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The Opposite of Amnesia Synopsis Alex phones her mother, Alexis, but gets no answer, she leaves a brief voice mail informing her mother that she’s going to Alexis spiritual retreat. Alex flies to Portugal, the retreat is in this small village, everything is green, there’s a big river near the house they are staying in. Alex looks around, sees only women all wearing all white. She tries to look for her mother but can’t seem to find her anywhere. Alex goes near the river and calls her fiancé, Maddy, who asks Alex if she has seen her mother yet and about some wedding arrangements. Alex meets Michelle, who’s very pregnant. They small talk, Michelle asks Alex if she has properly met “the Master”. Alex doesn’t reveal Alexis is her mother. Alex keeps looking for her mother. There’s a table set with everything just there waiting for them. All of a sudden everything seems quiet. Alex goes back to the main entrance of the house and sees Alexis standing still while all the other women sat down in silence around her. Her mother makes a gesture inviting Alex to stand next to her. Alex hesitates but then starts walking slowing towards her mother. Alexis starts speaking to the group, about the retreat and invites them to eat with her. They all have dinner together. Alexis and Alex talk about things with no deep importance. Alexis speaks a lot, Alex listens a lot. Everyone goes to their rooms. Michelle and Alex are sharing one room, Alexis is in the master suite by herself. Alex and Michelle discuss why Alex didn’t reveal Alexis was her mother, their lives, their goals and plans for the future. Alex tells Michelle about Maddy, how they are about to get married. At the same time Alexis is in her room, meditating, speaking to some invisible identity. The next day everyone gathers. All of them still wearing all white except Alex. Alexis speaks, some meaningless speeches. The room is completely empty since last night. Everything seems white, too white. There’s bottles of paint in the middle of the room. Alexis instructs the group to take all their clothes off. All women do without questioning except Alex. Alex gets naked up to her

underwear. Everyone else is covered in paint, they go around the room mixing all colours with their body motion, going against the walls, laying on the floor, hugging each other. Alexis takes the group still all naked and covered in paint next to the river. They go inside the river and stand next to her so she can “baptise” them. Alex refuses to go. Alexis gets her and forces her inside the water. Alex runs off. Alex calls Maddy. She gets into bed and falls asleep on the phone with Maddy. The next morning Michelle doesn’t feel so good, the baby is weighting on her. Alexis comes to apologise about the activity before, she asks Alex if she could go for a walk with her. Alex goes with her mother. They walk, Alexis talks, Alex listens. There’s a picnic waiting for them next to the river. Alex is instructed to sit with the other women in a circle. Alexis goes back inside the house and returns with a bowl filled with what seems to be red paint. Alexis sits down completely the circle. She lifts the bowl and makes some prayers to it. Alexis starts calling the group members one by one so she can draw religious symbols on their foreheads with the liquid inside the bowl. Alex is confused when is her turn, she asks her mother what is inside the bowl and Alexis replies casually “period blood”. Alex runs away trying to whip off the blood of her face. She gets lost, sits down on the muddy floor. She cries, she screams, she begs. After calming down and trying to makes her way back. Everyone is still on a circle even though hours have gone by. Alexis is in the middle playing a drum and “guiding” them through their meditations. Alex goes inside the house, Michelle is there sitting down, she feels she might have contractions. Alex is admired by the lack of care happening, suggests a hospital. Michelle denies, she says Alexis wants the baby to be born during the retreat. Alex storms out and gets her mother from the middle of the group. She screams, Alexis doesn’t reply. The rest of the group jumps to defend Alexis. Alex goes back to her room and her mother follows her. Only after being away from everyone does Alexis scream back. She tells Alex not to worry, everything is going according to plan. Alex goes to get Michelle and lays her down on her bed. Alex tries to persuade Michelle to leave with her. Michelle refuses, she needs to be here, that’s the plan everything is happening just like Alexis said. Alex stays with Michelle, her contractions are getting more frequent and more intense as time goes by. Some members of the group come to take Michelle, they carry her like if she was a baby. There’s a small wood bathtub in the middle of the room. The leave Michelle inside it, she’s uncomfortable, three other women hold her down the rest of the group is in circle around it. Alex comes after them screaming begging them to stop.

One of the women sits Alex down and threatens her. Alex screams as the member walks away. Alexis comes into the room naked and holding a beautiful detailed knife. She can comes inside the circle. She stops and starts reciting a mantra. The other women hold each others arms still in a circle and keep singing this mantra. Michelle screams in the background are almost louder than the other women. Alexis goes near Michelle and cuts her open, Alex gets up and runs to them, she tries to get past the other women but they don’t allow it. The three women holding Michelle down are now trying to get the baby out. In the same motion Alexis turns the knife around and stabs herself. Alex screams, louder and louder. Michelles screams get lower and lower until they disappear. Alexis collapses on the floor and at the same time the baby is born and starts crying. One of the women screams in horror “it’s a boy”. They all sound terrified, it’s not going according to plan. Alex screams and cries next to her mothers body. Alex gets up runs to get her backpack and leaves without looking back. Outside of the house you can still hear the other women’s cries and despair around the baby. Alex phones Maddy, but gets no answer, she leaves a brief voice mail telling her she’s coming home.

Notes: Opening lines - The script I’m going to talk to you about is not about a cult, because the script I’m writing is about a group who calls their liver master, who’s members are what we could call brain washed and these members have all at some point been exploit sexually or economically… Alright, that does sound a bit culty! Second slide - I’m not telling you that I’m not nervous, I just want you to be nervous with me. Remember the bad mother archetype, how everyone has different memories. Be careful what you say about religious, there’s religious people in the room. Summary - Tell you story casually, you know it better than anyone. Don’t rush, let people understand what you’re saying. Look them in the eyes, don’t shake. Timeline - Tell them enough, not everything, don’t mention the ending too much. Character Breakdowns - Strong female leads, remember this is about being a woman, a real woman. They are all different, Be careful when explaining Michelle and her role in the story. Relevance - Oversharing can make people uncomfortable, neurotypical people don’t like to have to deal with information they were not expecting either. Why female leads are important, feminism is a priority....