Mayor`s sequence has been the most complex one out of the whole script because introducing five characters inside a room is always logistically complex. Moreover, the script wasn’t very generous about the description of their actions. We have tried to make Marnie into a strong heroine reacting about an injustice when doing the staging. Leave the place with a kick while cuffed, and it’s raining, is the best visual representation of perseverance and courage that we have found. We wanted to make it clear that Marnie won’t let herself be stepped on by her father and she will keep on fighting even if Mac is no longer supporting her. We have also tried to have Mac react to this injustice and don’t be still and silent when another man puts his hands on his beloved. The mayor’s action against his daughter is so excessive that Mac’s reaction couldn’t be contained in any other way that didn’t involve a threat with a gun. This is the reason why the Deputy takes out his gun, since he’s a rough man representing the law, and he doesn’t mess around.

When Marnie leaves, the scene becomes silent and the Deputy’s pathetic reaction will help us understand he’s just a man carrying out his duty and he didn’t want to harm anyone. Like you have been able to see, we have looked for small streaks of comedy on this scene to defuse drama on this exaggerated clash and thus represent a family altercation with authenticity in a Little Miss Sunshine style. This would help make the horror feel much more real in the final scene.

After Mayor’s sequence, the script suddenly puts us on the day of the box opening, without any transition and omitting important information that could help us understand the characters’ behavior in scene 17. We have decided to add a small clarifying scene where using the Deputy’s POV, we can make Marnie’s incessant fight to know the truth very clear. In this scene Marnie, surrounded by books, in the middle of a rainy night and turning over the books’ pages with her hands still cuffed, is shown as a symbol of perseverance and will to fight. Furthermore, the Deputy will show a side of him that will help us make him more humane. It will be him who will leave the keys to the cuffs at the library’s bookbox. We will use Marnie’s stay at the library to play with a more specific and narrative ellipsis where the three days left will be days of fighting and studying and Marnie won’t stop looking for the way to save her neighbors and herself.