About Emma

By
Mathis Sananes

February 25th , 2018

1 EXT. BEN’S PARTY - NIGHT
People are crowded in the street. We hear them crying,
screaming. Polices and ambulances’ sirens are echoing.

The camera starts wide from the street and moves closer to
the crowd to finally stop on EMMA, 18,dead on the ground.
The camera shows a window opened, just above Emma’s body.
2 BLACK SCREEN

Title
3 INT. JULIETTE’S BATHROOM - MORNING
JULIETTE, 18, dressed for a funeral is washing her face in
the sink. She raises her head to look at herself in the
mirror. She is shaking, stressed, sad.
JULIETTE’S MOTHER
(O.S, shouting from downstair)
Juliette! Ton père t’attend devant!
Dépêche toi.

Juliette looks behind her, where the door is open.

JULIETTE
(to her mother, shouting)
Oui, 2 secondes, je me maquille,
j’arrive.
JULIETTE’S MOTHER
(O.S, shouting from downstair)
C’est un enterrement Juliette.

JULIETTE
(To herself)
Je sais...
4 EXT. FRONT OF CHURCH - DAY

A car parks in the street. Juliette goes out of the car from
the front door. She kisses her father on the cheek. She
starts walking towards the church. Her father drives away.
Some people enter the church, others smoke or talk outside.
She enters the church.
 2.

5 INT. CHURCH - DAY

Juliette walks towards the second row, in between rows of
people. The church is imposing. She looks around her, she
feels watched, observed. She then sees Emma’s coffin, which
makes her feel even more anxious, oppressed. Eventually, she
sits on a chair on the second row.
She looks back to the coffin, where a picture of Emma is
displayed. She looks at it for a few seconds, nostalgic but
increasingly stressed out. Suddenly JOSH, 18, Black British,
touches Juliette’s shoulder, which surprises her.
JOSH
(touching her)
Hey. (Juliette looks at him) Come
here. (She stands up and they hug)
How’re you feeling? I’ve been
waving at you. (He points towards a
teenager on the other pew) We’re
over there.
She looks over, surprised by who the teenager is.

JULIETTE
You really want me to sit with him?
JOSH
Hey, come on, we were her best
friends, let’s do this together.
She looks at him, not very entertained.
JOSH
You don’t have to talk. Just come.

Josh touches Juliette’s back to make her start the walk.

They both go towards MIKE, 18. Josh sits next to him.
Juliette sits next to Josh. Mike doesn’t even look at her.
Juliette does look at him, slightly angry,but doesn’t say
anything.
JOSH
Is Ben not coming?
MIKE
(Condescendant)
Who cares about Ben?
JOSH
Emma really liked him.
 3.

MIKE
I am just saying... every thing was
fine before she met him.
Juliette looks in front of her.

6 EXT. JULIETTE’S GARDEN - NIGHT

Juliette, glasses on, and Mike are laying on two garden
loungers, bounded together, sharing a cover. Emma, and Josh
are seated on two garden chairs, around a garden table, next
to Juliette and Mike. On the table, a speaker is playing
house music. Josh is taking a puff of a joint.
MIKE
Shotgun the joint.

JOSH
(Giving it to Emma)
Ladies first.
NEIGHBOUR
(loud, angry)
Can you please lower the volume?
We’re trying to sleep here.
MIKE
Oh shut up.

Emma and Josh laugh. Juliette puts her hand on Mike’s mouth.
JULIETTE
Shuuush! He’s an asshole... He’s
gonna piss of my parents.

JOSH
(Laughing, putting the volume
down on the speaker)
Have a minimum of respect man.

Mike growls. He then kisses Juliette on the lips and stands

up. He goes and stands next to Emma.
MIKE
(smiling, looking at Emma)
Now, it’s my turn right?

EMMA
(taking a last puff, with a
rastafari accent) Yah man.
 4.

Emma stands up and gives the joint to a laughing Mike. She

then passes by him, goes where Juliette is, and takes Mike’s
seat. She makes herself comfortable and puts her head on
Juliette’s shoulder, while looking at Mike.

MIKE
(Confused but smiling)
Yeah, sure, take my seat.
He then sits where Emma was seated. Emma smells something.

EMMA
(to Juliette)
C’est le parfum que je t’ai offert?
JULIETTE
Ouais, il sent trop bon. (she
smiles)
Mike looks at them. He then takes his phone. A rap music
starts, louder then the music before.
EMMA
What the fuck Mike! Put the fucking
volume down. And seriously, I hate
rap!
Mike imitates her ironically, turning the volume down. Emma
glances at him with a dagger look. He doesn’t notice.
JULIETTE
(looking at Emma)
Il est chiant, il fait toujours ça.

Emma looks at her. She smiles. She then arranges Juliette’s

hair by removing a barrette.
EMMA
(looking at her, smiling)
C’est mieux comme ça.

Both girls looks at each other. Awkward pause. Emma then

looks forward and smiles, happy. Juliette keeps staring at
her. After a few seconds, Emma turns her head to Juliette
who quickly looks away. Emma looks at Juliette smiling and
kisses her on the cheek.

MIKE
(To Josh)
What the fuck dude...
 5.

EMMA
(raising her head to look at
Mike)
Oh t’as gueule toi.

Mike looks at her with a smile. Emma puts her head back on
Juliette’s shoulder.
Pause. Juliette looks away and smiles, happy. Mike is
looking at Emma. He feels impatient.

JOSH
(trying to change subject, ironic)
So...Anyways, tomorrow, what’s the
plan
EMMA
I told you bro, can’t do tomorrow.
JOSH
(playful)
Hmm, you’re seing the french dude
again, right?

EMMA
He’s cool.
MIKE
He seems so weird.

EMMA
He’s not weird... he’s just not
like you.

Juliette looks at Emma, confused.

7 INT. CHURCH - DAY
The priest is on the podium, preparing his speech. Juliette
is looking forward. She is sad. Josh looks at her. he then
grabs her by the shoulder. She puts her head on his
shoulder.
JOSH
(whispering to Juliette)
Wanna chill after that?

Juliette doesn’t answer. Josh looks at her.

JOSH
(whispering to Juliette)
I got a bit of weed left. We could
just chill in your garden.
 6.

Juliette starts feeling nostalgic, smiling.

JOSH
(whispering to Juliette)
While listening to some music...Or
we could just watch a film. (pause)
It’ll be just the three of us.
Juliette turns her head towards Josh wrinkling her eyebrows,
squinting.

JOSH
Oh, he doesn’t have to be there.
Juliette raises her head up.
JULIETTE
(loudly whispering to him)
What the fuck man. Do you really
think I feel like that because of
him?
MIKE
Shut up guys, it’s gonna start.
Juliette looks at him with disgust. With a fake smile, she
breathes from her nose, annoyed. She then looks away.
Pause. The camera focuses on her, panicked, starting to
breath more and more heavily. She suddenly stands up and
walks out of the church. Josh nearly stands up but Mike
stops him by grabbing his shoulder.
MIKE
Leave her alone man. That’s what
she wants.
Josh looks at Juliette leaving.
Juliette arrives outside and sees BEN, 23, with flowers in
his hands, seated against the church. Juliette stops and
stairs at him.
8 INT. BEN’S LIVING ROOM - NIGHT
Juliette and Ben, black hoodie, are seated on the living
room’s sofas. Emma is standing in front of a painting.
Juliette is looking at her. Ben is looking at an art
magazine. Rap music is playing in the background.
Emma notices a cardboard box, opened, on the floor near her.
She takes out a led tube light out of it.
 7.

EMMA
C’est quoi ça?
BEN
Des lumières pour samedi.
EMMA
Whah, you’re taking your party very
seriously!

JULIETTE
Bah il a trop raison, ca va être
trop cool!
Ben smiles.

He takes a cigarette out of his pack and puts it in his

mouth. He then looks at Juliette, offering her a cigarette
by showing her the pack. Juliette shakes her head, with a
smile, to say no. Emma comes towards Ben, who gives her a
cigarette. He then lights both of them. Emma sits next to
Ben.
JULIETTE
(to Emma, fake smile)
Bah... depuis quand tu fumes?

EMMA
Ca va, de temps en temps...
Juliette looks at Ben, surprised. Ben shrugs with a smile.
Pause. Emma looks at her phone on the coffee table in front
of her, and starts smiling. She then takes it and starts
typing
BEN
C’est qui?
EMMA
(looking at her phone)
Josh.
Ben looks at Juliette not knowing who Josh is.

JULIETTE
(To Ben, surprised)
Elle t’en a jamais parlé?
Ben turns his head towards Emma still confused.

EMMA
(Still on her phone)
Mais si... Josh, Juliette, Mike...
 8.

BEN
Josh..? Ah... mais si Mike! C’est-
EMMA
(cutting him off while putting
her phone on the table)
Son mec.
Emma does a nervous smile. Ben looks at her confused.
EMMA
On est tous meilleur pote depuis
toujours!
Emma looks at Juliette smiling. Juliette smiles confused.
EMMA
(to ben, showing something by
nodding with her head)
Faut vraiment arrêter cette merde.
Ben shrugs and smiles. Juliette then looks where Emma was
nodding. We notice a "crystal meth pipe" on the table.
Juliette does a confused sighs.
JULIETTE
C’est pour la beuh?
EMMA
Crystal meth!
Pause. Juliette is confused. Shocked.
BEN
T’inquiète, ça m’aide juste à
composer.
JULIETTE
Tu composes?

EMMA
(proud of her friend)
Ouais il fait de la musique.
JULIETTE
Oh trop cool! On pourrait écouter?

Emma looks at Ben.

BEN
Bah écoutez. (he smiles)
 9.

EMMA
(surprised)
Nan? C’est toi?
Ben smiles.

JULIETTE
Ah tu fais du rap?
EMMA
Dude, c’est tellement cool! La
basse est hyper puissante, c’est
grave bouncy! C’est trop bon!
Juliette looks at her surprised. Emma takes the remote and
puts the music louder. She dances for a few seconds, moving
her head and her upper body. Juliette, still looking at her,
feels increasingly surprised, a bit sad for her. Ben looks
at her, happy.
BEN
(Standing up)
Je vais me faire un café.

Ben walks to the kitchen. Emma stops dancing.

EMMA
(following Ben)
Attends, je viens avec toi.

Juliette turns her head to see them exiting the room. She
turns her head away from them, but still hears them talking
and laughing. She looks jealous and smiles trying to feel
happy for them.

SOUND OF THE CHURCH MAIN DOOR BEING OPEN.

9 EXT. FRONT OF CHURCH - DAY
Juliette is seated, back against the church, next to Ben.
She is sad. Ben lights up a cigarette. Pause. Juliette then
turn towards Ben and ask for a puff. Ben smiles and give it
to her. She takes it and then starts coughing. Ben smiles
while trying to help her.
Pause. The atmosphere becomes more serious and sad.

BEN
Je peux pas rentrer là dedans...
J’ai pas le droit...
 10.

JULIETTE
T’as surtout pas envie crois moi.
Genre, ils sont tous là, a nous
dévisager...

Ben smiles. Pause.

BEN
C’est pour ça que t’es sorti?
JULIETTE
Je sais pas... surement...(she
looks at him) Toi t’es ici depuis
longtemps?
BEN
Je pensais même pas venir jusqu’
ici... Enfaite j’aurais juste pas
du venir jusqu’ici...
Pause.
BEN
Putain mais je suis trop con! J’ai
fais n’importe quoi avec Emma, la
fête. Je suis un danger. Je devrais
plus m’approcher de vous!
Juliette smiles. She then looks forward. Ben looks at her.
Juliette’s smile slowly transforms into sadness. Ben starts
caressing her back to comfort her. Pause.
BEN
(serious)
Bon en vrai... Pourquoi t’es sorti?
Juliette looks at him, not knowing what to do. Tears starts
growing inside her eyes.
10 INT/EXT. BEN’S PARTY - NIGHT

The decoration is modern, on point. Purple led lights have

been added on the floor all around the house. Apart from
those lights, the party is pretty dark. German techno (e.g:
Rej-Âme) music is playing inside. Josh is serving wine in
his glass. The characters starts on the garden.

JOSH
Have you seen Emma, by the way?
Josh proposes wine to Juliette, who removes her empty glass
and says no with her head.
 11.

JULIETTE
Why are you all looking for Emma?
She’s free, leave her alone!

JOSH
(surprised by her reaction)
What?
Emma arrives behind Juliette and hugs her. She is high,
chewing with a big smile.
JOSH
Oh, hey, where have you been?
EMMA
Upstairs. (She smiles) With Ben.
JULIETTE
Again?
Emma smiles to Juliette, eyes nearly closed. She then starts
taking a cigarette out of a pack she has on her. Josh looks
at her, analyse her look, he behaviour.
EMMA
(happy, excited)
Let’s go smoke inside.

Emma starts walking away.

JOSH
Wait! (Emma stops) What the fuck
Emma? Seriously, what the fuck?
What are you on? His crystal shit?
That’s just fucked up Emma.
Emma, exhausted, smiles, asking him to take a break.

JOSH
(continuing)
For fuck sake... just get your shit
together. But I am staying here.
(to Juliette) Stay here.

Juliette looks at him not knowing what to do. Josh looks at

her not understanding.
JOSH
Oh you know what, fuck that...

Josh leaves to the other side of the garden. Emma looks at

him leaving. She then looks at Juliette, lower lip bended
and eyes wide open, not understanding Josh. She then grabs
Juliette’s hand.
 12.

EMMA
Viens danser.

They start walking to the dance floor. Emma lights up her

cigarette. On her way to the dance floor, while talking,
they cross a corridor where we will see condoms on the the
floor, guest smoking joints, sniffing coke and fucking
against walls. Juliette will look at them surprised and
disgusted.

JULIETTE
(embarked to the dance floor)
Emma, faut que je te parle.
EMMA
(walking with Juliette)
Just danse, on parlera après.
JULIETTE
Emma, t’es bizarre en ce moment.

EMMA
Quoi? C’est Josh qui est bizarre.
Mais t’inquiète pas il va s’calmer.
They arrive in the middle of the dance floor. Emma starts
dancing closer to Juliette

JULIETTE
(embarrassed)
Arrête.

Emma doesn’t answer, but keeps dancing, eyes closed.

Juliette looks at Emma, not happy about her behaviour.
JULIETTE
Juste, tu..tu nous gênes tous en ce
moment.

EMMA
(dancing)
Tous?
JULIETTE
Bah tout le monde, je sais pas.
Déjà moi...Josh, Mike-
EMMA
(Smiling, lovingly)
Mike...

Pause. Juliette looks at her confused. Emma opens her eyes

and realises she betrayed herself. She then looks at
Juliette while touching her hair.
 13.

EMMA
(in Juliette’s hear)
Aller, danse!
Emma starts dancing closer to Juliette. The dance become
more and more sexual. Juliette doesn’t know what to do. Emma
looks at her, charms her with her eyes. Juliette, a bit
uncomfortable, finally let it go, and starts looking at her
in the eyes. Emma tries to avoid her look but finally stops
dancing. Juliette then does a step forward and starts
kissing Emma. They kisses for a couple of seconds. Emma then
does a step backward. She is confused. She looks at her,
switching from an uncomfortable tiny smile to a very
confused face. Juliette looks at her, and starts smiling,
more and more comfortably. She then throw herself back on
Emma and kisses her again. Emma then tries to stop her but
Juliette won’t let it go. Emma finally pushes her away and
does a step backwards. She doesn’t understand. She is
scared. She looks at her walking backward and then turns
back and starts leaving the dance floor, to take the stairs.
Juliette stares at Emma, whipping her mouth, eyes squinting,
smile on her lips.

11 EXT. CHURCH - END OF DAY

Juliette, is breathing heavily, staring into nothing. Ben,
new cigarette in the mouth, breathes out a long puff,
shocked by the story. Juliette puts her head on his
shoulder. Pause. Ben smiles.
BEN
(confident)
En vrai, tu peux pas vraiment t’en
vouloir... On peut pas s’en
vouloir... Emma était dans le mal.
Elle s’aimait pas. Elle était seul
sur ce toit, soumise a ses
obligations. Mais nous, on croyait
juste bien faire, on croyait juste
l’aider! C’est elle qui s’est
suicidé. Elle seule...Et suicider
(he smiles), si ça se trouve elle a
même juste glissé... Si ca se
trouve-

JULIETTE
(raising her head up)
Si ça se trouve tu dis que des
conneries mec! Tu l’as drogué, je
l’ai presque violé... C’est notre
faute. Mais il y a rien plus rien a
faire
 14.

Ben looks really confused. Juliette looks at him with a

smile. She then stands up.
JULIETTE
Moi je rentre, j’ai froid.

Ben is confused. Emma starts walking inside the church.

Ben is still seated, shocked, not knowing what to do.
SOUND OF THE CHURCH DOOR CLOSING TO BLACK SCREEN

12 EXT. BEN’S PARTY - NIGHT

People are crowded in the street. We hear them crying,
screaming. Polices and ambulances’ sirens are echoing in the
street.

The camera starts from EMMA, 18, dead on the ground, goes up
and shows a window opened, just above Emma’s body. After a
few seconds, the camera moves a bit to the side, still
looking at the window, to reveal Juliette, hidden from the
crowd downstairs, on the side of the window, looking at
Emma’s body. We then go to a close up of Juliette, looking
at her shaking hands. She then looks at the camera and
smile.
THE END