Sands End

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Summary:

Two friends who have not spoken in years catch up after a tragedy that affects them both. 

Logline:

After a car accident, Juliet finds her relationship with her husband coming to an abrupt end, even though it feels like it ended long before. When her disapproving in-laws stay the night at her apartment, she takes refuge in her close friend Mark - stirring the latter's buried, unrequited, feelings for her - and wonders if their relationship is sustainable, or if it, too, will end.

Plot:

Juliet and her husband, Tony were involved in a car accident that left him in a coma whilst she emerged virtually unscathed. By the time of the film, it has been 3 months since the accident.

Tony’s parents are in the London and have taken up residence in the couple’s flat whilst Tony is in intensive care at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital. Tony is in a coma and the doctors have to discuss with his parents about pulling the plug. 

Mark reached out to Tony’s parents but still haven’t visited Tony in hospital, partly to avoid Juliet. 

Tony’s parents has never liked Juliet as they see her as being a bad fit their son and she continues to struggle to get on their good side. The accident has not helped as they partly blame her for letting Tony drive whilst intoxicated.

Juliet does not have any other friends in London and has called Mark as a last resort for a place to stay.

Mark and Juliet met whilst they were in the Bartlett school of Architecture. Juliet dropped out but Mark went on to become an architect. Juliet has always regretted not continuing her studies. Mark has since lost his passion for the industry and has quit working as an architect.

Mark had been in love with Juliet and it was difficult for him when she started dating and eventually married Tony, a friend of his.

Mark was not invited their wedding and before the accident, he had not spoken to either of them for four years, despite living very close to the couple in the Sands End area of Fulham, just across the River Thames from Tony’s apartment near Battersea Park. 

Script Summary:

INT. MARK'S FLAT - DAY

V.O. of JULIET plays over montages of MARK's day.

EXT. BATTERSEA PARK

V.O. of JULIET plays over montages of MARK's day.

INT. MARK'S FLAT - DAY

Mark opens the door for Juliet. They hug but it is a bit awkward. It is all pleasantries. 

INT. MARK'S KITCHEN - DAY

Juliet takes a phone call from Tony's parents. They are currently staying in the couple's flat. They have never approved of her and sound angry on the phone. She is clearly upset. The phone is passed to Mark. 

EXT. BATTERSEA PARK - DAY 

Mark and Juliet catch up whilst walking in the park. They point out their respective jogging routes. They reflect on how close they lived to each other and how they never saw each other once in all that time. 

EXT. OFFICES OF FOSTER + PARTNERS - DAY

Juliet discovers that Mark no longer works as an architect. They reflect on how long it has been since they last saw each other, despite living so close to each other. Juliet pushes Mark on why he quit being an architect. Mark talks about how he has lost the passion for it. Juliet uses it as a metaphor for her relationship with Tony. Mark calls her out on how much of a cliche that is.  

EXT. PEACE PAGODA - DAY

They reflect on how close they once were.

INT. MARK'S KITCHEN - EVENING

Mark and Juliet are back at the flat, opening a few drinks. In a candid moment, Juliet reveals abusive details about Tony.

INT. MARK'S LOUNGE - NIGHT

As they get more inebriated, Juliet reveals that there is a part of her that doesn't want Tony to wake up. Mark reveals that he and Tony were just friends of convenience and that he is struggling to summon up any grief for him. 

INT. MARK'S LOUNGE - DAY

Juliet's phone rings. Mark brings the phone to her. She wakes in a daze to take the call. 

INT. MARKS BATHROOM - DAY

Juliet rushes into Mark's bathroom to take the call, ostensibly for a bit of privacy but the door is left open. Juliet hears the news that Tony has passed away. She breaks down. Tony, overhearing the conversation from outside, goes in to comfort her. 

EXT. OUTSIDE CHELSEA AND WESTMINSTER HOSPITAL - DAY

Juliet and Mark walk to the hospital. Juliet steadies herself and prepares to walk in and face her in-laws. She grabs Mark's hand for comfort. Juliet walks in, Mark does not follow her. Mark turns and walks away.

Sands End

by

Alex Tang

Voiceovers of Juliet’s calls to Mark to reconnect with him played over montages of Mark’s routines (he already knows about Tony’s accident by this point).

EXT - Battersea Park

Mark is jogging in the park. 

Juliet is walking through the park on the phone. 

They go past the Peace Pagoda inside Battersea Park but at different times. 

INT - Mark's Kitchen 

Montage of Mark's routines. 

Juliet [V.O.] 

Mark, I know we haven't spoken for ages...

I didn't know who else to call...

INT - Mark's Apartment

Mark and Juliet greet each other, a little too formally at first and 

They go in for a kiss but decides at the last moment to just hug instead.

They hug.

Mark: Hi.

Juliette: Hi, how've you been?

Mark: I'm okay... 

[Quickly switches subject], 

How's Tony?

Juliette: The same. 

INT - Mark's Kitchen 

Would you like a cup of tea?

Yes, thanks.

Juliet's phone rings, she takes the call.

Mark is awkwardly eavesdropping whilst making tea. 

Juliet: Hi, I was going to...

Loud voice on the other side

I was literally just about to call you

Worse? What do you mean worse?

But he was fine yesterday..

Fine... I won't come

I left you some lasagne in the fridge. 

I'm staying in a hotel. 

You need the space

You can have the place to yourselves.

yh, I'm giving it to you...

I don't mind. 

Okay...

Okay...

All the while, Mark has his head down making tea. 

The other person hangs up. 

Juliet holds the phone a little away from her, still dazed. 

Mark: Is that Tony's dad?

Juliet: No, it's his mum... the ice queen. 

Mark: What did she say?

Juliet: She said Tony's... 

Mark: What?

Juliet: ... She's telling me for the hundredth time that I owe her a son. 

Mark: That's a horrible thing to say. 

Juliet: Yh.

Mark: He's your husband, and she's making it all about her. It's not even your fault.

Juliet: I was the one driving.

Mark: So? It was an accident. What does she want from you?

Juliet: I don't know... I was never good enough for her... To go away, to have never married him, I don't know. 

[pause]

Juliet: [still with tears in her eyes] Can we get out of here? I need some fresh air. 

Cut to 

EXT - Battersea Park

Juliet is on the phone in the background. Mark is in the foreground waiting for her.

They walk in silence for a while. Juliet stares at the river wistfully 

[eventually Mark breaks the silence] 

Mark: Are you okay?

Juliet: ...Yh...I don't know. Please can we talk about anything else? How've you been? Oh my goodness, it's been a while, hasn't it? When was the last time we saw each other?

Mark: At your reception. Almost two years. 

J: I can't believe it's been that long.  

M: Yh, well, there's a reason for that. 

EXT - Battersea Park

They are now walking around the Peace Pagoda. 

Where are we going?

Let's go to that bit behind your office. 

That's on the other side of the river.

What? 

Oh, you mean Fosters?

Yh.

I don't work there anymore. 

Really?

Yh, did I not tell you?

No, when was this?

A year, a year and a half.

Where do you work now?

Mostly at home, but an office in Chelsea.

That's nice, what kind of buildings do they design?

It's not architecture. 

Print design 

You did?

(This is a conversation that shows the chemistry and casual rapport between Mark and Juliet and it shows a bit of the history they had before Juliet's marriage)

You finally quit? 

Yh, whenever I meet up with you I'm reminded what normal working hours are. I got jealous of wondering what a good work life balance is like. 

I'm not going to lie, it feels quite nice. I mean it took a while. 

Not really, it only took you two years to start working from home. 

Well I'm glad you took my advice.

Architecture isn't for life. I knew that I could leave, I just kept holding on thinking things would improve.

Yh, every architect wants a piece of permanence, but the average building gets knocked down after 25 years. Nothing's meant to last anymore. 

You know I always wonder what it would be like if I didn't drop out of the course.

You dodged a bullet. You hear me complaining all the time.

I always thought it was just you being you.

What do you mean being me?

Just complaining even when everything's going well.

Always wanting something better, or wanting what you can't have.

Is that me?

Yh, it's so frustrating sometimes. Remember Karen? The only thing wrong with her was 

Nothing 

Fine I admit I got it wrong that time.

Do you remember professor Galloway?

Of course! I couldn't understand him half the time  

It's something you appreciate from afar.

That's such a cliche.

Trees

Boats

Chelsea

Architecture is beautiful to look at but when you work on it, it's hard work and it gets boring.

Just like marriage

[Mark scoffs and chuckles]

What?

That's such a cliche,

What's a cliche?

Similes for marriage.

What do you mean?

You can take anything, describe it in a wistful manner with a tacked on reference to marriage and make it sound like an insightful simile for marital strife. 

Boats, 

They drift heedlessly, there are headwinds.

Just like marriage. 

[Juliet takes a phone call, whilst Mark watches.]

Cut to -

INT - Mark's Kitchen AFTERNOON

(Mark and Juliet are having a conversation now over some drinks in the kitchen. The conversation is becoming more candid)

Why aren't you at the hospital?

It's been a week, and we already know he's not waking up. 

[Mark opens a beer for her] 

[Juliet takes a long sip]

I just can't face his parents right now. 

You're going to have to.

I know, I know... 

There's no way I can come out of this not being the villain. 

What are you talking about?

This is real life. There's no villains, just flawed people dealing with bad situations the best they can. 

So no, you're not the villain here.  

I am to them.

So? They never gave you a chance. Why do you care what they think?

Besides, they don't know what you've had to go through with him. 

I was having second thoughts.

So? You stuck it out. 

Juliet: Why are you being nice to me? Why are you letting me off the hook?

[Pause]

Mark: [Without looking at her] You know why. 

J: Do you still think about us? 

M: Not since the wedding. 

J: Really?. 

M: No. But I've had to move on, and I know that. 

J: I do. I don't ever get bored when I'm with you. With him, there were days when we would got high just because we didn't have anything else to talk about. I'd never smoked so much in my life.

It became so difficult in the end. 

We both knew all the passion was gone, but we just continued drifting, heedlessly. We didn't know where we were going. 

I can't keep going on like this. It feels like I'm speaking ill of the dead, and you shouldn't, but he's not dead - oh God, what am I saying?

It's alright. 

You ask me why I'm not at the hospital? Honestly, it's because there's a part of me that doesn't want him to wake up even if that was possible, just so I don't have to have the conversation.

What conversation?

The conversation. I was going to end it. And when I made that decision, I thought about you.   

It's all so complicated. 

It isn't.

Yh?

It's simple, we would have been great together but the attraction wasn't mutual. 

So what do we do now?

I've moved on, and you've got to do your duties as a wife, no matter what kind of a man he was. 

You'll eventually be able to move on, and we'll both meet someone amazing to spend the rest of our lives with. 

That's a long way off.

Yh, but "Everything will be okay in the end. If it's not okay, it's not the end." 

[chuckles at the quote]

Are we friends in this future?

Mark looks at her, unable to answer. [Long pause]

Cut to - 

INT - Mark's Lounge DAY

[Juliet crashed on Mark's sofa] 

In the morning, Juliet's phone rings.

Mark brings it to her. 

Juliet, still in a bit of a daze (probably a bit hungover from the drinks), rushes to Mark's bathroom to take the call. [the door is left open]

Juliet hears the news (There has been a complication and Tony has passed away in the night).

Juliet breaks down in the bathroom crying. 

The phone conversation ends, she sits on the edge of the bath, there is a long pause, and the reality of Tony's passing has finally hit her. 

INT - Mark's Apartment, just outside Mark's Bathroom

Mark is outside, overhears Juliet breaking down.

(Shot of Mark outside the bathroom as Juliet reacts to the news inside)

Mark goes in to the bathroom to comfort her.  

INT - Mark's Bathroom

Mark hugs Juliet as she cries on his shoulder. There's not many tears but the emotion is there. Juliet sobs heavily without much tears. 

EXT - Street

[Mark and Juliet coming out on to the street. Mark is first in the frame looking behind him and waiting for Juliet]

Mark walks Juliet to the hospital. 

They walk in silence.

EXT - Chelsea and Westminster Hospital

(Mark and Juliet walk along the river to the hospital)

They arrive at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital.

(Juliet looks up at the hospital building, to the 1st floor where Tony is located, the camera picks up the words Chelsea and Westminster Hospital) 

They stand in front of the hospital.

She grips his hand for emotional support. She keeps looking forward, Mark looks at her. 

She starts walking forward, still gripping his hand.

He holds on for a bit and then lets go. 

She looks back as he is turning away.

She goes in as he is seen walking away.

(Credits roll)