Secret Thoughts of Angels :: Production Notes :: Shooting Script
FADE IN:
1 INT. LIBRARY -- DAY
JESS (25) walks amongst corridors of old books. She picks
some from the shelves and carries them back to a table.
The pile of books goes down as Jess works through them,
but she can't find what she's looking for.
She slams the final book shut in frustration.
2 INT. CHURCH -- DAY
ALICE (30) is sat on the back pew in church.
Jess comes in and joins her.
ALICE
Anything?
JESS
Nothing.
ALICE
Can we go home now?
JESS
Nope, Rye next... then home.
ALICE
Rye! Oh Jess, that's a hundred
miles in the wrong direction.
This is getting too much! Face
it, you're not going to find
anything.
JESS
But...
ALICE
What is the point of all this? Dr
Crabtree already said your thesis
is good to go. Just leave it be.
JESS
This is my career at stake here.
ALICE
I know, but you're scaring me.
JESS
Please Alice...
ALICE
I'm sorry Jess. This book is
becoming an obsession and I don't
like it. If you want it that badly, you'll
have to find it on your own.
3 INT. DR CRABTREE'S OFFICE -- DAY
Jess is sat on a chair across the cluttered desk from DR
CRABTREE (40's).
DR CRABTREE
So how are we doing? Crossing the
I's and dotting the T's, I hope.
JESS
Well, yeah. Kind of...
DR CRABTREE
Oh for goodness sake, you're not
still on this damned crusade are
you?
JESS
If that book doesn't exist, half
my thesis will be pulled apart as
irrelevant conjecture.
DR CRABTREE
Oh that's nonsense. Your supporting
arguments are more than convincing.
JESS
Are they? I don't think so. I
need that book.
DR CRABTREE
Please Jess, you've just over a
week left, don't waste it.
4 EXT. OUTSKIRTS OF RYE -- DAY
Jess drives past a sign announcing 'Welcome to Rye'.
5 INT. WIDDERSHINS ANTIQUE BOOK SHOP -- DAY
As Jess enters the shop the head of MR WIDDERSHINS (60's)
cranes round a stack of books on the counter.
MR WIDDERSHINS
Hello, can I help you?
JESS
Hi. Yes, I'm looking for books on
Alchemy?
MR WIDDERSHINS
Anything specific?
JESS
Yes... 'Celare Sensa de Angelis'
It's by a woman who called herself
the Mistress of the Marsh...
MR WIDDERSHINS
Ah...
JESS
You know it!? Do you have a copy?
MR WIDDERSHINS
I'm not sure that I do... In fact,
I'm certain I don't.
JESS
Do you know anyone that might? I
need it quite urgently.
MR WIDDERSHINS
You've tried the British Library?
JESS
Yes. And at least fifty others...
MR WIDDERSHINS
So what's the hurry?
JESS
My PhD thesis is due in next week.
As it stands I'm sure it won't get
picked up for publication.
MR WIDDERSHINS
PhD! You wouldn't by any chance
be a student of Dr Crabtree?
JESS
Yes.
MR WIDDERSHINS
Nice chap, comes in here
occasionally.
JESS
You're sure you don't know anywhere
else that may have a copy?
MR WIDDERSHINS
Alas, I suspect your search for
that particular literary gem will
prove most fruitless.
JESS
Well... Thanks then...
MR WIDDERSHINS
Good bye.
Mr Widdershins watches Jess leave the shop then turns and
heads into his back room.
Kneeling down he opens an old safe, inside of which there
is a small, triangular package wrapped in protective cloth.
He unravels it to reveal a very old leather bound book,
the shape of an equilateral triangle.
He glances at the spine upon which is embossed in gilt
writing, 'Celare Sensa de Angelis' and strokes it gently
before opening it carefully.
He leafs through dry pages full of illegible writing and
ornate drawings.
Between two pages there is a ragged piece of paper with a
fading illustration of a woman. He picks it out and hold
it up to the light.
The woman bears an uncanny resemblance to Jess.
6 INT. JESS AND ALICE'S FLAT -- DAY
Jess is sat hammering away at her computer. Alice comes
in through the front door.
ALICE
Hi!
Jess ignores her and continues typing. Alice turns on the
radio.
RADIO PRESENTER
(on radio)
And finally, pagan groups up and
down the country are preparing to
celebrate the occurrence of an
unusual astrological event this
weekend. The conjunction of Mars,
Neptune, Mercury and Venus...
Jess stomps over and switches the radio off.
JESS
Do you mind? Some of us are
working!
ALICE
Like I hadn't noticed? Look at
this place! It's a tip - I can't
do it all myself.
JESS
I tidied up!
ALICE
No, you moved it from there to
over there.
JESS
I'll do it next week.
ALICE
Make sure you do. If you can't
keep up the rent, at least have
the decency to help out a little.
JESS
Sorry.
ALICE
Anyway, some courier guy was outside
a minute ago - he left this.
Alice hands Jess a small parcel wrapped in brown paper.
Jess looks at the unexpected package and opens it carefully.
It is the triangular book.
7 INT. DR CRABTREE'S OFFICE -- DAY
The phone rings, Dr Crabtree picks it up.
DR CRABTREE
Peter Crabtree?... Hello Jess...
For what?... Oh... Yes, yes, an
old colleague of mine remembered
he had a copy... Just don't forget,
time is short. Give yourself 'til
the weekend to see if it will answer
your questions. I still need your
thesis by next Wednesday.
8 INT. JESS AND ALICE'S FLAT -- DAY
Montage: Jess tries to fathom the secrets of the book.
She tries reading it at different angles, poring over it
with a magnifying glass, tracing out the strange pictures
and piecing them together, scanning the pages in on her
computer to enhance the writing. She works non-stop,
through day and night.
She finally gives up, shuts the book and holds her head in
despair.
9 INT. JESS AND ALICE'S FLAT -- NIGHT
Jess and Alice are slumped on the sofa. Jess is a mess,
she hasn't slept properly in days. She stares intently at
the book, while Alice watches the TV.
TV REPORTER
(On TV)
...and so it is to here on the
Romney Marsh this Saturday night,
that pagan groups from around the
country will descend to celebrate
what they are calling a festival
of light. As the planets align
themselves in the south-east corner
of the sky...
ALICE
Oh great, just what I need, an
influx of weirdos into the pub on
Saturday night when we're short
staffed.
There is a knock at the door.
Jess glances at the clock. Nine twenty-five. She looks
at Alice, who indicates she's not expecting anyone.
Jess opens the door to find Dr Crabtree stood there.
DR CRABTREE
Hello Jess. Thought I'd stop by.
See how you're getting on.
She stands back and lets him in.
He spies the book that she is clutching.
DR CRABTREE (CONT'D)
May I?
She offers him the book.
DR CRABTREE (CONT'D)
So she's not yielding her secrets
easily then?
JESS
It's all nonsense. The rantings
of a deranged old woman. And yet
people talk about this book as if
it were one of the greatest texts
of the last millennium.
ALICE
Perhaps they haven't really seen
the book at all. Perhaps it has
always been a load of cobblers.
JESS
You Philistine, Alice. No, there's
got to more to this book.
DR CRABTREE
Whatever, promise me you'll treasure
it. And in terms of your thesis,
look beyond the text and think
more about the impact it has had.
He hands Jess back the book.
DR CRABTREE (CONT'D)
I'll see myself out.
Jess slumps back down onto the sofa and takes up obsessing
about the book again, staring at the ornate frontispiece.
ALICE
Odd. I didn't think Dr Crabtree
lived anywhere near here... Jess?
Jess is absorbed in the book, the front cover has caught
her attention. She runs her fingertip along the bottom
edge of the inside cover and peels back the leather and a
page that has been held tight pops out, folding out along
the top edge of the book.
JESS
Oh... My... God!
The back cover does the same. These new front and back
pages fold out once, then twice to form a hexagon which
when taken as a whole present a single page containing the
image of an angel surrounded by handwritten text.
10 INT. DR CRABTREE'S OFFICE -- DAY
The book lays unfolded on Dr Crabtree's desk.
DR CRABTREE
It's incredible!
JESS
It's scary.
DR CRABTREE
How?
JESS
I don't know... it's very... real.
It's some kind of ritual, possibly
a mind reading spell? But look
here, it can only be performed by
a woman.
DR CRABTREE
This is very exciting, but I can
see a very big fly in the ointment.
We haven't checked the authenticity
of the book.
JESS
Do we need to?
DR CRABTREE
You know we do.
JESS
Can't you pull some strings down
at the labs.
DR CRABTREE
No, samples would have to be sent
away, which would take three weeks.
JESS
So that's it then? After all this
I still can't use it?
DR CRABTREE
If there were a way that we could
prove the authenticity of the book
now, I might be prepared to put my
reputation on the line and validate
the book, in lieu of the tests
coming back positive.
JESS
That's brilliant! How?
DR CRABTREE
Do the ritual. Any strange
experiences would lend weight to
it's authenticity.
JESS
No way, that's not what I'm about.
There's power in those words.
I've never seen anything like them.
DR CRABTREE
Oh come now. Mild hallucinations?
Dizziness? Euphoric states of
bliss? Could be fun!
JESS
Oh my God! That's what this is
all about isn't it?
DR CRABTREE
What?
JESS
You didn't send me this, did you?
DR CRABTREE
Yes! Well... not exactly.
JESS
Care to enlighten me?
DR CRABTREE
I... I really can't help you there.
JESS
Then neither can I...
Jess storms up the road watched from the back seat of a
large saloon car parked by Mr Widdershins. He pulls out a
mobile phone and dials.
MR WIDDERSHINS
Have you failed again Peter?
12 INT. JESS AND ALICE'S FLAT -- DAY
Alice comes in to find Jess poring over the angel.
ALICE
Haven't you given up on that yet?
JESS
Oh, I don't know...
She points next to the book to two bound copies of her
thesis.
ALICE
You finished it! Come down the
pub this evening, you can celebrate
with all your weirdo friends.
JESS
No thanks...
Alice hands Jess another parcel.
ALICE
Here, this'll cheer you up. Another
mystery package!
Jess takes the package and opens it to find it full of
money. There is a note with it that says, 'Another £5,000
if you perform the ritual tonight.'
Alice grabs the note and reads it.
ALICE (CONT'D)
You're not are you? I thought you
didn't believe in all this stuff?
It's purely academic you said.
JESS
Yes... but...
ALICE
And if it wasn't Dr Crabtree that
sent you the book, who did? We
don't know who these people are -
they could be Satanists!
JESS
Dr Crabtree isn't a bad man. He
wouldn't mix with those types...
ALICE
But they can't treat you like this!
You're not a prostitute. You're
not seriously going to do it?
JESS
I... I have to...
ALICE
No! You can't. Not in my flat!
13 INT. JESS AND ALICE'S FLAT -- NIGHT
Jess and Dr Crabtree survey their handiwork. The furniture
has all been moved to the side of the room, the basic shape
of an angel has been marked out on the floor in white, the
hexagon around it. Hieroglyphs and symbols adorn each
corner of the hexagon.
DR CRABTREE
You don't have to do this.
JESS
It's OK, I've got aspirin if I get
a headache.
DR CRABTREE
And Alice?
JESS
Working.
Jess sets about the ritual, moving about the room and reads
from the book. Dr Crabtree watches on.
Finally Jess places the book at the centre of the hexagon
and positions herself between the angels wings, closes her
eyes and intones the last part of the ritual.
Behind her, the front door opens and Alice comes in. She
stares aghast at the scene.
ALICE
Jess!
Jess' eyes snap open wide, but she's not looking into the
room now...
14 EXT. THE ROMNEY MARSH - JESS' POV-- DAY
A mysterious light makes the sky luminescent. Crows caw
and wheel above in a sunless sky.
A strange ethereal sound fills the air, like the wind softly
screaming a strangled melody. Jess' breath pounds hard.
A woman in her forties, an older version of Jess, stands a
short distance away, her long flowing clothes and wavy
hair ripple gently in the breeze.
She begins to float forwards. Her hand reaches up and,
with a sharp crack, the world goes black.
FADE OUT: