NOVEMBER 9, 2022
PRE-SCRIPT TREATMENT
OVERVIEW
“We’re Not Brothers” explores post-traumatic sexuality in a post-apocalyptic world. Like most films with zombies, this story centres on those left alive; in this case, two young men residing in an isolated bunker with their militaristic caregiver.
Twenty-somethings Tomko and Kostek reside underground with the Colonel, an older man they call ‘Sir.’ We learn through dialogue that the Colonel sexually abused the men as children. Since ageing out of his attraction, the ‘soldiers’ perform various tasks that keep them protected and alive behind their containment walls. The strapping and personable Tomko is an archer, hunter, and trader. Tomko performs many physical duties for the ageing Colonel, while the gangly and brooding Kostek cares for the chickens and garden and cans food for trade with a nearby village. He’s a ravenous reader who tends bees for honey to trade for books.
Tomko and Kostek give in to their desires during an overnight hunting mission only to suffer a violent reprisal from the Colonel that sets them on a path to liberation, happiness, and eventual tragedy.
CHARACTER SET-UP
MASURIAN LAKELAND – The Colonel and Tomko paddle their kayaks down the narrow Krutynia River. They arrive at a RIVERBANK where a MAN wielding a machete greets them near two other sitting kayaks. TOMKO pulls their kayaks ashore while THE COLONEL hands the MAN a glass jar of kompot and some wrapped bread, which he puts on his pile of traded goods. Tomko sees a massacred ghoul in a red shirt lying face down in a puddle. Tomko REMEMBERS his red-shirted mother turning ghoul on his 6th birthday and trying to kill him. The Colonel appeared, with another boy in tow, and saved him. The COLONEL calls Tomko’s name, bringing him back to the present; Tomko addresses him as SIR.
They enter a BARRICADED PATH that leads to a CASTLE in the distance.
INSIDE THE CASTLE WALLS is a central BAZAAR packed with dozens of tarp-covered booths; PEDDLERS offer fresh goods alongside salvaged packaged items from a world long gone.
AT A TABLE, the Colonel barters pickled eggs for bagged flour with a PEDDLER while Tomko stands at a BOOTH FILLED WITH JAPANESE MANGA. A gay cover catches his eye, and he checks to see if the Colonel is watching before opening his jacket and revealing a small jar of fresh honey. Excited, the OLD WOMAN tells him to ‘take whatever you want.’
LATER IN THE FOREST, the Colonel and Tomko drag their kayaks behind them by ropes tied to their waists; the seats are packed with traded goods. AN EIGHT-POINT BUCK appears at the TREE LINE ahead of two ghouls. Tomko wants to hunt it, but the Colonel tells him to stand down; it’s too close to dark. THEY WALK THROUGH HIGH GRASS, and Tomko seeks permission again to stalk the beast. Amused, the Colonel refuses, unwilling to overnight in the woods. As they talk, TWO GHOULS shamble closer to their position. AN ARROW STRIKES the nearest ghoul in the head; another takes out the second doing the same. The Colonel orders Tomko to retrieve ‘the bolts’ as he walks toward a high cinderblock wall.
ON THE WALL with a crossbow is KOSTEK. He climbs down as the Colonel enters through the large metal door and helps him remove his backpack. THE INTERIOR YARD is about 2800 square feet. Solar panels stand like trees along the front wall. There are raised garden beds, a tall glass hothouse, a brick canning shed, a chicken coop, a beehive kit, and a stone cooking pit. Three hay-bale targets sit along the back wall behind a metal dome that contains a single door.
Kostek grabs a case of empty canning jars from a kayak and takes them to the shed. A BLACKBIRD LANDS ON ITS METAL ROOF, taking Kostek back to the day his parents turned. Just seven years old, YOUNG KOSTEK climbed onto HIS ROOF with the BLACKBIRDS until the Colonel found him.
REJOINING Tomko and the Colonel, Kostek baulks when the man orders him to grab the overnight bags and track a deer with Tomko. Why must he go? Amused, the Colonel reminds Kostek that he bitched just last week about never getting missions outside of ‘base camp.’ Kostek comes to attention and says, ‘Yes-sir.’
STORY
Tomko and Kostek ENTER THE SHADY FOREST in silence. After tracking A DEER for over an hour, they lose it near THE RIVER. They will not cross the river for fear of submerged ghouls.
WALKING THROUGH THE TREES, Tomko confesses that he couldn’t find the book Kostek wanted and ate the honey. Kostek expects such since Tomko can’t read. Tomko lets the insult slide but is troubled by it.
NEAR DARK, they CLIMB A TREE to a LARGE PLATFORM STAND. A ghoul ambles past the tree, unaware of their presence above. AFTER DARK, Tomko climbs down to urinate, taking Kostek’s discarded cap with him.
HIGH IN A SMALL TREE STAND, Tomko masturbates with Kostek’s hat around his face. HIS BOOTED FEET HANG down from the sitting stand, and a GHOUL keeps reaching for them but cannot touch them.
LATER, as Kostek spreads his blanket on his side of the platform, he spots the manga in Tomko’s jacket. Seeing what it is, he confronts Tomko and calls him a pervert ‘like the Colonel.’
NIGHTTIME FULL MOON – close-up on Tomko’s face as he lay on his side, then cut to a close-up of the back of Kostek’s head. (This is important – see the final scene.) Tomko asks after a book Kostek reads, The Last of the Wine by Renault. Kostek reluctantly reveals it’s a love story about two soldiers in ancient Greece. Hearing this, Tomko declares it no different from the gay comics he jerks off to. When Kostek says nothing more, Tomko nags him about why they no longer play board games or watch ‘disk shows on the TV.’
(Through dialogue, we discover that the Colonel sexually abused them as children. He hasn’t touched Tomko since he was twelve, but Kostek endured his lingering attention, despite Sir finding Kostek’s large penis distasteful.)
Tomko studies Kostek’s figure in the blanket before asking if he can suck Kostek’s cock. Kostek orders him to sleep. Tomko shivers slightly, and hearing him, Kostek rolls over to find Tomko naked. Tomko claims his briefs got wet from the water; Kostek knows he spilt seeds on them, and that’s why they’re hanging to dry. Agitated, he orders Tomko closer so they can share his blanket. Huddled close, Tomko asks to hold Kostek, and after a moment, Kostek lets him spoon. Tomko asks if he can kiss Kostek, and when given permission, he kisses Kostek’s back. Kostek rolls over, responsive, and lets Tomko kiss his chest, but when Tomko kisses his lips, Kostek tells him he has moose breath and pushes him away. TOMKO’S HEAD DIPS under the blanket and Kostek finds the oral sex pleasurable. Suddenly, he shoves Tomko away, complaining that his ‘seeds are about to come out.’
Tomko asks Kostek to touch him, and Kostek begrudgingly does it, commenting on his small size. Tomko wants to put it in, but Kostek detaches and angrily returns to lying on his side. Tomko suggests Kostek put it in him, like when they were little when the Colonel would get too drunk and make them do it with each other. Kostek angrily demands that Tomko never speaks of those days. Sullen, Tomko apologises and, after a time, spoons Kostek again. He kisses his back softly. A CLOSE-UP OF KOSTEK’S FACE reveals he’s aroused by it. Tomko licks at his ear and whispers that Kostek’s cock tastes like lemons. Kostek pushes his backside against Tomko, receptive. TOMKO THEN MOVES AWAY AND RETURNS with a small bottle of olive oil. Kostek demands to know where he got the coveted oil, and Tomko claims he traded some arrowheads for it. He warns Tomko not to use it all because he wants to cook with it. Spooning again under the covers, Tomko fingers Kostek and then penetrates him (UNSEEN). Kostek unexpectedly likes it. Overcome with pleasure, he orders Tomko to go faster until the young man is humping like a rabbit. When Kostek says his seeds are coming, Tomko claims the same. Kostek, fearful, tells Tomko not to spill seeds inside of him because ‘he’ll know.’
WE LOOK DOWN ON THEM FROM ABOVE as they climax; they hold each other tight for a moment while beneath them, ghouls wander about, lured by the sounds of their lovemaking. | HARD CUT TO THE SAME SCENE IN DAYLIGHT. The platform is empty, and dead ghouls lie lifeless around the tree.
IN THE MISTY FOREST of early morning, slow-moving scenes intercut.
[1] EXTREME CLOSE-UP OF TOMKO’S EYE cuts to [2] KOSTEK’S HANDS banging ANTLERS together in the trees. [3] KOSTEK TURNS HIS HEAD and stares at us; it is languid and seductive. [4] TOMKO’S EYE shines with excitement, and his two fingers appear below it, holding the nock with an arrow set. [5] A LARGE SIXTEEN-POINT BUCK stares at us. [6] HOLD ON KOSTEK’S DARK EYES as they shift right.[7] The buck stares at us. [8] THE BACK OF KOSTEK as he first turns his head and neck and then his body. He BRINGS THE ANTLERS UP BEHIND HIS EARS and gazes as if he’s the deer. [9] THE BUCK stares intently—SUDDENLY, AN ARROW CUTS THROUGH HIS HEAD (important – see the final scene.)
THE SUBLIME INTERCUTS END when Kostek kills a nearby ghoul with his crossbow on his way to the fallen deer. Tomko quickly ties a rope around its neck and, with Kostek’s help, HOISTS THE CARCASS UP using a thick tree branch. While Tomko holds the slack, Kostek cuts into its lower interior, freeing the useless guts. THEY SMILE AT ONE ANOTHER, each killing a ghoul before sharing a quick kiss.
THEY WALK THROUGH THE HIGH GRASS, the dead deer tethered to them by ropes tied around their waists. GHOULS close the distance behind them, falling off when arrows strike through their heads.
ON THE WALL, the Colonel holds his compound bow and happily comments, ‘This buck is bigger than the one they saw yesterday.’
INSIDE, an energised Tomko stands proud under the Colonel’s praise as Kostek returns with the arrows from the fallen ghouls. SEALING THE LARGE METAL DOOR, the Colonel watches Kostek and Tomko truss the beast up for butchering and his SMILE FADES upon seeing them exchange LINGERING GLANCES.
Without warning, the Colonel PUNCHES TOMKO IN THE GUT and latches a handcuff onto his wrist. He secures Tomko to an exposed water pipe along the wall before STRIKING KOSTEK across the face. The Colonel MARCHES BACK to Tomko and kicks him repeatedly; KOSTEK INTERVENES, and the Colonel punches him into delirium.
(The scene is brutal and violent, a jarring transition from last night’s sexual romp and the dreamy beauty of the hunt.)
============================
I won't post the whole pre-script treatment here, for obvious reasons – but after the Colonel's violence, Tomko plays to the Colonel's need to treat him like a manly equal and Kostek like the camp temptress who must be avoided. Kostek muddles through the seasons with Tomko's hostility, until Tomko confesses its an act and really loves him.
When the Colonel decides he and Tomko will still another boy from the village, Kostek makes a decision that changes their lives forever...