Treatment for Script Idea 2

LOGLINE: A women struggling to come to terms with the loss of her infant daughter in a car accident must start the path to recovery and ease her way back into the world. Fighting against depression and denial, the woman’s life becomes a long exhausting path of therapy, abusive ex-husbands and intruding news reporters. The story chronicles the difficulty of moving on.

Act One

Jenny Collins is jogging along a beach with her earphones in, other joggers start to recognize her but she ignores and continues jogging. Jenny gets to a point where she breaks down in tears and collapses against a wall while having quick flashbacks of her and her daughter in a car accident. It is revealed on screen in words that this scene takes place 45 days since the accident.

3 days since accident- Jenny is grieving in her bedroom alone, she is carefully looking at pictures of her now deceased daughter. Jenny’s phone starts ringing and it is shown it is her Ex-Husband Brian, she ignores the call but he rings again and again. Jenny finally gains the courage to answer the phone and starts to apologize when she is cut off by Brian’s abusive language and blaming. Jenny hangs up the phone and throws it at a wall, breaking the phone.

7 days since accident- Jenny is with family and friends preparing to leave home to go to the funeral, Jenny’s sister hands her a phone telling her it’s their mother (who is suffering from Alzheimer’s and is been looked after in a special home). Jenny informs the mother that her sister is going to pick her up in 20 minutes and bring her to the funeral, the mother becomes confused and starts asking who’s funeral and who died making Jenny tear up a bit. After explaining it’s her daughters funeral the mother is still confused and starts going on about “I have a granddaughter? She must be so beautiful, I can’t wait to see her” This pushes Jenny over the edge to the point she hangs up and falls into her sister’s arms.

Act Two

13 days since accident- Jenny returns to work at her job, which is advertising, she is welcomed back by all her colleagues and returns to her desk, which is exactly the same as she left it. The boss calls her into his office for a talk and suggests therapy sessions that the company offer to their staff. Jenny is hesitant at first but then realizes it was less of a suggestion and more of a demand from her boss.

18 days since accident- Jenny attends her first group therapy session and is introduced to people, who have lost like she has, Jenny is very quiet for the length of the session but starts to connect with a woman (Mary) who talks about the loss of her son. After the session ends, Jenny catches up to this woman and asks if she would want to grab some coffee sometime to which the woman replies she is free right now. The two go of to a coffee shop and sit and talk about each other’s stories and feelings, Jenny finally feels like she’s met someone she can connect and relate to.

24 days since accident- Jenny agrees to an interview with news station since all the press has been reporting Jenny in a bad light since the accident. Jenny wants to clear up all the mistakes and lies the press has been telling. She is sat down in front of a live studio audience and is been interviewed by a woman. The interview starts off nice but the questions start to turn dark and twisted which forces Jenny to leave, before Jenny can get of the stage she is attacked by an audience member who calls her a child killer.

25 days since accident- Mary meets up with Jenny after work and they start to walk and talk heading towards their group therapy session. Mary brings up the interview and how bad she feels about not been there for Jenny, Jenny goes on about how violated she feels from the press and the abuse she has been receiving from her Ex-Husband. Mary starts talking about how she had/has been under similar circumstances and that there’s always a way to escape it, the two arrive at the session and are interrupted by another group member.

Act Three

30 days since accident- Jenny wakes up happier than usual this morning and calls Mary to let her know she is coming over, the phone goes to voicemail so Jenny leaves a message and heads over to Mary’s. Jenny rings the doorbell but there’s no answer, Jenny seems confused and tries calling again, she hears the phone ringing inside the house and looks through a window and sees the phone, she then looks closer and sees Mary hanging from noose in her living room. Jenny screams out for help and starts banging on the door, a passer by helps Jenny break down the door and she runs in. It fades to black on a shot of the house.

36 days since accident- Jenny attends the group therapy session and you can see that Mary’s chair is empty, Jenny is back to her quiet and depressed self again while a member talks about their problems. Mary walks into the session late revealing she survived the suicide attempt, it is clear that Mary is no longer friends with Jenny as she refuses to make eye contact and it is assumed Mary hates Jenny for saving her life. Jenny gets up and leaves the group and bumps into her sister outside to Jenny’s surprise, the sister reveals she was checking up on Jenny and gives a speech about how no matter how bad things get that Jenny never gives up. Jenny leaves feeling a bit happier than she previously was.

40 days since accident- Jenny has a meeting with her boss who tells her she has made an improvement over the past few days and is offering to allow her to choose whether she wants to carry on with the group sessions. Jenny takes the option to quit the group sessions. The boss remarks on how Jenny doesn’t look as healthy and fit as she once did and how whenever he feels like that he starts running. Jenny takes this into consideration and starts to leave, before she does the boss tells her that running is hard at first but to never give up, she then leaves.

45 days since accident- it cuts back to the first scene with Jenny running getting flashbacks of her daughter. Jenny fights the flashbacks and gets the strength to stand up again; she then takes a deep breath and starts running again, showing that she never gives up.