SPLITTING
written by
Clarissa Jocelyne Anastasia
1002266418
FADE IN:
INT. APARTMENT - LIVING ROOM - EVENING
Warm orange lighting bathes a modest, cozy space through the
window. A small dining table for two, and a sofa placed
nearby.
"LET DOWN" by RADIOHEAD plays from a Bluetooth speaker -
melancholic and distant, filling the whole room with its
tune.
RIVER, 21, moves quickly, placing two steaming bowls of home
cooked gyudon - thinly sliced beef simmered with onions over
rice and a sunny side egg on top of it - on the table. She
checks her phone clock: 8.23 P.M. Her expression shifts -
something's off.
She picks her phone up, unlocks it. No new notifications.
ON SCREEN - TEXT MESSAGE:
RIVER (TEXT)
"Are you on the way home?"
She stares. Taps nervously.
ON SCREEN - NEW TEXT MESSAGE:
RIVER (TEXT) (CONT'D)
"Are you ignoring me???"
No response.
She starts to become nervous, eyes darting towards the front
door. Her hand fidgets together as she paces around the room.
She stops by the window with no signs of him. Her reflection
stares back at her in the glass - eyes filled with tears.
She screams in Suddenly, she storms to the table and snatches
up one of the bowls, throws it to the floor - the ceramic
shatters, rice and beef flying across the floor.
RIVER (CONT'D)
(SCREAMING)
LIAR! YOU'RE A LIAR!
Her voice shakes, full of rage and panic, clutching the edge
of the table with white knuckles, body trembling.
SFX: LOCK CLICKS
She freezes.
2.
Her chest rises and falls in sharp bursts. Her eyes dart to
the front door, glinting with panic.
The music stops playing.
SFX: KEY TURNING IN DOOR
The door unlocks.
MICHAEL, 24, enters, calm, holding a paper bag.
MICHAEL
Hey. Sorry, I stopped by the bakery
for a bit. Thought you wanted some
cheesecake, you seemed to like them
last week.
RIVER
You were late.
MICHAEL
I was buying you a cheesecake.
RIVER
You could've told me in text.
MICHAEL
I thought you wouldn't mind me
being late for a bit.
RIVER
And I thought you were out with
someone else, having fun, all
giggly, like some kind of puppy
love.
Michael laughs in disbelief.
MICHAEL
That is literally something I would
never do to you-
RIVER
(INTERRUPTING, VOICE
SHAKING)
But it might! What if one day you
just stop coming home? What if you
stop loving me and left me alone in
the dark? What then?
Michael's calm begins to stride.
3.
MICHAEL
But it did not happen. It will not
happen, not in the near or far
future.
RIVER
You don't understand! You never do!
Michael's eye twitch slightly and exhales.
MICHAEL
I have been nothing, but calm,
patient, and soft to you. And this?
This is how you treat me? Accusing
me of something that I didn't do,
something that is just an
imagination based on your
overthinking.
Michael exhales as he set the paper bag on the table,
carefully walking from the broken ceramic parts on the floor.
MICHAEL (CONT'D)
I'll be back soon. I need some
fresh air.
He exits.
SFX: DOOR SHUTTING
River is left alone. She clutches her phone trembling.
DISSOLVE TO:
EXT. APARTMENT - BALCONY - LATER THAT NIGHT
The darkness paints the sky now. River sits on the floor,
looking through their pictures on her phone.
CLOSE ON: River's phone screen - dozens of missed calls and
texts.
Her face was wet from tears. She dials again. No answer.
RIVER
(INTO PHONE)
Please come back. I didn't mean to
say that. I didn't know what I was
thinking... I was scared... I
thought you got into an accident or
someone else caught your eye. I'm
sorry, I'll do better. I promise,
so please... come back home...
4.
She ends the voice note. Rocking slightly.
She looks towards her dining table where the cheesecake was
left untouched.
She stares at the door. Her breath starts to hitch, she
pulled herself into a hug, trying to comfort herself, as her
sobs fills the silence.
FADE OUT.