possessed

Possessed

WRITER RUDOLF MESTDAGH
DIRECTOR RUDOLF MESTDAGH

second draft available

SYNOPSIS :

Al Quinn is a writer, having the 'seven year itch', and searching for a story for a new novel. One day, in the mall,
he sees a shoplifster, Sarah, stealing a handbag, the same handbag he wants to buy for his wife Claire. He follows her to her home, repeatedly. He falls in love with her, and starts a relationship with her. Quinn starts writing his novel, using the real facts. By reading the novel (without Quinn knowing it), Claire finds out about his relationship with Sarah. Claire finds out that Sarah killed a man before, (she cut his penis and put it in a handbag).
She wasn't prosecuted, because of the influence of her brother Porter, a politician, having a homosexual relationship (although he's got two kids from Maria) with Maria's brother Angelo (who gets AIDS), who watches over Sarah. Sarah frequently goes to a shrink. We understand that her disease becomes worse when she has her period. Claire becomes pregnant. She has the child aborted. She understands that Quinn is no longer in love with her. She kills him the way Sarah committed the first murder, making believe that Sarah killed him. Then she kills Sarah. The neighbour kid, Leopold, has seen the murder. When the police arrives at the scene, Leopold says 'I've seen you'. A female police officer asks to tell her what he saw. We'll never know if they'll find out…

TREATMENT :

Al Quinn is a novelist. He is supposed to start writing his second novel, but he is experiencing a writer’s block. Quinn also goes through a difficult period with his wife Claire. It’s now seven years that they have been married. Quinn decides he’s gonna make Claire happy by buying her a presence, a particular handbag he knows she is fond of. Quinn is in the department store, about to buy the handbag when a woman, Sarah, seems to be after the same handbag, the very last one there is. But instead of buying the handbag, she steals it. Quinn, intrigued by all this, follows the shoplifster, through the streets, up to her house at the Square. The shoplifster, at the window, watches the man that followed her. Quinn is unaware that he is also followed by Angelo who asks if he needs a blowjob. Angelo seems to live in the basement of the same house where the shoplifster lives.

Angelo makes a phonecall to Porter who turns out to be the shoplifster’s brother. Angelo warns him that Sarah started shoplifting again. Through the telephone conversation we understand that Porter also occasionally has sex with Angelo.

Sarah puts the handbag in a drawer with two other stolen handbags. It looks like she is in some sort of a trance. Flashback. Raoul holds his head between the legs of a woman. His face is full of blood. She’s having her period. She kills Raoul, puts something bloody in a handbag.

Quinn’s wife Claire is saying goodbye to her aunt Lily, who tells Claire to tell Quinn his story in the newspaper was really good. In bed, Claire and Quinn hold hands. Claire asks how his day was, if he was able to write anything. He did write, the first page, he lies. Claire is so happy for him. She wants to read it. Not just now.

Angelo and Porter meet to talk about Sarah. Angelo makes Porter come.

Sarah is dreaming. She runs naked through the rain. The rain turns to blood.

Porter talks to a Shrink. We find out Porter comes from a pretty troublesome family and that Sarah committed a murder, a long time ago. Sarah had to appear at the court, but Porter arranged that the judge acquitted her. From then on, Porter makes sure he watches over Sarah.

Quinn has the intention to write. He still hasn’t written a single word of his new novel. He decides to take a walk. He is looking for the shoplifster. After checking different department stores, Quinn finally sees Sarah, coming out of a shop, entering a coffee shop. He sits next to her, drinking a coffee, and when she walks out he follows her. He takes his notebook and starts writing frantically : shoplifster steals handbag, store detective follows her and falls in love with her. He replaces hadbag with necklace. Quinn, in his study now, is hammering away at the typewriter. When he leaves the apartment, he says hi to Leopold, the boy from the floor below.

Quinn walks to the Square where Sarah lives. He imagines the shoplifster in his novel has got to be ‘possessed’. Quinn watches Sarah’s house, notices that Angelo is coming out of the house, with another man. They kiss passionately. Angelo notices Quinn, he comes over to ask him if he wants to have sex with him. Quinn walks home and continues his writing. It goes really well now. Claire comes home, hears the neighbours quarrel. Their little boy seems to be left behind on the landing . He says to Claire : I saw you. Quinn is happy to see Claire. He says he loves her. They make love. She suggests to go have dinner at La Cigale. He startles. The restaurant is at the Square where Sarah lives. He refuses, says it’s too expensive. He can be lucky he has a rich wife, besides she has wonderful news… In the restaurant, Claire informs Quinn she is pregnant. She must have forgotten the pill. She thought he was going to be happy but one can tell he’s not. He makes a scene at the restaurant, when Angelo and Sarah show up. Angelo introduces Sarah to Quinn. She says they have met. He denies this. Quinn presents his wife Claire and leaves head over heels. On the way home, Claire asks who they were. Quinn says he met the guy in the library. Claire says the name of the woman, Sarah Slade, rings a bell, but she can’t remember where she heard it. At night Claire wakes Quinn. They don’t need to keep the baby if Quinn doesn’t want to. He says it’ll be as she wants it to be. So they’ll have the baby, it’s settled, once and for all.

Next morning, Claire leaves for the whole week, for this job she is doing out of town. They don’t even hug. Watching her leave, Quinn mumbles he’s fed up with her. Then he wants to go say goodbye but she’s gone. He then writes her a love letter .

Sarah tells her Shrink a man has followed her. They met the day she took a handbag. She feels bad. She doesn’t want to love someone. The Shrink asks if she had her period lately. She did, but it was just normal. The Shrink is relieved.

Quinn is in a bar, writing. Sarah comes in and sits next to him. Quinn leaves, Sarah follows him. They talk. He’s a writer. She’s a painter. She holds his arm. Leopold sees them. She appears to teach painting at the school that Leopold attends. Angelo and a redhaired man show up. Quinn is embarrassed, he leaves, guilty about the whole thing. Later, at the Square, a bloke, Jim, wants to pay Angelo to have sex with him. They go to Angelo’s place and have sex. Afterwards, Jim beats up Angelo, disgusted about the fact that he is gay.
Sarah is taking a bath, having fantasies about Quinn. She hears the fight and finds Angelo, beaten up, lying in blood. She has a nightmare. Flashback. She is in the rain. The rain turns to blood. She runs mad.

Sarah is with the Shrink who says she’s not mad. She has a weakness in the head, that’s all. You learn to live with it. Sarah sees the flashback. Blood is running from her legs. She smears it on the face of Raoul.

In her car, while driving, Claire reads Quinn’s letter and almost causes an accident. She makes a u-turn and heads back home. Quinn is in bed with Sarah, at her house. She colours his penis red with her lipstick. They make love. Claire arrives at the house and finds it empty. Leopold says he saw Quinn. Claire goes inside the apartment. Leopold adds he saw him with Miss Slade. Claire waits for hours, starts drinking while wondering if Quinn would have a lover. She starts reading in Quinn’s notebook and finds about the shoplifster, the woman they met at the restaurant. Claire reads the address of Sarah’s house, she goes over to the Square and watches what is going on in the bedroom.

Claire is in bed, sobbing, striking her belly with her fists. She takes her car and drives out of town. Next morning, she calls Quinn and wakes him. He pretends he was at the house the whole time but he unplugged the phone. She says she waited for him. He insists he was home. She asks if he has an affair. He says that’s insulting. She says if he’d leave her, she’d kill herself.

Porter pays a visit to Angelo, gives him tea, says Angelo should stop working the streets. Porter says he loves Angelo. He goes. Sarah tells Angelo she’s in love. Later on Angelo wakes up, hears Sarah making love to Quinn again.

Sarah tells her Shrink she hasn’t seen Quinn. So it means he abandoned her ? Not this time !

Quinn and Sarah meet at the restaurant. In her car, Claire hates Quinn, she swears she’ll take revenge.

Quinn writes. Sarah paints, peaceful things. They’re back at the restaurant. He asks where she learned the trick with the lipstick. From a lover, who had a wife in Buenos Aires but forgot to tell her. He’s dead now. Quinn wants to leave to go work. She hands him her keys so when he wants to come over he doesn’t need to wake Angelo. Quinn says Claire is pregnant and that it’s over, but takes the keys anyway. At the river, Quinn intents on throwing the keys in the water, decided to make up with Claire. At home he apologizes to her. She wants to make love. He wants to confess. The other day he wasn’t home when she tried to call him. She knows. He was people watching at the concert, he lies.

Quinn pays a visit to Sarah. Claire comes home, finds the apartment empty. Angelo hears noises on the stairs. It’s Claire, she cries. Angelo lets her in, gives her a drink. Claire sees a flashback. She sees Quinn and Sarah come out of the house at the Square, Quinn has his arm around Sarah, like lovers. Claire follows them to the restaurant. Claire knows about Angelo having sex with Porter, and that he’s got a gun. She found all this out in Quinn’s writing. Quinn & Sarah come back from the restaurant. In bed, she turns him on, then bites him in the neck. There’s blood. He says she’s mad. One floor down Angelo is watching Claire sleep when Porter calls, asking if he can come over, he needs to talk. Claire wakes up, says she wants to kill herself. Quinn & Sarah are taking a bath. She asks him to tell about Claire, he asks to tell about Raoul. Watching Quinn, Sarah starts mixing him up with Raoul. Quinn tries to call Claire at the hotel and leaves a message for her. While Quinn & Sarah have sex again, Claire & Angelo talk about religion, love, life. Sarah cries, says Quinn is so good to her. Porter arrives at the house, pays a visit to Sarah, she tells him Quinn is there. He goes downstairs to see Angelo, who refuses to let him in. Porter thinks Angelo is seeing a man and that it’s Quinn. Angelo says it’s Quinn’s wife. Porter has a pain in his chest. Angelo betrayed him with Quinn’s wife. In his car, Porter has a heart attack. In Angelo’s room, Claire finds the gun, tries to load it. It must be easy to pull the trigger, like in the movies.

When Sarah falls asleep, Quinn explores the rooms, wonders what would be the best spot for his study. He finds the three stolen handbags. The next morning, Claire wakes up, she goes out and waits next to her car, until Quinn comes out. He’s guilty. She tells him to get in so he can get him a ride home. Quinn wants to talk, she doesn’t want to hear it, she gets it, it’s a fling, it’s good for his writing. She drops him off at the house and drives off.

Sarah gets a call from the hospital. Porter has had a heart attack. In the clinic, his wife Maria is at his side. Quinn is writing. Claire checks in in another clinic. Sarah is at her Shrink’s. She thinks she’s responsible for Porter’s accident, that he got upset because she was with Quinn. She says she bited him, after she got a drink, she became this other person. On top, she is about to have her period. She has the flashback. Raoul’s head between her legs, the bloody mess. She kneels on the floor and starts sobbing, her head in the Shrink’s lap. She asks for help. She wants Quinn. The Shrink says she can’t see him until she’s had her period.

Claire has an abortion. The baby is dead now. She calls Quinn. The novel is going great. He asks if she drives home for the weekend. Claire goes to Angelo. He informs her about Porter’s heart attack. But he says he’s more worried about Sarah. Claire says she’s had an abortion. She wants Quinn back. She cries. Sarah calls for Angelo, he goes over. Claire goes to the drawer, stares at the gun.

Claire comes home, Quinn asks if he can read her his novel, she says she already read it, it’s good. Claire says she miscarried. She breaks out in tears. He takes care of her.

Sarah is loosing it, sees Raoul in the mirror. She holds the gun to his forehead and fires. Angelo gives her another sleeping pill.

Quinn is wondering if he would leave Claire if she’d make the first move and ask him to do so. Claire has a dream, she’s a priestess, she needs to make a sacrifice, she takes the knife and plunges it into her belly. She wakes up. The house is empty.

Sarah & Angelo pay a visit to Porter at the clinic. Porter wonders if Sarah is alright. Sarah laughs, half crazy.

Quinn calls Sarah, she says she can’t see him, there’s women things. Sarah has a dream, she’s in the clinic, digs up a new brain from the tiled floor and pops it inside her skull through her eye socket. When she wakes up, she calls Quinn and sets an appointment. She goes to the beauty parlour and meets with Quinn at the Ritz. They hold hands. They clink. Quinn has decided he’ll break up with Claire.

Angelo is at the sauna, bumps into Jim. Jim tells Angelo he’s got Aids. At the clinic, the Docter comes into Porter’s room when he’s got visit from his wife and the kids. The Docter looks worried.

Sarah and Angelo are at the Shrink’s. Sarah says Quinn and her will marry.

Claire goes to the library, looks for a file of Sarah Slade; she’s horrified when she reads the facts.

Quinn rehearses his speech to dump Claire, when Claire rushes in telling him Sarah is a murderer. Quinn tells Claire he’s leaving her. Claire sits in her car, goes back up, listens at the door, appalled that he’s playing music. Leopold watches her. She makes a sign to keep this a secret. Claire goes to Angelo, quarrels a bit with him about love and sex. She pretends to go to the bathroom but goes to the bedroom instead, takes the gun and some Valium pills. She watches Sarah in the room next door, hesitates if she would kill her, but doesn’t. She drives off.

Quinn is with Sarah, on her bed. She tells him about Raoul. She sees the scene in flashback, Raoul treating her like a whore. He forces her to give him a blowjob and then he licks her, eats the blood between her legs, lets it drip on his penis and then puts it back in her mouth. And then the other Sarah came and killed him. Because he said he was leaving her. She killed him, cut his penis, put it in the handbag. She tells Quinn to go. He sees the blood on the sheets. She puts her hand between her legs and smears the blood on the canvass.

Angelo is about to leave, for good, when Claire drives up to the house. Quinn is writing. He goes back, he’s decided he wants to help Sarah. When he gets back home, Claire is sleeping in front of the door, all wet. He lets her in. He starts writing. She puts Valium pills in a glass of whiskey and gives it to Quinn who drinks it all. Claire reads Quinn’s notebook and laughs when she reads the story about the murder. When Quinn wakes up, Claire is lying next to him, with a gun, she fires. Leopold hears the shot. Claire takes a knife and cuts Quinn’s penis, puts it in a bag of a bookstore. She almost forgets the bag in the sink after wiping her fingerprints off the knife. She goes back in, Leopold watches her, puts a finger on his lips, he can keep a secret.

It rains heavily. Claire goes to the house on the Square. Angelo lets her in. While he gets dressed, she goes to Sarah’s room. She’s asleep. Claire takes the gun, aims at Sarah. Angelo shows up, wants to stop her. She aims at him and tells him to choose. He gets between Sarah and Claire. She fires. Sarah is unconscious on Valium. Claire puts the gun in one of her hands and the penis in the other hand. She puts the handbag next to it. With Quinn’s blood on her hand, she puts the missing title on the painting : ‘possessed’.

Porter finds the bodies, summons the police. A female police officer sees Leopold. He tells her : I Saw You.

THE END