INESCAPABLE

FREEDOM

BY JACK
ROWLAND
 INESCABABLE FREEDOM

INT. HALLWAY – DAY

We open on a shot of our protagonist TOMMY. TOMMY is well dressed in a shirt and
trousers, readying himself for a job interview. The hallway looks plain but is well lit.

TOMMY
(Nervous, talking to himself)
Phew, okay, look, I got this. You got this. Gonna smash this, and I’ll get this job, the dream.

TOMMY starts heading towards the door, readying himself for this interview and what’s
about to come.

INT. JOSEPH’S OFFICE – DAY

We cut inside the office, the camera behind the desk, facing the door. TOMMY knocks and
enters. There is no music, we can just hear a ticking clock in the background. JOSEPH, the
interviewer and manager of the company, is sitting behind the desk. He is also dressed well.
The colours are very dull and evoke and grey and droney attitude. We see JOSEPH’s plaque
on his desk.

TOMMY
(Nervously)
Uh- Morning Mr Flakes, thank you so much for having me in today.

TOMMY leans over the desk and shakes JOSEPH’s hand.

JOSEPH
Ah no problem Mr…

JOSEPH picks up a huge binder filled with employees and notes, flicking through to find
TOMMY.

JOSEPH
…Kenan!

JOSEPH slams it shut and places it back down under his desk. TOMMY looks at the desk
and JOSEPH

JOSEPH
Right then, lets begin shall we? So, why do you want to do office work?

TOMMY
 (Stuttering slightly)
Uh, well, I am a competent, hard working, intelligent young man looking for work, and I
have always had an interest in…

As TOMMY is talking to JOSEPH during the interview, the camera pans up to the clock, we
cross dissolve to show the immense passing of time, with the clock showing a different time.
We pan back down the desk where we see JOSEPH writing away in his notebook

JOSEPH
(Writing)
Okay well, Tommy I have to say this is all very impressive. Typically I take a while to think
about it but, I can gladly and happily say now that, you’ve got the job! Will I see you
Monday?

TOMMY
(Excited)
Oh, brilliant! Thank you so much Mr Flakes! Absolutely you will! I can’t wait to start
working with you

TOMMY leans over the desk again and shakes JOSEPEHS hand and leaves the office
excitedly.

EXT. PAVEMENT - DAY

We see TOMMY walking through woods and out onto the pavement near his car. He pulls
out his phone and dials in a number.

SARAH
(On the phone)
Hey Tommy! How’d it go?

TOMMY, still slightly shaken from the interview, breathes heavily and shakily before
answering the phone.

TOMMY
(Excited)
Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant! I got the job!

SARAH
(Excited)
Oh my god Tommy that’s amazing! Congratulations! I’m so proud of you!

TOMMY
Thank you Sarah… I start Monday! I can’t wait!

During this conversation, the camera is moving closer and closer towards TOMMY. Once
TOMMY ends the phone call, the phone gets swept across the camera to cover the entire lens.
This is to be able to lead into a match cut where he see TOMMY sat at a desk in a dark room
with only really his laptop screen illuminating him.
SOUND. SWOOSH SOUND EFFECT DURING MATCH CUT

Text is on screen revealing the title of the short film, “Inescapable Freedom”. This shot helps
to show the downfall TOMMY has been through since joining this job, and he’s now stuck in
this job he is not enjoying. TOMMY slams the laptop shut and the screen turns to black on
beat to the laptop slam.

INT. TOMMYS HOME – MIDDAY

We enter back in TOMMYS house while he’s on a call to JOSEPH on his laptop. TOMMY is
looking sad and deflated.

JOSEPH
(On the call)
Yeah look, very simply I need these files by Friday.

TOMMY
Uh, yeah, okay, no worries Joseph.

JOSEPH
(Trying to remember his name)
Look… Tommy, you’re a massive part of this company, this is what we need you for, what I
hired you for.

TOMMY
Yeah, I’m a massive part… gotcha

JOSEPH
Cheers, look I gotta go, got a busy day, you know how it is!

JOSEPH hangs up the call on TOMMY and we see TOMMY sitting alone at his table with
his laptop. We see him get up and head to the kitchen to get himself a drink.

TOMMY
(Talking to himself)
“Massive part of the company” Please, he could hardly remember my name

TOMMY goes back to the desk he was working at and opens the laptop back up. We get
various shots of him working at his laptop. These shots will have hardly any differences to
show the dullness, basicness, and the repetitiveness of the work. We get a shot of a clock on
the wall and we cross dissolve to show the immense passing of time. TOMMY shuts down
the laptop after a while and heads to get himself ready for bed. We see his entire routine,
cleaning his teeth, getting into his pyjamas, etc. We see him climb into bed and stare up at the
ceiling in silence. There is no music just the sound of a ticking clock on his bedside table. He
deeply breathes and looks up solemnly.
TOMMY
(Defeated)
God, what am I doing? 5 years, and I’m, getting nowhere
TOMMY rolls over in bed and turns to a lamp and switches it off. We cut to the morning
where we see his morning routine and how mundane it is. We see TOMMY getting up, going
downstairs, making his coffee, setting up his laptop, and logging on to do his work. This
whole time he is looking deflated. He opens his emails and sees an email from JOSEPH
saying that he will be out of office as he’s going on holiday.

TOMMY
(Confused and frustrated)
Holiday? A holiday? I never get to travelling! Why does-

TOMMY pauses, and looks off past his laptop, thinking.

TOMMY
(Thinking)
Wait, a holiday, travelling… maybe that’s what I need. I’ve never been truly out exploring
and travelling before. Maybe that’s all I need to get some sense of life back!

We cut to a shot of TOMMY writing behind his laptop, he sits back in his chair and looks
content with himself. He disappears off upstairs. The camera pans to his laptop to reveal that
he’s written practically the same email as JOSEPH did. We cut to see him packing a suitcase
with clothes and other possessions. He carries it back downstairs to the table where his laptop
is. He starts browsing various places where he's never been before, scrambling with
excitement.

TOMMY
(Baffled)
How have I only just realised I’ve never been out of London? I’ve never been up north… or,
down south, I could go to Cornwall! Go to the seaside for a while, see all the sights!

TOMMY slams the laptop shut and whisks it away from the table. Putting it in his bag.

EXT. OUTSIDE TOMMYS HOUSE – DAY

We cut to shot outside TOMMYS house, he is packing up all his luggage into his car, and
slams the boot shut. He goes over to his neighbours house to let him know that he’s going
away

TOMMY
Hey Bill! Look man, I gotta let you know I’m going away for a while, do you mind just
watching over the house while I’m gone?

BILL
Yeah sure Tommy, where you going?

TOMMY
I’ll be honest I, I don’t actually know! I guess that’s the beauty of it!

TOMMY jogs off back to his car and hops in. He stares off down the road, hardly believing
he’s about to leave.
 TOMMY
Right, where do I start?

We cut to a shot of behind TOMMYS car as it speeds off down the street.

EXT. CORNWALL HIGHSTREET – DAY

SOUND. PEOPLE CHATTERING AND GENERAL HIGHSTREET NOISE

TOMMY has made it to CORNWALL and is exploring the high street and shops. We get a
montage of him venturing out and exploring all the sights and sounds and shops, he is
interacting with the shopkeepers, the locals etc.

SHOPKEEPER
(Shouting out from shop)
Sir! Sir! Would you like to try some Cornish fudge?

TOMMY
(Enthusiastically)
Would I? Yes please!

TOMMY walks over to the small business and buys some of their fudge, he makes his way
further down to a small gift shop where he’s examining magnets, bracelets, and other nick
naks.

EXT. RIVERBANK – DAY

We cut to TOMMY near a riverbank where a variety of people are crabbing. He’s watching
this one girl crabbing and she notices him.

LUCY
You wanna have a go?

TOMMY looks to the ground awkwardly and then looks back up and replies

TOMMY
Yeah I can give it a go, never done it before so, I don’t know if I’ll actually get anything

LUCY
(Helping TOMMY with setting up)
Right, put the bait on there, get out the line and bucket, and throw it in there

We cut to a wide shot of the two sat down by this riverbank crabbing. Peaceful music playing
over the top of this

TOMMY
I’ve gotta head off, I might see you soon though, thanks for teaching me this though!

EXT. BEACH - SUNSET

We see TOMMY head off towards the beach as the sun is finally setting on his first day out.
He sits down on the beach and watches as the sun sets over Cornwall.

TOMMY
I can’t believe I’ve been missing on all of this, god, I really won’t be able to go back. But, I
love this, finally feels like I have some, freedom. Wonder how Josephs doing on his holiday

SOUND. SAND MOVING AS TOMMY LEANS BACK

TOMMY
Bliss, absolute bliss, I just wonder, where to next? Brighton? Devon? Maybe even abroad, get
some nicer weather in Italy or something. I need to get out more.

We cut to a wide shot of TOMMY laying out in the sand, looking out towards the sea. Some
peaceful and uplifting music plays as we get a shot of TOMMY looking happy as he stares
out onto sea.
TOMMY
Right, I need to get back to the Air BNB.

TOMMY gets up from the sand as we follow him back through the high street he went
through earlier, except this time we are seeing all the night life. Restaurants, clubs etc. are all
buzzing with energy and filled with people. TOMMY gets back to where he’s staying, and
we see him repeat the same night time routine. He lays down in bed, a smile on his face, as
we pan out to get the final shot of Cornwall at night. We cut to black

END OF SCRIPT