in a
cafe. Today, you're asking us what
we should do about a drug-dealing
gang of killers? How the fuck
should we know what to do? I want
to be under my duvet too.
KAT FERRERS
It’s not rocket science.
Alice stands and walks to the window. She can see the ruins
of Corfe Castle a couple of miles away.
ALICE
Kat is hinting we help her. Then,
if we tell the police anything,
we’ll go to jail, too. Maybe we get
to share a cell. And then,
Lavinia's gang will kill us and our
families.
RUTH
All this shit because we went for a
walk on Studland Beach and found
that fucking lifejacket? Some
fucking butterfly in South America
flapped its wings at the wrong
time.
ALICE
Don't say that. You know how I
panic when things are out of
control.
Ruth shakes her head.
RUTH
You're not worried now things are
out of control?... That's why you
nearly dropped out of the White
Rabbits.
KAT FERRERS
Dropped out?
RUTH
Alice didn't like taking drugs,
especially 'shrooms. We kinda
thought she'd like them, given her
family history and all.
KAT FERRERS
Family history?
RUTH
All the rumors there were about her
great to the power of whatever
grandfather. How he took opium and
his interest in little girls.
ALICE
He took laudanum because of his
migraines. It was medicinal, not
recreational.
Ruth rolls her eyes.
RUTH
That's not what you said when you
were talking about great, great,
great, whatever, grandad perv.
ALICE
That was never proven.
RUTH
We all know it was perfectly normal
for Victorian gentlemen to take
pictures of naked little girls.
ALICE
Do you have to tell her everything?
You’re really horrible to me
sometimes.
Kat laughs.
KAT FERRERS
It's okay, Alice. I get it. I used
to do a lot of drugs, too. Now I
just crack open an East Ender once
in a while.
ALICE
Now what?
Alice and Ruth sit next to each other on a sofa. Kat in an
armchair opposite. Alice is trembling.
KAT FERRERS
Let’s map this out.
She notices Alice’s shaking.
KAT FERRERS (CONT’D)
Take some deep breaths.
The girls, arms around each other, sink back into the sofa -
breathing deeply.
ALICE
This is how my therapist told me to
breathe to relax.
She takes some slow, deep breaths. She continues to shake.
ALICE (CONT’D)
Not working.
RUTH
I'd like to see your stupid
therapist relax with some deep
breaths if they'd seen someone shot
and then been kidnapped.
Kat brings over some glasses and bottled water.
KAT FERRERS
Here’s the logic. You - wrong
place, wrong time. Me and those
goons - looking for some
lifejackets that got washed
overboard. You - bad luck, you
found them first and saw the stash.
Now you know how the business is
done. Me - I gotta a code, not much
of a code, but a code. No innocent
blood. Full stop. Their plan was to
bring you to Lavinia.
RUTH
You keep saying her name. Who the
fuck is she?
(sneering)
Queen Bee of the gang?
KAT FERRERS
She's tough. Cold. Ruthless. Money
is the only honey that she cares
about. She's worse than the Red
Queen in Wonderland. When she says
"off with their heads" - that's
what happens.
ALICE
(shaking her head)
People always get it wrong. That
was the Queen of Hearts.
KAT FERRERS
Whatever.
RUTH
Why are you in her gang?
KAT FERRERS
Wrong. I'm not in her gang. She
hires me when she wants something
done.
ALICE
You mean, like you’re a mercenary
who... what’s the word ....
‘wastes’ people for money.
KAT FERRERS
Ish. And if they deserve it.
ALICE
Ruth, she thinks she's God.
KAT FERRERS
(ignoring Alice)
Or, guard a cargo of, er, ah,
valuables.
RUTH
What's going to happen to us?
KAT FERRERS
Wrap your grey matter around this.
If my logic is flawed - challenge.
RUTH
Alice is the logical one.
ALICE
Be prepared.
KAT FERRERS
You - go to the cops. Tell them
about me. Me - I kept you walking
the right side of the grass.
ALICE
We didn't ask you to.
RUTH
Alice, that's stupid.
KAT FERRERS
You - tell them about Lavinia, the
killing and the drugs stashed in
the lifejacket. Lavinia - will she
have any reason to kill you? Maybe.
Will she have any reason to kill
me? Definitely. Will I be safe if I
am sent to prison? No. So, go to
the cops, and I’m toast.
RUTH
Alice?
ALICE
Logical, so far.
KAT FERRERS
You - will going to the police and
becoming witnesses stop Lavinia
from killing you? Threatening your
families?
RUTH
Why would she? The police would
protect us.
ALICE
This could take years to come to
court. Best way of making sure it
doesn't - kill the witnesses.
RUTH
Police protection.
ALICE
A good idea. We all know police
corruption is just film fiction.
Ruth pulls a face at Alice.
KAT FERRERS
So, you go to the cops, you are
targets. Maybe your families for
leverage.
ALICE
Logical, again, so far.
KAT FERRERS
So, what is the only course of
action that keeps me out of jail
and ensures you and your families
are safe?
Alice sits, thinking for a moment.
ALICE
I don’t like where my mind is
taking me.
RUTH
Where’s that?
ALICE
As long as Lavinia is alive, we’re
not safe.
RUTH
I get that.
ALICE
So, Lavinia has to be out of the
frame.
RUTH
Alice! What are you saying?
ALICE
It's the only way to get our old
lives back. Lavinia must die. Fuck!
I can't believe I really said that.
ALICE (V.O) (CONT’D)
What I didn't realize at the time
in that moment of foolish, hopeful
denial, was there was no way back.
Whatever happened, we were changed
forever.
Kat opens her laptop.
ON MONITOR
The peacock chessboard.
BACK TO SCENE
She taps at the keys, calm, methodical.
RUTH
(incredulous)
You play chess at a time like this?
KAT FERRERS
It’s an orderly universe with clear
rules. I find it meditative.
RUTH
Fuck. Alice, we’ve been kidnapped
by a Zen Buddhist with guns.
ALICE
More like a Zen Buddhist nun. Why
did we go for a walk on that
fucking beach?
(sobbing)
Someone has broken the mirror, and
now we’ll never be able to get
back.
Ruth sits beside Alice and puts her arms around her.
ALICE (V.O.)
This is a good place to update you
on what we later discovered had
happened and the nightmare our
families were going through.
MONTAGE - A FLURRY OF IMAGES
EXT. RUTH’S HOUSE – NIGHT
RUTH’S MOTHER collapses into her husband’s arms as blue lights
flash. An ambulance is called.
INT. ALICE’S BEDROOM – DAY
Her MOTHER sobs on the bed, clutching a framed photo of Alice.
INSERT – BOURNEMOUTH ECHO
Headline: “GANG WAR ON THE JURASSIC COAST: TWO TEENS VANISH
AFTER BEACH SHOOTING.”
INSERT – BBC BREAKFAST NEWS
ANNOUNCER (V.O.)
Terrifying news from Bournemouth… two
A-level students, Alice Carroll, a
descendant of Lewis Carroll, and her
friend Ruth Maloney, vanished after a
gang shoot-out on Studland Beach.
INT. SCHOOL AUDITORIUM – DAY
The HEAD TEACHER at a podium. Students in silence. A community
in mourning.
BACK TO SCENE
Ruth and Alice are sitting side by side, Ruth with her arms
around Alice.
KAT FERRERS
Finish your coffee, and we'll begin
your training. See what stuff you
White Rabbits are made of.
ALICE
Probably the kind of stuff they
cram into teddies.
Genres:
["Thriller","Crime","Drama"]
Ratings
Scene
16 -
Training for Survival
INT. THE VITALE ESTATE IN BRANKSOME - BASEMENT SHOOTING RANGE
- MORNING
In the basement, a single shooting lane stretches twenty
feet. Concrete walls, a crude wooden bench, a paper
silhouette dangling from wires. Fluorescent lights buzz
overhead, and every shot cracks loudly in the confined, smoky
air.
Leno, wearing ear protectors, crouches in a firing position.
He squeezes off several shots and then pulls the target in.
It is an upper torso picture of Kat, now with bullet holes
where her eyes and mouth were.
Lavinia watches him clinically.
LAVINIA
(doubtfully)
You think you’re good enough?
LENO
How good can she be? Her skin isn’t
armor-plated.
LAVINIA
You haven’t seen her in action.
EXT. THE BARN AT SCYTHIAN RISE - MORNING
The barn is of rough Purbeck stone, weathered timber doors,
and a steep slate roof. CCTV cameras glint like watchful eyes
above the gravel courtyard, where chickens scatter beneath
the skeletal arms of the parked telehandler.
Alice, Ruth, and Kat walk in silence through the early
morning sun.
INT. THE BARN AT SCYTHIAN RISE - CONTINUOUS
Once inside, Kat flicks on a light. Several doors lead off
the large main room. Along one side is a treadmill, a multi-
gym, free weights, a bench, a Wing Chun wooden dummy and a
punching bag. On a stretched desk is a bank of monitors
showing the CCTV relay. On the desk, a Glock and a knife. Kat
picks up the knife, spins in a whirl, and it ends up in the
centre of a target on the other wall.
KAT FERRERS
A knife teaches respect — for your
body, your breath, your target.
Anyone can panic and pull a
trigger. But this… this takes
intention.
(she eyes them)
And right now, you need to learn to
act, not just react.
Kat walks over and pulls the knife out of the target. Alice
and Ruth watch. Kat returns to them and throws the knife. It
lands in the middle of the target.
ALICE
Ruth, go first.
Ruth walks to the target and retrieves the knife. Alice
watches her intently. Ruth spins and throws the knife. It
clatters to the floor feet from the target.
Kat picks up the knife, returns to them, spins and throws. It
strikes the target in the centre.
ALICE (CONT’D)
Explain it to me. Logically. Step
by step, so that when I imitate
you, I can get my brain in gear as
well.
Kat nods, thoughtful. She walks over, picks up another knife,
and holds it up.
KAT FERRERS
Alright. First — grip. Like a
hammer. Not a pencil, not a
scalpel. Hammer.
She holds it out so Alice can see.
KAT FERRERS (CONT’D)
Second — blade points forward.
Knife vertical. No spin yet, just
clean alignment.
She steps back, sets her feet.
KAT FERRERS (CONT’D)
Third — stance. Feet shoulder-
width. Dominant foot slightly back.
Your body's the line. Knife rides
that line.
She breathes in.
KAT FERRERS (CONT’D)
Fourth — focus on the target. Don't
look at the knife. The knife's a
messenger of your intention. The
message is: "Die."
Alice blinks.
KAT FERRERS (CONT’D)
Fifth — throw from the shoulder,
smooth and straight. Don't flick
your wrist. Let the knife spin once
— then release it at eye level.
She throws again. THUNK — just beside the first.
KAT FERRERS (CONT’D)
That's it. Geometry and gravity.
Trust the arc. Now you.
Alice picks up a knife. Mimics Kat's grip. Focused.
KAT FERRERS (CONT’D)
You don't need power. You need
precision. Let the blade do the
work.
Alice throws.
The knife hits the floor.
She snorts, a short, bitter laugh, then looks away —
embarrassed
ALICE
Idiot. Loser.
Kat retrieves the knife.
ALICE (CONT’D)
This is silly. I'm not some fucking
ninja. I don't want to have to
throw a knife at someone.
RUTH
Me, neither.
KAT FERRERS
Me neither. I'm teaching you the
discipline. How to control your
body. How to think like a killer.
And... hopefully, ... how to avoid
dying at the hands of one.
She takes them over to the gym area and shows them how to
work the treadmill.
KAT FERRERS (CONT’D)
Every day, for at least an hour.
Slowly to start and then faster.
You need stamina. Build it.
She gives them instructions on the weight machine.
KAT FERRERS (CONT’D)
Every day, for at least an hour.
Gradually increasing the weights.
Alice points out the Wing Chun Wooden Dummy.
ALICE
What's that?
Kat approaches the wooden dummy, and in a blur of hand and
foot movements, begins to demonstrate.
KAT FERRERS
A "mook jong" - a wooden dummy -
not yet for you, but week two. You
learn structure and balance,
footwork, timing and accuracy,
sensitivity, feel, and power
generation.
(MORE)
KAT FERRERS (CONT’D)
And you learn to do it with your
eyes closed. An hour a day.
Genres:
["Thriller","Action","Drama"]
Ratings
Scene
17 -
Empowerment at the Range
INT. SCYTHIAN RISE - INDOOR SHOOTING RANGE - DAY
A soundproofed range in the barn. It's clean, professional,
and smells of solvent and cordite.
Kat stands behind a bench laden with several handguns. She
hands Alice and Ruth a set of protective glasses and ear
defenders. They put them on.
Kat picks up a Glock 19. With practiced movements, she loads
a magazine, racks the slide, and assumes a perfect two-handed
stance.
She fires five shots. The BOOM of each round is a deep,
physical punch, felt more than heard through the ear
protection. The shots cluster tightly in the centre of the
paper target, 25 feet away.
She clears the weapon, places it on the bench, and pulls down
her ear defenders. The girls do the same. The ringing silence
feels loud.
KAT FERRERS
That's how it's done. This is the
killing weapon.
She slides a different, smaller pistol towards Ruth — a Smith
& Wesson M&P Shield.
KAT FERRERS (CONT’D)
Give it a try, Ruth. Its bite is
not for you.
Ruth is pale, her hands trembling slightly. She copies Kat's
stance, her movements stiff with fear. She aims, squeezes her
eyes shut for a second, and fires.
The gun jumps in her hands. The shot goes high, missing the
target completely and striking the back wall with a loud
PING. Ruth flinches back, terrified of the weapon in her own
hands.
Kat immediately steps in, placing a calming but firm hand on
Ruth's shoulder. She signals for her to lower the weapon and
take off her ear defenders.
KAT FERRERS (CONT’D)
Remember the knife. The bullet is a
messenger.
RUTH
What's the message?
KAT FERRERS
Leave my friends and family alone.
Unless you’re into toe tags and
body bags.
Ruth takes a shaky breath.
She guides Ruth back into the stance, her hands over Ruth's,
steadying her grip.
Ruth focuses, her knuckles white. She takes a breath. Her
eyes stay open. She squeezes the trigger.
BOOM.
A hole appears in the black of the target. Not the centre,
but a solid, definite hit.
Ruth stares, her fear slowly being replaced by a look of
grim, sober determination. She gives a short, sharp nod. She
understands.
Alice, who has been watching and listening intently, steps
forward.
She picks up a Glock and fires. It misses the target.
ALICE
Fuck you. You touch Ruth, you die.
She raises the Glock again. This time, her hands are
perfectly steady. She takes a single, focused breath. Her
eyes are cold steel. She squeezes the trigger.
BOOM.
A single hole appears directly at the edge of the target.
BOOM.
Another hole appears directly at the edge of the bullseye.
KAT FERRERS
Holy fuck. That's solid shooting
for a rookie. Anyone messing with
you, Ruth, is going to be in deep
shit. How'd you do that?
ALICE
I watched you closely. Then I found
a reason.
ALICE (V.O.)
The next few weeks passed in a
blur. Kat wouldn't let us watch the
news. She said it would be a mind
fuck for our training to see our
parents crying. It was pretty
exhausting, but for one of the
first times I can remember, I was
proud of myself. I did well.
MONTAGE
Alice is on the treadmill, legs and arms pumping, sweat
streaming down her back and forehead.
Ruth is at the multi-gym, pushing a heavy weight. She grunts
with the final rep.
Alice stands before the mook jong, BLINDFOLDED. Her hands
move in a blur, deflecting and striking the wooden arms. It's
not perfect, but it's fluid. She moves with a confidence she
didn't have before.
Archery - Ruth and Alice shoot at a target in a bale of hay,
which looks like a pincushion, but more arrows than not are
in the target.
Ruth and Alice, wearing earmuffs, are in the shooting range,
Glocks in hand, sometimes missing. They high-five when they
hit.
INT. SCYTHIAN RISE - SHOOTING RANGE - DAY
In amazement, Ruth is watching Alice, who is standing on the
firing line, Glock holstered in her belt. Alice crouches low,
hands down by her side.
ALICE
I told you to get out of town.
She draws quickly and fires at the target several times, most
shots missing, but a couple hitting.
RUTH
What the fuck was that?
ALICE
I think Dad always wanted a son. We
used to watch westerns together.
Practicing my quick draw.
Genres:
["Action","Thriller"]
Ratings
Scene
18 -
Training and Discovery at Scythian Rise
EXT. SCYTHIAN RISE - THE COURT YARD - DAY
Alice and Ruth are practicing Wing Chun. Kat watches with an
approving eye.
ALICE
What's with this Siu Lim Tao over
and fucking over again? I feel like
the Karate Kid with Mr Miyagi: "Wax
on, wax off."
Kat walks over to Alice and, without warning, throws a sudden
punch at Alice's face. Without thinking, Alice deflects it.
Kat smiles.
KAT FERRERS
Muscle memory. Faster than thought.
Drivers slam on the brakes before
realizing the car in front of them
has suddenly stopped.
Alice stops to look at her hands, shrugs, and goes back to
the Siu Lim Tao.
RUTH
We've never been in the cottage.
What's in there?
KAT FERRERS
Nothing but clock it if you like.
Alice and Ruth go to the cottage and open the door.
INT. SCYTHIAN RISE - THE COTTAGE - CONTINUOUS
The interior of the cottage is barren, with an old fireplace,
Purbeck stone walls, and a stone floor.
ALICE
It's cute.
KAT FERRERS
Yeah, it's cute, but I've never had
much use for it. Didn’t fancy
hosting Airbnb parties here.
MONTAGE
Genres:
["Action","Thriller","Drama"]
Ratings
Scene
19 -
Frustration and Surveillance
INT. A BAR IN BOURNEMOUTH - NIGHT
A PLAINCLOTHES POLICEMAN sits in a booth having a drink.
Grimaldi enters the bar and sits opposite.
PLAINCLOTHES POLICEMAN
Tell Lavinia, I’ve got nothing for
her. We found their phones buried
in the sand but that’s about it.
Their families know nothing. No
contact with the girls. Now, get
out of here before someone sees us
together.
EXT. ALICE’S HOUSE - DAY
A car waits a hundred yards down the street. Anyone entering
or leaving the house is photographed.
EXT. WOODS BEHIND ALICE’S HOUSE - NIGHT
A shadowy figure is attaching a bird’s house to a tree, and
in the house he inserts a motion-sensitive infrared camera
trained on the back of the house.
EXT. BASINGSTOKE - KINGLAND BUSINESS PARK - DAY
Kingland Business Park. Grimaldi kills the engine of his car
outside a modern showroom fronting a large industrial
warehouse:
EXQUISITE ORNAMENTAL GARDEN DISPLAYS
INT. SHOWROOM – CONTINUOUS
A young sales assistant smiles. Grimaldi smiles back.
GRIMALDI
Kat around?
SALES ASSISTANT
Kat? No, sorry, she’s gone to India
on a working holiday. Said she’ll
be a few weeks. Anything I can do
to help?
INT. THE VITALE ESTATE IN BRANKSOME - DAY
Lavinia is listening to the peacocks screeching, with a smile
on her face. Robert Grimaldi enters.
LAVINIA
Well?
ROBERT GRIMALDI
They've vanished off the face of
the earth. No sign, trace, or
sound. Taps on the phones of the
girls' families - nothing. Went to
Kat’s business - said she’d gone to
India. Maybe she did and took the
girls with her. No work for Leno
yet. They could be on Mars.
LAVINIA
(her smile vanishes)
Find them. We’d know if they had
left the country. And don't say
(mockingly imitating)
Grimaldi)
"they've vanished off the face of
the earth and could be on Mars."
Fucking Martian garden gnomes
didn't abduct them.
Genres:
["Crime","Thriller","Drama"]
Ratings
Scene
20 -
Preparing for Confrontation
INT. KAT'S HOUSE - THE KITCHEN - MORNING
SUPER: THREE WEEKS LATER
A modern kitchen with large picture windows looking out over
the Purbecks and onto Poole Harbour in the distance. The
three are sitting around a farmhouse kitchen table. Kat’s
laptop is open.
ON SCREEN
LAVINIA
Pleased to meet you, Alice and
Ruth.
There are two white rabbits on the desk beside her, eating at
carrots as Lavinia occasionally strokes them.
BACK TO SCENE
Alice and Ruth, frozen, say nothing.
ON SCREEN
LAVINIA (CONT’D)
I’ve been trying to persuade Kat to
come back home. Kev was a twat and
she was right to shoot him.
BACK TO SCENE
Alice and Ruth get up and walk away.
KAT FERRERS
I told you they wouldn’t be
interested.
She closes the laptop.
ALICE
That was vile. Like she reached
through the screen and stuck her
dirty fingers into my soul.
RUTH
Yecch!... Now what? We've trained,
can throw knives. Sometimes I even
hit the wall. Shoot guns. Sometimes
even hit the target. I'm doing Siu
Nim Tao in my dreams. We ready to
take on trained killers? This is a
farce, innit? I could do this for
ten years, and I wouldn't be ready
to kill someone.
KAT FERRERS
What about you, Alice? Could you
kill someone who was going to kill
Ruth? Or would you stand there and
watch?
Ruth's eyes widen, and she looks at Alice.
ALICE
Depends on whether she cracks more
stupid jokes about my pervy great,
great.
RUTH
Alice!
ALICE
Would you kill someone who was
going to kill me?
Ruth stops and thinks for a moment.
RUTH
Fucking right.
KAT FERRERS
You're ready then. Some say they
wouldn’t kill - not under any
circumstances. And if their kid was
on the line? We’re all a
butterfly’s wings away from a bad
day. You just didn't know how
before. Get your kit together.
RUTH
Where we going?
KAT FERRERS
To Bath, to steal some honey from
the queen bee’s nest.
ALICE
Don't like that metaphor. People
who mess with bee’s and wasp’s
often get stung. I’ve been stung by
a wasp before. It really hurt. You
ever been stung?
KAT FERRERS
Point taken, oh literal one. Bath.
To have a conversation with Jane
Austen's ghost. She would like to
converse with three genteel ladies.
Kat leaves the room, returning a few moments later with a
holdall which she places on the table. Opening it, she pulls
out an item of clothing and hands it to Alice.
ALICE
What's this?
KAT FERRERS
A breast binder. You're too much of
a knockout. Walk into a church and
the priests will be queuing up to
hear your confession.
ALICE
I’m not Catholic and don’t do
Church.
KAT FERRERS
Your mother's going to have a son.
Go put it on.
ALICE
I'm not trans, either and I hate
change.
KAT FERRERS
I know. But let me just set you
straight. Philosophy 101.
Everything that exists changes,
even corpses. Nothing but nothing
stays the same. So I don’t know
where you got this crazy... anxiety
about change.
RUTH
The correct term’s neurodiverse.
Alice only calls herself autistic
when she’s pissed off.
Alice starts to squirm and takes some deep breaths.
ALICE
Oh. My. God. Please don't let me
have a meltdown.
RUTH
I'll second that prayer. What about
me?
KAT FERRERS
You're going to become a knockout.
You’ve dropped weight the past
three weeks.
Ruth jumps up to look at herself in a wall mirror and smiles.
INT. SCYTHIAN RISE - THE KITCHEN - LATER
Kat has finished cutting Alice's hair. Piles of blonde hair
lie on the table in front of her.
Then, with a dark wig and some deft makeup, Alice, no longer
gorgeous, sits sullenly at the table.
Ruth has been transformed into a picture of glamour, though
still wearing jeans.
RUTH
Quite handsome, boy Alice. If that
was the real you.... Who knows? ...
perhaps we could become an item.
ALICE
That’s really mean. Just because
you don’t have big tits. Did you
take cow lessons? Or did the wrong
sperm win the race?
RUTH
Let's get moooooving.
Genres:
["Thriller","Drama","Action"]
Ratings
Scene
21 -
Journey Through Uncertainty
EXT./INT. KAT'S CAR - DAY
FULL SCREEN - ROAD MAP
A route traces from Scythian Rise to Bath.
ALICE (V.O.)
It was a fabulous, glorious ride
straight to the bloody loss of our
innocence.
BACK TO SCENE
Kate drives while Alice and Ruth watch the rolling
countryside pass by.
EXT. SCYTHIAN RISE – MORNING
The graphite-grey Skoda pulls out of the gates and down the
hedged lane. Morning mist still clings to the fields.
EXT. CORFE CASTLE – MOMENTS LATER
They pass the ruins — jagged stone rising from the hill like
a broken crown. Alice watches from the window, eyes wide.
EXT. POOLE HARBOUR – CONTINUOUS
The car snakes along a coastal road. Poole Harbour shimmers
to the east, scattered with sailboats like flecks of bone
china.
INT./EXT. KAT’S CAR - CONTINUOUS
As they drive through the old Saxon town of Wareham, Kat sees
a police car behind them in her rear-view mirror.
KAT FERRERS
Hold fast, girls. There’s a cop car
behind us. I don’t think it’s
following.
ALICE (V.O.)
I had a mad impulse to stick my
head and arms out the window and
shout for help. I wasn’t sure if
the police would be salvation or
damnation. So - classic me - I did
nothing.
INT./EXT. KAT’S CAR – VARIOUS
MAP GRAPHIC:
A red line traces their route — northwest from the Purbecks,
cutting inland across Dorset.
EXT. COUNTRYSIDE NEAR MELBURY ABBAS – LATE MORNING
Rolling chalk hills. Fields bleached gold. A lone kestrel
hovers. The Skoda winds through sunlit curves beneath the
downs.
MAP GRAPHIC –
CONTINUED
The red line closes in on Bath.
EXT. OUTSKIRTS OF BATH – DAY
The city rises before them — Georgian terraces catching the
light. The skyline is crowned by the Abbey's spires.
Genres:
["Thriller","Drama"]
Ratings
Scene
22 -
Tension and Humor on the Road
INT. CAR – CONTINUOUS
Alice leans forward, staring. Ruth is quiet beside her. Kat
drives, unreadable.
RUTH
What are we doing here?
KAT FERRERS
The drugs are smuggled across from
Spain to the south coast and then
moved to Bath. We're going to knock
over a distribution depot. Now we
sit tight ‘til night.
ALICE
You rode shotgun for them.
KAT FERRERS
You could call it that. Didn’t have
you pegged for a John Wayne fan.
ALICE
That's my Dad's fault.
Kat laughs aloud.
ALICE (CONT’D)
What're you laughing at?
KAT FERRERS
The whole package. Your Dad, John
Wayne, your name... All I can
picture is a White Rabbit wearing a
cowboy hat and boots.
Alice tries to fight a smile but fails.
ALICE
Oh, shut up and just drive.
Genres:
["Crime","Thriller","Drama"]
Ratings
Scene
23 -
Moral Dilemmas in the Shadows
EXT. BATH – NIGHT
Deserted streets. A quiet Georgian terrace. Uniform facades.
Nothing to draw the eye.
KAT FERRERS
(softly)
Probably be three inside. Try not
to give them toe tags. We just want
the drugs, not a body count.
RUTH
(a shouted whisper)
Toe tags?! Body count?! You mean
try not to kill them! For fuck's
sake, what are you talking about?
I don't want to kill anybody.
ALICE
Me neither.
Kat taps the Glocks they’re holding.
KAT FERRERS
Mark what’s in your hands. I don’t
a bullet up my arse and then hear,
“Sorry, Kat, I forgot I was
carrying a Glock.” Alice, you go to
the door. They won't know your
face... Your mother wouldn't know
your face.
ALICE
(under her breath)
If I looked in a mirror, even I
wouldn’t know my own face.
Genres:
["Thriller","Crime","Action"]
Ratings
Scene
24 -
Chaos in Bath: A Violent Heist
EXT. BATH - HOUSE - CONTINUOUS
A CCTV is placed above the door. Alice knocks on the door. It
opens marginally.
VOICE (O.S.)
Yea?
ALICE
Told I could score some gear here.
VOICE (O.S.)
Who told you that?
ALICE
Bobbie, at the uni.
VOICE (O.S.)
He tell you anything else.
ALICE
He gave me a PIN. 3838.
VOICE (O.S.)
Wait there.
Kat moves forward, moving Alice out of the way. The door
opens slightly, and she pushes in, gun raised.
INT. BATH - HOUSE - CONTINUOUS
Kat, Alice and Ruth move in. Kat has the gun under the chin
of a pimply, scrawny thug, MALCOLM BROWN. Two others, ROBBIE
MONTANA (25) and JOHN STEVENS (30), both well-built, tattooed
and clearly more dangerous, are sitting on a sofa in front of
a table on which are piled numerous packages.
KAT FERRERS
Stay put, no itchy twitching. No
one gets hurt. Just want the gear.
ROBBIE
What are you doing, Kat? Lavinia is
going to skin you alive.
KAT FERRERS
Tough job.
Kat pokes herself.
KAT FERRERS (CONT’D)
Jurassic Coast. Dino hide.
Robbie points at Alice and Ruth.
ROBBIE
A cunt with two useless tits as
back-up.
ALICE
Shut up, twat.
ROBBIE
Fuck this.
He reaches for something in between the cushions. PHUT! A
hole appears in the cushion beside him. He pulls out a gun.
Alice, hand shaking, fires again at close range. She hits him
in the right shoulder which spins him around.
ROBBIE (CONT’D)
(in disbelief)
Fuck me, you cunt. You shot me in
the shoulder.
ALICE
(to Kat)
I told you I would be no good at
this.
(to Robbie)
I missed. I meant to shoot you in
the head.
Robbie struggles to raise his arm. Alice half-closes her
eyes, looks away as she squeezes off another round in blind
panic.
The muzzle flash explodes inches from his face — the bullet
smashes into his head, knocking him backwards onto Stevens.
Alice looks down at her hand in shock, holding the suppressed
Glock. She drops it like it’s on fire.
Struggling under the weight of Robbie, Stevens moves, a gun
in hand. He fires. Misses Ruth. She fires twice, the bullets
passing through Robbie and killing Stevens.
Malcolm keeps both hands in the air.
Kat quickly moves to the table, sweeping the packages and
cash into a large holdall. She turns, cold-cocks Malcolm, who
collapses onto the floor.
ALICE (CONT’D)
Sweet Jesus. We did it.
(a moment later)
Oh, fuck. What have we done?
She starts to hyperventilate. Ruth grabs her by the arm to
pull her after Kat who is exiting the room with the holdall.
Alice resists and bends to pick up the Glock before allowing
Ruth to drag her out of the room.
Genres:
["Crime","Thriller","Action"]
Ratings
Scene
25 -
Aftermath and Dark Humor
EXT./INT. KAT'S CAR - NIGHT
KAT FERRERS
I’m not sure, but I think Jane
Austen would’ve been impressed. You
comported yourselves like young
ladies - with Glocks.
ALICE
Stop. I need to be sick. I shot
that man in the eye.
RUTH
Me, too.
Kat quickly brings the car to a stop. The two girls fall out
and retch by the side of the road. They get back into the
car.
KAT FERRERS
Sorry, I forgot what it was like
for me the first time.
RUTH
(sad, regretful)
I'd rather have stayed a virgin.
ALICE
I feel like I'm the monster in a
horror movie.
ALICE (V.O.)
After all, he wasn't a nice person
but a criminal dealing in deadly
drugs. I hate change, but I
wouldn't want to be dead. I thought
about what Kat had said. I was glad
he was the dead one. Not Ruth. Not
me.
SUPER: TWO HOURS LATER
ALICE
This feels like a nightmare.
They're dead, aren't they?
KAT FERRERS
Yes. No katabasis for them. Not
coming back. Ever. Learn this:
death can’t be undone.
ALICE
Katabasis. That’s a big word for an
assassin to use. Kind of like what
Ruth and I are going through...
down into Hades... but are we ever
going to get back?
RUTH
We tried Persuasion. It didn't
work.
ALICE
Logically, we had no choice but to
kill them. But we did it without
Pride or Prejudice.
RUTH
(to Kat)
English lit. Gallows humor.
ALICE
Might be where we are heading.
KAT FERRERS
I was a grammar school girl, once.
ALICE
Must've been in prehistory.
RUTH
Where now?
KAT FERRERS
Going to return the drugs to
Lavinia, in our way.
EXT. BATH - HOUSE - NIGHT
A large dark van is parked outside the house. Six men, all
dressed in black, emerge carrying large bags. One carries a
mop, bucket, and a carry tray full of cleaning gear. They
enter the house only to reemerge a few moments later. One
member goes to the street, unlocks the rear of the van, looks
up and down the street and signals to the others. They come
down the steps carrying three large bags, which they
unceremoniously dump into the back of the van. One of the men
races up the steps into the house, returning with the mop and
bucket.
Genres:
["Crime","Thriller","Drama"]
Ratings
Scene
26 -
Calculated Vengeance
EXT./INT. KAT'S CAR - LATER
RUTH
You really going to do this?
KAT FERRERS
She adores those peacocks. This
will be a stick in the Cyclops’
eye.
ALICE
Oh. God. More Greek myths! Now
you’re Odysseus. Those peacocks are
innocent birds.
KAT FERRERS
You two just killed two men, and
now you're worrying about feathers?
She's killing people with those
fucking drugs. This is a taste of
her own medicine.
As her car approaches the Vitale estate, Kat slows down.
KAT FERRERS (CONT’D)
This is where Lavinia lives.
ALICE
Why are you driving so slowly?
Kat drives around the block.
KAT FERRERS
I want to make sure that the gate
camera clocks my license plate.
RUTH
Why?
KAT FERRERS
Chess.
Genres:
["Crime","Thriller","Drama"]
Ratings
Scene
27 -
Into the Shadows
EXT. THE VITALE ESTATE IN BRANKSOME - NIGHT
Kat parks in the shadows and starts to exit the car. Alice
and Ruth also get out.
KAT FERRERS
No, this lane. You hold position
here.
ALICE
It’s dark. It’s spooky. What if you
don’t come back?
RUTH
Then what do we do?
KAT FERRERS
Go to the police.
ALICE
And tell them we killed two drug
dealers in Bath? That will look
good on my CV. When I eventually
get out of prison.
RUTH
No, we’re coming with.
KAT FERRERS
You follow my orders. Alice, no
John Wayne cowboy shit. Get your
guns, but not to be used unless
absolutely necessary.
ALICE
I think we’ve heard that before.
They follow Kat down the road to a low wall, which she climbs
over.
Genres:
["Crime","Thriller","Drama"]
Ratings
Scene
28 -
Captured in the Shadows
EXT. VITALE ESTATE - WOODS BY THE WEST WALL - NIGHT
FERRERS
This is the edge of the Vitale
estate. There may be guards. Hold
here. Quietly.
Kat disappears like a dark shadow gliding through the
estate’s trees and gardens. The girls sit with their backs
against the wall, Glocks shakily trained on the surrounding
trees.
ALICE
(whispering)
How long do we wait? What if she
doesn’t come back?
RUTH
I don’t know. Don’t think about it.
Pray.
Two marble statues glisten in a patch of moonlight. One
depicts a man, with a terrified look on his face, stag
antlers emerging from his head. The other is of a woman,
snakes writhing all over her body, her face contorted into a
snarl of hatred. Ruth points at them.
RUTH (CONT’D)
What are they?
ALICE
Actaeon is the man turning into a
deer, and Alecto is the woman with
the snakes. They’re terrifying. I
hope Kat is back soon.
Here and there, Kat stops to spoon out a mixture from a
plastic box. She stops by an ornamental peacock and examines
it for a moment, shifting it slightly. Occasionally, the
screech of a peacock shatters the night sky.
Alice and Ruth hear a loud rustling in the bushes. They
nervously train their guns on the sound. To their relief, a
long-tailed fox emerges into a patch of moonlight and bounds
over the wall.
ALICE (CONT’D)
Phew. Just a fox.
MAN’S VOICE (O.S.)
Not just a fox. Drop the guns.
Alice and Ruth look nervously around. There is a PHUT sound,
and a tree trunk explodes bark.
MAN’S VOICE (O.S.) (CONT’D)
Next one won’t be into the tree.
Alice and Ruth quickly drop the guns. A TALL MAN, carrying a
pistol, emerges from the darkness.
TALL MAN
Lavinia’s going to be really
pleased. Maybe she’ll give you to
me. Couple of schoolgirls - I’d
take that for a bonus.
He speaks into a microphone.
TALL MAN (CONT’D)
Got the two girls. Ferrers must be
around.
Suddenly, through the trees, the girls can see lights go on
everywhere - at the mansion, in parts of the gardens.
Genres:
["Thriller","Action","Drama"]
Ratings
Scene
29 -
Escape from the Vitale Estate
INT. THE VITALE ESTATE IN BRANKSOME - CONTROL ROOM -
CONTINUOUS
The guard is alerted.
GUARD
(into microphone)
Leno, Richards has got the girls.
Ferrers has got to be around.
Somewhere near the west wall.
INT. THE VITALE ESTATE IN BRANKSOME - CONFERENCE ROOM -S
CONTINUOUS
Leno is slouched in a chair when the notification comes
through. He leaps to his feet. Checks his gun and, as he is
exiting the room, speaks to Lavinia.
LENO
Looking forward to this. Maybe I
can have one of those girls.
LAVINIA
You’re ahead of yourself. Finish
Ferrers first.
He leaves.
LAVINIA (CONT’D)
If you’re good enough. Which I
doubt.
EXT. VITALE ESTATE - WOODS BY THE WEST WALL - CONTINUOUS
The man approaches the girls. Puts his pistol in his holster
and roughly grabs each of them by an arm, pulling them to
their feet.
ALICE
I’m gay, you fat cretinous pig.
Their response catches him by surprise as they hit him with a
flurry of fists and kicks.
TALL MAN
You little bitches.
He punches Ruth, who first falls against the stag antlers of
Actaeon, cutting open her scalp, and then to the ground.
Blood from the wound has splashed on both statues and
glistens dark in the moonlight.
Then he turns to Alice. He swings at her, she deflects, and
jabs at his throat, which pushes him backwards. He kicks her,
and she falls to the ground. He pulls her up, grabs her by
the throat and is strangling her. Alice pokes him in the
eyes. This breaks the stranglehold.
ALICE
(full of hate)
If you kill me, you won’t get your
bonus, you douchebag.
She kicks him in the groin. He advances towards her, then
stops.
Falls face forward onto the ground. A knife sticking from his
back.
Alice collapses by the statue of Alecto.
Kat emerges from the shadows. Pulls the knife out, wipes it
on him. Kat pulls up Ruth.
Leno’s voice emerges from the darkness.
LENO (O.S.)
Got you, Ferrers. Not so tough
after all. Don’t move, or I’ll
shoot your little friend first.
He emerges from the shadows but doesn’t see Alice crouched by
Alecto.
LENO (CONT’D)
Where’s the other little bitch?
ALICE
Right here. Shit for brains. I’m
not a good shot, but I won’t miss
at three feet.
Leno looks down and sees Alice pointing the gun at him. He
drops his gun.
Ferrers quickly scoops it up and, without a word, steps
behind him and whacks him across the side of the head. He
collapses.
FERRERS
Others will be here in a moment.
Let’s get the fuck out of here.
She pulls Ruth along, Alice retrieves the guns, and quickly
follows them.
There is shouting in the estate behind them.
EXT./INT. KAT'S CAR - CONTINUOUS
Kat starts the engine and turns to look at them. She hands
Alice a large handkerchief.
KAT FERRERS
Too close for comfort. Some lessons
in obedience come the hard way.
Hold that pressed against the wound
‘til we get back.
Genres:
["Action","Thriller","Drama"]
Ratings
Scene
30 -
Healing Wounds and Mythical Banter
INT. SCYTHIAN RISE - KITCHEN - NIGHT
Ruth is sitting in a chair, pressing a blood-soaked
handkerchief to her head. Kat has a large first aid kit open
on the table.
KAT FERRERS
Alice, hold Ruth’s hand. This will
hurt.
RUTH
It already hurts.
Ruth squeezes Alice’s hand so tight that Alice winces.
RUTH (CONT’D)
Sorry, Alice.
ALICE
That’s okay.
ALICE (CONT’D)
I kinda like you holding my hand.
Prefer different circumstances but
hey, ho....
Ruth makes a half-hearted effort to pull away her hand but
then stops.
Kat quickly cuts the hair away from around the wound. Wipes
it with alcohol from a bottle of whiskey and quickly begins
sewing.
RUTH
Give me the bottle.
Hands shaking, Alice passes it to her. Ruth takes a couple of
slugs. She hands it to Alice, who also drinks from the
bottle.
ALICE
I forgot you liked whiskey.
KAT FERRERS
There, all done. First time I’ve
sewn a wound caused by deer
antlers.
RUTH
Nothing dear about them. They
bloody hurt.
KAT FERRERS
You hurt. You’re still alive.
Lucky. An inch or two either way -
and you’d be fertilizing Lavinia’s
garden.
ALICE
Proper recycling.
RUTH
Shut up, for fuck’s sake. My head
really hurts. Oh, I forgot, empathy
doesn’t come naturally for you.
Alice sticks her tongue out at Ruth.
ALICE
Moo to you too. I’m sure you’re a
symbolic descendent of Io.
RUTH
I don’t even know what that insult
means.
KAT FERRERS
Jupiter turned Io into a cow so his
jealous wife wouldn’t find out
about his passion.
Both Alice and Ruth look at her in surprise.
KAT FERRERS (CONT’D)
What? I wasn’t always a Zen
Buddhist nun assassin.
Genres:
["Drama","Action","Thriller"]
Ratings
Scene
31 -
A Cold Morning at the Vitale Estate
EXT. THE VITALE ESTATE IN BRANKSOME - MORNING
Lavinia walks through the gardens near her house. Several men
walk with her, weapons raised. Two peacocks lie dead on the
lawn. The men fan out. Two white rabbits can be seen
scampering about.
LAVINIA
Don't bother. She’s long gone.
She walks over to one of the peacocks and looks at the
plastic container next to it. She turns to her men.
Grimaldi shows her photos of the license plate of her car.
GRIMALDI
Taken by the camera at the gate. I
think we’ve got her.
Lavinia takes it from him and examines it. She smiles with
anticipated satisfaction.
She dials a number.
LAVINIA
I’ll send the plate number over. I
pay you enough. I want the address
yesterday.
She turns to her men.
LAVINIA (CONT’D)
Find her. Bring her to me. Burn her
hideout and anyone in it to the
ground.
Her mobile phone rings. She listens for a moment.
LAVINIA (CONT’D)
They hit Bath? The cleaners have
already been in? Protocol was
followed. Good.
Grimaldi stands there, expectantly.
LAVINIA (CONT’D)
You want something?
GRIMALDI
Boss, what about Richards? He was a
good man.
LAVINIA
That’s a point. See that his wife
is well taken care of.
GRIMALDI
Leno’s nursing a sore head.
LAVINIA
That’s a lesson for everyone. Never
underestimate Ferrers.
She scans the garden, watching the rabbits. Reaching into her
pocket, she pulls out a small knife — FLICK — the blade snaps
open, catching the light.
LAVINIA (CONT’D)
Bring me those rabbits. I fancy
rabbit stew.
Genres:
["Thriller","Crime","Drama"]
Ratings
Scene
32 -
The Urgent Departure
INT. SCYTHIAN RISE - KITCHEN - MORNING
Kat is at the table with her laptop open to the peacock
chessboard page. She stares at it and taps on some keys.
ALICE
Why is there no news about the
shooting in Bath?
KAT FERRERS
It never happened.
RUTH
What do you mean? We puked our guts
out after.
KAT FERRERS
Cleaners went in. Wouldn't want the
cops sticking their face in. Other
gangs would think Lavinia was weak.
No bodies. No case. No crime.
RUTH
And the man with the knife sticking
out of his back?
KAT FERRERS
Never happened. He went for a walk
one day and disappeared.
ALICE
So I guess Ruth and I aren't
criminals. Are you a criminal if
you steal fentanyl from a drug
dealer and destroy it?
RUTH
You left out the bit about killing
somebody. In philosophy, we learned
that if a tree falls in a forest
and there is no one to hear it,
does it make a sound?
ALICE
What the fuck are you talking
about?
Kat closes her laptop.
KAT FERRERS
Grab your gear. We’re leaving now.
ALICE
How come?
KAT FERRERS
We pulled the pin and chucked a
grenade last night. Need to be
elsewhere.
ALICE
OMG. I preferred it when you used
the wasp’s nest metaphor. Pulling
the pin on a grenade? Holy Fuck.
KAT FERRERS
I left a little breadcrumb for
Lavinia. We go in ten to my London
safe house. When Lavinia finds this
place, it’ll be scorched earth with
you two in it. She's a sore loser,
so something more elegant for me.
RUTH
But, we’re not going to be here.
Right?
KAT FERRERS
Less gas. More speed.
EXT. SCYTHIAN RISE - THE COURT YARD - DAY
Alice and Ruth wait in the car. Kat emerges with the peacock
from the barn, which she puts in the trunk and covers with a
blanket. Alice and Ruth look quizzically at each other but
are silent.
Genres:
["Crime","Thriller","Drama"]
Ratings
Scene
33 -
Secrets of Exquisite Ornamental Garden Displays
EXT./INT. M3 MOTORWAY - HEADING NORTH TO LONDON - DAY
Kat turns off the M3 at the junction for Basingstoke.
ALICE
I thought we were going to London.
Basingstoke is ugly.
Kat doesn't answer.
ALICE (CONT’D)
Be like that, then.
EXT. BASINGSTOKE - CONTINUOUS
Kat drives through Basingstoke in silence, eventually
arriving at the Kingland Business Park. She kills the engine
outside a modern showroom fronting a large industrial
warehouse:
EXQUISITE ORNAMENTAL GARDEN DISPLAYS
RUTH
This yours?
KAT FERRERS
One of them. Come on. You might
learn something.
Kat hauls the peacock from the boot and carries it inside.
INT. SHOWROOM – CONTINUOUS
A young sales assistant smiles.
SALES ASSISTANT
Morning, Kat. Container from Naples
landed last night.
Behind the counter, a giant poster:
EXQUISITE ORNAMENTAL GARDEN DISPLAYS
Branches in:
COBHAM • WILMSLOW • CHIPPING NORTON
LONDON: CHELSEA, RICHMOND
HARROGATE
The showroom is immaculate, divided into zones:
— CLASSICAL: Venus, Diana, Apollo, Bacchus. Hercules, fauns,
nymphs and satyrs. Busts of Roman emperors and philosophers.
— ASIA: Stone Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. Ganesh, Lakshmi,
Hanuman. Pagodas, lanterns, guardian lions, marble elephants.
And everywhere — in every size and material — peacocks.
Bronze, stone, inlaid with jeweled eyes.
Alice studies a tag: £3,000.
ALICE
My God. For my EPQ on the
Metamorphoses, I read about
Pygmalion, who fell in love with a
statue he’d made, and Venus brought
it to life.
KAT FERRERS
That's right.
RUTH
For these prices, I’d expect
nothing less.
Kat doesn't answer. She walks deeper into her empire and
through a door marked: WORKSHOP: STAFF ONLY.
INT. WORKSHOP - CONTINUOUS
The workshop consists of large benches on which various
statues are placed. Electronic equipment hums. Kat places the
peacock on a bench next to multiple sensors and small
cameras. She plugs a cable into its base. Lights and readings
appear on a monitor.
ALICE
What the hell?
KAT FERRERS
Many of my posh customers are
security-conscious and want their
upmarket garden gnomes to pull
double duty, - ornaments and
guards.
She pushes some buttons on her phone. Kat, Alice and Ruth
appear on a monitor. Pushes more buttons, and there is a pan
of the workshop. Zooms in on some techs on another bench,
zooms in closer, and muffled speech can be heard. Alice
notices imperceptible movements in the eyes in the peacock's
tail and points them out to Ruth.
RUTH
That's really clever.
KAT FERRERS
Demo over. Let's go.
Genres:
["Thriller","Crime","Drama"]
Ratings
Scene
34 -
Strategic Evasion
EXT./INT. KAT'S CAR - DAY
Back onto the M3 heading north in the direction of London.
ALICE
Kat. Your business is really
successful and clearly makes a lot
of money.
KAT FERRERS
It rains money some months. Midas
would turn green with envy.
RUTH
Why are you a criminal and assassin
then?
ALICE
Ruth! That's the kind of question I
ask. Your social skills are
supposed to be better than mine.
KAT FERRERS
(laughing)
I fell into the biz about ten years
ago when using a small outfit as a
smuggling front. Could’ve knocked
me over with a feather. The legit
side made more profit than the
illegal one. But I know what I am.
Not a businesswoman. When I tried
to stop I felt a shadow of myself.
ALICE
You-in-the-world.
KAT FERRERS
Me-in-the-world. Sometimes I think
I just take the rubbish out.
EXT. HEATHROW AIRPORT - TERMINAL FIVE - DAY
Kat pulls into a Long-Stay Car Park near Terminal Five, where
they exit the car.
RUTH
We're taking a plane somewhere?
KAT FERRERS
Put your grey matter to work. I’m
going to have to teach you both how
to play chess.
ALICE
We're ditching the car in a long-
stay car park. Train into London.
No one will find it here for
months.
KAT FERRERS
Give the girl a cigar. It’s the
small sacrifice of a pawn. It buys
us time. Even Lavinia doesn't have
access to the national police ANPR
database. It will take her a while
to find it.
ALICE
Yuk! I hate cigars. I can barely
smoke a joint.
Genres:
["Crime","Thriller","Drama"]
Ratings
Scene
35 -
Reflections in the Night
INT. LONDON - CANARY WHARF - KAT'S APARTMENT - NIGHT
SUPER: LONDON - CANARY WHARF
Kat's penthouse apartment sits atop a tall, cylindrical
apartment tower, offering 360-degree views of London and the
Thames.
Decorated in a modernist style except for a small wooden
bookcase with a few volumes of Shakespeare, Virgil and Ovid.
A bronze and glass ornamental peacock proudly occupies one
corner of the room.
RUTH
Wow! What a view!
ALICE
Being a contract killer must make
you a lot of dosh - that and
flogging classy garden gnomes.
RUTH
Alice! What a thing to say! Your
manners are terrible.
KAT FERRERS
S'okay. I know her social skills
could use a patch job. Very, if you
pick the right contracts. And flog
the right garden gnomes.
ALICE
Next on our agenda? Knock over The
Shard?
KAT FERRERS
(laughing)
I'm learning to love you, Alice.
Brassy balls you must have. But no,
this place is quite secure. Bed
now, tomorrow we plan. Let me show
you your rooms.
INT. KAT'S APARTMENT - ALICE'S ROOM - NIGHT
Glass windows give a panoramic view of London.
ALICE (V.O.)
Well, here we were. Panoramic views
of London from a trillion-pound
flat. Even Elon Musk couldn't have
a better view. I was trying to
enjoy it, trying not to think about
the dickhead I killed in Bath,
trying not to think about other
dickheads I might have to kill.
High up in the sky, above the shit
below.
INT. KAT'S APARTMENT - RUTH'S ROOM - NIGHT
Ruth, tears streaming down her face, stands looking out the
window. Her hands squeeze the window ledge.
RUTH
Sweet Jesus, Alice. What have we
gotten into? Go for a fucking walk
on a beach, find drugs, kill
people. God, I miss my parents, my
bed. I wish I could pull a duvet
over my head. Who? What? Are we
becoming?
INT. KAT'S APARTMENT - KAT'S ROOM - NIGHT
Kat stands, resolute, looking out the window. In the window,
she sees an IMAGE of her younger self (12) playing with her
sister, BECKY (10). Tears roll down her cheeks.
KAT FERRERS
Poor girls. Poor girls. Aren't we
all poor girls?
She turns out the light and gets into bed.
KAT'S FLASHBACK
Genres:
["Crime","Thriller","Drama"]
Ratings
Scene
36 -
Reflections of Despair
INT. BCP SCHOOL - COUNSELOR'S OFFICE - DAY
SUPER: 15 YEARS EARLIER
Sunlight streams through Venetian blinds. A teenage KAT
FERRERS (16) sits curled in an armchair, all defiance and
vulnerability. She has no tattoos yet, but her knuckles are
bruised. Her bare forearms are covered in a striated series
of angry red scars and fresh cuts. HEC RAYMOND (40).
psychologist, sits opposite, patient and watchful.
HEC RAYMOND
Have you been Amazoning again, Kat?
KAT FERRERS
(examining her knuckles)
Had to teach the cunt a lesson. She
got in my face.
HEC RAYMOND
Like the others who got in your
face.
KAT FERRERS
(sharp look)
You trying to get in my head again?
HEC RAYMOND
I'm trying to understand why a
brilliant student keeps sabotaging
herself.
KAT FERRERS
(bitter laugh)
Brilliant? What does it matter?
I'll be dead by next Christmas.
Nothing matters... You ever heard
of Socrates?
HEC RAYMOND
Go on.
KAT FERRERS
My hero of death. Just the most
famous philosopher ever. If I could
understand his attitude to death
and be more like him... then,
death's your uncle.
HEC RAYMOND
Tell me more.
KAT FERRERS
He was sentenced to death for
corrupting the youth of Athens and,
while he could have escaped, calmly
drank hemlock. He said that the
unexamined life was not worth
living.
HEC RAYMOND
Read Socrates carefully. He didn't
seem to think the examined life was
worth much either.
KAT FERRERS
You're such a smart-aleck bastard.
In a mocking gesture towards Hec, she lifts her left hand
high above her head and slumps her head forward, sticking her
tongue out as if she has hung herself.
HEC RAYMOND
Listen, why don't you see if we can
work well together?
(smiling)
You can always kill yourself later.
You can't unkill yourself.
Young Ferrers laughs and uncurls slightly, a glimpse of
intrigue at this unusual response to her suicide threat
breaking through her armor.
END FLASHBACK
KAT FERRERS
Might have been better if I had
done the job then.
She gets out of bed, opens her laptop, looks at the peacock
tail chessboard and taps a few keys.
Genres:
["Drama","Psychological Thriller"]
Ratings
Scene
37 -
The Lobster Quadrille Morning
INT. KAT'S APARTMENT - THE LIVING ROOM - MORNING
Kat pauses in the doorway.
Ruth and Alice are dancing, facing each other across the
width of the living room — and with awkward, old-fashioned
movements, they advance towards each other and then retreat.
They speak in exaggerated Victorian accents, mimicking a
bygone era's etiquette.
ALICE
"Will you walk a little faster?"
said a whiting to a snail, "There's
a porpoise close behind us, and
he's treading on my tail. See how
eagerly the lobsters and the
turtles all advance! They are
waiting on the shingle — will you
come and join the dance?
RUTH
Will you, won't you, will you,
won't you, will you join the dance?
Will you, won't you, will you,
won't you, won't you join the
dance?
ALICE
"You can really have no notion how
delightful it will be, When they
take us up and throw us, with the
lobsters, out to sea!"
Alice, seeing Kat in the doorway, breaks off mid-step. Ruth
follows suit. Kat smiles.
KAT FERRERS
Let me guess - The Lobster
Quadrille?
ALICE
Yes, we White Rabbits always dance
it at parties.
RUTH
(laughing)
Usually, when we're stoned.
INT. KAT'S APARTMENT - THE KITCHEN - CONTINUOUS
The three women sit around the kitchen table, nursing cups of
coffee.
KAT FERRERS
Watch.
ON PHONE
Genres:
["Crime","Drama","Comedy"]
Ratings
Scene
38 -
Strategic Sacrifices
EXT. SCYTHIAN RISE -
Remote control night vision cameras capture three black-clad
figures in balaclavas, carrying firearms. One carries a
battering ram. They hit the door and it flies inward. Kat
speeds the footage forward. Smoke and flames are shooting up
from the barn and the house.
BACK TO SCENE
KAT FERRERS
That's what we're up against.
RUTH
What happened? How’d they find it?
KAT FERRERS
For sure got a corrupt cop to run
my license plate through the PIC
database.
RUTH
How’d they get your plate number?
KAT FERRERS
I drove slowly past her gate the
other night. Everybody in Branksome
Wood has infrared video doorbells.
ALICE
That's terrible. Your poor house.
What's it mean?
KAT FERRERS
The trap is set.
ALICE
I'm confused. Lavinia's thugs burnt
down Scythian Rise. You're scaring
me. They find your lovely house,
destroy it, and that's... a trap?
RUTH
Alice is right. You might be having
fun, but our families are in ruins
and we're scared shitless. Are we
the fucking bait?
ALICE
Dead bait, thrown to the sharks. I
saw it on a documentary once.
Gross. Is that what we are to you,
Kat?
RUTH
Is that why you rescued us?
KAT FERRERS
You’re both sounding a bit
scrambled. One minute I rescued
you, the next I kidnapped you, and
now I’m a shark fisherman using you
for bait. A recipe in a weaker soul
for an identity crisis.
Kat opens her laptop.
ON MONITOR
The peacock chessboard appears.
BACK TO SCENE
KAT FERRERS (CONT’D)
It's like chess. She makes a move.
I make a move. Sometimes in chess,
a sacrifice is needed. A good
assassin plans five moves ahead. A
great strategist sacrifices a
castle to lure the Queen.
Kat leaves the room.
RUTH
What are we going to do?
ALICE
I'm going to go to my bedroom. Look
at the view and be grateful the
windows don't open wide enough to
let me jump out.
RUTH
I don't want to be alone.
Genres:
["Crime","Thriller","Drama"]
Ratings
Scene
39 -
Confined Views
INT. KAT'S APARTMENT - ALICE'S ROOM - LATER
Ruth and Alice stand looking out the plate-glass windows at
the spectacular views. Ruth glances at the opening mechanism
on the window and sees that Alice was right, the windows only
open a few inches.
They can see The Shard, St. Paul's, the Gherkin, the Walkie-
Talkie, the Cheesegrater, and the entire City cluster.
RUTH
Must be designed like this.
ALICE
Designed like what?
RUTH
Only to open a bit. Don't want all
these depressed rich people
splatting on the sidewalk.
ALICE
All these people, going about their
lives. There can't be as many in
as deep shit as we are.
Ruth gently touches Alice's arm.
RUTH
I'm sorry. I know sometimes I'm
mean to you. But I'm really
stressed. I don't know what to do.
I hate being mean to you. I love
you, but not in the way you want me
to. It would be cruel to let you
get your hopes up. That's just not
me. But what the fuck are we going
to do?
ALICE
I don't know, but if I could jump
out of here and land on Lavinia's
fucking head, I would do it. I
don't think I will ever go for a
walk on a beach again...
(pause)
At least not without a Glock.
Genres:
["Crime","Thriller","Drama"]
Ratings
Scene
40 -
Descent into Darkness
INT. KAT'S APARTMENT - THE LOUNGE - CONTINUOUS
When the girls enter the lounge, Kat is sitting in front of
her laptop.
ON SCREEN
Lavinia is sitting at her conference table, stroking the
pelts of two white rabbits.
LAVINIA
That was nasty, killing my
peacocks. You know how much I love
them.
She strokes the rabbit pelts.
LAVINIA (CONT’D)
Their fur is so soft and sensuous -
not quite as warm as it was.
BACK TO SCENE
Alice and Ruth have horrified looks on their faces.
RUTH
Those poor bunnies. You wicked
woman.
Alice quickly closes the laptop.
ALICE
What a disgusting creature.
RUTH
That’s a message to us, Alice, you
know.
ALICE
I want to puke.
Kat opens the laptop to the peacock chessboard. She taps a
few keys and then picks up a photo album. Ruth and Alice
glance at it over her shoulder.
RUTH
Who's that?
KAT FERRERS
Me and my sister. Becky.
RUTH
How old is she?
KAT FERRERS
She's not.
RUTH
Sorry.
(thinks for a moment)
Don't get it.
ALICE
Kat means she's dead.
RUTH
Oh, I'm so sorry.
KAT FERRERS
Me, too. That’s on me. It was gonna
be fun to smoke weed with my baby
sis. Next - she was smoking rocks.
Wouldn’t listen. Then she was gone.
RUTH
Oh, God. How awful.
KAT FERRERS
My parents blamed me. Chucked me
out. Can’t argue. I hate gear and
dealers.
(sips coffee)
Now, how to get you two clear of
this mess? 'Cause I'm going to burn
Lavinia's fucking house down. Been
lining this up for a long time. You
girls were the spark.
RUTH
How do we get out of this....
ALICE
... and get back to our old lives?
KAT FERRERS
Well, go to the coppers. Say I had
you here against your will and you
got clear. Tell them about Lavinia
and the drugs...Then wait and see
what bloody happens. I know
Lavinia. Not pretty.
Kat walks out of the room.
ALICE
I feel like I’m wobbling on one leg
balancing on the edge of a cliff.
RUTH
I feel like crying. I want this
whole fucking nightmare to end.
Alice closes her eyes shut tight.
ALICE
When I open my eyes I want to be in
bed at home and tell my mum what a
scary dream I had.
RUTH
The same. We've got to help Kat
kill Lavinia.
ALICE
Two teenage girls? Kat's army?
RUTH
Okay. Let's just sit here, enjoy
the view, dance the Lobster
Quadrille and wait for Lavinia to
find us.
ALICE
Oh....Fuck!
Kat comes back into the room. She's scarcely recognizable.
She's wearing a long, brunette wig, heavily made up, and much
more buxom - a picture of glamour. She's carrying two
holdalls, which she places on the floor.
ALICE (CONT’D)
What the?
Kat doesn't respond immediately.
KAT FERRERS
Well. Should I get my wrists ready
for handcuffs?
ALICE
We'll help, but we're girls. What
can we do against criminals?
KAT FERRERS
You can do more than you think, if
you think. Let's go then. But
first, transformation time.
RUTH
You won't have any pills to make us
shrink or grow.
KAT FERRERS
Not that kind of transformation.
Alice and Kat pick up the carryalls.
RUTH
They're heavy. What's in them?
KAT FERRERS
Guns.
ALICE
Did you have to ask?
They follow Kat out the door, turning back to have one last
look at a semblance of normality.
TITLE CARD: LOOKING GLASS CHESS
INT. THE CARPARK OF KAT'S APARTMENT BUILDING - DAY
Kat approaches a Subaru Forester Turbo. The lights on the car
flash, mirrors open.
ALICE
I get it. Dull, boring. Nobody
looks twice.
KAT FERRERS
You're switching on.
They deposit the gear in the rear and climb in. Kat drives
out of the carpark.
EXT./INT. CANARY WHARF - A1206 HEADING WEST - CONTINUOUS
ALICE (V.O.)
Not as pretty as the last car. I
wanted to ask where we were going,
but I was too frightened. So I
stared out the window, watching
London go by until we reached the
M3, remembering when my family had
driven to France. Dad kept saying
how much better French roads are.
He's a dad, which is why he
probably didn't think that was
boring. I kept watching all the
people on the streets, living their
ordinary lives. Right then? I
would've given anything to be bored
instead of terrified. If there is a
scale of one to ten for fear, I was
already at fifteen. It got worse. I
wanted to throw up. I mask well.
Genres:
["Thriller","Crime","Drama"]
Ratings
Scene
41 -
Embracing Fear at Scythian Rise
EXT. SCYTHIAN RISE - AFTERNOON
The car pulls off the road onto the lane to Scythian Rise.
Kat drives in about fifteen yards, so she is hidden from the
main road. They exit the car.
Kat pops open the boot, opens a carryall and hands Glocks to
Alice and Ruth. She picks up a pump-action shotgun.
RUTH
What are we doing back here? Won't
Lavinia and her gang be watching?
KAT FERRERS
They burnt it to the ground - they
won’t expect me to return... to
charred timbers and collapsed
roofs.
ALICE
I hope you're right. I don't feel
like killing anybody at the
moment... Maybe after tea.
KAT FERRERS
Probably safe. But through the
woods just in case. By the way, a
lot of ticks in the brush. Tick
check later. You two take the left
side.
(hands some mags of ammo
to the girls and laughs)
Lyme Disease is a bastard.
RUTH
Oh, for fucks' sake. Is the whole
world trying to kill us? C'mon,
Alice, let's go.
ALICE
Easy for you to say. I just wish I
could stop being frightened.
KAT FERRERS
No, Alice. Stay frightened. That's
how you keep safe. Weaponize your
fear. Surf it like you're riding a
wave.
ALICE (V.O.)
When Kat said that, it was like a
zillion-lumen lightbulb switched
on. I've been terrified my whole
life. Always running from fear. I
never thought to use it. Usually,
the world comes at me all at once.
Sounds, shapes, colors — too
bright, too loud, too close. Like
everything's shouting. But now...
Every sound had a place.
(MORE)
ALICE (V.O.) (CONT'D)
Every shadow had a shape. I wasn't
drowning in sensation. I was riding
it. I knew where I was. Really
weird, I felt, for once, at home in
the world - with a Glock in my
hand.
Cautiously, Alice and Ruth go through the trees to the
clearing where the burned-out ruins of Kat's house and barn
are. They pass statues of nymphs and satyrs placed in the
woods. When they emerge, Kat stands amidst the blackened
timbers and rubble.
Genres:
["Thriller","Action","Drama"]
Ratings
Scene
42 -
Secrets and Shadows
EXT. SCYTHIAN RISE - THE COTTAGE - CONTINUOUS
The stone cottage with a slate roof remains untouched, except
for the door, which has been knocked in. Police tape is
everywhere.
INT. SCYTHIAN RISE - THE COTTAGE - CONTINUOUS
Kat, followed closely by the girls glancing nervously over
their shoulders, enters the cottage. She reaches up inside
the chimney and pulls hard on something. The hearth swings
away, revealing steps going down. A light goes on.
KAT FERRERS
A fantastic old cottage. Dates
back to before the Civil War. It
belonged to Mary Bankes, defender
of Corfe Castle from the
Parliamentarians. She built secret
rooms underneath the cottage and
the tunnel, which pops out several
hundred yards down the hill. I
just... tidied it up.
They descend the steps into a large room well-equipped with
sofas and a desk featuring monitors that relay CCTV footage
of the main road and various aspects of the surrounding area.
There is a small kitchenette and a large, wall-mounted gun
locker.
KAT FERRERS (CONT’D)
We kip on the sofas. Cosy but
manageable. I'll be back in a mo,
just going to make sure the motor’s
well tucked away.
Kat leaves via the stairs. Alice and Ruth track her on the
monitors as she makes it to the car and drives down the road
towards the cottage. She then parks it off to the side under
some large trees.
ALICE
Full of surprises.
RUTH
This war has been planned for
years. I just hope Kat knows what
she's doing and we're not pawns to
be sacrificed so she can checkmate
the queen. But what are we going to
do, Alice? We're not killers.
Alice looks at her.
ALICE
Not sure if those dead guys in Bath
would agree.
RUTH
Oh, God. I'd forgotten for a
moment. I see his surprised face
whispering in my dreams “don’t
shoot.”
ALICE
Better his surprised face in your
dreams than your ghost haunting
his.
RUTH
True. "Not where he eats, but where
he is eaten."
ALICE
Bravo. Good old Bill. A verse for
every occasion.
RUTH
You remember old Bosley and his
favorite lines? When Odysseus went
down to Hades?
ALICE
Who could forget?
RUTH
(deliberately deepening
her voice)
Do not, illustrious Odysseus, make
light of death;
(MORE)
RUTH (CONT’D)
I would rather be a paid servant in
a poor man’s house and be above
ground,
Than king of kings among the dead.
ALICE (V.O.)
I didn’t tell Ruth, then. But
that's when I began to think that
ghosts are the price the living pay
for being alive. And the days ahead
were to gather more for the
collection.
Kat returns. She goes to a shelf, pulls out an Ordnance
Survey map, which she opens and spreads on the table.
KAT FERRERS
Weather's good for kayaking. Small
fishing boats from across the
channel can get close enough to
shore for kayakers to reach them
and swap lifejackets.
She points at the map.
KAT FERRERS (CONT’D)
They often come in to shore at
Chapman's Pool, Kimmeridge, or
Worbarrow Bay.
ALICE
Is it worth the trouble?
KAT FERRERS
A kayaker's lifejacket could carry
two kilograms of fentanyl, worth
anywhere from £200 to £400 thousand
wholesale. Cut and on the street -
maybe £10,000,000.
RUTH
Holy Shit!
KAT FERRERS
We need to get some eyes on your
homes. No telling what Lavinia's
next move might be.
ALICE
Are our families at risk?
KAT FERRERS
One lifejacket equals £10,000,000.
What do you think?
ALICE
We're wasting time sitting here.
She stands up.
KAT FERRERS
You might as well park your
backsides. It's midday. We're not
going anywhere ‘til well into
night. Make yourselves comfortable.
I'm gonna grab some shut-eye in a
mo.
She opens her laptop to the peacock chessboard. Studies it
for a moment and then presses some keys.
KAT FERRERS (CONT’D)
What’s your next move gonna be?
She then lies on a sofa.
Ruth and Alice exchange glances. Almost immediately, a soft
snore emerges from Kat.
ALICE
Napping? At a time like this?
RUTH
Unbelievable.
Alice starts lifting her shirt, turning around and presenting
her back to Ruth.
RUTH (CONT’D)
What on earth are you doing? I
don't want to see your naked body.
ALICE
We might as well check each other
for ticks. Lyme Disease can be
really nasty.
Genres:
["Thriller","Action","Drama"]
Ratings
Scene
43 -
Night Operations
EXT. BOURNEMOUTH - NEAR MEYRICK PARK - NIGHT
They drive down leafy, affluent, and slightly secluded inner
suburban streets. Scattered among the large family homes are
houses that have been converted into care homes, Bed and
Breakfasts, or student accommodation.
ALICE
(sniffing)
I live near here. My house backs
onto the park.
KAT FERRERS
Perfect.
They drive past Alice's house, which she, slumped down in the
front seat beside Kat, points out with a finger. The streets
are deserted. The houses dark. Kat parks the car near Pug's
Hole, a ten-acre nature reserve named after a local smuggler.
She opens the boot and hands the girls night vision
binoculars and a Glock each.
KAT FERRERS (CONT’D)
Hush, stuff the guns in your
jackets. Just in case.
ALICE
Oh, God. Mum'll kill me if I shoot
one of the neighbors by mistake.
RUTH
She’ll certainly kill you if you
shoot one of them on purpose.
They approach the back of Alice's house. Kat carefully scans
the area, looking for a clear line of sight on the house
through the trees. Once she finds it, she indicates to Alice.
KAT FERRERS
Look closely here. Notice anything?
Alice looks through the binoculars, and on a tree about
twenty yards from the back of the house, she notices a
birdhouse. There is a glint of light in it.
ALICE
Yeah, Dad's put up a birdhouse in a
tree.
KAT FERRERS
Now, I want you and Ruth to walk up
to the back of the house. Very
slowly and quietly. Then turn
around and walk back.
ALICE
Why?
KAT FERRERS
There’s a infra-red camera in that
birdhouse. I want them to know
you're about and to think we're
careless.
ALICE
What's the advantage of that?
KAT FERRERS
We want them to be overconfident -
they're killers. You're
schoolgirls. It gives an edge.
RUTH
Oh, fuck. That's our edge? Make the
trained killers overconfident? Who
taught you how to play chess?
KAT FERRERS
An overconfident trained killer
looks at you and sees a couple of
scared schoolgirls. Gives you an
extra couple of seconds.
ALICE
We are fucking scared schoolgirls.
How many extra seconds does that
give them?
Without warning, Kat swings at Alice, who effortlessly pats
the punch away.
KAT FERRERS
You’ve been practicing. Muscle
memory takes over. Two seconds is
all you'll need.
Without another word, Alice and Ruth walk up to the back of
the house and then turn and walk back to the woods. While
they are up at the house, Kat fixes a couple of small, motion-
activated trail cams to some trees.
Genres:
["Thriller","Action","Drama"]
Ratings
Scene
44 -
The Trap Unfolds
INT. THE VITALE ESTATE IN BRANKSOME - CONFERENCE ROOM - DAY
Lavinia sits in the conference room, looking out onto a
garden where an ornamental peacock stands. A speaker
occasionally emits a plaintive, repetitive cry.
Grimaldi enters and glances up at the speaker.
LAVINIA
Not a word, Robert or I'll have
Leno turn you into Roberta.
Grimaldi swallows.
ROBERT GRIMALDI
Look, Boss.
He picks up a remote control, presses a button, and on a wall-
mounted video screen, Alice and Ruth appear walking towards
the back of Alice's house.
ROBERT GRIMALDI (CONT’D)
Got this in the early hours of the
morning.
LAVINIA
Play it again.
She watches it intently.
LAVINIA (CONT’D)
We got nothing. Kat knew we would
be watching the house. All we have
are two homesick teenage girls
approaching the house and then
backing away. What's she up to?
She's too fucking clever to make
this kind of mistake unless it's
deliberate... She wants us to think
she is being careless, so we'll be
overconfident.
ROBERT GRIMALDI
Perhaps Kat is just being careless.
LAVINIA
Kat is never careless. Not when she
was a sniper. Not when she did
dirty ops. I've never known her to
make a mistake. You think she's
making a mistake. Bang. You're dead
before your body hits the ground.
And these two schoolgirls aren't
schoolgirls anymore. They've been
trained by the best - they won't
know yet what they are... how good
they are, but ask those dead
fuckwits in Bath. I want you to
catch them... understand... catch
them... and bring them to me. I
don't want two schoolgirls shot
dead in the Dorset countryside.
When we have them, safe and sound,
we can dispose of them. Safe and
sound.
She dismisses Grimaldi with a wave of her hand. She plays the
tape again.
LAVINIA (CONT’D)
Where are you and your rabbits
hiding, clever bitch?
Genres:
["Thriller","Crime","Drama"]
Ratings
Scene
45 -
Tactical Resolve
INT. SCYTHIAN RISE - THE COTTAGE - MORNING
Alice, Ruth and Kat are drinking coffee.
Kat puts her coffee down, picks her Glock from the table,
quickly disassembles it and starts cleaning it. Alice,
frowning while she watches Kat, runs her finger along the rim
of her cup.
ALICE
Challenge.
KAT FERRERS
Go ahead.
ALICE
I think you're wrong. Lavinia knows
you. She knows you won't make a
careless mistake - you want her to
think you’re being careless, so
they'll be overconfident - but they
won't be.
KAT FERRERS
Exactly right.
Alice rolls her eyes and looks up at the ceiling.
ALICE
Well, how the fuck does that give
us an edge?
KAT FERRERS
Lavinia is cold, ruthless and
intelligent. She won't get
overconfident. But no matter what
she tells her men, some of them
will.
ALICE
Kinda like chess but with dead
bodies instead of pawns.
KAT FERRERS
Something like that.
Alice and Ruth pick up their Glocks, disassemble them and
start cleaning. Alice pauses her cleaning.
ALICE
You almost sound as if you admire
her.
KAT FERRERS
I do. She was my C.O. when I served
on some ops. She was bloody good.
RUTH
What happened?
KAT FERRERS
I was a sniper. I refused to take
out a target - wife and kids right
there.
RUTH
And?
KAT FERRERS
She had me pulled for
insubordination. Said I endangered
the whole op.
ALICE
But then you worked for her?
KAT FERRERS
We both respect talent. She pays
well. Has a good network for other
jobs. Business. I was right not to
take out the target. I hate the
bitch. She was right that I
disobeyed an order.
ALICE
But all the drugs you ran shotgun
on, all the lives ruined.
Kat shrugs.
KAT FERRERS
If not me, someone else. Snipers
learn concealment, patience and
when to take the shot. The clock's
ticking.
ALICE
That's cold.
KAT FERRERS
Fact. You've each taken a life.
Choice: stop this now, and Lavinia
will find you, kill you and maybe
your families.
ALICE
Heard that before.
KAT FERRERS
'Cause it's true. Your choice now:
you kill or you die. Cold fact. Our
edge - Lavinia isn't going to want
the bodies of two dead schoolgirls
sprawled across the countryside.
She's got to try to take us alive.
Alice pauses, thinks for a moment, quickly reassembles the
Glock and takes aim at an imaginary target.
Kat smiles and salutes her. She turns to look at Ruth. Ruth
is sitting with the Glock in her lap, casually pointed at
Kat.
KAT FERRERS (CONT’D)
Muzzle discipline.
Ruth angles the gun away from Kat and glances at Alice.
RUTH
I love Alice, maybe not in the way
she wants. I know she loves me,
too. We won't be forgiving if you
let us down.
Alice nods and takes aim at another imaginary target.
Genres:
["Thriller","Crime","Drama"]
Ratings
Scene
46 -
Vigilance at Dawn
EXT. THE PURBECK HILLS ABOVE KIMMERIDGE BAY - DAWN
Lying camouflaged by scrub, beneath some trees, Kat, Ruth and
Alice train binoculars on Kimmeridge Bay. There are a few
cars and motorhomes parked in the car park. Otherwise,
nothing moves.
Then they notice two men carrying kayaks down to the beach
and paddling out.
Kat isn't watching them. She uses her binoculars to scan the
nearby area.
KAT FERRERS
Got you, you bastard.
ALICE
What are we doing here? Are those
kayakers Lavinia's men?
KAT FERRERS
Probably, but I am looking for the
hunters who are hunting for us and
waiting for us to hit the runners.
ALICE
Where are they?
Kat indicates with her hand. Alice trains her binoculars in
the direction Kat has pointed and sees a man, in camouflage
gear, sheltering and holding a rifle. Kat points again in a
different direction, and Alice picks out another man.
KAT FERRERS
A couple of useless muppets. Too
easy to find. Deliberately.
ALICE
What'll we do?
KAT FERRERS
Nothing. We just wait until they
leave. Just in case they are
plants, and the real business is
waiting for us to try to take them
out.
ALICE
I need to wee.
RUTH
Me too.
KAT FERRERS
Wee then. Just don't move.
Genres:
["Thriller","Action"]
Ratings
Scene
47 -
Tension in the Hills and Shadows of the Estate
EXT. THE PURBECK HILLS ABOVE KIMMERIDGE BAY - LATER
The men return with their kayaks, look anxiously around, and
in the direction of the hidden gangsters. One touches an
earpiece. They walk up with the kayaks, put them on a car and
drive off. Soon, there is the sound of a quad bike, and the
two hidden gangsters leave. Alice makes an effort to stand
up. Kat puts a restraining hand on her.
KAT FERRERS
Wait.
After a few moments, the sound of another quad bike is heard
and two men, whom they hadn't seen before, leave.
KAT FERRERS (CONT’D)
We were meant to see those useless
muppets.
ALICE
And now we know their tactics.
Poorly hide some decoy guns which
we go for and then the real pros
spring the trap.
KAT FERRERS
Spot on. One of the first things I
learned in the field was to wait
and not move. First to move was
often first to die.
ALICE (V.O.)
Kat had never moved first. I
wondered, just then, for a guilty
moment, how different it would’ve
been if she had died faraway.
A FLASH IMAGE of Kat in camouflage gear, lying face down,
blood staining the ground around her. Shadows obscure the men
standing over her, prodding her lifeless body with their
boots.
INT. THE VITALE ESTATE IN BRANKSOME - CONFERENCE ROOM - DAY
Lavinia sits at the head of the table, around which are
Grimaldi, Catada, and Manfred, wearing their accountant
suits.
Leno and two of his men stand off to the side — still in
their beach op gear: matte-grey tactical jackets, sand-caked
boots, and black gloves tucked into their belts.
LENO
No show. I think if she was there
she would've shown.
Lavinia picks up the black king from the chessboard and,
sighting down it, tracks an imaginary target. Then swivels it
toward Grimaldi, Catada, and Manfred who squirm almost
imperceptibly. A smile curls up the corners of her mouth.
LAVINIA
Maybe. But I know Kat. The first
one of us to make a mistake...
Checkmate! With a bullet.
She turns her attention to the chessboard beside her. The men
look at each other and then quickly exit the room.
Genres:
["Thriller","Action","Drama"]
Ratings
Scene
48 -
Dancing the Justice Quadrille
INT. SCYTHIAN RISE - THE COTTAGE - NIGHT
Kat comes to the table with plates of steak, chips, and
broccoli.
KAT FERRERS
We need to keep our strength up.
This has been the easy bit.
RUTH
What next? Disguise ourselves as
cow patties?
KAT FERRERS
What’d you learn today?
Alice points at a pile of wet clothes in a corner and turns
her coffee cup upside down. Kat gives her the thumbs up.
INT. SCYTHIAN RISE - THE COTTAGE - MORNING
Kat, brow furrowed, is sitting at the table with a cup of
coffee, studying her peacock chessboard. Occasionally she
goes to tap on the keyboard, hesitates for a moment and then
puts her hands on the table. Ruth is still asleep on one of
the sofas when Alice walks in from the washroom.
ALICE
Well, Grandmaster Kat. What's our
next move? And more importantly,
dare I have a cup of coffee or am I
likely to have to wee myself again?
KAT FERRERS
I’m gonna assume you've learned
bladder control. We're going to
stir up the wasps again.
ALICE
I'm not sure I wouldn't rather wet
myself. Last time you said that, I
shot someone.
Ruth groggily stirs herself awake.
RUTH
Coffee. If I have to shoot someone,
please, coffee first.
Alice pours Ruth a cup and brings it to her, which she takes
eagerly.
ALICE
Kat said we're going to poke the
wasps' nest, again.
RUTH
I thought I heard that. Then
decided I was having a nightmare. I
don't want to shoot anyone else.
The last guy rented out a big space
in my dreams.
Kat looks at her, and an unspoken question mark hangs in the
air.
RUTH (CONT’D)
Alright! Alright! If I fucking well
have to shoot someone, I will.
Doesn't mean I have to want to.
(to Kat)
You're nearly as literal as Alice.
ALICE
Hey, you know it upsets me when you
say that.
TITLE CARD: DANCING THE JUSTICE QUADRILLE
Genres:
["Thriller","Drama","Action"]
Ratings
Scene
49 -
Strategic Tensions at Scythian Rise
INT. SCYTHIAN RISE - THE COURTYARD - MORNING
Alice meanders through the courtyard in the morning sun,
listening to the squawking of hens and geese. A gander turns
his attentions on a goose which turns and pecks at him. The
gander retreats.
ALICE
Don’t take any shit, Penthesilea.
INT. SCYTHIAN RISE - THE COTTAGE - CONTINUOUS
Alice enters the cottage to find Ruth and Kat poring over an
ordnance survey map of the Purbecks.
RUTH
Kat says it’s time to set things up
for the endgame.
ALICE
I'm frightened to ask what you have
in mind, Kat.
KAT FERRERS
We war game it. Assess, plan, weigh
the risks, execute.
ALICE
Two words I don't like.
ALICE (V.O.)
A chill ran through me when I heard
the words ‘risks’ and ‘execute.’I
hate uncertainty. I like things
planned, precise, predictable — the
three P’s. For me, ‘uncertainty’s’
the real C-word.
KAT FERRERS
As Old Bos might say - easy to send
her gang to Hades one at a time.
Alice picks up a Glock from the table and sights an imaginary
target.
ALICE
What would Old Bos say if he saw me
like this? Bet his eyes wouldn’t
wander so much.
RUTH
Why don't we do that, then?
KAT FERRERS
Alice?
ALICE
We have to finish off Lavinia and
her gang in one go. A string of
bodies? The police will swarm like
a rash. Lavinia will still be
alive. We and our families will
still be at risk.
KAT FERRERS
A cigar for Alice - oops, sorry, I
forgot, you can barely smoke a
joint.
ALICE
(sighing)
True, but if you’ve got one, I'll
give it another go... So what are
we going to do, Kat? Storm
Lavinia's house with guns blazing.
My dad made me watch Butch Cassidy
and the Sundance Kid. That ended
well for them, didn't it?
RUTH
So, what are we going to do, Kat?
KAT FERRERS
History. Back three thousand years
and look to the city of Troy.
ALICE
We're going to disguise ourselves
as peacocks?
Kat opens her laptop.
KAT FERRERS
Good guess, but not quite. I told
you this has been in the planning
for a long time.
ON SCREEN
SPLENDID DESCENT:
ORNAMENTAL PEACOCKS FOR THE DISCERNING
Beneath the name are numerous pictures of different
ornamental peacocks at a premium price.
BACK TO SCENE
KAT FERRERS (CONT’D)
Lavinia loves peacocks. She's got
several of mine and other bits and
pieces purchased over the years.
ALICE
I get it. She's thinks she’s Juno,
Jove's wife.
RUTH
Explain.
ALICE
Bosley would love me. Ruth, Kat -
stand up.
Both stand.
ALICE (CONT’D)
Ruth, you’re Io. Kat, you’re
jealous Juno. I’m Jove. I lust
after Io and turn you into a cow to
throw Juno off the track. Kat,
cover your eyes and pretend you
can’t see.
Kat puts both hands over her eyes.
ALICE (CONT’D)
But Juno is still suspicious. Kat,
say, “give me the cow.”
KAT FERRERS
Give me the cow.
Alice takes Ruth’s hand and leads her to Kat.
ALICE
Juno then has hundred-eyed Argus to
watch and keep an eye on Io. Kat,
pretend to be Argus.
Kat opens her eyes wide, staring at Ruth.
ALICE (CONT’D)
Jove sends Mercury, that’s me, to
put Argus to sleep. Kat, pretend to
fall asleep.
Kat slumps on to one of the sofas. Alice stealthily
approaches, pretends to draw a sword and chop off Argus’
head.
ALICE (CONT’D)
Jove turns Argus into a peacock as
a tribute. Open your eyes, Kat.
Kat opens her eyes.
ALICE (CONT’D)
The end.
RUTH
I’m not sure I liked you calling me
a cow.
ALICE
Mooooo.
KAT FERRERS
Yes, Lavinia has had the peacocks
for quite a while. But the eyes are
mine.
RUTH
I love the eye-rony.
Kat laughs, then pauses, and looks at them seriously.
KAT FERRERS
One of you needs to be captured.
RUTH ALICE
What? You fucking having a laugh?
KAT FERRERS
No. It's strategic. Volunteer?
ALICE
What's the strategy?
KAT FERRERS
Get captured. Tell Lavinia where
we’re hiding.
RUTH
Why not just call her on the phone?
KAT FERRERS
Captured - she'll threaten you with
torture.
ALICE
Oh. My. God.
Ruth gags and heaves as if she is about to vomit.
KAT FERRERS
You tell her where we are. She
sends some of the gang. Then, when
her forces are split, we rescue
you.
ALICE
What if whoever is captured is a
corpse?
KAT FERRERS
Small risk. She's going to want to
make sure she has all three of us.
She won't expect that you let
yourself be captured. That gives us
the edge.
ALICE
I. Think. You. Are. Nuts.
KAT FERRERS
Come outside.
She picks up a small ornamental peacock from the desk and
exits the cottage.
Genres:
["Thriller","Action","Drama"]
Ratings
Scene
50 -
The Explosive Demonstration
EXT. SCYTHIAN RISE - THE COURTYARD - CONTINUOUS
Kat carries the peacock into the middle of the courtyard
about fifty yards away. Immediately, chickens and geese cluck
around it.
KAT FERRERS
Chase those birds away into their
coops and come back.
Alice and Kat shoo the birds away, locking them in, and
return to Kat, who has her smartphone out.
ON SCREEN
A live shot of them looking in the direction of the peacock.
BACK TO SCENE
Kat touches her smartphone.
ON SCREEN
A live shot of the surrounding barn.
BACK TO SCENE
ALICE
We’ve seen what they can do.
Kat moves back towards the cottage, tucking herself behind a
wall. She gestures for the girls to join her.
Kat touches another button. There is a loud BANG, and the
peacock's tail explodes, sending fragments of glass and
bronze shrapnel across the yard. Chickens and geese squawk.
RUTH
The sting really is in the tail. If
I ever see them again, I’ll tell my
parents not to buy any garden
ornaments from you.
Genres:
["Thriller","Action","Drama"]
Ratings
Scene
51 -
Strategic Tensions at Scythian Rise
INT. SCYTHIAN RISE - THE COTTAGE - CONTINUOUS
Alice and Ruth sit on a sofa, cups of coffee in hand, facing
Kat.
ALICE
Trojan Peacocks. How long you been
planning this?
KAT FERRERS
Trojan War lasted ten years. But
not that long. Well? Which of you
would be best at telling them where
we are, but nothing else?
RUTH
(squeaking, with her head
in her hands)
Me. Alice is too literal. I lie
better than her. She's a better
shot than me. Oh, God. Why can't I
be home in my bed?
KAT FERRERS
Alice, what do you think?
ALICE
I'm too scared to think.
KAT FERRERS
Ride the wave.
Alice takes some deep breaths and looks at Ruth.
ALICE
She's right. I'm too literal. I
don't lie well. I am a better shot.
I want to be home in bed, too.
RUTH
What's... What's... the plan?
KAT FERRERS
Brave girl. We go back to
Kimmeridge and ambush them as the
kayakers hit the shore. You get
taken.
ALICE
What if they just shoot her?
KAT FERRERS
Not gonna happen. Lavinia’s orders
will be for you to be taken alive.
(MORE)
KAT FERRERS (CONT’D)
Found dead after being missing for
several weeks? It’ll be headlines,
helicopters, and every blue light
in Dorset.
Kat looks at the peacock chessboard on her laptop and taps
some keys.
Ruth and Alice look at her.
ALICE
Who you playing?
KAT FERRERS
Somebody online. Sharp focus helps
clear the head.
Genres:
["Thriller","Action","Drama"]
Ratings
Scene
52 -
Social Surgery in the Garden
INT. THE VITALE ESTATE IN BRANKSOME - REAR GARDEN - EVENING
Lavinia wanders through her garden, accompanied by Leno. She
holds several long peacock feathers in her hand and
occasionally strokes her face with them. She stops by one of
her ornamental peacocks.
LAVINIA
Such beautiful birds. Darwin didn't
know what he was saying when he
said the sight of a peacock feather
made him sick.
LENO
Kat's planning something.
LAVINIA
I know, and if I know her, it'll be
good. It's such a shame, we'd have
made such a great team. If she had
only come on board with me. I
didn't understand her scruples. She
would guard the shipments of fent
but had qualms about selling it.
Said it was corrupting the young.
You can't corrupt those who aren't
corruptible. Fent just brings out
the rotten nucleus and bares it for
the world to see.
She reaches into a pocket, pulls out her knife and FLICK -the
blade gleams in the light.
LAVINIA (CONT’D)
I'm really doing society a favor,
revealing the dross and then
excising it. Like a surgeon with
cancer - it's social surgery.
Genres:
["Thriller","Crime","Drama"]
Ratings
Scene
53 -
Dawn Ambush at Kimmeridge Bay
EXT. THE PURBECK HILLS ABOVE KIMMERIDGE BAY - DAWN
As before, Kat, Ruth and Alice lie camouflaged by scrub. Kat
scours the surrounding area with her binoculars.
She identifies the two hidden guards and then the other
guards.
KAT FERRERS
Muppets. Same spot as the other
day. Days gone by, these guys
would've been on the 'no' pile.
Lavinia wouldn't make that mistake.
ALICE (V.O)
I saw Kat lying there, cool as a
cucumber, and I hated her. I felt I
was shaking so hard I thought the
ground would be vibrating all
around me. There aren't words to
describe how terrified I felt. I
just knew I would die if anything
happened to Ruth.
Two men carry kayaks down to the beach and paddle out.
EXT. THE PURBECK HILLS ABOVE KIMMERIDGE BAY - LATER
KAT FERRERS
This is the play. And for God's
sake, don't shoot anyone.
EXT. THE PURBECK HILLS ABOVE KIMMERIDGE BAY – LATER
Kat, Alice, and Ruth lie low in the scrub. Kat’s eyes are cold,
watchful, tracking movement below. Both Alice and Ruth are
wearing their White Rabbit T-shirts underneath loose
sweatshirts.
On the sand, two exhausted KAYAKERS drag their boats ashore and
dump them.
Kat gives a small, sharp hand signal. She moves first, silent as
a shadow. Alice swallows her nerves, then follows.
EXT. KIMMERIDGE BAY – MOMENTS LATER
Kat and Alice close in. Kat strikes — fast, precise — a pressure
point at the first man’s neck. He crumples soundlessly.
Alice seizes the second, twisting his arm into a joint lock.
Pain floods his face. He drops, whimpering, unable to cry out.
They strip the fentanyl-packed lifejackets, quick and practiced.
Down the beach, Ruth stumbles into view, clutching her ankle.
She lets out a soft, pained moan.
EXT. ROCK POOLS AT KIMMERIDGE BAY – CONTINUOUS
Two GUARDS break cover, rifles low but ready. They spot Ruth —
injured, alone.
Their pace is cautious, but casual. Easy prey.
One grabs her roughly, the other snaps plastic cuffs onto her
wrists. A grin passes between them.
EXT. CLIFF RECESS – CONTINUOUS
Kat and Alice melt back into the shadows, lifejackets in hand.
Kat’s face hardens into grim satisfaction.
The trap has sprung. The plan is working.
Genres:
["Thriller","Action","Drama"]
Ratings
Scene
54 -
Tea and Torture
INT. THE VITALE ESTATE IN BRANKSOME - BASEMENT ROOM - LATER
Ruth is sitting on a chair, hands in front of her in wrist
ties. Leno looks her up and down lasciviously, with a leer
which makes Ruth's flesh crawl. Ruth is now just wearing her
White Rabbit t-shirt, the sweatshirt on the floor beside her.
LAVINIA
You must be Ruth. I'm Lavinia. Cool
t-shirt.
RUTH
I know who you are. Kat told me all
about you. You're the nasty old
woman who sells drugs to children
and kills innocent bunnies.
LAVINIA
Pretty accurate description. But
I'm the nasty old woman who has you
sitting in a chair with your hands
tied. So you'd better be a bit more
polite.
She approaches Ruth, who cowers, and Lavinia pulls her hair
back.
LAVINIA (CONT’D)
Leno here would love it if I left
him alone with you for a while.
He’d like to cuddle up with a
lovely white bunny. Wouldn't you,
Leno?
Leno grins and licks his lips. He reaches out a hand to Ruth.
Lavinia slaps it away.
LAVINIA (CONT’D)
Not yet, Leno. Now, I don't really
care if I have to torture you or
not to get the information I want.
I tried sadism, and it didn’t
really do it for me. I’m interested
in the pragmatics. On the other
hand, Leno here... well, we’re all
designed differently.
RUTH
(gasping)
Torture? This isn't the fucking
Middle Ages. But I promise you
won't have to torture me. I'll tell
you anything. Just let me go home.
That's all I want.
LAVINIA
But you were one of the girls who
killed my men in Bath.
RUTH
I feel like I'm in a movie with
caricatures of scary villains.
LAVINIA
(laughing)
That's a gutsy thing for you to
say. My men could do with some of
those balls. Now. Where's Kat and
Alice?
Leno twirls a knife.
RUTH
You don't have to torture me. I
hate pain. I'll tell you everything
you want to know. I'll even tell
you more... They're hiding out in
the old stone cottage at Scythian
Rise. Your men aren't very
thorough. The cottage has a secret
basement accessed through a switch
in the chimney. Kat has CCTV set up
all through the place. She'll see
you coming.
LAVINIA
What if you're a plant? What if Kat
set you up to be captured? And my
men walk into an ambush.
RUTH
Look. Do I look like someone Kat
would trust with a plan? For fuck's
sake, I'm a scared shitless A-level
student. I hoped to go to uni this
year. I don't even know what my
grades were. If Kat set me up to be
captured, she's a bitch, and I hope
she catches the first boat across
the Styx.
LAVINIA
I think you are a scared shitless A-
level student. Leno, send some of
the men to take Kat and Alice and
bring them here. Tell them they
will be expected. But I want them
alive, if possible.
(to Ruth)
I'll keep you alive until you're
all together. In the meantime, cup
of tea?
RUTH
Under the circumstances, two sugars
please.
Lavinia laughs.
Genres:
["Thriller","Crime","Drama"]
Ratings
Scene
55 -
The Rescue Plan
INT. SCYTHIAN RISE - THE COTTAGE - DAY
Alice is pacing back and forth. Kat sits, focusing on her
peacock chessboard game.
ALICE
What if they torture and kill her?
KAT FERRERS
Not yet. They'll wait till they
have us all. Wouldn't risk snuffing
out their only lead to us.
ALICE
What do we do now?
KAT FERRERS
Wait. They won't attack until it's
dark. We won't be here.
ALICE
Where are we going to be?
KAT FERRERS
We, with our...
(smiling)
cavalry of Trojan peacocks, are
going to ride to rescue Ruth. Kill
Lavinia and the men there. Her
forces will be spilt with some
chasing our ghosts here.
ALICE
Jesus. Cavalry of Trojan
peacocks... another Dad joke.
INT. SCYTHIAN RISE - THE COTTAGE - NIGHT
Kat, who has been asleep on the sofa, wakes.
KAT FERRERS
Sleep at all?
ALICE
God, your sense of humor is as bad
as Dad's.
KAT FERRERS
Well, I've never met your dad, but
from what you've told me about him,
he’d say, "Time to saddle up,
Pardner."
Alice groans.
Kat opens the gun locker, pulls out an assault rifle and
another Glock, which she stuffs in her belt. She casually
throws several magazines to Alice.
KAT FERRERS (CONT’D)
Just in case your aim is off. But
remember, we're surfing the wave to
save Ruth.
ALICE (V.O)
I was so glad she said that. It
snapped me into a different frame
of mind. Everything seemed more
distinct, clear, sharp. There was a
purpose. The universe wasn't
random, meaningless, or
overwhelming. Save Ruth. My
touchstone. And, with a Glock in
hand, I once again felt at home in
the world.
EXT./INT. KAT'S CAR - NIGHT
They are nearly at the Vitale mansion when Kat's phone sounds
an alarm.
She pulls over to the side of the road.
ON PHONE
EXT. SCYTHIAN RISE - THE LANE, WOODS, COURTYARD AND COTTAGE -
NIGHT
Motion sensitive cameras in the various statues planted along
the side of the lane towards Scythian Rise and in the woods
lining the lane show upwards of six heavily armed men
creeping towards the cottage.
Using a police grade enforcer they knock down the door, and
swarm in.
BACK TO SCENE
KAT FERRERS
Where did she get these idiots
from?
ON PHONE
Genres:
["Action","Thriller","Drama"]
Ratings
Scene
56 -
Strategic Sacrifice
INT. SCYTHIAN RISE - THE COTTAGE - CONTINUOUS
The men can be seen looking at a small bronze peacock with
flashing eyes in the tail.
It explodes, sending glass and bronze shrapnel across the
room.
Two of the men are down, the others stagger outside.
EXT. THE LANE - CONTINUOUS
As they make their way down the lane, various of the nymphs
and fauns explode.
None make it to the cars.
BACK TO SCENE
ALICE
Why didn't you blow them up before,
when they torched Scythian Rise?
KAT FERRERS
Chess strategy. I'm playing the
long game. Sometimes a sacrifice or
two is necessary. That would've
made Lavinia suspicious about the
statues in her garden.
ALICE
And when the police investigate
later? Won't forensics tie this to
your business?
KAT FERRERS
No, all exploding statues were
smuggled in separately. No
connection. Dummy import companies,
shell buyers, false customs codes.
If anyone traces it back, it dead-
ends in Panama.
ALICE
(admiringly)
Fuck. That's planning.
KAT FERRERS
I'll teach you how to play chess.
Genres:
["Thriller","Crime","Action"]
Ratings
Scene
57 -
Tension at the Vitale Estate
EXT. THE VITALE ESTATE IN BRANKSOME - NIGHT
Several armed guards patrol the estate through the dark.
INT. THE VITALE ESTATE IN BRANKSOME - CONFERENCE ROOM -
CONTINUOUS
Lavinia sits looking at her chessboard. Grimaldi, Catada, and
Manfred slouch nearby, looking ill at ease, having swapped
their accountant suits for fatigues. Manfred is reading his
book. They nestle guns in their laps.
CATADA
How’s the book, Manny? Any tips for
us?
MANFRED
Stay outta New York clam bars.
LAVINIA
Any word yet from those muppets we
sent to the cottage?
The screech of a peacock echoes from a speaker.
LAVINIA (CONT’D)
Should've heard from them by now.
GRIMALDI
Signal can be pretty bad out there,
but they're probably on their way
back with them.
LAVINIA
Things are never certain with Kat.
As if on cue, a small explosion BOOM followed by a SCREAM
blasts from the speakers.
LAVINIA (CONT’D)
Kill them if you have to. Now get
out there.
The three men hurriedly exit the room but not before Manfred
carefully places his book, face down on his chair, open at
his place. Lavinia looks at her chessboard and smiles.
LAVINIA (CONT’D)
You clever bitch.
Genres:
["Thriller","Action","Drama"]
Ratings
Scene
58 -
Pursuit and Resolve
EXT. THE VITALE ESTATE IN BRANKSOME - REAR GARDEN -
CONTINUOUS
After the explosion of one of the statues, Kat and Alice move
silently through the garden. They come across the wounded man
gasping for breath. Kat doesn't pause but shoots him as they
go by.
ALICE (V.O)
I felt scared but in a different
way. The universe wasn't
threatening to crush me. Every
sound, every sight seemed distinct.
Everything was focused on one
mantra: Save Ruth. There was no
other purpose.
They round a corner, and two guards are coming towards them.
Kat shoots one. Alice shoots the other and quickly steps over
the body. Kat pauses to look at Alice with a slightly puzzled
look on her face.
ALICE (CONT’D)
I had to. He was in the way. Ruth.
Kat nods in understanding. They duck down behind a wall. She
looks at her phone.
ON PHONE
One of the remote cameras has picked up Catada and Manfred
approaching them, with Grimaldi behind.
BACK TO SCENE
Kat pushes a button. The peacock explodes and Catada and
Manfred, showered with shrapnel, lie bleeding on the ground.
Grimaldi limps back to the house.
Manfred looks down at the blood leaking out of him. He looks
up at Kat.
MANFRED
No way for a gangster to go. Killed
by a peacock. Fuck.
He reaches for his gun.
Both Kat and Alice shoot him before following a badly wounded
Grimaldi into the house.
INT. THE VITALE ESTATE IN BRANKSOME - CONFERENCE ROOM -
CONTINUOUS
Kat and Alice enter the conference room. Grimaldi lies
slumped on the floor. He raises his arm. Kat shoots him.
Lavinia sits calmly at the table.
LAVINIA
She's downstairs in the basement
with Leno.
(MORE)
LAVINIA (CONT’D)
Which one of you is going to stay
with me and which one rescue what's
left of Ruth?
ALICE
I'll go. It's what I was born for.
Genres:
["Action","Thriller","Drama"]
Ratings
Scene
59 -
Desperate Measures
INT. THE VITALE ESTATE IN BRANKSOME - BASEMENT ROOM -
CONTINUOUS
Alice enters the room, gun raised. She freezes.
Leno stands with a knife at Ruth's throat, a cruel smile on his
face. He yanks Ruth back against his body, using her as a human
shield.
LENO
Look who it is. Another White
Rabbit. Now drop the gun. Or your
girlfriend gets it.
Alice’s hands begin to tremble. Her aim, so steady at the range,
is gone. Her breath hitches. Her gaze, wild with panic, darts
from the gun to Ruth, to Leno. Her terror is palpable.
LENO (CONT’D)
She's useless, ain't she? A useless
little girl.
Alice's eyes find Ruth's face. She sees the fear, the
helplessness. A wave of stillness washes over Alice. The tremor
in her hands disappears. Her gaze locks on the small gap between
Leno’s head and Ruth’s shoulder.
She ignores the probability. She ignores the risk. She just sees
Ruth. Ruth suddenly pushes back against Leno and then falls
forward.
The Glock fires. BOOM!
The bullet cuts a deep furrow on the side of Leo’s head. He
drops to the ground, clutching his head, pulling Ruth down with
him. The knife clatters on the floor.
Alice scrambles forward, shoots him point-blank in the chest.
She grabs the knife he dropped, and frantically cuts the ties on
Ruth.
RUTH
(incredulous)
Alice? That you?
Alice just stares at her hands, the gun, the dead body. She
starts to hyperventilate.
RUTH (CONT’D)
That's you.
ALICE (V.O)
With Ruth safe, my purpose vanished
and I started to panic. But I
didn't regret killing Leno. I'd
told Kat if anyone tried to kill
Ruth, I would kill them. Love and
all that. Even if unrequited.
Genres:
["Thriller","Action","Drama"]
Ratings
Scene
60 -
Checkmate at Dusk
INT. THE VITALE ESTATE IN BRANKSOME - CONFERENCE ROOM - NIGHT
Grimaldi lies lifeless by the door, blood pooling on the
floor beside him.
Lavinia sits in her chair at the conference table, chessboard
beside her. She makes a move and then types into her
smartphone. Kat's phone pings. She looks at it and shakes her
head.
LAVINIA
That should be it, Kat. Checkmate
next move.
KAT FERRERS
I know. A worthwhile sacrifice - to
let you win the game.
ALICE
You gotta be fucking kidding me.
You two been playing chess against
each other, online, all along?
KAT FERRERS
Encrypted. Location never given
away. She's the best player I know.
LAVINIA
Thanks, Kat. Same for you. Now
what? I know you're not going to
let me go. It's not you to kill an
unarmed person. You going to let
one of these twats shoot me? Put it
on my gravestone. Lavinia Vitale,
blown away by a grammar school
girl.
ALICE (V.O)
And here we are at the crux of it
all. We've got Lavinia, most of her
gang are dead or have fled.
(MORE)
ALICE (V.O) (CONT'D)
The ones Ruth and I shot were in
self- defense, sort of, but I'm not
sure that makes me feel any better.
My hands are in blood up to the
elbows. Do we sit and watch Kat
shoot her in cold blood? Then what?
KAT FERRERS
No, you’re being tried for
corrupting the young.
LAVINIA
This your idea of a joke? And who
is going to be the jury? You? These
twats? And I'm sure i'm going to be
found guilty. So who is going to do
the business?
KAT FERRERS
Ruth. Alice. Your verdict on a
defendant who smuggles in deadly
drugs and then pawns them to
vulnerable people? Is she guilty of
corrupting the youth?
LAVINIA
You can't corrupt someone who
doesn't have a rotten core. I see
myself closer to a social surgeon,
excising cancer from the social
body.
ALICE
That's ridiculous. There's nobody
who is perfect, nobody who doesn't
have a flaw. Doesn't give you the
right to feed the flaw. I think
you're guilty.
RUTH
Look at us. We were schoolgirls.
Now we're killers. And all to
protect ourselves and our families
from you. I'll never be able to hug
a teddy again. If that's not
corruption, what is?
KAT FERRERS
The jury's found you guilty.
LAVINIA
Big fucking surprise.
KAT FERRERS
Let’s trip back to 4th century
Athens. When Socrates was found
guilty of corrupting the youth of
Athens, he was given hemlock to
drink.
Kat slides a packet of open pills across the table
LAVINIA
Fuck you! You're going to have to
force feed it to me. No way I'm
touching that shit.
Kat pulls out her Beretta, twirls it around on her finger.
KAT FERRERS
Looks like we got a standoff.
Without a word she shoots Lavinia, the bullet taking off her
ear lobe. Alice and Ruth flinch. Lavinia, stoic, raises a
hand to her ear.
ALICE
Kat...
KAT FERRERS
You want to shoot her? Let her go?
ALICE
No.
KAT FERRERS
I'm going to shoot you, piece by
piece until you take the pills.
Lavinia sits silently. Looks at Alice and Ruth, sees their
troubled faces but knows there is no mercy there.
LAVINIA
Fuck you. On my terms, not yours.
She lifts the pack to her mouth and starts shoving pills in,
swallowing them dry, turning from Kat to Alice to Ruth, the
detritus spilling down her chin.
LAVINIA (CONT’D)
I'll be with the boatman, waiting
for you at the River. Fuck you.
Lavinia slumps a bit in her seat. She pulls the chessboard in
front of her. With trembling hands, she moves the black queen
and knocks over the white king.
LAVINIA (CONT’D)
Fuck you, Kat. Checkmate. I win.
She collapses headfirst on the table.
ALICE (V.O)
Not unusual. I didn't know what I
felt. Against the odds we had
beaten Lavinia and her gang. I
didn't know if I felt sorry for her
or not. I felt sorry for me. I felt
sorry for Ruth. I don't know what I
felt for Kat. I kinda of used to
know what I was, a screwed up
autistic girl who kept her routines
and plans in order not to face her
deepest fear that life was just
purposeless. Now, I didn't feel
like that, my purpose had been
making sure Ruth, I, and our
families survived. A Glock in my
hand had given me purpose. Weird or
what?
Police sirens can be heard screaming.
KAT FERRERS
We’re done. It's time to go.
FADE TO BLACK
EXT. THE HEBRIDES – DAWN
SUPER: THE HEBRIDES, WEEKS LATER
A wind-scoured beach. Endless sea blending into an endless sky.
Gulls wheel in the pale light.
Alice and Ruth walk side by side, trainers crunching on the wet
sand. From a distance, they could be any two girls on the brink
of adulthood, laughing at some private joke.
The wind gusts. Their jackets shift, revealing the hard outline
of Glocks at the small of their backs.
Ahead, a solitary figure waits by the surf — Kat.
Alice and Ruth raise their hands, waving, their laughter
carrying on the wind as they walk toward her.
Ruth takes Alice’s hand, brings it to her lips. The two of
them walk towards Kat, hand in hand.
From far away: ordinary teenagers.
Up close: something else entirely.
TITLE CARD:
“Who in the world am I? Ah, that’s the great puzzle.”
-Lewis Carroll
FADE OUT.