CANDYMAN

by
Jordan Peele
&
Win Rosenfeld

Current Revisions by
(Rosenfeld, 1/15/2018)
FADE IN:

EXT. CHICAGO AERIAL AT NIGHT

Arteries of traffic bulging along the coast of Lake

Michigan run horizontal across our field of view. We fly
overhead, following the road and just outpacing the cars
below.

The strains of Phillip Glass’ iconic score lend an air of

dread to what is about to unfold. As the music swells...

THE TITLE FLIES IN:

CANDYMAN

EXT. HONEYCOMB

An empty HONEYCOMB fills the screen, honey lugubriously

dripping slowly towards the camera and out of frame. We
hear an all-encompassing whisper, off-screen.

VOICE (V.O.)
Sweets to the sweet.....

SMASH CUT TO:

EXT. CHICAGO SKYLINE. DAY

This time we’re looking up at it - the buildings loom

menacingly, choking out the sky. The faintest buzzing
sound swells. Could it be a police scanner? Bees? Both?

DISSOLVE TO:

ANTHONY, a 35-year-old African-American man in closeup.

He’s handsome, but tired.

INT. DIVE BAR. DAY

We stay on Anthony as he listens intently to a story told

by a woman off-screen.

LORRAINE (O.S.)
Everybody around here knows about
Helen.
(MORE)

(CONTINUED)
7/7/18 2.
CONTINUED:
LORRAINE (O.S.) (CONT'D)
It happened a few years back,
before they tore the projects down
and this neighborhood got all
bougie...

CUT TO:

INT. HALLWAY, CABRINI GREEN 30 YEARS AGO

This is the worst of government housing. Cinderblocks and

bloodspots. We are at the end of a long hallway, a row
of graffiti-splattered apartments on the left side and
chain-link fences on the right. Slowly, the camera pushes
towards a door at the end of the hallway. Lorraine
continues spinning her tale as we creep towards the door:

LORRAINE (V.O.)
They say she was going around
Cabrini green cuttin’ the heads
off dogs ‘till they brought her
into the mental institution.
That’s when she killed her
Psychiatrist and escaped. Crazy
white bitch didn’t go on the run
either. Nah, she came right here
to the neighborhood. She wanted to
terrorize us.

We hear the sounds of a RAUCOUS CROWD in the background

and the unmistakable SCREAMS OF A TERRIFIED BABY.

LORRAINE (V.O.)
She kidnapped a baby.

The door at the end of the hall flies open, to reveal

HELEN, a fantasy version, lissome and hunched over. Her
dirty long hair mingles with the shadows, obscuring her
features. She’s holding the CRYING BABY.

LORRAINE (V.O.)
That little boy had been missing
for weeks. Lord knows what she
was doing to it during that time.
But the neighborhood all came
together to look for it. Although
at that point, I’m not gonna lie --
most of us had given up hope.

Close up on the baby, we see its cherubic cheeks,

streaked with tears.

(CONTINUED)
7/7/18 3.
CONTINUED:

LORRAINE (V.O.)
But his mama ain’t give up. No
funeral, nothing. Even though it
was weeks, she wasn’t finna
grieve.

EXT. CABRINI GREEN COURTYARD. NIGHT

More dirt than grass, the courtyard is littered with

broken bottles and wayward plastic bags. Something is
happening here. A security door slams open, and Helen
approaches the camera with the vacant determination of a
ghost. Her face, and the face of the infant in her arm
are lit up by flickering of a MASSIVE BONFIRE.

LORRAINE (V.O.)
She walked that little boy down to
the bonfire as casual as a walk in
the park. She was going to roast
that baby like a turkey.

As the fire rages, Helen’s silhouette cuts through the

flames. We see a close up on the baby, flames dancing
across his wet eyes. Slowly, the crowd gathers in the
courtyard, gradually becoming aware of what’s about to
happen.

LORRAINE (V.O.)
People ain’t fuck around in those
days.

The crowd rushes Helen, who with a small controlled

movement of her left arm, slaps three grown men across
the courtyard. But the residents of Cabrini Green over
whelm her, burying her in a dog-pile.

LORRAINE (V.O.)
They say it took ten dudes to get
that baby free, and not a second
too soon.

The baby is back in the arms of safety, still crying.

Several men have Helen pinned down, but her eyes are cold
and emotionless. She does not struggle. At the last
instant, she stands up, tossing a few men aside quite
easily. She turns towards the fire, and WALKS RIGHT IN.

LORRAINE (V.O.)
She burnt herself to death. Just
walked right in and went up like
match stick.

(CONTINUED)
7/7/18 4.
CONTINUED:

Close up on the crackling flames, the din of the crowd

fades.

DISSOLVE TO:

INT. DIVE BAR

Anthony in close-up, hanging on her words and recording

video with his phone. He’s sucking blithely on a piece
of hard candy.

ANTHONY
Why would anybody do that?

We see LORRAINE, 20 now for the first time. She’s

dressed in a hoodie, blithely contemplating some cheese
fries and gravy.

LORRAINE
Shit I don’t know. Bitch crazy.
They say she was on some Candyman
shit.

ANTHONY
“Candyman.” Come on.

The camera goes from a close to medium shot revealing

that BRIANNA, 33, Anthony’s girlfriend, has been seated
next to him the whole time. She clearly doesn’t have
time for any of this shit

BRIANNA
What’s that? Some kind of drug?

LORRAINE
Damn Brianna. You sure you’re from
Chicago? It was a Cabrini thing;
Legend went that if you say
“Candyman” in a mirror five times,
this giant nigga with a hook hand
comes and kills you. It doesn’t
work. I used to try it with my
friends on Halloween, but Helen
took that shit seriously. She was
obsessed. That’s why she took that
baby. She was trying to sacrifice
it for him.

She eats a fry. Anthony ponders the grim tale.

(CONTINUED)
7/7/18 5.
CONTINUED:

BRIANNA
Ok, well thanks for your time,
Lorrie.

LORRAINE
I mean, there’s more to the story.

BRIANNA
I’m sure there is, girl, but we
gotta go.

Anthony doesn’t budge. Instead, he reaches into his

inside pocket and produces A PHOTOGRAPH.

ANTHONY
Have you ever seen a painting like
this?

The photograph is of a mural, painted in a traditional

classical style, in which a depiction of Helen stands
saintly in the center, hands in the air, eyes towards
heaven.

Lorraine shakes her head no.

LORRAINE
Who made that?

ANTHONY
I don’t know but I think it’s her.

LORRAINE
Her who? Helen? Nah. That looks
way too nice to be her.

Anthony smiles undeterred.

LORRAINE
Why do you care so much about all
this?

ANTHONY
I’m an artist. My work deals with
the influence of classical
modernism on urban street art.
Found this photo at the library.
Thought it had to be old at first.
They don’t make ‘em like that
anymore, for real. But look...

Anthony turns the picture over revealing a scribbled

date.

(CONTINUED)
7/7/18 6.
CONTINUED: (2)

ANTHONY
...The date. “May 12th, 1995...”

Lorraine reads along with him.

LORRAINE
“...Cabrini Green.”

ANTHONY
That was the day after Helen
Lyle’s death.

LORRAINE
Oh snap. For real?

ANTHONY
I think it was painted on one of
the walls there.

LORRAINE
I never saw that, but I was s a
till a kid when it got torn down,
so...

ANTHONY
You got any other friends from the
Cabrini days who you think would
talk to me?

Brianna gets up - she’s had enough. Snarky:

BRIANNA
Maybe we can get a mirror and ask
Mr. Candyman where this painting
was. Again, great to meet you,
Lorraine.

EXT. DIVE BAR. DAY

Brianna’s car sits at the curb. Around them is a

neighborhood in transition. Upscale chain stores and
upper middle class people with smart phones talking about
parties and galleries are intermingled with cigarette
stores. The dingy bar must have been the last one of its
kind on the block.

INT. BRIANNA’S CAR. DAY

She’s at the wheel. Both Anthony and Brianna sit

silently with the engine off. His eyes drift towards the
rear view mirror.

(CONTINUED)
7/7/18 7.
CONTINUED:

He’s tempted to say “Candyman” but Brianna looks at him.

The two of them burst out laughing at Anthony’s
embarrassment of getting caught considering trying to
summon a demon.

ANTHONY
I thought you didn’t believe in
shit like this?

BRIANNA
(being funny)
Let me tell you something. If you
ever try to summon a ghost, demon
alien, whatever in my presence, I
will dump your ass so hard.

Anthony laughs.

ANTHONY
Alright, alright. Let’s go.

As Brianna starts the engine, Anthony unwraps and pops a

piece of hard candy into his mouth.

INT. BRIANNA’S APARTMENT. BEDROOM. NIGHT

It’s a nice place, not lavish by any means, but it’s

clear that Brianna has some resources.

She lays in bed in his shirt from earlier scrolling

through Instagram and calls out to the bathroom.

BRIANNA
I have a meeting tomorrow at 8:00
at the gallery, so I should get up
at 6.

Silence.

BRIANNA
Anthony...

Anthony leans out of the bathroom suddenly. He brushes

his teeth.

ANTHONY
Aiight. That’s early. Why do you
schedule those meetings so early?

(CONTINUED)
7/7/18 8.
CONTINUED:

BRIANNA
It’s my gallery, and we gotta get
ready for the show on wednesday.

ANTHONY
You sure you’re ok with me showing
a couple of pieces? Even if it’s
the old shit.

BRIANNA
Of course. I think your work
really resonates today, baby. You
know that...

ANTHONY
...But?

BRIANNA
You need to get painting again,
Anthony. When you gonna write
that proposal?

Anthony goes back to looking in the bathroom mirror.

ANTHONY
For the grant?

BRIANNA
Yeah.

ANTHONY
It’s not written. They want video
proposals.

BRIANNA
That’s good. Maybe you’ll actually
get around to it.

ANTHONY
You’re hilarious. Yeah, I’m gonna
do it soon. I may head back to the
north side tomorrow and ask around
about Candyman though.

BRIANNA
There’s a point when you gotta
stop seeking inspiration and just
start creating.

ANTHONY
What do you mean?

(CONTINUED)
7/7/18 9.
CONTINUED: (2)

BRIANNA
I just don’t want you to use this
as an excuse to procrastinate any
more.

ANTHONY
Procrastinate? You don’t think
this is fascinating? Nobody was
making art like that in Chicago in
the nineties. Crazy that it even
existed. And that story...

BRIANNA
(skeptical)
Mmmm hmmm... That girl was high as
shit.

Anthony steps out of the bathroom again.

ANTHONY
So what? Does that make her
unreliable?

Brianna shrugs.

ANTHONY
See, you’re like a cop. Makin’
judgments on people, ‘n shit...

She looks at him.

ANTHONY
Fine. I’ll shoot the video
tomorrow.

He goes back to the bathroom. She picks up the picture of

“Helen” on his end table and looks at it.

INT. BRIANNA’S APARTMENT, BATHROOM. NIGHT

Brianna is speaking loudly from the other room.

BRIANNA (O.S.)
By the way, should I be jealous
that the only thing that’s gonna
get you painting again is some
picture of some “Becky?”

This snaps him out of it. He returns playfully to the

bedroom.

(CONTINUED)
7/7/18 10.
CONTINUED:

ANTHONY
How’d I end up with the one girl
who’s gonna get jealous of a woman
who died in a fire thirty years
ago.

BRIANNA
Crazy finds crazy, I guess.

Anthony pulls her close.

We follow Anthony’s hands as they caress the contours of

Brianna’s body.

DISSOLVE TO:

INT. BRIANNA’S APARTMENT. DAY

Anthony wakes up. Brianna’s side of the bed is disrupted.

She’s gone. He gets up.

CUT TO:

INT. BRIANNA’S APARTMENT, HALLWAY. DAY

Anthony roots around in the closet. He finds his old

cans of spray paint, bringing him back to a time when he
used to tag the Southside. He sees photographs of
himself as a child, clinging to the pant leg of his
mother outside a bodega. He sees photographs of his
early, groundbreaking street art: Grim, minimalist nooses
spray-painted on walls in different locations throughout
Chicago. The nooses look like they are hanging from
shadows cast by trees, but the pictures must’ve been
taken at the perfect time of for the shadows to align.

CUT TO:

INT. BRIANNA’S APARTMENT, LIVING ROOM. DAY

Anthony’s holding a sketchbook, sucking on candy. He

stares at it blankly as he doodles a grim series of
nooses.

CUT TO:
7/7/18 11.

INT. BRIANNA’S APARTMENT, ANTHONY’S STUDIO. DAY

A small extra bedroom, crammed with art supplies, an

overstuffed desk with a small mirror and a small blank
canvas. Through the window the black membrane of the
Chicago night strains to hold the morning sky from
punching through. A small camcorder is set on a tripod.
Anthony checks his hair and teeth in the mirror and
presses record.

ANTHONY
Hello, my name is Anthony McCoy,
and please accept this grant
proposal as a bid for ...ya money
bitches!

He amuses himself somewhat. Back to seriousness...

ANTHONY (CONT’D)
Hello, I’m Anthony McCoy and my
work is concerned with outlier
artworks created in low-income
Chicago neighborhoods in the
1990’s. While I realize that up
to now my previous paintings have
dealt more directly with the
problematics of systemic racism,
I’m changing it up a bit. I...

Anthony slumps back in his chair. Unable to feign

enthusiasm any longer, he picks up the photo of Helen and
stares at it, lovingly.

DISSOLVE TO:

CUT TO:

EXT. MARGARET HIE DING LIN PARK, BASKETBALL COURT. DAY

This place is a mecca for street basketball pick-up

games. Underneath the L, the courts are caged-off and
packed with folks rocking number twenty-three and the
occasional 45 on their jerseys. Crowds swell around the
sidelines, hoping for a peek at the next Derrick Rose.
Anthony, deep into a five-on-five, pulls down a
contentious rebound, passes and makes his way cross-
court.

He sets a pick, gets jostled hard, but stands his ground.

Rolling off, he cuts to the basket and calls for the
ball.

(CONTINUED)
7/7/18 12.
CONTINUED:

ANTHONY
Yo!

He catches the pass, turns, shoots and get REJECTED to

the floor by a man that towers over him.

JIM TRASK
Foul! That’s a foul! Damn!.

Anthony’s friend JIM TRASK (33) helps him up as the other

team quickly and dominantly wins the game. Jim continues
to appeal to the players. It wasn’t a foul

JIM
How is that not a foul?! How is
that not a foul?!

MOMENTS LATER...

Anthony and Jim walk lean against the chain link fence as
the next game is played.

JIM
People cheating out here, man.
Niggas out here committing capital
murder ‘n shit, and no one’s
calling shit? Meanwhile this Clyde
Drexler looking motherfucker
exclusively throwing hooks!

Jim, trying hard to be heard heckling from the sidelines,

lights a cigarette. The flame jets out high which makes
Anthony weirdly jump.

JIM (CONT’D)
Whoa, you good?

ANTHONY
Yeah, I’m good.

IM
You still eat that old-lady candy,
man?

ANTHONY
I like ‘em.

JIM
Nobody wanna hear you crunching on
that shit. Eat Twizzlers like a
normal person.

(CONTINUED)
7/7/18 13.
CONTINUED: (2)

ANTHONY
How’s work?

JIM
Tough market. Lots of new
construction, but it’s taking time
filling up.

ANTHONY
Should be boom times, no? I mean
since the ghetto moved south?

JIM
Why? I mean sure, but this area
still isn’t really fully appealing
to the affluent yet. Shit don’t
change overnight. Still some crime
too.

ANTHONY
Really? Feels like there are so
many police these days, though.

JIM
They’re part of the problem.
Police brutality doesn’t help
shit. Fewer people call the cops;
more crime. It’s a damn cycle.

ANTHONY
Yeah, that’s the oldest story in
America.

JIM
Deadass. How about you? How’s
Brianna? You gonna put a ring on
it? Because you are not going to
do better.

ANTHONY
I gotta come correct if I’m gonna
pop the question. I got no job,
not in school and straight-up
uninspired.

JIM
Good point. What does she see in
you, dude?

ANTHONY
She showed my work in her gallery
before anyone else would give me a
chance.
(MORE)

(CONTINUED)
7/7/18 14.
CONTINUED: (3)
ANTHONY (CONT'D)
I made my first sale there. Made
my last sale there too.

JIM
No shit? When was that?

ANTHONY
It’s been a while, man.

JIM
You know why? You take part in a
boring, sad-as-hell art form. Know
what you should do? One of those
‘dogs playing poker’ joints.

ANTHONY
You want me to put that on an
airbrushed R.I.P. Biggie bomber
jacket?

JIM
Yeah, I’m basic. I probably would
like that. So what?

ANTHONY
I gotta go.

He starts walking away.

JIM
Where you goin’? Aiight. End the
conversation on a cryptic note
then.

INT. BRIANNA’S ART GALLERY, EVENING.

It’s a small group art show where various paintings from

different artists line the walls. Three photos of
Anthony’s Nooses Series hang in a row on the wall. Some
nooses appear to hang shadows cast by statues.

- Cows in the Cow Parade

- The Miro outside the Chicago Temple Building

- The Godness of Industry outside the trade building

The event itself is sparsely attended, but Brianna and

Anthony are dressed for success. She circulates with a
drink in one hand and a brochure in another. WILCOTT
(50,) a stuffy old bastard who prides himself in knowing
what’s what with urban art approaches Anthony.

(CONTINUED)
7/7/18 15.
CONTINUED:

WILCOTT
Ah the nooses.

ANTHONY
I think they remain relevant.

WILCOTT
I still quite admire the visceral,
abject quality of this series...

ANTHONY
But...

WILCOTT
One must beware of the rut, no? I
always felt like the...nooses...
were the beginning of something,
but I’m unclear on what you want
to say with them now.

Brianna appears.

BRIANNA
Welcome.

Wilcott hands her his empty drink.

WILCOTT
Here you are dear.

She doesn’t take it.

BRIANNA
I’m Brianna Wilson. I own this
gallery. The trash is over there.

WILCOTT
How embarrassing. My mistake. I
Mr. McCoy and I were just
discussing his work. So Anthony-
What’s next?

ANTHONY
Oils, I think. Classical
portraits.

WILCOTT
Ah, the obligatory sophomoric
stylistic imitation passed off as
originality.

ANTHONY
Maybe originality isn’t the point.

(CONTINUED)
7/7/18 16.
CONTINUED: (2)

WILCOTT
Then it sounds like you’re on the
right track.

Brianna is a little drunk on wine.

BRIANNA
Maybe you’re not seeing what he’s
seeing.

ANTHONY
Bri..

WILCOTT
Wilcott James, pleasure to meet
you.

BRIANNA
Brianna. I’m Anthony’s girlfriend

WILCOTT
Ah, well. How... sassy. Anthony
used to be my student. Until he
decided to take this seemingly
endless sabbatical.

BRIANNA
Genius takes time.

WILCOTT
That’s the thing about ‘true
genius’. It doesn’t.

BRIANNA
Very generous of you to be such a
successful artist, and still find
the time to stand around and judge
other people’s work.

WILCOTT
Well, have a nice night. I hope
to see you back in class someday,
Anthony.

Mr. Wilcott leaves.

BRIANNA
I couldn’t...

ANTHONY
You’re good... With your sassy
ass.

(CONTINUED)
7/7/18 17.
CONTINUED: (3)

She play hits him.

INT. BRIANNA'S APARTMENT. BATHROOM. NIGHT

Through the bathroom mirror we see Anthony kissing

Brianna. They are both drunk. She starts getting
undressed. HE goes to the bathroom. He gets a crazy idea.
He takes his phone out and starts recording his
reflection.

ANTHONY
Candyman... Candyman...

BRIANNA
What?

ANTHONY
...Candyman...

Brianna enters.

ANTHONY
...Candyman..

BRIANNA
Oh, Hell no!

Anthony laughs.

ANTHONY
Got you.

BRIANNA
Got me? You’re too chicken to do
it anyway.

ANTHONY
Yeah?

BRIANNA
Yeah.

ANTHONY
Watch me.

Brianna takes that bet. Anthony leans in and... he can’t.

He is chicken shit.

BRIANNA
Thought so.

Brianna leaves the bathroom in victory.

(CONTINUED)
7/7/18 18.
CONTINUED:

BRIANNA
Now get that cute ass out here.

ANTHONY
I’ll be right out.

Anthony looks deeper into the mirror after she leaves.

CUT TO:

EXT. ROSE ESTATES, DAY

Anthony, hungover from a lack of sleep, slouches into The

Rose Estates, a few small poorly-maintained buildings
clustered together at the end of a lonely, in-transition
block. Once low-income housing, they’ve been converted
to a home for senior citizens.

INT. ROSE ESTATES, LOBBY. DAY

It’s a modest alcove with an unmanned makeshift security

desk. The walls decorated with cheery inspirational
posters and empty vases. Anthony walks through to the
elevator.

INT. ROSE ESTATES, UPSTAIRS HALLWAY. DAY

The elevator creaks open, and Anthony makes his way down
the hall. Every room in the hallway is adorned with a
small white board. On each one, the name of the occupant
is cheerily printed in temporary, washable magic marker.
Anthony stops at the one marked “Anne” and takes a deep
breath.

INT. ROSE ESTATES, ANNE MCCOY’S ROOM. DAY

Not great in here either, folks. The room is neat, but

sparsely decorated with a combination of framed
photographs and little stuffed animals - mostly dogs.
ANNE McCOY, 65, is perched precariously on a creaky
cafeteria chair holding a broom, poking at a small air
vent when the door clicks open.

ANTHONY
Jesus Mom, get the hell down from
there. What are you doing?

(CONTINUED)
7/7/18 19.
CONTINUED:

ANNE
Anthony! I haven’t seen you in
months!

Anthony helps his mother down and they make their way
over to something sofa-shaped, but covered in quilts.

ANTHONY
If something is broken you gotta
call them. What if you fell?
Nobody would even know.

ANNE
I’ve survived too many things to
get killed by a chair, baby. Do
you want some water?

ANTHONY
No thanks, I’m good. Where’s
Bernard? Ain’t nobody at the desk
right now.

ANNE
Ah, he’s around somewhere. Nice
man, that Bernard.

ANTHONY
We pay good money for him to be on
duty.

ANNE
When am I gonna meet this
girlfriend of yours.

ANTHONY
I don’t know... Soon.

She’s distracted. He catches her looking back up at that

vent.

ANTHONY
What’s up there?

ANNE
No, no, no. You’re gonna tell me
I’m losing my mind, and I had
enough of that from you.

That’s all he needs to hear. Anthony gets up and starts

examining the grate.
7/7/18 20.

INT. ANNE’S ROOM, FROM INSIDE THE VENT

The vents has a LOW MACHINE HUM. Through the metal slits
we see Anthony trying to angle himself for a better look.
The camera slowly retreats back into the darkness.

INT. ANNE’S ROOM

Anthony is on the chair looking in.

ANTHONY
Is it broken or something, mom?

ANNE
There’s a hornets nest in there.
Seen ‘em pop out from time to
time. I hear ‘em right through
the walls.

ANTHONY
Hornets?

He looks over at the prodigious collection of

prescription bottles clustered on her night table.

ANNE
I was dealing with them when you
came.

ANTHONY
I don’t see anything.

ANNE
I don’t think they like me.
Haven’t been stung once yet. Come
on honey, sit down so we can talk.
I miss you. I don’t know what
you’re doing; what you’re workin’
on. You don’t show me any of your
art.

Putting his mother’s potential dementia aside, Anthony

sits down.

ANTHONY
Yeah. About that. I need to ask
you something. Do you remember
something called Candyman?

Anne sighs.

(CONTINUED)
7/7/18 21.
CONTINUED:

ANNE
That old tale...

ANTHONY
Yeah I know, but tell me about it.

ANNE
He’s a ghost. A phantom. Hood
mumbo jumbo. That’s who they
blamed for the murders. If someone
died..? Candyman did it. That’s
how the community would neglect
taking responsibility.

ANTHONY
Okay, so what was his deal?

ANNE
Why are we talking about such
unpleasant things. I thought you
were stopping by to bring me some
shit.

ANTHONY
Come on, mom.

ANNE
Supposedly, he was an artist back
in the olden days, just like you.
His name was Daniel... Daniel
Robitille. His daddy was a slave,
but he was a free man. He was
hired to paint a portrait of a
rich white man’s daughter, but he
fell for her; knocked her up. Him
being a free man didn’t mean much
in those days, and when the girl’s
father heard what he had done he
hired some men.

ANTHONY
Uh oh.

ANNE
Yes, uh oh. They cut off his hand,
stripped him naked, poured honey
on him and let bees sting him half
to death. Then they lit him up,
burnt him ...the fire took care of
the other half.

ANTHONY
Sounds like some Emmitt Till shit.

(CONTINUED)
7/7/18 22.
CONTINUED: (2)

ANNE
Yes. Only the white woman in this
situation wasn’t a lying bitch.
Excuse me. I think she really did
love him.

ANTHONY
Do you remember if anyone back in
the day was painting anything like
this?

Anthony shows her the picture of “Helen”. Anne’s face

goes dark.

ANNE
I haven’t been back to Cabrini for
a long-ass time. It’s a bad place.
A murder a day when we lived
there.

ANTHONY
It’s barely the same neighborhood.
Unrecognizable. Gentrified now.

ANNE
That’s not how ‘bad places’ work.
You can put a mask on a monster,
that doesn’t make it stop being a
monster. It’s all the same
underneath.

ANTHONY
Underneath...

Anthony ponders this and looks out the window.

EXT. CHICAGO’S NEAR NORTH SIDE, DUSK

The Old Town chic had crept considerably northwards since

Anne’s day. The coffee shops and retail stores make it
clear that gentrification hasn’t quite overwhelmed the
area that once housed the towers of Cabrini, but the
outcome is inevitable. ANTHONY walks purposefully down
the street, arriving at a small antique store.

INT. PURCELL’S CONSIGNMENT. NIGHT

Purcell’s is a perfect metaphor for the neighborhood

within which it resides. Artworks and anvils, tea-kettles
and golf clubs.

(CONTINUED)
7/7/18 23.
CONTINUED:

Surely there are treasures among the stacks and shelves

of bric-a-brac, but finding them poses a challenge.
LEONARD (50), is listening to NPR/WBEZ as he takes stock.

NPR CORRESPONDENT (O.S.)

Violent crime on the South Side
has reached what the mayor is
calling “epidemic proportions.”
But a new study from the
University of Chicago points to a
dangerous cycle of violence
between law enforcement and local
gangs...

ANTHONY approaches the desk and clears his throat to get

Leonard’s attention. Attention not granted.

ANTHONY
Excuse me, man.

LEONARD
How may I help you sir?

ANTHONY
Is Jake here?

Leonard turns off the radio.

LEONARD
You a friend of his?

ANTHONY
We grew up around here together.
Heard he was working here a few
years back. Been meaning to come
in, but you know how it goes.

The Gold Coast Code switch goes into effect.

LEONARD
I’m sorry, young blood. Jake
passed in November. Good brother
though.

ANTHONY
Damn. He got killed?

Leonard nods. Doesn’t want to talk about it, and frankly,

neither does Anthony. He knows how that story goes.

ANTHONY
The stuff you have here, where’s
it from?

(CONTINUED)
7/7/18 24.
CONTINUED: (2)

LEONARD
From all over, man. I’ve got fur
coats from Paris, although fur
doesn’t move the way it used to.
I got video games from Japan that
you can’t get here in the states.
A little bit of everything.

A Chicago Bears pennant is pinned above the doorway.

ANTHONY
But some of this is from the hood
too, no? Consignments or
whatever.

LEONARD
Yeah man, of course. Most of it,
matter of fact. Estate sales, you
know.

ANTHONY
You got a downstairs?

LEONARD
Yeah why?

ANTHONY
I’m doing a project about Cabrini
Green.

LEONARD
Oh.

ANTHONY
See I think the basement level of
Cabrini would’ve extended been
right up to the wall of your
basement. I was wondering if I
could check it out down there; see
if there’s any way to... I don’t
know. Maybe I’m just being stupid.

LEONARD
You can go down there and take a
look if you want. Long as you buy
some shit.

Anthony pops a candy into his mouth.

7/7/18 25.

INT. PURCELL’S, BACK OF STORE

Leonard walks Anthony to a small padlocked door next to

an out-of-order water fountain. He patiently picks
through an incredulously massive key ring.

LEONARD
Tell you the truth, Jake was a
junk man’s junk man. Sentimental
as hell though. I guess that’s
why he got into this business.
Shit probably me too.

ANTHONY
Not much to be sentimental about
anymore.

LEONARD
I suspect that’s why business
stays good for me though. Butcher
just sells meat, and you can get
that at Whole Foods. Hardware
store sells hammers, and you can
get better ones at Home Depot.
But all this shit? These are
stories. Without stories, what
was never was, we all pretty much
lost. Can’t sell that at Whole
Foods.

ANTHONY
You drunk, man?

LEONARD
Hell yeah. Here it is.

The lock clicks open, and Leonard opens the door

revealing a narrow staircase into the dark basement
below.

INT. PURCELL’S BASEMENT

The view from the bottom of the stairs. Anthony and

Leonard look down into the darkness. We hear Anthony
crunch his candy.

LEONARD
Go ahead, man.

He flips on the light and a few feeble uncovered

lightbulbs pop on.

(CONTINUED)
7/7/18 26.
CONTINUED:

LEONARD
Take your time, I’m at my desk.
Don’t break yo ass.

Anthony makes his way down the stairs alone. Despite its
low ceiling, the basement itself is seemingly larger than
the cramped quarters above. The contents of the makeshift
shelves are not afforded the same dignity of presentation
as their upstairs neighbors. The bulk of the items, a
random assortment of bureaus, breakfronts, armoires and
coffee tables are rested at odd angles. Dropcloths are
deployed with no clear logic. It’s a labyrinth designed
for convenience of access, not curb appeal. At the center
of the room are FOUR FULL-LENGTH MIRRORS, each set into
wooden frames boasting styles from classical to
contemporary. Against the walls, canvases lean into one
another in uneven stacks. Anthony peruses the largest
among them:

- A badly water-stained, framed poster of Sam Cooke

- A framed, hand-painted map of the Celtic Brittany

region

- A photograph of a pale woman looking at herself in a

mirror

- A painting of a fisherman on a riverbank, the hook at

the end of his line without a fish.

While Anthony takes a moment to absorb this last one, he

hears something. The buzzing. He turns his attention to
the back of the room, where the bulbs have all gone out.
He makes his may through the stacks, and notices
something beneath his feet. He bends down to pick it up.

It’s a scrap of canvas torn from a painting. The hues

are red and gold. He picks it up and ventures deeper into
the darkness. He finds another. And another. The
buzzing intensifies. He follows the sound to the edge of
the room, and a doorless doorway revealing a utility
closet.

INT. PURCELL’S BASEMENT, UTILITY CLOSET

In here, the poured concrete floors have given way to

filthy, water-logged tile. The only notable features of
the cramped room are a giant workman’s sink and a dingy
metallic silver trap door on the floor. He looks at it
and sees a corrupted hazy reflection.

(CONTINUED)
7/7/18 27.
CONTINUED:

He searches for a handle and finds one, where there was

once a padlock. He opens the door...

CUT TO:

INT. A DARK TUNNEL. NIGHT

Anthony pops his head in upside-down. It takes a second

for his inverted vision to adjust to the dark. Below him
is a large dank corridor.

ANTHONY
Holy Hell.

Anthony takes out his phone and turns on the flashlight

and explores, the long-abandoned space with it. Laundry
machines line one room, and the walls are covered with
art. Not standard graffiti either. Curious, Anthony leans
in to get a better angle, when a large cockroach scurries
around his hand.

ANTHONY
Oh shit!

Anthony slips and falls. He lands on his back. He gets

up.

ANTHONY
Fuck! Hey! Yo!

Anthony looks though the portal above. Nothing. He picks

up his phone, the light illuminates the walls.

They look like they were painted by a master of classical

oil painting, depicting an angry mob of white men in 19th
century garb running down its length with torches.

ANTHONY
Yo.

He takes video as he goes.

ANTHONY
I’m in what I believe to be the
laundry level floor of the Cabrini
Green projects. Don’t let anyone
tell you graffiti ain’t art.

He’s pulled down the hallway by his own fascination.

(MORE)

(CONTINUED)
7/7/18 28.
CONTINUED:
ANTHONY (CONT'D)
You can tear down the walls, but
as long as something survives, so
will the story. It’s... it’s
beautiful.

Before he knows it he’s a ways down the dark hall. All of

a sudden, his phone BUZZES loud. He drops it sending him
once again into the black.

ANTHONY
Shit.

He picks it up in time to see it’s Brianna who’s calling,

but the phone stops ringing.

He shines the light in front of him and realizes he’s at

the end of the tunnel before him on the wall is the
painting he’s been looking for. It’s Helen in all her
glory, looking beautiful and pure of intention. It’s now
clear the portrait is of Helen engulfed in flames.

Anthony documents every corner of the wall before turning

around. At the other end of the hallway a figure stands.
Anthony’s breath quickens.

ANTHONY
Hello?

The figure is still. Anthony slowly makes his way towards

the trap door on the ceiling in the middle of the
hallway, keeping an eye on the figure the whole time. As
he gets there he squints and leans in to see the figure
appears to be a painted silhouette of a man with a hook
for a hand. The words “Sweets to the Sweet” are scrawled
above in more chaotic lettering than is anywhere else in
the hallway. Anthony, petrified looks up again.

ANTHONY
Hey--

Leonard pops out!

LEONARD
Look, what you went and did. Hold
tight. I got a ladder somewhere.

Anthony doesn’t realize it, but he’s dropped his wallet

in the initial fall.
7/7/18 29.

INT. PURCELL’S, NIGHT

LEONARD
Now, you ain’t gonna sue, right?
That was your idea; I didn’t want
you to go down there.

ANTHONY
Nah. I’m good.

Anthony and Leonard walk from the back of the store when

A LOUD CRASH from the front jolts them..

Leonard into a run towards the front window, now smashed

away.

LEONARD
Fuck you! Come back you cowards!

ANTHONY
What happened?

LEONARD
Goddamned Hitler youth shitbags
threw a car battery through my
window. Motherfuckers.

EXT. PURCELL’S. NIGHT

Anthony opens the door cautiously and looks out into the
night. Feigning a modicum of courage, he steps out into
the street and addresses Leonard through the now non-
existent front-store window.

ANTHONY
Call the police!

LEONARD
The police? You trying to die
tonight?

ANTHONY
I bet they headed over to
Division.

LEONARD
Respect to you for that, but chill
out. You go after them, then what?
Huh? What are you gonna do? Go
home, man.

(CONTINUED)
7/7/18 30.
CONTINUED:

ANTHONY
It ain’t right.

LEONARD
Happened before; it’ll happen
again.

Anthony starts to walk away. He’s still worked up.

LEONARD
You’re not calling an Uber?

ANTHONY
Nah, it’s only a few blocks to the
L.

Leonard is still behind the desk, but we see him from a

new angle. This reveals a shelf with weapons.

LEONARD
Here, take this. Just in case.

It’s a meat cleaver. Anthony waves it off.

ANTHONY
I’m good.

EXT. CHICAGO’S NEAR NORTH SIDE, NIGHT

Anthony walks away the store. The streets are mostly

silent, interrupted only by the scattered punctuations of
a drunken yell and barking dog. For a place that’s
supposed to be gentrified, the old neighborhood looks
pretty fucking rough at night. Anthony finds himself
conscious of his clothes, his haircut. He never felt
softer in his life.

The bright lights of a STARBUCKS cut through the windows

forming geometric squares on the sidewalk. Like a moth to
flame...

INT. STARBUCKS, NIGHT

Green and white. Fluorescent and smooth. Exposed

bourgeoisie brick. There are only a handful of customers
gathered, but business is brisk here compared to
Purcell’s. Anthony approaches the counter. He’s dirty
and scuffed up from the fall. The BARISTA (23) is plenty
plucky.

(CONTINUED)
7/7/18 31.
CONTINUED:

BARISTA
What can I get you?

ANTHONY
Let me get a large tea please.

BARISTA
What kind?

ANTHONY
Just normal.

Anthony notices two loud LARGE WHITE DRUNK DUDES acting

more rowdy than the atmosphere calls for. They distract
and unsettle Anthony for a second. One of them is holding
a hammer, like he’s doing a bit. Are these the vandals?

BARISTA
Ok, one small black tea.

ANTHONY
With honey.

BARISTA
Ok, honey is over there. That
will be $4.23 please.

The Dudes are looming behind him. Anthony checks his

pockets. The wallet.

ANTHONY
Fuck.

BARISTA
Sir?

ANTHONY
I lost my wallet. Sorry.

BARISTA
Ok sir. Can you step aside, there
are other customers behind you.

ANTHONY
Yeah, I’m sorry. Can I just get a
key to the bathroom?

BARISTA
The bathroom is for paying
customers. Store policy.

DUDE ONE
Let’s go man.

(CONTINUED)
7/7/18 32.
CONTINUED: (2)

ANTHONY
Just hang on a second. Can I use
the bathroom please? Really sorry
about it.

DUDE ONE
Pinch it. Get out of the way.

ANTHONY
Hang on.

BARISTA
Sir. Please leave or I’m going to
have to report you.

A THIRD DUDE walks out of the bathroom. Anthony jumps out

of line and catches it before the door swings shut.

INT. STARBUCKS, BATHROOM. NIGHT

Anthony goes to the urinal. There’s an arrow drawn on the

wall pointing down to it. Anthony looks. On the spot in
the urinal where the little fly decal is usually placed
is a living bee.

ANTHONY
What the fuck?

INT. STARBUCKS, NIGHT

Anthony exits and the situation has blossomed into a full-

blown scene with every eye in the place on Anthony. The
other Dudes walk over, ready to throw down.

DUDE ONE
The fuck you lookin’ at?.

Anthony turns towards the Barista who is on the phone

trying to make it look like he’s not calling the cops on
Anthony.

DUDE ONE (CONT’D)

Come at me then.

ANTHONY
What?

(CONTINUED)
7/7/18 33.
CONTINUED:

DUDE TWO
You heard him. You wanna go, we’ll
light you up, bitch.

HARD CUT TO:

EXT. STARBUCKS, NIGHT

Anthony comes crashing through the door into the street.

The three dudes are in tow. Dude 3 lands a very off-
balance straight right hook to Anthony’s jaw.

DUDE THREE
Yeah!

Anthony is reeling from the punch while a sound from his

pocket cuts through the night: BUZZ BUZZ BUZZ. Brianna
is trying to Facetime.

Anthony immediately takes it.

ANTHONY
What’s up babe?

He’s fully surrounded by bloodthirsty dudes.

BRIANNA (ON FACETIME)

Hey baby-- whoa. Are you bleeding?
What the fuck?

The three fuck-head dudes are momentarily astounded at

the audacity of taking a facetime call while they’re
trying to kick your ass.

ANTHONY
Hang on one sec.

Anthony takes off in a full sprint in the opposite

direction. The dudes give chase. Anthony ducks around a
corner, and then another one. He slips behind a dumpster
and the pursuers fly by. Anthony catches his breath in
the parking lot of a closed chain restaurant. Brianna
still on Facetime.

BRIANNA
Where are you?

ANTHONY
I’m comin’. I’m comin’ home.

BRIANNA
Who are you fighting?
7/7/18 34.

EXT. CHAIN RESTAURANT PARKING LOT

He’s breathing heavy, but trying to play it cool, we see

her face, over his shoulder, in the smartphone screen:

ANTHONY
That was crazy. That was--

CRACK!

A HAMMER smashes Anthony’s hand, knocking the phone out

of the frame. But the frame does not change. Another
more violent blow descends upon Anthony’s arm, and a bone
in his right arm becomes clearly dislodged. Anthony
screams.

DUDE ONE
This neighborhood isn’t yours
anymore.

Dude Three cackles.

ANTHONY
I was just....

More heavy blows come down on him.

DUDE TWO
It’s a new world order around
here, bitch.

He kicks Anthony in the side.

DUDE THREE
Didn’t you get the memo, this
place in’t for you anymore. Get
down to the Southside where you
belong, nigger.

Dude Three viciously wails on Anthony..

CUT TO:

EXT. ANTHONY’S POV, CHAIN RESTAURANT PARKING LOT. NIGHT

Dude One cracks Anthony right over the head. A brief

flash of blurry, and then black. Back to blurry.
7/7/18 35.

EXT. CHAIN RESTAURANT PARKING LOT. NIGHT

A shadowy hook-wielding figure stands in the reflection

of a restaurant window across the street from the parking
lot. If the reflection is accurate, This figure would be
standing behind Anthony. Anthony’s beaten body is
crumpled on the pavement.

Brianna squints on the screen - she glimpses the figure

before Anthony does.

BRIANNA
Is there someone else there? Who
the hell is that?

EXT. ANTHONY’S POV, CHAIN RESTAURANT PARKING LOT

Very blurry.

DUDE ONE
Yo man, you fucked with the wrong--

A hook tears Dude One’s face off.

EXT. CHAIN RESTAURANT PARKING LOT

Candyman, shrouded in shadows, floats towards Dude Two,

hook sharp as hell, extended and slick with blood.

EXT. ANTHONY’S POV, CHAIN RESTAURANT PARKING LOT

We hear the dull grunting of Dude Two and Dude Three as

they are disemboweled off screen. The corpse of Dude
Three tumbles lifelessly across Anthony’s legs.
Candyman, face cloaked in shadow, strides into frame, the
voice is distorted:

CANDYMAN
I won’t harm you. I’m to be your
victim.

CUT TO BLACK

The Buzzing crescendos in the darkness.

7/7/18 36.

INT. HOSPITAL ROOM, NIGHT

Fade up under the fluorescents. The buzzing gives way to

the melodic beeping of machines and carts being pushed
down the hallway. We pan over from the Helen photo,
which is suddenly flipped face down by a hand with a
banging manicure. Brianna hates that photo. She is
sitting at the side of Anthony’s bed. He’s cleaned up,
but bandaged and bruised. His right arm is bound
together by a fresh white cast.

Anthony comes to. Brianna fights tears.

BRIANNA
Baby.

ANTHONY
Yeah, I’m just thirsty. What
happened?

Brianna brings a styrofoam cup of water to his dry lips.

BRIANNA
I was hoping you could tell us.

CUT TO:

INT. HOSPITAL OFFICE

Anthony and Brianna are seated across from HOSPITAL

ADMINISTRATOR COLLINS (45) and DETECTIVE LIPEZ (35.)
Collins is a worried-looking woman who has seen some shit
in her day. Lipez, pounding an iced-coffee, is probably
too handsome for his own good.

COLLINS
When we brought you in, you were
unconscious. You had sustained a
concussion and multiple fractures
on the back of your head and
spine. While not superficial, we
don’t expect any lasting side
effects once they heal. But most
critically, your right arm and
hand were broken pretty badly.
We’ve done multiple surgeries to
reconnect the nerves.

ANTHONY
What does that mean?

(CONTINUED)
7/7/18 37.
CONTINUED:

COLLINS
We have to wait and see.

Anthony takes this news hard. It’s his painting hand.

LIPEZ
This can’t wait.

Lipez drops a manilla folder on the desk in front of

Anthony. The contents are a one-page crime report and
grizzly crime scene photos of the three dead guys, mostly
impaled.

ANTHONY
Jesus.

LIPEZ
You’re Anthony McCoy?

ANTHONY
Yes.

LIPEZ
Three men murdered on the Gold
Coast. Puncture wounds are highly
atypical, and we still haven’t
determined the weapon used.

ANTHONY
I think it was a hook.

Collins and Lipez share a worried look. Brianna takes it

in with a pokerface.

LIPEZ
Let me guess, that must make you
Peter Pan and this is Wendy?

BRIANNA
I’m sorry?

Ignoring her:

LIPEZ
For some reason the killers left
you alive, so I’m trying to figure
out why.

ANTHONY
He fucking saved my life, man.

LIPEZ
He? Who is he?

(CONTINUED)
7/7/18 38.
CONTINUED: (2)

ANTHONY
I don’t know. I didn’t see his
face.

Brianna holds her tongue. She saw him too. Or thinks

she did...

LIPEZ
You seem like a nice guy, a smart
guy. You don’t have to go down
for him.

ANTHONY
“Go down” for him. I just told
you, they were going to kill me.
Dude came outta no where....

LIPEZ
But, why were they? You expect me
to believe these guys just picked
you out for no reason, and
targeted you for a murder? These
were good kids; college kids.

ANTHONY
I didn’t do shit to them.

Leans in.

LIPEZ (CONT’D)
Who was he?

Anthony shuts down.

Lipez stands up, pissed.

LIPEZ
I got three dead men who are never
going to see their families again,
and somehow you live to see
another day. Meanwhile, my
officers scrape you off the
pavement still drawing breath? You
need to stop protecting your boy
and give him up. Otherwise you
might be the guy in trouble. You
understand what I’m telling you?

Anthony can’t really explain any of it.

(CONTINUED)
7/7/18 39.
CONTINUED: (3)

BRIANNA
OK, OK, OK. What’s your name
again?

LIPEZ
Detective Lipez.

BRIANNA
I’m gonna call you asshole.
Asshole, I saw the goddamn thing
on video. I’m a witness. Anthony
was beaten by some white boys.

LIPEZ
Did you see anything else, lady?

BRIANNA
What does it matter, asshole?
I’ve filled out an affidavit. But
for some reason none of it makes
it into your shitty little report,
right?

Lipez is stunned.

CUT TO:

EXT. HOSPITAL, DAY

It’s raining. Anthony tries to keep up with a fuming

Brianna as he limps along towards the car with the help
of a crutch. His casted right arm is drawn up in a
sling. Brianna is holding a formidable umbrella.

BRIANNA
(Yelling back at the cops)
Asshole!

INT. BRIANNA’S CAR

Knowing better than to drive angry, Brianna steadies her

breathing before starting the engine. Once again, their
eyes meet in the rearview mirror. This time it isn’t
funny.

BRIANNA
What were you doing there in the
first place?

ANTHONY
I was at Starbucks.

(CONTINUED)
7/7/18 40.
CONTINUED:

BRIANNA
Why didn’t you answer my call?

ANTHONY
I did.

BRIANNA
You answered my facetime, but not
my call before that.

ANTHONY
Are you serious right now?

BRIANNA
Yes. Were you with somebody?

ANTHONY
I found the painting.

BRIANNA
What painting?

ANTHONY
The one of the woman. Helen. It’s
in a tunnel underneath a pawn
shop.

BRIANNA
A tunnel? Anthony, what’s wrong
with you--?

Anthony has no answer. Brianna’s face goes dark. She’s

over it. She drives them home. Close-up on Anthony’s face
in the rearview.

DISSOLVE TO:

Anthony’s face, less swollen.

BRIANNA’S APARTMENT, ANTHONY’S STUDIO, A WEEK LATER.

He’s in his studio, deep in concentration, painting

furiously on a small canvas with his casted hand and
sucking on a candy. Chance the Rapper’s BLESSINGS is
playing in the background. Brianna enters the front
door, and throws her keys on the table. She’s got a
pizza. He breaks focus for a second and they share a
kiss. She squints at the canvas.

BRIANNA
Are you painting?

(CONTINUED)
7/7/18 41.
CONTINUED:

He abruptly turns the canvas around.

ANTHONY
It’s not done!

BRIANNA
Your hand.

ANTHONY
You know working with my left hand
is kind of liberating. I have none
of the muscle memory, so it’s all
new. Nothing to fall back on.

BRIANNA
I wanna see.

ANTHONY
Hell no.

Brianna concedes. She’s happy he’s happy.

BRIANNA
Okay... Well good.

ANTHONY
I’m just glad to be working again.
I think I’m ready...

BRIANNA
Yeah?

ANTHONY
I’m gonna send in the tape; get
back to school.

BRIANNA
Baby, that’s amazing.

ANTHONY
I was stuck on the wrong things.
Worried about my work being
important, when I should have been
worried about being happy. I sent
myself on that wild goose chase
for that stupid painting like it
was going to solve all my
problems. But I just had to get
back to basics. Do what’s in my
heart, you know?

Brianna’s getting turned on by his new sense of purpose.

(CONTINUED)
7/7/18 42.
CONTINUED: (2)

BRIANNA
You didn’t need the ruby slippers
after all, Dorothy. It was in you
the whole time.

Anthony getting turned on by her playfulness.

ANTHONY
You the good witch of the east?

BRIANNA
If I don’t eat something now,
you’ll see which witch I am.

ANTHONY
Which Witch.

Brianna sits down, happy but a little serious.

BRIANNA
I got good news, A. Just spoke to
the attorney’s office and it looks
like they aren’t going to file any
charges.

ANTHONY
Well that’s good because I didn’t
do shit.

BRIANNA
I know, but now they know too.

ANTHONY
Excuse me if I don’t applaud for
the fucking police not sending me
to jail for getting my ass beat.

BRIANNA
I’m just glad that’s behind us
baby. Lets eat this Rosati’s, I
am starving. You wanna watch a
movie?

He doesn’t share her enthusiasm.

ANTHONY
Did they find him?

BRIANNA
Who?

ANTHONY
Hook-guy?

(CONTINUED)
7/7/18 43.
CONTINUED: (3)

BRIANNA
I don’t know babe. We just don’t
have any hard evidence. No foot
prints, no signs that anyone else
was there.

Anthony’s face drops.

ANTHONY
Seemed like he was floating.

BRIANNA
I’m going to pretend you didn’t
say that.

ANTHONY
I’m sorry about all this. I just
want everything to go back to
normal.

BRIANNA
Don’t be sorry, Anthony. I love
you.

They share a smile. Brianna takes out a slice of pizza

and flips it upside down and takes a bite.

ANTHONY
Oh lord.

BRIANNA
I know you love how I eat pizza.
Gotta flip that shit over to get
that cheese working on the taste
buds.

ANTHONY
Now that looks crazy.

CUT TO:

BRIANNA’S APARTMENT, KITCHEN, HOURS LATER.

The pizza box is flipped open and empty on the table

beside a few open bottles of wine, a bottle of hot sauce
and a bear-shaped honey container. Anthony and Brianna
are passed out on the couch in the background. The
camera creeps slowly across this tableau and down the
hallway.

(CONTINUED)
7/7/18 44.
CONTINUED:

The light in the bathroom at the end of the hall flickers

on, revealing SOMETHING...A SHADOWY FACE?....for a split
second in the mirror.

HARD CUT TO:

THE BATHROOM, BRIANNA’S APARTMENT

Anthony is standing in front of the mirror, breathing

hard. Anthony tries to scream, but no sound comes out.
He’s paralyzed in place. We hear a distorted, all-
encompassing whispering voice:

VOICE
Anthony.... Anthony...

Anthony’s expression turns to fear. Suddenly face

contorts with pain, as he watches a hook pierces through
his abdomen. Bees begin to swarm out of his wound and
into the bathroom. His eyes roll into the back of his
head as he’s enveloped by the swarm.

CUT TO:

INT. BRIANNA’S APARTMENT, LIVING ROOM, MORNING.

Cheerful morning sun soaks the room in the daylight.

Brianna is passed out in the same position from the night
before, Anthony is nowhere to be found. His cellphone
rings. Eventually, it wakes her, and she picks it up.

BRIANNA
Hello...? No this is his
girlfriend.... What?

MOMENTS LATER...

BRIANNA (CONT’D)
Anthony! Anthony???!!

She walks down the hall, the bathroom looks quite normal,
she turns into the bedroom and Anthony is face down on
the bed.

BRIANNA (CONT’D)
Wake up! Wake up!

He doesn’t move.

BRIANNA (CONT’D)
Anthony wake up!!!

(CONTINUED)
7/7/18 45.
CONTINUED:

Is he...?

ANTHONY
Jesus, what’s happening?

BRIANNA
It’s your mom. Something’s wrong.

CUT TO:

INT. ROSE ESTATES, UPSTAIRS HALLWAY

Three EXTERMINATORS in full beekeeper’s outfits carry

canisters of insecticide down the hall. We follow behind
them until they stop at Anne’s open door. They look
inside, in horror.

CUT TO:

INT. ROSE ESTATES, ANNE’S APARTMENT

It’s swarming with bees. Seemingly every surface is

crawling with them. There is blood visible on the white
fabrics. The three men enter the room and examine the
scene.

EXTERMINATOR #1
Dispatch wasn’t joking. Fuck I’ve
never seen anything like this
around here.

EXTERMINATOR #2
Right there.

He points up to the vent near the ceiling.

EXTERMINATOR #1
OK, let’s do this.

The three men spray the grate with thick plumes of

insecticide, and the room fills with fog. The camera
dollies to the window and tilts down to the street below.
An exterminator’s truck is flanked by three police cars
and two ambulances. Several first responders try to
mollify a worried gaggle of bath-robed elderly residents.
Brianna’s car pulls into frame.

CUT TO:
7/7/18 46.

EXT. ROSE ESTATES, STREET (CONTINUOUS)

It’s raining hard. Brianna pops open her formidable

umbrella again. She exits the car with Anthony and the
two run over to an idling ambulance, where two EMT’s
intercept them before they can get too close.

ANTHONY
Where is she?

EMT #1
Ma’am, I’m sorry I need you to
stand back. This area needs to
remain clear at this time.

BRIANNA
He’s the son...

As Brianna gets into it with the EMT, Anthony approaches

the back of the ambulance where he sees a bodybag being
zipped up and loaded into an ambulance.

ANTHONY
No...

He’s about to lose it when he notices other first

responders working on a motionless woman. It’s Anne.
She’s so badly stung that her entire body is swollen
nearly beyond recognition. The EMTs tense up defensively
until they hear...

ANTHONY
Mom?

The EMTs give them a little space. Anne’s voice is

garbled and fluid, she’s barely breathing.

ANNE
Anthony.

ANTHONY
You’re going to be ok.

ANNE
He finally came back for me.

ANTHONY
Who did? Who did this to you, mom?

ANNE
The Candyman.

(CONTINUED)
7/7/18 47.
CONTINUED:

EMT #2
Sir, we need to attend to her.
Please stand back.

ANTHONY
Mom!

The EMT turns to the other medical professionals.

EMT #2 (CONT’D)
I need another cortisone shot down
here. We need to move people!

Anthony staggers backwards as his mother is loaded into

the ambulance. Brianna puts her arm around him.

BRIANNA
It’s going to be OK.

She notices something on his arm...she whispers...

BRIANNA (CONT’D)
Are those bee stings?

Before he can answer, Detective Lipez steps into frame.

Brianna’s blood boils, but Anthony is nearly catatonic.

LIPEZ
Mister McCoy, you’re under arrest.

BRIANN
What the fuck...?

Two other officers surround Anthony and handcuff him.

LIPEZ
You have the right to remain
silent...

BRIANNA
What’s the charge?

LIPEZ
The fuck you think...? Time to go
home.

CUT TO:
7/7/18 48.

EXT. POLICE STATION, DUSK

The street is cold and windy. The sky has faded from the
pale bright blue of the morning to a merciless dark flat
grey.

LIPEZ (O.S.)
At approximately 2:45 AM, somebody
forced open the front door to the
retirement community knows as the
Rose Estates. The perpetrator
then appears to have punctured the
on-duty guard, a Mister Bernard
Foster, through the back with a
large sharp object. That’s the
beginning of the blood trail.

CUT TO:

INT. POLICE STATION, INTERROGATION ROOM, CONTINUOUS

LIPEZ (CONT’D)
As Foster was bleeding out, the
assailant entered the elevator and
took it up to the fourth floor.

Lipez takes a long sip of coffee. Another officer, SGT.

TURNER, is leaning against the corner behind him.
Anthony sits across from Lipez, handcuffed to the chair.
His look is enigmatic - almost defiant.

LIPEZ (CONT’D)
He stopped at apartment 407.

He waits for a reaction. Doesn’t get one.

LIPEZ (CONT’D)
That’s your mother’s apartment,
Anthony. The assailant
...SOMEHOW... had access to the
key for that apartment. Only
three of those keys as far as I
can tell. One was on the keychain
of a man who was just murdered,
another was inside the apartment.
We’ll get back to that third key.
The perpetrator then entered the
apartment while Anne Marie McCoy
slept. She’s a deep-sleeper too,
huh, Anthony? And with the amount
of pills she had at her bedside.
(MORE)

(CONTINUED)
7/7/18 49.
CONTINUED:
LIPEZ (CONT’D)
Damn. I wouldn’t let my mom get
that far in the bag at her age.

He waits again for a reaction. Did Anthony’s lip quiver

a little that time?

LIPEZ (CONT’D)
Using that same, now blood-soaked,
instrument from before...The hook,
remember? The perpetrator then
jimmies out a ventilation panel on
the wall. And what do you think
was inside? It was a bees nest of
extraordinary size.

TURNER
The species of bees isn’t even
indigenous to this area.

LIPEZ
Nope. These were killer bees,
Anthony. Africanized You don’t see
them in Chicago very often do you?
What do you think, Turner?

TURNER
I think some psychopath brought
them there.

CUT TO:

INT. BRIANNA’S APARTMENT, LIVING ROOM

Brianna attempts to distract herself with the television.

Tonight Chitty Chitty Bang Bang isn’t holding her
interest, and she turns it off right in middle of the
Child Chaser scene. Brianna eyes the shut door to
Anthony’s studio. It pains her to open it, but she does
anyway.

INT. BRIANNA’S APARTMENT, ANTHONY’S STUDIO

Brianna mournfully peruses the belongings of her

boyfriend. He was always tidy, but not exactly
organized. She finds sketches of nooses, of course. She
breaks her gaze and it lands on Anthony’s computer. She
flips it on, and sees he ‘s been editing a video. She
presses play. It’s Anthony’s application.

On the camera monitor.

(CONTINUED)
7/7/18 50.
CONTINUED:

ANTHONY (ON TAPE)

Hello, my name is Anthony McCoy,
and please accept this grant
proposal as a bid for ...ya money
bitches!

Brianna almost smiles. It was fun to see him smile.

CUT TO:

INT. INTERROGATION ROOM

Lipez continues...

LIPEZ
Then, the assailant proceeded to
destroy the hive which released a
swarm of very pissed off bees,
very fucking deadly bees, into the
room.

ANTHONY
OK, I get it.

LIPEZ
I know you do, but I’m not done.
At that time the assailant
produced a ...a ...I’m sorry this
next part is so fucking sick I
almost want to laugh. The
assailant produced a squirt bottle
of honey and proceeded to douse
Mrs. McCoy’s prone body with it’s
contents amid that cloud of
africanized killer bees. And
then? He left. Just walked out,
and closed the door behind him.

ANTHONY
It wasn’t me.

LIPEZ
But you left ...and me and the
boys debated it ...and we all
agreed: You left the biggest no-
doubter of all time.

Turner tosses Lipez an evidence bag. It’s THE BLOODY

HOOK. Lipez slams it on the table.

(CONTINUED)
7/7/18 51.
CONTINUED:

LIPEZ (CONT’D)
Look familiar? Matches the
weapon used on the three guys you
hacked apart last time we saw each
other. Fuck you even told me it
was hook then.

The door to the room slams open, and in walks attorney

JAKE TARVER (35).

TARVER
Don’t say another word to them,
Anthony. What’s the charge,
Lipez?

LIPEZ
One counts of murder in the first
degree and one count of attempted
murder in the first degree. And
we’ve matched the same weapon to
three other murders at which Mr.
McCoy was found at the scene of
the crime. Hell we might end up
rounding it up to an even five for
murder one if Mrs. McCoy doesn’t
pull through.

TARVER
Can I consult with my client?

LIPEZ
Of course. Come on, Turner.

They leave. Tarver takes Lipez’s seat across the table

from Anthony.

CUT TO:

INT. BRIANNA'S APARTMENT. NIGHT

Briana continues to watch the video.

ANTHONY (ON TAPE CONT’D)

...While I realize that up to now
my previous paintings have dealt
more directly with the
problematics of systemic racism,
I’m changing it up a bit. I...
Fuck it.

(CONTINUED)
7/7/18 52.
CONTINUED:

The clip changes to a new video. It’s Anthony and Brianna

the other night, when she caught him saying “Candyman” in
the bathroom.

ANTHONY (ON TAPE)

Candyman... Candyman...

BRIANNA (ON TAPE)

What?

As the video plays Brianna, in the present, looks around

the room.

ANTHONY (ON TAPE)

...Candyman...

ANTHONY (ON TAPE)

...Candyman..

BRIANNA (ON TAPE)

Oh, Hell no!

On the tape Anthony laughs.

Brianna continues to turns the room upside down looking

for something. She says out loud, trying to convince
herself...

BRIANNA
I told you that shit was fake.
Candyman.

ANTHONY (ON TAPE)

Got you.

BRIANNA (ON TAPE)

Got me? You’re too chicken to do
it anyway.

ANTHONY (ON TAPE)

Yeah?

BRIANNA (ON TAPE)

Yeah.

ANTHONY (ON TAPE)

Watch me.

BRIANNA (ON TAPE)

Thought so.

(CONTINUED)
7/7/18 53.
CONTINUED: (2)

BRIANNA (ON TAPE)

Now get that cute ass out here.

ANTHONY (ON TAPE)

I’ll be right out.

On the video Anthony looks deeper into the mirror after

she leaves.

Silence on the tape.

In the real world, Brianna finally finds what she’s been

looking for. The canvas covered with a sheet.

INT. INTERROGATION ROOM. NIGHT

Tarver has opened a briefcase, and is sweatily shuffling

through reams of documents. He notices the

TARVER
OK. So the good news is the
forensic evidence only
tangentially links you to the
murder at this point, but we don’t
know if they have surveillance
footage. But based on the
circumstantial evidence alone they
have cause enough to hold you
here.

ANTHONY
I didn’t do it.

TARVER
I see. Mister McCoy, I need you
to be honest with me for your own
good. Have you ever been treated
for any psychological problems?

ANTHONY
No. Yes. When I was a kid, I was
afraid of fire. Matches, stovetop
burners made me cry. My mom put me
in counseling for that.

TARVER
We may need to put in for an
insanity defense, Anthony. I need
to know what happened.
(MORE)

(CONTINUED)
7/7/18 54.
CONTINUED:
TARVER (CONT'D)
You have to tell me what you know
for your own sake.

Anthony grows distant. He’s being sold down the river.

ANTHONY
You wanna know what I think?

TARVER
Hey. I’m here to help you.
Understand? If you wanna play
games, I’ll let ‘em do what
they’re gonna do.

ANTHONY
Can I have one of those?

He gestures to a small sucking candy on the desk. Tarver

unwraps it and Anthony pops it into his mouth with his
uncuffed, uncasted hand. He relaxes.

ANTHONY (CONT’D)
Here’s what I think. There’s a
demon named Candyman...

INT. BRIANNA'S APARTMENT. NIGHT

Brianna stands in front of the covered canvas. She pulls

the sheet off to find... The canvas is bare. She’s
puzzled. What the fuck?

Just as she resigns. Anthony’s voice starts back on the

tape.

ANTHONY (ON TAPE)

Helen...

Brianna, confused, goes to the computer. Anthony is still

close to the mirror. He whispers.

ANTHONY (ON TAPE)

...Helen...

Brianna in horror looks up. Another sheet hangs on the

studio wall.

ANTHONY (ON TAPE)

...Helen...

She approaches the hanging sheet afraid of what’s

underneath.

(CONTINUED)
7/7/18 55.
CONTINUED:

ANTHONY
...Helen...

Brianna reaches up...

ANTHONY
......Helen.

Brianna pulls the sheet down revealing Anthony’s

masterpiece. It’s a crazy mural recreating the portrait
of Helen!

INT. INTERROGATION ROOM. NIGHT

Tarver opens his mouth to speak and his eyes go wide. The
lights flicker again. Tarver grunts. Behind him, Helen
appears draped in Candyman’s trademark fur lined coat,
unseaming him from the back. She is burnt from head to
toe; hair barely there. Blood pours out of Tarver’s
mouth. Anthony screams.

CUT TO:

INT. OUTSIDE THE INTERROGATION ROOM. NIGHT

Nothing audible through the soundproof door. The lights

continue to flicker.

CUT TO:

INT. INTERROGATION ROOM. NIGHT

The lights are out. The room is illuminated solely by

the red glow of exit signs, and their reflection off the
blood covering the floor. The husk formerly known as
Tarver is slumped over in his chair.

Helen stands beside her victim, head slightly cocked.

Anthony is in a daze now. His piss meets and mingles the
blood around his white and red Jordan V’s. He is
abjection personified.

Helen reaches out slowly with a cold white hand, and

removes the candy from Anthony’s mouth.

HELEN
Anthony.... Anthony....

(CONTINUED)
7/7/18 56.
CONTINUED:

She places it in her mouth, mimicking some macabre

version of seduction.

ANTHONY
What the fuck?

HELEN
I’ll try to not let that hurt my
feelings.

ANTHONY
Candyman....

HELEN
You didn’t call him. You called
me, Anthony.

ANTHONY
I didn’t... mean to.

HELEN
It’s my turn, Anthony. He’s gone
now, but he will return. Until
then, let me be your victim.

A loud, blaring alarm pierces the quiet.

ANTHONY
What do you mean? No. No.

Helen raises the hook high above her head and brings it
down fast. At the moment of impact...

CUT TO:

INT. OUTSIDE THE INTERROGATION ROOM

Still a dark, long hallway. The alarm blares on. Turner

approaches, puts his key in the lock and turns the knob.
The door slams open, knocking him unconscious to the
floor. Helen drags an equally unconscious Anthony out
into the hall. The sounds of scrambling police cut
through the siren, echoing through the building. Helen,
holding Anthony, HIS HAND CUT OFF AT THE FOREARM, turns
toward camera, and then abruptly ROCKETS BACKWARDS
THROUGH THE AIR WITH HIM IN TOW. They crash through a
window to the outside at the end of the hallway. The
moment they’ve left the building, the lights click back
on. Turner staggers to his feet and looks into the
interrogation room.

(CONTINUED)
7/7/18 57.
CONTINUED:

TURNER
Jesus Christ.

CUT TO:

EXT. CHICAGO AT NIGHT

Black clouds of bees swirl above the city like the

murmurations of starlings.

CUT TO:

EXT. PURCELL’S, NIGHT

The street is quiet. The camera slowly dollies in

through the tarp draped over the now-shattered window.
It glides past Leonard’s desk and to the back of the
store. The door to the basement is ajar, and we float
down the stairs and into the furniture graveyard of a
room below. We pass the full-length mirrors, now
shattered, and the stacks of artworks. The sounds of
ANTHONY SCREAMING IN PAIN echo faintly in the background.
Into the dank bathroom, and down through the trap door
into the impossible darkness.

DISSOLVE TO:

INT. DIVE BAR

Lorraine is eating cheese fries again that same booth.

Across from her are Brianna and Jim.

BRIANNA
Thanks for meeting us.

LORRAINE
No worries. That’s your new man?

Awkward.

BRIANNA
It’s not like that. He’s Anthony’s
friend.

JIM
One hundred percent single.

(CONTINUED)
7/7/18 58.
CONTINUED:

LORRAINE
Ok, whatever. So where’s the last
dude?

BRIANNA
That’s kind of what we’re trying
to figure out. He disappeared from
the police station a few days ago.

Brianna leans in to whisper, embarrassed:

BRIANNA
Last time we met, you were telling
us about Helen.

LORRAINE
Yeah. That’s right.

BRIANNA
I was wondering if...

Brianna realizes she sounds crazy. She tries to remain

hush.

BRIANNA
If you heard of anybody summoning
her like you would summon
Candyman.

JIM
Wait, what?

Lorraine thinks.

LORRAINE
Yeah, I heard something like that.
I think her husband got it shortly
after she died. I think he was
fuckin’ around on her or
something. Cut his dick off and
shit.

JIM
Oh shit!

LORRAINE
Kinda cool actually. The girl he
was fuckin’ got thrown away for it
I think, but there is that double
dutch song.

BRIANNA
What song?

(CONTINUED)
7/7/18 59.
CONTINUED: (2)

LORRAINE
“1-2-3-4-5, Helen’s back but not
alive. 6-7-8-9-10, You’ll get
hooked by her again. She burnt;
she sick...”

JIM
“Cheat on her she’ll cut your
dick.” Hey I know that one!

BRIANNA
Great. Got it. So that’s it? She
kills unfaithful dudes?

LORRAINE
I don’t know.

BRIANNA
I swear to God, if Anthony was
cheating on me, he better hope I
don’t find him.

JIM
Relax, Brianna. There’s no way.
Trust me. He loves you.

BRIANNA
Alright.

JIM
I just don’t understand how a guy
gets kidnapped from a police
station.

LORRAINE
Wait. What happened?

BRIANNA
Nothing. Look, if Helen was back,
Or someone who believed she was
Helen, where would do you find
her?

LORRAINE
In the mirror.

BRIANNA
Besides the mirror.

LORRAINE
I don’t know. Wait, are y’all
writing a book or something?
(MORE)

(CONTINUED)
7/7/18 60.
CONTINUED: (3)
LORRAINE (CONT'D)
‘Cause if so, I want a piece...

CUT TO:

EXT. STREETS OF CHICAGO. DAY

Brianna and Jim are walking, slightly dazed.

JIM
Yo. Where’s this going?

BRIANNA
What do you mean?

JIM
We’re out here doing the Chicago
ghost tour, and what? You think we
gonna do some seance and find
Anthony?

BRIANNA
No. I don’t know. Look, I think if
we follow the pieces, we might be
able to figure out where he went.

JIM
I lost it, Bri. He could’ve thrown
himself off into the lake or ran
to Indiana.

BRIANNA
I can’t give up.

JIM
So what? You find him, then what?
What do you do?

BRIANNA
Look, I know what your saying. I
need closure at least, okay?

JIM
What if..? What if he did murder
those people.

BRIANNA
No. It didn’t happen that way.
Anthony is gentle. He is a good
person.

(CONTINUED)
7/7/18 61.
CONTINUED:

JIM
OK, so who did it?

No response.

JIM (CONT’D)
Come on, Bri. You can’t really
think that.

BRIANNA
We’re here.

Briana stops in front of the hospital.

JIM
What? What are we doing here?

BRIANNA
One more stop.

INT. HOSPITAL ROOM. INT

Brianna and Jim sit there. Anna is in the bed all kinds
of swollen and bandaged. She wheezes looking straight up.
Catatonic.

BRIANNA
I’m sorry Anthony never introduced
us. I asked him to many times.

Anna just wheezes.

BRIANNA
I was curious if you knew where he
might’ve gone. An uncle, a
friend’s house... I’ve been
racking my brain. All I know is he
was obsessed with this woman named
Helen...

Nothing. Anna just wheezes.

JIM
Should probably let her rest.

Brianna quietly agrees. Brianna gets up to leave. Anna

eyes open wide.

DISSOLVE TO:
7/7/18 62.

INT. HELEN’S BASEMENT

A dank cavern beneath the city, Helen’s lair is now

adorned with the glass of a thousand shattered mirrors.
Some hang from the ceiling dangled by rope, others lean
against the slick stone walls. This is HELEN’S TRAIL OF
BROKEN MIRRORS, and it bends around corners and into the
distance, somehow bouncing sunlight around from a spot of
daylight far out of sight. The furnishings in this area
are few. A table and chairs pilfered from the streets.
Some rugs cover the floor, overlapping at odd angles.

Anthony sits unconscious in a PLASTIC-COVERED LOVESEAT,

across from him Helen sits smoking a cigarette in a
DETACHED BATHTUB.

She wears a roughly torn piece of canvas with a face

painted on it. The same face from the painting, now
crudely-fashioned into a mask. The canvas “mask” is tied
to her head with a bright red ribbon. Her hair has been
burnt away and her head is covered in scars. This is
HELEN. She smiles.

HELEN
Anthony... Wake.

Anthony jolts awake, gasping abruptly like a man who

hadn’t taken a breath in far too long. His eyes strain
to adjust to the darkness and disorientation.

HELEN (CONT’D)
Hi.

ANTHONY
What do you want?

HELEN
I want to dance, my love.

ANTHONY
Let me go. I wanna go home.

Anthony tries to push himself to his feet. He crumples in

pain. He makes a terrifying revelation...

ANTHONY
My hand! Oh god, my fucking hand.

It’s a stump, wrapped crudely in crimson-soaked bandages.

HELEN
A small price to pay for your
life, Anthony.

(CONTINUED)
7/7/18 63.
CONTINUED:

ANTHONY
I... need a doctor.

HELEN
You should know by now that I’d
never let you die before your
time.

ANTHONY
What you’re talking about?

HELEN
I saved you from the men on the
street.

HARD CUT TO:

FLASHBACK: EXT. CHICAGO STREET

The scene outside the coffee shop. We get another look

at who we thought was Candyman.

We see now that it was Helen, dressed like him. Holding

his hook. The coat drags as her feet hover a foot off the
ground.

PRESENT DAY...

HARD CUT TO:

INT. HELEN’S BASEMENT. NIGHT

Helen gets closer to Anthony.

ANTHONY
That was you? I thought...

HELEN
I wear his coat, Anthony.

ANTHONY
Ok. So... thank you.

HELEN
I saved you from the station. They
would’ve killed you for what we
did.

FLASH BACK...
7/7/18 64.

INT. POLICE STATION WAITING AREA. NIGHT

As officers run down the hall past a window, Helen pulls

an unconscious Anthony up and out of it.

ANTHONY
And the third...? What was the
third time you saved my life?

Somehow he kind of knows...

INT. HOSPITAL ROOM. DAY

Brianna is about to leave. She turns.

BRIANNA
Anyway, I just wanted you to know
someone is looking for him...

Before she can exit, Anna speaks.

ANNA
Did Anthony ever tell you we used
to live in Cabrini Green when he
was a baby...?

INT. HELEN'S BASEMENT. DAY

Helen and Anthony face each other.

HELEN
Do you remember?

HARD CUT TO:

INT. HOSPITAL ROOM. DAY

Brianna approaches Anna in her bed.

ANNA
...For a while, after he was
kidnapped, they tried to tell me
he was dead. But I knew better. I
knew my Baby was still alive.

HARD CUT TO:

7/7/18 65.

INT. HELEN’S BASEMENT

Anthony’s tear-streaked face, remembering something.

HELEN
You do you remember the flames?
You and I in the bonfire. So
young then.

ANTHONY
I ...you tried to burn me to
death.

HELEN
Memories are just stories. The
truth is the version you believe.

HARD CUT TO:

FLASHBACK EXT. CABRINI GREEN COURTYARD, NIGHT

We cut wide from the crying baby, to see that he’s being
held by Candyman (Tony Todd) who walks him through to the
center of a giant pile of courtyard debris. It’s to be a
bonfire, but it hasn’t been lit yet. They sit surrounded
by junk on all sides. Candyman leans in close and speaks
to the child.

CANDYMAN
Innocent blood must be spilled.
But it need not be yours. She
will come for you and take your
place. Tonight we will write a
new story, so that I may live
forever.

We see the bonfire-pile from the courtyard. Slowly

residents are gathering around. A few approach slowly.

CABRINI RESIDENT #1
Yo man, this kid says he seen
Candyman in there.

CABRINI RESIDENT #2
Says he seen the hook rooting
around.

CABRINI RESIDENT #3
I don’t see shit man.

(CONTINUED)
7/7/18 66.
CONTINUED:

CABRINI RESIDENT #1
If this kid says he seen it, he
fucking seen it.

CABRINI RESIDENT #2
What the hell you wanna do about
it?

Back inside the bonfire pile, Candyman looks up, alerted

by the sound of someone else in the pile. He speaks in a
whisper, this time not to the baby, but to someone else
who isn’t quite there yet...

CANDYMAN
Helen. Hellleeeennn. Come to me.

The baby is crying hysterically. Candyman is gone.

Outside the bonfire pile, residents are dousing it in

gasoline. Others are approaching with lit torches.

Inside the bonfire, the baby cries as TWO HANDS appear

from offscreen, cradling it gently, lifting it from the
detritus and out of frame.

Back to the wide shot, we see the bonfire begin to go up

in flames.

INT. HOSPITAL ROOM. DAY

Brianna sits again with Anna.

ANNA
I thought it was her who did it.
Helen Lyle she had done it but it
wasn’t her. It was him who kept
him in an abandoned room of
Cabrini. It was a shrine to
Candyman. Until the day of the
Bonfire...

BRIANNA
A shrine...

This jogs Brianna’s memory.

ANNA
She died saving my son. The story
change over time, They said she
was crazy, but I’ve known the
truth. I was there. It was
Candyman that did it.

(CONTINUED)
7/7/18 67.
CONTINUED:

Brianna’s suspicions, however impossible, feel justified

in a way that she hadn’t allowed until now.

DISSOLVE TO:

INT. HELEN’S BASEMENT

Anthony frantically puts together the fragments of a

memory he never knew he had.

ANTHONY
What do you plan to do to me?

HELEN
Candyman exists only if we beleive
he’s real. Thirty years ago I
tried to erase him, tried to
explain him away.

ANTHONY
To stop him?

HELEN
I’m an academic, Anthony. I
thought I was exposing a lie, a
legend. I treated him like a
chapter in a book of Fairy Tales.
From where I was sitting, it was
simple. The legend of Candyman
was something to be cataloged,
studied, put into cultural
context. I’d say that he was a
symptom of a violent world ...not
the cause.

ANTHONY
You were researching him, like I
was researching you.

HELEN
Yes, but.

Anthony sees what they have in common...

ANTHONY
You took risks. People got hurt.
You were too obsessed for it to be
explained away by simple academic
curiosity.

(CONTINUED)
7/7/18 68.
CONTINUED:

HELEN
We’d met before. We were destined
to be together through many lives.

ANTHONY
And now he’s gone...

HELEN (CONT’D)
Not for long, Anthony.

She stands brandishing the hook.

ANTHONY
What are you doing...

Something with the blunt side of the hook?

HELEN
Yours is a blessed condition.

She approaches (what is she doing?) Tight on Helen’s

face as Anthony screams.

DISSOLVE TO:

EXT. PURCELL’S. NIGHT

Brianna stands outside.

INT. PURCELL’S. NIGHT

Brianna is browsing the store nervously. She’s here for

some answers. Unbothered by the lookie-loo, Leonard sits
at his usual perch behind the desk listening to NPR.

BRIANNA
Hey, hey.

LEONARD
Can I help you?

BRIANNA
This is a long shot, but I’m
wondering if you can help me.

LEONARD
Got just about anything you could
want here; in some fashion or
another.

(CONTINUED)
7/7/18 69.
CONTINUED:

BRIANNA
I’m looking for my boyfriend. I
think he came here last week.

LEONARD
Oh? Okay.

Brianna holds up a picture of Anthony on her phone.

LEONARD
Yeah. He was here alright.

BRIANNA
He told me he found a tunnel
underneath the shop that had some
art in it? Kind of a shrine.

LEONARD
A shrine..? No, we don’t have no
shrines under here.

BRIANNA
Really?

LEONARD
I’d know. Replaced a bunch of
piping last winter.

Brianna is confused.

BRIANNA
Damn... Would you mind if I look
around?

LEONARD
Sure. Closing up in a few minutes.

Brianna starts browsing.

BRIANNA
A guy named Jake used to work here
right?

LEONARD
Yeah that’s right. Jake was a
special dude, an old soul in a
young man’s body.

BRIANNA
I heard he passed.

(CONTINUED)
7/7/18 70.
CONTINUED: (2)

LEONARD
Yeah. Sad day. But Jake wasn’t
too much for the way things were
changing around here.

BRIANNA
How so?

LEONARD
This used to be a community. When
Cabrini Green, the Robert Taylor
homes come down, nothing else was
ever the same. And you know, some
people adjust and some people
don’t. Lord knows Jake fought
that every step of the way. He
seen some shit, that’s for sure.
And he tried to keep the old
traditions alive best he could.
But it wasn’t so easy anymore.
BBQ’s in the park catch you a
summons these days. Can’t play
your music too loud because of
ordinances and what not. No
bonfires. Didn’t fit the new
image. Jake tried to keep the old
ways alive, probably why he wanted
to work here. He believed in the
legends. The stories that made us
who we were. The stories that
don’t get told anymore.

BRIANNA
Motherfuckers...

LEONARD
Killed by the police right outside
this store. He was a little lit
up no doubt. Mouthed off,
harmless shit. Can’t do that
anymore for damn sure. Was
reaching for ID, and cops took his
wallet for a nine. Six shots,
bled out on the pavement.

BRIANNA
That’s sad.

LEONARD
Wish it wasn’t a common
occurrence.

(CONTINUED)
7/7/18 71.
CONTINUED: (3)

BRIANNA
Well. Thanks.

LEONARD
I hope you find him.

EXT. PURCELL'S. NIGHT

Brianna walks out and takes out her phone. She calls Jim.

JIM (O.S.)
Hello...

BRIANNA
Hey. I just tried Purcell’s. The
place is weird, but I think..

A hand with chloroform comes around from Brianna’s back

and held to her face. She struggles and screams but fall
asleep in a man’s arms.

JIM (O.S.)
Brianna...? Brianna...!!

CUT TO:

INT. ACCESS TUNNEL SYSTEM. NIGHT

Brianna lies motionless on the ground. After a beat, she

catches her breath and rolls over onto her back. Leonard
is down there with her. There are now shards of mirror
hanging everywhere from strings at different heights.
Leonard holds the kitchen knife and threatens her to move
forward.

LEONARD
I hear you lookin’ for Candyman,
bitch.

BRIANNA
What the fuck did you do?

LEONARD
I can’t tell you how many times I
tried to summon him, but he never
came. They built little memorials
for him... shrines I guess, hidden
all around the neighborhood, just
like this. I made this one for
her. See, it’s like a dance.
(MORE)

(CONTINUED)
7/7/18 72.
CONTINUED:
LEONARD (CONT'D)
It’s her turn right now, when
that’s over, he’ll be back. He
always comes back.

BRIANNA
You’re fucking crazy.

Leonard is wielding a GIANT KITCHEN KNIFE. He slowly

backs Brianna into the fetid bathroom.

LEONARD
Still don’t believe? The history
is real, my sister.

BRIANNA
Fuck you.

She turns and kicks Leonard in the crotch. HE WAILS

buying her a moment to break from his grasp. She runs
through THE HANGING TRAIL OF BROKEN MIRRORS at all
heights which stretch in both directions.

Leonard YELPS a taunting YELP as he follows her.

Brianna examines her surroundings trying to gauge which

way is out. She makes her way down the corridor, but the
shattered mirrors hanging from the ceiling increase in
density, cutting her and slowing her down significantly.
She winces. As the sounds of Leonard moving through the
mirrors behind her TINKLES closer she changes plan. She
moves up against a wall. She tries to silence her quick
breath as the TINKLE of Leonard pushes near. But instead
of going past, he stops. He can’t see her through them,
but somehow he knows she’s near. He speaks into the
space.

LEONARD
See, Candyman kept this community
together. When he was out there,
you’d hold your man tighter. You’d
go to bed earlier. When the city
forgets us, it’s Candyman that
reminds us that we were human. But
in order for that to happen,
innocent blood must be spilled in
his name.

Brianna thinks hard as he gets closer she looks down and

sees an old rusty bike wheel laying against the wall. She
quickly grabs it an just as Leonard approaches she rolls
it back down the hallway TINKLING GLASS as it goes.
Leonard takes the bait.

(CONTINUED)
7/7/18 73.
CONTINUED: (2)

Left without viable options, Brianna sets off, deeper

into the tunnel, delicately navigating the inverted
forest of sharp edges. Despite her best efforts the cuts
still come. And worse, it seems like the density of
broken mirrors is increasing in this direction as well.
All of a sudden she’s face to face with...

ANTHONY (O.C.)
Brianna.

BRIANNA
AAAGGHHH!!!!

Dressed in a long, thick coat, Anthony is standing right

in front her, smiling warmly. Brianna breaks down.

ANTHONY
Damn baby chill.

BRIANNA
Anthony! Where have you been?

ANTHONY
Taking some time, I guess; to get
my head together.

Brianna breaks down.

BRIANNA
That man. He attacked me.

ANTHONY
What man?

Leonard is gone.

BRIANNA
That man from the damn shop.
Parnell... Parvell... Par...

ANTHONY
Mr. Purcell?

BRIANNA
Yes, that mutherfucker! He
tryin’... Let me catch my breath.
This mutherfucker is tryin to kill
me.

ANTHONY
Why would he do that?

(CONTINUED)
7/7/18 74.
CONTINUED: (3)

BRIANNA
I don’t know.

Puzzled...

ANTHONY
That’s okay...

With that, he turns around and walks through the forest

of glass shards. It tinkles as he passes through it like
a giant, pleasant, wind chime.

BRIANNA
Anthony! Nope. Nope. You gonna
have to come over here and part
these damn shards of glass. I’m
serious. I’m cut the fuck up, and
I’m not playin’. Let’s go.

Anthony continues. Brianna pulls her hoodie tight over

her head for extra protection, and moves a little bit
faster. The broken shards catch and rend the fabric with
ease. Through the light, Brianna catches only glimpses of
a long dark coat refracted across the pieces of a
thousand mirrors. The aggregation of tiny lacerations
begins to take its toll.

BRIANNA
This mutherfucker got me walking
through shards of glass.

She suddenly emerges into a larger space. Behind her,

the dense thicket of sharp edges looms ominously. What’s
ahead of her shakes her to her core. The wall ahead is a
huge mural Of Candyman and HELEN in a fiery embrace.
Anthony stands before it, in glorious reverence. He
raises his arm brandishing THE BLOODY HOOK, now crudely
attached to the stump where his hand once was. Briana
breaks down.

ANTHONY
Come, Brianna.

BRIANNA
What did you do to yourself?

ANTHONY
It was time for a better
paintbrush.

Anthony is truly gone.

(CONTINUED)
7/7/18 75.
CONTINUED: (4)

BRIANNA
Anthony - This is fucked up.

ANTHONY
I found it. I found my
inspiration. Can you see my work?

Anthony caresses the hanging glass moving towards her.

She grabs a shard of glass off a string and brandishes
it.

BRIANNA
How do I get out of here..?!!
How...? Tell me!!!

ANTHONY
Up.

Suddenly, a knife stabs Brianna’s back she screams in

pain and doubles over on the floor. Leonard stands behind
her. Anthony looks over to him enraged.

ANTHONY (CONT’D)
What did you do?

LEONARD
Helping you, Candyman. Innocent
blood must be spilled. We need
you.

ANTHONY
I’m not Candyman.

Hook raised, Anthony strides purposefully and

threateningly towards Leonard. Leonard drops the knife
and kneels.

LEONARD
Yes. Do it. Take me. That’s how
the legend lives on. You know it
as well as I do.

Helen is standing in front of the wall behind Anthony.

HELEN
To be whispered about at street
corners; to live in other people’s
dreams....

Anthony’s face is welling with the tears and rage of a

man who has already left something behind.

(CONTINUED)
7/7/18 76.
CONTINUED: (5)

HELEN (CONT’D)
It is a blessed condition.

In one fell swoop, Anthony swings upwards, gravely

impaling Leonard between the legs. He grunts with effort
as he roughly drags the hook upwards through Leonard’s
torso. The blood spills across the floor of nooses. Candy
torn from some inner pockets of leonard’s suit tumble
across the wet ground.

Close up on Anthony, as he contemplates his new

appendage, the freshly-bloody hook. He stands stunned,
seemingly lost in grief and disorientation for a long
beat. When we cut back wide, the nooses are gone, but
the two bodies flanking him remain. He turns towards
Brianna and kneels down in front of her weeping.

ANTHONY
I’m confused. I don’t know what’s
going on. I’m so sorry about all
of this. Helen, where are you?
Help me.

He gets up and approaches the wall painting searching for

Helen. Brianna seizes the moment, picks up the knife from
the floor and levels it at Anthony. Calmly:

BRIANNA
Stay away from me.

Something moves behind the painting.

Anthony, mutilated and disoriented, bloody and broken,

looks decrepit in his oversized fur coat.

ANTHONY
She saved me, Bri.

BRIANNA
Who? Who saved you? Do you look
fucking saved, nigga?

The shadow of Helen emerges in the distance, next to her

portrait.

Brianna runs back towards the exit.

ANTHONY
Wait, Brianna!

(CONTINUED)
7/7/18 77.
CONTINUED: (6)

Anthony makes the tough decision. He leaves Helen and

runs after Brianna.

CUT TO:

EXT. PURCELL’S, STREET LEVEL, NIGHT

Brianna crawls up the ladder and into the back of the

store. She looks down as Anthony arrives at the base.

ANTHONY
Brianna!

She tries to pull the ladder up, but Anthony grabs the
other end.

ANTHONY
Wait! Why are you leaving me!

Brianna runs again.

DISSOLVE TO:

HARD CUT TO:

CUT TO:

EXT. ALLEYWAY NEAR PURCELL’S, NIGHT

Brianna bursts out the back door into an alleyway. Just

then she’s shot in the side. She falls again.

Two police officers, Smith (45) and Jones (45) stand

there looking caught off guard. They rush her and kick
the knife away.

JONES
Oh shit!

SMITH
Dispatch this is 78. We have
shots fired, suspect down and in
custody...

Sudden feedback hard into his ear, he drops the handset.

JONES
Jesus.

CUT TO:

(CONTINUED)
7/7/18 78.
CONTINUED:

Anthony steps into the light.

ANTHONY
No!

Jones fires his gun four times, riddling Anthony with

bullets.

INT. PURCELL’S UTILITY CLOSET

The buzzing begins. Close up on the NOW-OPEN trap door.

The bees are down there here.

EXT. PURCELL'S ALLEYWAY. NIGHT

Officer Smith takes Anthony

Brianna, still alive, screams as Jones cuffs her.

JONES
Shut up! Don’t move!!

Smith approaches Anthony’s body and tries to kick the

hook which remains attached.

JONES (CONT’D)
What the fuck?

BRIANNA
What did you do!

SMITH
I said shut up!
(to Jones)
Jones what?!

INT. PURCELL'S UTILITY CLOSET. INT

They swarm enters through the trap door and flows out of
the utility closet into the maze of furniture. The
basement slowly fills.

EXT. PURCELL'S. NIGHT

Jones looks closer at the hook. Brianna cries.

(CONTINUED)
7/7/18 79.
CONTINUED:

SMITH
Jones, what?

JONES
This guy is jacked the fuck up.

SMITH
What is that?

JONES
Some kind of hook.

Smith tries his radio again, but it instantly feeds back.

Brianna catches her reflection off a rearview mirror of a

parked car.

CUT TO:

INT. PURCELL’S BASEMENT, NIGHT

Clouds of bees swarm up the stairs.

CUT TO:

INT. PURCELL’S, BACK OF STORE

The bees pour through the store.

CUT TO:

EXT. PURCELL’S. NIGHT

The swarm floods out the back door of the shop. The cops
panic, as it envelops Anthony.

SMITH/JONES
Ahhhhhhhh!

The bees begin to disperse. Anthony’s body is gone.

HARD CUT TO:

EXT. PURCELL’S NIGHT. NIGHT

Two cop cars and a detective vehicle are now parked

outside the shop. An Ambulance is there too. Six police
officers case the scene.

(CONTINUED)
7/7/18 80.
CONTINUED:

SMITH
I’m telling you if I knew, I’d
know, but I don’t have any idea.
The guy fuckin’ vanished.

INT. AMBULANCE. NIGHT

Close on Brianna in back of an ambulance cuffed to the

gurney. She’s all fucked up, from being stabbed, cut and
shot. She’s distant; completely traumatized. An EMT
comes around to close the door, when LIPEZ appears in the
doorway.

LIPEZ
What’s this? What are we doing?

EMT #1
Taking her to the hospital.

LIPEZ
Why?

EMT #1
Why? She’s been shot. Stabbed to I
think.

LIPEZ
Stabbed? Stabbed by who? Who shot
her?

EMT #1
I just fix people; how am I
supposed to know.

Jones walks over.

BRIANNA
Your officers shot me.

JONES
You came at us.

BRIANNA
No, I didn’t.

JONES
We’ll see.

Lipez considers what to do.

(CONTINUED)
7/7/18 81.
CONTINUED:

LIPEZ
(to EMT 1)
You know what? Get her out of
here.

EMT #1
We gotta take her to the hospital.

LIPEZ
Is she going to die?

EMT #1
No, but...

LIPEZ
Look, kiss my ass. She’s coming
with me. She could be a threat,
and I’m making the call.

Cops start pulling Brianna’s gurney out of the back of

the ambulance.

EMT #1
It’s yours to make.

Jim arrives.

JIM
Hey! Hey!! What happened.

COP ONE
Stay back!!

COP TWO
Don’t move.

Jim throws his hands up.

JIM
What happened to her?

COP ONE
I’m not gonna tell you to back
away again, sir.

JIM
I’m the one who called you guys;
where are you taking her?

EXT. POLICE CAR. NIGHT

Brianna is shoved in the back seat of Lipez’ car.

(CONTINUED)
7/7/18 82.
CONTINUED:

Lipez gets in the driver’s seat. Brianna is zoned out.

.Lipez looks at her through the mirror

LIPEZ
Where’s your boyfriend...? Huh...?
Where’d he go?

Brianna just looks out the window. Jim continues to try

to reason with the cops outside the car.

LIPEZ
Right to remain silent huh? Suit
yourself, but know this. Your
boyfriend is a murderer.

Brianna watches as Jim gets taken down. Three police men

start kicking his ass.

LIPEZ
We’re gonna find him with or
without you, but if you help us,
we’ll take it easy on you. If not,
you’re going down for a long long
time. So please, I’ll ask you one
more time. Where the fuck is your
boyfriend?

BRIANNA
We broke up.

Lipez laughs long and hard.

LIPEZ
Ah, alright. Let me tell you a
story. Once there was a couple of
thugs. They were an item too. Like
a couple of black Bonnie and Clyde
wannabees you know? He’d hold em
down, she slashed. Anyway, they
went on a murder spree. Killed
three guys on the street, killed a
guy that worked at the home his
mother lived in, killed his
mother, and even the poor attorney
that tried to defend him. The best
part is the end. You wanna hear
the end of the story? Huh?

Brianna grits her teeth. Jim outside the car is beat up

and bloody. He rises long enough to look through the
window at Brianna before the cops take him back down and
continue the relentless beating. Tears of anger stream
down Brianna’s face.

(CONTINUED)
7/7/18 83.
CONTINUED: (2)

LIPEZ
...They both spend the rest of
their lives in jail. The End.

Lipez laughs again. He lights a cigarette.

Brianna looks up at him. A calm has come over her.

BRIANNA
Mr. Lipez?

LIPEZ
What?

BRIANNA
Can I see myself?

LIPEZ
What? You look like shit.

BRIANNA
I’d like to see.

Lipez is confused, but realizing whatever mental break

he’s witnessing is pathetic. He loves it. He turns the
rear view mirror so she’s looking at herself.

LIPEZ
There...

Brianna stare turns dark. She whispers something.

LIPEZ
What?

Brianna mumbles something unintelligible.

LIPEZ
Are you sayin’ something?

BRIANNA
(softly)
Candyman.

LIPEZ
Candyman? What’s that?

BRIANNA
(louder)
Candyman.

LIPEZ
Hey, keep that crazy shit down.
7/7/18 84.

EXT. POLICE CAR. NIGHT

As the cops wail on Jim, we see Brianna inside the car

scream it one more time.

BRIANNA
CANDYMAN!!!!!!

The word is muffled by the glass, but still loud enough

to stop the police from their beating.

There is a strange calm in the air.

CUE: PHILLIP GLASS CANDYMAN SCORE

INT. CAR. NIGHT

Lipez turns the mirror back.

LIPEZ
Ah, Jesus Christ. That hurt my ear
you bitch.

Suddenly the car doors lock.

LIPEZ
What the--

He turns to Brianna.

LIPEZ
Did you do that?

Outside the car window, one of the cops gets pulled

straight up. Lipez misses it. The other Cops look up at
something we can’t see. They draw their guns and starts
shooting.

Lipez turns. He tries to get out, but he can’t. The

missing cop’s legs flop across the hood with his top half
still out of sight. He’s dragged across the hood with
some tremendous force. Then seconds later hits the wall
across the street like he was thrown out of a car.

A second cop is pulled up and moments later his head

falls on the windshield.

Lipez starts turning the ignition but the car won’t

start. Brianna just looks forward; at piece.

(CONTINUED)
7/7/18 85.
CONTINUED:

A third cop takes off running behind the car towards the
ambulance parked laterally from the car. As the cop
passes, he’s snagged by a hooked arm and brought into the
Ambulance. The ambulance shakes and SCREAMING ensues.
Blood sprays out of the back of the Ambulance.

The forth cop is now at Lipez’ passenger door. He’s

panicking.

COP FOUR
Let me in!

LIPEZ
I can’t!

COP FOUR
I said let me in damn it!

LIPEZ
It’s locked. I don’t know how to--

The fourth cop’s throat is slowly slit by a hooked hand

spraying blood on the passenger’s side window. He falls.
Behind him the coat of Candyman.

Lipez shakes in fear. He holds his gun on the man who’s

face he can’t see. All is quiet. The man outside begins
to slowly walk back and around the car.

LIPEZ
Who are you?

CANDYMAN
I am the writing on the walls... I
am the whisper in the alleyways...
I am the razor blade in the
halloween sweets...

Lipez watches Candyman circle till he come around to the

driver’s side window. Lipez is terrified. Candyman
lowers. He stares at Lipez with wild and angry glee.

LIPEZ
Please, don’t kill me.

Lipez shuts his pathetic eyes.

CANDYMAN
They will say I shed innocent
blood. You are far from innocent,
but they’ll say you were. That’s
all that matters.

(CONTINUED)
7/7/18 86.
CONTINUED: (2)

Lipez opens his eyes. Candyman is gone. Lipez looks

around frantically. Carnage everywhere. He catches his
breath. Candyman is gone.

Then, the SOUND OF RIPPED FLESH ERUPTS from the front

seat followed by LIPEZ’ BLOODCURDLING SCREAM. Lipez looks
down to his groin. Raising from the floor of the car from
the pedal area is Candyman’s face looking up from between
Lipez’ legs. Candyman Raises in front of Lipez in his own
seat tearing his belly open as he does. Blood bursts from
the cavity as Candyman rips passed the ribcage. Candyman
spills onto the front seat facing Brianna in the back
through the divider. Lipez is dead.

CANDYMAN
Tell everyone.

Brianna nods. She blinks and he’s gone.

The cars locks raise. Brianna gets out. She pulls Jim to
his feet and the two hobble away.

DISSOLVE TO:

EXT. ROSE ESTATES, MORNING

Anne-Marie sits outside in a lawn chair, talking to

Brianna.

ANNE
So I heard you’re thinking of
quitting your job.

BRIANNA
Yeah, I’m selling the gallery.
I’m thinking I might try to open a
recreation center here in the
neighborhood. Get these kids
painting and sculpting. Bored of
all the old shit.

ANNE
Lord knows these children have
plenty to say, huh? Fresh start
does a soul good.

BRIANNA
I suppose so, Anne. How are you
holding up?

(CONTINUED)
7/7/18 87.
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ANNE
Finally got back into my
apartment. Probably get a little
spring cleaning in before it gets
too hot.

BRIANNA
That’s not exactly what I meant.
Are you ok?

ANNE
I know what you meant. But you
know dear...as long as I remember
the stories that made me who I am,
I may get sad, I may get scared,
but I’ll never be alone. Keep
telling them stories and we all
will live forever.

SLOW MOTION SCENES OF CHICAGO

- a few kids in a playground scaring each other, miming

the hook with their hands

- Two teenagers making out in a bedroom. On the night

table sits a a drawing of Candyman

- An old man in a church, whispering to a child and

creeping him out

- A group of teenagers, one wearing a cheap version of

the Candyman frock

- Anne-Marie and Brianna sitting outside the Rose

Estates, taking in the fresh air

CUT TO:

CUT TO BLACK

(CONTINUED)
7/7/18 88.
CONTINUED: