IN LIFE WE ARE IN DEATH - PART ONE — THE MAN - Script Treatment
IN LIFE WE ARE IN DEATH
Script Treatment
Genre: Drama / Romance / Bereavement
Tone: Quiet, emotional, reflective
Setting: Contemporary Britain
Principal Characters: Simon Atkinson, Lucy Atkinson, Louise, Jane, Dr Harris, the Vicar
PART ONE — THE MAN
OPENING
FADE IN:
INT. ATKINSON AND CARMICHAEL — SIMON'S OFFICE — FRIDAY AFTERNOON
Late September.
A traditional solicitor's office. Quiet, ordered and professional.
Everything has its place.
Legal books line the shelves. Case files are arranged neatly across a large desk. Certificates and professional qualifications hang on the wall.
Behind the desk sits SIMON ATKINSON, 47.
Tall, well built and immaculately dressed, Simon wears a dark tailored suit, crisp white shirt and understated tie. His dark brown hair is beginning to grey at the temples.
He has the appearance of a man completely in control of his life.
Simon reads through a legal document, making occasional notes in the margin.
Outside his closed office door, the working week is coming to an end. Staff quietly prepare to leave.
Simon continues working.
We learn that Simon has spent twenty years building his career at Atkinson and Carmichael. He joined the firm after graduating with first-class honours and worked his way through its ranks to become a partner.
He is respected, successful and sought after by clients.
But Simon is also intensely private.
His colleagues know almost nothing about the crisis taking place beyond the walls of the office.
His wife, LUCY, is seriously ill in hospital.
Simon has not visited her.
He has hidden behind his work, telling himself that Lucy has family around her and that his clients need him.
The truth is simpler.
Simon is frightened.
And fear is something Simon Atkinson does not know how to confront.
THE TELEPHONE CALL
The telephone on Simon's desk RINGS.
Simon picks it up without looking away from the document.
SIMON
Simon Atkinson.
His personal assistant, JANE, is on the other end.
JANE (V.O.)
Sorry to disturb you, Simon. I've just taken a telephone call for you.
SIMON
Who from?
JANE (V.O.)
Someone from the hospital.
Simon stops reading.
A beat.
SIMON
The hospital?
Jane explains that the caller would not discuss the reason for the call. They simply asked Simon to telephone back as soon as possible.
Jane has no idea that Lucy is in hospital.
Nobody in the office does.
She gives Simon a name and direct telephone number.
Simon writes them down.
JANE (V.O.)
Do you want me to put the call through for you?
SIMON
No. I'll deal with it.
He hangs up.
Silence.
Simon stares at the number.
He knows it concerns Lucy.
For a moment, he considers returning to his work.
He cannot.
Simon picks up the telephone and dials.
INTERCUT — SIMON'S OFFICE / HOSPITAL
A hospital receptionist answers.
Simon identifies himself and explains that he has been asked to telephone.
He is transferred.
Silence on the line.
Then—
DR HARRIS (V.O.)
Mr Atkinson?
SIMON
Yes.
DR HARRIS (V.O.)
My name is Dr Harris. I'm one of the doctors who has been looking after your wife, Lucy.
Simon listens.
The doctor confirms Simon's identity.
Then comes an uncomfortable pause.
DR HARRIS (V.O.)
Mr Atkinson, I'm very sorry to have to tell you this over the telephone.
Simon grips the receiver more tightly.
DR HARRIS (V.O.)
Lucy's condition deteriorated very suddenly this afternoon. The medical team did everything they could for her, but unfortunately she didn't respond to treatment.
Silence.
Then the words Simon does not expect.
DR HARRIS (V.O.)
I'm very sorry, Mr Atkinson. Lucy died this afternoon.
Simon doesn't move.
SIMON
Died?
DR HARRIS (V.O.)
Yes. I'm very sorry.
The world outside Simon's office continues normally.
A telephone rings somewhere down the corridor.
Someone laughs.
A door closes.
Inside the office, Simon's life has just changed completely.
SIMON
I don't understand. I was told she was getting better.
The doctor explains that Lucy had appeared to be improving, but her condition deteriorated suddenly.
SIMON
But she was supposed to be coming home.
Simon asks when Lucy died.
Dr Harris tells him.
Simon slowly looks towards the clock on the wall.
Lucy died while he was sitting at his desk.
Working.
SIMON
Was anyone with her?
DR HARRIS (V.O.)
Yes. A member of the nursing staff was with her.
Simon closes his eyes.
There is something he desperately wants to ask.
Did she ask for me?
He cannot say it.
Instead—
SIMON
What happens now?
Dr Harris explains the practical arrangements.
Before ending the conversation, the doctor asks whether Simon has somebody with him.
Simon looks around his empty office.
SIMON
No.
The doctor offers to contact a family member.
Simon refuses.
DR HARRIS (V.O.)
I'm very sorry for your loss, Mr Atkinson.
SIMON
Thank you.
The call ends.
Simon remains motionless behind his desk.
He looks at the unfinished case.
Only minutes ago it mattered enormously.
Now it means nothing.
Lucy is dead.
And Simon wasn't there.
THE DAYS AFTER
Simon does not tell his colleagues.
He continues coming to work.
A MONTAGE:
— Simon arriving at the office in the morning.
— Simon meeting a client.
— Simon signing documents.
— Simon collecting Lucy's death certificate.
— Simon speaking quietly to a funeral director.
— Simon choosing a coffin.
— Simon refusing suggestions for a larger funeral.
— Simon returning to work.
Nobody at Atkinson and Carmichael knows that Simon Atkinson is arranging his wife's burial between client meetings.
There will be no large funeral.
No colleagues.
No friends.
No extended gathering of family.
Simon wants the burial to be private.
THE FUNERAL
EXT. CEMETERY — MORNING
Rain.
A grey, miserable morning.
Simon drives through the cemetery gates alone.
He wears a black suit beneath a dark overcoat.
He gets out of his car and opens an umbrella.
Ahead of him is an open grave.
Simon walks towards it.
Rows of wet gravestones stretch into the distance.
There is no congregation waiting.
No familiar faces.
No comforting crowd.
Then the HEARSE appears.
It moves slowly along the cemetery road.
There are no cars following it.
The hearse stops.
The funeral director approaches Simon and offers his condolences.
Simon politely thanks him.
Lucy's coffin is removed.
Simon watches as it is carried towards the grave.
For perhaps the first time, the reality becomes physical.
Lucy is inside that coffin.
The woman who shared his house.
The woman who talked about children.
The woman he did not visit in hospital.
The coffin is positioned above the grave.
The VICAR takes his place.
Rain runs down the cover of the small prayer book in his hands.
The vicar looks towards Simon.
Then he begins.
VICAR
We have come here today to lay Lucy to rest. Though our gathering is small, the loss that brings us here is not.
Simon stares at the coffin.
VICAR
In life we are in death. We know neither the day nor the hour when our earthly journey will end.
Simon listens.
The vicar speaks about human beings making plans for tomorrow, believing there will always be another morning, another conversation and another opportunity to say what has been left unsaid.
Those words affect Simon.
Left unsaid.
Simon remembers Lucy.
FLASHBACK — INT. SIMON AND LUCY'S HOUSE — DAY
Lucy stands in the doorway of an empty bedroom.
She smiles.
LUCY
This would make a lovely nursery.
Simon looks inside.
SIMON
One day.
BACK TO CEMETERY
Simon stares at the coffin.
One day.
That day will never come.
The vicar continues praying for those who mourn and those who must return to empty homes.
Then—
VICAR
Where there is regret, may there one day be forgiveness. Where words were left unspoken, may there be peace.
Simon looks directly at him.
Regret.
The hospital enters Simon's thoughts.
He should have gone.
THE COMMITTAL
The funeral director prepares to lower the coffin.
VICAR
We now come to the moment of farewell.
The coffin begins its slow descent.
Simon watches.
VICAR
Earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust.
The coffin reaches the bottom.
Simon stares into the grave.
Until now, some part of him could imagine Lucy somewhere else.
At the hospital.
At her parents' home.
Perhaps even somewhere in their house.
Now he cannot.
She is beneath him.
The vicar continues.
He speaks about memory, grief and the courage required to continue living after somebody we love has gone.
VICAR
For death changes those who remain. It divides life into what came before and what must come afterwards.
Simon looks down at Lucy.
The vicar prays that those left behind will eventually find permission to live again without believing that living means forgetting.
Silence.
Rain falls.
VICAR
May Lucy rest in peace.
A beat.
SIMON
Amen.
Barely audible.
Simon remains beside the grave after the prayer.
A thought consumes him.
I should have gone to see her.
He should have sat beside her.
Held her hand.
Told her he loved her.
Was Lucy waiting for him?
Did she ask for him?
Did she die wondering why her husband never came?
Simon will never know.
The vicar approaches.
VICAR
I'm very sorry for your loss, Mr Atkinson.
SIMON
Thank you.
VICAR
If you ever feel you would like to talk—
SIMON
That's very kind of you.
Polite.
Final.
Simon turns away from Lucy's grave and walks alone through the rain.
LIFE CONTINUES
INT. ATKINSON AND CARMICHAEL — MORNING
The following day.
Simon walks into the office.
Jane looks up.
JANE
Morning, Simon.
SIMON
Morning.
He enters his office and closes the door.
To everyone else, it is an ordinary working day.
A MONTAGE shows the passing weeks.
— Simon works late.
— He eats alone.
— He lies awake in bed.
— The untouched side of the bed beside him.
— Simon enters the office before everybody else.
— Files pile up.
— Clients come and go.
Simon becomes thinner.
The grey at his temples becomes more noticeable.
But he continues working.
WEDNESDAY AFTERNOONS
One part of Simon's routine changes.
Every Wednesday afternoon he tells the office he will be working from home.
But Simon doesn't go home.
He drives to the cemetery.
EXT. CEMETERY — WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON
Simon stands beside Lucy's grave.
At first, he says nothing.
Then—
SIMON
You wouldn't believe the client I had this morning.
A slight smile.
Simon begins telling Lucy about his week.
His cases.
His clients.
People they knew.
Small things that happened at the office.
He talks to her as though she were still listening.
This becomes his ritual.
Every Wednesday.
Autumn becomes winter.
Winter becomes spring.
During these visits Simon begins noticing a WOMAN WITH A DOG.
She walks through the cemetery at roughly the same time every Wednesday.
At first Simon barely notices her.
Then their eyes meet.
A polite nod.
Another Wednesday.
Another nod.
No conversation.
They remain strangers.
THE HEADSTONE
EXT. CEMETERY — MAY — AFTERNOON
A new black granite headstone stands above Lucy's grave.
Simon approaches.
He stops.
For the first time, Lucy's name is permanently carved into stone.
He runs his fingers lightly across the lettering.
This affects him differently from the funeral.
The grave is no longer temporary.
Lucy has a place here now.
Simon stands silently.
In the distance he notices the woman again.
But something is different.
There is no dog.
Simon watches her briefly.
Then looks away.
It is none of his business.
LOUISE
EXT. CEMETERY — WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON — JUNE
A warm summer afternoon.
Simon finishes talking to Lucy.
SIMON
I'll see you next Wednesday.
He turns and begins walking towards his car.
Then he sees the woman.
She is sitting alone on a cemetery bench.
No dog.
She is crying.
Simon slows.
He considers walking past.
This is what the old Simon would do.
Keep other people's emotions at a safe distance.
He takes several steps.
Stops.
Turns around.
Simon approaches the bench.
SIMON
Hello.
The woman wipes her eyes.
SIMON
Are you all right?
She attempts to compose herself.
Simon indicates the empty space beside her.
SIMON
Would you mind if I joined you?
WOMAN
Yes.
Simon hesitates.
She realises what she has said.
WOMAN
I mean—no. I don't mind. Please sit.
Simon sits.
Silence.
For months these two people have seen one another without speaking.
Now they sit side by side.
WOMAN
I'm Louise.
SIMON
Simon.
LOUISE
I know.
Simon turns towards her.
SIMON
You know?
A faint smile crosses Louise's face.
LOUISE
I've noticed you coming here. Every Wednesday.
Simon glances towards Lucy's grave.
Louise follows his gaze.
LOUISE
You come to visit your wife, don't you?
Simon is surprised.
These Wednesday afternoons have felt private.
Something shared only between himself and Lucy.
Yet Louise has been watching from a distance.
SIMON
Yes.
A beat.
SIMON
I do.
Louise looks towards the rows of graves.
LOUISE
I thought so.
Simon studies her.
Then his eyes move towards the path where she used to walk her dog.
He could ask about the animal.
He doesn't.
Instead—
SIMON
And you?
Louise's expression changes.
She looks down at her hands.
Silence.
Whatever has brought her here is painful.
Finally—
LOUISE
I suppose that's a rather long story.
Simon looks towards Lucy's grave.
Months earlier he would have politely excused himself.
He would have returned to his car, driven back to his empty house and continued with his carefully controlled existence.
But something has changed.
Perhaps it began with Lucy's death.
Perhaps it began with the funeral.
Or perhaps it began with these Wednesday afternoons.
Simon turns back to Louise.
SIMON
I've got time.
Louise looks at him.
For the first time, two strangers connected by grief truly see one another.
FADE OUT.
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