Spellbound and Swallowed

White script.

EXT. MILAN – STREET – DAY (FLASHBACK / VISUAL REEL)

FAST MATCH CUT / WHIP PAN:

A blur of high-end boutique windows. Black satin, lace, silk.

MEDIUM TRACKING SHOT:

Ollie stands by a shop entrance. Indecision initially, but he turns and enters.

INT. HOTEL ROOM – NIGHT

WIDE ESTABLISHING SHOT (HIGH ANGLE):

The space is suffocating, lit by harsh, exposing fluorescent overheads. Breeze-block walls reflect a cold, clinical glow. A tiny, high-up window sits above one wall painted ox-blood red. On the bed, a tartan bedspread looks odd and out of place beneath a peculiar abstract painting of black and red swirls. The furniture is tubular metal and plastic. The room is cell-like.

MEDIUM SHOT:

OLLIE (dark hair needing a wash, jeans, white shirt, wax 3/4 length jacket) Unceremoniously dumps a suitcase onto the bed. He pulls out a battered, squashed carrier bag with a high-end Milanese logo.

REVERSE ANGLE – MEDIUM SHOT:

LIZ stands near the foot of the bed, visibly exhausted, radiating anger.

OLLIE

I bought us a present.

INSERT CLOSE-UP:

He tosses the bag onto the mattress.

OLLIE (CONT’D)

Have a look.

TWO SHOT – LOW ANGLE:

Liz hesitates, then reaches into the bag. She pulls out an exquisitely made black satin basque, trimmed in lace and crisscrossed with vivid red silk ribbons. Beneath it in the bag sits a small, leather-tailed whip.

DETAIL TIGHT CLOSE-UP:

Liz runs her fingers slowly over the satin, mesmerised by the texture and feel of the material.

MEDIUM SHALLOW-FOCUS SHOT:

Ollie sits back on the mattress, lighting a cigarette. Smoke curls around his face, softening his features while keeping the background harsh.

OLLIE (CONT’D)

What do you think?

TIGHT TWO SHOT:

Liz stares at the leather tails of the whip, then shifts her gaze up to Ollie.

LIZ

About what?

OLLIE

The basque.

LIZ

It’s beautiful.

OLLIE

Put it on.

LIZ

(voice flat, bone-weary)

I’m shattered, Ollie. Not now.

OLLIE

Go on, Lizzie, put it on for me. I want to see what it looks like on you.

CLOSE-UP – LIZ:

Liz stands frozen for a beat. Uncertain.

FAST CUTS – DRESSING SEQUENCE:

• INSERT CLOSE-UP: Liz’s trembling fingers fight fiddly, metallic clasps down the front of the basque.
• LOW ANGLE TIGHT SHOT: She pulls black stockings up her thighs, her hands trembling, unsteady on her feet.

OVERLAY FLASHES (LIZ’S INTERNAL REEL) – STACCATO ARCHIVAL CUTS:

• FLASH: LIZA MINNELLI in Cabaret, striking an iconic, sharp pose.
• FLASH: TIM CURRY as Frank-N-Furter, staring back with dark defiance.
• FLASH: AVA GARDNER in raw, vintage glamour.
• FLASH: A PAGE 3 MODEL pouting into a camera lens.

VOICEOVER / INTERNAL CHORUS (V.O.)

Cabaret! Liza Minelli as Sally Bowles in the iconic poster, a single frame of Andy as Frank-N-Furter, Ava Gardner in her provocative glamour photos, she was stunning. Everything about the basque, the stockings, feels wrong, it also feels unbearably sexy, the feel of it, the look of it. I instantly want to be that Page 3 girl, pouting and posing and striking suggestive poses and to be lusted after, to be wanted, to be irresistible, to be crushed under the weight of the male gaze. To be able to do that, feel that my body is enough, is good enough, that it’s perfect and my tits are firm enough and my bum pert enough and that, like them in their barely-covering-anything bikini bottoms, I’m hiding a young, tight, inviting pussy, to actually not give a fuck what anyone thinks. To be a hot, come-hither-eyed mess of invitation and feel comfortable with that. But, the shame, the enduring shamefulness that grew with me from childhood, the sermons about not flaunting my body, about ‘covering yourself up, you look like a slut’ and the dangers of showing off too much flesh, is constantly policing any decisions I make about how much body to show and never feeling that it meets some benchmark of perfection. Too fat, too hairy, too blemished, too hallmarked from pregnancy. Ollie has added a whole new layer to that confusion. He seems to see something quite different and now I flounder in a semi-dressed uncertainty. Here, in this moment, I want to grab one of the horrible tubular chairs and sit Christine Keeler pose astride it and dare him not to come and fuck me, but the chorus of ‘don’t throw yourself at men’ and ‘have you no shame’ is full volume. How do I reconcile all of it? Why am I so terrorised by my own sexuality and this pervasive guilt about wanting to be fucked and how much I love it and, god, I love it.

(Overlapping, harsh whispers from mother)

Cover yourself up… You look like a slut… Have you no shame?… Don’t throw yourself at men…

WIDE FULL SHOT:

Liz stands frozen in the centre of the room in the basque, hands hovering uncertainly over her body, caught between desire and shame.

MEDIUM CLOSE-UP – OLLIE:

Ollie sits stripped down on the bed, running his fingers idly through a secondary pair of stockings. His eyes lock onto her in an intense gaze.

OLLIE

Let’s try something for fun, shall we, Lizzie? Come here.

SLOW PAN:

Liz moves toward him hesitantly and sits on the bed.

TIGHT TWO SHOT – LOW ANGLE:

Ollie kneels before her on the bed. With slow, deliberate precision, he weaves a stocking back and forth between her thighs and ankles, binding them together like a string game.

EXTREME CLOSE-UP – LIZ’S EYES:

LIZ

(staring down at his hair)

VOICEOVER / INTERNAL (V.O.)

Which version of you is this? The one from Aberdeen? The one farting in the bath? Or this?

CLOSE-UP – OLLIE:

Looking up at her.

OLLIE

How does that feel, Lizzie? Does it feel good?

Liz doesn’t answer.

POINT OF VIEW (P.O.V.) SHOT – LIZ’S PERSPECTIVE:

Ollie reaches out. His thick fingers begin unfastening the clasps down the front of the basque, fumbling with the tiny hooks.

TIGHT DETAIL SHOT:

The lace parts. Her breasts spill free, nipples hardened. Ollie leans forward, trailing his mouth briefly over them before sitting back up to retrieve the small leather whip.

MACRO CLOSE-UP:

He balances the whip in his palm, then gently trails the thin leather tails across the tops of her exposed breasts. Liz shivers—arousal, but hesitancy.

OLLIE (CONT’D)

(quietly, echoing against the walls)

Are you a good girl, Lizzie? Do you deserve a reward? Or do I need to punish you?

OVER-THE-SHOULDER SHOT (OLLIE TO LIZ):

Liz looks down at him. Heavy silence.

CLOSE-UP – OLLIE:

Ollie hesitates—a rare flash of uncertainty in his eyes, searching her face for permission.

INSERT CLOSE-UP:

Then, he reaches out and pinches her nipples firmly between his thumb and forefinger, twisting.

OLLIE (CONT’D)

How does that feel, Lizzie? Does it hurt?

EXTREME CLOSE-UP – LIZ:

Liz tilts her head down, watching his hands on her skin. Her face is unreadable.

LIZ

Not enough. It doesn’t hurt enough.

SLOW FADE TO BLACK.