Women Talking
- Year:
- 2022
- 158 Views
THE WOMEN:
THE REIMER WOMEN:
Greta, the eldest Mariche, the eldest daughter Mejal, a younger daughter of Autje, a daughter of Mariche
THE FRIESEN WOMEN:
*
Agata, the eldest, Ona, the eldest daughter of Agata Salome, a younger daughter of Agata Neitje, a niece of Salome
THE JANZ WOMEN:
Scarface, the eldest Anna, the eldest daughter Helena, the granddaughter
VISUAL NOTE:
of Scarface of Scarface/daughter of Anna
The flashbacks of trauma will be shot at 15fps and there will be a “roar” over these scenes, animal and/or machine-like.
1 EXT. SCHOOLHOUSE - MORNING 1
A BOYS FEET WALK ALONG A THIN FENCE. AARON, (13) balances on a fence. We follow him as he walks along the fence all the way along a path that leads to a barn. We follow him around the barn and the pen where a couple of YEARLINGS graze. He is followed, in complete silence, by a group of about 14 BOYS who walk on the ground beside him, watching his every move, wondering if he will fall.
Beside them walks the SCHOOL TEACHER, AUGUST, who watches him silently, willing him not to fall.
of Greta Greta
Blue Rev. (05/31/21) 2.
AARON manages to walk the entire length of the fence, around the paddock, until its end. When he is done, he hops down and the boys erupt in rapturous applause, as August watches them closely.
August looks off into the distance, where he sees a GROUP OF MEN coming towards the boys, looking stern.
AUGUST (V.O.) The attacks were originally
attributed to ghosts and demons.
2 EXT. ROAD - MORNING 2 A GROUP OF 7 WOMEN walk along a dusty road. A WIND picks up. They hold onto their hats.
3 INT. CHURCH - MORNING 3 DOZENS OF MEN bow, their heads on the floor in silent prayer.
AUGUST (V.O.) When the women woke up feeling
drowsy and in pain, their bodies bruised and bleeding, many believed they were being made to suffer as punishment for their sins.
Many accused the women of lying for attention or to cover up adultery.
4 EXT. FIELD - SUNSET (ONE WEEK PRIOR TO THE VOTE) 4
Ona, Salome, Salome’s 3 YEAR OLD DAUGHTER MIEP, and August sit in a field. They stare out over the fields, at Miep playing in the soy field.
SALOME Hundreds of times. All of us.
Salome watches Miep. They all stare in silence at her for a while. WE FOLLOW MIEP, her fragile little body, as she creates a path through the soy field, as we hear the adults’ conversation, low in the background.
CUT TO:
Pink Rev. (06/21/21) 3.
ONA They said we were dreaming.
But then we realized that we were dreaming one dream and it wasn’t a dream at all.
We come back to August’s face, tears streaming out of his eyes. He tries to quickly wipe them away. Salome looks at him, she looks away. We go with Miep, deeper into the field.
SALOME (O.S.) They told us that it was Satan. Or
the result of wild female imagination.
OVER MIEP WALKING INTO THE DISTANCE WE SEE THE FOLLOWING TEXT:
“WHAT FOLLOWS IS AN ACT OF FEMALE IMAGINATION.” OVER BLACK:
ONA (V.O.) I’m glad you’re back August. It’s
good that you came back.
5 INT. SALOME'S KITCHEN - NIGHT 5
NEITJE (15), hunches over a drawing. SALOME (35), MARICHE, (29), MEJAL (33), ONA (40), AGATA (70), and GRETA (60), AUTJE (16) watch her as she draws.
Salome points to three separate drawings as Neitje tells her what they signify. Salome points to a drawing of a field with clouds over it.
NEITJE “Do nothing.”
Salome points at a drawing of a man and a woman, knives drawn towards each other in battle.
SALOME “Stay and fight.”
Salome points to a drawing of a horse, it’s back to us.
SALOME/NEITJE Salome pats Neitje’s shoulder, approvingly.
“Leave.”
A pause.
Oh.
AUGUST:
Salmon Rev. (07/08/21) 4.
6 EXT DILAPIDATED BARN - MORNING 6 August holds a gun in his hand. He seems to be walking in
circles in the field, unsure what to do.
AUGUST (V.O.) I have been in love with Ona
Friesen for most of my life. This morning she found me, having lost my faith in everything.
We are behind Ona, walking towards him on the path. She sees the gun by his side.
ONA August.
He is startled and tries to hide the gun.
ONA (CONT'D) Where are you going?
AUGUST Nowhere.
Ona smiles at him. She thinks for a moment. She comes very close to him, her face very close to his.
ONA Early this morning I saw a squirrel
and a rabbit.
ONA The squirrel charged the rabbit.
Just as the squirrel was about to make contact with the rabbit, the rabbit leapt straight up into the air. Then the squirrel turned around and charged the rabbit from the other direction and the rabbit leapt into the air and the squirrel missed.
August looks at her, bemused.
ONA (CONT'D) They were playing!
Salmon Rev. (07/08/21)
4A.
AUGUST Is that so?
ONA Maybe I wasn’t meant to have seen
them playing. It was very early in the morning, and I was the only one roaming around.
AUGUST But you really saw that?
ONA Yes. I saw it with my own eyes.
Ona watches him closely for a long time. She takes August’s arm and pulls him with her.
ONA (CONT'D) We need you.
AUGUST What do you need me for?
ONA We need you to take the minutes of
our meeting.
She walks away. She looks behind her, to make sure he follows. He does.
NETTIE/MELVIN (25), dressed as a man, plays a game of tag with a group of 13 children of varying ages, including JULIUS (7).
Cherry Rev. (07/18/21) 5.
We follow the children closely sweat and excitement. We drift birds going by.
8 INT. HAYLOFT - EARLY AFTERNOON
in their game, and feel their up to the sky, a flock of
8
The Women (Agata, Greta, Ona, Salome, Mariche, Autje, Neitje, Mejal, Scarface, Anna and Helena)take off their socks and shoes. Some wear plastic sandals with white socks. The younger women, Neitje and Autje, wear torn canvas shoes with white socks rolled down around their ankles. Mejal and Autje have rope burns on their ankles. The older women wear sturdy leather sandals.
AGATA (V.O.) We must honour our service to each
other. We must represent it. Just as the feet of the disciples were washed by Jesus at the Last Supper, knowing that his hour had come.
The Women wash each others feet. They wash the feet of the person sitting to their right. They take time, they do it slowly. August looks at the ground, not wanting to impose himself.
As the women finish washing each others feet, they murmur “God Bless You” to each other. Neitje and Autje try to suppress giggles.
AUTJE (To Neitje, giggling and
whispering.) Stop. You’re tickling me.
NEITJE (in a solemn, grown up
voice) God Bless You.
This makes Autje laugh even harder. She tries to hide her face in her sleeve. August sits down at a table and writes in a notebook. We hear what he is writing as WE TRAVEL SLOWLY OVER THE FACE OF EACH WOMAN, sitting in silence, waiting for the discussion to begin.
AUGUST (V.O.) At this moment in time, most of the
men are gone from the colony.
(MORE)
Cherry Rev. (07/18/21) 6.
AUGUST (V.O.) (CONT'D)
All of the able bodied men, excluding those in wheelchairs, the elderly, and me, the schoolteacher, left yesterday for the city to post bail for the imprisoned attackers, leaving the women free to talk openly with one another.
We hear, on the soundtrack, the THUNDEROUS SOUND OF BOOTS. FLASHBACK TO:
9 EXT. COLONY ROAD - DAWN 9 We see endless pairs of TALL BLACK BOOTS walking quickly in the dirt. They make a thunderous, almost other-worldly noise. The MEN OF THE COLONY, including PETERS, ELDERS, and KLAAS (Mariche’s husband) gather buggies in a convoy. The WOMEN, including Mariche, Agata, Salome, Mejal, help load them up. The Women, for the most part, keep their heads down, avoiding eye contact. The Men stand with their horses, looking at the women, who stand there, across from them. Peters eyes them, monitoring. PETERS We will be back in two days. AUGUST (V.O.) When they return, in 24 hours, the women will be given the opportunity to forgive these men, guaranteeing everyone’s place in heaven. The Men get into their buggies and ride off. The Women watch them go, left in a cloud of dust behind the horses and buggies. A TREMENDOUS SOUND as they rumble off, leaving the women behind. We see them from above, the distance between the men and women becoming greater.
10 INT. HAYLOFT - EARLY AFTERNOON 10 We continue to land on the face of each woman, one by one. AUGUST (V.O.) My name is August Epp. Two months ago, I returned, from the outside world, to this colony, where I was raised.
(MORE)
Cherry Rev. (07/18/21)
AUGUST (V.O.) (CONT'D)
I am now the colony schoolteacher, and I have been asked to take the minutes of the meetings because the women are functionally illiterate, having had very little education.
We land on Ona, who watches August writing, tenderly.
6A.
Yellow Rev. (06/25/21) 7.
AUGUST (V.O.) Ona Friesen asked me if I would take the minutes, and as I had
nothing to do but kill myself, and as I have been in love with her for most of my life and would do anything for her, I agreed.
August looks up at Ona, he smiles lightly at her. He then returns to his writing. The Women set themselves up in a kind of haphazard circle.
11 INT. BARN - MORNING 11 The WOMEN OF THE COLONY (we see over a hundred of them here), take turns in a crudely built ballot box. Some murmur to each other. Coffee is served at a table with summer sausage and buns. AUGUST (V.O.) A vote was held earlier this morning. The women take turns marking the paper, with Neitje’s drawings, by writing an “X” next to one of the drawings. We follow SCARFACE JANZ(50) as she puts an “X” next to the “Do Nothing” picture. So do ANNA (30) and HELENA ( 16.) We watch, as the women all mark down their votes. Ona, Mejal, Mariche, Agata, Autje, and Neitje. Greta thinks for a long moment, and then votes.
12 OMITTED 12
13 OMITTED 13
Double Pink Rev. (08/16/21) 8. 14 INT. HAYLOFT - EARLY AFTERNOON 14
The Reimers sit roughly on one side, and the Friesens sit on * the other. The Janz family sit further in the corner. There is a table fashioned out of a piece of plywood laid across hay bales. Their chairs are milking buckets. Neitje draws a portrait of Scarface Janz and her girls.
AUGUST (V.O.) As the vote was tied between the
option of Staying and Fighting or Leaving, representatives of two families of women, the Reimers and * the Friesens, have been tasked with deciding whether or not to Stay and Fight or Leave, while the rest of the women tend to the work of the colony. They have invited representatives of the Janz family to be part of the conversation, though they voted to do nothing. They are meeting in Earnest Penner’s hayloft, as he is senile and rarely comes in.
Scarface takes a deep breath and begins.
SCARFACE JANZ It is part of our faith to forgive.
We have always forgiven those who have wronged us. Why not now?
SALOME Because now we know better.
SCARFACE JANZ Better than God? You know better
than God?
ANNA Our Lord requires us to forgive,
Salome. Or do you believe yourself mightier than he?
SCARFACE JANZ We will be excommunicated, forced
to leave the colony in disgrace, if we don’t forgive the men. And if we are excommunicated, we will forfeit our place in heaven.
HELENA How could any of you live with the
fear of that? Agata looks at Helena softly.
AGATA What else are you afraid of Helena?
Tell us. We want to hear.
Agata moves towards Helena and sits on an overturned milk pail at her side, holding her hand.
HELENA (quietly)
We can only do what we have learned.
GRETA Speak up, Helena. We can’t hear
you.
We have only domestic skills. How are we supposed to survive out in the World if we are excommunicated?
HELENA (louder)
9.
ANNA We are unable to read or write.
We’ve never even seen a map. Agata nods, sympathetically.
AGATA These are all legitimate fears.
can we address them? Agata looks around at the women, inviting
SALOME Shouldn’t we be concerned about
more than just our survival, Helena? Is what we have lived, worth preserving?
SCARFACE JANZ These questions themselves are
blasphemous. There is a long silence.
GRETA Alright. No more blasphemous
questions. I want to talk about horses, Ruth and Cheryl.
15 INT. GRETA’S HORSE BARN - EARLY MORNING
How them to speak.
Greta lovingly tends to her team of old horses, RUTH AND CHERYL. She brushes them, looks into their eyes, smiles tenderly. She breaks contact, a sadness coming over her. She gives them a final pat as she walks away.
GRETA Alright. We’ll go.
16 EXT. ROAD - EARLY MORNING 16
Greta drives her buggy along the road with her old horses Ruth and Cheryl. We see from Greta’s POV: Ahead of them, a ROTTWEILER APPEARS and barks. Ruth and Cheryl begin to bolt. Greta struggles to keep them on the road.
my
FLASHBACK TO:
10.
15
Cherry Rev. (07/18/21)
11.
GRETA (V.O.) When Ruth and Cheryl are frightened
by Dueck’s Rottweilers on the mile road that leads to the church, their initial instinct is to bolt. These horses don’t organize meetings to decide what they will do. They run.
On Greta’s POV of Ruth and Cheryl’s manes, flying in the wind as they bolt into the field.
CUT BACK TO:
17 INT. HAYLOFT - EARLY AFTERNOON 17 Agata laughs.
AGATA But Greta, we are not animals.
GRETA We have been preyed upon like
animals. Maybe we should respond like animals.
ONA Do you mean run away?
SALOME Or kill our attackers?
Mariche makes a soft scoffing sound.
18 EXT. SHED - 2 DAYS EARLIER - AFTERNOON 18
Salome runs, shrieking, with a scythe at a shed. We see through the slats as THE 5 MEN INSIDE yell for help and try to back into the corner of the shed. Salome breaks the lock. She slashes at one of the MEN with her scythe. She is pulled away by PETERS, along with a FEW OTHER MEN. She is pushed to the ground. We see the blood from the man on her face. PETERS looks around, breathless. He puts his face in his hands, at the end of his rope. When he looks up, he has made a decision.
FLASHBACK TO:
Yellow Rev. (06/25/21)
12.
PETERS Go. Go to the city. Get the police.
The other men look, questioningly at Peters.
PETERS (CONT'D) For their own protection. These men
need to be taken to jail in the city.
19 INT. HAYLOFT - EARLY AFTERNOON
AGATA In my lifetime I have seen horses
confront angry dogs and try to stomp them to death. Animals don’t always flee their attackers. They can fight back and they can run away.
She inhales deeply.
AGATA (CONT'D) Either way, it’s a waste of time to
try to establish whether we are animals. The men will be coming back from the city after they pay the bail for our attackers. Soon.
SCARFACE JANZ The only important thing to
establish is whether we forgive the men so that we are allowed to enter the gates of heaven.
Salome laughs, loudly. She stands up and goes doors and throws them open.
MARICHE Laugh all you want, Salome. But we
will be forced to leave the colony if we don’t forgive the men. And how will the Lord, when He arrives, find all the women if we aren’t in our colony?
CUT BACK TO:
to the south
19
Cherry Rev. (07/18/21)
13.
SALOME If Jesus is able to return to life,
live for thousands of years and then drop down to earth from heaven, to scoop up his supporters, surely he’d also be able to locate a few women who-
Agata makes a quick gesture to silence Salome. Scarface shakes her head, appalled.
AGATA Let’s stay on track-
Salome moves quickly back towards the circle of women.
SALOME Alright. I’ll stay on track. I
cannot forgive them. I will never forgive them.
MEJAL I can’t either.
Autje nods.
MARICHE But we want to enter the gates of
heaven when we die.
Agata and Greta nod. Everyone is silent for a while. They sit, thinking.
ONA Are we asking ourselves what our
priority is? To protect our children or to enter the kingdom of heaven?
Salome makes a sound of frustration. She kicks a bucket. Greta goes and retrieves it and sits back down.
MEJAL No. That is not what we are asking.
That is an exaggeration of what we are discussing.
ONA What are we discussing, then?
AGATA We will burn that bridge when we
come to it.
Salmon Rev. (07/08/21)
14.
SCARFACE JANZ We have everything we want here.
Salome shakes her head.
No.
SALOME:
SCARFACE JANZ Salome looks at her and laughs out loud.
SCARFACE JANZ (CONT'D) Does entering the kingdom of heaven
mean nothing to any of you? After all we have suffered?
ANNA Are you really willing to give up
what we have always lived for?
ONA Surely there is something in this
life worth living for, not only in the next.
SCARFACE JANZ Are you abandoning your faith?
AGATA (to Scarface)
We cannot stand by and do nothing when our children are harmed.
SCARFACE JANZ (to Ona, Agata and Salome)
How are you protecting your children from harm if you turn your back on God? And how will any of you survive? If you stay and fight you will lose. Or if you leave...
HELENA Where will you go?
Scarface stands to leave. Agata steps towards Scarface.
AGATA (to Scarface Janz)
All I know is that we cannot do
nothing.
Want less.
(MORE)
Salmon Rev. (07/08/21)
AGATA (CONT'D)
By doing nothing we are not protecting our children who were given to us by God to protect and nurture.
14A.
Cherry Rev. (07/18/21)
15.
SCARFACE JANZ We will not be damned to hell with
you.
AGATA That is your decision, and we must
respect it.
Scarface takes Helena’s hand in hers and motions to Anna to follow. Autje crosses the room and lightly touches Helena’s hand. As Scarface pulls her way, Autje grabs for it one more time and then lets go. Anna looks back, making eye contact with Mariche, but follows her mother and Helena. Mariche pushes her milk pail back, the edge scraping on the floor, taking her mother’s attention. But she does not leave with the Janz women. There is silence after the Janz family leaves. Agata addresses the group.
AGATA (CONT'D) We must decide now whether we will
stay and fight or leave. These are the options in front of us. We will not do nothing.
Autje goes and sits behind her family and Neitje joins her, grabbing her hand.
20 EXT. BARN - AFTERNOON 20 The sun is slightly lower in the sky.
21 INT. SCARFACE JANZ’S HOUSE - AFTERNOON 21 Scarface Janz sits quietly at her spotless kitchen table, her adult children and their children running around doing chores behind her. She looks out the window, looking haunted. After some time, Anna and Helena enter and sit beside her. Anna is shaking. They sit in silence for a long time. We follow Scarface Janz as she walks through her house and out her front door. She stands and stares at the hayloft in the distance. She turns away and looks at the horizon. Anna looks down at the kitchen table, breathing hard, trying to contain her panic. Helena puts a hand on her mother’s arm.
22 INT. HAYLOFT - AFTERNOON 22 The remaining women sit in silence. Autje swings from a beam above the women. The silence is broken by Greta.
Cherry Rev. (07/18/21) 15A.
GRETA I believe the only solution is to
flee.
Blue Rev. (05/31/21)
16.
SALOME Is this how we want to teach our
daughters to defend themselves? By fleeing?
GRETA Not fleeing, but leaving. I am
talking about leaving. Salome continues as though she hasn’t heard Greta.
SALOME I’d rather stand my ground and
shoot each man in the heart and bury them in a pit than flee. And I’ll deal with God’s wrath if I have to!
ONA (gently)
Salome. Aunt Greta is talking about leaving, not fleeing. The word “fleeing” wasn’t what they meant.
Mariche shakes her head, indignant.
MARICHE Please forgive my mother for using
the wrong word. It is a sin so outrageous, that Salome must take it upon herself to rectify for the sake of all humanity.
“Leaving” different meanings. about us.
AGATA and “fleeing” are words. With different They each say something
Agata notices August, watching.
AGATA (CONT'D) August what do you make of all
this? Do you have an opinion too? Agata goes to August and puts her arm around his shoulder.
AGATA (CONT'D) Well, August?
August thinks for a while.
Cherry Rev. (07/18/21)
17.
AUGUST I think... I think that it is
possible to leave something or someone in one frame of mind and arrive elsewhere, in another entirely unexpected frame of mind.
MARICHE We are already aware of this.
ONA We are aware of many things, in our
hearts. But it is good, sometimes, to have them said out loud.
MEJAL I want to stay and fight.
Everyone stares at Mejal, her assurance. She takes a sharp inhale of breath.
MARICHE Won’t we lose the fight to the men
and then be forced to forgive them anyway?
ONA Is forgiveness that is forced upon
us true forgiveness?
A bit of straw falls from Autje’s swinging into Mariche’s hair. She looks up at Autje.
Autje!
MARICHE:
MEJAL Behave yourself. Can’t you hear the
rafter creaking? Do you want the roof to cave in?
August looks up, smiles to himself. Mejal reaches for her pouch of tobacco and rests her hand lightly on it. Autje gets down and she and Netje play a clapping game with their hands hidden beneath the table.
Greta takes her false teeth out. She taps them on the plywood and pops them back in.
SALOME I want to stay and fight too.
Salmon Rev. (07/08/21)
18.
Everyone looks at Salome.
MARICHE Of course you do. No one is
surprised that you do. All you do is fight. Is this how we are to decide the fates of all of the women of this colony? Just another vote where we put an X next to our position? I thought we were here to do more than that.
SALOME You mean talk more about forgiving
the men and doing nothing?
MARICHE Everything else is insane. But none
of you will listen to reason.
SALOME Why are you here then?! Why are you
still here with us if that is what you believe?! Leave with the rest of the do-nothing women!
GRETA She is my daughter and I want her
here with us.
AGATA I believe we are capable of hearing
opinions other than our own. Or how can we expect anything to change?
Everyone is quiet, respectful of Agata and Greta.
AUTJE (whispering to Neitje)
NEITJE (whispering to Autje)
We’ll be dead and they’ll still be talking.
AUTJE (whispering)
Or worse. We might have to live through it.
Neitje and Autje are in a body language contest of who can convey their boredom the best.
Cherry Rev. (07/18/21) 18A.
Autje pretends to shoot herself in the head by inserting a rifle into her mouth, then slumping over on her milk pail.
Ona gets a large roll of butcher paper from the corner and hands it to August.
ONA August. I think you should make
lists of the pros and cons for both options. Staying and Fighting or Leaving. And write large. Post it on the wall.
MEJAL Why? We can’t read it.
ONA No. But we will keep it here as an
artifact for others to discover.
Cherry Rev. (07/18/21) 19.
SALOME (tenderly)
Yes. A discovery.
Mejal helps Neitje and Autje post a large piece of butcher paper to the wall and he writes on it. Then they continue to post the pages August has already written on the wall. Mejal looks down at her hands which are trembling.
ONA I think the first heading should
read as follows. Staying and Fighting. Beneath that, write Pros.
AGATA Who will go first?
The Women begin to talk very rapidly, asserting their ideas. August puts his hand up, gently.
AUGUST Forgive me. Please excuse me.
Forgive me. May I request that you take turns speaking so that I can understand what each of you is saying. It takes me a few seconds to transcribe...I’m a little behind here. I have to catch up.
MARICHE Shall we put up our hands? As
though we are children in your schoolhouse?
AUGUST I apologize.
SALOME We won’t have to leave.
AUGUST Excuse me?
MARICHE Write it down. Under pros. Salome
has had a brilliant idea.
MARICHE (CONT'D) (theatrically, mocking
Salome) “If we stay, we won’t have to leave.”
Salome glares at Mariche. August writes this down.
NEITJE (shrugging, half hearted)
We won’t have to pack. August writes this down as well.
MEJAL We won’t have to figure out where
we’re going or experience the uncertainty of not knowing where we are going. We don’t have a map.
Salome scoffs.
SALOME That’s absurd. The only certainty
we’ll know is uncertainty, no matter where we are.
ONA Other than the certainty of the
power of love. Salome turns to face Ona directly.
SALOME Keep nonsense like that to
yourself. Please.
MEJAL Why couldn’t that be the case, that
the only certainty is the power of love?
SALOME (shouting)
Because it’s meaningless! Especially in this f***ing situation!
AGATA (commanding)
Stop it. Now. I mean it.
They are quiet. Salome bites slivers off her fingernails and eats them. Mejal grimaces in disgust as Salome spits out the nails.
MEJAL That is disgusting. Truly.
Neitje and Autje begin to braid their hair into one long braid that connects them.
20.
AGATA Neitje? Autje? Do you have
something to add to the list?
NEITJE We won’t have to leave the people
we love?
GRETA We could bring loved ones with us
if we leave.
MEJAL How? What does that mean? We move
the whole colony? What can that possibly mean?
ONA (gently)
Several of the people we love are people we also fear.
AGATA We could create the possibility of
a new order right here, in a place that is familiar to us.
SALOME Not simply familiar. A place that
is ours.
MEJAL Do we need to write the cons? Isn’t
it obvious that we must stay and fight?
GRETA Cons. We won’t be forgiven.
August writes CONS on the paper. MARICHE
We don’t know how to fight.
SALOME I know how to fight.
MARICHE We don’t want to fight.
21.
GRETA There is the risk that conditions
will be worse after fighting than before.
Ona raises her hand.
ONA May I speak?
AUGUST Please.
ONA Would it be a good idea, before we
list the pros and cons of staying and fighting, to talk about exactly what we are fighting for?
SALOME It’s obvious: we’re fighting for
our safety and for our freedom from attacks!
ONA Yes. But what would that mean to
us? Perhaps we need a statement which describes what we want the colony to be like after winning the fight. Perhaps we need to know more about what we are fighting to achieve, not only what we are fighting to destroy.
MARICHE Why don’t we talk about reality
instead?
AGATA Because our reality is an old one.
And we are talking about creating a new reality.
Autje and Neitje put their heads down on the table, miming boredom and exasperation. Neitje rests her head on her arm. Her voice is muffled.
NEITJE (plaintive)
Are we staying or going?
22.
AGATA Ona. Please tell us more about the
statement you are thinking about.
ONA Men and women will make all
decisions for the colony collectively. Women will be allowed to think. Girls will be taught to read and write. The schoolhouse must display a map of the world so that we can begin to understand our place in it. A new religion, taken from the old but focused on love, will be created by the women of the colony.
Mariche creases her brow, dramatically.
ONA (CONT'D) Our children will be safe.
Greta has closed her eyes and is smiling.
GRETA “Collectively.” You sound like
August’s mother. August looks up. He and Ona look at each other.
MARICHE Ona. You are a dreamer.
ONA (calmly)
We are women without a voice. We have nothing to return to. Even the animals of the colony are safer in their homes than we women are. All we have are our dreams. So of course we are dreamers.
Mariche scoffs.
MARICHE Would you like to hear my dream? I
dream that people who speak nonsense, who have no grasp on reality, are not put in charge of making statements!
Ona smiles, with genuine appreciation. Agata clears her throat.
23.
Buff Rev. (07/10/21)
24.
AGATA The statement Ona described sounds
good to me. We can add to it over time. For now, it will declare what we women see as the future of the colony, whether we are here or elsewhere. Are we agreed?
Greta raises her arms into the air. The women nod, some half- heartedly. Neitje’s eyes roll in their sockets as her head snaps back and her jaw drops open. Autje laughs. Greta shushes her. Ona opens a window. Neitje walks over to the packing paper, pulling Autje along with her with their braids still attached, and begins to draw illustrations beside August’s words.
GRETA What will happen if the men refuse
to meet our demands?
ONA We will kill them.
Autje and Neitje gasp. And then smile tentatively. Autje puts her face in her hands, trying not to laugh. Neitje jabs her with her elbow to make her stop. Mejal, perturbed, takes out her tobacco and rolling papers. Agata stands up and puts her arms around Ona.
AGATA (whispering)
No. Ona. No.
Agata looks at the others while she gently cradles her daughter.
AGATA (CONT'D) She is only joking.
Salome shrugs.
SALOME Maybe not.
Agata pokes Salome in the shoulder. Neitje draws a woman killing a man.
What if
are not
MARICHE the men who are in prison guilty?
AUTJE Mother?
Buff Rev. (07/10/21)
24A.
MARICHE Yes I know, Autje.
AUTJE Then why are you asking-
NEITJE We caught one of them. I saw him.
FLASHBACK TO:
Salmon Rev. (07/08/21) 25.
23 EXT. NEITJE’S BEDROOM - NIGHT - TWO WEEKS AGO 23
A din like a roar. Neitje waits by her bedroom window, Autje behind her. They hears something and Neitje sticks her head out of her bedroom window. She sees a YOUNG MAN, creeping up a ladder, a LARGE SPRAY CAN in his hands. He looks back up at her. She screams, Autje does too. He scrambles down the ladder.
Only one.
ONA (V.O.)
SALOME (V.O.) Yes. Only one. But he named the
others.
24 INT. HAYLOFT - AFTERNOON MARICHE
But what if he was lying? There is silence for a while.
SALOME But the point-
Mariche sighs.
MARICHE We must consider this.
SALOME No! That is not our responsibility!
Because we aren’t in charge of whether or not they are punished. We know that we’ve been attacked by men and not by ghosts or Satan as we were led to believe for so long. We know we have not imagined these attacks, that we were made unconscious with cow tranquilizer. We know that we are bruised and infected and pregnant and terrified and insane and some of us are dead. We know that we must protect our children. Regardless of who is guilty!
AGATA Alright, Salome, thank you, please
sit down.
CUT BACK TO:
24
Goldenrod Rev. (07/09/21) 26.
She tugs on Salome’s sleeve. Agata takes a breath and strokes Salome’s hair and gently urges her back to the milk bucket. She murmurs words to her as she sits beside her, calming her, stroking her hair. Neitje draws two braids ( like hers and Autje’s) intertwined.
AGATA (CONT'D) Shall we move on?
MARICHE But if there is any chance that the
men in prison are innocent, shouldn’t we be joining forces to secure their freedom?
ONA It is possible that the men in
prison are not guilty of the attacks. But are they guilty of not stopping the attacks? Are they guilty of knowing about the attacks and doing nothing?
MARICHE How should we know what they’re
guilty of or not?
ONA But we do know. We do know that the
conditions have been created by men and that these attacks have been made possible because of the circumstances of the colony. And those circumstances have been created and ordained by the men.
MARICHE But wait, aren’t you suggesting
that the attackers are as much victims as the victims of the attacks? That all of us, men and women, are victims of the circumstances from which the colony has been created?
Ona is quiet for a long time.
ONA In a sense, yes.
MARICHE So then, even if the court finds
them guilty or innocent, they are, after all, innocent?
Double Blue Rev. (08/09/21)
27.
ONA Yes, I would say so.
MEJAL The elders called them evil.
ONA But that’s not true.
SALOME It’s the elder’s quest for power
that is responsible.
ONA Yes because they needed to have
those-
SALOME Those they’d have power over.
MEJAL And those people are us.
AGATA And they have taught this lesson of
power to the boys and men of the colony and the boys and men have been excellent students.
MEJAL But don’t we all want some type of
power? ONA
Yes, I think so. But I’m not sure.
AGATA The only thing we can be sure of is
that time is disappearing.
AUTJE But... we caught them. We caught
them. Yes. Yes you did.
SALOME:
MARICHE The women look at the girls, somewhat in awe.
Double Blue Rev. (08/09/21)
27A.
AUTJE Then why are you making it so
complicated?
NEITJE (to herself)
It’s very, very boring.
ONA We could ask the men to leave.
MEJAL Is that a joke?
SALOME Are you crazy, Ona?
Agata puts her hand on her chest.
AGATA No, no...
GRETA Ask the men to leave?!
AGATA None of us have ever asked the men
for anything. Not a single thing, not even for the salt to be passed, not even for a penny or a moment alone or to take the washing in or to open a curtain or to go easy on the small yearlings or to put your hand on the small of my back as I try, again, for the twelfth or thirteenth time, to push a baby out of my body. Isn’t it interesting, that the one and only request we women would have of the men would be to leave?
The Women break out laughing. They can’t stop. When one stops for a moment, they quickly resume laughing in a loud burst, setting everyone else off. It is contagious and out of control. Finally, Agata calms.
AGATA (CONT'D) It’s not an option. They wouldn’t
leave. The others agree, saying “No.”
GRETA Asking the men to leave is not an
option. I’d like you to imagine Ruth and Cheryl-
AGATA Oh no, not again.
Ona has not stopped laughing.
ONA Please stop. I’m afraid I’ll go
into labour!
They laugh harder. Mariche tries not to laugh, but looking at August makes her splutter.
MARICHE Look! August is still taking the
minutes!
This sets them off into new hysterics. August watches Ona as she laughs. Agata slaps August on the back.
28.
Buff Rev. (07/10/21)
29.
AGATA You must think we’re all lunatics.
AUGUST I don’t. And it doesn’t matter what
I think, anyway.
ONA Do you think that’s true? That it
doesn’t matter what you think? August blushes.
ONA (CONT'D) How would you feel if in your
entire lifetime it had never mattered what you thought?
AUGUST But I’m not here to think. I’m here
to take the minutes of your meeting.
ONA But if, in all your life, you truly
felt that it didn’t matter what you thought, how would that make you feel?
August considers this. So do The Women. Ona looks around, a new thought occurring to her.
ONA (CONT'D) When we have liberated ourselves, we will have to ask ourselves who
we are.
They sit in silence. Neitje draws a picture of the women laughing.
Neitje and Autje are stifling giggles. Mejal plays with the smoke in her hand. Salome stares wistfully out of the South- facing door, towards the hills, past the soy fields. WE FOLLOW HER GAZE out the window, traveling past the women. A long pause as we look in silence at the landscape. MIEP, (3) in the field, plays with a strand of grass, looks up at the sky.
SALOME Will we be done by suppertime? I
have to give little Miep her antibiotics.
Goldenrod Rev. (07/09/21)
30.
GRETA Where did you get antibiotics?
AGATA She walked. She walked for a day
and a half to the mobile klinic. With Miep on her back.
Agata stays perfectly still after mentioning Miep, mouthing the words to a verse from Psalms. She is very still, predatory. Everyone is silent at the mention of Miep.
CUT TO:
25 EXT. ROAD - MAGIC HOUR - TWO WEEKS EARLIER 25
VERY WIDE on Salome, looking exhausted, small in the distance. She walks down a long, dusty road. We stay close on her profile, occasionally moving back to see the face of her sleeping daughter, resting on her shoulders. We see them from behind as they become specks on the crest of the hill in the distance.
We hear Agata’s voice, almost a whisper, softly praying.
AGATA (V.O.) The Lord is gracious and
compassionate, slow to anger, rich in loving kindness and forgiveness.
26 INT. HAYLOFT - EARLY AFTERNOON 26
SALOME I have to hide the antibiotics in
Miep’s apple sauce or she won’t swallow them.
The Women nod. Agata remains perfectly still, mouthing the words to the prayer.
AGATA The Lord is gracious and
compassionate, slow to anger, rich in loving kindness and forgiveness.
Greta goes over to Agata and pulls up a stool beside her. She takes Agata’s hand and joins her in the recitation.
CUT BACK TO:
Cherry Rev. (07/18/21)
31.
AGATA/GRETA The Lord is gracious and
compassionate, slow to anger, rich in loving kindness and forgiveness.
August looks around at the silent women. Greta opens and closes her eyes. Mariche comes over and sits beside her and strokes her hand.
GRETA I’m not crying. I’m moisturizing.
Agata begins to sing. The other women join hands and sing. Ona harmonizes, beautifully. Neitje and Autje roll their eyes and shake their heads.
THE WOMEN Work, for the night is coming,
Work, through the morning hours; Work, while the dew is sparkling, Work ‘mid springing flowers;
Greta winces and she removes her false teeth again. She puts them down on the plywood.
GRETA (whispering to Mejal)
Forgive me. They are too big for my mouth.
Mariche stares at the teeth on the plywood. The hymn continues over:
FLASHBACK TO:
27 INT. GRETA’S BEDROOM - DAWN - ONE YEAR EARLIER 27 Greta opens her mouth, blood comes out. She looks down at her hand which has her bloody teeth in it. CUT BACK TO:
28 INT. HAYLOFT - EARLY AFTERNOON 28 Neitje and Autje look mortified by the singing and look downwards. Greta puts her teeth back in and walks over to Autje and pats her hand, encourages her to sing. Autje reluctantly obliges.
Tan Rev. (07/29/21) 32.
AGATA Well. Let’s take a break.
Autje slips down the ladder and out of the hayloft. We watch The Women slip down the ladder, one by one. A few continue to hum the hymn, which we hear over the next few scenes:
29 EXT. PADDOCK - MID-AFTERNOON 29 Neitje braids Autje’s hair.
30 EXT. BARN - MID-AFTERNOON 30 Mejal lights up a cigarette, leaning on the fence. She stares up at the barn. Then she looks out toward the field where she sees, in the distance, the CHILDREN playing tag in the soy fields. MELVIN/NETTIE is watching over the children. Autje joins Mejal, much to her chagrin. They keep watching MELVIN/NETTIE. MEJAL Don’t say a word about my smoking. Honestly. AUTJE Is she always going to be like this
now?
MEJAL Like what?
AUTJE Like a man. Is Nettie always going
to be a man now?
MEJAL I think she always felt she wasn’t
a woman. What happened to her just made it...final.
31 INT. NETTIE/MELVIN'S BEDROOM - SUNRISE Melvin/Nettie, in a nightie, covered in blood from the waist
down, stares at something offscreen, on the floor. CUT TO:
FLASHBACK TO:
31
Tan Rev. (07/29/21) 32A.
32 INT. NETTIE/MELVIN'S BEDROOM - MORNING - FIVE DAYS EARLIER32 Melvin/Nettie smears the blood over the walls, hysterical.
Cherry Rev. (07/18/21) 33.
33 EXT. SHED - MORNING - FIVE DAYS EARLIER 33
Melvin/Nettie, still covered in blood, but silent now, sits with his back to the shed. He speaks, without looking back between the slats, where we see pieces of the men inside.
NETTIE/MELVIN Is my brother listening?
MAN He is.
NETTIE/MELVIN Hello, little brother. I don’t know
if it was your baby or one of your friends. But I think it was likely yours. Because there was something wrong with it. Small as a bun, but with everything intact. I loved it, I think. Isn’t that strange? I won’t speak of it... or anything else. Ever again.
Slowly, Nettie/Melvin gets up and walks away, a resolve on his face.
CUT BACK TO:
34 EXT. FIELD - AFTERNOON Present Day.
Nettie/Melvin bandages a cut on a LITTLE GIRL’S knee. Mejal and Autje continue to watch.
But-
AUTJE:
MEJAL But what?
AUTJE She doesn’t speak anymore.
MEJAL She speaks to the children. I think
they call her Melvin.
Mejal shrugs. Mejal stomps out her cigarette. Autje stares at it.
34
MEJAL (CONT'D) I mean it. Not one word about my
Autje walks to the pump with a pail and pumps it vigorously. August sits nearby, looking out at the fields. He stands up, awkwardly. They are silent for a time. August clears his throat.
AUGUST You know, during the second world
war, in Italy, civilians would hide in bomb shelters. Volunteers were needed to power the generators that provided electricity. They rode bikes. When you were swinging from the rafter earlier, it reminded me of this. You would have been the perfect volunteer. If we were in a bomb shelter.
AUTJE Where would I ride the bike to in
such a small space?
AUGUST Ah yes. Well, the bike would be
stationary. Autje smiles and ponders this for a moment.
AUTJE I have to get the water to the
yearlings. She looks back at him, smiles.
AUTJE (CONT'D) Watch this.
She swings the pail of water around in a complete circle without spilling a drop. August smiles, awkwardly.
AUTJE (CONT'D) I’ll bet you didn’t learn how to do
things like that when you went to University.
34.
Salmon Rev. (07/08/21) August shakes his head.
AUTJE (CONT'D) Only facts about stationary bicycles in far off places.
August looks down, nods.
AUTJE (CONT'D) I suppose I shouldn’t be too sad
then. That I won’t ever go.
They look at each other for a long moment, trying to read each other.
AUTJE (CONT'D) Why were you forced to leave?
AUGUST My mother questioned things.
AUTJE She questioned God?
AUGUST Not God. Power. The rules that are
made in the name of God. She encouraged others to question things too.
AUTJE Like Aunt Ona?
AUGUST Yes. Ona knew her well.
AUTJE Did she die?
August nods.
AUGUST But sometimes, listening to all of
you speaking today, I can hear her so clearly.
AUTJE Why did the elders let you come
back?
AUGUST I went to university. So I could
serve a purpose and teach the boys.
35.
Salmon Rev. (07/08/21) 35A.
AUTJE Too late.
There is a silence.
Goldenrod Rev. (07/09/21) 36.
AUGUST I want to help. And I don’t know
how. Autje shrugs.
AUTJE You came back for Aunt Ona didn’t
you? The way you look at her is... funny. I don’t know why she won’t just marry you. You both say so much that doesn’t make sense.
Autje breaks the gaze and runs to the horses.
36 INT. MARICHE’S KITCHEN - AFTERNOON 36
We hear, over the next few scenes, a distant sound of a megaphone, and a truck rolling by. The sound of “California Dreaming” coming out of a tinny truck radio gets louder as Mariche tends to her many children. (There are 8 of them.)
Mariche looks up, unsettled.
LOUDSPEAKER (O.S.) I am here to collect data for the
2010 census.
Mariche ignores it. She redirects the children, who are fascinated and going towards the windows to look for the source of the foreign sound, and see the truck going by.
36A EXT. MARICHE’S HOUSE 36A The census truck goes by the house and down the road.
37 INT. GRETA’S KITCHEN - AFTERNOON 37 Greta makes bread with the help of four of her grandchildren.
LOUDSPEAKER (O.S.) I am here to collect data for the
2010 census. All residents must come out of their homes to be counted.
Goldenrod Rev. (07/09/21) 36A.
38 INT. SALOME'S HOUSE - AFTERNOON 38
Salome crushes a pill into apple sauce and feeds Miep the apple sauce. Miep looks up at AARON, Salome’s 13 year old son. He tickles her. Salome smiles, scuffs Aaron’s head.
Green Rev. (07/03/21) 37.
39 INT. SCARFACE JANZ’S SEWING ROOM- AFTERNOON 39 Scarface Janz is sewing with Anna and Helena and two of her other daughters. She looks up at the sound of the voice. She is still.
40 EXT. CHICKEN COOP - AFTERNOON 40 Agata collects eggs. She looks up as she hears the voice booming nearby. She pays little attention.
41 INT. GRETA’S HORSE BARN - AFTERNOON 41 Autje pours water into the horses’ trough while Neitje feeds hay to Ruth and Cheryl. A wooden trailer loaded with hay bales sits near the barn. Autje and Neitje hear the Census Truck approach. They turn, watching the truck stop by the side of the road. They look at each other and smile, then leave the pail and hay behind as they gravitate towards the music.
42 EXT. WASHHOUSE LATE AFTERNOON 42 Mejal sits under laundry, light pouring through white dresses. She braids one of her daughters’ hair tightly, as other children play around her, and another daughter (12) washes clothes in an outdoor sink. She hears the loudspeaker, and similarly ignores it.
43 INT HAYLOFT - LATE AFTERNOON 43 August sees, out the East Barn doors, in the distance, the truck, stopped. Autje and Neitje approach it. They stand there, listening. “California Dreaming” still plays out of the radio. The girls are looking into the driver’s side of the truck, bopping ever so slightly to the music. We see the drivers face in the side mirror, the girls in the foreground. We don’t hear their words, but it is clear they are flirting, and so is he. Eventually the truck drives away. “California Dreaming” continues to play over:
44 INT. HAYLOFT - LATE AFTERNOON 44 August is in the hayloft alone. He looks at the empty milk pails, the hay bales, a small bird flying in the rafters. It feels empty without the women here. He sings “California Dreaming”, faintly to himself.
Green Rev. (07/03/21) 37A.
He hears a gentle clatter, as the Women all make their way back up the ladder, with food baskets. They take their places, murmuring to each other, serving each other food and instant coffee.
Cherry Rev. (07/18/21) 38.
Neitje slowly and subtly opens the large barn doors facing East. A few of the women notice and give her a curious look. Mariche has brought with her a pair of men’s overalls to mend. Salome looks around, as she and Mejal serve coffee to the group. Ona brings coffee to August.
SALOME Where is Autje?
Neitje shrugs silently and sits down.
AGATA Well. We must begin without her.
Salome looks at Mejal, who sits beside her.
SALOME Were you smoking?
Is that
MEJAL any of your business?
GRETA Please.
We must staying
AGATA decide this afternoon about or leaving.
Suddenly, Autje climbs the ladder. We hear HYSTERICAL MOANS before we see Autje appear at the top of the ladder.
AUTJE I can’t live a second longer! Life
is too cruel!
Autje sways and moans, then runs to the window and FLINGS HERSELF OUT THE WINDOW, headfirst.
The WOMEN SCREAM. They all sprint and hobble to the window, to find Autje sitting placidly atop a stack of hay bales on a flatbed truck which has been positioned just under the window. Neitje laughs uncontrollably.
MARICHE Autje! Wait until I get ahold of
you!
GRETA I could have had a heart attack!
Ona laughs hard in appreciation while the others shake their heads and strive to contain any sign of approval.
Cherry Rev. (07/18/21) 38A.
Mejal tries hard to contain her laughter but keeps sputtering, which makes Ona and the younger women laugh even harder. Mariche does not look amused.
Cherry Rev. (07/18/21) 39.
When it dies down, Autje, looks around at all of the women, her face serious.
AUTJE Excuse me. Excuse me. The Census
taker just told us that one of our men is planning to return late tonight. He is coming to get some old horses to auction.
GRETA Ruth and Cheryl!
NEITJE They need more bail money for the
attackers.
Greta lifts her arms into the air. She stumbles back to her seat. Agata sharpens her gaze. They all clamber hastily back to their seats for the meeting. Autje climbs back up into the hayloft and takes her seat as well.
MARICHE Tonight?
Autje nods. Which man?
AUTJE:
Father. Mariche makes the smallest of small sounds.
MARICHE (quietly, trying to absorb
this) Oh.
AGATA So. Time is of the essence.
Everyone get back to your seats.
MARICHE (CONT'D)
NEITJE Your Klaas.
Cherry Rev. (07/18/21) 40.
The Women ALL TALK AT ONCE, in an uproar. August struggles to write, to keep notes of all they are saying in the din of noise. Ona looks at August. He looks down at what he has written. It says “Talking at once. All talking at once.” He clears his throat, out of nervousness. Mariche glares at him.
MARICHE Are you trying to call us to order?
AUGUST No. No. Please forgive me.
MARICHE Why are you here? Why is my
presence questioned when there is a man-
GRETA Pros for leaving:
August writes “LEAVING” on the brown paper. Neitje and Autje post up what he has written so far. Neitje adds more illustrations of the women, the men, the boys. Autje puts up her hand.
MEJAL (half-heartedly)
We will be gone?
GRETA We will be safe.
MARICHE Perhaps not. But the first is most
definitely a fact, that if we leave we will be gone.
Mariche looks around at the group.
MARICHE (CONT'D) Do we really have time to state the
obvious over and over? Mejal rolls her eyes.
GRETA Add to the list this: We will not
be asked to forgive the men, because we will not be here to hear the question.
AGATA Yes. Autje?
Pink Rev. (06/21/21) 41.
AUTJE We will see a bit of the world?
There is silence. August, seeing no one else is speaking, begins to write on a new piece of paper. Neitje and Autje get back to rebraiding their hair together.
AUGUST Let’s move on to the Cons of
Leaving.
MARICHE We, the women, will decide what
happens in these meetings. Not a two-bit failed farmer who must teach. You have been invited here. You have been invited here to listen to what we have to say and to write it down. Nothing more. Just. Listen.
Greta erupts. She stands up, shouting.
GRETA Mariche! Klaas is returning soon
and you are wasting time! Klaas will return to your home for just long enough to take his animals in order to sell for bail money that will see the rapists return to the colony and he will lay his hands on you and on your children, and you, as always, do nothing but fire away at us all like a Gatling gun with your misdirected rage. What good does that do?
The Women are silent. Mariche is shaking, staring at her mother.
AUGUST I would like to apologize for
wrongly attempting to nudge the proceedings. That is not my place.
The Women say nothing. Mejal, watching August, lets out a burst of laughter.
GRETA Mejal!
MEJAL I’ll stop.
NEITJE We don’t have a map. We don’t know
where to go.
Autje and Neitje sway back and forth, a gentle tug of war with the braid that connects them.
AUTJE (laughing)
We don’t even know where we are! The girls laugh together.
Miep, Salome’s daughter, climbs up the ladder to the loft. Greta turns to Neitje and Autje.
GRETA Hush. Put your hair away.
The girls untangle their braids. Miep looks frightened and goes to her mother. She snuggles in to her.
MIEP I hurt.
Agata watches Miep, trying to contain her grief. August looks down. Salome holds Miep and strokes her hair, whispering to her, kissing her. Miep has buried her face in her mothers lap. We hear, but don’t see her cry. Ona puts her arm around Salome’s shoulder as she holds Miep.
GRETA (watching Miep, almost to
herself) There are no Cons of Leaving.
Ona looks up at Greta, then back down to Miep, and nods gently. Neitje draws a picture of Miep sleeping on the butcher paper, beneath August’s words.
Nettie/Melvin climbs the ladder and appears. She mimes that he is sorry for the interruption.
AGATA Not to worry, Nettie.
Agata begins to sing “Children of the Heavenly Father” and the other women join in. Autje and Neitje roll their eyes as the other women’s voices soar. Miep snuggles into her mother. Ona smiles at August. He smiles back. August looks down, closes his eyes, and listens to their voices.
42.
Blue Rev. (05/31/21) 43.
He stares at Miep, who is drifting to sleep as the singing drifts to humming.
MARICHE If we do leave the colony, how will
we live with the pain of not seeing our brothers and our sons again? The men?
FLASHBACK TO:
45 INT. SCHOOLHOUSE - MORNING
August looks out at the faces of his students, his young men. Some look up at him attentively. Some laugh and roll their eyes at him. We track along their faces, slowly, getting to know the pores of the skin of each one of these young boys.
GRETA (V.O.) Time will heal. Our freedom and
safety are the ultimate goals, and it is men who prevent us from achieving those goals.
MARICHE (V.O.) But not all men.
ONA (V.O.) Perhaps not men, but a way of
seeing the world, and us women, that has been allowed to take hold of men’s hearts and minds.
NEITJE (V.O.) So if we leave... if we leave... I
will never see my brothers again?
AUTJE (V.O.) Who will take care of them? Of them
all?
46 INT. HAYLOFT - LATE AFTERNOON
CUT BACK TO:
Neitje and Autje look suddenly full of grief. This hangs in the air. They are all lost in their own thoughts. Miep lies sleeping in Salome’s arms.
45
46
Double Pink Rev. (08/16/21)
44.
GRETA We can’t know if we will stay or
leave before we resolve these last- minute concerns.
ONA I wouldn’t call the future of our
relationships with the boys and men we love “last-minute concerns.”
Ona glances in August’s direction. He catches it. He looks out the window, at the sun getting lower in the sky. Cows can be heard, mooing in the distance. Dogs are barking for their dinner.
The women watch Miep as she falls asleep in Salome’s arms. We hold close on each woman’s face, watching Miep sleep, and we feel the lowering light move across each of their faces.
Neitje draws pictures of the boys on the packing paper. The light dims over the images as she draws them.
47 EXT FIELD - MAGIC HOUR 47 * We see the sun lower in the sky. We hear a cow moo. We hear * dogs bark. *
48 INT. HAYLOFT - MAGIC HOUR 48 * CLOSE ON: Miep sleeping. Melvin/Nettie gently picks her up, out of Salome’s arms and takes her out of the hayloft. The Women watch in silence as she is taken down the ladder. ONA I need some water. She goes down the ladder and outside. August follows her, awkwardly. The women watch in silence, and then laugh as soon as he is down the ladder.
49 EXT. FIELD - MAGIC HOUR 49 Melvin/Nettie watches the children play while cradling Miep, still sleeping, in his arms. He looks down at her, tenderly.
50 EXT. PUMP - MAGIC HOUR 50 Ona vomits on her way to the pump, August following close behind. He pumps water into a bucket, looks around for something to pour it into.
Double Pink Rev. (08/16/21) 44A.
He cups water into his hands for her to drink from. She pauses for a moment and then drinks from his hands. He takes another scoop of water and she takes another drink. She wipes her mouth and holds her stomach. Children play in the background.
Blue Rev. (05/31/21) 45.
They stand close together, staring at each other in silence, for a long time. Tears appear in August’s eyes. Ona quickly wipes them off his cheek. August turns away, ashamed.
They are silent. Ona goes to speak and then stops herself. She holds his gaze for a long time. She puts her hand lightly on his face.
ONA It’s good to have you with us,
August. To remind us of what is possible. Because it’s easy to forget.
Ona holds her stomach, feeling ill.
AUGUST I am so sorry, Ona.
ONA One day, I would like to hear those
words from someone who should be saying them.
Ona looks out across the field towards where the children are playing.
ONA (CONT'D) Why does love... the absence of
love, the end of love, the need for love, result in so much violence?
AUGUST Ona shakes her head.
AUGUST (CONT'D) Ona. I could take care of you and
your child. I want to. I-
Ona.
Cherry Rev. (07/18/21)
46.
He stops himself.
ONA I know August. You don’t have to
say the words. They are silent for a while.
ONA (CONT'D) If I were married I would not be
myself. And so the person you love would be gone.
AUGUST Your child-
ONA If we stay and don’t win the fight,
my child will be given to another family here. Maybe even to the family of my attacker. If we stay and we don’t win the fight.
AUGUST You won’t let that happen.
ONA No. No I won’t.
August nods. Ona is silent for a long time, processing something. August nods, understanding that she is coming to a decision. Ona nods, and walks away, determination in her steps.
51 INT. HAYLOFT - MAGIC HOUR 51
Shadows fall now, across the women’s faces. Agata and Salome light lanterns. Neitje and Autje are still conjoined by the hair. Neitje has drawn a picture of a woman leaving towards a buggy and reaching out for her son who is behind her. August and Ona enter.
GRETA August. We want to discuss options
for the men and the older boys, if the women decide to leave.
SALOME Which is a waste of time because we
are not leaving.
Salmon Rev. (07/08/21)
47.
August takes up his pen and begins recording their conversation.
MARICHE The men should be allowed to leave
with the women if they wish. Salome laughs. So does Mejal.
MEJAL Then what on earth is the point of
us leaving?
GRETA They could be allowed to join the
women later, when the women have established themselves and are thriving.
AUGUST (writing it down)
Should we add, thriving as a collective, literate community?
MARICHE Literate is your word. Not ours. We
don’t need your university language to make our plans.
August nods, continues to write.
AGATA Put it in. We know what it means.
Continue.
GRETA Young boys, simple minded boys of
any age, Cornelius who is confined to a wheelchair, will accompany the women.
August writes quickly. The Women stare at August, and at the document that they can’t read.
MARICHE I vote for the first option. They
should leave with us if they wish.
There is a din of noise as all The Women object to this. Mariche crosses her arms.
Yellow Rev. (06/25/21)
48.
MEJAL The first option is ridiculous and
should be crossed off the list. Mejal rolls a cigarette between her fingers as she speaks.
MARICHE Why are some ideas written down and
considered, and others crossed out?
MARICHE (CONT'D) (to herself)
I want to leave. She throws the dregs of her coffee to the floor.
MARICHE (CONT'D) I’d like to strangle myself.
ONA But Mariche, it’s possible that all
the men would choose to leave with us. Then all we’d be doing is re- creating our colony, with all of its dangers elsewhere, wherever we end up.
AGATA And the men would most definitely
leave with us because they can’t survive without us.
Greta laughs.
GRETA Well, not for longer than a day or
two.
SALOME There is no possibility of the men
leaving with us. Whatever we decide. And we have not decided to leave. I would like to remind everyone of that.
Mejal is openly smoking now. Salome looks irritated. Mejal makes a big show of waving the smoke away from Salome.
Cherry Rev. (07/18/21)
49.
AGATA Clearly these are unrealistic
ideas. And how are we to leave at all if we have never been allowed to even see a map of the world?
AUGUST I can secure a world map for you.
AGATA Where on earth would you get a map
August?
AUGUST I also have a map of this specific
region.
GRETA That will do. We aren’t planning to
travel the planet.
ONA Perhaps we are. Did you know that
the migration period of butterflies and dragonflies is so long that it is often only the grandchildren who arrive at the intended destination?
August watches Ona, admiringly. Autje and Neitje try to suppress laughing at Ona. Mejal nods. Ona looks straight at August now. Some of The Women nod and ponder this.
AUGUST So. Yes, so.
The Women laugh.
ONA Perhaps, if we went beyond where
the map shows us, we could create our own map as we go.
Green Rev. (07/03/21)
50.
The Women turn their attention to her, mystified.
GRETA Now that is a unique idea.
SALOME So now you want to leave? Ona?
The sisters look at each other for a long moment. Ona suddenly vomits into the milk pail beside her.
Oh.
GRETA:
Agata brings her legs down from the milk pail they have been resting upon and walks to Ona. She strokes her back and pulls the loose strands of hair from her forehead into the kerchief.
ONA I’m fine.
Ona looks at Salome. Mejal begins to breathe heavily. Her hand is on her chest.
GRETA What now?
AGATA Are you alright, Mejal?
Mejal nods her head vigorously.
SALOME She’s having one of her episodes.
Salome goes to Mejal. She holds her hand and whispers softly in her ear. Greta indicates to The Women to pray. The Women bow their heads.
GRETA Please, God. Restore Mejal’s
equilibrium.
Mejal rocks on her milk pail. Salome positions herself behind her, ready to catch her as she tumbles off, her fall broken by Salome’s arms. Mejal lies in the straw, her body quite rigid. Salome lies down beside her and continues to whisper inaudibly into her ear and to hold her.
FLASHBACK TO:
Green Rev. (07/03/21) 50A.
52 INT. MEJAL’S ROOM - MORNING - ONE YEAR EARLIER 52
ON MEJAL’S LOWER LEGS as she stands up out of bed. Blood drips to the floor. ON MEJAL’S FACE as she looks down, hearing the blood droplets hit the floor with what sounds like a CRASH. Mejal is quiet for a long time. Then she begins to scream, a primal, animal scream which continues over Agata’s prayer.
AGATA (V.O.) Almighty Father, in all humility
and supplication we ask Thee for Thy abundant kindness this moment.
(MORE)
AGATA (V.O.) (CONT'D)
We beseech Thee, have mercy on our sister Mejal.
53 INT. HAYLOFT - TWILIGHT Salome continues to hold Mejal.
AGATA Please, in your beneficence, heal
her. Please, we ask of Thee, envelop her in your strength and everlasting love, and please drive out the sickness that afflicts her now.
CUT BACK TO:
The Women continue to bow their heads, they are holding hands now. Salome has discreetly covered Mejal’s ears. Salome looks up at Ona.
SALOME (whispering)
Take the cigarette out of her pocket.
Ona reaches into Mejal’s pocket and fishes out a cigarette. Mejal smells the smoke that Salome is putting underneath her nose. She rouses. She takes a deep breath.
MEJAL Alright. Help me up.
They help her back to her place at the table. They are all silent for a while, watching Mejal closely, trying to recalibrate.
AGATA Praise be to God.
MARICHE Why is it only Mejal who has these
sudden-
SALOME Be quiet.
MARICHE We were all attacked. Not all of us
draw so much attention to ourselves.
51.
53
Cherry Rev. (07/18/21)
52.
MEJAL Attention? What attention? I talk
less than all of you put together. How have I offended you?
MARICHE You have these “attacks.” You
smoke. Why? Why is it so much harder for you than for us? We were all attacked. All of us. And the rest of us are all able to get through a day without-
GRETA We are wasting time by passing this
burden, this sack of stones, from one to the next, by pushing our pain away. We mustn’t do this. We mustn’t play hot potato with our pain. Let’s absorb it ourselves, each of us. Let’s inhale it, let’s digest it, let’s process it into fuel.
Mejal opens her mouth, several times, to speak.
GRETA (CONT'D) Speak, Mejal. We are listening.
MEJAL They made us...they made us
disbelieve ourselves. That was worse than...
They are all silent for a long time. Salome catches her own tears and then Mejal’s. Mariche looks away. Salome kneels in front of Mejal. She touches her hair, tenderly.
SALOME Mejal?
GRETA Perhaps Mejal’s episode was brought
on by the thought of us creating our own map.
NEITJE But I will draw it if we need-
Cherry Rev. (07/18/21)
53.
GRETA Not a fear of the do-it-yourself
map making. But of what it means: that we are masters of our own destiny. That we would be setting off into unknowable space.
AGATA Yes. It makes sense that one would
panic. Mejal blows smoke rings.
MEJAL I am not panicking.
AGATA Yes. But panic, in this case would
be understandable.
MEJAL But I’m not.
ONA Klaas, when he returns, may take
horses or livestock that we will need along the way.
SALOME Along the way? We’re not leaving.
You are changing your mind, Ona. Ona takes a deep breath and looks at her sister.
ONA I don’t believe that is a sin, is
it? Salome puts her head in her hands.
MARICHE How will we be forgiven for all
this?
(MORE)
Cherry Rev. (07/18/21)
MARICHE (CONT'D)
How will we be forgiven if not by the elders whom we have disobeyed and who, if we leave, we will never see again. It will leave us unforgiven, with black hearts, and unable to enter the kingdom of god.
GRETA Perhaps there will be other elders
or men of God that will be able to forgive us our sins. Ones we haven’t met yet.
SALOME We do not have to be forgiven by
the men of God for protecting our children from the depraved actions of vicious men who are often the very same men we are meant to ask for forgiveness! If God, in the book of Matthew asks: Let the children come to me and do not hinder them, then mustn’t we consider it a hindrance when our children are attacked? If God is a loving God He will forgive us Himself. If God is a vengeful God then He has created us in His image. If God is omnipotent then why has He not protected the women and girls of this colony? I will destroy any living thing that harms my child. I will tear it limb from limb, I will desecrate its body and I will bury it alive. I will challenge God on the spot to strike me dead if I have sinned by protecting my child from evil and by destroying the evil that it may not harm another! I will lie, I will hunt I will kill and I will dance on graves and burn forever in hell before I allow another man to satisfy his violent urges with the body of my four-year-old child!
Ona moves to her sister and hugs her.
AGATA (softly)
No. Not dancing. Not desecration.
Mejal goes to Salome and takes her in her arms. Neitje draws Salome, dancing on a grave.
54.
Cherry Rev. (07/18/21)
55.
MEJAL Salome.
She holds out her cigarette, for Salome to take a drag.
AGATA I suggest that we think of what is
good. “Whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things... and the peace of God be with you.”
The women bow their heads and say the words along with Agata. Salome stays quiet, thinking intently and breathing hard.
THE WOMEN Whatever is true, whatever is
honourable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things... and the peace of God be with you.
Salome looks at her mother, vulnerable.
SALOME I will become a murderer if I stay.
What is worse than that?
Agata nods. There is silence for a long time as the women watch Salome closely. Agata gets up, she walks to the window, stares out at the sunset. Salome looks down. Mariche paces. The women recite the verse again, mostly to themselves. As the women recite the verse, Ona walks over to where August sits, writing to catch up. She peers over his shoulder. She points at the letters.
ONA I know what these are. These are
letters. But what are these?
AUGUST They are commas. They signify a
short pause, or a breath, in the text.
Ona smiles, then inhales.
Aha!
Tan Rev. (07/29/21)
56.
AUGUST (CONT'D) There is also a butterfly called
the comma.
ONA Is that so?
Mariche rolls her eyes.
AUGUST Yes. It’s called the comma because-
ONA No. Let me guess. Because it flits
about from leaves to petals, only briefly stopping on its way? Because its journey is its story, never stopping, only pausing, only moving.
August smiles and nods. Ona punches the palm of her hand in victory.
ONA (CONT'D) She goes back to her seat. Finally, Agata turns from the
window and walks slowly back to her seat.
AGATA Salome, there is nothing worse than
being a murderer. If you will become a murderer by staying in the colony, side by side with the men who are responsible for the attacks then you must, to protect your own soul and to qualify for entry to heaven, leave the colony.
Mariche frowns. We are not all murderers.
ONA Not yet.
Ona looks at her mother.
MARICHE:
Tan Rev. (07/29/21)
57.
AGATA I have done what the verse from
Philippians instructed, which is to think about what is good, what is just, what is pure, and what is excellent. And I have arrived at an answer. Pacifism. Pacifism is good. Any violence is unjustifiable.
By staying here, we women would be betraying the central tenet of our faith, which is pacifism, because by staying we would knowingly be placing ourselves in a direct collision course with violence, either by us or against us.
Agata holds back tears.
AGATA (CONT'D) This colony is the only home I’ve
ever known, and I don’t want to leave. But by staying, we would be inviting harm. We would be in a state of war. We would turn this colony into a battlefield.
ONA We cannot become murderers. And we
cannot endure any more violence. That is why we must leave.
All the women watch Salome as she nods her head gently. Greta raises her arms. Mariche makes a noise of objection. Mejal takes a long haul off her cigarette. She exhales and nods.
MEJAL Let’s shake a leg, then.
Ona suddenly feels a kick, which startles her. She puts her hand to her belly. Mariche looks up.
ONA I’m also thinking about the verse
from Philippians and I’m thinking about what is good. Freedom is good. It’s better than slavery. And forgiveness is good. Better than revenge. And hope for the unknown is good, better than hatred of the familiar.
MARICHE What about security and safety and
home and family?
(MORE)
Salmon Rev. (07/08/21) 58.
MARICHE (CONT'D)
ONA I don’t know about those things,
any of them. Except for love. And even love is mysterious to me. And I believe that my home is with my mother, with my sister and with my unborn child, wherever they may be.
Ona touches her belly, lightly. Mariche stares at Ona’s pregnant belly.
MARICHE Will you not hate that child? That
child is the child of a man who inspires violent thoughts in you.
54 INT. ONA’S BEDROOM - SUNRISE - 7 MONTHS EARLIER 54
Ona wakes up, she can barely move her arms and legs. She looks down, sees blood stains on the bed. A din like a roar again.
ONA Mother! Again!
Agata rushes in. She looks around at the bed, and clasps Ona to her.
ONA (V.O.) I already love this child more than
anything.
55 INT. HAYLOFT - TWILIGHT Ona speaks clearly and calmly.
ONA He or she is as innocent and
lovable as the evening sun. And so too was the child’s father when he was born.
CUT BACK TO:
FLASHBACK TO:
55
Cherry Rev. (07/18/21)
59.
ONA (CONT'D) Are you crying?
Agata shakes her head. Salome looks at her closely. Salome strokes her head.
MARICHE (to Ona)
If you are saying that forgiveness is better than revenge, aren’t you saying that we must stay here and forgive the men?
ONA We cannot forgive because we are
forced to. But if there is distance, perhaps I can begin to understand how these crimes may have occurred. And maybe from that distance, I can pity these men, and perhaps forgive them. And even love them.
A moment of silence as they absorb what Ona has said.
AGATA And so we must leave in order to
have that distance.
ONA Not fighting. But moving on. Always
moving. Never fighting. Just moving...
Ona seems to be in some kind of trance.
MARICHE Snap out of it.
SALOME You snap out of it, Mariche.
MEJAL All of you snap out of it and
focus. Have you lost your minds? The sun is gone.
Mejal jabs at the window, at the darkening sky outside. They stare for a moment at the coming night.
Cherry Rev. (07/18/21) 60.
GRETA I want to tell another story about
Ruth and Cheryl.
Several of The Women groan. Neitje and Autje fall backwards in boredom.
CUT TO:
56 EXT ROAD - MORNING 56 We see Greta looking far down the road in front of her, driving her horses forward as she rides in the buggy. TIGHT ON the back of the HORSE’S HEADS, we see their direction moving erratically, then finding focus and going straight as Greta speaks. GRETA (V.O.) I was always frightened of the northern road out of the colony. So many gullies on either side of the road that are so deep. And it’s so narrow. The buggy used to lurch side to side. Ruth and Cheryl were simply following my commands on the reins but they were jerky and frenetic. It was dangerous. It was only when I learned to focus my gaze far down ahead of me, down the road, and not on the road immediately in front of Ruth and Cheryl that I started to feel safe. The buggy goes by the camera, we CRANE UP to see Greta getting smaller and smaller, disappearing into the distance, the sun setting over the colony. GRETA (V.O.) Leaving will give us the more far- seeing perspective we need to forgive.
57 INT. GRETA’S KITCHEN - MORNING 57 Greta sits with her one year old grandchild on her lap, feeding her porridge. Every now and then she gives her a little jostle, making her laugh uproariously. GRETA (V.O.) Which is to love properly, and to keep the peace, according to our faith.
Goldenrod Rev. (07/09/21) 61.
58 INT. GRETA’S KITCHEN - MORNING 58
Greta plays a hide and seek game with her granddaughter, getting down on all fours and hiding behind doorways. Greta is childlike, magical to her granddaughter.
GRETA (V.O.) Therefore, our leaving wouldn’t be
an act of cowardice or abandonment. It wouldn’t be because we were excommunicated or exiled. It would be a supreme act of faith, a step towards love and forgiveness.
59 INT. HAYLOFT - TWILIGHT The Women are silent, considering this. Neitje draws a buggy,
way in the distance.
GRETA Leaving is how we demonstrate our
faith. We are leaving because our faith is stronger than the rules. Bigger than our life.
This hangs in the air.
Greta grimaces and moves her hand slowly in front of her face.
GRETA (CONT'D) I am sorry. But I think I might be
dying.
Some of The Women rise, in alarm, from their seats. Mejal looks directly into Greta’s eyes. She laughs. She removes Greta’s eyeglasses and shows them to the group.
MEJAL Mother. You are not dying. Your
glasses need cleaning.
Greta laughs, relieved. Mejal cleans her glasses on her dress and hands them back to her.
GRETA I thought the lights were going
out.
CUT BACK TO:
59
Buff Rev. (07/10/21) 62.
Agata hoots. The Women, other than Mariche, laugh and laugh. Agata struggles for breath. Autje posts the picture of Ona and her baby on the wall.
MARICHE What are you laughing at? We can’t
leave. It would be better to stay and fight than leave.
ONA Do you really mean that you want to
stay and NOT fight? Because when was the last time you had the strength to stand up to the aggression of Klaas, to protect your children, or to get out of harm’s way?
Mariche is enraged. She rises, ignoring Salome and looking at Ona.
MARICHE Who are you to tell me what kind of
wife and mother to be when you are neither one yourself? You are a spinster, a lunatic! A whore! An unwed mother!
August writes as fast as he can, nervously watching Ona. Salome rises from her milk bucket.
SALOME Ona was made unconscious and raped
like the rest of us and now is pregnant as a result! How dare you call her a whore! Mariche, are you not afraid your own sweet boys will become monsters like their father because you do nothing to protect them or yourself-
AUTJE (softly)
Stop.
SALOME (Continuing without
stopping) Nothing to educate them, nothing to teach them the horror of their father’s ways, the sickness...
Buff Rev. (07/10/21)
62A.
AGATA Now. I. Have. Heard. Enough! Are
you women not aware that we are talking about leaving? We are a large group.
(MORE)
Buff Rev. (07/10/21)
AGATA (CONT'D)
Many things can go wrong and our time is fleeting! For the love of our Lord Jesus Christ and precious Saviour will you shut your pieholes, please!
Greta lets out an involuntary laugh. Mariche turns to face Ona.
MARICHE How dare you pass judgement on me.
Ona meets Mariche’s gaze.
ONA It wasn’t judgement. It was a
question. Agata leans over to whisper to Ona.
ONA (CONT'D) I am sorry, Mariche. I am sorry
that what I said hurt you.
MARICHE F*** it off.
Mejal laughs.
GRETA Sit down Mariche.
Mejal and Salome share a cigarette. Agata continues to stroke Salome’s arms and hair.
NEITJE (whispering)
It’s “f*** off” I think.
The others nod in agreement. Autje and Neitje laugh. Neitje draws Mariche yelling at Ona, pointing a finger.
ONA I am sorry. I am saying sorry, not
just to leave the hurt behind, but because I feel, truly, that I should not have said something harmful.
63.
Buff Rev. (07/10/21) 64.
Mariche watches her, somewhat calmed, but still guarded and waiting to pounce.
ONA (CONT'D) And Mariche. I am sorry because you
don’t need or deserve more harm.
MARICHE Who are any of you to pretend I
have had a choice? Mariche notices Autje, who is watching her carefully. Autje nods, softly.
GRETA I am also sorry Mariche.
Mariche looks up at her mother, quickly, startled.
GRETA (CONT'D) Because, Mariche. I couldn’t - I
didn’t try to protect you or your children from Klaas. All this time. And what you say is true. You had no choice. You forgave him, again and again, as you were told to. As I told you to.
Mariche sits down, taking in her mother’s words. She looks around at the group. Salome looks up at her, quickly, then looks away, nodding in agreement with Greta, tears in her eyes. Mariche speaks softly, almost to herself.
MARICHE It is not only the men and boys who
have been excellent students.
Mariche takes the overalls she has been sewing, off her lap, and puts them to the side.
SALOME Yes. All of us have been infected
by a poisoned way of thinking.
MARICHE And so you have judged me. For what
I have endured.
Agata nods gently, looking at her. Autje comes over to Mariche and sits on the floor beside her, puts her head in her lap. Mariche touches her hair, softly.
Buff Rev. (07/10/21)
64A.
AGATA I think, Mariche... I think that we
are all very sorry. What you have been required to endure with your violent husband was a...
Double Pink Rev. (08/16/21)
65.
GRETA A misuse of forgiveness.
MEJAL Is there such a thing? Is there a
forgiveness that is not good?
AGATA Perhaps forgiveness can, in some
instances, be confused with permission.
Mariche looks up to see her. Mejal touches Mariche’s hand. Seeing their acknowledgement, something in Mariche softens. She puts her head down. She appears to be breathing fully, for the first time. She stares at the floor.
ONA Perhaps it will also be a difficult
task to forgive each other, and ourselves, after all that has happened.
Mariche nods at her mother, tears in her eyes. Greta holds Mariche close.
Suddenly Nettie/Melvin, climbs the ladder holding Julius Reimer, Mariche’s son, (5 years old). He looks stunned and * upset.
GRETA What in heaven’s name?
Nettie/Melvin thrusts Julius into Mariche’s lap. He points at the boy’s nose, gesticulating, expressing bewilderment.
AGATA Nettie. Please. Be reasonable. Make
an exception and tell us what is happening. There are only women in this loft. Nettie!
August remains very still. Nettie/Melvin is silent, pondering the request. Julius turns his face into Mariche’s chest and howls.
MARICHE (urgently)
What has happened to him? Julius points to his nose.
Cherry Rev. (07/18/21)
66.
AGATA Nettie. Be realistic. What has
happened to Julius? Please! Just speak this once!
JULIUS My nose. There is a cherry pit in
my nose! Mariche presses on one of Julius’ nostrils.
MARICHE Blow. Now. Blow, Julius.
Julius blows the cherry pit out and Mariche runs her fingers down his nose and the cherry pit comes out. Ona inserts two fingers into her mouth and whistles. The Women stop talking and look at her.
ONA If Julius has put a cherry pit up
his nose it means he has been eating cherries or he has, at least, been near cherries.
The Women look at her, silently, a realization dawning.
ONA (CONT'D) We have no cherries in the colony.
MARICHE (realizing)
Klaas sometimes brings them back from the city.
AGATA Who gave you the cherries? Julius!
Papa.
JULIUS:
MARICHE Papa is home now?
JULIUS No. I saw him out on the road. He’s
collecting animals. Mariche looks pale. She looks up at Melvin/Nettie who nods.
Agata steadies her gaze and is still. Salome rushes to the window, cursing.
Cherry Rev. (07/18/21)
66A.
MARICHE (to Julius)
If you see him again you can tell him that we are all quilting.
JULIUS Isn’t that lying?
MARICHE No. It’s... something else. Go now.
Go with Nettie.
Salmon Rev. (07/08/21) 67.
Julius nods. Melvin takes Julius’ hand and takes him down the ladder.
GRETA Have we made a decision? Are we
leaving?
She looks at each woman, and they each, silently, in their own way, agree. Mariche is still.
Yes.
AUTJE:
GRETA We are leaving because-
AUTJE We know why we are leaving. We are
leaving because we cannot stay.
Everyone looks at Autje, taking this in. Mariche beckons to Autje. Autje sits beside her and Mariche puts her arm around her.
NEITJE What happens when we become hungry?
Or afraid?
ONA We are not animals. Hunger and fear
cannot be our guide.
MEJAL Should we not have more perspective
than animals?
AGATA Animals have perspective. Remember?
The dragonflies? They set out knowing that they will not see the end of their journey but their children will.
MEJAL Please for the love of Joshua
Judges Ruth can we start talking practically!
Agata smiles and twists her body from side to side in delight.
AGATA I like that. “For the love of
Joshua Judges Ruth.”
Salmon Rev. (07/08/21)
67A.
GRETA We will take young boys under
twelve with us. And we will allow the men to join the women later, under certain conditions.
AUTJE I like it.
NEITJE Me too.
Goldenrod Rev. (07/09/21) 68.
Salome shakes her head, alarmed. Greta smiles at the young women, who look sad.
GRETA Would everyone agree to this now,
knowing that our minds may change in the future?
ONA No. Not yet.
Salome presses her index fingers into the corners of her eyes, trying to push back the tears.
SALOME We can’t leave.
AGATA Aaron. I know.
SALOME He is just over twelve. Just
barely.
60 EXT. WASHHOUSE FENCE - MORNING
FLASHBACK TO:
Salome leads Aaron home. He jumps up on a fence. He takes a few steps. Salome watches him from a distance as he hops down. She sneaks up behind him, then grabs his waist and screams. He laughs, startled, pretends to be annoyed.
GRETA (V.O.) The sadness of leaving Aaron behind
for the time being will only spur us all, all of us grieving mothers, to rebuild a new and better colony for everyone.
CUT BACK TO:
Agata puts her arm around Salome’s shoulders. Mejal crosses to Salome’s side, tears falling. She puts her arms around Salome. They are silent for a while.
SALOME Why are boys aged thirteen and
fourteen left behind? Why wouldn’t they leave with us?
60
61
Tan Rev. (07/29/21)
69.
AGATA Surely we can’t be afraid of boys
of this age? Why couldn’t they join us if we leave?
Ona looks at August.
ONA August. You’re the boys teacher.
What is your feeling about this? Do boys of this age pose a threat to our girls and women?
August stops transcribing. He puts his pen down and thinks.
AUGUST Yes. Possibly. Every one of us,
male or female, poses a potential threat. Thirteen and fourteen-year- old boys are capable of causing great damage to girls and women, and to each other.
62 EXT. SCHOOLHOUSE - MORNING
CUT TO:
As we hear August’s voice, we see the boys of the schoolhouse racing. They scrum around the victor, and shove each other - at first playfully and then more aggressively.
AUGUST (V.O.) It is a brash age. They are
possessed of reckless urges, physical exuberance, intense curiosity that often results in injury, unbridled emotion, including deep tenderness and empathy, and not quite enough experience or brain development to fully understand or appreciate the consequences of their actions or words. They are similar to the yearlings; young, awkward, gleeful, powerful. They are tall, muscular, sexually inquisitive creatures with little impulse control, but they are children. They are children and they can be taught.
(MORE)
62
Blue Rev. (05/31/21) 70.
AUGUST (V.O.) (CONT'D)
I’m a two-bit schoolteacher, a failed farmer, an effeminate man, and above all, a believer.
63 INT. SALOME’S KITCHEN - MORNING 63 We are close on Aaron. He looks into the camera, staring silently, inscrutable. Two smaller children play in the background. AUGUST (V.O.) I believe that with direction, firm love and patience these boys are capable of relearning their roles as males in the colony. I believe in what the great poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge thought were the cardinal rules of early education. “To work by love and so generate love. To habituate the mind to intellectual accuracy and truth. To excite imaginative power.” He said “Little is taught by contest or dispute, everything by sympathy and love.” We now see Salome, sitting across the table from Aaron, looking at him tenderly. She puts her hand on his cheek. He moves away, embarrassed. He smiles at her awkwardly, then gets up and leaves her there, the table shining clean in front of her. CUT BACK TO:
64 INT. HAYLOFT - MAGIC HOUR 64 Neitje has drawn pictures of the boys next to August’s writing. In some of the illustrations they do work, in some they are violent, in some they study at school. AUGUST I believe those boys should be allowed to leave with the women, providing the women choose to leave. MARICHE It was a yes or no question.You sh*t like any other man, why don’t you talk like one?
Cherry Rev. (07/18/21)
71.
Mejal laughs. Mariche catches herself, shakes her head and smiles.
Sorry.
MARICHE (CONT'D) SALOME
I won’t leave Aaron.
AGATA I would like to make a proposal. We
must protect all of our children. Not only our daughters. All boys under the age of fifteen, and the ones that require special care must accompany the women.
SALOME How do you mean must?
ONA What if they refuse? If they don’t
want to leave?
MARICHE We can’t carry teenagers on our
backs.
AGATA We will try to influence our sons.
But we cannot force them, and they may refuse, it is true.
NEITJE But that would be very sad.
AGATA Let’s talk about our sadness after
we have nailed down our plan. August, you would stay here to teach the boys who remain?
August nods. Ona looks at August. They share a long moment in silence. Agata watches them watching each other.
NEITJE What’s the point in trying to teach
them? Fifteen-year-old boys still believe that throwing horse turds at the girls while we do the milking shows their love.
Autje laughs.
Cherry Rev. (07/18/21)
72.
AUTJE But a boy who truly loves you will
intentionally miss when he throws the sh*t, or not throw it with quite as much force.
Mejal and Salome shake their heads.
SALOME My most hopeful dream for my four
year old girl is that one happy day a boy will intentionally miss hitting her with a clump of sh*t.
MEJAL Yes. The day every mother dreams
of, the hope that gets us through the darkest hours.
Autje glances out the east door. She suddenly gets up and goes to it.
AUTJE He’s here.
Mariche looks as though she will be sick.
Klaas.
MARICHE:
The other women rush to the east door. They see, in the distance, Klaas, leading two horses, walking away from them.
GRETA He has Ruth and Cheryl!
They move to hide themselves away from the windows until he is out of sight.
AGATA Everyone, back to your houses. Go
collect your children, and pack up. August, get the map. Greta and I will pack the food supplies. If anyone asks, we were quilting here.
Neitje and Autje are the first to scramble down the ladder.
Cherry Rev. (07/18/21)
73.
AGATA (CONT'D) Neitje and Autje! You must run now
to every house and tell the women, we are leaving!
SALOME Tell them to bring everything they
can. We will assemble outside the washhouse!
Neitje and Autje stand at the bottom of the ladder, looking paralyzed by the awesome responsibility.
SALOME (CONT'D) And pin up your hair!
They begin putting up the braids they have left down since having them tied together, and run off.
65 EXT. PORCH - TWILIGHT 65 A YOUNG WOMAN hangs out of a hammock, asleep on the porch floor, her legs suspended by the hammock. Another, a MIDDLE AGED WOMAN lies on the porch chair, also asleep. A TEENAGER sleeps on the floor. Neitje and Autje kneel down beside them, waking each of them up, gently, talking to them. They are bleary eyed and don’t seem interested in what she has to say. MEJAL (O.S.) I am worried about the women who have voted to do nothing. If Klaas, or any other man has returned, there is a high risk that these women will inform them that we are plotting.
66 INT. SEWING ROOM - TWILIGHT 66 Neitje and Autje approach Scarface Janz, who is sewing in the corner, A GROUP OF WOMEN, including Anna and Helena, working on various projects in chairs or tables in the room. The other women nod as Neitje speaks to them. Scarface Janz stares at her, shaking her head, almost imperceptibly. There is an endless silence.
question.
Blue Rev. (05/31/21)
74.
ONA (O.S.) We must have faith that the Do
Nothing women will not inform on us.
AUGUST (O.S.) But some, like Scarface Janz,
believe that to fight or to leave is a sin. What about her?
ONA (O.S.) What about her, August?
Before Neitje has finished speaking, Scarface Janz goes back to sewing, turning her back to Neitje. Neitje eyes her nervously.
AUGUST (O.S.) Do you have faith in her?
CUT BACK TO:
67 INT. HAYLOFT - TWILIGHT We stay on Ona’s face for a long time, as she considers the
ONA I must have faith in all of us,
right now.
August nods. Greta, as she heads for the ladder, looks at Mariche.
GRETA Mariche. Be careful.
Mariche nods lightly. Greta holds Mariche’s head to her shoulder. They all clatter down the ladder.
Agata is a bit out of breath.
ONA Breathe, mother.
Agata looks at Ona beneath her and laughs. She kisses the top of Ona’s head.
ONA (CONT'D) Breathe and slow down. You always
hold your breath when you’re exerting yourself.
67
Goldenrod Rev. (07/09/21) 75. Agata laughs again.
ONA (CONT'D) Don’t laugh while you’re on the
ladder. Concentrate. Agata calls out to the other women, below her and above her.
AGATA We will have to get an early start
tomorrow morning. Let’s meet here again at sunrise. All of us.
She goes down the ladder and leaves the barn quickly along with the other women. August moves to the window and watches them go across the North fields.
Mariche collects her many children from the field. She is subdued in her movements, watching each one of them closely. She looks across the field and sees Klaas, beckoning to her from the doorway of their house. Her shoulders slump. Greta approaches her.
GRETA Don’t go. Stay with me tonight. Or
I will go with you.
MARICHE If I don’t go home, it will draw
attention to all of us. I must behave as though everything isn’t about to change.
She gives Greta a small smile. Mariche heads towards the house.
GRETA Mariche.
MARICHE Go home, Mother. I will see you at
sunrise.
Mariche smiles faintly back at Greta, and gives her a soft kiss. She leads the children home with a sense of dread. Greta watches her go, concerned.
Why? They look scared.
CORNELIUS:
Buff Rev. (07/10/21) 76.
69 EXT. COLONY PATH - TWILIGHT 69
Neitje and Autje walk along the paths, stopping to talk to women as they go. They speak under their breaths to each one they pass.
NEITJE An hour after sunrise. We
congregate on the road by the wash house.
A group of women nod. One dark-haired woman pushing a boy in a wheelchair, responds.
DARK-HAIRED WOMAN Do we bring-
AUTJE Everything. Bring everything.
69A EXT. COLONY PATH - MOMENTS LATER 69A They pass another group of women with children.
AUTJE We meet an hour after sunrise. On
this road. We need your buggy.
WOMAN Thank you, sister.
They nod in solidarity. Autje nods back.
70 EXT. COLONY HOUSE - TWILIGHT Neitje and Autje speak to Clara (20’s) in her doorway, her
children running around behind her.
NEITJE An hour after sunrise we leave. We
meet behind the wash house.
AUTJE And we need your buggies. Both of
them. Clara catches her breath in her throat.
70
Buff Rev. (07/10/21)
76A.
CLARA Tomorrow?
She looks behind her at her children, anxiously.
NEITJE You will be there?
She nods, anxiously.
CLARA I have so much to do.
She closes the door.
Goldenrod Rev. (07/09/21) 77.
71 INT. SALOME'S KITCHEN - TWILIGHT 71 Salome has just finished speaking with Aaron about the plan. Miep sits in her arms. Two of Salome’s other children (8, 10) do chores and play in the background.) Aaron looks stunned. Ona pats Aaron’s hand. He pulls it away. SALOME So. We will need your help. The horses need to be brushed. Saddled. Aaron nods, looking away. MIEP Mama. I’m hurting. Salome looks down at Miep, covered in sweat. Salome speaks quietly to Ona. SALOME The pills aren’t working. I think they are for calves, not people. ONA But she is small. They’ll work. SALOME She is small. But she’s not a calf. They focus on Miep, while Aaron gets up and leaves the table. He stares out the window, furious.
72 OMITTED 72
73 OMITTED 73
Goldenrod Rev. (07/09/21) 78.
74 EXT. MARICHE’S HOUSE - NIGHT 74 Autje and Neitje lead Ruth and Cheryl away from Mariche’s house, looking nervously behind them. A light turns on in Mariche’s house. Neitje and Autje freeze. The light turns off again. Autje and Neitje continue leading the horses away.
75 OMITTED 75
76 INT GRETA’S HOUSE- NIGHT 76 Agata, Greta and Mejal quickly load up barrels with cheese, sausage, bread, flour, eggs and water.
76B INT. SALOME'S HOUSE - MIEP’S BEDROOM - NIGHT 76B Salome tucks Miep into bed.
77 EXT. WASHHOUSE - NIGHT The moon is bright. Ona sits on the roof of the washhouse.
August walks by.
ONA Psst! August!
He looks up. She laughs.
ONA (CONT'D) Come. Sit with me.
77
August climbs up and joins her. He reaches into his satchel. August nods.
AUGUST Here is the map.
Ona unrolls it and stares at it, mesmerized.
ONA Where are we?
Goldenrod Rev. (07/09/21) 79. August points.
Here.
AUGUST:
Ona stares at the spot on the map, puts her finger on it, and smiles.
ONA Here. This is where we are.
She stares at it, in awe.
AUGUST I’ve created a legend.
Ona looks up at him, questioningly.
AUGUST (CONT'D) For the map. I’ve drawn asterisks
on the map that coincide with pictures in the legend.
ONA What do the pictures show?
AUGUST Rivers, roads, towns and cities and
borders, train tracks. See?
Ona nods her head. He points to the compass printed on the map.
AUGUST (CONT'D) This is north... south... east...
and west.
ONA But the map moves. How do we know
which direction the map should be facing?
AUGUST Celestial navigation. Let me show
you.
She rolls up the map. August points to a constellation of bright stars.
Ona nods.
AUGUST (CONT'D) Do you know of the Southern Cross?
AUGUST (CONT'D) You... and the women, can use the Southern Cross for navigation. If
you clench your right fist like this-
He takes her hand and shapes it into a fist. He holds it up against the stars. Her arm is rigid, fist clenched, like a freedom fighter.
AUGUST (CONT'D) Now align your first knuckle with
the axis of the Cross. He holds her hand, her wrist.
AUGUST (CONT'D) Now. The tip of your thumb, here,
will indicate south. Ona smiles, nodding, clapping her hands.
Ona nods.
Ona.
AUGUST:
AUGUST (CONT'D) Will you show the others?
ONA We will have a lesson in
navigation.
80.
Cherry Rev. (07/18/21) 81. Ona looks at him, smiling.
AUGUST (CONT'D) Did you already know about this
little trick? Ona laughs.
ONA Of course. Of course I did.
August smiles, sheepishly.
AUGUST I wish there was something I could
tell you that you didn’t already know.
Ona smiles. They continue to look up at the stars. She watches him for a while, tenderly.
ONA What will become of you when we
leave? August is silent.
ONA (CONT'D) I hope... I hope that you can help
the boys. I hope that you can help them to be truthful. And to listen. Like you do.
She holds his hand for a long moment.
78 EXT. BARN - PRE-DAWN 78 August watches from the window as he sees the silhouette of Ona teaching the other women how to find the Southern Cross with her hands. He watches them, silently guiding each others hands into position, the beginning of the light coming up over the horizon behind them.
79 INT. HAYLOFT - EARLY MORNING 79 August pins Neitje’s drawings to the wall around the butcher paper lists. The Women start to emerge into the loft. Greta paces, periodically going to the window to peer into the dark. Her balance does not appear to be very good. Mejal watches her.
Cherry Rev. (07/18/21)
82.
SALOME Where are Mariche and Autje?
GRETA They will be here. I pray they will
MEJAL (to Greta)
Concentrate on lifting your feet higher when you take steps. Don’t shuffle. You’ll trip again.
GRETA I am very tired. My body is heavy.
Agata puts her feet into Ona’s lap and Ona rubs them. Ona quietly sings “On the Old Rugged Cross.” Agata sings every word or two, although she seems to be fighting for breath. August watches Ona, and she watches him watching her. Salome is braiding Neitje’s hair and tugging tightly.
NEITJE Please. Please. Be gentle. You are
blinding me.
ONA August. Did you dream last night?
August looks at her.
AUGUST:
Yes. Ona sings for a while. They stare at each other.
Mariche climbs the ladder to the loft. Autje is behind her, helping her. Mariche’s face is bruised and cut and her arm is in a sling fashioned from a feed bag. Autje has a bruise on her cheek in the shape of four fingers and a thumb. Greta rushes to Mariche, takes her in her arms. The rest of the women are silent, having seen this before. Some look down.
Mariche and Autje sit down on a haybale. Mejal is shaking with rage. She holds Autje tightly.
GRETA Is he gone?
AUTJE He’s sleeping. Dead to the world.
He was very drunk.
Cherry Rev. (07/18/21) 82A.
The women stare at Autje, taking this in. Neitje goes to sit beside Autje. She synchronizes her breathing with Autje’s. They look ahead together. They are silent.
GRETA (to Mariche)
Tell me what happened. Mariche shakes her head.
Cherry Rev. (07/18/21)
83.
AUTJE Father caught me sneaking back into
the house, late and then he went to the barn and found we had taken the horses.
SALOME Did you tell him what we were
planning? Mariche nods. Salome puts her head in her hands.
AUTJE She did. But it was because he
wouldn’t stop hitting me and she was trying to distract him.
MARICHE Yes. But I also told him because I
suddenly felt very... The women take this in.
MARICHE (CONT'D) I don’t think he believed me. And
if he did, I don’t think he’ll remember. He’ll be passed out in the barn all morning I’m sure.
She turns to Autje and Neitje.
AGATA So. Yesterday was a day for
talking. Today is a day for action. When Klaas wakes up he may go to the city to alert the other men. We have decided to leave before that happens. Is that accurate?
The Women nod.
AGATA (CONT'D) We have ruled out the option of
staying because-
MARICHE I thought today was a day of
action, not talk.
The other women laugh watch Mariche closely, and are silent, giving her space with her ravaged face this morning. We can hear animals, lowing in the distance. There is a hint of light in the sky.
Cherry Rev. (07/18/21)
84.
MARICHE (CONT'D) We have decided that we want...
that we are entitled to three things.
GRETA What are they?
Mariche looks on the wall at August’s notes and Neitje’s drawings. She stares at a drawing Neitje has made of children, playing.
MARICHE We want our children to be safe.
Mariche has begun to cry softly, and is finding it difficult to speak. She looks up at a drawing on the wall of a woman kneeling in prayer.
MARICHE (CONT'D) We want to be steadfast in our
faith.
She looks up at a drawing of a woman looking off, a book in her lap.
MARICHE (CONT'D) We want to think.
Yes.
GRETA:
Mariche looks down, trying to stop the tears so that she can continue speaking.
Agata claps her hands and holds them together in midair.
AGATA Praise God.
Greta raises her arms above her head like a football official. The older women look jubilant. Salome and Mejal smile.
SALOME Yes, that’s it.
MEJAL Precisely.
SALOME Well it’s not precisely put. But it
sounds perfect to me. A perfect beginning.
MEJAL Salome, will you use your last
breath on earth to correct me?
SALOME Yes, if that is what is needed.
MEJAL What if we feel guilt? What if it
overwhelms us?
AGATA We will feel pain and we will feel
uncertainty and we will feel sadness, but not guilt.
MARICHE We may feel guilty but we will know
we are not guilty.
MEJAL We may feel homicidal, but we will
know we are not killers.
ONA We may feel vengeful, but we will
know we are not raccoons. The other women laugh.
SALOME We may feel lost, but we will know
we are not losers.
MEJAL Speak for yourself.
SALOME I always do. You should try it too.
Neitje places her hand gently on Autje’s cheek, over the bruise.
85.
Cherry Rev. (07/18/21)
86.
AGATA We may feel guilt and we may feel
sadness. But we will endure it. We’re embarking on a journey. We are making a change that we have interpreted as being a testament to our faith and to our instincts as mothers. We must believe in it.
GRETA We don’t know everything that will
happen. But we’ve made our plan. And, yes, we must believe in it.
Agata holds Salome’s hand, who takes Neitje’s hand, who takes Ona’s hand, who takes Mejal’s hand, who takes Neitje’s hand who takes Autje’s hand who takes Mariche’s hand who takes Greta’s hand who takes Mejal’s. Ona walks to August. She takes August’s hand and leads him with her into the circle of women. He stares at their hands, holding each other. Greta begins to sing “Nearer, My God, to Thee.” Everyone joins in. August cries.
80 EXT. COLONY ROAD - EARLY MORNING 80 A GROUP OF WOMEN pulling their children along down a road, hear the faint singing in the distance. They stop and look in the direction it is coming from.
81 EXT. SCARFACE JANZ’ HOUSE - EARLY MORNING 81 Scarface Janz and her daughters stare at the Barn in the distance, hearing the hymn. Anna, holding Helena’s hand, makes a move to run towards the music of the barn. Scarface Janz grabs her arm. Anna breathes heavily, in a panic. Scarface Janz grabs her face with her free hand, and looks deeply into her eyes, holding her there. Anna holds her daughter’s hand, tightly, Helena’s face pointed towards the direction the music is coming from.
82 EXT. FIELD - EARLY MORNING 82 Nettie/Melvin plays with the children in the field. He motions to them “sssshhh.” They all stop and listen, looking into the distance where the sound is coming from. Some of the children, including Julius, sing. We stay on the faces of the young children, listening to the singing, and singing lightly along. Some of them keep playing, oblivious.
Cherry Rev. (07/18/21) 87.
83 INT. HAYLOFT - EARLY MORNING 83 When they are finished singing, August raises his hand. Ona
smiles at him.
AGATA You can speak whenever you want,
August, and you don’t have to raise your hand. You’re the teacher!
She laughs. The others stare at him. Tears are rolling down his cheeks. Autje and Neitje look mortified by his crying.
AUGUST It’s alright. It wasn’t important.
AGATA There is work to do. We must stop
talking and prepare to leave.
The Women’s expressions are stern, grim, desolate, and tight with tension, but they nod in agreement.
There is suddenly the sound of someone climbing the ladder. The Women hold their breaths. An OLD MAN, EARNEST PENNER appears. He can barely walk. He is suffering from dementia. Ona rushes to help him up the last few rungs.
ONA Uncle Penner!
AGATA Earnest!
He looks around at The Women, trying to get his bearings.
EARNEST What are you doing here in my loft?
Are you angels? Are you lost? Will you help me with my bath?
He is gasping for air, but also laughing in fits and starts. Ona helps him to sit down on a hay bale.
EARNEST (CONT'D) What are you b*tches plotting?
Agata gets up and walks to Earnest and sits next to him on the bale.
Goldenrod Rev. (07/09/21)
88.
AGATA Oh, Earnest. My sweet cousin. We’re
getting old, aren’t we?
Earnest puts his head on her shoulder and she smooths his wild, white hair.
EARNEST Are you devils?
AGATA No. We’re your friends.
EARNEST Are you plotting to burn down my
barn?
AGATA No, Ernie. There’s no plot. We’re
only women talking.
Ona goes to sit beside Earnest. She leans her head on his shoulder. Silence. Earnest seems to ponder this. So do The Women.
EARNEST Will you help me with my bath?
Mejal moves towards Earnest, her hands outstretched.
MEJAL Why don’t I take you back to your
house and give you a washing. I’ll give you a bath and get you something to eat.
AGATA Will you make sure the water you
use to wash Earnest is warm, but not hot, not scalding?
AGATA (CONT'D) (whispering)
Be quick.
Mejal nods. She leads him slowly down the ladder. Agata gets up and stands at the top of the ladder, her hands on her hips, watching. She calls after them.
AGATA (CONT'D) There is mint growing next to the
lower barn door!
(MORE)
Goldenrod Rev. (07/09/21) 89.
AGATA (CONT'D)
You could pick some of it and add it to the warm water. Earnest would love that!
Agata goes to the window and watches for a long while, as Mejal and Earnest make their way back to Earnest’s house.
84 EXT. LOWER BARN DOOR - SUNRISE 84 CLOSE ON: Mint, lovingly picked. Mejal holds it under Earnest’s nose, invites him to smell it. He smiles. He picks some himself.
85 INT. HAYLOFT - SUNRISE 85 Agata still watches them in the distance, wondering, tears streaming down her face. SALOME Mother? AGATA I’m just saying goodbye. She wipes her tears, quickly away. She turns to The Women, who are all watching her closely. Greta looks at her, vulnerable. GRETA I’m nervous. ONA We’re all nervous. We can’t avoid nervousness. AUTJE We hid Ruth and Cheryl for you. They are ready to go. GRETA Ruth and Cheryl!!! Really??!!! Greta runs over to Autje and kisses the girls. GRETA (CONT'D) Well, my girls. MARICHE We’ll head out, then. GRETA Yes. Let’s go.
Pink Rev. (06/21/21)
90.
SALOME We’ll need to find guns, in case
anyone tries to stop us.
AGATA No. We won’t have guns. We must
begin peacefully. As we mean to continue.
Agata looks off, decisive. Salome suddenly looks frightened.
SALOME We don’t know where we are going.
GRETA We don’t. We can’t. But we must go
anyway.
Nettie/Melvin climbs the ladder. He stands there, silently in front of the women.
AGATA Are the children clean and ready?
Nettie/Melvin nods.
AGATA (CONT'D) And their things are packed? They
are fed?
Nettie/Melvin nods again. Melvin goes to the window, to look at the children, playing below. Agata follows him.
AGATA (CONT'D) Thank you, Melvin.
Melvin smiles for the first time, hearing his name. He smiles at the open window, staring at the sunlight.
MELVIN Thank you. Thank you for saying my
name. There are tears of joy in Melvin’s eyes.
AGATA Melvin, are you ready for the
journey? Melvin doesn’t answer. They wait.
MELVIN No. I am not ready.
The Women are alarmed. Some open their mouths to speak.
MELVIN (CONT'D) But I am coming with you.
They smile and sigh with relief.
GRETA Yes, who of us can say we’re ready,
after all?
91.
Cherry Rev. (07/18/21)
92.
I can.
MARICHE:
AGATA Melvin, please return to the
children and play a game with them in the field next to the wash house. That is where the other women will find us, on their way out of the colony.
SALOME Has Aaron readied the horses for
us?
Melvin turns towards Salome and looks at her, warily. He shakes his head.
No.
MELVIN:
SALOME What? Where is he?
Melvin shakes his head and shrugs. Salome takes Melvin’s arm.
SALOME (CONT'D) Speak to me. Please. I won’t harm
you. I am not your enemy! Melvin is frightened and backs away, towards the window.
AGATA You must calm down, Salome. Aaron
will be found. Melvin. You are safe.
SALOME But we’re leaving soon. I’m not
leaving without him.
Salome climbs down the ladder, panicked. Melvin whispers at the window.
Double Pink Rev. (08/16/21) 93.
AGATA Salome! Come back!
They go to the window and watch Salome, running, her skirts flying behind her, bent into the wind, kicking up dust.
ONA Salome! Aaron will be found. He
will leave with us. I know he will! Ona turns to Agata.
ONA (CONT'D) But what if she doesn’t convince
Aaron?
Agata suddenly collapses onto her feed pail. Ona rushes to her.
Mother?
ONA (CONT'D)
Agata doesn’t speak. The other women crowd around her. She * smiles, eyes wide, nods her head, concentrates on her breathing. They all wait. Greta prays. Ona and Greta each hold one of Agata’s hands and synchronize their breathing. Mariche and the young women are quiet, watching. Finally,
Agata raises herself up to standing.
AGATA We are going to go now.
AUGUST (not ready)
Now?
AGATA Yes. Make a list, August.
AUGUST A list of what?
AGATA Of good things. Of memories, of
plans. Whatever you feel goes into a good list; what we, the women, would want there, please write it down.
She laughs, her breath choppy and laboured.
Double Pink Rev. (08/16/21)
93A.
AGATA (CONT'D) Thank you, August. For all you have
done. We are all so proud of you. Your mother would be too.
AUGUST I will make a list.
Cherry Rev. (07/18/21) 94.
Tears stream down August’s face. The Women rise, ready to leave. Agata is breathing very heavily now. Ona looks at her, concerned.
GRETA This will be a difficult trip.
AGATA I’m aware of that. Today is the day
that the Lord hath made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it!
She turns to Ona and says softly:
AGATA (CONT'D) I won’t be buried in this colony.
Help me into a buggy now and I’ll die on the trail.
Ona laughs but her eyes tear up. August is trying to keep writing but he can’t stop crying. The Women help each other down the ladder, in a chain. August watches them, especially Ona. He moves quickly towards the ladder, to catch a glimpse of her as she goes. Ona looks back at them.
ONA (between sobs)
What about August?
August smiles and waves, unsure what to do with himself. Agata is the last to climb down. August rises to his feet. Agata turns to him and smiles.
AGATA August, wouldn’t you marry my Ona?
August returns her smile.
AUGUST I’ve asked her so many times.
AGATA And she always said no?
Agata reaches up and pats August’s knee. He is towering over her now. He bends to touch her shoulder. She puts her hand on his.
AUGUST Hang on with both hands.
Agata finishes going down the ladder.
Cherry Rev. (07/18/21) 94A.
AUGUST (CONT'D) What about Aaron?
But Agata has already walked away.
August walks over to the window. He sees the women walking away into the distance. Ona is walking backwards, keeping her eyes on him.
AUGUST (CONT'D) Ona. I will always love you!
Ona laughs and cries and keeps walking backwards so she can see him. She waves. She forces herself, finally, to turn around. Agata, closer to the window looks up at August.
Pink Rev. (06/21/21) 95.
AGATA And she loves you too, August.
She loves everyone. August nods. Waves lightly.
86 INT. HAYLOFT - MORNING 86 August sits alone, making a list. We travel along the words and illustrations that have been posted on the walls, all around him. AUGUST (V.O.) How will I live without these women? My heart will stop. I will try to teach the boys and men about these women, about the new reality of which they dream. I must make a list. A list, from the Middle English liste, meaning desire. Which is also the origin of the word “listen.” August looks at the wall of notes, then begins to write.
87 EXT. FIELD - SUNRISE 87 The sun rises. We see beams of sun shining through trees, light dancing on a pond.
Cherry Rev. (07/18/21) 96.
Sun.
AGATA (V.O.)
88 EXT. FIELD - NIGHT 88 We are staring up at the sky, the milky way.
Stars.
NEITJE (V.O.)
89 INT. BARN - DAY 89 A pail, sitting alone among discarded tools.
Pails.
MIEP (V.O.)
90 EXT. HOUSE - DAY 90 A newborn baby stares at the sky, adjusting to the light.
Birth.
AUTJE (V.O.)
91 EXT. FIELDS - MAGIC HOUR 91 A two-year old lies sleeping in a cart of cucumbers. MARICHE (V.O.) The Harvest.
92 INT. SCHOOLHOUSE - DAY 92 A boys hand writes down a math problem.
Numbers.
MEJAL (V.O.)
93 INT. BARN - MORNING 93 August continues to write his list.
ONA (V.O.) Sounds. Window.
GRETA (V.O.) Straw. Beams.
Green Rev. (07/03/21) 97.
94 INT. SALOME’S KITCHEN - MORNING 94 ON AARON’S FACE, tears streaming down. He looks at us,
sobbing. He shakes his head violently.
Suddenly, a SPRAY CAN comes into frame. He screams and drops to the floor.
Love.
SALOME (V.O.)
95 EXT. SCARFACE JANZ'S HOUSE - MORNING Scarface Janz is walking quickly away SCARFACE JANZ I will do what God commands do. I will not lie for you. Salome pushes her down to the ground. and sprays in her face. Scarface Janz unconscious.
96 INT. KLAAS’ HORSE BARN - MORNING
95
from us, along a path. me to
She holds out the can goes immediately
96
We track along stalls in a barn. We pass a cow, then arrive on Klaas, passed out in a stall on a bale of hay. He begins to rouse. A hand comes into frame with a spray bottle and sprays. We see Salome close the stall door and leave the barn.
We see an image, similar to the one we saw near the beginning. A group of women walk down a road. The wind picks up. They try to hold onto their hats.
Futility. Language. Wind. Women.
SALOME (V.O.) MELVIN (V.O.) MIEP (V.O.) AGATA (V.O.)
August hears clambering on the ladder. Salome appears. She takes an axe and a few other big tools from the tack room. August looks at her, questioningly.
SALOME We may need to protect ourselves.
AUGUST Where is Aaron?
SALOME He is in the buggy, waiting.
AUGUST You convinced him to leave?
Salome doesn’t respond, hands him the spray can. August stares at it.
SALOME Here. You may need this. For
protection.
August’s eyes widen as he stares at the spray can and begins to understand.
AUGUST Did you have to-
SALOME Yes. It’s just as though I had
picked up a sleeping child in the night and carried him away from a house that was on fire.
AUGUST Is it?
SALOME He’s coming with me. He’s my child.
August nods, looking unsure.
SALOME (CONT'D) I broke the rules? I did. I broke the new rules already. Maybe I’ve broken everything. And we haven’t
yet begun. I sprayed Scarface Janz also. She was planning to go to the city to tell the men.
98.
Goldenrod Rev. (07/09/21)
99.
AUGUST Does she know how to get there?
SALOME No, of course not.
AUGUST So it was an idle threat.
SALOME But I was afraid.
August nods.
SALOME (CONT'D) Klaas too. But he wasn’t awake yet,
so he won’t remember being knocked out. Just like we didn’t.
Salome goes to leave.
SALOME (CONT'D) Goodbye August, and good luck.
AUGUST Please take care of Ona and her
baby. Salome nods.
SALOME Of course. I promise.
AUGUST Wait. I need to give you something.
August crosses the room and pulls a gun out of his satchel. He comes back to the ladder and hands it to Salome.
AUGUST (CONT'D) Salome stares at the gun.
SALOME Why do you have a gun, August?
AUGUST Because...
SALOME Don’t kill yourself August. You
have important work to do.
Here.
August nods.
SALOME (CONT'D) You are the boys teacher.
She tucks the gun away, wordlessly. She begins to climb down.
SALOME (CONT'D) We really have to hurry.
AUGUST But you’re not fleeing.
She laughs again.
SALOME That’s right. We’ve chosen to
leave.
AUGUST But not Aaron.
Salome is quiet for a moment. She looks at him.
SALOME I will have to live with that.
AUGUST Don’t come back. Don’t ever come
back, any of you. Salome laughs. She nods.
SALOME I’ll miss you. Be a good teacher.
You have straw in your hair.
AUGUST Wait! I have to give you the
minutes!
SALOME August! I have to go!
August runs to the table and picks up the notebooks and takes some of the sheets of paper from the walls.
He hands her what he has gathered so far.
AUGUST Please give these to Ona.
SALOME But she can’t read them.
100.
Double Blue Rev. (08/09/21)
101.
AUGUST Her child will read them.
Salome places the notebooks and papers back in August’s hands.
SALOME August. The purpose was for you to
take the minutes. She pushes his hand with the papers in it back at him. August
looks at her, beginning to understand.
SALOME (CONT'D) We’ll meet again.
AUGUST We’ll meet again.
Salome descends the ladder, leaving August with the notebooks.
August goes to the north doors and opens them. We see him stand there, in a WIDE FRAME. WE MOVE QUICKLY TOWARDS HIM and we see what he sees. He watches Salome, running away, one last time, from the barn. He can catch a glimpse of the convoy of buggies lining up beside the wash house.
99 EXT. WASH HOUSE ROAD - MORNING 99
We run with children through the field, obliviously carefree, in a wild game. They approach the road and are ushered towards buggies by the women. WE MOVE QUICKLY ALONGSIDE THE CONVOY AS MANY BAGS AND SUPPLIES ARE LOADED, children are passed up. Women get inside. A flurry of activity as last minute barrels and cases are loaded in. Among them we see Mariche and her children, Ona, Agata, Salome, Mejal and Greta. Anna, frantic, runs alongside the convoy, holding tight to Helena’s hand as they run, bags in her hand,looking scared. Autje grabs Helena’s hand and helps her into a buggy with Neitje. Anna sighs with relief and follows her in. There is a commotion at the front of the convoy. One of the buggies behind Autje’s gets stuck with the wheel of the buggy in front. Neitje, Autje and a GROUP OF WOMEN spontaneously leap out and help to move the buggy into the correct position. The buggies begin to move.
Green Rev. (07/03/21) 102.
100 INT. HAYLOFT - MORNING 100 August stands watching the convoy go. A hand reaches out of the fourth buggy, a hand lifted in farewell. It might be Ona’s. He lifts his hand in farewell, knowing he will likely not be seen.
101 EXT WASH HOUSE ROAD - MORNING 101 We see the convoy of buggies making its way down the long road. We CRANE UP to see the convoy of women and children, snaking away into the distance.
101A INT. SALOME'S KITCHEN 101A A tableau of Salome’s kitchen as it sits empty.
101B INT. GRETA’S KITCHEN 101B A tableau of Greta’s kitchen. Still and empty.
101C INT. MARICHE’S KITCHEN 101C A tableau of Mariche’s kitchen. Still and empty.
102 INT SCHOOLHOUSE - MORNING 102
August stands at the front of his schoolroom. There are some empty chairs, where the younger ones used to sit. He looks at the teenage boys in front of him. He studies their faces, innocent, mischievous, paying attention, not paying attention. He inhales and opens his mouth to speak.
CUT TO BLACK:
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"Women Talking" Scripts.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.scripts.com/script/women_talking_27347>.
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