Psychological thriller serial killer movie script

rewrite this movie script BLACK BAGS (2004) Short Film Script Pulp / Psychological Horror Washington, DC Shaw / U Street / Georgia Ave Corridor Length: ~10 pages PAGE 1 BLACK SCREEN. TITLE CARD: CHAPTER ONE: U STREET GOSPEL FADE IN: EXT. U STREET NW NIGHT (SUMMER 2004) U Street is a living animal. Neon. Sweat. Go-go bass thumping out a car creeping past Bens Chili Bowl. People spilling out of clubs, Metrobus brakes hissing, laughter like gunshots. MAYA (26) moves through the crowd in Howard Hospital scrubsthick red-bone, big hips, freckles across her nose, hair pulled tight. Shes not dressed to be seen, but she gets seen anyway. Two HOWARD STUDENTS pass her. HOWARD GIRL Damn, she fine. HOWARD BOY Thats a nurse. Thats grown. Maya doesnt look at them. MAYA (V.O.) DC love a pretty woman. DC love a story. DC dont love the truth. She cuts northaway from the musictoward the darker blocks. PAGE 2 EXT. FLORIDA AVE NW / 7TH ST NW NIGHT Traffic hum. Warm wind. A group of men posted on the corner outside a carryout, loud, aimless. One, DARIUS (late 20s), watches Maya like shes food. He pushes off the wall, swaggering in that DC Im him way. DARIUS Ayoscrubs. You just got off? Maya keeps walking. Darius matches her pace. DARIUS (CONTD) Nah, dont do that. Dont do the fake shy. You a nurse, you aint scared of nothing. Maya stops. Turns. Looks him up and down. MAYA You always talk this much? DARIUS Only when its worth it. MAYA Mm. DARIUS Whats your name? MAYA Maya. DARIUS Maya… that sound like trouble. Maya smilessmall, polite, practiced. MAYA (V.O.) Men hear a smile like a promise. Its really a doorway. PAGE 3 BLACK SCREEN. TITLE CARD: CHAPTER TWO: THE PILE EXT. ROWHOUSE APARTMENT ENTRY LE DROT PARK NIGHT Quiet street. Big trees. Old brick. Porch lights like tired eyes. At the entry: a mountain of black Hefty garbage bags stacked like a barricade. Weeks old. Sweating. Leaking. Flies buzzing like electricity. Two NEIGHBORS walk up, stop short. NEIGHBOR WOMAN Baby… that smell is demonic. NEIGHBOR MAN Mind your business. People in this city will kill you for curiosity. They hurry inside. Maya steps over the pile like its normal. MAYA (V.O.) Everybody got a line they dont cross. Mine is dirty floors. Theirs is questions. She unlocks the door. PAGE 4 INT. MAYAS APARTMENT NIGHT Inside: spotless. Almost staged. Like a model unit. But the trash pile remains, pushed just inside the doorlike she wants the rot to greet you first. Darius sits on the couch, PS2 controller in hand, blunt smoke hanging thick, ash falling where it wants. He looks at Maya like she owes him. DARIUS You aint cook. Maya doesnt respond. She sets her bag down. Slow. DARIUS (CONTD) Nah, you heard me. You came in here all thick and quiet and mysterious but you aint cook. MAYA You hungry? Order something. DARIUS With what money? I know your little hospital check hit. Maya turns, smiles like customer service. MAYA You can get a job. Darius laughs like she told a joke. DARIUS A job? You sound like my probation officer. Mayas smile doesnt change. MAYA (V.O.) He think he funny. He think he safe. Thats the whole trick. PAGE 5 INT. KITCHEN CONTINUOUS Darius follows her into the kitchen, talking nonstop, nitpicking everything like its his hobby. DARIUS And why the fuck the trash still there? That shit been there since Juneteenth. MAYA Ill take it out. DARIUS When? When you forty? You be acting like you the only tired person in DC. He blows weed breath toward her face. DARIUS (V.O.) She act stuck-up but she like me. She like a dude who dont beg. Maya watches the smoke. MAYA (V.O.) Weed, sweat, entitlement. He smell like the couch. Darius steps close. Grabs her waist. DARIUS You know you be looking good as shit in them scrubs. Like… I might ruin your night. Mayas eyes flick to a drawer. Then back to him. MAYA You always want something. DARIUS Yeah. You. Maya leans inkisses him once. Quick. Controlled. Darius grins. DARIUS See? Thats what Im talking about. Maya pulls back. MAYA Move. Darius laughs again, annoyed. DARIUS Why you always got an attitude? PAGE 6 BLACK SCREEN. TITLE CARD: CHAPTER THREE: EX-BOYFRIENDS INT. MAYAS BEDROOM NIGHT Maya sits on the edge of the bed. Calm. Still in scrubs. She opens a small notebook. We see pages: first names, dates, little notes like: NO AMBITION LIAR LOUD STOLE MONEY HIT WALLS Every name: crossed out. Maya flips to a fresh line, writes: DARIUS. She pauses, then adds: SMOKE + MOUTH She closes the notebook and tucks it away. A KNOCK at the doorDarius. DARIUS (O.S.) You mad? You on that weird quiet shit again? Maya stares at the door. MAYA (V.O.) I started this at seventeen. Back when I thought fear was love. Now? Now its just maintenance. PAGE 7 INT. LIVING ROOM LATER Darius is back on the couch like a permanent stain. Hes eating something greasy, dropping crumbs. Maya is cleaning a countertop thats already clean. Darius watches her like hes irritated shes productive. DARIUS Why you always cleaning? Like… what you scrubbing for? Aint nobody coming. Maya stops wiping. Looks at him. MAYA Somebody always coming. Darius squints. DARIUS What the fuck that mean? Maya smiles. MAYA It means you loud. Darius sits upego offended. DARIUS Loud? Bitch, you the one with a whole trash mountain at the door. You wanna talk about loud? That smell loud as shit. Maya nods slowly, like shes agreeing with a patient. MAYA Yeah. It is. Darius stands, pacing, ranting. DARIUS You know what you is? You one of them pretty girls that think the world owe you quiet. You think because you went to Howard and got a lil nursing degree you better than a real street Maya cuts him off. MAYA You dont build nothing. Darius freezes. DARIUS Excuse me? MAYA You dont build. You consume. You sit. You smoke. You complain. You leave mess. Darius laughs, but its mean. DARIUS Oh you crazy-crazy. Maya steps closer. Intimate distance. Dangerous calm. MAYA You ever wonder why your friends keep disappearing? Darius stops laughing. A beat. DARIUS …What? Mayas smile stays. MAYA Nothing. MAYA (V.O.) Thats the best part. They never believe you. PAGE 8 BLACK SCREEN. TITLE CARD: CHAPTER FOUR: THE INTERRUPTION INT. KITCHEN NIGHT The fight has cooled into tension. The kind that turns sexual because neither of them knows what else to do with it. Darius leans in close again. DARIUS You playing games. MAYA You started it. DARIUS No, I finished it. He brushes her freckles with his thumb like he owns them. Mayas eyes are dead calm. MAYA (V.O.) He thinks this is intimacy. Its inspection. Darius whispers. DARIUS You gonna make me act up. Maya whispers back. MAYA Act up then. He smileshungry, stupid. Mayas hand disappears below frame. We hear a sudden, wet THUNK. Dariuss expression changesshock, confusionlike his brain cant compute consequences. He stumbles back out of frame. Maya stays in frame. Still. Listening. Silence. Then: the soft sound of a cabinet closing. Maya turns toward the entryway trash pile. MAYA (V.O.) Trash day. PAGE 9 EXT. APARTMENT ENTRY PRE-DAWN Gray morning. Quiet street. Birds starting up like nothing happened. Maya drags a few heavy black bags from inside and stacks them onto the existing pile. A NEIGHBOR across the street watches with a cigarette hanging from his lip. He doesnt move. He doesnt speak. Just watches like hes watching a weather report. Maya notices him. MAYA Morning. Neighbor nods once. NEIGHBOR Smell getting worse. MAYA I know. NEIGHBOR You want me to call somebody? Maya looks at himfriendly, warm, nurse smile. MAYA No, thank you. I got it. The neighbor shrugs like: Your funeral. Maya pats the top bag like a pillow. MAYA (V.O.) DC is a city of side-eyes. Not witnesses. A garbage truck rumbles somewhere far down Georgia Ave. It does not stop. PAGE 10 BLACK SCREEN. TITLE CARD: CHAPTER FIVE: HOWARD GIRL EXT. HOWARD UNIVERSITY AREA DAY The Yard is alive. Students laughing, moving between Founders Library and the edges of Georgia Ave. The campus feels like possibility. Maya sits off-campus-adjacent, blending in. Cute dress now. Freckles bright. Big hips. Soft presence. A NEW GUY (late 20s/early 30s) leans against a car on Georgia Ave, watching women like its his job. He sees Maya. Smiles. Approaches. NEW GUY Damn… you from around here? MAYA Depends who asking. NEW GUY A man with plans. Maya laughslike she believes him. MAYA Plans, huh? NEW GUY Yeah. You know… motion. Not like these broke dudes. Mayas smile holds, but her eyes tighten. MAYA (V.O.) They all say that line. Every single one. The guy gestures toward his car. NEW GUY Let me take you out. Ill feed you for real. Maya standsslow, graceful. She looks past him. At the street. At the city. At the invisible pile of bags waiting like a mouth. Maya leans in close, whispers sweetly: MAYA You got roommates? NEW GUY Nah. Just me. Maya smileswide now. MAYA Perfect. They walk off together. The camera holds on the edge of campus. Students laughing. Life continuing. Then A faint wind carries something up the street. Not music. Not sirens. A smell. We hold. Too long. CUT TO BLACK. END.