An untidy Central London apartment.
After having his heart broken twice in a short period of
time, Sean Ryan has resorted having many meaningless one-night stands with
random men and drinking heavily to escape the fact that he hasn’t moved on from
his previous heartbreak.
Sean sits in his bed, reading sadly through a text from one
of the aforementioned unsuccessful relationships, as an unnamed man leaves his
apartment. The state of his apartment, (discarded cans, bottles and plates
litter the rooms,) reflect his current lack of passion for anything, or anyone.
He looks melancholic, evidently ashamed of what he has done, and dwelling on
the sender of the text message. He remains in bed for most of the day,
seemingly apathetic to everything.
As darkness descends outside he has a shower and starts
drinking, preparing himself for another night, and another meaningless fling.
He stands in the shower, as lethargic as he was while in bed. He finishes
getting ready for the night out, and after making a downcast toast to his own
reflection, he finishes his drink and leaves his home.
Sean returns sometime later, drunk and in the company of
Jonah, an Australian tourist he met on the night. They sleep together, and
afterwards Jonah falls asleep while Sean lay awake.
Eventually, Sean leaves his bedroom and goes into his
kitchen, and after pouring himself another drink, breaks down into tears.
Hearing this, Jonah wakes up and comes into the kitchen. He comforts Sean and
asks him what is wrong.
His genuine concern throws Sean off his guard, and he begins
to talk about his recent heartbreaks and how he’s been having meaningless
encounters to cover up his fear of having his heart broken again. At the end of
the conversation, Jonah says that it’s a shame he has to go back to Australia
soon as there could have been potential in their relationship, had they gone on
to get to know each other.
Upon returning to the bedroom the two sleep together again
and unlike before, Sean falls asleep afterwards, no longer regretting the
encounter.
The next morning, after a pleasant yet nonetheless awkward
goodbye, Sean sits in the kitchen, looking at his phone. He picks it up and
almost goes to read the messages, as he did at the start, but stops, and puts
his phone back on the table. Looking around the apartment, and seeming less
apathetic than before, he opens the blinds letting in the morning sun, and
revealing a view of the Central London Skyline. He surveys this for a moment,
before starting to pick up some of the discarded bottles littering his home.
The main criticism for this idea is that the ending seems to upbeat, and not realistic enough for the timeframe of a short film (as it seems resolved). A resolved ending, however, was not my intention, and I now agree that the treatment makes the ending seem a lot happier than it should, as I only imagines Sean considering how he could change and maybe making a minor change to represent this.
I will consider this while drafting the script.
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