Dealing with Things: A Short Film Script - Family Drama

The script, titled "Dealing with Things," portrays a family grappling with the loss of their son and the resulting emotional turmoil. Dale, the father, is consumed by grief, spending time at his son's grave and drinking heavily. His wife, Kelly, feels isolated and seeks solace elsewhere, leading to infidelity. The narrative unfolds through scenes in a graveyard, a bar, a bedroom, and the family's backyard, showcasing the couple's strained relationship and the impact of their son's death. Confrontations arise, revealing the depth of their pain and the breakdown of their marriage. The script explores themes of grief, infidelity, communication breakdown, and the struggle to cope with loss, highlighting the complexities of human relationships under duress.

Script

Table of contents
(Dealing with things) GRAVEYARD- DAY............................................................................3
BAR DAY SCENE....................................................................................................................3
BEDROOM DAY SCENE........................................................................................................3
BACKYARD SCENE................................................................................................................4

(Dealing with things) GRAVEYARD- DAY
Dale who is in his late thirties is sitting near the grave of his late son. He put the can of strong
lager down on the damp grass at the graveyard and then suddenly he throws the empty can in
the grass with maximum speed. He stands up taking a deep breath of frustration and touches
the tube stone of his son.
Cut to
BAR DAY SCENE
A woman in her late thirties, Kelly, is sitting at the window and looking outside confused.
Dale’s friend Ryan comes into the room with a glass full of wine and sit next to her.
Kelly: how was your weekend?
Ryan: my weekend was uneventful and boring. (While having the sip of wine from the glass
he is holding) what about yours and how’s your life?
Kelly: don’t ask me about that. My life is a mess and Dave is behaving totally different after
the accident. He is drinking too much booze and has no control over his life. All the friends
and family support is gone because of his behavior. (Sigh...) He slept at the graveyard last
night. I am feeling all alone. It is like my son was the hope of our family and now he is gone.
All the happiness is gone with him.
Ryan: (putting his hand over Kelly’s and touched her gently for showing sympathy to her. He
looked directly into her eyes)
Kelly: (smiles at Ryan for his comforting gesture)
Cut to
BEDROOM DAY SCENE
A hotel room with a bed two people on it Kelly and Kyle. They had a great time in the hotel
room enjoying each other’s intimacy and are extremely satisfied with each other. Suddenly
Kelly recognizes that she is cheating on her husband.

Kelly: what’s the time? (Kelly had a feeling that Dale will be around home any time soon and
it will be a problem for them.)
Kelly: (looks up to the watch and was tensed.) oh no. Dale will be home anytime, what am I
doing? I should….
Kyle: (to Kelly’s reaction Kyle respond calmly) calm down Kelly, why are you rushing over
things? There’s time left, you do not have to worry.
Kelly: (still tensed and worried) what about Dale then? What if he …..
Kyle: (Kyle was calm and answered Kelly to get the panic situation under control) Dale is
over the thing now Kelly, it’s been eight months now. He is not coming back; probably he
should move on to help himself…
Kelly: (with full anger on her face and body language) what? Are you out of your mind?
What are you even saying? Do you think before you speak that to me? The thing you are
talking about to move on is my son and you want us to move on with it like nothing ever
happened to our son. You are a crazy man.
(With that Kelly stood up from the bed and get dressed. She walks out the room and the
hotel)
Cut to
BACKYARD SCENE
Kelly reached home with aggressive mind and saw Dale in the backyard. Dale was facing
towards the backyard. The situation got awkward as the two started to talk with each other.
Kelly: (opens the door of the backyard to sneak in and not to make obvious.)
Dale: (was standing by the gate facing the backyard identified Kelly) where were you I have
not seen you for the last sixteen hours? Did you even care for me or...? Not?
Kelly: (in a rough mood and shouted on Dale) ofcourse I do but the question is do you care
about me a bit because I cannot see things your way.
Dale: (shocked with the statement made by Kelly) how can you say that? What makes you
feel this way? How can I not care for you?
Kelly: how could I not feel this way? You are spending most of your time at the bar or pubs,
having drinks and getting wasted. You are barely having any time to talk with me.
Dale: you are asking me why I am not talking to you. After doing that shameful act how can
you ask me that? I know about you and Kyle. I saw you two coming out from that hotel. How
could you do that?

Kelly: (shocked with the confrontation) what you think I should do? You as a husband are not
giving any attention to me and what was I supposed to do with that. Wait for you?
Dale: (Dale’s heart broke after listening this and tears ran out of his eyes. He get emotional
and memorized his son’s memories) our son Kelly! I was not the same after he left us. I was
broken, shattered into pieces and confused. I am dealing with a lot, thinking about my son
and you were cheating behind me.
Kelly: (extremely angry and shouted at Dale) I have to deal with various wounds in my life
too Dale, you are not the only one suffering from the death, he was my son
too. I am trying to get over the past with great efforts. I am trying to deal
with the little happiness in my sad life. You do not know how much I
wanted to get over this.
(Kelly then moves past from Dave and he was able to see the poll of tears coming out of her
eyes due to anger and frustration. Kelly then moves up stairs.)
Dale: (He got angry and moved inside the house and progressed to the leaving room
slamming the door behind him.)