CAYOM YEAR 7 - PART I - MOVIE SUBMISSION

[Alpha]

FATAL ATTRACTION

Release Date: May 19th, Year 7

Directed by: Michelle MacLaren

Composer: Ben Salisbury and Geoff Barrow

Cinematography: Darius Khondji

Edited by: Jennifer Lame

Genre: Romantic Thriller

Studio: Alpha Pictures

Shooting Format: Red Epic Dragon (6K Digital)

Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1

Image Formats: 2K DCP, 4K DCP

Audio Formats: 5.1, 7.1, Dolby Atmos

Production Budget: $50 million

Theater Count: 3,494

MPAA Rating: R

Running Time: 100 minutes

 

Cast:

Maggie Gyllenhaal as Evelyn Flint

James McAvoy as Jacob Pierce

Adam Scott as Harold Flint

Sabrina Carpenter as Olivia Flint

Dakota Goyo as Daniel Flint

Brian Cox as Adam Zielinski

and Kerry Washington as Martha Davids

 

Premise: A gender-flipped remake of the 1987 film of the same name. An unhappily-married New York magazine editor begins an affair with a charismatic freelance journalist (James McAvoy) who just gave her a bombshell news story. However, she soon realizes that the man wants more than a one-night stand.

 

Synopsis:

 

 

ALPHA PICTURES PRESENTS

 

A FILM BY MICHELLE MACLAREN

 

FATAL ATTRACTION

 

Following on the opening credits, we open on a shot of Evelyn (Maggie Gyllenhaal) and Harold Flint (Adam Scott) sleeping on opposite sides of the bed in their quaint Forest Hills home, facing away from each other. Evelyn's phone vibrates, and after she notices an important message, she immediately gets up to work on her computer, frantically typing. Her husband stumbles into the living room, trying to get her to come back to bed, but she adamantly refuses, saying some important work has come up. We get the impression that the two are emotionally distant from each other.

 

The next morning, Evelyn heads to the Manhattan offices of the New York Tribune, a magazine where she works as the editor-in-chief. When she sees her colleagues looking disappointed, she turns to the TV and sees controversial Virginia Congressman Adam Zielinski (Brian Cox), currently running for Senate, lambasting her publication on TV for making "incredulous allegations" without the proper evidence to back it up about an alleged sexual assault that took place in his office, adding that Mrs. Flint has no right to go poking around in other people's lives when she herself has her own issues, like her son being sent to a drug rehabilitation clinic for his marijuana addiction. Her colleagues try to give her some kind words, but Evelyn only looks on bitterly.

 

The magazine's daily pitch meeting is swiftly derailed when several reporters openly criticize Evelyn for her handling of the Zielinski story, saying that the misreporting damaged the magazine's credibility. Evelyn stills believes there's a story there, believing there's more details to be unearthed and remaining committed to taking down Zielinski. We notice that most of the ire being directed at Evelyn is coming from her male colleagues.

 

That evening, after making a drink and feeding the family dog Bella, Evelyn proposes having a board game night to her daughter Olivia (Sabrina Carpenter), saying they haven't had one in a while. Olivia, not paying much attention, says that she's going out that night with friends. After she heads out, Evelyn and Harold eat dinner together. After briefly talking about their son Daniel's progress, Evelyn expresses her worries about Olivia, saying that she thinks her boyfriend is a bad influence on her. The conversation shifts to Evelyn's trouble at work. Harold tries to halfheartedly comfort her, but after encouraging her to pursue something else within her field of expertise, such as pursuing her longtime interest in writing another book, Evelyn fires back, saying that he doesn't get to make the decisions for her considering she's the breadwinner in the family. The spat ends as quickly as it began.

 

Later, as Harold watches a movie alone in the living room, Evelyn sifts through dozens of emails at her desk. A notification pops up from a "Jacob Pierce", promising information about Zielinski. Curious, Evelyn opens it and finds court documents that show Zielinski used taxpayer money to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit with a former staffer. The piece of information she'd been looking for, Evelyn is ecstatic.

 

The next day, the new information is published, and under pressure, Zielinski announces his intentions to both suspend his Senate campaign and resign from Congress. She earns congratulations from her colleagues for piecing the story together, but rebuffs the ones who criticized her yesterday for not getting the information before a freelancer could.

 

However, Evelyn becomes curious how a freelancer could obtain information on a confidential agreement, and DMs the reporter back, asking to meet sometime within the next week. Immediately, the reporter responds, saying they can meet for dinner tomorrow. 

 

Evelyn arrives at an Italian restaurant and finds Jacob Pierce (James McAvoy) sitting at a booth, having already ordered a bottle of wine. They greet each other, with Evelyn promising to pay the bill as a reward for getting her the bombshell story. Evelyn, interested in getting down to business, presses Jacob for information on how he got the court documents. While Jacob says that his sources are confidential, he says that information is so easy to find nowadays in the digital age, "you just need to know how to find it." Jacob, however, says he specifically went after Zielinski because he has a distaste for politicians who abuse their power for personal gain. After the two order dinner (Jacobs orders spaghetti), the conversation grows a bit more personal. Jacob says that Zielinski calling out her son for having a drug problem for the press hit home for him because he used to have a drug problem, and that's he spent the good part of a decade putting himself back together. Evelyn says that her son's absence has made home feel a bit more lonely, but that his progress has been good. Jacob asks if married life makes her feel less lonely. Evelyn blunt replies, "not much anymore", saying that her husband is visiting family in Connecticut. At some point, Jacob asks Evelyn if she'd like to go see a movie, saying that considering she's paying for dinner that the least he could do is give back.

 

The two go see a screening of Breakfast at Tiffany's at the Angelika Center. After enjoying the film, they try to hail a taxi cab. In the process, Evelyn is catcalled by a pack of bachelors, but Jacob fires back at them, telling them to back off. As they get in a cab, Jacob apologizes for making a scene, but Evelyn is pleased to see him sticking up for her. The cab ride is mostly pleasant until Jacob becomes distressed when the driver almost collides with oncoming traffic, reflexively clutching onto Evelyn's ankle.

 

The two go up to Jacob's apartment. Jacob apologizes for the incident in the cab, but Evelyn says its fine, and that she's here for him. The two's smalltalk grows more and more intimate until they begin to have sex on Jacob's couch as the TV airs more news about the Zielinski scandal. Later, in the bedroom, Jacob performs cunnilingus on Evelyn, who finds the act intensely pleasurable. However, in a bout of post-coital tristesse, Evelyn abruptly gathers her belongings and leaves, going back home.

 

The next day at work, Evelyn gets a call at work from Jacob, asking if she'd like to spend the day. Evelyn tells him that her husband is coming back home tonight, but Jacob encourages her to go home early and take a walk in the park, saying that "she's earned a day off." His persistence causes Evelyn to try and appease him. As they spend time together, they discuss politics and current events, with Jacob lamenting the numerous disadvantages that women still experience in contemporary society. Evelyn remarks that at least doesn't have to experience it himself, but Jacob replies that it makes him feel guilty. Back at Jacob's apartment, he presents Evelyn with a gift: a pretty silver keychain.

 

When Evelyn gets back home that night, she smells pot coming from her daughter's bedroom. She discovers Olivia smoking with her boyfriend. Furious, Evelyn kicks Olivia's boyfriend out of the house and scolds her for going down the same path as her brother. Olivia fires back, saying that she hasn't had the opportunity to try things out her herself, accusing her mom of suffocating her. Olivia grabs her keys and angrily leaves the house just as Harold gets home. Sitting on the couch together, Evelyn and Harold lament the state of their dysfunctional family. The two begin to kiss when Evelyn's phone rings. It's Jacob. Evelyn quickly grabs her phone before Harold can see who it is, and denies the incoming call. She passes it off as just another reporter wanting a quote. As they lay in bed together, Evelyn's phone rings again. Several times.

 

The next day, Evelyn shows up at work just to see Jacob waiting for her in the lobby. She brings him into her office, saying that there needs to be some rules regarding their relationship: one being that Jacob can't just show up at her work unannounced, and another being that he can't relentlessly call her. However, Jacob says that he's here for strictly professional reasons, saying that last night he came across another developing story that he's been working on on his home computer, and invites her over. Reluctantly, she agrees. When they arrive, Jacob begins to show her his work, but starts to come onto her once more. Frustrated, Evelyn begins to leave, but Jacob profusely apologizes. Before she can pull away, Jacob begins to break down, saying that he found out last night that his father was diagnosed of cancer. Evelyn begins to feel bad, and starts to comfort him. They embrace, and begin to have sex again, with Evelyn on top and Jacob on bottom. However, in the middle of intercourse, Jacob lets out a Freudian slip by calling Evelyn "mommy." Freaked out, Evelyn gets off the bed and puts her clothes back. Jacob tries to get her to stay, but Evelyn says that she has "work to do." On the cab ride home, Evelyn looks out the window, having second thoughts. Seeing texts from Jacob continuing to apologize and asking her to come back, she changes her number.

 

That night at home, lying together, Evelyn asks Harold if he thinks that they should be more sexually active as a married couple. Harold remarks that they haven't done it in a long time, and the two begins to have sex. However, as Evelyn looks at Harold, she can only see one face: Jacob. Startled, Evelyn tells Harold to get off her, and as he ask what's wrong, she runs to the bathroom and vomits into the toilet. Harold stands by her side, more confused than anything. At the same time, Jacob sits at his desk with MSNBC blaring on the TV in the background, looking at the address for a rehabilitation clinic.

 

Evelyn sits at the kitchen table, miserably sipping her morning tea when she gets a call from the landline phone. Hearing good news on the other end of the line, she says "thank you" and rushes back to the bedroom. That day, Evelyn stands in front of a clinic as her son Daniel (Dakota Goyo) walks out with his psychiatrist. The two share a long hug, with Evelyn glad to see her son again. They talk about Daniel's time in rehab as they ride the subway home, unaware that in the car behind them is Jacob, staring intently at Evelyn. That night, as the Flint family spends time together with their son, Jacob watches from across the street. His eyes are locked on one thing: Harold. Every move and gesture he makes, he observes. Cuddling his wife, joking with her, petting Bella. A look of disgust appears on his face.

 

Evelyn and Harold sit at the kitchen table. As Harold gets out the wine they've been hiding, Evelyn lightly chides him for being irresponsible, but Harold says he's glad to have their son back home. It's the happiest they've seemed in a while. Just then, Olivia enters the kitchen, saying that there's a man outside taking photos of the house. Evelyn's face turns white as the three head to the front porch, only to find no one there. Evelyn passes it off as one of Zieliski's goons, but after the other two head back to bed, Evelyn takes out her phone and dials Jacob's number. After Jacob answers, Evelyn says she wants to talk tomorrow at his apartment.

 

That day, Evelyn keeps a Swiss knife in her back pocket as she knocks on Jacob's door. After Jacob answers, Evelyn forces herself in. Evelyn accuses him of stalking her. At first Jacob denies the accusation, going so far as to call her delusional but eventually admits that it was because she wasn't answering her calls and changed her number (referencing Glenn Close's original "I'm not going to be ignored" line). Jacob says that he thinks their affair wasn't just a one-night stand, saying that he loves and respects her more than her husband ever will. Enraged, Evelyn tells him that he wouldn't know what having a spouse is like, that whatever they had is over and that's she's getting her life together again. Growing more aggressive, Jacob accuses Evelyn of deception, and threatens to tell her husband. Evelyn warns Jacob that if she comes anywhere near her family, she'll kill him, and leaves even as Jacob begins to apologize. After she slams the door behind her, Jacob's exasperation switches to a cold sneer.

 

Over the next few days, Evelyn becomes increasingly anxious, worried that Jacob is following her. At the same time, Jacob begins to spy on her family's everyday activities: Harold shopping at the supermarket, Olivia partying with her boyfriend at the club, Daniel being welcomed back by his friends, Going to Jacob's Twitter profile, she scrolls through his tweet history and finds dozens of replies to an account run by a columnist named Martha Davids, who used to work for the Boston Globe, ranging from political observations to quirky comments about her personal life. With Harold going away with Daniel and Olivia for the weekend on a post-rehab camping trip, she gets in touch with an apprehensive Martha (Kerry Washington) about meeting for coffee.

 

As they discuss their history with Jacob at a diner, Martha reveals that after a one-night stand with Jacob, who she had thought to be a trustworthy colleague, the two began a relationship. However, his persistent demands for sex took a toll on her and her family life. She says that after many interactions, she found out that his mother and father had died in a car crash when he was young, and realized that what he wanted wasn't a relationship with a girlfriend: "he wanted a mother." Having grown increasingly disturbed by the nature, she cut off all ties with him, and that's when he became increasingly obsessed with her, stalking her, sending her hateful messages and contacting her workplace to get her fired from her job. Evelyn asks what happened to make him stop following her, and Martha plainly replies that he finds someone new. "I guess he found you."

 

The exchange between Evelyn and Martha is intercut with scenes of Jacob taking a cab to Forest Hills, walking through the neighborhood and finally approaching the Flint's house. All the lights are off; no one is home.

 

On the car ride home, Evelyn gets a call from her husband, who tells her that he and the kids and driving back. When Evelyn arrives back at her house, she notices that something's off. Music is playing from inside: "Moon River" by Audrey Hepburn. Suspicious and anxious, she opens the front door, and screams. Right at her feet is her dog Bella, with a kitchen knife stuck through her neck. She enters the kitchen to find Jacob, heating up some dinner from the fridge. Jacob tells her that he hopes the song reminds her of a simpler time. As he intensely twirls the spaghetti around on his plate, Jacob asks Evelyn why she thought she could abandon him. Evelyn only responds that he wants her out of his house, or she's calling the cops. Jacob says that calling the cops would be a mistake, since her husband would definitely find out about such a domestic disturbance. Describing his disgust with her family life, Jacob recalls many of the same things he's said about the dangers women face in contemporary society, but with a sinister edge. Finally, Jacob says that she can leave all of this behind right now before her husband finds out, promising her a place where she can be respected.

 

At that moment, Evelyn pulls out her pocketknife, and the two begin to scuffle. Jacob turns out to be a more experienced fighter than his appearance suggests. At that moment, Evelyn's phone rings, and the two fight over the phone, with Evelyn pushing Jacob away before he can answer the phone. She lands a blow with the knife into his stomach, and sends him flying into the glass door in the kitchen onto the backyard. Kicking him while he's down, Evelyn knows him unconscious, and throws him down the hill into a nearby creek right as Harold, Olivia and Daniel arrive home. Outside, Jacob regains consciousness, and chooses to run away rather than head back. When the rest of the Flints notice Evelyn covered in blood, Harold calls the police.

 

After the police leave, Evelyn brings Harold into her bedroom and tells him that she has something to confess. After she tells him about her affair, Harold is appalled. They begin to intensely argue about their failing marriage. Evelyn accuses Harold of not being there for his children while she's working, Harold accuses Evelyn of the same thing. Him not being a good husband, her not being a good wife. Finally, Evelyn decides to leave and drive off into the night. Harold shouts that he wants a divorce as Olivia and Daniel look on from above. She rents a hotel for the night somewhere in Queens, before deciding to return home and apologize. After attending to his wounds, Jacob leaves his apartment before the police can arrive.

 

After Olivia and Daniel go to bed, Harold pours himself a whisky when he hears someone come in through the front door. He then notices Jacob. Putting two-and-two together, Harold realizes Jacob is the one who Evelyn had an affair with, and demands answers. Jacob plainly answers that he's disgusted by men like Harold and their idea of a family life, saying that he doesn't provide, he doesn't give in, and he doesn't listen. He knows what Evelyn really wants, betting that she thinks of him when she's in bed with Harold. Enraged, Harold tries to force him out of the house, but Jacob pins him down on the floor, beginning to strangle him. Evelyn finally arrives, grabbing the silver necklace and putting Jacob into a chokehold. Fighting for his life, Jacob finally gives up and succumbs.

 

After the family makes their statements, the police drive away, zipping Jacob with his demented face inside a bodybag, and Evelyn heads back inside. Seeing Harold, they share a moment of silence before embracing.
 

 

Edited April 28, 2020 by Alpha

[SLAM!]

Higher Ground

Studio: New Journey Pictures

Director: Gavin Hood

Genre: Disaster/Horror

Release Date: 3/10/Y7

Theater Count: 3.150

MPAA Rating: Rated R for Violence, Language, Suspense, and Peril Throughout

Budget: $50 Million

Runtime: 1 hr 25 min

Original Score: Junkie XL

 

Cast

Dakota Johnson as Brenda

Brenton Thwaites as Austin

Janet McTeer as Darlene

Jared Harris as Zachary/[redacted]

Charlie Plummer as Noah

Carmen Ejogo as Erica

Lin Shaye as Jeanine

with Grayson Russell as Doug

and Hilary Swank as Tammy

 

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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 Advanced issues found

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33

Spoiler

Brenda (Dakota Johnson) and Austin (Brenton Thwaites) are a young couple on vacation in Greece. They peruse through ancient architecture. Brenda draws illustrations of the architecture in a sketchbook while Austin takes it all in, somewhat smugly, with his hands in his pockets.

 

Brenda and Austin sit in a seaside restaurant. They enjoy Mediterranean food.

 

Brenda: Okay, Austin. If mythology is worthless paganism, they why do you study it?

 

Austin leans back and ruminates.

 

Austin: Knowing what people used to believe in… That’s fascinating. That shows us how far we’ve come. As a species, per se.

 

Brenda laughs.

 

Brenda: You’re lucky I’m in love with you.

 

Their discussion turns to a casual conversation about their relationship—they’re boyfriend and girlfriend, not married yet—before the people around them start clamoring. Brenda and Austin stare out the window. The shore below is much bigger than it should be. Brenda looks to the horizon and gasps. 

 

It’s a tsunami.

 

Austin grabs Brenda by the hand. They run out of the restaurant. As a warning alarm begins to sound, they run toward higher ground. There’s a lot of stairs and inclines, but the wave is massive. Austin makes a snide remark about the entire Mediterranean sea coming after them.

 

They merge within a large crowd of people who are running away. Austin spots an old woman who’s fallen down near the bottom of a stone staircase. He stops Brenda, kisses her, and tells her to keep running. Brenda, her mind on strict survival mode, runs up the staircase. We cut between Brenda running on her own and Austin helping the old woman up the staircase.

 

Austin looks back in fear. Water rushes toward him—it’s right behind him.

 

Brenda looks back. Cut to a POV shot where Austin and the woman are violently swallowed by the wave. Cut to Brenda, whose body grants a sudden surge of speed. She barely makes it to safety, but a bunch of the people she passed are taken by the wave. Brenda collapses and cries.

 

Cut to Brenda being treated at a makeshift emergency shelter. Volunteers are scampering about. Someone is talking to her, asking her questions about how she’s doing. Brenda is clearly distraught. She asks about Austin. He’s “missing.” They’re “doing their best to find him.”

 

Cut to a sequence in which Brenda waits a few days at the shelter. She waits for Austin. Austin never arrives. She looks at the ocean, which seems to pretend it isn’t guilty of anything. Her mother, Darlene (Janet McTeer), calls her and tells her it might be better for her to come back to America as soon as possible. Darlene consoles Brenda and tells her that Austin was a good man—he didn’t deserve what happened to him.

 

The sequence continues as we watch Brenda travel back to America. We see that the event she’s been through won’t be leaving her anytime soon.

 

She arrives back at her apartment and sits there for a moment. She tearfully scrolls through Instagram photos that she took with Austin hours before the tsunami hit.

 

We cut to Brenda working a regular office job. Her coworkers attempt to console her. “That must’ve been scary,” they say. “I wouldn’t have come back to work as early as you,” they say. “I’m sorry for your loss,” they say. While she’s in her cubicle, she scrolls through Facebook and finds a group dedicated to survivors of the tsunami. She joins it and reads their messages to help her cope. She sees a suggestion to do recreational activities that help her relax.

 

We cut to Brenda at a public indoor swimming pool. She wears a one-piece bathing suit. She stands above the pool and dives in. In a flurry of underwater shots, the water reminds her of the event, and that reminder weighs heavily on her. She struggles to swim back up to the surface while water seems to surge. She breaks through the surface and swims to the nearest ladder. 

 

Brenda walks into her apartment, calling Darlene, saying she thought she could get back to normal life when she really wasn’t ready to do that yet. Darlene gives her an idea: Brenda should visit Darlene’s cousin-in-law, Tammy (Hilary Swank), who lives alone in a house in the West Virginia hills. Brenda decides to go.

 

Cut to Tammy in her nice upper-class house in a hilly neighborhood. She takes a bowl with two egg yolks and pours its contents onto a frying pan; she then complains to herself about forgetting to scramble them.

 

The doorbell rings. She answers. It’s Brenda. Tammy welcomes her inside the house.

 

The two of them sit down in the living room with coffee mugs. They connect over losing their loved ones. Tammy tells Brenda that she’s “never been the same since her divorce.” Brenda says Tammy what Darlene said—that this is a good opportunity for both of them. Brenda needs some time away from the city, and Tammy needs to spend time with someone. Tammy agrees with her.

 

Brenda brings her things to an upstairs bedroom. She sketches the bedroom to kill some time. Then, she goes to the Facebook group and finds sees that a few people are facetiming. She joins the chat and meets the meek Noah (Charlie Plummer), the outspoken Erica (Carmen Ejogo), and the solemn Jeanine (Lin Shaye). They talk about surviving the tsunami and about how they’re going to help each other get through it. Brenda smiles.

 

Brenda takes a bath. All is quiet until a dark grey corpse’s arm rises from the water, grabs her head, and tries to drown her in the bathtub. She tries to climb out, and a few more arms appear to try to pull her into the water. The arms successfully pin below the water, and all seems lost until Tammy runs in and pulls her out of the water. Brenda looks back once she’s out of the water—the arms have disappeared.

 

Cut to the living room, where Brenda swears up and down to Tammy that arms were trying to drown her. Tammy stops her—she believes her. Tammy says that it’s important to believe people when they’re telling the truth.

 

Tammy: If people believed me when I told the truth, my life wouldn’t be the same as it is today. So I’ll believe you.

 

They connect with one another.

 

Brenda drives through the town and goes for a walk in a public park. The sky is overcast. She walks on a bike path that surrounds a lake. She stops and stares at the lake—she’s fearful of the lake.

 

“Hey! Hey you!”

 

An awkward young man named Doug (Grayson Russell) runs up to her and asks if he can walk with her. Brenda asks why, and Doug says, through a country accent, that she’s alone, and that it’s not good to be alone. Brenda stares at him with reproach, but she allows him to walk with her. Doug introduces himself and asks if she’s from around the area. (Brenda is not.) Doug tells her she picked a good park to visit—him and his friends go fishing there all the time. Doug tells her about his dog named Baxter. “He’s a St. Bernard,” he says.

 

Brenda stops. Doug continues walking for a bit—then he realizes she’s stopped, and he stops as well. Brenda asks him for a favor and walks toward the lake. Doug asks her what’s going on. Brenda tells him that if she screams, he needs to pull her away from the water. Doug sheepishly tells her that people aren’t allowed to swim in the water. Brenda stands near the water and lifts her foot over the water.

 

An arm reaches out and grabs her leg. Brenda falls onto her back—the arm starts to drag her in. She screams for Doug, who rushes to her. We see more arms grab onto Brenda’s body and she’s getting dragged further and further, but Doug grabs her just in time and uses all of his strength to pull her away from the water. Brenda catches her breath; she asks Doug if she saw the corpses that were dragging her into the water. Doug looks at her in confusion.

 

Doug: I didn’t see no corpses, ma’am.

 

Brenda looks at the water in fear.

 

We cut to Brenda microwaving a frozen dinner. Tammy walks into the kitchen from the living room and apologizes for not cooking. Brenda says it’s fine—she’s just getting some food, and she usually doesn’t eat much anyway. Tammy tells her that she’s watching the Odyssey trilogy in the living room, and that she’s more than welcome to come join her. Brenda thanks her for the offer, but says it’s too soon for her to watch a movie about Greek mythology. Tammy tells her that the reasoning makes sense, and she comments on the amount of recent movies that are based around Greek mythology.

 

Tammy: There’s the Odyssey movies, there’s Medusa, there’s The Last Six… That last one is a mish-mash between the Greek ones, and the Egyptian ones, and-

Brenda: That’s great, Tammy. Really. I’m sorry. It’s just… Greece has been popular ever since those movies have come out. That’s part of the reason why we went. Me and Austin, I mean. And we could’ve gone to Egypt, we could’ve gone to Italy. We could’ve gone anywhere else. But we went to Greece.

 

They have a moment of silent.

 

Tammy: Yeah. It’s been popular. I’m obsessed with it, now… These movies have me reading the actual myths.

 

Brenda purses her lips. She grabs her dinner out of the microwave.

 

Brenda: I’m going upstairs.

 

Brenda walks quickly to the staircase. Tammy stares down at the ground.

 

Cut to Tammy walking to the living room couch, sitting down, and pressing the play button with the TV remote. She watches The Odyssey: The Counsel of the Dead, and we see the scene where the group is on the river Styx, and the unlikable man leans too close to the water, and the beings in the water grab him and pull him into the water, drowning him. Tammy watches the scene unfold with wide eyes.

 

Alone in her room, Brenda opens her laptop and joins the Facebook chat with Noah, Erica, and Jeanine. They’re all happy to see her. All of them miss their loved ones; they express that fact in their own ways.

 

Cut to the next morning; Darlene, Brenda’s mother, sips a cup of coffee. Her husband (and Brenda’s father), Zachary (Jared Harris), reads a newspaper. Darlene says something that makes Zachary wonder about Brenda. 

 

Darlene: Didn’t I tell you she went to Tammy’s house in the hills?

 

The newspaper falls out of Zachary’s hands.

 

Zachary: We’ve made a mistake.

 

Darlene is confused. Zachary tells her that Tammy isn’t someone Brenda should be around on grounds that Tammy is a paranoid schizophrenic. Normally, this wouldn’t be that big of a deal, but when Tammy sees images, she fully commits herself to the images she sees—even if the images promote violent outbursts. Darlene looks down with an “oh no what have I done” type of expression.

 

Cut to Brenda and Tammy. Brenda is flipping pancakes while Tammy stares daggers at her from the kitchen table. Brenda attempts to make light conversation about the pancakes. Tammy says stuff like “uh huh” and “that’s neat” without breaking her stare.

 

Brenda places pancakes on plates and slides one over to Tammy. Tammy punctures a pancake and bites off a large piece of it. She swallows, waits for a moment, and says to Brenda, “You and I are the same.” Brenda is confused by this. Tammy reminds Brenda that she didn’t see the arms grab her, and Tammy tells her that she also sees things that other people don’t see. Tammy is really happy that she has someone to relate to. Tammy continues eating pancakes while Tammy stares at her in fear.

 

Cut to another one of Brenda’s Facetime meetings with Noah, Erica, and Jeanine. Brenda hears Erica say that survivors of the tsunamis have been disappearing.

 

Brenda: They’re disappearing?

Erica: What?
Brenda: D-did you say they’re disappearing?

Erica: I’m sorry, what? I’m having trouble hearing you.

 

An invisible entity snaps Noah’s neck, killing him. The three others stare in horror. They freak out for a moment. Suddenly, Jeanine is killed by the headshot of an offscreen gun. Brenda can hardly believe what she’s seeing. An invisible entity grabs Erica by the hair; Erica screams “I don’t wanna die,” and the entity slits her throat with a box cutter.

 

Brenda gets up from the desk and runs out of the room. She holds on to the walkway’s railing and attempts to gather her bearings.

 

Cut away from her as Austin walks into frame.

 

Austin: BRENDA!

 

Brenda whips around in terror.

 

Austin: It’s me, Brenda!

 

Brenda backs away.

 

Austin: Brenda! I love you!

 

Austin storms her and forces himself upon her. He makes out with her and pushes her body against the railing.

 

Tammy is watching a movie on the living room couch. Brenda falls from the second floor walkway, tumbling from the couch to the floor—afflicted by minor bruises. Tammy springs up and screams, horrified. Brenda gets up to her feet and cries while Tammy backs away to a corner of the room. Tammy continues to scream as she grasps her head—anguished.

 

Brenda cries to herself as Tammy suddenly stops screaming. Brenda spends a moment on the ground. She wipes tears away with her wrist and looks over to the corner where Tammy is standing—Tammy still has her face covered. Brenda slowly gets up onto her feet and walks over to Tammy.

 

Tammy: Who did you see?

 

Brenda stares quizzically. Tammy spreads her fingers, so that her eyes are seen.

 

Tammy: Who did you see? Zeus? Poseidon? Hades?

 

Brenda stares at her. The emotion and fear is beginning to exhaust her.

 

Brenda: I saw Austin.

 

Tammy rips her hands away.

 

Tammy: Bullshit. That’s who you saw? Really?

 

Brenda’s eyes widen.

 

Brenda: I saw Austin, and he pushed me against the railing—I don’t know why he’d do that.

 

Tammy storms past her.

 

Tammy: Your little boyfriend wouldn’t have done that, Brenda.

 

Brenda becomes confused.

 

Brenda: What?

 

She hears the sound of the kitchen sink.

 

Tammy: You’ve told me about him. You’ve shown me pictures of him. Austin wouldn’t have done that. You need to tell me the fucking truth.

 

Brenda limps into the kitchen. Tammy is washing her hands.

 

Brenda: What do you mean?

 

Tammy rips a paper towel off the roll and dries her hands.

 

Tammy: The only ones that come for me are the powerful ones—the strong ones. Like your father. You should know he ruined my life.

 

Brenda steps back.

 

Brenda: What?

 

Tammy washes her hands a second time.

 

Tammy: He helped my husband get full custody of my children. He’s a mean man, Brenda. He’s the type of man I see in my head.

 

Rage flows through Brenda.

 

Brenda: What are you saying about Austin? What does that have to do with Austin? I loved him! He died trying to save someone, and he didn’t need to do that! He could’ve ran with me!

Tammy: Oh, so he’d rather die a hero than live as a husband?

Brenda: Of course not! He loved me! I loved him! And if I’m seeing Austin, then I’m glad I’m seeing him instead of those corpses in the water!

 

Tammy grabs a kitchen knife and raises it to Brenda.

 

Tammy: It’s just like the spirits in the River Styx! The souls of the ones killed by the wave are trying to drag you down with them! And you need to admit that you couldn’t have seen Austin, because he should be in that water, trying to drag you down!

Brenda: I’m telling you, I saw Austin!

Tammy: No! I have to be right! My theories have to be right! It has to be the myths! I need you to see what I see! I need you to hear what I hear!

Brenda: Tammy!

Tammy: There’s not a single person in my life who’s seen the things I’ve seen! I thought that was you, Brenda! I’ll kill you if I can’t connect with you!

 

A booming voice interrupts them. Tammy looks to the corner of the room and sees Zeus (Jared Harris) glaring at her with his arms crossed.

 

Tammy: Zeus! I’ll kill you, Zeus!

 

Tammy attempts to slash at Zeus, but Zeus smacks the knife out of her hand. We cut to Brenda, who’s confused—Brenda doesn’t see Zeus.

 

Tammy: You have the wrong woman! I’m not Io! I’m Tammy! Please leave me be!

 

Zeus covers Tammy’s face with his hand. Tammy screams as she falls to the floor. Brenda stares in horror as Tammy convulses madly on the floor.

 

Brenda takes the opportunity to hurry upstairs and throw her things in her duffel bag. It takes her a realistically long time to gather all of her things, and we see that she forgets her smartphone. She hurries back downstairs, intending to run away from the house, but Tammy blocks her exit, hunched like a zombie, her hair frazzled. Tammy glares at Brenda.

 

Tammy: You’re not going anywhere.

 

Tammy snatches Brenda and drags her to a door. She opens it, revealing a wooden staircase that leads to a basement. Tammy throws Brenda down the staircase—Brenda tumbles down all of the stairs. By the time she’s at the bottom, she’s lost consciousness. Tammy slams the door.

 

Cut to Tammy washing her face. She looks into the bathroom mirror with conviction in her eyes. She’s repurposed a golden “loop” earring and it into a large nose-ring. She huffs, and she puffs, and she marches out of the bathroom.

 

Tammy walks out of her house. She takes in the scenery. Storm clouds are beginning to gather. She looks over to the foundation of her house and finds a small basement window—too small for a person to fit through. She goes into her garage—it’s absent of tools, but she finds an emergency fire axe and grabs it. She goes back to the outside of her house and breaks the basement window. “I hope they drown you,” she says as she walks back inside.

 

Cut to a subtle sequence in which Brenda wakes up in the basement with minor bruises and pains. She goes upstairs and sees that the door is locked to where she can’t get out. She finds a case of water bottles and drinks one. She walks over to a full size bed and lays down.

 

“Brenda.”

 

She looks up and sees that Austin is laying with her on the other side of the bed. They stare at each other for a moment.

 

Brenda: Why did you do that?

 

Austin opens his mouth.

 

Austin: I don’t know.

 

Cut to Darlene, Brenda’s mother, who rides through the neighborhood in the backseat of an Uber driver’s car. There’s a look of guilt on her face. The car arrives at Tammy’s house; Darlene pays the driver in cash, walks to the house, and rings the doorbell. Tammy answers, and she gives the appearance that she’s happy to see her. Darlene asks about Brenda, and Tammy invites her into the house.

 

They walk inside. Tammy tells Darlene that Brenda’s asleep. Darlene asks her if she knows when she’ll wake up—she says it’s for the best if she lets Brenda get her rest. Tammy agrees and says that Brenda should wake up “any minute now.”

 

They sit on separate couches in the living room. Darlene asks about the earring—she’s slightly weirded out by it. Tammy says she just put it in. Tammy asks Darlene why she came to get Brenda. Darlene lies and says that she’d been planning to come get Brenda for a while so they can spend some mother-daughter time together, and that Tammy hadn’t seen any of her text messages—she notes that Tammy hasn’t responded to her calls, either.

 

Tammy asks about Zachary. Darlene says that Zachary’s doing all right.

 

Darlene: He told me to tell you that he’s sorry about what happened. He really is. And I had just learned about it… When he was handling the situation with you and Mike, I don’t know what I was doing, but I never really noticed what you were going through.

 

Tammy nods stoically.

 

Darlene: And I guess that makes sense, because you’re my cousin-in-law, and you’re Zachary’s actual cousin. But I’m sorry about what you’re going through. I emphasize with you. That must’ve been hard.

 

Hard rain begins to pour outside. It’s a heavy downpour.

 

Darlene: Huh. It’s begun to rain.

 

Tammy smiles wickedly.

 

Tammy: I’d like to show you something.

 

Darlene doesn’t know any better.

 

Darlene: Uh… Okay!

 

Tammy gets up from the couch and marches into a laundry room that’s near the front door. Darlene gets up from the couch and sheepishly steps toward the laundry room.

 

Tammy (O.S.): You must think I’m the calf.

 

Darlene freezes.

 

Darlene: What? No, I don’t think—

Tammy (O.S.): But I’m not the calf.

 

Darlene puts her hand over her mouth. Cut to Tammy, who’s holding the axe.

 

Tammy: I’m the minotaur.

 

Tammy storms to Darlene. Darlene screams and backs into the couch. Tammy raises the axe and swings it, lodging it into Darlene’s skull. Tammy yanks it away, and Darlene falls to the floor—dead. Tammy smiles wickedly, and she laughs heartily. Her laughter stops when she senses an unknown presence behind her. It’s Austin, who’s wearing a apricot-colored robe and a crown of leaves. He’s armed with a sword.

 

Tammy: Theseus…

 

Tammy and “Theseus” engage in swordplay. The battle goes on for a minute, and it ends when a well-timed sword strike knocks Tammy’s axe out of her hands and Austin plunges his sword into her chest.

 

We cut to Tammy, who gasps. She looks down—her axe is lodged into her chest, not the sword. Tammy stares at Austin, who stares back.

 

Tammy: I was wrong about you.

Austin: …It’s not your fault.

 

Tammy tears the axe out of her chest. She falls to the ground and dies.

 

Cut back to Brenda, who’s laying on the bed in the basement. Her eyes snap open, and looks at the basement, which is beginning to fill with water. It’s not much water—it doesn’t even cover her knees—but it’s enough for her to envision the corpses’ arms rising from the water, waiting to drag her down. She looks over to the wooden staircase—it’s only a few things away.

 

On the other side of the bed, a machete lies against the wall. She’ll need it to pry the door open and defend herself if she needs to. She grabs it. She stares at the water again—the corpses’ arms are clutching the sides of the bed, waiting for her to take the first step.

 

Brenda breathes in and out. She takes the first step, and the corpses’ arms grabs her—but they don’t pull her in. Brenda doesn’t give them the power to pull her in. She stares down at the arms which fail to drown her, and she understands that she’s stronger than them. She walks through the water while the hundreds of arms reach for her, clinging to the life that moves past them.

 

Brenda reaches the stairs and turns back. The corpses’ arms gradually stop reaching for her; they sink back into the water.

 

Cut to the first floor as she pries the door open. She opens the door, gasps, and runs into the living room. First, she notices Tammy’s corpse. Then, she notices Darlene’s corpse. She rushes to Darlene and mourns her for a moment. Austin steps in, still wearing the toga as well as the leaf crown. Brenda notices him; she runs to him, wraps her arms around him, and buries her head in his chest, crying. Austin consoles her.

 

Brenda wipes her tears away. Austin leans in.

 

Austin: Brenda. What I told you about myths… I was wrong. But you still must run away. You still must run to higher ground.

 

Brenda backs away from him. Staring at Austin, she grows sadder and sadder. Austin looks back with a palpable frown. Brenda inhales and exits the house; we cut back to one last shot of Austin as he stands near the bodies of Tammy and Darlene.

 

Brenda runs out in the rain. She walks in the middle of the street and stares down as the rain pelts her. She looks over an notices a stopped car in the distance—there’s a young man outside the car, handling a dog. Brenda jogs over to them; we see that the dog is a St. Bernard, and that the young man is Doug in a raincoat.

 

Doug: Oh, Baxter… Of all the times you could run away, this is the time you pick…

 

Doug fastens a leash to Baxter’s collar. He notices Brenda and stands up.

 

Doug: Hey. You’re the girl from the park.

 

Brenda shivers. She frowns.

 

Brenda: I’m sorry, Doug… I…

Doug: You need shelter, don’t you? You can get in the passenger seat—me and my family live… Uh… On higher ground… I know that’s an awkward way of phrasing it… I’m sorry about that…

 

An emergency alarm begins to sound—the same one that Brenda heard in Greece. Doug does not hear this sound, but Brenda hears it. Brenda turns back and sees that a massive wave—an even bigger one than the one in Greece—is headed for them. But Brenda only grits her teeth, because she knows the wave is something she sees in her head. She turns back to Doug.

Brenda: I’d like that. Let’s go.

Brenda hurries into the passenger seat. Doug ushers Baxter into the car and gets into the driver’s seat. Doug starts the car and drives. Brenda looks in the side-view mirror and sees that the wave is fast approaching. Doug drives the car up the first hill as the wave begins to devour homes behind them. The car makes it up the hill as the wave crashes behind them as a wave would crash on a rock that’s protruding from the ocean—that shot is a money shot.

Doug drives higher and higher into the neighborhood and parks in the driveway of his house. Brenda breathes in and out.

 

Brenda: When I get inside your house, I need to borrow your phone so I can call the police.

Doug: What? Why?

Brenda hangs her down. She looks up at Doug with a complex expression.

Cut to black.

(There’s an end-credits scene where Noah, Erica, and Jeanine, alive, wonder about the whereabouts of Brenda. They ruminate on what they’ve been through and consider ending their daily chats so they can begin a process of moving on (as Brenda seems to have begun that process already). Then, they see that someone is trying to join the chat, and they’re happy to see who it is.

 

 

Edited September 11, 2023 by SLAM!

[Blankments]

Scooby-Doo: Cult of the Creeper

 

In Association with EssGeeKay Studios

Director: Cathy Yan

Writer: Christina Hodson
Genre: Horror/Comedy/Musical
Release Date: July 14
Major Cast:

Alden Ehrenreich as Shaggy Rogers

Jane Levy as Daphne Blake

Trevante Rhodes as Fred Jones

Mandip Gill as Velma Dinkley

Dakota Johnson as Thorn

Laura Harrier as Luna

Camila Mendes as Dusk

Lorena Izzo as Belle Neville

Eleanor Tomlinson as Lucy Carswell

With Ethan Hawke as Deacon Carswell

And Jeff Goldblum as Scooby-Doo (voice)

 

Featuring the Voices of:

Billy Magnussen as Scrappy

Zach Galifianakis as Dum

Holly Hunter as Dee

Kate McKinnon as Ruby

Bill Hader as Yabba

 

Theater Count: 4,003

MPAA Rating: PG-13 for zombie violence, language, frightening images, and suggestive content.

Runtime: 112 min

Production Budget: $110 million

Music by: Damon Albarn

Songs by: Mitski, The Tuts, The Aquabats and Bret McKenzie.

Additional Formats: IMAX and Dolby

 

Previous Film: Scooby-Doo: Apocalypse - 71.1M/209.2M/503.3M (OW/DOM/WW)

 

Soundtrack:

 

(song written by is labeled in parenthesis; if asteriked, song is a cover)

1. *Spooky.............................................................Dakota Johnson, Camila Mendes, Laura Harrier
2. Nowhere............................................................Lorenza Izzo (Mitski)
3. The Chase..........................................................Damon Albarn
4. The Secret Lair of the Forgotten Doos...Billy Magnussen, Zach Galifianakis, Holly Hunter, Kate McKinnon, Bill Hader, Jeff Goldblum (The Aquabats)
5. Welcome In........................................................Ethan Hawke (Bret McKenzie)
6. Do I Have to Wait and Wonder..................Mandip Gill, Laura Harrier, Jane Levy, Alden Ehrenreich (The Tuts)
7. *What's New, Scooby-Doo?..........................Dakota Johnson, Camila Mendes, Laura Harrier
8. *I Think We're Alone Now..............................The Tuts

 

 

Plot Summary: Following the events of Scooby Doo: Apocalypse, Mystery Inc. must deal with the fallout of zombies, talking mutant dogs, a creepy cult, and a murderous pop punk girl group. 

 

Plot: 

 

In a small grungy music venue, Thorn, the lead singer of the Hex Girls, plays guitar while Dusk plays drums and Luna plays the keyboard. They perform a sultry punk cover of Dusty Springfield’s "Spooky." The camera zooms into a speaker, then zooms out to reveal a car speaker and the following scene:

Deacon Carswell drives down the highway with his wife Lucy. "Spooky" plays on the radio. Deacon turns it down and turns to Lucy. He complains about the upcoming yoga retreat they’re traveling to for Lucy’s work, jokingly saying it sounds like a cult. Lucy tells him to keep his eyes on the road. She tells him the retreat will be a good opportunity for them to both relax and maybe even try for a baby again. Deacon brushes her off, slightly distracted. Lucy gets frustrated but they’re interrupted by a car on the other side of the highway speeding extremely fast. Deacon pounds on his horn, angry, and looks at his rearview. Lucy tells him to keep his eyes on the road and shouts at him to look out. He looks at the road and sees zombies crawling all over the road. He swerves to avoid them and almost runs into a van (a quick flash of the Mystery Machine), but he swerves again and runs the car into a ditch. The rest of the sounds fade away as the song swells and the car flips. We cut to Deacon waking up, upside down in the car in the ditch. He weakly calls for Lucy and grabs her hand. Her hand flops down out of his, a sign she’s dead. He peers through the rearview and sees the zombies continuing to flood through the highway and cars piling up. The sight of the Mystery Machine and a flash of red hair (later revealed to be Daphne Blake) catches his eye before he completely passes out. 

After their show, the Hex Girls pack up their van in the back alley by the venue. Someone, seemingly a drunken man, stumbles up to the band. Thorn tells him they’re not interested. He continues towards them, eventually pinning Thorn up to the van. Luna and Dusk yell at him, and Luna smacks the back of his head with a guitar case. He turns around, revealing his mangled zombie face. He turns to Luna, clearly agitated, and lunges. Dusk quickly pulls off her stiletto boot and stabs him in the eye. He falls to the ground and the three band members look down at him. Luna asks if he’s actually dead, then he stirs. Thorn grabs a drumstick from the van and shoves it into his other eye. He twitches then stills. Thorn says that now he’s dead. Suddenly another van speeds down the alley (again, the Mystery Machine), barely making it past and scraping the Hex Girls’ van. Velma sticks her head and shouts a quick apology, barely avoiding smacking her head on the end of the alley. Luna angrily shouts back at the Mystery Gang, calling them assholes. Dusk examines the scrape on the van and notices teal blue paint left in the scrape. She runs out of the alley to chase down the Mystery Machine. Luna freaks out that Dusk and Thorn stabbed a guy, but Thorn tells her to chill out, saying he’s clearly already dead. Dusk comes running back, panicking, saying they need to go right now. Following her are several more zombies. She runs to the van and the band piles in. They peel out of the alley, swerving around the zombies flooding the street. 

ONE MONTH LATER: Fred Jones drives the Mystery Machine through an abandoned town. Velma Dinkley and Daphne Blake ride up front while Shaggy Rogers and Scooby Doo sit in the back. Daphne livestreams to her blog that they got an anonymous tip that there was some suspicious zombie activity happening here, then wraps up. Velma looks out the window, regarding that the town looks especially eerie. Daphne tells her to keep her guard up. Scooby tells the gang he can hear something in the distance. They all hush. Fred parks in front of the cemetery but it’s very quiet. Velma begins to speak but Scooby hushes her. The gang gets out of the van and Scooby sniffs around. Shadows shift around in the background. Scooby continues to lead the gang all through town before stopping at an old deli. Daphne chastises Scooby, telling him it’s no time for eating, but he ignores her, sniffing and reaching the basement. The gang stands at the top of the stairs, looking down at the darkened room. Fred offers to go first. Daphne follows, but Shaggy stops her, saying he’ll go next in case it’s not safe. Daphne shares a look with Velma but lets him go ahead. Scoob and the guys go downstairs, followed by Daphne and Velma. Down in the basement, Scooby continues sniffing until he reaches the freezer. Velma pauses, saying she’s not looking in the freezer for any dead bodies. Scooby insists there’s something alive in the freezer. Fred and Shaggy get the freezer open and inside sits Dum, one of the Smart Dogs from the Nevada Complex. The gang is initially confused, but then are quickly ambushed by Dum and the other Smart Dogs, Dee, Ruby, Yabba, and their leader Scrappy. The gang is trapped inside the freezer and left for dead by the Smart Dogs as payback for the gang leaving them for dead during the nanite zombie outbreak. Outside, the Smart Dogs steal the Mystery Machine and plan to make their escape, with Scrappy taking the steering wheel and Yabba and Ruby working the pedals.

In the freezer, Shaggy laments that he should have been better at taking care of the Smart Dogs. Daphne comforts him, telling him he couldn’t have known what would happen with the nanites and the dogs. Velma breaks them up, telling them they’ve got to focus on getting out of here, since the dogs tampered with the freezer and the temperature is dropping every second. Fred manages to break the air vent, allowing enough space for Scooby to fit through. When Shaggy tries to move the broken vent cover, he realizes it’s extremely heavy. Fred admits that ever since he died and was revived by Old Man Jenkins’s blood, he’s noticed he’s a lot stronger. Daphne is concerned, but is interrupted by Scooby opening the freezer door. The gang exits the freezer. Shaggy warms Daphne up by embracing her, but she tells him she’s still worried about everything Fred’s been through.

Elsewhere, in the desert, Luna and Dusk practice firing weapons at various objects, while Thorn stays in the van, rewatching videos from Daphne’s vlog. Luna tells her to stop obsessing over Mystery Inc., and that they’ll find them soon enough, but Thorn insists that the sooner the Hex Girls find Mystery Inc.’s tacky teal and green van, the sooner they’ll be able to stop them. Dusk questions if Mystery Inc. is really responsible for everything, but Thorn cuts her off, telling her that trouble follows Mystery Inc. wherever they go, and that at this point they’re doing more harm than good. To accentuate her point, she throws a knife at one of the targets in a direct bullseye. 

Outside the abandoned town, Fred realizes the dogs must have taken their van. The gang is suddenly startled by a woman who emerges from the abandoned library. She introduces herself as Belle Neville, and explains that she was scavenging for supplies on her way to a sanctuary city deeper in the desert. She offers to give the gang a ride along with her in her VW Wagon, but insists that they stay in town with her since it’s getting dark, and she never drives at night. The gang excuses themselves to confer. Daphne is not interested in staying with Belle, since they know nothing about her and these days it’s hard to trust anyone. She asks Shaggy what he thinks, but he hesitates with his answer. Fred says they should keep an eye on Belle, but they have no other choice since they have no mode of transportation. Shaggy quickly agrees with him, to the annoyance of Daphne. Velma is also iffy on Belle, but admits going to a sanctuary might be a good plan. When Scooby is noticeably silent, Shaggy prompts him for his answer, and Scooby says he’s a little worried about what will happen to the Smart Dogs. Fred says for now, the best course of action is to get to the sanctuary city and go from there. Belle interrupts the group, saying she’d like to eat dinner now, and wants to know if she should set a few more places. Fred and the rest of the group accepts her offer, though Daphne is obviously not happy. Belle explains that prior to the nanite apocalypse, she lived full time in her van, and worked as a nature photographer for desert wildlife. She says thus far, she’s had pretty good luck scrounging in the desert for supplies, but the nights are getting colder and she’d rather set up shelter permanently somewhere. She asks Velma and Daphne for help cooking dinner in the kitchen of an abandoned diner, and for Fred and Shaggy to get firewood for the nighttime. Daphne initially refuses, but Velma intervenes, telling her it’s best to stay on Belle’s good side. The women bid farewell to the men and Scooby. Daphne makes Shaggy promise to be careful and kisses him warmly, which Belle notices. 

In the diner, Belle apologizes for making Velma and Daphne cook with her, explaining she grew up in an old fashioned household. She pointedly tells Daphne that the quickest way to a man’s heart is through his stomach, though Daphne is cold, saying how she feels about Shaggy is her business. Velma interjects, asking Belle what they’re going to be cooking. Belle says they’ll make a stew tonight which they can warm on the fire, since the gas lines no longer work in the diner. She asks Velma and Daphne to cut some veggies while she chops some herbs. Aside from Belle, Velma asks Daphne why she was so defensive over Shaggy, and Daphne admits that she’s unsure where she and Shaggy stand at the moment. Even in the apocalypse, it’s still been a month since anything has really happened between them besides a few kisses, and she wishes they could have some alone time to get closer. Velma assures her he likely feels the same way, and when they get to the sanctuary city they’ll all likely have some time apart from each other. Daphne asks Velma how she’s coping with her ex-girlfriend Daisy’s death and betrayal, and Velma assures her she’s doing surprisingly well, but she also misses being intimate with someone. Daphne laughs, saying if the women are feeling starved for affection the men are probably going crazy. 

In the woods, Shaggy, Fred, and Scooby gather firewood. Shaggy asks Fred what he thinks of Belle, but Fred seems distracted. Scooby tells Fred to snap out of it, and Fred shakes out of his thoughts, saying that Belle seems fine, but he’s more interested in how things are going between Shaggy and Daphne. Scooby joins in, saying he can tell Shaggy is totally crazy about her. Shaggy becomes uncomfortable, admitting he’s worried it’s a little weird that he’s into Daphne when she and Fred used to be together. Fred assures him things with him and Daphne are long over; after all, they dated 7 years ago. Shaggy is still unsure, saying he trusts Fred and Daphne, but he doesn’t feel as confident in himself as he should be. Shaggy says he really just wants the guts to tell her how he really feels, but he can’t do it. Scooby tells him to snap out of it, saying it’s obvious Daphne is into him. Fred agrees, though he sounds a bit sad about it. Fred breaks off a large tree branch to use as wood, and Shaggy asks him again about his increased strength. Fred says he doesn’t want to scare the others, but it’s more than just strength. He uses a sharp piece of wood to cut his palm, and the nanites in his body quickly heal the cut. He explains that he doesn’t really need as much sleep or food as he used to. He also says he feels cold all the time, like he’s still dead. He asks Scooby how many heartbeats he hears between Shaggy and Fred, and Scooby admits he can only hear Shaggy’s. Fred worries because he’s been noticing these changes a lot more lately, and perhaps the cure Old Man Jenkins gave him is not a permanent fix. Shaggy assures him whatever happens, the gang will have his back, and Scooby enthusiastically agrees. 

Later, at the town center, Belle has constructed a large fire and warms up the stew the women prepared. Velma asks her to explain how she knows about this sanctuary city and what to expect there, and Belle says she will, but everyone should eat first. She passes out a bowl of the stew to everyone including Scooby and tells them to dig in. The gang eats, and Daphne notices her vision starting to swirl. Fred says everything looks a lot more colorful. Velma quickly realizes they’ve been drugged, and Belle begins to explain that yes, she drugged them, but it’s Shaggy who realizes it’s peyote. Belle explains that she means them no harm, but to truly understand what awaits them at the sanctuary city, they must step into their world. She tells them to look into the fire, and in the flames visions of a bustling community form. Belle tells them, in the form of an acapella song, (“Nowhere”) about the city, Carswell, named after its founder. Shaggy, the most coherent out of the group, interjects, saying it sounds like a cult. Belle laughs, admitting that it is like a cult, but it’s so much more than that. She goes on to sing that the cult worships a beautiful goddess like figure who will one day come to the city and save them all from the apocalypse. Suddenly Velma busts out laughing, wondering how a doomsday cult could have formed in only a month. Belle darkens, saying Carswell takes their community very seriously. She says in times of crisis sometimes moments of clarity don’t have to make sense. The gang listens intently and the flames continue to dance.

The next morning, the gang wakes up disoriented. Daphne realizes she’s been spooning with Fred and quickly moves away. She looks around and realizes Shaggy is gone. She gets up and looks for him, and sees him by the woods with Scooby. She approaches them and realizes they’re arguing. Scooby admits he’s concerned about the Smart Dogs, and at one point he was friends with all of them. Shaggy says they have bigger worries at the moment, but hopefully they’ll be able to help them when the time comes. Scooby walks away dejected, and Daphne asks Shaggy how he’s doing. He admits that as bad as Belle drugging them was, he felt like he kind of needed it after all the stress. Daphne says that after last night she definitely doesn’t trust Belle, and as soon as they get to Carswell they need to go their separate ways. Shaggy says he’s kind of excited to go to the sanctuary city, and he misses a bit of normalcy. Daphne says they’re doing good by hunting down the zombies, but Shaggy says he’s not so sure, since they only ever confronted the monsters when they weren’t real, but now they’re actually putting their lives on the line. He worries that Daphne is putting herself in danger unnecessarily with her vlog and reporting. Daphne shuts him down, telling him she can take care of herself. She walks away and sees the rest of the gang is getting ready to go. They pile into Belle’s VW bus and Daphne ignores her. 

They drive through the desert in the van, with the Mystery Gang all clearly feeling tense, though Belle seems normal. She drives them through the desert roads, until Velma notices another van driving in the distance. Belle tells her to ignore it, but the van continues to get closer to them even as Belle speeds up. Fred looks out the window and sees that it’s in fact, his van, being driven by the Smart Dogs. Scrappy and the other dogs pull up to Belle’s van and Scooby tries reasoning with them, telling them the Mystery Gang can help them in order to make things right. In response, Scrappy clips the Mystery Machine into Belle’s van, causing her to swerve off the road into the sand. Instead of getting back on the road, she continues driving in the sand away from the Mystery Machine. Daphne yells at her to get back on the road, but Belle ignores her, saying she knows what she’s doing. The Mystery Machine follows Belle off the road through the desert sands, continuing to chase the gang through the desert. On the horizon, another van, this one belonging to the Hex Girls, races towards Belle and the Smart Dogs from the opposite direction. Belle continues straight towards the Hex Girls’ van, and Fred tells her to swerve away, but Belle keeps going, until Thorn, driving the Hex Girls’ van swerves and heads straight for the Mystery Machine, to the confusion of the Mystery Gang. Thorn continues driving towards the Mystery Machine, but is surprised to see Scrappy is at the wheel. Luna looks out the window and sees Velma in Belle’s van and tells Thorn to go after Belle’s VW Van. Thorn doubles back and drives after Belle and the Mystery Gang, with the dogs also on Belle’s tail. Belle floors it. 

A chase ensues between the three vans, with an instrumental piece accompanying the scene (“The Chase”). Luna crawls out of the passenger window of the Hex Girls’ van and attempts to grab onto Belle’s van. Belle swerves and Luna almost tumbles to the ground but Velma catches her and grabs onto her, pulling her into Belle’s van. Luna is initially distrusting of the group but she thanks Velma. Suddenly she screams out to Belle to watch out, since she’s driving straight toward a large modified school bus. Belle tells the group that the bus belongs to Carswell, so if they can make it to the bus they can make it to Carswell. Luna freaks out, asking why they’re trying to go to a cult. Velma explains that it’s a sanctuary city but Luna insists that Carswell is a bad place for bad people. Belle threatens to throw Luna out the window but the mystery gang yells at her not to. Luna suddenly gets a call on her phone from Dusk and Thorn. She picks up and puts it on speaker. Luna says Velma saved her but now the Mystery Gang are being idiots and trying to make it to Carswell. Thorn demands that Belle let Luna go before they get to Carswell. Daphne demands to know why the Hex Girls are chasing Mystery Inc., and Dusk demands to know why there are mutant dogs driving the gang’s van. Daphne says it’s a long story, but it basically has to do with the zombie apocalypse that’s happening at the moment. Thorn exclaims that she knew the Mystery Gang was involved in some way, but Fred tells her she’s got it wrong, and that they’re trying to stop the zombies. Thorn asks how the zombies were even created and Shaggy admits that they may have been there for it, but that does not mean they’re responsible. 

Suddenly the Mystery Machine rams into the back of Belle’s van. Fred groans at the thought of his van getting wrecked by a bunch of dogs, but Scooby decides to try getting the Smart Dogs to back off again. Before Shaggy can stop him, he throws open the side door of the VW and the Smart Dogs swing around. Scooby tries speaking with them but they can’t hear him over the sounds of the wind and the vans. Scooby looks back at Shaggy and the rest, then leaps through the window of the Mystery Machine. The Mystery Machine with all the dogs inside peels off in a different direction away from the rest of the chase, disappearing in the distance. Shaggy tries to run after him but he’s held back by Fred and Daphne. Daphne promises they’ll get Scooby and the van back but for now they have to focus on getting away from Belle. Luna suddenly makes a move towards Belle but Belle calmly pulls a pistol from one of the side compartments and points it at everyone, saying they’re going to Carswell whether they like it or not. Still on the phone with Luna, Thorn and Dusk demand to know what’s happening, and Belle tells them that unless they never want to see Luna again, they’ll follow her to Carswell. 

Finally, Belle pulls up alongside the bus and gets out to go talk to the cultists. She grabs Luna as leverage to come with her, and tells the others to stay put. Luna leaves her phone behind. The Mystery Gang and the other Hex Girls admit that if they want to get away from whatever awaits them with Belle and Carswell, they need to work together to get out of it. They come up with a plan to just comply for now and meet up later in the city if they can. Belle opens the VW door and tells everyone to get out, then turns toward the Hex Girls’ van and tells them to get out. Everyone boards the school bus, and Belle tells them they’re on their way to Carswell. Daphne asks if she was planning on taking them to Carswell by force this whole time, and Belle admits if it was necessary then yes. Daphne takes Shaggy’s hand but he pulls away. He struggles not to break down, asking how he and the gang could let Scooby go when Shaggy had already been separated from him before. Daphne promises that they’ll get Scooby back, and that the dogs leaving the rest of the group behind is a good sign that they may have gotten what they wanted. Shaggy is still unsure. 

Elsewhere on the bus, Luna sits by Velma and thanks her for potentially saving her life in the desert. Thorn and Dusk also begrudgingly thank her, though they still don’t trust the rest of the gang. Velma admits that of all of the gang, she’s the most responsible for the zombies, but more than anything she wants to make it right. Luna tells her she wants to help. Thorn tells her to hold that though till they see what’s waiting for them at the sanctuary city. The bus then pulls up to Carswell’s entrance; a wall stacked high with various pieces of furniture and chains, as well as vivid purple flowers plugging various holes. Belle enthusiastically tells the group, “Welcome to Carswell.”

Elsewhere, the Smart Dogs have driven the van to an assuming sand dune in the middle of the desert as the sun goes down. Scooby asks what he’s looking at, and Scrappy tells him he hasn’t seen anything yet. The dogs lead him to a side entrance to the dune, which leads to an underground lair for the dogs, complete with full furnishings and plenty of food. Scooby asks how they were able to build all of this, and Scrappy, Dum, Yabba, Dee, and Ruby explain in the form of a song (“The Secret Lair of the Forgotten Doos”). They explain that after they left the lab disaster at the Nevada Complex, they trekked the desert for a week, seeking shelter. Their metabolisms were affected by the nanites, meaning they didn’t have to eat as much, but they were still weak and tired. Eventually, they stumbled into an RV Park and were able to smuggle supplies from the abandoned campers. They decided to build a home out of an old storm shelter, and they found that when they were provided with real food, not just scraps or the dog food they ate at the Complex, they were now stronger than ever before. Scrappy brings the point home that they provided everything for themselves, and then when disaster struck around the world, humans abandoned their pets, their useful supplies, and anything that could help others around them. He says at the RV Park they had to set so many abandoned dogs free. Scooby tries to defend the owners, saying that maybe the owners were attacked, or maybe they were planning on coming back for their dogs. The Smart Dogs disagree, since if there was a zombie attack, the dogs would have somehow been unharmed. Scrappy also says if humans are so loyal to their dogs, why did Shaggy not take care of the Smart Dogs like he was supposed to? And more importantly, why did he let Scooby go off on his own after they’d already been separated before? Scooby tries to shrug all of this off, and asks what he’s even doing with the Smart Dogs since they seemingly have no vendetta with him. Yabba tells him they know he has more potential than any of them, since he was given the experimental nanite treatment willingly. Scrappy goes on to say that Scooby just needs the Smart Dogs to guide him, but if not, they’ll let him go. Scooby hesitates, then asks what they have in mind. Dum excitedly announces the first thing they should do is eat!

Back as Carswell, the gang and the Hex Girls tour the city. They’re surprised to learn it’s actually a day spa and health club, converted into a bustling city. They are greeted by several cultists who take a great interest in Daphne, but Belle tells them to back off. Uncomfortable with the attention, Daphne absently grabs Fred’s arm. Shaggy notices, and Velma asks him how he’s feeling about the whole thing. He says he just wants to get Scooby back. Belle leads them to the basketball courts, which has been converted into a swanky nightclub and dining area. Belle tells them to sit at the table which is decked out with an elaborate spread, since Deacon Carswell is expecting them for dinner. Fred makes an awkward joke that he hopes he doesn’t mean it in a zombie way, and everyone shifts in their seats. Finally, Deacon Carswell emerges from the upper level of the courts. The band strikes up, and he sings a Bowie and Sinatra-esque greeting to all of his guests, making everyone a bit uncomfortable (“Welcome In”). He ends his song by taking his place at the table, and introduces himself as Deacon Carswell, the founder of the city of Carswell. He says he’s been wanting to meet every single person at the table, but pauses when he realizes Scooby’s not with them. He turns to Belle, who explains that Scooby got occupied with something else, but there’s no need to worry about him. Carswell explained that after the death of his wife due to the zombie apocalypse, he felt lost, despite him being a natural leader. He went about his days, living like they were completely normal, and decided to attend the spa retreat he and his wife were headed to when he stumbled upon a group of...impressionable people who were lost and scared and without a sense of normalcy. He knew then it was his duty to give them hope in the dark days to come, and in a few short weeks, he’s created a booming sanctuary for all types of people to hide away from the horrors of the world. 

Daphne asks what exactly gives them hope, and he warms at the question, telling her that he’s promised them the return of a great and powerful beautiful goddess, who will take care of everyone and also rid the world of the zombie curse. Uncomfortable, Velma asks where exactly that idea came from, and he gives a friendly laugh, saying he saw the vision clear as day in a dream. It is simply up to him to follow the goddess when she decides to come. Dusk blurts out that the whole thing sounds creepy, which makes Deacon briefly angry, but he admits that his ideals may not be for everyone. He tells the group that he believes with confidence that they’ll fit in with everyone at Carswell, and lingers his gaze on Daphne. She shrinks under the attention, and both Fred and Shaggy notice. Deacon excuses himself from the dinner, and tells the group Belle will show them their rooms. He says he hopes to see the gang again very soon.

In their room, Daphne and Velma freshen up. Velma asks Daphne how she’s feeling, and she admits she’s confused about where she stands with Shaggy with this whole thing. Daphne changes the subject, remarking that Velma and Luna seem to have gotten quite close. Velma admits that she feels something there, and that she’s going to ask Luna to investigate more of Carswell with her that night. Daphne insists she’s just going to stay in and try not to think about how much of a creeper Deacon is, and also ignore her previous fights with Shaggy. Velma bids her farewell. Shortly after, a knock on the door sounds, and Daphne answers it, surprised to see Fred. Slightly embarrassed that she’s only in pajamas, she invites him inside. Fred tells Daphne he needs to tell her something. Curious Daphne asks what it is and sits down on the bed with him. Fred tells her he feels both weaker and stronger everyday, like his zombie form is fighting for dominance with his human form. He’s worried he’s going to lose the rest of the gang and never see them all succeed after the apocalypse. He tells her that despite everything they’ve gone through, he considers her his best friend, and he wants nothing more than to see her and Shaggy get together for real. Daphne laughs sadly and embraces him. Fred encourages her to make up with Shaggy, since it’s obvious he’s crazy about her, and she decides he’s right. She runs out of the room to find Shaggy.

Elsewhere, Luna and Velma explore Carswell’s library. Luna flirts with Velma, and they kiss on top of a desk. A knick knack from the desk falls to the floor, and as she reaches down to pick it up, Velma notices an outline on the floor. She asks Luna to help her move the desk, and sees a definite outline of a trapdoor. They decide to enter. 

Daphne knocks on Shaggy’s door repeatedly, asking him to open up. Finally he does. Daphne comes in and quickly apologizes for not realizing how much Shaggy is hurting and understanding that he just wants to protect her. He cuts her off with a kiss and tells her it’s okay. He also apologizes for not letting Daphne handle herself lately, and admits he needs to trust her more. They kiss again, more passionately. Daphne tells him Velma’s off doing whatever and Fred is currently staying in her room. Shaggy takes the hint and scoops her up, carrying her to the bed. An intercut montage begins, with Shaggy and Daphne kissing, and Velma and Luna kissing (“Do I Have to Wait and Wonder”). The montage ends when Luna knocks Velma into one of the walls of the secret basement, and they finally fully turn on the lights. They’re shocked to see a massive wall of newspaper articles, candid photos, and profiles of the Mystery Gang, dating back years. Velma tries to see a link with all the info on the wall, and realizes it’s tracking them chronologically, with a greater focus on after the apocalypse with all of Daphne’s blog posts. Luna interrupts, with “Speaking of Daphne,” and Velma follows her into another room which is essentially a shrine to her, with numerous closeups photos of her from her vlogs, as well as drawings and letters to her. Velma realizes that Daphne is the goddess Carswell has told the cultists about, and that they’ve been paying tribute to her this past month. She pulls Luna alongside her, telling her they need to warn the others. 

In Daphne’s room, Fred lounges on the bed reading an old magazine when a knock sounds on the door. Fred answers it and sees Thorn and Dusk. Thorn apologizes, saying she thought this was Daphne and Velma’s room, but it looks like she was wrong. She tells Fred that she found a mini bottle of vodka in her room and was bringing it to Velma as a thank you gift for saving Luna. Fred tells her Luna’s probably thanking her enough right now, but there’s no need for the bottle to go to waste. Thorn and Dusk look at each other and decide to come inside. Fred promises he won’t be creepy and Dusk laughs, saying they got enough creepiness from the cult guy. The three take turns drinking and Thorn brushes Fred’s hand, noticing how cold it is. He tells her he’s been infected with the nanite virus before, and that technically he’s not dead or alive, but just...undead. Thorn says he’s got a stake in this fight then, and Fred tells her the whole gang does. Daphne lost her future, Shaggy lost his best friend, Velma lost her girlfriend and her entire family, and Fred lost his life. Thorn thinks on it, then tells Fred he’s alright.  

In Shaggy’s room, Daphne and Shaggy prepare to do the deed, but are interrupted by the door busting down. Belle storms in, telling Daphne she’s got a private session with Deacon. Shaggy rushes to help Daphne but Belle holds her at gunpoint. Belle handcuffs Shaggy to the bed and then whisks Daphne away. Belle leads Daphne to Deacon’s private chamber. There, Deacon tells Belle to leave them alone. Belle insists she wants to be there when Deacon speaks to the goddess, and that she would like to be his latest disciple for bringing the goddess to him. Deacon cradles Belle’s face, then roughly snaps her neck. Daphne watches in shock, and Carswell tells her he knows he’ll need to have someone else take her out back to finish the job so she doesn’t become a zombie, but personally he can’t stand the blood. He insists that Daphne sit. She refuses, so he asks what room Shaggy’s in again so he can send someone to kill him. Daphne quickly sits, and Deacon smiles at her. He asks her why she thinks she’s there and she says it’s obvious she’s the goddess. Deacon is surprised at first, but Daphne tells her it doesn’t take a genius to figure out since he was ogling her throughout dinner like a creeper. She asks him if he really believes a community college grad from Coolsville is really a member of the divine and he laughs, saying of course not. He tells her the story of the day his wife died. After she died, he really did live his days out normally, since he was in shock. He went to the yoga retreat and realized that it was already overrun by cultists, who really were looking for guidance after their leader committed suicide. He figured the best course of action would be getting revenge against the group that killed his wife. Daphne questions him, asking if he means the zombies, and he corrects her, saying he means Mystery Inc. He explains that Mystery Inc. is the reason why he ran his car off the road, and finding out they were involved in the creation of the zombies was even better. He says convincing the cult that Daphne would be their new goddess was easy as long as he embellished his story, and killing the goddess to save everyone as well as a few additional sacrifices would also be easy. Velma and Luna bust in suddenly, but are quickly apprehended by a guard, who asks Deacon what he’d like to do with them. Deacon enthusiastically tells the guard to gather the others, and that everyone should get ready to meet the goddess.

Back at the basketball court, Daphne is tied to a chair wearing a fancy gown and headdress. Deacon addresses the stadium full of people, telling them the goddess has offered her blood as a cure for the disease in exchange for their everlasting worship of her and then Deacon thereafter. The crowd enthusiastically agrees. Fred, Velma, and the Hex Girls watch on in horror, also in chains. Fred tells Velma he’s got a plan, but they’re not gonna like it. 

In his room, Shaggy struggles to escape from his handcuffs. He’s suddenly confronted by Scrappy who laughs menacingly at Shaggy’s situation. Scooby and the rest of the dogs pop out, and Scrappy tells him he was just joking. Scooby tells Shaggy it’s time he was properly reintroduced to his friends, and each of the dogs introduces themselves. Shaggy tells them that’s great and all, but if the Smart Dogs are on his side, they need to help him out right now. Scooby asks Shaggy why he didn’t just say so! They help Shaggy get free, then he runs out of the room to find Daphne. 

Back at the basketball court, Deacon continues his preaching, enthusiastically telling the crowd that the goddess has bestowed him with the new name of the Creeper. The crowd cheers loudly, demanding the goddess’s blood so that they can be saved. Suddenly, Fred goes full zombie to the shock of everyone. He breaks free from his chains, breaking Velma’s and the Hex Girls’ as well and rushes toward Deacon. Daphne screams at him to stop. He pauses momentarily, and Deacon stabs him in the gut with this sacrificial knife. Fred groans in pain and falls to the ground. Velma frees Daphne, and Daphne runs toward Fred, but Deacon stops her, telling her he’s still got one more of her boyfriends to kill if she doesn’t cooperate. She asks him, “You sure about that?” and Deacon is suddenly knocked out from behind by Shaggy. He and Daphne embrace. Daphne asks if he’s okay, and Shaggy tells her he is, and that he’s brought some backup. She looks to see the Smart Dogs scaring the crowd away, forcing them toward the exit. Deacon struggles to get up, demanding that they return so that they can see the product of their worship. Daphne rears in on him, telling him she’s made a lot of mistakes, but that day on the highway was nothing but a tragic accident, and that they saved the lives of many people that day. She calls him pathetic, saying if he really paid attention to her all this month, he would have known that she’s been doing good for the world, but he’s too sad and narcissistic to see that. She eventually backs him up towards the wall, and Belle’s zombified hand reaches out to him (in reference to the shot in the opening credits of the cartoon). Suddenly all of the wall crumbles, and dozens of former zombified disciples reach out to Deacon, surrounding him. Daphne backs up, shouting at him that he really should have taken them out to the back. Meanwhile, the panicked cultists bottlenecking at the doors panic even more as zombies flood in. Fred springs back up suddenly, gasping for air. Velma asks him if he’s okay, and he says for now, but he’s not sure how many more times he can die before he becomes full zombie. Daphne, Fred, Shaggy, Velma, and Scooby all stand back to back. Shaggy announces it’s time for them to do what they do best. The Hex Girls also stand beside them, with Thorn simply saying “Same.” A major fight ensues between the group and the zombies, as they fight them off with various found weapons from the basketball court. The scene is shot music video style, cutting back and forth between the action and the Hex Girls performing “What’s New Scooby Doo?” Finally, the fight wraps up and all the zombies are defeated. 

Outside, Daphne gives a speech to the remaining cultists, telling them to listen to her and her disciples and to stay in place at the spa, and to worship no other leader like Deacon. They all praise her. She laughs, saying she could get used to this. Outside the spa, back in the desert, Fred reunites with the Mystery Machine. Scrappy apologizes for a few scratches on it, but Fred tells him at this point, they’re even. Shaggy asks how the Scooby got the Smart Dogs to agree to help them out, and Scooby tells him that that’s the thing, the dogs only agreed to help Scooby if he helped them, and that he’s going to go back with them now. Shaggy says he doesn’t understand, and Scooby tells him they need him more than Shaggy needs him now. Scooby tells Daphne to take care of Shaggy, since he’s been completely in love with her since the fifth grade. Shaggy tells him to back off jokingly, and gives him a serious hug and tells him he’ll miss his pal. Scooby tells him they’ll meet again soon. Scooby and the dogs give everyone else their goodbyes, and begin to go on their way. Fred asks them how they’re going to get back on foot, and they tell him they’ll be fine. Luna taps Velma on the shoulder and tells her she needs to get going. They passionately kiss. Fred asks the Hex Girls what they’ll do next, and Thorn tells them “There’s zombies outside of the desert, and we never got to do our east coast tour.” Fred tells Thorn he can’t wait to see her again, and she tells him “In your dreams dead boy.” The Hex Girls load up their van and drive off, with music pouring out of their speakers. The gang watches them go. Finally, Daphne turns towards the group and asks, “What now?” Fred tells her they’ve got the rest of the west coast to look out for. Daphne starts up her vlog and asks her viewers for any hot tips on the west coast, but no cults please. Daphne wraps up the vlog and pulls Velma aside, asking her if she’ll be okay now that Luna’s gone. Velma assures her she’s fine, and that something tells her they haven’t seen the last of the Hex Girls. Shaggy approaches and Velma excuses herself. Daphne teases Shaggy, asking him if he’s really in love with her. He surprises her by saying, yes he is, and that he loves her. Daphne kisses him passionately, and asks Fred if he minds being separated from the Mystery Machine for a bit longer. Fred tells them he doesn’t need to hear that, but he and Velma decide to give them some space, and head back inside Carswell. Daphne pulls Shaggy towards the van and the door closes, framing the faded and slightly scraped Mystery Inc. logo, and “I Think We're Alone Now” covered by The Tuts plays as the credits fade in. 

Mid Credits Scene: Fred sits by the pool, dipping his feet in, when Velma sits down next to him. She asks him if he feels any different after dying again, and he tells her he’s unsure how much longer he can last as part zombie before it fully takes him over. She pauses suddenly, then gets up, saying it just needs to be cured. He asks her if she’s able to even make a cure and she tells him no, but she knows someone who does. She rushes out, telling him she has a plan.

Post Credits Scene: Back at the Smart Dogs’ lair, Scooby, Scrappy and the rest of the dogs eat a feast of junk food and they list all their favorite foods.

 

Alternative Google Docs Link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1wyyxJbfYSQIB06C6aDD_8GXFvFii8OtGcDaDNf23uOs/edit?usp=sharing

Edited April 28, 2020 by Blankments

[Blankments]

Roman Fever

 

In Association with EssGeeKay Studios

Writer/Director: Sofia Coppola
Genre: Drama
Release Date: August 4 (limited), August 18 (wide) 

Major Cast:
Amy Adams as Alida Slade

Winona Ryder as Grace Ansley

Sophie Turner as Barbara Ansley

Brigette Lundy-Paine as Jenny Slade

Nick Robinson as Delphin Slade

Charlie Bartnett as Headwaiter

Britne Oldford as Lucia

With Sophia Lillis as Young Alida Slade

And Kathryn Newton as Young Grace Ansley

 

Theater Count: 4 (8/4), 738 (8/11), 2,105 (8/18)
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for suggestive content and brief smoking.
Runtime: 84 minutes
Production Budget: $10 million
Music by: Lesley Barber

 

Plot Summary: Two old friends reminisce about old loves and old secrets during a Roman sunset in 1934.

 

Plot:

 

In 1934 Italy, an unnamed headwaiter at a Roman cafe speaks with his friend, a young singer named Lucia about two young women, Barbara and Jenny, who are enjoying a late lunch with their middle aged mothers, Grace and Alida, respectively, on the restaurant’s terrace. The headwaiter bets Lucia that he can seduce one of the young women in a single afternoon and get her to sleep with him. Lucia initially brushes him off, but eventually takes the bet, on the condition that he seduces one of the older women instead. He agrees. The headwaiter approaches the group and tends to them. The older women ask for their bill. Barbara teases the older women about being boring, with Jenny unable to catch onto the joke. Grace mockingly scolds her daughter. Jenny dotes on her mother but Alida brushes her off, telling her and Barbara to enjoy Rome while they’re young and single. Jenny becomes embarrassed at the idea, but Barbara teases Jenny as well, telling her she’ll help her meet a nice Italian man. The younger women leave, and the two women enjoy a comfortable silence. 

The headwaiter returns and the women tip him handsomely. He suggests they stay and enjoy the view of the Palatine, and the women agree. Alida speaks fondly of the city, and Grace strongly agrees. Alida has a sharp look in her eyes but snaps out of it, and begins to reminisce about their first meeting in Rome 25 years prior. 

25 years earlier, young Grace and Alida walk through Roman ruins. Alida boldly climbs and balances on the older structures while Grace nervously walks on the ground beside her, warning her not to get caught. Alida jumps down and laughs at Grace, saying she has nothing to worry about as long as her fiance Delphin is there to take care of her. Alida muses that there’s nothing better than the feeling of being engaged, and that soon she’ll have a household of her own to take care of. Grace tells her she feels a bit overwhelmed at the idea of marriage and motherhood, and barely feels old enough for it herself since she travelled to Rome with her mother. Alida gives a friendly laugh and says that even though they only met at breakfast a few days ago she can already tell they’ll be good friends. 

In the present, Grace becomes self conscious of the headwaiter watching them, when Alida flashes him a bigger tip, telling him they’d prefer to be left alone for the time being. He agrees, and insists they may want to stay for dinner, when the moonlight is most romantic. Alida is charmed while Grace is clearly uncomfortable until the headwaiter leaves. Alida remarks that the restaurant is not very classy for dinner, but Grace doesn’t respond. Alida changes the subject to their daughters and how they may be meeting with some local young Italian men, which makes Grace slightly uncomfortable. Alida laughs at the younger women, comparing them to the older women when they were their age. Grace implies that the younger women may not be as close friends as they appear, in the same way she and Alida might not have been when they were younger. Grace also remarks that she didn’t take Alida for the sentimental type. 

With fake niceties, Alida tells her she isn’t usually sentimental but it was so wonderful to bump into her old friend Grace and her daughter in Rome, especially since Grace never got the opportunity to travel when she was married. Grace falters slightly but agrees that as sad as it was to be widowed a couple years earlier, it must be harder for Alida, since her husband only died a few months ago. Alida smiles at her and tells her she lived a wonderful life with her husband but got her amazing daughter Jenny out of it, though sometimes she worries Jenny is a bit too plain, especially for her age. Grace subtly agrees, telling her Jenny lacks a certain “vividness” Alida had when she was younger. The women stare each other down for a few moments of silence. The tension is cut by the clocktower ringing five. Grace suggests they return to the hotel for drinks but Alida says she prefers to stay at the restaurant. Grace quickly agrees, and apologizes for the suggestion. She pulls out her knitting and begins to work, while Alida watches. Alida muses in the generational differences between their grandmothers and mothers, and how Roman Fever was a major concern for their mothers when Grace and Alida were young and disobedient exploring Rome. Grace hums her agreement, lost in her work. Alida bristles slightly, bitterly joking that Grace is probably happy Barbara and Jenny can go out together since Barbara is so beautiful and Jenny is so timid and plain. Grace asks what she means, and Alida expands her point, and explains that it’s funny that Barbara is so successful and popular with men when Grace and her late husband are nothing special. Embarrassed, Grace denies that Barbara is so special, but Alida insists that she is, and that Jenny is sweet but not sparkling like Grace is. Alida suggests Barbara may end up engaged on this trip, not unlike how she ended up engaged the last time they were all in Rome together. Grace returns to her knitting.

The headwaiter returns to check on the women, and Alida briefly flirts with him before getting up and leaning on the railing. The sun sets as Alida looks on. She turns sharply and grabs Grace’s arm, startling her. Alida asks Grace if she’s afraid of the nighttime, since that’s when Roman Fever or pneumonia can be caught. She recalls that when they were younger Grace was quite fragile and got sick easily. Grace shuts her down, telling her they’ll be fine on the terrace, but Alida presses on, remembering a story Grace told her about her great aunt who sent  her younger sister out to the forum to pick flowers after sunset as a trick since they were interested in the same man. The sister died and it became a legendary story in Grace’s family. Alida recalls how Grace told her the story when they were younger and it frightened her. Still distracted, Grace laughs at this and says she vaguely remembers. Alida continues, telling Grace the story had a major impression on her. She looks down at the forum and a flashback begins.

25 years earlier, Alida and Grace, as young women walk arm in arm along the streets of Rome with Alida’s fiance Delphin Slade. He charms both women, and Alida flirts back with him strongly, while Grace remains timid. They pass in front of the Colosseum and stop. Alida giddily tells Delphin that forbidden lovers meet inside the building at night. Delphin flirts back with Alida but makes eyes at Grace as well. Grace bashfully smiles back. Alida notices but continues on. 

Later that night, Grace creeps out of her hotel room and bumps into Alida in the hallway. Alida asks her where she’s going and Grace simply tells her she’s doing some sightseeing in the moonrise at some old ruins. She quickly walks away, and Alida watches, intrigued. 

25 years later, in the present, Grace interrupts, asking why Alida thought of all this now. Alida muses that despite Grace going out at night in the Roman Winter and getting sick because of it, she recovered. Alida turns towards Grace and asks her what was so important that she needed to go out at night when she knew Roman Fever was a risk. Grace shrugs, still looking at her knitting and Alida blurts out that she knows why Grace went that night, and has known all these years. Grace looks up at Alida, wide eyed, and asks her to explain. Alida boldly tells her she knows Grace went to meet with her fiance, and she knows every word of the letter that brought her to the Colosseum that night. 

25 years earlier, in a voiceover, older Alida, whose voice eventually fades into younger Alida’s, narrates a passionate letter from “Delphin” as younger Grace travels through Rome to the Colosseum:

“My one darling, things can't go on like this. I must see you alone. Come to the Colosseum immediately after dark tomorrow. There will be somebody to let you in. No one whom you need fear will suspect. Your only, D.S.”

Younger Grace reaches the gates of the Colosseum, then we are suddenly thrown back to the present 25 years later. Older Grace admits she knew the letter by heart, but burned it after she got it, so there should be no reason for Alida to know its contents.

In the past, younger Alida sits at her desk and writes the letter. She smiles wickedly at its completion. Older Grace’s voice cuts through with the question: “you wrote it?”

In the present, Alida fidgets and admits that, yes, she did write it. Tears stream down Grace’s face, as she cries at that letter being the only one she ever got from Delphin, and it wasn’t even him. Alida angrily tells her she has no right to cry over another woman’s fiance, then husband. She monologues, telling Grace that when they were younger she hated Grace, and hated that she was interested in Delphin and was afraid that Delphin might be interested back. She bitterly tells Grace she was too pretty and nice and sweet, and that Alida wanted her to catch the Fever if only for a few weeks, just to have her out of the way.

Grace quietly says Alida must have kept hating her their whole lives. Alida doesn’t disagree, but tells her she needed to clear her conscience. Grace again quietly laments that she took the only letter she had from Delphin away from her. Alida reels again, accusing Grace of still caring for him despite everything. Grace cuts in, telling her she cared for the memory, that one Winter in Rome. Alida turns cold, telling Grace she’s sad to have kept loving a man who had nothing, who gave her nothing, and who Alida ended up having all for herself. Alida sits down at the table with Grace again, more softly, and tells her that none of that matters anyway, since as soon as Grace recovered from the fever she got married to her husband Horace anyways, and that she was married so quick that Alida figured she didn’t really care anyway. Grace quietly responds, “you would think that.” 

As night fully falls, Lucia begins to perform a song on the terrace, and the headwaiter interjects again to pointedly tell the women the music is quite romantic. Neither woman pays him much mind, and he leaves. Lucia gives him a smirk. After a few moments, Alida breaks the silence, admitting that at the time, she only saw what she did as a joke, and then felt truly awful when Grace did end up getting sick. But at the time, the idea of Grace showing up to an empty Colosseum made her laugh out of spite and jealousy. Another few weighted moments pass, before Grace finally speaks up in a voiceover and says that the Colosseum wasn’t empty, and that Delphin had arranged everything for them. Younger Grace and Delphin embrace passionately.

Alida stands up angrily, knocking over her chair in the process and the rest of the restaurant looks on. She calls Grace a liar, saying it’s impossible that Delphin actually came. Grace casually states that of course he came, which makes Alida even angrier. She demands to know how that would have been possible. Grace explains that she answered the letter that night, telling him she would be there, and so he came. Alida admits she never thought that Grace would actually answer. Grace tells her that’s a bit foolish, then stands, gathering her things. She tells Alida she actually feels sorry for her, then turns to leave. Alida also gathers her things, and scoffs, saying she doesn’t know why Grace would feel sorry for her. Grace explains it’s because she did see Delphin that night. Alida laughs bitterly, and says   "Yes, I was beaten there. But I shouldn’t begrudge it to you, I suppose. At the end of all these years. After all, I had everything; I had him for twenty-five years. And you had nothing but that one letter that he didn't write."

Grace turns back and looks at Alida directly in the eye, then tells her, “I had Barbara.” Grace leaves the terrace, with Alida standing by the railing in shock. Lucia continues to sing and the headwaiter comes over to the table to clean up. The camera pans down to the forum below, darkened in the moonlight, with the sounds from above fading out, then the credits roll.

 

Edited April 28, 2020 by Blankments

[cookie]

 THE SCAVENGER WARS

PART III

 

 

 

Studio: Cookie Pictures

Production Companies: Cookie Pictures, 21 Laps Entertainment

Genre: Sci-Fi/Action/Thriller/Drama

Director: Matt Shakman

Producers: Sebastian Peters, Matt Reeves, Shawn Levy, Rian Johnson

Composer: James Newton Howard

Original Song: "Black Queen" by Radiohead (inspiration)

Director of Photography: Claudio Miranda

VFX: Weta Digital, Double Negative and Industrial Light & Magic

VFX supervisor: Joe Letteri

 

Main Cast (* denotes voice and/or performance capture):

• Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Lucina † 
• * Letitia Wright as Tamara
• * Bex Taylor-Klaus as Sunn
• * Sasha Lane as Sal
• * Hannah John-Kamen as Enyo

with

• * Taissa Farmiga as Luna
• * Ben Foster as Jarek

and

• * Andy Serkis as Emperor Ares

 

† Lucina is abbreviated as "Lucy" at some points for flow reasons.

 

Hidden Cast (MAJOR spoiler warning):

Spoiler

 

 

1

Spoiler

• David Mazouz as Henry
• * Elizabeth Debicki as Zedium *

 

* All of Zedium's dialouge are written in bold text.

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

Spoiler

• Daniel Henney as Joel
• Naomi Scott as Kira
• Harry Lennix as Jonathan Barks
• Jason Isaacs as Grand Admiral James T. Packer

 

 

 

Release Date: June 16th

Theater Count: 4,350 (including 405 IMAX theaters)

Format: 2D (2.39:1), IMAX 2D (1.43:1), Cinerama

IMAX: Select sequences filmed in 70mm IMAX (1.43:1). Footage cropped to 1.90:1 on Digital IMAX screens

Cinerama: Select sequences filmed with custom-made Cinerama lenses

Budget: $250m

MPAA Rating: R for sequences of strong, brutal sci-fi action violence, language, nudity and thematic elements

Running Time: 170 minutes (2 hours, 50 minutes)

 

Previous films:

The Scavenger Wars - $91,156,066 / $305,797,947 / $1,017,199,411 - Nominated for eighteen Academy Awards including Best Picture, won six

The Scavenger Wars Part II - $120,532,017 / $472,218,772 / $1,308,620,236 - Nominated for eighteen Academy Awards including Best Picture, won four

 

Link to previous films:

The Scavenger Wars

The Scavenger Wars Part II (Director's Cut version)

 

Plot:

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

Spoiler

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ahe2Wo_Q3rImK9IMkPnLfszHA99G4-IUVnff1Qvvyfw/edit?usp=sharing

 

(34,400 words)

 

 

 

Edited May 1, 2020 by cookie

[YM!]

On 4/28/2020 at 3:03 PM, Alpha said:

Year 7 full schedule:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1KRiLnqCM5hUFaZ-SfB6eZvsW5gcBEdKpaFyfBBitT3w/edit?usp=sharing

Here for easier navigation.