Going

Please find the first 10 pages of the script attached.

TREATMENT

Introduction
Losing your mind can feel like the end of the world - especially when the world is ending.

Going is a post-apocalyptic, drama short that takes a unique look at the fallout of early-onset dementia. Part road movie, part dystopian survival, part domestic drama.

Facing into the taboos of impaired brain function, Going challenges the narratives that dementia is exclusively an elderly impairment and that life is over once someone is diagnosed. The film intimately explores the relationship between life partners coping with the heartbreaking nature of mental decline, set against the harrowing backdrop of a global holocaust.

Plot Outline (spoliers)
Mike (59) and Val (57) tour in their camper van through the quiet country roads of rural Gloucestershire. They joyfully listen to some of their favourite music and Mike is keeping their destination a surprise. Although happy, they clash from time to time when arguing over conversational inaccuracies. Val seems to have some minor trouble with her memory. Unusually, on the route, there are a few unnerving sights such as wrecked vehicles that Mike conceals from Val.

On a stop at a farm shop, Mike locks Val in the van before heading to buy veg. When he arrives at the store, it is shuttered and overgrown with apocalyptic graffiti daubed across the frontage. Mike hikes a short distance to an abandoned allotment to forage vegetables. He is disturbed by a boy and his father and must run for his life. Mike sprints back to the van and escapes at high speed. Although Val is annoyed at him for speeding, she has no idea that he was chased or even that something terrible is happening to the world around them.

When stopping at a deserted farm, Val manages to exit the van while Mike is collecting camping gas. She discovers a paddock of dead animals and alerts Mike to it. He is annoyed that she is out of the van and drags her back inside. They argue and Val becomes aware that something is wrong.

After being quizzed by Val, Mike breaks down and tells her everything. He sobs that the world has been destroyed by war, their children are likely dead and that she can’t remember any of it because she has dementia. With Val initially in denial, Mike helps her test her mental recall to prove he’s not lying.

Mike is broken in the moment and explains he has had to tell her this many times before. Val is surprisingly pragmatic and thankful of Mike’s efforts. He explains she will forget again and is terrified that he doesn’t know what he’s doing. She asks him to continue travelling in the way they have been as long as they are happy. She then suggests they watch the sunset before she forgets again.

A day or so later, Val has forgotten and the trip has effectively been reset. They tour the camper van along exactly the same roads, joyfully listening to the same music - commencing the loop again.

Characters
Mike (59)
Most of the film is seen through the eyes of Mike. He’s the architect of the artificial world within the van, as well as a wily survivor of the apocalypse outside of it.

He is staunchly dedicated to Val and is entirely focused on keeping her safe. His every move is a calculated blend of survival and theatrics. By preserving the mock reality inside the van he is also looking to preserve Val’s dignity. He is a principled and honest man which gives the lies he has to uphold an unbearable weight.

In life, and their relationship, she was always the strong one. He was in awe of her talent, temperament and drive. She was always his guiding star and he always looked to her in times of struggle.

He needs her as much as she needs him. By helping Val exist in a world where she is not reliant on short term recall, he gets to keep hold of the only person who can keep him going.

Val (57)
Confident, strong and youthfully mischievous. Val has always lived her life to the fullest and has shared the last 30 years of it with Mike.

She’s the glue to their relationship as well as its driving force. Val has never been afraid of saying what she thinks and will defend Mike’s honour to her dying breath, unless it’s her that’s tearing a strip off of him. The fact that she has always been such a big character makes her mental decline even more tragic.

She always looks to keep Mike in check and make sure he is taking care of himself. Having always been fiercely independent and whip-smart, she is often upset by Mike’s offers of help when she struggles to remember things.

In her moments of clarity, she still breathes love and direction into their day. In her moments of confusion, Val can become very insular - almost like she is trapped within herself while she is trying to muddle through.