Film Treatment

Our film is set in modern day Belfast, following the life of Bobby who is a lonely man, aged around 19-20, looking for love. However, Bobby is also a serial killer and is tricking the dating agency he is with into setting him up with Poppy, who he is planning to kill. 

Our film opens with a narration about singletons looking for love over shots of people doing daily activities, such as pouring coffee and turning on the TV, as well as a shot of Bobby sharpening knives. This narration is interrupted several times by Bobby explaining his situation and why he is looking for love. The narrator will introduce the idea of dating agencies and shots of middle aged women working in an office with files and typing, with obvious typing sounds, will accompany this.

The next scene will be Bobby receiving a phone call saying that he has a match. The narrator will explain this, and we will hear and see a part of Bobby’s phone call. Once he is off the phone, he will explain to the camera who she is.

Poppy, Bobby’s match, will have her own introduction scene. We will show long shots of her walking around a park, with her doing a voiceover and introducing herself, which switch to a close up or a mid shot of Poppy on a bench explaining why she is here. This will also be accompanied by shots of her carrying out activities such as feeding ducks (and having an obvious cookery book for duck) and people watching. We will hear details about Poppy such as she is 19, a cocktail waitress and is looking for love.

The next scene will be the actual date itself. It will begin with the narrator introducing the date, as Bobby is sharpening his knives. Bobby then sets the table up, and the shot makes the knives and wine prominent to foreshadow the events, as the door knocks. We then see Poppy standing outside the door acting nervously and the camera catches a glimpse of a bottle, which will later be revealed to contain poison. As Bobby opens the door to greet Poppy, he pulls her in and hugs her and holds the hug for too long, smelling her hair. Poppy pulls away and the couple walk inside.

Inside the house, a candle lit table with red roses and dim lighting is set up. Bobby offers Poppy some wine, and she offers to pour it. As the pair sit down, they strike common ground about slasher films and a conversation ensues - it is at this point that the sound fades out and we leave Bobby and Poppy to themselves. The narrator helps the scene transition into an individual interview style set up of both Bobby and Poppy.

A chair is set up in front of a bedroom somewhere in Bobby’s house. Bobby walks in and sits down, then looks at the camera man: a voice off camera is heard asking him how the date is going to which he responds positively. There is a similar set up for Poppy, in a different room. She is already seated and we don’t hear the question being asked this time, however she also responds positively to the question. The camera man then asks her if she thinks it will end well tonight, to which she says “we’ll have to wait and see”. Both responses are going to include puns such as “I’m going to take a stab at it.”

After the interviews, we return to a scene of the couple laughing at the table. Bobby checks his watch and tells her that he is going to check on the dinner. He turns his back and Poppy pours a substance in to his wine. Then Poppy asks him to show her to the bathroom so that she can freshen up before dinner. Bobby agrees and shows her to a downstairs bathroom. As she is entering the bathroom, he offers to get the door however he stabs her in the back. Poppy falls to the floor in a pool of blood and the camera looks at Bobby, then back to Poppy and zooms in. As the cameraman fumbles to turn it off, we can hear the narrator saying “the date has taken an unexpected turn for Poppy.”

The next scene opens with Bobby putting the final touches (i.e. herbs/salt) on to a dish with meat in it and sitting down to eat it. The camera shows an insert of his recipe for Poppy Pie.  He sets his dish down and takes a sip of wine at the exact same moment that he sees Poppy’s bottle of poison lying on the floor. He breaks the fourth wall and looks into the camera in shock and then chokes.