Scribbled Out

Psychological drama (spec script)

Time hurts. Time heals.

A charming, volatile man with dementia misses his late daughter, but an unexpected reunion reveals he wasn’t the model father he thinks he was.

An emotionally-charged psychological drama feature script with surreal, comic and suspenseful elements, Scribbled Out is The Father meets Derek.

Scribbled Out is inspired by the writer’s experience of family members living with the impact of dementia, gender dysphoria and unresolved conflict, whilst keeping up appearances.

SYNOPSIS

Gordon Barrow (70s) - charmer-curmudgeon in equal measure - lives in a medieval castle with his drained, devoted wife Eleanor (70s), his overworked, no-nonsense maid-mistress Isla (30s) and a bunch of elderly tenants he doesn’t want around. Except Gordon doesn’t live in a castle; he lives in a care home and has Alzheimer's disease. All Gordon wants is his family by his side, especially his pride and joy daughter, Donna, as well as his estranged son, Anthony. Eleanor, in desperate need of a break from visiting Gordon every day, enigmatically reveals to Isla - actually Gordon’s resilient primary carer - that he used to be a complete bastard, which explains why nobody cares to see him.

Tim (30s), an agitated career-focused loner, visits Gordon to take the load off Eleanor after she breaks down and calls him out of the blue. Gordon doesn’t recognise Tim and spirals out of control when Tim tells him he was Donna’s boyfriend, before blurting out Donna passed away. Something’s off about Tim; he subtly looks at Gordon with contempt, something Isla - who quickly forms an unrealised romantic connection with him - notices. During Tim’s visits, Gordon confusedly experiences the home as a strip club and a church, providing ample ammunition for mischievous residents Mary and Eric to tease him. Meanwhile, Anthony begrudgingly visits Gordon, but only to support Eleanor, who decides not to tell him about Tim.

Although a peculiar bond undoubtedly forms between them, Tim increasingly despises Gordon. Seeing him takes its emotional toll, while Gordon appears to relish their meetings. Alone in his room, Tim forces Gordon to look through (unseen) old photos, causing both great distress and Gordon more confusion than ever. After Gordon collapses in front of him, Tim learns from Isla that he only has weeks/months to live. This prompts Tim to angrily confront Eleanor, secretly steal her antidepressants and make numerous unsuccessful attempts to poison Gordon’s drinks, as the latter fails to grasp the hurt he caused Donna, which is all Tim really wants.

When Anthony unexpectedly arrives at the home, he is outraged to find Tim - and a spiked (untouched) glass of juice. To Gordon, Tim and Anthony appear as two boxers from the 1960s; he desperately doesn’t want them to fight. In the ring, Anthony angrily blurts out that Tim is Donna. It becomes clear that Gordon disowned Tim when he transitioned, something the old man fails to comprehend. In the aftermath, encouraged by Isla, Gordon apologises to Tim for past actions he doesn’t understand, but his son can’t forgive him, while it remains uncertain if Gordon knows who Tim really is. In a moving climax, Tim reveals to Isla he is intersex, which she accepts unquestioningly as they embrace their feelings. Gordon looks at the family photos once more. Donna’s face is scribbled out in every picture. Finally, Gordon gets what he wants: his family reunites, but only after his passing.