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SHHHH – Screenplay

SHHHH  | Israel  | 2019 | 13’       

Director: Jonathan Mordechay   

Writer: Haim Zubida        

Producer: Rechela Duetch            

Cast: Noa Koler, Erez Drigues      

Synopsis: It was supposed to be another ordinary evening for the couple who just had a cute baby. Father just came home from work, mother got up make dinner, but most importantly – don’t wake up the baby who just fell asleep because things can go wrong beyond imagination.

Shhhhhhh – script (Draft 007)

apartment interior / evening

A bourgeois and decorated living room with a living room at the center and a kitchen. In the center of the living room is a large playpen that takes up much of it. There are also scattered other baby products, such as a stroller, a baby carrier and more. On the bare floor is a carpet with a dirt stain that they couldn’t clean, next to the diaper was a pacifier and some soft fur dolls. Next to the coop is a dining table. But now at the other baby’s coop, the living room looked small and claustrophobic. There are also lots of baby products on the dining room table and kitchen that blend into the kitchen’s ‘luxury’ male-to-life products.

The mother (ragged, neglected, tired about 35) is sitting disappearing on the couch, about thirty-two, her hair is messy, black circles under her eyes, in front of a flashing television. She tries not to close her eyes, gently rocking the baby lying on her lap and breastfeeding.

Opposite the mother on the wall is a large and well-designed clock that shows 19:23.

The mother looks at the watch occasionally nervously, each time she looks at the swinging watch becomes faster.

Looks like the baby is asleep. The mother got up to place it in the coop but suddenly a rattle of keys and the door opened.

The father (fresh, smiling, handsome about 35 years old) entered a happy, thirty-five-year-old apartment, dressed in a black suit and white shirt, holding a luxury leather bag. He brought a wrapped silk, maybe a gift for a child or something from the writer …

The mother immediately places her mouth on her face with a furious face, signaling ‘Shhhhh ….’

The father nods his head in understanding, closing the door of the house carefully and quietly. He looks at the mother who shakes her head angrily at the clock, the father raises his hand and shows her the leather bag in his hand.

The mother nods at him cynically.

The father raises his hands in frustration of helplessness and goes to the dining table to put on his bag, lowering his tie and buttoned shirt.

The baby suddenly starts to make noises of crying. The mother already looks frustrated.

The mother is giving licorice in the direction of the father.

The father quickly came to take his measure willingly and with a smile, he ran into a coop / or stepped on a loud noise, making a sharp noise. Both in a pose of a look ‘What did we do ?!’ In their eyes, the mother and father quickly put their finger in the mouth as a sign of “Shhhhhh”

The mother gives the father an angry look of ‘what are you doing? He almost fell asleep! ‘

The father nods in guilt. He grabs the baby from the mother and smiles at him lovingly and cradles him softly.

The mother meanwhile closes her shirt, gets up from the couch, tries to gather her hair back to give them a neat look, but without success. We see the fingers of her hand, the peeled nail and the fingers look neglected. She signals to Dad that the food is ready

The father gently places the baby in the crib. He pulls on the tight mobile that starts playing and turns off the TV with the remote control going to the kitchen as he rolls up his sleeves and sits carefully and quietly at the table.

The mother, meanwhile, mixes with the ladle the contents of a steaming pot.

The father pulls out his cellphone. He glances at the mother.

We see a baby bottle and a pacifier on the table and put each other against a spoon knife and fork each set next to a flat plate.

The father removes the pacifier and the bottle from a small part of the table, close to it, he throws the crumbs to the floor.

The mother notices his actions, the father looks at the mother as if caught in the act. The mother knocks her finger on her temple, throwing a rag toward him that knew better days. The mother pulls out herbs from a tall closet and pours soup into the plates.

The father reluctantly clears the table.

The mother approaches and places gently and carefully filled plates on the marble. It pours red soup into it.

Suddenly a SMS message vibrated. The father sees that he has received pictures from his friends in the pastime, in the pictures you see them in a bar with drinks, he looks at the pictures smiling.

The mother puts his plate next to him, grabs the phone from his hand, the father looks at her in surprise. The mother nods her head to ‘No’. She takes her plate and places it in the seat next to him. She puts his phone next to her and turns it off.

They both look at each other with unhappy, hateful looks. The father takes a spoonful of the soup and exhales it. He makes a gulping noise and the mother looks at him with murder, she marks him ‘Shhh’, the father nods slightly.

The father rises from his chair and bends over to the saloon, the chair creaking on the floor. The father looks at her hysterically and the two of them immediately look towards the baby. The mother grabs the brine tightly in her hand and snatches it in her direction. The father looks at her anxiously.

The father looks at the mother confused, the mother raises her finger to mark again that ‘shhhhh’, points towards the baby, the father looks, the baby is asleep. The mother responds with relief.

The mother takes a spoonful of soup near her mouth, does not exhale, she sips the soup, sees that it is boiling in her mouth, she raises her hand and rounds her thumb and forefinger. She takes the bath and with a demonstration gets up from her chair and puts it on the marble far from the father, she smiles nasty.

When she turns around she sees that the father has taken off his pants and they are down to his knees, she does not understand, the father smiles a nasty smile, he moves his underwear and throws his water into the soup. The noise of the soup hitting the noise makes a noise, the mother in panic raises her finger whereby the ‘Shhhh’, her eyes burning.

The father tries to divert the current, to press his penis to weaken the power, he succeeds, he finishes. He zips his pants down, fills with soup, sips it and marks his mother in a circle with his thumb and forefinger, his face very cynical.

The mother says nothing, she goes to her seat and moves away from him. His phone is vibrating again. She takes Dad’s phone and, with a look of “Let’s see some beauty now,” and places it inside her soup, she spoons out the soup, tastes it, and raises an eastern finger toward the father.

The father jumps out of the chair, clutches the mother’s finger and breaks it, the mother opens her mouth as if to scream, the father covers her mouth, his mouth rounds as if “Shhh.” The mother looks at the old baby, she nods her head to Yes, her eyes full of tears.

The father releases his hands from the mother, he examines the mother’s crooked finger, as if he regrets it, he approaches her and suddenly there is a moment of ‘what is happening to us? After all, we’re supposed to be loving … ‘But then the mother picks up a knife from the table and sticks her in the father’s stomach.

The baby starts crying. A bloody hand came from out of frame and puts the baby the dummy teat. The baby happy.

END.

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