Script File

Human Pearls

Human Pearls

Episode One Synopsis

Darryl, an eight year old boy with a high glasses prescription and gangly arms has just moved into a new home with his family, consisting of his safety conscious dad Gerald, loud and creative mum Annie and violent anger encompassing brother Jake. Darryl questions what a strange box is on the ceiling, and later that night him and Gerald open it up to discover a small sheet of asbestos insulation. Gerald warns Darryl to never go near it because it can kill. Cutting foreward Darryl lives a comfortable life with his wonderful wife Abby. All wonderful accept Darryl suffers from mesothelioma from asbestos, his boss Ernie is awful to him, but luckily he has the support of his colleague Tarine, however to top things off he just discovers his brother Jake has died in his sleep. We discover Darryl doesn’t talk to his family and he goes to visit Jakes druggy wife Zara to pay his respects. Meanwhile Abby attends a council meeting to speak on behalf of the shy Darryl about the dangers of asbestos, meeting a new support group. Darryl falls out with Zara when he briefly suggests he may not attend the funeral and Darryl briefly escapes before Gerald arrives, thus raising Zara's suspicions. Cutting back to the past, Darryl retaliates against his violent brother sparking a meltdown. After the boys are split up by their parents Darryl takes his safety into his own hands and retrieves the piece of asbestos found the day before by Gerald from the bin.

  • Solomon Watkins
    Writer
  • Project Type:
    Television Script
  • Genres:
    Social Realism, Drama, Tragedy
  • Number of Pages:
    56
  • Language:
    English
  • First-time Screenwriter:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
Writer Biography - Solomon Watkins

I grew up in Cornwall with a love for acting and competitive cross country. During college, I discovered underwater videography with Sharkbay Films, sparking my interest in travel. After leaving college, I hitchhiked to 139 countries. I later attended university to explore my film interests, focusing mainly on writing. To support my writing, I now do freelance sound recording. My favourite animal is the pigeon.

Add Writer Biography
Writer Statement

I confess, that at the age of 8 i did want to kill my brother with Asbestos. The flashback scenes in this episode are all very real. Fortunately it’s not something I ever acted upon, perhaps because i never found that piece my dad found, but i sure thought about it for years. I think the age and circumstances make this murder forgivable tho, and Human Pearls as a series is a wild ride of forgiveness dynamics. I often think about what my life would have ended up being had a few things played out a little differently, and I think the film script has a good motive behind it in allowing us to discuss what circumstances give us child murderers or poisoners and also a conversation on asbestos, the most untraceable yet accessible position in the world.