Rocky couple CHARLIE and ASH have been told by their government there’s a fast-moving national emergency, and a curfew in immediate effect. The couple’s MAJOR PROBLEM is how to keep EMMA, their daughter, safe. Their IMMEDIATE PROBLEM is how to prepare for the night ahead.

 

Decisive Charlie tends to side with this government. Ponderous Ash tends to resist them.

 

They flipped over whether to break the curfew and go to ASH’S PARENTS’ (nicer, more isolated) HOUSE, or whether to secure THEIR HOME and risk getting trapped in a more populous area.

 

The COIN is TAILS. ASH WINS. They’re going to Ash’s parents’ more isolated house, breaking the curfew.

 

ACT TWO.

Charlie and Ash prepare to go out, as quick as they can. They think: if we race out asap, we’ll be fine. There’s a TO DO LIST from their normal life, and then Charlie deals with the apocalypse-specific tasks (and more generally directs the work) -

 

MONTAGE: Ash plugs in their ELECTRIC CAR to charge.

 

Charlie moves SUPPLIES from the PANTRY into the HALLWAY. She’s clearly strong.

 

Ash packs lots of valuables, including his LAPTOP and copies of his two published NOVELS in a SATCHEL. He discovers his tablet computer is coated in porridge - Emma … He packs items from his youth, like an Arctic Monkeys band t-shirt. (Sometimes family life sucks …) 

 

Charlie packs a SURVIVAL KITBAG - containing items like a HUNTING KNIFE and a SCALPEL. (Charlie’s clearly a bit of a prepper, and this world keeps getting weirder …) 

 

Emma packs a little suitcase with a few of her favourite toys.

 

The MONTAGE pauses - Ash takes a tea break in the KITCHEN, and goes on SOCIAL MEDIA on his PHONE. He signs a petition against a referendum on bringing back the death penalty. He sees that PROTESTS are being planned - anti-curfew. Charlie finds him, slaps him on the ass and urges him to keep going.

 

Back to the MONTAGE: Ash shakily gaffa tapes the broken strap of Emma’s BABY REINS in the LOUNGE.

 

Charlie packs a few valuables, including a photo of her with her mother and her sister, AMY, as kids.

 

Ash checks the ‘To Do’ list; it says to ‘fix the broken patio doors’ - but that’s a lot of effort, and the priority is getting out of there quickly, (and Ash is lazy,) so Ash just makes sure they’re closed.

 

In the BEDROOM, Charlie unveils her piece-de-resistance to a surprised Ash and a confused Emma: 3 HAZMAT SUITS. They all climb into them. Charlie watches Ash struggle with the crotch on his VERY TIGHT TROUSERS - why hasn’t he changed out of them?!

 

As they lug their bags out of the bedroom, Ash has a thought. He rushes to a drawer, and emerges with an armful of LUBES and sex toys. Charlie isn’t sure what this says about his priorities. Emma has no idea what these things are.

 

The MONTAGE ends with the Dhumals at the front door. Ash can’t find his CAR KEYS - where are they?! Charlie reminds him they’re on the KEY HOOK, as always.

 

Ash reverses the ELECTRIC CAR up to the front door, and they load it quickly. NEIGHBOURS begin to open their curtains and watch. One NEIGHBOUR calls 999 and asks for the police. A robotic voice notifies them that they’re being charged for the call, and then that they are 10,000th in a queue.

 

They climb in the car and set off. Emma waves goodbye to THEIR HOME.

 

Driving through LEAMINGTON, they see other FAMILIES packing up to leave too. They see arguments in the streets, between CITIZENS, and between CITIZENS and POLICE OFFICERS. When Charlie glimpses SOLDIERS down one street, she tells Ash and he speeds up.

 

They make it to the PHARMACY just as the PHARMACIST is locking up. He’s desperate to go home, but Ash and Charlotte know him, and they guilt him into getting ASH’S PRESCRIPTION. All four of them step inside. Whew, it’s getting crazy out there … Charlie wonders whether they’ve made a mistake, coming out.

 

As the Dhumals cross the PARKING LOT to their car, a group of YOUNG WHITE MEN fall into lockstep with them. They start to question why the Dhumals are out, where they’re going. Charlie chats back, and she looks like she may well fight them, but Ash - used to this crap - insists that Charlie stay calm. They make it to the car, with the men gathering nearby and watching them. The men keep glancing at each other - who’s going to make the first move? Charlie watches them, while Ash unlocks the car and puts Emma inside. Charlie climbs in and Ash locks the doors; the men sense that the moment has passed. But one shouts: he knows that ‘Ash’s people’ are to blame for this!’ Ash ignores it and pulls away, while Charlie gives them the evil-eye. It’s extremely tense inside the car. Charlie goes to say something - but stops herself. They drive on in silence.

 

8pm. The dashboard rumbles. It’s Ash’s phone, receiving a number of messages and alerts. Ash asks Charlie to check it. (She knows his PIN.) She discovers alerts and messages from the government, directing her to a page on a ‘GOVERNMENT GATEWAY’ WEBSITE. (Headers at the top of the site include ‘Census’, ‘HMRC’, etc - it’s a site for all your government-related needs.) On the page, there’s a video of the PRIME MINISTER, and then a lot of text beneath it. As Charlie reads the text, we CUT TO:

 

The PM’s explanation: the government has built a number of ‘RESETTLEMENT ZONES’ in secret locations. There has been a LOTTERY, based on census data and location, for who gets TICKETS for the Resettlement Zones. If you received this alert, then you have been selected for a place in the Zones. Tickets should be downloaded to your ID BRACELET. Ticket holders will be picked up from their homes at a specified ‘PICK UP TIME’, by the authorities, and taken to the transport to their specified Zone. If for whatever reason ticket holders do not want their spot in the Zone, they are free to TRANSFER THEIR TICKETS to another citizen. It is advised that this citizen lives in your local area, as Zones have been allocated based on location. Only ticket holders can come to the Resettlement Zone, and this includes children. You are advised to keep this scheme quiet, for your own safety and the safety of the nation. Please follow the instructions at the bottom of the screen to see your ticket, and the tickets for anyone else in your household.

 

Charlie clicks on the link at the bottom of the screen. Ash’s phone offers the option to log in to the government site via password or via Touch ID. She chooses his password, which autofills.

 

She’s greeted by the Dhumals’ Pick Up Time: 5am. Then she scrolls down, and discovers that the ticket holders are Ash Dhumal and Emma Dhumal. Charlie isn’t even listed.

 

She scrabbles out her own phone and logs in to the government website. No sign of a lottery or tickets.

 

The Dhumals have 2 TICKETS to the Resettlement Zones.

 

What this means hits Charlie like a ton of bricks. She can hardly breathe. She orders Ash to pull over, and he does.

 

She gets her breathing under control, and explains what’s happened, emphasising the severity of the situation. It’s clear to her that the nation is even more fucked than they thought. To her, their 2 tickets are a horrible reality to be dealt with.

 

Ash’s first thought is that someone’s made a mistake. Is there a helpline to call? Charlie is not a fan of this idea.

 

From their reactions, we see that Charlie leaps to the worst case scenario and begins to plan for that circumstance, while Ash refuses the bad news and delays. While Charlie accepts (what she believes to be) the harsh reality, Ash resists it and seeks ways out of the situation.

 

Charlie halts their debate - let’s be practical. To Ash, it’s obvious that they’re going to search for a 3rd TICKET, for Charlie. Charlie’s happy to hear this. But she wants to make something clear: the most important thing is getting Emma to the Resettlement Zone. Ash agrees.

 

Once again, Charlie and Ash come together with a common cause - get a 3rd ticket for Charlie, and make sure Emma gets to the Resettlement Zone.

 

But then Charlie also wonders aloud: what if they can’t get that 3rd ticket for her? She sort of wants to prepare Ash for this eventuality, and she sort of wants an answer. Ash hesitates, and the question hangs out there. He really, really should just say that Charlie and Emma will have the tickets. But he doesn’t. Is this just bumbling Ash, or is this indicative of a deeper desire …? There are clearly some relationship-threatening tensions ahead …

 

Which will culminate, in every version of Two Roads, in ‘THE CONFRONTATION’. The Confrontation is a scene in which Charlie and Ash finally address the problems in their relationship, who they are as people, and who they think the other person is. The very thing the coin has helped them to avoid all these years. They’re pushed to this point in every version of events; they’re fated to have this battle, on this night.

 

For the moment, the introduction of the Resettlement Zones and their tickets ups the stakes - both for the film’s world and for Ash and Charlie’s relationship. Only having 2 tickets, plus the politics of the government’s decisions, set Charlie and Ash against each other. This development is an OBSTACLE to the Dhumals’ HAPPIEST ENDING.

 

TAP TAP TAP - The HOMEOWNER whose house they’ve parked by is at their window, telling them to leave. Charlie begins to argue with him but Ash apologizes, and pulls away.

 

As they drive, Charlie notes that they have to keep their tickets quiet. She also wonders whether giving families fewer tickets than they need is a deliberate tactic, to limit numbers in the Zones whilst claiming to be doing the best they can to help people. Ash is baffled that this government will bring in martial law, make ‘Zones’, but also let you sell your tickets? They’re so weird. Charlotte keeps quiet, but it makes sense to her.

 

From their conversation, we continue to clarify Ash and Charlie’s politics - he hates and distrusts this government; she doesn’t mind it, and respects its thinking. He’s lefty, she’s centrist (or arguably centre-right).

 

Ash plans to text RISHI again. Charlie suggests he ask a guy he went to school with, who’s now in the civil service - CURTIS. Ash claims that Curtis is a nobody, so he won’t know. Ash clearly doesn’t like Curtis …

 

Wanting to prove that he’s on top of things, and reassure (himself, mostly) that everything is absolutely definitely fine, Ash points out that they could really go to his parents’ COTTAGE IN CORNWALL, if necessary. It’s isolated, and there’s a MOTORBOAT - they could CROSS THE CHANNEL! Charlie analyses the idea as neutrally as she can: it’d be dangerous to travel that far; crossing the channel in a little motorboat would be a nightmare; they’d possibly be counted as refugees, maybe arrested; this crisis could be in France too - or worldwide. But she concedes that it’s a back-up option, which Ash is pleased with. And she smugly notes that she’s packed their PASSPORTS. Ash is very complimentary about her preparations.

 

Pulling left out of a junction, they see a PLATOON OF SOLDIERS coming down the street, so Ash swerves right.

 

BRIEF FLASHES: PRIVATES BLAKE, WILSON, BARRETT and BRIDLE are marching at the front of the platoon. Behind, in a jeep, is SERGEANT JOHNSON.

 

Charlie notes that the soldiers aren’t wearing masks or hazmat suits.

 

But, as the Dhumals round a bend in the road, they discover a GROUP OF ANTI-CURFEW PROTESTORS causing havoc. Angry shirtless dudes and women with hastily made signs - many in wraparound sunglasses - let off flares and set fire to parked cars. 

 

Ash stops, reverses, starts to drive back to the junction they exited - but now the platoon of soldiers is past the junction. The Dhumals are trapped between the platoon and the protestors.

 

Charlie orders Ash to drive up on the embankment past the soldiers and get this over with. The protestors should distract them. Ash is afraid of the soldiers - they should try to drive slowly through the protestors. They’re breaking curfew after all, they should be on their side. Both groups are getting closer. 

 

Annoyed, Charlie pulls out her COIN, calls ‘Heads’ and flips. As the coin rises slowly between them:

 

Beneath Charlie appears onscreen: ‘Heads’. And, below that, ‘Drive by the soldiers’.

 

Beneath Ash appears onscreen: ‘Tails’. And, below that, ‘Drive through the protestors’.

 

As the coin reaches its peak, and begins to fall into Charlie’s open palm, a flare erupts behind them, and the shadowy figures of marching soldiers swim in the windscreen. Which road will you choose?