The Sweet Hereafter

FADE IN:

INT. SUMMER COTTAGE -- DAY

A young family together in bed. It is a bright summer

morning. Father, mother, and a three year old girl are

still asleep. They are naked. A light breeze drifts into

the room. The scene is serene and softly suspended.

Head credits appear over this idyllic image. The little

girl turns in her sleep. A dog barks outside.

CUT TO:

INT./EXT. CAR WASH. -- NIGHT

From the peaceful tableau of the sleeping family, the scene

shifts to a vehicle entering a car wash. The image is shot

through the windshield, from the driver's point of view.

The car enters the lathered world of spinning felt wheels

and gushing water.

CUT TO:

INT. CAR WASH. -- NIGHT

Inside the car MITCHELL STEPHENS, a man in his mid-fifties,

listens to a stirring piece of music. The sound of the car

wash is filtered out by the strains of music.

CUT TO:

EXT. PHONE BOOTH -- NIGHT

The phone booth is located in a rundown area of a large

city. A young woman, ZOE, enters the booth and lifts the

receiver.

CUT TO:

INT. CAR WASH. -- NIGHT

MITCHELL STEPHENS is going through the wash. The automatic

mops and buffers embrace his car with water and suds. The

cellular phone in the car rings. MITCHELL picks it up.

MITCHELL:

Yes? Yes, I'll accept the charges.

CUT TO:

INT. PHONE BOOTH -- NIGHT

ZOE is on the phone. There's a figure outside the booth

waiting for her.

ZOE:

Daddy, it's me...How are you doing?

That's great...Where are you?

What's that sound?

CUT TO:

INT. CAR WASH. -- NIGHT

MITCHELL in his car, playing with the volume on his radio.

MITCHELL:

I'm in a car wash.

CUT TO:

INT. PHONE BOOTH -- NIGHT

ZOE:

A car wash! Wow, I've never talked

to you when you've been in a car

wash. Make sure you've got the

windows closed.

CUT TO:

INT. CAR WASH. -- NIGHT

ZOE:

(over the phone)

Remember that time we were having

the car washed and I started playing

with the automatic window? How old

was I, Daddy? Five or six? I got

absolutely soaked, remember?

MITCHELL:

Why are you calling me, Zoe?

CUT TO:

INT. PHONE BOOTH -- NIGHT

ZOE:

Why am I calling you? You're my

father. I'm not supposed to call

you? What's the matter with wanting

to talk to you, Daddy?

CUT TO:

INT. CAR WASH. -- NIGHT

MITCHELL:

Nothing's wrong with trying to talk

to me, Zoe.

ZOE:

(over the phone)

So what's the problem?

MITCHELL:

The problem is I have no idea who

I'm talking to right now.

ZOE:

(over the phone)

'Cause you think I'm stoned, Daddy?

'Cause you think I've got a needle

stuck in my arm? Is that what

you're thinking, Daddy?

Pause. MITCHELL doesn't respond.

CUT TO:

INT. PHONE BOOTH -- NIGHT

ZOE:

Are you wondering if I scored,

Daddy, and I'm calling you for

money? That I'm begging? God, I

don't f***ing believe it!

CUT TO:

INT. CAR WASH. -- NIGHT

MITCHELL is emotionally stunned by ZOE'S voice. She is

heard over the phone.

ZOE:

(over the phone)

Daddy! Are you listening to me,

Daddy?!

The music that MITCHELL has been listening to becomes louder

as he stares at the spinning felt wheels of the car wash.

ZOE (CONT'D)

DADDY!!!

MITCHELL:

Yes.

ZOE:

Why can't you talk to me?

MITCHELL:

I...I just need to know what state

you're in so I know...how to talk to

you...how to act...

MITCHELL is in pain. He closes his eyes.

CUT TO:

INT. PHONE BOOTH -- NIGHT

The phone booth is deserted. ZOE is nowhere to be seen.

Over this image, the sounds of a band playing a blues

number.

CUT TO:

EXT. FAIRGROUND -- DAY

The blues number continues as the camera cranes down to the

bandstand of a country fair. A local band is rehearsing.

Around the practising band, various carpenters and

technicians are making final preparations for that evening's

big event.

One of the people watching the band is SAM BURNELL, a man in

his early forties. He watches his daughter, NICOLE, as she

sings into the microphone. NICOLE is sixteen.

NICOLE stares at her father as she sings.

ANGLE ON:

SAM looking back at his daughter. He is intensely proud of

her. SAM is a carpenter, working on at the fair site. He

gets back to his work, hammering a supporting beam into the

grandstand.

CUT TO:

INT. AIRPORT. WASHROOM -- AFTERNOON

CLOSE UP of a three year old girl, staring up into the lens.

Her face is full of sweetness and trust.

ANGLE ON:

MITCHELL STEPHENS in a crowded airport washroom, watching a

young father, PETER, trying to change the diaper on his

three year old daughter.

MITCHELL stares at the little girl, his face registering a

wistful smile. PETER is having a hard time trying to find

the towel from the toddler's bag and keeping an eye on her

at the same time.

MITCHELL:

Need a hand?

PETER:

Sure, it you could find a towel in

this bag. I know my wife packed one

in there...

MITCHELL comes forward and searches through the toddler's

bag.

MITCHELL:

You always think you're prepared for

these things.

PETER:

Tell me about it.

MITCHELL:

How old is she?

PETER:

Almost three.

MITCHELL:

(finding a towel)

Is this it?

PETER:

Perfect.

MITCHELL:

Here we go.

PETER:

Thanks.

PETER lays the towel across the counter, and dries the

little girl. MITCHELL watches as PETER puts a new diaper on

her. The toddler stares up at MITCHELL, her eyes are

playful.

MITCHELL stares at the girl's face.

CUT TO:

INT. CAR WASH. -- NIGHT

TIME CUT back to MITCHELL honking the horn of his car,

trying to get someone's attention. No response. MITCHELL

picks up his cell phone, and dials the operator.

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