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1.
FADE IN:
1 EXT. LAKE HOUSE - SUNSET 1
The sky is a shimmering expanse of stars, packed together.
LOUISE (V.O.)
Memory is a strange thing.
2 EXT. LAKE HOUSE - SUNSET 2
A modern home built on the shore with a large deck. The
skin of the lake is a cloudy mirror.
LOUISE BANKS stares up at the sky, leaning against the
deck's railing. Merlot glass in one hand.
Louise has a clean, timeless look about her; the kind of
woman who ages gracefully. Short hair.
LOUISE (V.O.)
It doesn't work like I thought it
did. We are so bound by time; by
its order.
She steps back inside, a little tipsy, smiling.
3 A2 INT. LAKE HOUSE - CONTINUOUS 3
Stacks of books on shelves and tables. A telescope against
a glass wall. And dry-erase boards, marked with foreign
languages. Different colors for different dialects.
LOUISE (V.O.)
Maybe there's a higher order.
Mingled here are also dinner plates. Candlelight.
LOUISE
Darling, is there any more wine?
She pauses when a deck light winks on outside. Her eyes
sparkle when she sees something:
A question, written on the glass, lit from outdoors.
"Do you want to make a baby?"
2.
LOUISE (V.O.)
I used to think this was the
beginning of your story.
Louise goes right to the glass, wanting to touch the
question with her finger to make sure it's real.
CLOSE ON HER FACE: From outside looking in, a curious
circular shadow is thrown from the deck light. But her eyes
start to water.
In the background, the bedroom door hangs open and the
silhouette of a MAN leans against the frame, watching her.
Louise turns around, smiling again. We know her answer.
4 INT. MERCY HILL GENERAL HOSPITAL - MORNING 4
Louise cradles a NEWBORN GIRL in her arms. Her name:
HANNAH.
Hannah reaches up.
Crooks her tiny hand around Louise's finger.
LATER
A NURSE starts to take baby Hannah to give Louise some
rest. Hannah BLEATS and reaches for her mother.
Louise smiles through the exhaustion and pulls her back.
LOUISE
Okay, come back, come back to me --
5 EXT. LAKE HOUSE YARD - AFTERNOON 5
Four-year-old HANNAH dressed as a cowgirl.
On a toy riding horse with wheels for hooves.
Giggling like she can't stop.
LOUISE (V.O.)
I remember moments in the middle.
She pulls both finger-guns, aimed at us.
HANNAH
Stick 'em up!
3.
6 INT. HANNAH'S ROOM - NIGHT 6
Eight-year-old Hannah is tucked in bed.
Said to us as a prayer:
HANNAH
I love you.
7 INT. LAKE HOUSE - NIGHT 7
Twelve-year-old Hannah glowers at us:
HANNAH
I hate you!
-- and storms into her room.
8 INT. MERCY HILL GENERAL HOSPITAL - MORNING 8
Twelve-year-old daughter HANNAH lies, eyes closed.
Hannah is pale. Her head has been shaved in the last month.
LOUISE (V.O.)
And this was the end.
Louise holds her daughter's hand in hers.
Her thumb traces Hannah's knuckles.
A life monitor beeps as Hannah's heart stops.
Hannah's eyes roll up and she sighs her final breath.
Louise's grip on her daughter tightens. Trembling.
A Nurse starts to pull Louise away, but she hangs on -- now
it's mother trying to return to her baby girl --
LOUISE
Come back -- come back to me, baby
--
Louise is unaware she's crying. Hannah remains motionless.
LOUISE (V.O.)
4.
But now I'm not so sure I believe
in beginnings and endings. There
are days that define your story
beyond your life.
CUT TO BLACK.
LOUISE (V.O.)
Like the day they arrived.
9 EXT. SKY - DAY 9
Storybook blue, patched with cumulous clouds.
Drifting down to find a tree line in motion.
Looking into a car on a road.
10 EXT. PARKING GARAGE - DAY 10
Louise parks her car end steps out. Her hair is longer
here, and there's no wedding band on her finger.
She carries herself like someone who's learned how to be
alone, handling her briefcase, coffee, keys, etc.
It's oddly quiet in the garage around her.
11 EXT. UNIVERSITY CAMPUS - DAY 11
Louise crosses campus. Absorbed in her thoughts.
Overhead, a pair of F-22 fighters slice across the sky.
12 EXT. STUDENT CENTER - MOMENTS LATER 12
Louise passes the campus center.
A crowd of STUDENTS are huddled around the glass outside
the student center, looking in at a large TV. The crowd is
too dense for Louise to see what is on the TV.
Louise frowns, but keeps going.
Overhead, a second pair of fighter jets rocket past.
Louise looks up at the sky. Apprehensive.
5.
13 INT. UNIVERSITY CLASSROOM - DAY 13
Louise enters a classroom, leaving the door open behind
her. Out in the hall, a couple of STUDENTS run by, but it's
unclear if they're late for class or it's something worse.
Louise steps to her desk to unload her briefcase and
thermos.
The course name is written on the blackboard behind the
desk: "Advanced Linguistics" and "Dr. Louise Banks."
LOUISE
Good morning, everyone.
No response. Louise finally looks to the class to discover:
Only FOUR STUDENTS seated in an otherwise empty classroom.
LOUISE
Where is everyone?
The Grad Students in the room shrug» These are the hardcore
learners, with their laptops out and textbooks open»
The class session BELL chimes over the PA. Louise looks
back at the door, silently considering something, then
decides:
LOUISE
Well, let's get started. Today
we're talking about Portuguese, and
why it sounds so different from the
other Romance languages.
Louise walks to a MAP of western Europe on a rolling easel,
parked next to a TV.
LOUISE
The story of Portuguese begins with
the Kingdom of Galicia, in the
middle ages, where the language was
seen as an expression of art. The
way it was written and spoken was
rooted in aesthetics.
One Grad Student's phone CHIMES with an alert. Louise
pauses, thinking what the other Students are thinking --
LOUISE
Any news you want to share?
The Student reading his phone frowns, suddenly nervous.
6.
GRAD STUDENT WITH SMARTPHONE
Uhh, Doctor Banks? Can you turn on
the TV to a news channel?
Louise grabs her TV remote and turns the set to CNN, to
reveal AERIAL FOOTAGE from a helicopter, also live, as a
REPORTER narrates in a near panic:
REPORTER IN HELI (V.O.)
Are you seeing this!? Oh dear god
what is that noise -- WHAT IS IT --
should we be this close to it?!
FOOTAGE shows wilderness, where a STRANGE, OBLONG OBJECT
hovers over the tree line. It absorbs sunlight and its
dimensions are difficult to grasp -- at times it appears
almost concave, poised as if to dig into the planet's
crust.
Another helicopter edges into view, and suddenly the scale
of the object is clear: It's the size of a massive
skyscraper.
Bumper text at the bottom of the screen reads: "STRANGE
CRAFT IN MONTANA"
Amid the WHUFF of the helicopter, a reporter on location is
shouting in a voice on verge of a nervous breakdown:
The audio cuts out and an ANCHORWOMAN takes over. Cutting
to the studio where she pulls her attention to the camera:
ANCHORWOMAN
The object, uh, apparently touched
down forty minutes ago just north
of I-94, we're, we're waiting to
hear if this is perhaps an
experimental vessel or --
She looks for help off-camera and they cut to:
MORE FOOTAGE, closer to the ground. The oblong ship is
immense. And seemingly without creases or windows.
ANCHORWOMAN (V.O.)
Hold on, it -- I'm learning that
more objects like this have landed
in as many as eight other locations
around the world. We're waiting for
confirmation -- yes? Can we--? Okay
--
7.
New footage: a live feed in Japan. An identical CONCAVE
SHIP is parked above a stadium lot.
ANCHORWOMAN (V.O.)
This is from a site in Hokkaido!
The Grad Students all stare in silent horror at the
footage.
One of them stands up and gathers his stuff, ready to
leave. But he only gets as far as standing up. Unsure what
to do next; where to run to.
ANCHORMAN (V.O.)
(panicked)
This is worldwide, it is happening
right now! We don't-- do we know
where they came from?
A campus SIREN spins up; the kind used for tornado
warnings.
The STUDENTS now start to get their materials together, to
leave. Louise snaps out of her shock, and with authority:
LOUISE
Okay, yes, let's go. Class over.
14 EXT. COLLEGE CAMPUS - MOMENTS LATER 14
Louise joins a FLOCK of people on campus hurrying to the
parking structures. Nearly everyone keeps looking up from
time to time. The SIREN is louder here.
Anothe pair of FIGHTER JETS fly overhead.
15 EXT. UNIVERSITY PARKING STRUCTURE - DAY 15
Louise gets to her sedan, climbs inside, windows down. Her
satellite radio plays as she powers the car --
PRESS SECRETARY (V.O.)
But for now we're simply asking for
cooperation while authorities
assess the object. Until further
notice, the site is a no-fly zone.
From the street: Sounds of a car accident. It startles her.
REPORTER (V.O.)
8.
So you're saying it's not ours? Do
you know if it's even from Earth?
Louise opens her door and steps out again, to look down at:
The wreck below. The aftermath. The two DRIVERS panicked
and on edge but uninjured.
PRESS SECRETARY (V.O.)
We're still collecting information,
coordinating with other nations.
We're not the only ones with one of
these in our back yard.
Louise returns to her car and straps herself in.
REPORTER (V.O.)
If this is some sort of peaceful
first contact, why send twelve? Why
not just one?
She backs out, tires yelping at her quick getaway.
16 EXT. LAKE HOUSE - EVENING 16
Her sedan pulls up at the lake house from the opener.
17 INT. LAKE HOUSE - FRONT ENTRY - EVENING 17
Louise enters with her cell phone to her ear, carrying her
valise.
LOUISE
(into phone)
I don't know, Mom, I'm listening to
the same news coverage.
(beat)
Don't -- Mom, don't bother with
that channel, how many times do I
have to tell you not to pay
attention to those idiots?
(beat)
All right then.
18 INT. LAKE HOUSE - CONTINUOUS 18
Traversing a hallway to bedrooms. Louise pulls her shoes
off by the heel, switching hands with the phone as she
goes.
9.
LOUISE
Do I sound worried? Exactly.
Louise pauses at an open bedroom door halfway down the
hall.
LOUISE
Me? Oh, you know. The same.
There's a tiredness in her answer. Like she's been down
this road with her mother before.
19 INT. SPARE BEDROOM - CONTINUOUS 19
An empty room, save for a couple of stray book boxes and a
neglected stationary bike in the corner.
Louise surveys the room from the door.
LOUISE
I'm fine, Mom.
(not really)
Okay, call me later.
She disconnects the call and leans against the door frame.
Staring into the empty room with a quiet sadness.
Finally, having come to some decision, she pushes off
again.
20 INT. LIVING ROOM - LATER 20
Louise, alone, on the couch. Half a bottle of wine left.
The place is furnished nicely, but there are telltale signs
of a single occupant in a larger space. No family photos.
A recliner by the couch has become a surrogate bookshelf.
TV is on. More coverage of the alien landing.
CNN REPORTER (V.O.)
-- and at around eight hours after
landing, there are still no signs
of what might be called 'first
contact.' The objects measure at
least fifteen hundred feet tall --
10.
Changing channel. Footage changes to a snowy tundra where
another UFO has landed and flattened a section of fence
line.
This is a foreign channel. Louise gets international
stations. The anchor speaks in Russian.
New channel: Another SHIP, hovering over the ocean.
AERIAL COVERAGE: Fleets from three different nations
threaten each other for possession of the massive UFO.
NETWORK REPORTER (V.O.)
-- none of whom can claim because
this 'object' as it's being called
is actually hovering over
international waters. One Iranian
cruiser has fired across the bow of
the Indian fleet --
Louise changes the channel.
Finding: The press room in the west wing of the White
House.
PRESS SECRETARY
We have to entertain the idea that,
if it is a kind of vessel, it may
be unmanned. Regardless, we have a
protocol for scenarios like this --
The word "protocol" instantly sours Louise to the news. She
mutes the TV and shuffles off to her bedroom --
21 INT. LOUISE'S BEDROOM - CONTINUOUS 21
-- picks up a remote off a nightstand and turns on a TV
facing her bed. More news, the volume low.
22 INT. LOUISE'S BEDROOM - MORNING 22
Louise is asleep in bed. The covers are a mess. She's
spooning extra pillows as if they were a bedfellow.
Louise wakes with a start, as if from a dream.
23 EXT. UNIVERSITY CAMPUS - MORNING 23
Louise returns to work.
11.
The campus is empty. Two STUDENTS hurry between buildings.
Louise passes the student center.
It's too quiet.
24 INT. UNIVERSITY CLASSROOM - MORNING 24
Louise enters her classroom. No one has showed up.
25 INT. LOUISE'S OFFICE - DAY 25
A cramped office with a window looking out on the city.
Sirens wail in the distance.
Louise has barely decorated the place. It's the sign of
someone untethered from the world. Closed off. She sits at
her desk, grading papers. Streaming video news coverage
plays on her computer.
ANCHORWOMAN (V.O.)
Forty-eight hours later, and still
no further developments from the
sites of the twelve UFOs. Borders
are closed and flights --
COLONEL WEBER (O.S.)
Two days and already the public
expects us to know the answers.
Louise turns to see the source of the voice at her office
door. COLONEL WEBER (50s) wears civilian clothing but his
body language screams career military. Callused hands,
sharp eyes, rigid posture.
He steps in and reaches to her computer, powering off the
speakers. Behind him, two large MEN stand guard in the
hall.
LOUISE
Who are you?
Weber has his I.D. ready; shows it to her.
COLONEL WEBER
I'm Colonel G.T. Weber. You and I
never formally met but two years
ago you did some Farsi translation
for Army Intelligence.
LOUISE
12.
I remember. Alan Boudreau hired me.
COLONEL WEBER
Alan works for me. You made quick
work of those insurgent videos.
Louise crosses her arms. He's touched a nerve.
LOUISE
You made quick work of those
insurgents.
COLONEL WEBER
You have another two years on your
SSBI so you still have top secret
clearance. That's why I'm in your
office, and not at Berkeley.
LOUISE
Okay --
COLONEL WEBER
I need you to translate something
for me.
As one of the men guarding the door shuts it, giving them
total privacy, Colonel Weber places a pocket-sized digital
recorder on Louise's desk.
He hits PLAY. White noise, shuffling. Then murmured talk,
and:
MAN'S VOICE
(on recorder)
Why are you here?
In response: A SERIES OF SOUNDS that have no Earthly
comparison. An audio mixture of organic clicks, rushing
water, whispers, and low-octave moaning.
MAN'S VOICE
(on recorder)
Can you understand us?
Almost immediately, the SOUNDS return, this time slightly
different. The bass tone is lower. The whispers raspy.
Louise listens, rapt. As if she's waking up from a long
sleep. She leans in.
Weber studies her face while she listens.
MAN'S VOICE
13.
(on recorder)
Where did you come from?
Before an answer is heard, Weber stops playback and takes
back the recorder.
COLONEL WEBER
Well? What do you make of it?
LOUISE
Is that --
COLONEL WEBER
Yes.
The weight of his answer settles on Louise. Beat.
LOUISE
How many?
COLONEL WEBER
How many what?
LOUISE
How many of them were speaking?
Weber raises an eyebrow at her but answers.
COLONEL WEBER
Two. Assume they were not speaking
at the same time.
LOUISE
Are you sure? Do they have mouths?
COLONEL WEBER
Keep your focus on the sounds.
Weber replays a portion of the recording. The alien VOICE
sounds even stranger a second time.
COLONEL WEBER
What would be your approach to
translating this? Does any of it
sound like words to you? Phrases?
LOUISE
I don't know.
COLONEL WEBER
(said not as a question)
What can you tell me.
14.
LOUISE
I can tell you it's impossible to
translate this from an audio file.
To do this right, I need to be
there. Interacting with them.
Weber bristles at this.
COLONEL WEBER
You didn't need that for the Farsi
translations.
LOUISE
It was Burushaski, not Farsi, and I
didn't need it because I already
knew the language. This --
(points at recorder)
This is a whole new ball game.
COLONEL WEBER
I know what you're doing.
LOUISE
Tell me what I'm doing.
COLONEL WEBER
I'm not taking you to Montana. It's
all I can do to keep it from
becoming a tourist site for anyone
with TS clearance.
LOUISE
I'm just telling you what it will
take to do this job.
COLONEL WEBER
We will set up a safe room at a
facility here in town where you can
observe video of the conversations
in real-time. I'll put you on the
line with our team at the site.
LOUISE
No.
COLONEL WEBER
(beat)
What do you mean, 'no'?
LOUISE
It won't work that way.
COLONEL WEBER
15.
You'll make it work.
Her patience wears thin.
LOUISE
Have they spoken to us in English?
COLONEL WEBER
No.
LOUISE
Have they played back any of our
media, or given you any indication
they understand us?
Weber doesn't have a reply for this. His eyes shift.
LOUISE
So in order for this to work, I
might have to teach them English.
The basics. Nouns, verbs. I can't
do that remotely. I have to be in
the room with them.
Weber and Louise stare down.
COLONEL WEBER
There is one opportunity here, and
that is to study them remotely. If
I leave here, your chance is gone.
Weber turns to leave.
LOUISE
Colonel -- You mentioned Berkeley.
You going to ask Danvers next?
Weber pauses at the door.
COLONEL WEBER
Maybe, why?
LOUISE
Before you commit to him, ask him
the Sanskrit word for "war" and its
translation.
She grins at him.
Weber exits. After he leaves, her grin fades.
26 INT. LOUISE'S BEDROOM - NIGHT 26
16.
Louise is asleep in her bed. Again with the formation of
pillows around her.
She wakes to a rhythmic thumping. Low; dull. Her hand goes
to her heart. It's not her heart.
From her bedroom window: A distant flying object vaguely
like a helicopter. One thing is clear: it's on fast
approach. As it gets closer, treetops bend and leaves
scatter.
27 INT. LOUISE'S LIVING ROOM - MOMENTS LATER 27
Dressed in a bathrobe, Louise crosses to the front windows
looking out on her wide, flat front yard.
SPOTLIGHTS shine into her house, STROBES pop. We are so
used to how a helicopter sounds, but this is different. The
engine noises, the rotors -- it's more muscular;
threatening.
The lights finally dim to reveal: A Sikorsky UH-60
Blackhawk has touched down on the lawn. The passenger door
is open, slid back to reveal someone riding in the rear
compartment.
Her doorbell rings. Louise answers it.
Weber stands at the door, now in military uniform.
COLONEL WEBER
Good morning.
LOUISE
Colonel?
COLONEL WEBER
Gavisti.
LOUISE
That's the word. But what did
Danvers say it means in Sanskrit?
COLONEL WEBER
He said it means an argument. What
does it really mean?
LOUISE
"A desire for more cows."
COLONEL WEBER
Pack your bags.
17.
It hits Louise: She got the job.
LOUISE
All right. Give me twenty minutes.
COLONEL WEBER
You have ten.
Louise glares at Weber for just a moment, then dashes off
to her bedroom.
28 EXT. LAKE HOUSE - PRE-DAWN 28
Louise (now dressed and carrying an overnight bag) hurries
for the Blackhawk. The rotor blades flatten the grass on
her lawn and pull at Louise's coat.
Weber helps Louise inside and then shuts the door.
The helicopter rises immediately.
29 INT. BLACKHAWK HELICOPTER - PRE-DAWN 29
Louise drops into a bench seat still holding her bag. As
she buckles in:
IAN (O.S.)
Language is the foundation of
civilization.
Across from her: IAN DONNELLY (late 30s), Oxford shirt,
wild hair, fierce eyes, and a smile in the corner of his
mouth that makes it hard to tell what he's thinking.
Ian holds a book. He's reading from it.
LOUISE
Pardon?
IAN
"It is the glue that holds a people
together, and it is the first
weapon drawn in a conflict."
COLONEL WEBER
Louise, this is Ian Donnelly.
Neither Louise nor Ian offer to shake hands. They study one
another as they talk.
18.
LOUISE
That's quite a greeting.
IAN
You wrote it.
LOUISE
It's the kind of thing you write as
a preface. Dazzle them with basics.
IAN
It's good. Even if it's wrong.
LOUISE
Wrong?
IAN
The cornerstone of civilization
isn't language. It's science.
COLONEL WEBER
Ian is a theoretical physicist from
Los Alamos. He is the man with the
questions. You will be reporting to
me but you'11 be working with him
when you're in the shell.
LOUISE
The shell?
IAN
That's what they're calling the
UFO.
COLONEL WEBER
Priority one: What do they want,
where are they from?
Weber speaks them as orders. Ian thinks it's a
conversation.
IAN
Yes, but beyond that: How did they
get here? Are they capable of
faster-than-light travel?
Ian pulls a Moleskine notebook from his pocket, excited to
share from it --
IAN
I've prepared a list of questions,
starting with some "handshake"
binary sequences --
19.
LOUISE
How about we just talk to them
first? Before we start throwing
math problems at them.
COLONEL WEBER
Thus is why you're both here.
Ian nods as he puts his notebook up, but it's clear he's
anxious to get past the small talk and on to the big ideas.
30 EXT. MONTANA LANDING SITE - DAWN 30
Wide angle on approach. A mile out. Roads and highways are
crowded with traffic, up against military blockades.
In the distance: The ALIEN SHIP, in silhouette behind the
rising egg-yolk sun.
The ship dwarfs the wilderness around it and stands out
like a massive, strange edifice that would seem ancient
were it not hovering over the ground.
At this distance, a low TONE starts to resonate in
everyone's sternum. The Blackhawk lances over the treeline.
31 INT. BLACKHAWK HELICOPTER - MORNING 31
LOUISE'S POV: The alien ship towers over the field. It
seems impossibly balanced, as if it could tip over and
crush everyone at any time.
A mile away, a series of tents have been erected. Up close
the ship looks majestic; ominous.
32 INT. BLACKHAWK - CONTINUOUS 32
Louise and Ian stare out the side window at the ship.
COLONEL WEBER
Every thirteen hours a sort of door
opens up, at the base. That's where
we go in.
LOUISE
How many of us are here?
COLONEL WEBER
20.
You're the only scientists going
in. But you both have a team here -
-
LOUISE
A team? What kind of team?
COLONEL WEBER
Mostly NSA. Cryptanalysts, a couple
of signal processing experts --
A phone handset's cradle lights up by Weber. He answers it.
LOUISE
(sotto, to Ian)
When's the next meeting?
Ian shrugs -- he just got here. He's busy making a SKETCH
of the ship in his notebook. His notebook is a tiny library
of all his thoughts and ideas.
Weber hangs up.
COLONEL WEBER
We'll need to hurry you through.
33 EXT. HELIPAD - MOMENTS LATER 33
Colonel Weber, Ian, and Louise are escorted out of the
helicopter and into base camp. The camp is divided into two
clusters of tents/buildings: OPERATIONS and SCIENCE.
CAPTAIN MARKS (barely 30, disciplined; a man of rules)
meets Weber and updates him as they walk:
CAPTAIN MARKS
Materials team called in with some
early analysis.
COLONEL WEBER
Tell me.
CAPTAIN MARKS
Normally you find three or four
elements in base material. Humans
have eleven. That thing is made of
every single element known to us
plus a dozen we've never seen.
Weber frowns, worried. But Ian has the opposite reaction:
His face lights up in wonderment, and a hundred questions
pile up in his mind but then --
21.
COLONEL WEBER
All right. Take these two to
Kettler.
CAPTAIN MARKS
Yessir.
COLONEL WEBER
(to Ian and Louise)
You will follow this man to
medical. The procedure should take
just a few minutes.
Louise and Ian keep up with the Captain's brisk march.
A Medevac helicopter powers up on a pad nearby. Someone is
strapped to a gurney inside, flanked by two Paramedics.
Ian notices. So does Louise. They exchange looks.
34 EXT. TENT COMPLEX - MOMENTS LATER 34
Captain Marks leads them to a large tent.
Louise looks back at the ship for a moment. Nervous.
Behind her, Ian looks back at it too. Curious.
35 INT. MEDICAL TENT - MOMENTS LATER 35
A staff of military medical personnel are busy testing new
diagnostic equipment.
Captain Marks opens a flap into a room where we find a man
in scrubs with a tray of hypodermics. This is DR. KETTLER;
professorial, even-toned voice, but a predator's eyes.
DR. KETTLER
Louise Banks and Ian Donnelly?
Louise nods. Kettler gestures to two plastic chairs. They
sit, while he prepares a syringe with a vial attached.
DR. KETTLER
When is the last time either of you
have eaten?
LOUISE
Last night.
22.
IAN
Same.
DR. KETTLER
When is the last time you did
something stressful?
IAN
Does right now count?
LOUISE
Who was being carted off on the
medevac?
DR. KETTLER
Not everyone is wired for what
you're about to do. Our brains
aren't always able to process
experiences like this.
(then)
I'm going to get some blood from
you, and give you an immunization
dose that covers a battery of
bacterial threats. Roll up your
sleeves, please.
Ian begins rolling up his Oxford shirt sleeve. Louise
notices Ian is complying, then follows suit.
Kettler moves his tray over and wraps a band around
Louise's arm, just above her elbow. As he draws blood:
DR. KETTLER
The booster is a kick to your
system, so you might feel some side
effects. Nausea. Dizziness.
Headaches. A ringing in your ear
like you have Tinnitus.
Louise looks over at Ian to share a look of: Do you believe
what Kettler just said?
But Ian is staring out a window at the big ship.
36 INT. OPERATIONS TENT - INTEL ROOM - MOMENTS LATER 36
Ian and Louise enter this tent that serves as the nerve
center of base camp. The room is fitted with dozens of
flatscreens, each one monitoring activity of a landing site
in some other part of the world.
AUSTRALIAN SCIENTIST (O.S.)
23.
Honestly they've been mostly quiet
so far. And by the time we start to
make any real progress, it's over,
and we're out the door again.
Weber is waiting for them, now in full uniform. Behind him:
a large white board.
AUSTRALIAN SCIENTIST (O.S.)
We're trying to reduce our setup
time, maybe limit the diagnostic
gear so we can focus more on our
friends across the glass.
AGENT HALPERN (O.S.)
How long are your sessions?
On the white board: Twelve columns, with labels of
countries. CHINA / GREENLAND /RUSSIA 1 (SIBERIA) / RUSSIA 2
(BLACK SEA) / JAPAN / UNITED STATES / SUDAN / VENEZUELA /
SIERRA LEONE / WALES / PAKISTAN / INDIAN OCEAN.
Information is written under the columns, and spy satellite
plus location photos are peppered throughout. It shows what
every country is doing at their separate sites.
Standing at a MONITOR is a MAN in a suit and tie. Arms
crossed over his chest. This is AGENT HALPERN: All
business. His job is international relations.
On the monitor is an AUSTRALIAN SCIENTIST talking via VTC.
AUSTRALIAN SCIENTIST
The barometer readings don't
change, but like clockwork, after
forty-six minutes and two seconds
the gravity slowly shifts to slide
us out of the room. Like we're
insects on a piece of paper and
they're easing us out of the house.
AGENT HALPERN
Is there a scientific explanation
for it? Like, is it for them?
AUSTRALIAN SCIENTIST
We think it's for us. The air
doesn't seem to circulate in the
chamber, so after about an hour
we'd run out of oxygen.
AGENT HALPERN
24.
But it doesn't take thirteen hours
to pump fresh air into that room.
IAN (O.S.)
Atmosphere.
AGENT HALPERN
Excuse me?
IAN
If their atmosphere is different
from Earth, it could take them
hours to re-balance the oh-two
content and pressure for us every
time they open their door.
AGENT HALPERN
So, you're saying they could
suffocate us if they wanted.
Weber guides Ian away from Halpern and the monitors, back
toward the way out of the tent.
COLONEL WEBER
Remember: We need answers as soon
as possible. Why they are here.
What they want, what they will give
us. This is the priority.
IAN
Have they responded to anything?
Numbers? Shapes? Fibonnacci?
COLONEL WEBER
We can't tell what they're saying
when they respond to "hello." So
don't get ahead of yourselves.
Louise frowns as a new question occurs to her.
LOUISE
What have you figured out?
37 INT. SCIENCE TENT - MOMENTS LATER 37
On the other side of basecamp: Communications. Weber pulls
back the flap and Louise enters, Ian trailing behind her.
25.
Inside: A dozen MEN AND WOMEN work at computer stations
with large monitors and at an oversized white board. The
monitors all display the same kind of data: audio
recordings, visually bouncing and fluctuating as the alien
VOICES speak.
Some of the members approach to shake Louise's hand, and AD
LIB their greetings before returning to analysis work.
A few of them remain at their stations, headphones on.
COLONEL WEBER
We're just getting started.
Stepping back, Louise asks Weber:
LOUISE
Why not send them in?
COLONEL WEBER
(beat)
Honestly, they all prefer to stay
out here.
Suddenly, a low, deep bass TONE vibrates the tent. A pen
falls off a desk. A TECH grabs his coffee mug. The tent-
ties CLATTER against the support poles. It's terrifying.
COLONEL WEBER
That's our ten-minute warning.
38 INT. "CLEAN ROOM" - DAY 38
A miniature Silkwood. Contained showers. Dressing areas.
Full HAZMAT suits hang on a wall.
Captain Marks brings Ian and Louise in. They each have
cotton swabs taped to their elbows now.
CAPTAIN MARKS
Climb into these. I'll help you
with the helmet seals.
IAN
What kind of radiation exposure are
we walking into?
CAPTAIN MARKS
Nominal. These are just for safety.
LOUISE
26.
Is there physical contact with the,
the -- am I the only one who has
trouble saying "aliens"?
IAN
No.
CAPTAIN MARKS
There's a wall. Like a glass wall.
You can't get to them.
IAN
What do they look like?
A flashing light winks over the exit door.
Captain Marks claps his hands: Let's go.
On Louise, wanting to get off this ride, but she follows --
39 EXT. BASE CAMP - DAY 39
The Shell looms in the distance, at the other end of a
mile-long "road" formed in the grass from all the back-and-
forth.
A dusty PICKUP TRUCK waits for them, its tailgate down, a
step ladder planted at its lip.
A second TRUCK is already on the road, its bed loaded with
gear and two SCIENCE TECHS in similar moonsuits.
Nearby, two DRONE OPERATORS launch a surveillance drone
into the air, which then flies ahead of the trucks, toward
the shell. Leading the way.
Louise and Ian are led into their pickup truck. Bench
seating has been set up, but it all feels a bit cobbled
together.
Weber (in his suit and mask) nods at a LIEUTENANT who locks
the tailgate into place for them and slaps the truck:
They're good to go.
The truck starts for the Shell.
Louise stares at it with wide eyes. Soon, the sun eclipses
the ship and the whole truck succumbs to shadow.
HIGH ANGLE: From a perch above the Shell: the two tiny
trucks slow as they arrive underneath it.
27.
40 EXT. "THE SHELL" - MOMENTS LATER 40
The craft is even more intimidating close-up. Its surface
on the undercarriage portion seems to absorb light.
It's also floating twenty or so feet overhead.
Louise and Ian join a small contingent of MILITARY
PERSONNEL also in HAZMAT suits, all attending crates of
specialty gear. One of them gestures at:
A SCISSOR LIFT parked directly under the Shell. Nearby, a
second "backup" scissor lift sits parked.
She follows Weber, Marks, and two other Science Techs (a
total of 6). Her breath is loud in her helmet. She's
shaking.
They step onto the Scissor Lift.
Captain Marks pounds a button and they start to elevate.
A safety CHAIN hooked to the guard rail on the lift RATTLES
incessantly. Louise notices it. Looks up again.
LOUISE
It's just hovering --
IAN
They probably traveled millions of
light years, they couldn't go an
extra twenty feet?
Said with a grin, but no one laughs.
The lift is now so close overhead, they can reach up and
touch it. The two TECHS do just that — feeling the surface
for some purchase or change. But it's so dark, there's no
real sense of dimension here.
Ian tries, too. And suddenly they're all reaching, feeling.
IAN'S GLOVED HAND curls into something. An edge. A hole
that can't be seen on the surface.
It widens, as marked by his hand. Opening like a mouth to
accept the lift inside.
41 INT. TUNNEL - CONTINUOUS 41
28.
Looking down from within the tunnel: Flashlights clack ON
among the team, pointed up, seeking a sense of destination.
LOUISE
Is this how it always goes?
COLONEL WEBER
Yes.
(beat)
This is the easy part. Our job was
recon. Now it's your job.
This does nothing to comfort Louise.
Above: A distant, indiscernible light.
Ian studies the surface of the tunnel as they ascend,
moving his flashlight beam over it. In the light's edge, it
seems perfectly smooth, but in the full beam there's a
texture.
The lift stops. One of the Techs cracks a GLOWSTICK and
throws it straight up.
Louise watches it arc up then veer to one wall, bounce and
then it settles AGAINST THE WALL. Without falling.
CAPTAIN MARKS
Here's where it starts to get
strange.
IAN
"Starts?"
Everyone in the lift rises maybe an inch, like balloons.
Several of them immediately grab hold of the railing.
Louise looks down at her HAZ-MAT boots. Noticing the lower
gravity here. How easy it would be to float away.
That's just what TECH 1 and TECH 2 do -- they grab their
gear, bend at the knees, and then launch upward in a
floaty, slow-motion leap --
Ian lets out a spontaneous little LAUGH as he sees them go,
slowly righting themselves to the shift in gravity until
they're both standing next to the glowstick.
Captain Marks follows, like it's nothing; like it's a
commute to a job.
29.
Ian looks to Louise, as if they're both at the top of a
ride in a theme park and he's looking to see if she goes
first.
She's terrified. So he jumps.
Ian lands gently, maybe twenty feet up. He looks down at
them, opens his mouth to say something, can't figure out an
answer, so instead he turns to face the "top" of the
tunnel.
And he slowly walks after the Techs. The light-and-dark in
the tunnel casts eerie reflections on his mask.
All that's left is Louise and Weber. He can hear her
breathing shallow inside her suit.
LOUISE
This. I don't. I don't know if.
COLONEL WEBER
All right. It's okay.
He holds onto her. Firm. Calm. Wise.
And then he launches them both.
Louise looks up, wide-eyed, fearful she's breaking the laws
of physics, but tucked in next to Weber --
They "swim" toward the others, leaving the lift behind --
And then they come to rest on the wall/floor of the tunnel.
Louise finds her footing. And her breath. And they walk.
42 INT. INTERVIEW CHAMBER - CONTINUOUS 42
The chamber has no hard corners or edges. Vaguely
rectangular.
The room is bisected by a semi-transparent wall. The wall
can be seen through, but it renders the other side milky
and foggy -- it's uncertain if the atmosphere on that side
is some sort of gas, or if the barrier just makes it seem
so.
The TECHS with Weber and Marks quickly set up an arsenal of
video, audio, and other recording equipment to face this
glass-like partition. Chemical sniffers. IR and UV cameras.
Barometers. And most disturbingly, an old-tech detection
tool among the high-tech: A CANARY IN A CAGE.
30.
On the other side, the room seems empty.
Louise and Ian are speechless. Their breathing is loud in
their ears. Colonel Weber steps up to them.
LOUISE
What happens now?
COLONEL WEBER
They arrive.
LOUISE
And you've always worn this gear?
COLONEL WEBER
The suits? Yes.
LOUISE
So they haven't really seen what we
look like.
COLONEL WEBER
What are you getting at?
LOUISE
Context.
Comparative data streams on the Techs' small monitors. They
speak quietly into their headset mics behind the group:
ENVIRONMENTAL TECH 1
Barometric down two point one.
ENVIRONMENTAL TECH 2
No change in temperature.
A sound from the other end of the room quiets everyone.
They look to the wall, squinting into the haze --
TWO ALIEN FIGURES enter the room, and cause a breathtaking
silence.
They move in a foggy silhouette, making it impossible to
see much detail. They appear quadropedal with several
appendages along the torso that serve as arms. The arms are
spread equally around their bodies like spokes of a wheel.
One seems a bit shorter and stouter than the other.
Otherwise, their forms in the blurry mist are the same.
31.
As they approach their podium, the forms undulate in ways
that make them seem like deep-water fish. There is no hint
of cavitation around them, yet the aliens move in a way
best described as "swimming."
The silhouettes settle behind the raised podium.
Louise and Ian stare in awe of the creatures. Louise
tenses, realizing she's leading the session. Ian is the
only one in the group smiling and nodding to himself,
coolly confident. This is right where he's supposed to be.
COLONEL WEBER
You're up, Doctor Banks.
Louise tries to control her breathing.
Shrouded in the mist beyond the glass, the aliens stare
back.
ENVIRONMENTAL TECH 1
(quietly)
Oxygen level dipping, point three.
ENVIRONMENTAL TECH 2
(quietly)
Gravity stable inside the chamber.
Ian squints his eyes and leans in.
IAN
Seven? Seven arms?
(to Louise)
Are those arms?
Louise steps forward. Hesitant. Close to the boundary.
LOUISE
Hello.
Beat. No reaction. The vague alien forms stand and wait.
They are a good head taller than Louise.
She clears her throat. Still on the verge of an overload of
shock and stress.
LOUISE
Hello.
The blurry shapes seem to undulate, but it's unclear if
they are moving or if there is some distortion in the
partition between their space and Louise's.
32.
Louise gestures at them, looking for some possible gesture
in response:
LOUISE
Hello. Can you hear me?
(then)
Can you hear --
She's interrupted by a sudden LOW NOISE from the other
side. Followed by a strange endcap: Flutter-tone.
Ian and Louise both jump at the sounds, startled.
LOUISE
(to Weber)
Is this what they do?
COLONEL WEBER
Sometimes.
(beat)
What does it mean?
Louise looks to Ian, terrified at her own answer:
LOUISE
I don't know.
The alien forms wait. Two "arms" on one of them flex and
relax again, seemingly random.
LOUISE
If we can just -- establish a
common form of communication, maybe
speech isn't the—
She gestures at them again. No reaction.
ENVIRONMENTAL TECH 1
(sotto)
Thirty-two minutes remaining.
TIGHT ON Louise, trying to figure her next move, with
everyone waiting on her. Panic rising.
COLONEL WEBER (O.S.)
Doctor Banks --
43 INT. "CLEAN ROOM" - DAY 43
Louise takes off her suit's mask and gulps in air. Her eyes
are red from nervous tears. She looks physically drained.
33.
She pulls off a glove and notices tremors in her hand.
Ian strides in and begins shedding his suit. She watches
him. Hears him softly laughing to himself.
LOUISE
Ian --
Ian faces her, his hair wild and his eyes wilder.
IAN
Can you believe it? It's just --
He shakes his head and laughs again, but Louise detects
manic in his voice now.
Ian moves suddenly for the bathroom stall behind a divider.
Louise hears him vomit into the toilet.
Colonel Weber steps in, pulling off his helmet. Oxygen
escapes with a soft hiss. He and Louise make eye contact.
LOUISE
So. Am I fired?
Weber sits down opposite Louise.
COLONEL WEBER
You did better than the last guy.
LOUISE
That doesn't make me feel better.
COLONEL WEBER
Well, you got until 1900 hours to
figure something out.
LOUISE
What happens then?
COLONEL WEBER
You go back in.
Weber stands up to peel out of his suit.
STAYING ON Louise, looking like she just escaped a fire and
was told to run back into it --
44 EXT. MONTANA LANDING SITE - EVENING 44
34.
The sun sinks behind the sphere, casting long shadows over
the encampment.
45 INT. OPERATIONS TENT - INTEL ROOM - EVENING 45
Agent Halpern stands at the communications array, talking
to the Australian Scientist on the monitor, at the NZ site:
AGENT HALPERN
We're up in fifteen. Got any new
intel? Anything working?
AUSTRALIAN SCIENTIST
We've been playing back some of
their sounds.
AGENT HALPERN
Where does that get you?
AUSTRALIAN SCIENTIST
They play back audio at us, from
some unseen source.
AGENT HALPERN
Audio of what?
AUSTRALIAN SCIENTIST
Just bits of us talking in the
room. Random clips of dialog.
(beat)
So, really, we've got nothing.
46 EXT. "CLEAN ROOM" - YELLOW TUNNEL - EVENING 46
Colonel Weber stands with Ian by the door. Both men are
back in the full HAZ-MAT suits. Waiting.
COLONEL WEBER
How long has she been in there.
IAN
(calling through door)
Doctor Banks? -- Louise?
47 INT. "CLEAN ROOM" 47
Louise sits on the bench, still in her clothes. The HAZ-MAT
suit hangs across from her.
35.
Her leg bounces nervously. She's not ready to go back in.
She can hear Weber outside:
COLONEL WEBER (O.S.)
Did you two get any bright ideas on
how to talk to them this time?
IAN (O.S.)
I'm really not that good at talking
to other humans.
It's all on Louise. She sits up and looks away from the
door, afraid to step out.
And her attention lands on something. On the wall.
A SMALL WHITEBOARD. Used for recording the HAZ-MAT suit
cleaning schedule. Names and shifts in dry-erase markers.
Louise sees it and is seized by an idea.
48 EXT. BASE CAMP - YELLOW TUNNEL - MOMENTS LATER 48
Louise emerges in her HAZ-MAT suit, cradling the whiteboard
and a dry-erase marker.
COLONEL WEBER
What's that for?
LOUISE
A visual aid.
COLONEL WEBER
For what?
LOUISE
I'm never going to be able to speak
their words, if they are talking,
but they might have some form of
written language. Or a basis for
visual communication.
COLONEL WEBER
Okay.
(then)
Where do you start?
49 INT. INTERVIEW CHAMBER - EVENING 49
CLOSE ON the whiteboard. Louise has written the word
"HUMAN" in large block letters.
36.
She stands by the whiteboard, marker in her trembling hand.
Ian is with her, along with the team of TECHS behind them.
THE VAGUE ALIEN FIGURES are back, on the other side. Quiet.
Louise speaks, and points to the word as she does;
LOUISE
Human.
She points to herself. Then to others on her side of the
room, including Weber.
LOUISE
Human.
She points at one of the aliens.
LOUISE
What are you?
Beat. The aliens seem unresponsive, until --
They both RETREAT from the screen, deeper into the mist on
their side of the room.
For a moment, all is quiet. Louise looks to Ian, Ian looks
to the Colonel.
CLOSE ON A NEEDLE-GAUGE: Dead, registering no frequencies.
And then it SPIKES to the other side --
Before anyone can speak, THE CANARY SQUAWKS in its cage.
Its wings flutter frantically.
INK GLOBULES float from the mist. Like oil in glycerine.
Thousands of drops; horizontal black rain, but intelligent
--
They all start to form something against the partition:
A brilliant LOGOGRAM. An inkblot coffee-cup stain with
mesmerizing fractal embellishments.
The taller, slimmer alien steps forward and says something:
Click-flutter-tone.
Louise smiles. Nearly laughs. Wants to cry. She just had
her first real exchange with an alien.
LOUISE
(sotto)
37.
Are you getting this?
Ian has taken control of a static video camera and holds it
at an angle that better captures the detail on the barrier.
IAN
Absolutely. It's all downloading
back at basecamp.
One of the aliens "speaks" again. Flutter-tone, flutter-
tone.
THE LOGOGRAM MORPHS into another form, replacing the
previous one. This one more intricate.
LOUISE
Whoa whoa, too fast, fellas.
She lifts her marker to make a note. For the first time,
her hand isn't trembling.
50 INT. "CLEAN ROOM" - NIGHT 50
Louise drops the whiteboard by the door.
She doesn't get more than her helmet/mask off before
Colonel Weber steps in and confronts her.
COLONEL WEBER
I said talk to them, not teach them
how to read. Do you understand what
this could mean?
LOUISE
It means if I play my cards right,
they'll take some Shakespeare home
with them.
COLONEL WEBER
Only now you've made it twice as
hard, trying to learn how to speak
and read. That takes longer.
LOUISE
Wrong. It's faster.
Louise starts marching past him. Weber keeps up with her.
COLONEL WEBER
I'm not saying no, I'm asking why.
LOUISE
38.
It's the only way this will work.
COLONEL WEBER
Hey. Everything you do in there I
have to explain to a room full of
men whose first and last question
is, 'How can this be used against
us?' So give me something.
Louise gestures at the whiteboard.
LOUISE
Kangaroo.
COLONEL WEBER
What?
LOUISE
In 1770, Captain James Cook's ship
ran aground on the coast of
Australia. He led a party into the
country and met the aboriginal
people.
LOUISE
One of his sailors pointed to the
animals that hopped around with
their young in pouches, and asked
what they were called. The
aborigine replied "Kanguru."
COLONEL WEBER
What's your point?
LOUISE
It wasn't until later that they
learned "Kanguru" means "I don't
understand."
(re: whiteboard)
I need this to make sure we don't
misinterpret in there. Otherwise
this will take ten times as long.
Time wasted is the key phrase to convince Weber.
COLONEL WEBER
All right. I can sell that for now.
But submit your vocabulary before
the next session.
(beat)
And remember what happened to the
aborigines. A more advanced race
nearly wiped them out.
39.
Weber walks off with Captain Marks.
Ian steps up, watching them go. Grinning at Louise:
IAN
Is that true? The kangaroo story?
LOUISE
No. But it made my point.
Louise starts walking out the clean room, leaving Ian to
shake his head in admiration.
51 INT. SCIENCE TENT - CRYPTO ROOM - NIGHT 51
The team of NSA cryptographers works diligently on one
thing: That alien logogram. As if it were the codes from an
Enigma machine and the key to winning a war. Louise steps
in, sees the frenetic action, and backs out.
52 INT. OPERATIONS TENT - SKYPE ROOM - NIGHT 52
Through the busy activity at the various flatscreen monitor
stations, Halpern stands at one monitor, talking to a man
from the Wales Science Team at their landing site.
BRITISH SCIENTIST
Spent most of the time just trying
to establish a proper greeting.
We're analyzing the playback now,
to see if there is a pattern. I'm
doing a Zipf law analysis. But I'm
worried they aren't really talking,
it's just how they breathe.
AGENT HALPERN
Like the time I got bronchitis. OK,
let me know if you figure that out.
53 INT. SCIENCE TENT - LOUISE'S DESK - LATER 53
Louise studies at her desk.
CELLO MUSIC distracts Louise, and she looks up.
On a screen, the Japanese site is performing 'Canon in D'
with a cellist in their interview chamber.
Louise reviews the logograms from the session printed on
large photo paper. The one on top is labeled "EARTH."
40.
She's circled pieces of the logogram in red pen, making
notes like "curling ascender = proper noun?"
With a straight edge, Louise divides the circular logogram
into twelve slices, isolating the different graphical
elements in the alien symbol. She labels them 1 to 12.
Louise blinks and takes a breath. Rubs the bridge of her
nose and works a kink in her neck. Then leans back in,
momentarily renewed with focus.
A high-pitched RINGING creeps into her ears. She winces --
54 EXT. LAKE HOUSE - DAY - FLASHBACK 54
Four-year-old HANNAH giggles as she runs from us --
55 INT. SCIENCE TENT - LOUISE'S DESK - BACK TO SCENE 55
Louise sits up at her desk as if yanked from the memory.
She takes a breath, rubs her forehead, confused by that
little moment. She stares at the logogram on her desk.
56 INT. BARRACKS - MORNING 56
ON A LAPTOP SCREEN: Aerial footage of the Shell appears.
Back from a safe distance. The Shell looks, as always,
intimidating.
But now with the footage is a SINISTER SCORE added by
shock­jock radio host RICHARD RILEY, who emphasizes words -
-
RICHARD RILEY
This is aliens we're talking about.
The most important time in our
history as a people is right now,
first contact with whoever is
inside this thing, and who do we
have running the show? The
government. The same government
that ruined our health care and
bankrupted our military.
An image of the cluster of tents around the Montana site
appears, obviously shot with a long zoom lens.
RICHARD RILEY
41.
Look at these people! Most of them
don't even have guns. We could be
facing a full-scale invasion and
our president is ready to roll over
and let them take our country --
REVEAL the LAPTOP is in:
The military barracks. And PRIVATE LASKY listens intently
to it. Nodding. Glancing out the open flaps of the barracks
tent toward the giant Shell in the distance.
Three bunks over, a group of SCIENTISTS watch a news
program on a separate TV, following riots somewhere. Could
be Prague, could be Detroit. One SCIENTIST shakes his head
in disgust. Outside, Louise walks past the barracks, on her
way to --
57 INT. OPERATIONS TENT - SKYPE ROOM - MOMENTS LATER 57
Louise enters the tent to find Ian and Weber already here,
with other team members.
Ian has a sketchbook, he's busy with an art pencil,
listening and nodding to the British Scientist on his
monitor.
BRITISH SCIENTIST
We think we were able to reproduce
some prime-number sequences back at
them, so that's something.
IAN
Congrats. You're a parrot.
BRITISH SCIENTIST
It's more than that, you cheeky
bastard. Don't you see? They can't
seem to follow our algebra system,
but complex behaviors? That clicks.
Beyond Ian: Weber stands with Halpern, watching Middle
Eastern news coverage of an armored division mobilizing.
AGENT HALPERN
Problem is, that shell dropped at
the border, so when Pakistan rolled
out their army to secure the site
from locals, India got all fussy,
amassing two armored divisions at
the border.
42.
LOUISE
We can't get them to stand down?
AGENT HALPERN
And tell them what exactly?
COLONEL WEBER
Louise, Ian, this is Agent David
Halpern with the CIA.
Weber guides Louise and Ian away from the bank of monitors.
It's clear he doesn't like dealing with Halpern.
COLONEL WEBER
We need to gain ground today. You
have your vocabulary list for me?
LOUISE
I do.
COLONEL WEBER
(examines her list)
You're going to teach them your
name? And Ian's?
LOUISE
It's so I can learn their names. If
they have names. And so I can
introduce pronouns later.
COLONEL WEBER
These are all grade-school words.
Eat. Walk. Tool. We need to get
more specific.
LOUISE
Do you know what a Pulaski is?
COLONEL WEBER
(beat)
No.
LOUISE
It's a tool. Used by firefighters.
We can't start specific.
Weber makes a noncommittal noise and reviews the words.
Ian reveals to Louise his sketch of an ALIEN.
IAN
Heptapod. Seven limbs.
(gesturing at Louise)
43.
She's right -- it's useless until
we can demonstrate some basics
first.
COLONEL WEBER
We have one question: What is their
purpose here on Earth? It isn't
complicated.
(softening)
Help me understand.
Louise goes to a larger whiteboard stationed nearby and
writes the question "What is your purpose on Earth?"
LOUISE
Okay, so this is where we want to
get. Right? This question.
(off Weber's nod)
To get there, we have to make sure
they understand what a question is,
and the nature of a request for
information along with the
response. Then there is clarifying
the difference between a specific
"you" from a collective "you." We
don't want to know why Joe Alien is
here, we want to know why all of
them landed.
She writes frantically over the words in columns, marking
relations with arrows. As she speaks, her voice gets louder
and more confident. This is her area of expertise.
LOUISE
Purpose requires an understanding
of intent. Which means we have to
find out if they make conscious
choices or if their motivation is
so instinctive they don't
understand a "why" question, and
biggest of all, we need to have
enough of a vocabulary with them so
we understand their answer.
Colonel Weber nods and surrenders to her. Behind Weber, Ian
grins devilishly at Louise, even winks at her.
COLONEL WEBER
All right, all right, I get it.
Stick to your list. Just --
Then: That low, bone-trembling BASS TONE echoing out from
the Shell, rattling the equipment.
44.
Weber scraps what he was going to say, opting instead for:
COLONEL WEBER
Good luck.
58 INT. "CLEAN ROOM" - MORNING 58
Louise and Ian suit up again. Louise notices the tremors in
her hands have returned.
59 INT. INTERVIEW CHAMBER - MORNING 59
Louise faces the semi-transparent wall, holding a dry-erase
marker in one hand. Ian stands near the whiteboard.
Everyone is in full HAZMAT suits again. Weber isn't here
this time.
The heptapods watch Louise with a strange curiosity.
Louise points at herself.
LOUISE
Louise.
The whiteboard displays her name in large letters.
Beat. One heptapod speaks. Whisper-flutter-click.
Inky drops float to the glass and a beautiful LOGOGRAM
forms.
IAN
Well, that's progress.
LOUISE
No. That's the symbol for "human"
again. But with a little curl at
the end of that leg. Probably to
indicate a question.
IAN
They're getting confused.
LOUISE
You know what -- I can't do it like
this. I just --
Louise looks over at something behind the Environmental
Techs: THE CANARY.
45.
The little bird flaps its wings and crooks its head at her.
It's alive and well.
Louise makes a decision. She takes her HAZMAT mask off.
IAN
Whoa whoa hey --
Weber's voice pipes in via intercom, from the ops tent:
COLONEL WEBER (V.O.)
You're risking contamination.
LOUISE
They need to see me.
Louise shirks out of the rest of her suit. She's wearing
her civilian clothes underneath.
She takes a breath. It doesn't kill her. Louise moves a
step toward the glass barrier --
The heptapods advance closer to the barrier. Curious. For
the first time, we can see a bit more detail; more focus.
Their skin is more mottled than a uniform color. Their
torsos move slightly, not from breath but as a jellyfish.
And the tips of one heptapod's "feet" are dark with ink.
Everyone holds their breath a beat. Slowly, Louise puts a
hand on her heart and repeats:
LOUISE
My name is Louise.
She takes the whiteboard and writes furiously. Flips it
around and shows: She's drawn their symbol for -"human"
next to the English word "HUMAN" and then a greater-than
symbol leading to her name.
The two heptapods are unresponsive.
LOUISE
Ian, introduce yourself.
Ian noisily shirks off his HAZMAT suit. Louise looks on.
Weber gets more uneasy by the minute.
IAN
Made me look like a beekeeper.
Ian erases Louise's name on the board and writes his.
46.
IAN
My name is Ian.
A magical thing happens next: The shorter, rounder heptapod
steps forward. Click-tone. A small logogram appears on the
boundary in front of him.
Then the taller one ambles close. Flutter-swallow. A
different symbol appears in front of him.
LOUISE
They have names.
IAN
Yeah -- So what do we call them?
Because if I try to make sounds
like them, I will end up insulting
their mothers.
LOUISE
Slim and Stout?
IAN
I was thinking Abbott and Costello.
LOUISE
(grins)
I like it.
Cautious, yet mystified, Louise takes another bold action:
She steps for the boundary. The light from that mist on the
other side of the glass illuminates her face, showing her
wonderment.
LOUISE
(quieter)
You have names -- You're
individuals. Aren't you.
Ian and Captain Marks watch. Marks doesn't like it.
CAPTAIN MARKS
Doctor Banks --
Louise then puts her HAND on the barrier. Leaves it there.
The shorter one (ABBOTT), drifts close, too.
And through the vague cloud, something specific: It raises
a limb and puts a SEVEN-FINGERED 'HAND' on its side.
Near Louise's hand.
47.
She smiles, still partly terrified but also reassured.
LOUISE
Now that's a proper introduction.
60 INT. INFIRMARY - DAY 60
Colonel Weber, Agent Halpern, and Doctor Kettler step to
one of Kettler's work tables in a private conference, as if
they just arrived in a hurry.
COLONEL WEBER
Tell me. Are they a contamination
risk without the suits?
DR. KETTLER
No radiation. Nothing else we can
detect, either. But I'd give them a
strong cocktail, regardless.
COLONEL WEBER
Any other sites working like this?
AGENT HALPERN
No. But no one else has made this
kind of progress. You saw it.
Weber doesn't like this decision, but he concedes:
COLONEL WEBER
All right, no suits for those two.
But watch them closely for any
signs.
DR. KETTLER
(as they leave)
Signs of what?
SERIES OF SHOTS:
61 INT. INTERVIEW CHAMBER - DAY 61
Louise shows the word "WALK" and Ian demonstrates. Neither
of them wear their HAZMAT suits now.
LOUISE (V.O.)
Session three. We're into verbs.
Slow and steady wins this race.
62 INT. INTERVIEW CHAMBER - MOMENTS LATER 62
48.
Costello saunters along his side of the wall and a heptapod
logogram appears. It's simple yet complex, like a fractal
in line art.
63 INT. INTERVIEW CHAMBER - NIGHT 63
Ian draws a Feynman diagram, next to a set of SCIENCE
CARDS.
IAN (V.O.)
Session six. Had some trouble with
basics, but they understand complex
interactions right away. Not that
it's a race, but I'm totally ahead
now.
64 INT. SCIENCE TENT - CRYPTO ROOM - DAY 64
Louise debates some element of a logogram with members of
her cryptography team in their tent, pointing at a
magnified piece of one circular symbol.
LOUISE (V.O.)
Session eight was a failure. But
it's clear their logograms are made
of twelve compartments.
65 INT. INTERVIEW CHAMBER - DAY 65
Louise works with a spectrograph as Ian charts a basic
geometric curve. The heptapods are unresponsive in their
misty chamber.
IAN (V.O.)
Session eleven. How can they stare
at me when I use simple math?
66 INT. INTERVIEW CHAMBER - MOMENTS LATER 66
A graphic on the glass animates, showing our solar system,
highlighting "EARTH."
67 INT. LOUISE'S OFFICE TENT - NIGHT 67
Louise practices drawing her own logograms, trying to mimic
the inkblot style. Nearby, the whiteboard with the goal:
"WHAT IS YOUR PURPOSE ON EARTH?" Several words leading to
the question have been marked -- she's taught them those.
49.
LOUISE (V.O.)
Session fifteen. Back on track.
She smirks at a frustrated Ian. Their attention is drawn
to:
THE BANK OF MONITORS
Footage on screens of anxious crowds massing around other
sites. Protesters, fanatics, the hopeful and the hopeless.
Ian and Louise watching the footage, disturbed by the
effect on the public of the ships' mere presence.
68 EXT. BASE CAMP - MORNING 68
High angle above the camp at sunrise.
69 INT. "CLEAN ROOM" - YELLOW TUNNEL - MORNING 69
Weber gives Louise a notecard before they step out.
COLONEL WEBER
When Ian is done with his math
portion, include this word on
today's vocabulary.
Louise frowns and hands it back.
LOUISE
No way.
Ian leans over, takes the card and nods at Weber—
IAN
Yeah, we can manage that.
Louise, now unsure whom she needs to convince first --
LOUISE
It's dangerous. We could come
across as hostile.
COLONEL WEBER
Yes. But I trust you to choose your
demonstrations carefully.
70 EXT. "CLEAN ROOM" - YELLOW TUNNEL - DAY 70
50.
Ian and Louise approach the pickup truck. Louise takes this
moment to speak quietly at Ian, through her teeth:
LOUISE
What the hell was that?
IAN
I know you're the language expert,
but I know how to talk to these
guys. You don't say 'no' to them.
You say 'yes' and then find a way
to control the situation.
LOUISE
So you have them all figured out?
Ian smiles sweetly at her. He's not fighting with her.
IAN
It wasn't that hard.
71 INT. INTERVIEW CHAMBER - DAY 71
Captain Marks remains in the room in full HAZMAT suit,
monitoring the equipment with another TECH.
Ian looks on at Louise, worried. Louise holds a HUNTING
KNIFE in her hands, the notecard tucked in one palm.
On the semi-transparent wall facing her, the heptapods have
written a terse, angular symbol next to the word Louise has
written: "WEAPON."
LOUISE
There's your word, Colonel.
COLONEL WEBER (V.O.)
(through speakers)
Let's ask the big question now.
LOUISE
Hold on. We need to distinguish a
weapon from other devices or else
they'll think everything is a
weapon.
Costello whisper-clicks at Abbott, then turns to leave. A
doorway irises open on the far wall.
Abbott wipes the podium and the logogram vanishes. The two
aliens begin to glide away from their stations --
51.
Louise realizes they are leaving and calls out --
LOUISE
Wait. Wait!
She steps to the boundary and puts her hand on it.
LOUISE
Why are you here?
Abbott crooks his head.
Louise, desperate, looks back at the printer attached to
the still camera capturing everything written by the
heptapods. She riffles through the pages, looking for the
words.
IAN
What can I do?
Louise gives him two print-outs.
LOUISE
Hold these up.
Abbott looks back at the door where Costello left. Then at
Louise and Ian.
Louise finishes drawing. Shows the board to Abbott. Puts it
against the boundary. She's attempted freehand drawing
their gorgeous logograms, and she's actually done a great
job.
It's not quite the phrasing; she hasn't taught them "why"
but instead uses "heptapods purpose Earth" with a curl on
the logogram for Earth.
Abbott stares a beat. And writes on the podium.
As the logogram glows on the divider, Louise steps back in
shock. She's translated it already.
IAN
What does it say?
LOUISE
"Offer weapon."
The phrase sends a tense hush through the team.
52.
The unidentifiable light source in the interview chamber
dims and the transparent wall clouds until it's fully
opaque.
Louise, Ian, Captain Marks, and the other in-room Techs
face each other as if they've just learned a terrible
secret.
72 INT. OPERATIONS TENT - WAR ROOM - DAY 72
An eruption of sound and chaos, joining in mid-debate with
several people talking at once. Halpern is among them.
CAPTAIN MARKS
But you saw what they wrote --
LOUISE
-- using a word they don't
fully understand!
IAN
It could just be a request --
AGENT HALPERN
or a warning --
Over the din of everyone talking and no one truly listening
comes the booming voice of Weber in his best stern father:
COLONEL WEBER
Enough.
(as room quiets down)
I can't agree with any of you when
you're all talking at once. Now: I
want to hear theories. Louise?
LOUISE
We don't know if they understand
the difference between a weapon and
a tool. Our language, like our
culture, is messy. In many cases
one thing can be both.
IAN
In addition, it's possible they are
wanting us to offer them something,
not the other way around. Like the
first part of a trade.
COLONEL WEBER
How do we clarify their intention
beyond those two words?
53.
LOUISE
I go back in there. In thirteen
hours, we go in and clear this up.
AGENT HALPERN
It's more complicated than that.
LOUISE
How is that complicated?
AGENT HALPERN
Set aside our own reaction to the
message, we have to consider the
other nations and how they will
interpret this.
(pointing at monitor)
Like China. Have you met General
Shang? How about a little round of
"meet the scary-powerful men."
Halpern points at a profile photo of a distinguished
Chinese man in dress uniform: GENERAL SHANG.
AGENT HALPERN
The call-sign for him is Big
Domino. Because he's a tastemaker.
Whatever Shang does, at least four
other nations will follow.
LOUISE
We're on good terms with Shang.
AGENT HALPERN
But we can't say the same for other
nations where these ships have
landed. And Russia has control of
two sites. Twice the data.
LOUISE
How is that relevant to this?
A LIEUTENANT enters to address Weber:
LIEUTENANT
Colonel, the Secretary of Defense
is on the line for you.
Weber reluctantly steps out. Halpern takes over:
AGENT HALPERN
54.
We need to sit on this information
until we know what it means. So we
aren't sharing with our enemies. We
have to consider the idea that our
'visitors' are prodding us to fight
among ourselves until only one
faction prevails.
LOUISE
There's no evidence of that.
AGENT HALPERN
Sure there is. Just grab a history
book. The British with India. The
Germans with Rwanda. They even got
a name for it in Hungary.
Halpern's cell phone rings, and before he takes the call—
AGENT HALPERN
We are a world with no single
leader. It's impossible to deal
with just one of us. And with the
word "weapon" now --
Louise pales. Feeling like she just broke something. She
looks for someone to talk to and finds Ian deep in thought,
keeping his eyes on the twelve monitors.
LOUISE
That was my doing. I taught them
that. So, if we just go back in
tonight, go in and, and --
Frenzied activity at the monitoring station draws their
attention in time to see:
AN EXPLOSION at one landing site, the plume of the
firecloud lighting up the urban-located Shell --
Communications Team Members stand up now, talking into
their headsets in four different languages --
ON THE CHINESE VIDEO STREAM, a Scientist is forcibly pulled
away by a Chinese Intelligence Officer who yanks at a cable
and then the video feed BLACKS OUT.
A moment later, a panicked Russian Officer does the same to
their feed. Two more black screens. Siberia and Black Sea.
Weber gets off the phone, focused on the feeds.
COLONEL WEBER
55.
What's going on? What was that
explosion at Site Four?
Halpern keeps his ear to his phone, but answers:
AGENT HALPERN
China and Russia are off the grid.
They aren't speaking to anyone.
Whatever they learned in their last
session has them spooked --
(into phone)
Yes sir.
(to Weber)
We have orders to do the same.
LOUISE
What? These people are our allies!
Ian, tell him.
AGENT HALPERN
Until we figure out what the
message means --
IAN
That is a bad idea. It sends a
clear signal of hostility. If we
start this --
A fourth monitor goes dark: Indian Ocean.
COLONEL WEBER
It's already started.
Halpern leans in at one station and orders a Team Member:
AGENT HALPERN
Put us on radio silence.
ON ONE SCREEN: It's their own tent, the camera pointed at
Louise and Ian. Louise rushes to the mic—
LOUISE
Listen, we got a message from the
heptapods, "offer weapon--"
But as she says "offer" the U.S. SCREEN BLACKS OUT, leaving
the other countries hanging.
AUSTRALIAN SCIENTIST
What is happening? U.S. Team,
please respond.
Louise whirls on Halpern --
56.
LOUISE
Dammit, Halpern! We should be
talking to each other.
AGENT HALPERN
You want to talk to them, find out
what this means. Please. I will
sleep better if you do.
He holds up the printout with the words "OFFER WEAPON."
Louise grabs the page from him and storms off to her desk.
Ian (quietly boiling) passes by Halpern and hisses:
IAN
By then it will be too late.
ON THE MONITORS: four of the twelve now blacked out, with
the rest talking over each other, panicked -- And then a
FIFTH monitor goes dark.
73 INT. SCIENCE TENT - LOUISE'S DESK - NIGHT 73
Louise wears a set of noise-cancelling headphones at her
desk, listening to the spoken heptapod language and trying
to shut out the world beyond.
She stares at one of the logograms as she listens to the
audio. It's a circular piece full of whorls and curls.
Writing notes to herself as she does:
"They have landed? Earth? Planet?"
Louise underlines that last word, she hears a new voice:
HANNAH (V.O.)
(pre-lap)
What's this word?
Louise hears Hannah's voice and closes her eyes --
74 EXT. LAKE HOUSE - DAY - FLASHBACK 74
Louise and Hannah (age 8) sit on the picnic blanket, under
the shade of a stately oak tree. They share a story book.
Hannah points at a page.
57.
LOUISE
"Planet." Like Earth is a planet.
HANNAH
Mmmm -- what's that word?
LOUISE
How many words are you trying to
learn today?
HANNAH
All of them.
Louise smiles and kisses Hannah on the forehead.
HANNAH
Want to see my project for Mrs.
Garriott's class?
LOUISE
All right little-nose, whatcha got?
Hannah digs into her backpack and pulls out a sketch.
HANNAH
Supposed to draw what my Saturday
morning cartoon would look like if
I had one.
LOUISE
What is this place?
THE DRAWING depicts a Man and Woman (stick-figures) holding
up a really fat bird-like shape.
HANNAH
That's supposed to be a book.
LOUISE
Who are these two people?
HANNAH
You and Daddy. The show is called
"Mommy and Daddy Save the World."
Louise's smile sinks. She looks pained.
LOUISE
Well. That sounds lovely.
(beat)
You know, it's okay to be upset
that your daddy and I --
58.
Little Hannah breathes through her nose.
HANNAH
I know. I'm not.
Louise brushes Hannah's hair out of her eyes.
LOUISE
We both love you, very much.
HANNAH
I know.
(then)
It's just a cartoon. It's not real.
That same high-pitched WHINE escalates and --
75 INT. SCIENCE TENT - LOUISE'S DESK - BACK TO SCENE 75
Louise flings off her headphones and tries to get up, but
she's dizzy. Ian gets up from his station to help her --
IAN
Louise? You okay?
Louise recovers from a sudden vertigo. She focuses on Ian.
LOUISE
I -- Yeah, fine.
She bends over and takes a moment to refocus. When she
stands upright she faces a suspicious Weber, who's come
over.
COLONEL WEBER
When was your last check-up with
Kettler?
Louise lets out a breath and passes him by, for the exit.
Ian considers going with her. Weber gestures: Stay back.
COLONEL WEBER
How about you?
IAN
Me? I'm fine.
Weber brings Ian close to Louise's desk and surveys the
heptapod writing scattered over it. He takes a moment and
chooses his words carefully.
59.
COLONEL WEBER
A lot of work for one person.
IAN
She's not alone. We're making good
progress. We're teaching each other
physics and language.
COLONEL WEBER
Good. Learn as much as you can. In
case we need to bench Doctor Banks.
IAN
No -- you can't do that.
(recovers)
I'm saying, it won't come to that.
COLONEL WEBER
But if it does --
Weber leaves Ian to consider this scenario.
DR. KETTLER (V.O.)
(pre-lap)
How do you feel?
76 INT. MEDICAL TENT - DR. KETTLER'S OFFICE - MOMENTS LATER 76
A pen light shines in Louise's left eye.
LOUISE
Overworked.
Kettler tries to be casual but comes off awkward:
DR. KETTLER
That makes two of us. I hear you
collapsed in the ops tent.
LOUISE
Probably just lack of sleep.
Kettler readies a syringe.
DR. KETTLER
Well, you're not getting radiation
poisoning.
DR. KETTLER
60.
We'll see how your blood tests
look, but for now I'm going to give
you another boost. Try and sleep
this one off, okay?
He sinks the needle into her arm. Louise tries not to
flinch.
77 EXT. BASE CAMP OVERLOOK - EVENING 77
Armed SOLDIERS are stationed at regular intervals around a
tight perimeter. Disturbing, as the base camp previously
did not seem military-led. Their presence is slowly
increasing.
Private Lasky stands guard, and looks back at the mammoth
Shell above him. He's joined by Private COMBS, who gives
the ship a similar look of aggression. They notice each
other glaring at the ship, and share a wordless nod of
solidarity. Two soldiers who both spotted the enemy.
78 EXT. HILLSIDE NEAR BASE CAMP - DUSK 78
Ian sits atop a sleeping bag, staring out at the massive
ship with a look just the opposite of Lasky's glare.
He has a sketchbook open, filled with mechanical drawings,
advanced equations, and notes to himself.
Louise ascends the hill toward him.
LOUISE
Weber is looking for you.
Ian smiles at her.
IAN
Why do you think I'm hiding out
here? Come, join me.
She considers it a moment, then sits down next to him as he
makes room for her on his sleeping bag.
Louise looks down at the camp, her concern all wrapped up
in the military population, while Ian keeps staring out at
the massive shell a quarter-mile away.
IAN
How are you so good at talking to
something so unlike us?
61.
Louise notices the focus of his gaze and shrugs.
LOUISE
There's precedent.
79 EXT. RANCH - DAY - FLASHBACK 79
Louise with Hannah at a RANCH with a horse. The horse's
nostrils flaring, standing eighteen hands tall, a gigantic
creature to the scared little 8-year-old Hannah.
But Louise puts her hands on the horse. Speaks to it.
LOUISE (O.S.)
Shh, shh. It's okay --
The horse's ears spin like radar dishes --
80 EXT. HILLSIDE NEAR BASE CAMP - BACK TO SCENE 80
Back with Ian and Louise on the hill.
IAN
You know, you approach language
like a mathematician.
LOUISE
I'll take that as a compliment.
IAN
You should! You steer us around
communication traps I didn't know
existed. Which probably explains
why I'm single.
Louise studies Ian's face to see if he's being sarcastic.
He's not. This is honesty.
LOUISE
My father worked for a big energy
company. They'd relocate him every
year to some new country, and I
went with him. He used to say
learning all those foreign tongues
would make me the center of every
party. But you know what people say
when you're sixteen and fluent in
seven languages? "You're smart."
IAN
Oh no. "Smart" is bad.
62.
LOUISE
People are so afraid of smart.
Ian stares at the sky.
IAN
When I was six, my parents bought
me a globe. One of those big ones
on an iron floor stand. This was
the same year I dressed up as a
wilderness explorer for Halloween.
My room was papered with hand-drawn
maps of my neighborhood.
(beat)
I studied every inch of that globe,
and it was the saddest moment of my
childhood. Everything had already
been explored.
(beat)
Next Halloween, I was an astronaut.
LOUISE
"To boldly go--"
IAN
I've spent the last thirty years
staring at the sky. Trying to find
a way out there. Now it's here, and
I don't know how I feel about it.
LOUISE
Because you might finally get to
explore the galaxy?
IAN
Because they've already explored
it.
Louise shivers; it's getting cold up here.
Ian drapes a blanket over her shoulders and shares it with
her. The two huddle close together, under the massive
spherical Shell lit by drifting spotlights.
LOUISE
I feel like everything here comes
down to the two of us.
IAN
That's a good thing. Have you seen
the jokers around us?
LOUISE
63.
Promise me. We'll do this together?
Ian's smile falters, as he recalls his talk with Weber.
IAN
Yeah.
81 EXT. BASE CAMP - NIGHT 81
Aerial view. The compound has doubled in size.
82 INT. “CLIIAN ROOM" - NIGHT 82
Ian and Louise prep for another session. Ian vigorously
applies antibacterial soap to his hands and arms, like a
surgeon prepping for the O.R. Louise still refuses to don a
HAZMAT suit, but she ties her hair back in a ponytail.
Captain Marks enters, carrying a pair of respirators with
small oxygen tanks attached.
CAPTAIN MARKS
New policy. Carry these on you when
you're in the Shell.
IAN
You're worried we'll run out of air
inside? Why?
CAPTAIN MARKS
Before the blackout, the Swedish
site reported their last session
ran long by about twenty minutes.
LOUISE
But they were fine at the end of
it, weren't they?
CAPTAIN MARKS
They still wear full HAZMAT suits,
doctor. Like the rest of the world.
Ian and Louise trade looks.
Dr. Kettler enters, with his medical bag.
DR. KETTLER
Let's roll up those sleeves --
83 INT. INTERVIEW CHAMBER - NIGHT 83
64.
Louise leads the team.
On the other side of the barrier, Abbott and Costello are
waiting. Costello stands at the podium. Abbott is closer to
the glass barrier. The glass-like surface is still milky,
so no one can get a good look at them.
LOUISE
(to Ian)
They're already here.
Captain Marks stands at the back. Watchful.
CAPTAIN MARKS
Show them the question.
Louise takes a breath and holds up her whiteboard while the
Techs set up the video equipment behind her.
It reads, in subtitled logogram: "OFFER WEAPON?"
Abbott and Costello make little movement. No answer.
IAN
This isn't working.
Louise speaks directly to Abbott, stepping a bit closer:
LOUISE
Are you offering us something?
She holds up the whiteboard again.
Another quiet conference between Abbott and Costello.
More ink floats to the barrier to form a complex LOGOGRAM,
followed by the translation in subtitles.
"MUST LEARN MORE FROM IAN LOUISE"
IAN
They don't have enough of our
language to share it yet.
LOUISE
Let's fix that.
Captain Marks checks the flatscreen monitors and tablet
interfaces behind them -- one for Louise, one for Ian.
CAPTAIN MARKS
You're good to go.
65.
On one monitor, the library of new learned logograms is
currently blank. Like a spreadsheet waiting to be filled.
84 INT. INTERVIEW CHAMBER - LATER 84
The sentence on Louise's flatscreen reads: "Ian gives
Louise an apple because tomorrow she will be hungry."
On the monitor behind her: the library is FULL of
logograms.
Abbott replies. The written logogram is displayed: A
gorgeous interwoven circle of loops, whorls, and splotches.
IAN
What is that?
LOUISE
I think it's what we wrote.
(pointing)
Look. This is the word for "apple"
but it's conjoined with their names
-- I can't tell where it starts or
ends.
IAN
No front or back. Like their
bodies. And the ship.
LOUISE
How do you begin to craft a complex
statement like this? The relation
each symbol has to another --
(then)
You know what? We've never seen
them write. Only the result. Let's
see them in the act of writing.
Louise returns to the tablet. Erases the sentence on her
screen. And then, instead of preparing words and displaying
the result, she triggers the "live sketching" option that
shows her writing the letters and words in real-time.
She writes the sentence: "Louise writes so heptapods can
see her writing."
Abbott and Costello crook their heads.
Then Abbott approaches the transparent boundary, which
becomes clearer than ever before.
Captain Marks notices. Tenses.
66.
CAPTAIN MARKS
(into mic)
One is approaching the boundary
with two, uh, limbs raised.
Abbott reaches the boundary, holding up two of his seven
"hands." He places them at two points on the transparent
wall and begins to draw. Ink issues from his hands as he
does.
Abbott writes a heptapod sentence in real-time. With two
hands simultaneously.
It is poetry in motion. A dance of ink. He begins at
opposite ends, and then writes phrases and symbols in a
perfect pair of arcs so that they connect as a circle at
the end.
LOUISE
Oh my god. Nonlinear orthography.
Ian catches up to what she's saying.
IAN
They'd have to actually think
nonlinearly, then.
Louise grabs a tablet synced to the large flatscreen and
draws in heptapod logograms. She does it one-handed, but
she's quite good at it.
COLONEL WEBER (V.O.)
(via intercom)
Explain.
As she draws her logogram, she walks him through it;
LOUISE
Imagine trying to write a long
sentence with two hands, starting
at either end. To do that, you'd
have to know every single word
you're going to write, and the
space all of it occupies.
Ian struggles to find reference to her logogram.
IAN
What is -- what are you writing?
She completes the ornate symbol.
LOUISE
67.
I asked about predictability. If
"before" and "after" mean anything
to them. Or if they don't know what
that means.
Ian shuffles through notes on his tablet.
IAN
When did we teach them any of this?
Abbott answers in heptapod with another elegant logogram.
Louise smiles and nods at Abbott.
IAN
(astonished)
You can read that?
COLONEL WEBER (V.O.)
(over intercom)
Get back to the weapon.
Louise sighs and uses her keyboard to type as she asks
aloud:
LOUISE
Give weapon now?
Abbott draws a simple logogram. The translation: "SOLVE"
LOUISE
Solve what?
The transparent boundary clears itself of all its writing.
Abbott then draws two lines that meet in the middle to form
one long, contiguous line.
Abbott gestures at the timeline and speaks: Click-click.
LOUISE
That's their spoken word for time.
IAN
How do you know?
LOUISE
I remember how it sounds.
Then, Abbott draws a logogram on the far end of the line.
Louise translates:
68.
LOUISE
Humanity. That's us.
IAN
So I see.
LOUISE
At the end of our timeline.
The logogram from earlier forms again: "SOLVE."
IAN
Son of a bitch. He's giving us
homework.
85 EXT. BASE CAMP - NIGHT 85
Louise and Ian leave the trucks for the science tent,
escorted by men on either side. Weber walks with them.
Louise looks pale and slightly ill.
COLONEL WEBER
What is the answer?
IAN
I don't know yet. I have to dig
into it, figure out what they're
even asking.
COLONEL WEBER
This is your new priority. No more
language lessons until you crack
it.
His voice fades as the group marches on toward the tents,
unaware that Louise has stopped walking.
She puts her hands on her thighs, suddenly nauseated.
Nearby is a PUDDLE of rainwater. The moon is visible in
reflection, as is the silhouette of the Shell.
Louise stares at the puddle as a ringing swells in her ear
--
QUICK POPS:
86 INT. LAKE HOUSE - NIGHT - FLASHBACK 86
The moonlit lake on the other side of a bedroom window.
69.
87 INT. LAKE HOUSE - DAY - FLASHBACK 87
Four-year-old Hannah's feet curl, inside pajama footies.
88 EXT. BASE CAMP - BACK TO SCENE 88
Louise stands upright again. Takes a breath, a little
unnerved. And continues on to the cluster of tents, alone.
One soldier has remained behind as escort. Watching her
with a growing suspicion. Private Lasky. With his rifle.
89 INT. MESS TENT - NIGHT 89
Louise sits alone, rubbing her temples. Her plate:
untouched.
Ian enters, looking worse for wear. He grabs a pre-made
meal and joins Louise at her table. His eyes are bloodshot.
LOUISE
Didn't expect to see you out.
IAN
I'm hiding from Weber.
LOUISE
How goes the riddle?
IAN
It's a timeline. I don't know what
they're asking me to solve. Is it
about population dynamics?
LOUISE
Why do you go there?
Ian grabs a salt shaker from the end of the table.
IAN
Let me tell you a story about
probability.
He pours a dollop of salt on the table between them. A few
quick shakes.
IAN
70.
The current world population is
hovering close to eight billion,
but we started out as just a
trickle, right? Things got really
populated in the last couple of
centuries, so here's humanity:
He then shakes out a salt line for a bit until he unscrews
the cap and dumps a heap at the end.
IAN
This line represents the population
of the whole history of humanity.
Estimated at just over 100 billion.
What that means is: About eight
percent of every human who ever
lived is alive right now. And that
puts us at this pileup at the end.
LOUISE
The end?
IAN
Well, some people call this an
"extinction burst." I don't,
because I think it's junk science.
LOUISE
How can you be so sure?
IAN
People have been predicting the end
of civilization for ages. But
someone always comes along and
kicks us further down the timeline.
Ian spreads out the salt like sand, and runs his finger
through it in a line, punctuating one end. The timeline.
LOUISE
Maybe it doesn't happen this time.
They're warning us. We're running
out of time.
IAN
I can't tell that to Weber.
LOUISE
Weber? The CIA guy is who worries
me. Halpern.
Louise suddenly winces and rubs her temples.
71.
IAN
How are you holding up?
LOUISE
Headaches.
(beat)
My brain is scrambled.
IAN
I hear they have the prefabs up
finally. We get private housing.
LOUISE
(distant)
Yeah --
IAN
Hey.
He reaches across the table and takes her hand in his.
Louise looks at Ian. Then at their hands.
IAN
We'll get through. It's all right.
She pulls her hands from him, suddenly shy.
LOUISE
I'm sorry, I just -- I'm feeling
raw and unstable and --
Colonel Weber enters the mess tent and sets his sights on
Ian. Calls out from the door:
COLONEL WEBER
Ian. You're needed in operations.
Ian keeps his focus on Louise.
IAN
I'll see you later.
(once more)
We'll get a win soon.
Ian leaves. When he's gone, Louise's headache returns.
90 INT. PEDIATRICIAN'S OFFICE - DAY - FLASHBACK 90
Hannah and Louise hold hands on the exam bed. Louise is
fighting back tears.
72.
91 INT. LAKE HOUSE - DAY - FLASHBACK 91
Louise stares at a shelf full of Hannah's awards. Photos of
Hannah in sports, at band concerts, in a theme park.
92 INT. LAKE HOUSE - NIGHT - FLASHBACK 92
Louise is bent over in her bathroom, ill.
93 EXT. MESS TENT - NIGHT 93
Louise is bent over a trash can as if she just vomited. She
coughs, looks around like she's lost.
She notices tears in her eyes. Wipes them.
It disturbs her. She fights back the intense emotional
impact of these memories.
It takes a few breaths for her to compose herself.
REPORTER (V.O.)
(pre-lap)
And why do you want to see the
ships destroyed?
94 EXT. TV COVERAGE - SOME LANDING SITE - NIGHT 94
Handheld camera interviewing a MIDDLE-AGED WOMAN holding a
sign in a protest line outside a barricade. She's been
crying; her eyes are red with tears. And she speaks
English.
Ticker at bottom of screen: "UFO 'TRUTHER' MOVEMENT GROWS"
MIDDLE-AGED WOMAN
Because! It's not right. We are the
only ones in this universe. This
whole thing is a hoax. Why d'you
think they haven't shown an alien
up close? It's all a conspiracy!
The sound of a KNOCKING wrenches from the news clip to --
95 INT. HOUSING PRE-FAB - BEDROOM - NIGHT 95
Louise wakes suddenly in bed. She's fallen asleep atop the
covers, still in her clothes. Clutching a pillow as if it
were a child.
73.
The loud KNOCKING comes again. And she gets up.
96 INT. HOUSING PRE-FAB - FRONT DOOR - MOMENTS LATER 96
Louise opens the door to find Weber and Ian standing
outside, their breath pluming in the cold air.
COLONEL WEBER
May we come in?
Louise frowns.
97 INT. HOUSING PRE-FAB - LIVING AREA - MOMENTS LATER 97
Louise, Weber, and Ian sit in this hotel-room-sized space.
IAN
How are you feeling?
Louise tries to read the situation. Something is wrong.
Ian looks concerned. Weber looks suspicious.
LOUISE
I just need sleep. I'm fine.
COLONEL WEBER
You want to tell me what's going
on?
LOUISE
I don't -- what, what happened?
COLONEL WEBER
You used seven words in the last
session you never used before. And
you wrote all of them in heptapod.
LOUISE
What? What words?
COLONEL WEBER
You had three different exchanges
no one on our side of the glass
could follow.
LOUISE
Show me. I'll tell you what I
wrote.
74.
COLONEL WEBER
That's not the problem here!
Weber's getting more frustrated. Ian steps in to defuse:
IAN
All this focus on alien language.
Look, I did some research and
there's this idea that immersing
yourself in a foreign language can
rewire your brain --
LOUISE
The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, yes.
The theory that the language you
speak determines how you think.
IAN
Are you dreaming in this language?
Louise looks from Ian to Weber. Guarded.
LOUISE
What does that--? I've had a few
dreams. That doesn't make me unfit
for the job.
Weber shows her a paper document signed at the bottom.
COLONEL WEBER
This might.
LOUISE
That's just a prescription for my
headaches, Kettler--
Then she notices something.
THE SIGNATURE FORM, revealing Louise has signed her name in
a circle. Like a cursive logogram.
COLONEL WEBER
Kettler tells me you signed it with
your left hand. You're right
handed.
LOUISE
Well. I. I mean --
COLONEL WEBER
It was one thing when no one could
understand them. It's another when
no one but you can.
75.
(directed at Ian)
You think you can manage in the
room on your own now?
LOUISE
What?
Louise focuses on Ian now, her eyes pleading.
Ian sees her, this woman on verge of a breakdown, suddenly
quite fragile. It pains him, but he believes it --
IAN
If I had to. Yes.
LOUISE
Ian. Come on. Wait, just --
COLONEL WEBER
(stands)
I'm pulling you out.
Louise and Ian follow. Louise intercepts Weber at the door:
LOUISE
I need to be in there. This is all
I do. Take it away and I'm just a,
what, a prisoner.
IAN
Louise, you just need to recover --
LOUISE
(snaps at Ian)
Shut up!
(to Weber)
This won't work without me. I'm the
only one they really talk to.
COLONEL WEBER
Which is why I can't afford to lose
you! Do you get it now?
Suddenly frustrated by his confession, Weber steps back out
into the cold. But Ian pauses outside her door. Turns
around to face Louise again.
Louise looks devastated; untethered.
IAN
I'm sorry. I got worried --
But she shuts the door on him.
76.
98 EXT. MONTANA LANDING SITE - MORNING 98
The Shell gleams in the rising sun, casting a shadow over a
slice of the science camp site the shape of a tombstone.
99 EXT. "THE SHELL" - MORNING 99
Privates Lasky and Combs set heavy A/V boxes at a staging
area by the scissor lift.
100 INT. SCIENCE TENT - IAN'S AREA - MORNING 100
VIDEO of Abbott and Costello plays on a screen. The last
session in the room. Fast-forwarding to the appearance of
the timeline. Pause.
Ian studies it on the monitor at his desk. His team of
SCIENCE EXPERTS argue and gesture at one another in the
background, around a large table.
Behind him: A glass screen displays the timeline riddle,
big as life.
Ian rubs his face. Downs his coffee. Goes at it again.
101 EXT. HOUSING PRE-FAB - MORNING 101
Weber knocks on Louise's door.
Beat. Louise opens the door just a few inches. Her eyes are
bloodshot. She's wearing yesterday's clothes.
LOUISE
What.
COLONEL WEBER
Did you sleep?
LOUISE
A little.
COLONEL WEBER
I need your brain.
LOUISE
You're putting me back in?
COLONEL WEBER
(evading)
77.
Do you know Mandarin?
102 INT. OPERATIONS TENT - SPY ROOM - MORNING 102
The two push through the tent flap, and Louise is startled—
EVERY SINGLE TV SCREEN is filled with footage of violence.
Gunfire at the grounds of another alien site. Riots at
another. Naval maneuvers on the Indian Ocean.
Weber hands Louise a set of headphones, and replays a
video.
ON SCREEN: Spy footage of two CHINESE MEN meeting at a camp
not unlike the Montana site. Muddled voices in Mandarin.
Louise translates:
LOUISE
He's saying each of the twelve is
offering advanced technology.
(beat)
Spies report India and Sudan have
already received theirs. Like sets.
Sets? I don't know what he means --
(beat)
Something about an advantage. With
suits, honor, and flowers?
The clip ends abruptly. Weber takes the headphones back.
COLONEL WEBER
We don't know what it means,
either. But an hour ago China
scrambled fighters at airfields in
four different bases, and Sudan is
following suit. "Big Domino" is
about to start something.
LOUISE
Following suit --
(realizing)
Suits, honor, and flowers. Colonel,
those are tile sets in Mahjong. Oh
god, have they been using a game to
converse with their heptapods?
COLONEL WEBER
Maybe. Probably easier than trying
to teach Mandarin. Why?
LOUISE
78.
Say I taught them chess instead of
English. Every conversation is a
game, every idea expressed through
opposition -- victory and defeat.
You see the problem? If all I ever
give you is a hammer --
Weber looks back at the monitors, suddenly getting it.
COLONEL WEBER
-- Everything's a nail.
Halpern enters, riled up. Steps up to Weber.
AGENT HALPERN
May I have a word, Colonel?
Weber nods to Louise: Dismissed.
103 INT. SCIENCE TENT - MOMENTS LATER 103
Louise enters, distraught. Goes to her desk.
ANGLE ON IAN, engrossed in his study of previous sessions,
until he hears Louise gathering papers at her desk.
He sees her through the timeline screen bisecting their
workspace. It's like the glass barrier in the chamber.
After a beat, he decides to approach her.
IAN
Hey.
LOUISE
Hey.
IAN
How are you doing?
She keeps gathering printouts of logograms. Shoving
material into folders.
LOUISE
Why do you want to know?
IAN
Why? Because I -- because you were
starting to scare me.
(steps closer)
You would have done the same for
me, if you were in my shoes.
79.
Louise turns to him now. Vulnerable, and mad about it. But
refusing to cry in front of him.
LOUISE
Oh, so I should see things from
your perspective, but did you ever
see it from mine? Just once?
(re: Timeline)
You got the symbol for 'humanity'
wrong. Doesn't that say it all.
She walks around to the other side of the screen and makes
adjustments by touch.
Ian watches from Louise's desk on the other side -- and he
nearly gasps in surprise.
From his POV, the timeline is reversed. And the logogram
that means 'humanity' now looks the same from either side.
IAN
Louise -- their word is an
ambigram. It reads the same front
or back.
LOUISE
It is? Oh -- You're right.
He marvels at this mirror image of the timeline problem.
IAN
On your side, the human race is at
the end of its time. But here -- to
the heptapods -- we're just getting
started.
The low BASS TONE reverberates through the tents.
CAPTAIN MARKS (О.S.)
Ten minutes to session. Ian --
you're up.
Louise leans in to Ian to keep him focused on the problem
in front of him.
LOUISE
How does that help us?
Ian frowns, thinking then, in a sudden Eureka moment, he
gets it. Claps his hands --
IAN
80.
My god. It's not a problem at all,
it's a choice.
He charges off, right out of the tent.
LOUISE
Ian? Ian, wait --
104 EXT. BASE CAMP - CONTINUOUS 104
Louise trails after Ian, who's headed right for the pickup.
LOUISE
What choice?
IAN
That's what they're saying. It's
like a warning label on a power
tool. Whatever they're offering us,
we can use it to flourish for
millions of years, or we can do
something stupid and end it all
right now.
Halpern steps out of the Ops Tent with Weber and zeroes in
on Ian leading Louise for the Shell door.
AGENT HALPERN
Doctor Banks!
Ian grabs Louise by the hand. He's not going in alone.
IAN
Come on.
Louise hurries after Ian.
AGENT HALPERN
No one authorized you back inside -
-
But the two pile into a pickup and Ian peels out.
Halpern moves for the second truck, where two HAZMAT-suited
TECHS arrive looking confused -- the rest of Ian's team.
105 EXT. "THE SHELL" - DAY 105
Ian slides the pickup to a stop close to the scissor lift.
Louise hurries out on one side, Ian following. Neither of
them in suits or with respirators.
81.
In the distance, the other truck is on approach, leaving a
rooster tail of dust behind it.
Ahead, the scissor lift DESCENDS from its high perch at the
surface, revealing Lasky and Combs in full suits.
Ian and Louise climb in as they step out. Louise makes eye
contact with Lasky.
PRIVATE LASKY
You can't go in there.
IAN
She's with me.
Ian punches the 'up' button on the lift.
Louise checks to see how close the other truck is, but then
her attention drifts back to Lasky and Combs, below.
They both just stand and watch them, clutching their
rifles.
106 INT. INTERVIEW CHAMBER - MOMENTS LATER 106
Louise and Ian arrive to find Abbott already here,
advancing for the glass barrier. Abbott's movement suggests
an urgency.
LOUISE
Abbott?
The timeline draws itself on the glass. And beneath it a
symbol appears. Louise points to it:
LOUISE
"Solve." It's all on you now.
IAN
Is there a symbol for "choice?"
Both timelines are possible, it all
depends upon what we choose to do
with their offer.
Louise nods.
But then the tablet powers down; shorts out on its own.
LOUISE
Wait, what just—
82.
Abbott writes on the barrier. Adding to the previous:
LOUISE
"Solve here." He wants me to write
on the glass.
IAN
Can you?
LOUISE
It's a complicated sentence. I'm
trying to figure it out.
Louise approaches the boundary, opposite Abbott.
The wall becomes more and more transparent, revealing
Abbott more intimately than ever before.
The alien gestures at her.
Louise tentatively puts up two hands, then lowers one.
IAN
What?
LOUISE
I can't. I can't draw both ends at
the same time.
She holds her right hand up against the glass. It reacts by
forming ink on Abbott's side.
As she does, Abbott holds up one hand against the glass on
his end, to the left of her position.
Louise regards him curiously. Then she takes a breath, and
begins to draw one end of this elegant, complicated circle.
As she does, Abbott draws on his end. Working in the
opposite arc toward Louise's starting point.
IAN
What is he doing?
Louise's eyes widen as she realizes --
LOUISE
He's being my other arm. He's
finishing my sentence.
The two co-authors finish simultaneously, connecting the
arcs of their logograms into a circle.
83.
REVEAL an angle showing Abbott's hand perfectly aligned
with Louise's, only the transparent wall between them.
QUICK POP:
107 INT. LAKE HOUSE - HANNAH'S ROOM - DAY - FLASHBACK 107
Baby Hannah reaches up from her cradle, her little infant
hand outstretched like Abbott's. Louise reaching down to
let Hannah grip mom's pointer finger.
108 INT. INTERVIEW CHAMBER - BACK TO SCENE 108
Louise snaps out of that quick vision. She takes a step
back.
LOUISE
That's -- That's it.
Looking at it head-on, the logogram is complete.
Then: A tapestry of heptapod logograms begin flowing across
the entire transparent wall, like wallpaper patterns.
They appear with dozens of GEOMETRIC EQUATIONS. Circles.
Angular shapes. Equations in heptapod with Arabic numerals
around them like liner notes. A waterfall of data. It pours
down the screen.
PRESSING IN on Ian, who smiles broadly.
IAN
This is it.
(into headset)
This is the gift!
COLONEL WEBER (V.O.)
(over headset)
We got it over here.
(to Tech)
Christ, how much is this --
(back to Ian)
It's two terabytes of data.
Abbott begins miming the "walk" action they taught earlier.
Simultaneously, a new set of logograms form from ink
splattered harshly against the glass --
IAN
What is he saying?
84.
Louise approaches the barrier, frowning.
Meanwhile, a faint BEEPING begins quickening somewhere in
the interview chamber.
LOUISE
Those are our names --
(translating)
Must leave?
(to Abbott)
You're asking us to go?
She gets close now --
Ian approaches a DUFFEL BAG toppled by the glass barrier on
the floor, getting closer to the sound --
Pulling it away to reveal: A set of wired C4 CHARGES stuck
against the glass --
IAN
Louise!
Ian runs to grab Louise --
Louise looks back at Abbott -- he's warning them --
Suddenly the gravity shifts in the chamber -- Louise and
Ian find themselves sliding AWAY from the barrier, right
back into the tunnel --
Louise looks one last time at Abbott and sees:
He's pressing his seven-fingered hand to the glass once
more. The way he did when she first shared her name.
This image shrinks as gravity takes Louise away from the
chamber and then with a cacophonous BOOM --
The interview chamber is ENGULFED IN A FIREBALL, with an
impact so hard Louise sees it SHATTER THE BARRIER --
Ian and Louise stop sliding, but then the firecloud rolls
toward them out the chamber and into the tunnel --
BLACK. NO SOUND.
A beat. Then:
109 INT. LAKE HOUSE - HANNAH'S ROOM - MORNING - FLASHBACK 109
85.
Louise and 4-year-old Hannah are on the bed. Louise has
fallen asleep with a storybook on her lap. Hannah leans in
and WHISPERS into Louise's ear --
Louise's eyes SNAP OPEN --
110 INT. MEDICAL TENT - INFIRMARY - DAY 110
TIGHT on Louise waking with a start.
A bandage has been taped to her forehead.
She sits up, and instantly regrets it. Her head hurts.
Kettler approaches.
DR. KETTLER
Careful. You suffered a concussion.
LOUISE
Ian -- Is he --
DR. KETTLER
Three broken ribs and a sprained
ankle, but otherwise he's fine.
LOUISE
How long was I out?
DR. KETTLER
About two hours. Been strangely
quiet ever since.
Kettler tends to her, examines her pulse and temperature.
LOUISE
Who--?
DR. KETTLER
It was a couple of soldiers. They'd
been watching too much TV, afraid
the gift was going to kill us all.
LOUISE
We don't need help from another
race to do that.
81-82A.
LOUISE
(then)
86.
What happened to them? The
soldiers.
DR. KETTLER
The agency man, Halpern, he shot
them, but it was too late.
Outside: The entire camp is mobilized. One tent one the
edge of camp is in the process of being collapsed.
Even more sobering: A truck parks nearby, towing the
SCISSOR LIFT used to get up into the Shell.
LOUISE
What's going on now?
DR. KETTLER
Preparing to evacuate.
Louise tenses. She looks around -- Ian isn't in the tent.
LOUISE
Where is Ian?
DR. KETTLER
Weber came and got him, maybe ten
minutes ago. He wouldn't leave
until he knew you were okay. But
your whole tent is on the clock to
figure out whatever it is you were
given up there. Because we're
pulling up stakes.
Louise immediately gets up, past Kettler, and goes for the
tent exit.
DR. KETTLER
Medevac is on the way!
111 INT. SCIENCE TENT - CRYPTO ROOM - THAT MOMENT 111
The alien data spreads across all the flatscreens.
Weber watches it, arms crossed.
Ian stands at one computer, cycling through some subset of
the data. His button-down shirt is loose, showing the tight
bandage wrap around his ribs underneath.
IAN
Is this all of it? The feed wasn't
cut before the explosion?
87.
COLONEL WEBER
Not as far as we can tell.
Ian is visibly relieved.
IAN
We should combine my team with
Louise's and get them all working
on this.
COLONEL WEBER
What is it?
IAN
I don't know yet. But they're
finally speaking my language.
Louise enters the tent, shoving the flap aside.
Weber sees her coming.
COLONEL WEBER
Doctor Banks --
LOUISE
We are not leaving.
COLONEL WEBER
Glad to see you're awake.
LOUISE
(rolling through it)
We need to get back in there, talk
to them, explain what happened, it
wasn't our fault --
COLONEL WEBER
You're not going back inside.
LOUISE
We have to.
COLONEL WEBER
What happened in there was an
attack. We can hope for the best,
but I have orders to prepare for a
retaliation. So we're leaving in
twenty-four hours.
LOUISE
That's the wrong move. As long as
they stay, we have to stay. We have
to keep talking.
88.
A low, STRANGE TONE reverberates through the tent.
This one is not the tone they've heard before.
And it's accompanied by a RUMBLE.
112 EXT. SCIENCE TENT - DAY 112
Louise, Ian and Weber emerge from the tent to see:
The Shell lifts higher into the sky.
It rises, vibrating everyone's rib cages, the air beneath
it undulating as if reflected on water.
Then, several hundred feet up -- it stops.
And hovers. Parked there. Staring down.
LOUISE
Well. They're not leaving.
COLONEL WEBER
Why does this feel worse.
113 EXT. SCIENCE TENT - NIGHT 113
Outside, the canopy of stars above is staggering.
The Shell remains in the sky, partially eclipsing the moon.
Tilting down to find the Ops Tent, bustling with activity.
114 INT. SCIENCE TENT - NIGHT 114
Close in: the data playing out on a large flatscreen. The
twelve landing site MONITORS are all black.
Ian and Louise sit together, down from their early high of
receiving the gift. Now they face a mountain of material.
IAN
I don't get it.
LOUISE
We've only been at this an hour.
IAN
No, I mean -- what is it?
89.
LOUISE
I recognize maybe one in every
twenty logograms. It will take some
time to unpack the rest.
IAN
But look at their math. This is
their code; their building blocks.
But I don't know where anything
starts or ends1 It may as well be
random.
Strange RORSCHARCH-LIKE DIAGRAMS animate on screen.
LOUISE
It can't be random.
IAN
I know.
Ian gets up and starts pacing. Stares at the dark monitors.
IAN
I wonder how the Brits are doing.
He kicks at the back of his chair and storms off.
Louise is too tired to get up and go after him. Her eyes
are heavy and she's still wounded from the explosion. She
rakes her fingers through her long hair and stares at the
screens.
HANNAH (O.S.)
What's this term here?
115 INT. LAKE HOUSE - LOUISE'S STUDY - NIGHT - FLASHBACK 115
Louise reads papers at her desk. She runs her fingers
through her short hair, like she just did.
Her study is walled with books, and her desk allows her a
view through the open door all the way down the hall.
Hannah (age 12) steps to the threshold. Leans against it.
HANNAH
Mom.
LOUISE
Sweetie.
HANNAH
90.
What's the term for that thing,
like a technical term, where we
make like a deal, and we both get
something out of it?
LOUISE
A compromise?
HANNAH
No.
LOUISE
You remember what it sounds like?
HANNAH
Like it's a competition but both
sides end up happy.
LOUISE
Like a win-win?
HANNAH
More science-у than that.
LOUISE
You want science, call your father.
Louise returns to her papers. Hannah frowns.
HANNAH
You always do that. You and Dad.
Put in just a little effort and
then kick me to the other parent.
LOUISE
Hannah, that's not fair.
HANNAH
It really isn't!
She storms off down the hall. Louise watches her go. Tries
to think of what to say.
IAN (V.O.)
Louise --
116 INT. SCIENCE TENT - LOUISE'S DESK - DAY 116
Louise snaps her head up, having drifted off to sleep at
her work table surrounded by computers .
IAN
91.
Sorry.
LOUISE
No. I'm up.
(then)
What time is it?
IAN
That question is irrelevant, if
you're a heptapod.
He smiles at her. Eager.
LOUISE
You cracked something. Didn't you.
Ian nods. He grabs a bottle of HAND SANITIZER stowed atop a
comms shelf and his pen-sized laser pointer.
IAN
I found something that demonstrated
Fermat's Principle of Least Time.
Ian shines the laser at the sanitizer and oddly, we can SEE
THE BEAM cutting through the bottle. Ian moves the pointer
as he talks, demonstrating:
IAN
(beat)
Light always knows the shortest
route to a point in terms of time,
even if it has to change course.
For a long time we thought it was
cheating. Like how does it know the
shortest path is this curve?
LOUISE
The heptapods know?
IAN
More than that.
He triggers an animation sequence of data that looks like a
three-dimensional network of nodes. Then one strand GLOWS
inside the network, linking two disparate parts.
IAN
It's how they see everything. How
they travel. Except the shortest
path is outside space and time.
With this, we could build a space
shipwith no rockets. We'd just --
(snaps fingers)
92.
-- and we're there.
Louise catches her breath.
LOUISE
It's not a weapon.
IAN
Yeah. Well -- Nobel thought the
same of dynamite --
Nonetheless, Louise is visibly relieved.
IAN
There's something else. At the tail
end of the code.
Ian makes a few keystrokes on a monitor and brings up an
image on a large flat-screen.
THE SCREEN shows a series of intertwined logograms. Like a
Persian rug of alien data.
Ian magnifies one corner revealing:
"1 / 12" -- followed by an elegant little symbol.
IAN
They used Arabic numerals. "One of
twelve."
LOUISE
(a-ha moment)
Do you know what this means?
117 INT. OPERATIONS TENT - "WAR ROOM" - DAY 117
Connected to the Operations tent, but made private, walled
off from the screens and the noise. Mainly it's just a
conference table, some comms gear, and a world map.
Louise, flanked by Ian, confronts Colonel Weber at the
conference table with Agent Halpern.
She holds up the printout.
LOUISE
This is just one piece of it. What
they're telling us, right here, is
that ours is one of twelve. We're
part of a larger whole.
93.
AGENT HALPERN
Or we're one of twelve contestants
for the prize.
LOUISE
(to Weber)
Why do I have to talk to him?
COLONEL WEBER
You did your job, now he gets to
run the show.
LOUISE
(to Halpern)
We need to talk to the other sites
and help them with whatever they've
gotten from the other heptapods.
AGENT HALPERN
In case you don't remember, we're
blacked out. So are the other
nations. We're on our own.
LOUISE
This is telling us the pieces go
together.
AGENT HALPERN
And I'm telling you no one else
believes that.
Halpern swivels his laptop around and shows a recording:
AGENT HALPERN
Two hours ago we pulled this audio
off a secure channel in Russia.
Someone on the science team there
was broadcasting wide.
He clicks playback, and we see a screen go black with
English translation appearing as the recording plays over
the sound of pounding on the door --
RUSSIAN SCIENTIST (V.O.)
Their final words translate to,
"There is no time, many become
one." I fear we have all been given
weapons because we answered the
timeline wrong, please, if you --
With the CRACK of a gunshot the recording abruptly ends.
Louise begins to fray at the edges. Staving off panic:
94.
LOUISE
Well, I mean, there are ways to
interpret what he said --
AGENT HALPERN
I don't need an interpreter to know
what this means. Russia just
executed one of their own experts
to keep their secrets.
He clicks through to show on his monitor:
Every Shell now hovers over their site. From Hokkaido to
Wales, the massive spheres hang in the air. Waiting.
LOUISE
"Many become one" could just be
their way of saying "some assembly
required -- "
AGENT HALPERN
Why hand it out to us in pieces?
Why not just give it all over?
LOUISE
What better way to force us all to
work together, for once?
Halpern looks to the other people in the room. Weber
studies him carefully. Ian nods, in support of Louise.
AGENT HALPERN
Even if I did believe you, how in
the world are you going to get
anyone else to play along and give
up their data?
Ian jumps on this one:
IAN
We offer our own in return.
Halpern looks to Weber. Is he serious?
AGENT HALPERN
A trade.
IAN
So it's a non-zero-sum game.
Louise hears this and it dawns on her --
95.
118 INT. LAKE HOUSE - LOUISE'S STUDY - NIGHT - FLASHBACK 118
Hannah storms down the hall. Picking up right where we left
her from the previous flashback.
Louise sits forward, with that same look of realization:
LOUISE
A non-zero-sum game!
Hannah stops. Turns back around.
HANNAH
That's it! Yes! Thank you, Mom.
Hannah shuffles back into her room.
Louise slowly touches her face, an even deeper question now
creeping into her mind: Did I just alter my own past?
COLONEL WEBER (V.O.)
(pre-lap)
What did you just do?
Louise seems to hear the voice beside her and look --
119 INT. OPERATIONS TENT - "WAR ROOM" - BACK TO SCENE 119
Weber stands at her side. Behind him, by a set of comms
stations, Halpern and his team are on phones.
LOUISE
I'm -- I'm sorry?
COLONEL WEBER
Nobody locks horns with the CIA
like that. What motivated you?
Louise is still a bit lost, reeling from the effect she
just had on her own memory.
LOUISE
Family.
Weber is surprised and confused by this answer.
They're interrupted by Halpern, who steps up with:
AGENT HALPERN
96.
Nine of the landing sites have gone
total comms blackout. Only way to
reach them is to physically drive
there and yell at the border guard.
Which we're doing, but it won't be
fast enough.
LOUISE
There's gotta be some way to get a
message to them.
AGENT HALPERN
To our allies, maybe, but at this
stage it's too little too late.
What we need is to get all the
nations online before one starts
global war, and there's no way for
us to reach them.
It's a living nightmare for Louise; all that needs to
happen is for people to talk to each other, but no one
will. Then:
IAN (O.S.)
Yes there is.
All eyes on Ian.
IAN
It's right over our heads.
He taps a screen displaying the Shell hovering outside.
COLONEL WEBER
Maybe you see how that's
problematic for us now.
PRESSING ON LOUISE, as the others discuss options:
AGENT HALPERN (O.S.)
And if their intent is global war?
IAN (O.S.)
Then at least we know.
QUICK POP:
120 INT. CYLINDER CHAMBER - DAY 120
Louise is in a dark space of unknown dimension, lit from a
bright light on one side, wearing a breathing mask, her
hair dancing weightlessly around her face—
97.
121 INT. OPERATIONS TENT - "WAR ROOM" - BACK TO SCENE 121
She snaps out of the vision, looks around:
The men are still arguing.
AGENT HALPERN
I'm not having our decisions
outsourced to the enemy --
IAN
They aren't the enemy, when have
they made any act of aggression
toward us?
AGENT HALPERN
Maybe this is their way of being
aggressive!
COLONEL WEBER
That isn't the question.
IAN
Then what is?
COLONEL WEBER
How do we get you back in the room
when it's half a mile straight up?
IAN
I'm sure Louise would --
They all look to where Louise was standing.
She's gone now.
122 EXT. OPERATIONS TENT - DAY 122
It's raining when Ian, Halpern, and Weber step out. Halpern
is first to point out:
AGENT HALPERN
Vehicle's missing.
Another low BASS TONE emanates from the ship -- and it
seems to PUSH THE CLOUDS around it like a ripple on water.
123 INT. "THE SHELL" - CONTINUOUS 123
98.
FROM BLACK, a circle of BLACK separates and shrinks. It
takes us a moment to realize we're inside the ship, looking
straight down as a cylinder descends to the ground.
124 EXT. OPERATIONS TENT - CONTINUOUS 124
Ian grabs a pair of binoculars from an OFFICER and looks
out in the direction of where the Shell had been.
BINOCULARS POV:
Through magnification he sees the cylinder descend.
And where it lands is close to where LOUISE now waits for
it.
Both of them are tiny, almost silhouettes at this range.
But it looks like Louise has a breathing mask in her hand.
AGENT HALPERN (O.S.)
What the hell is she doing?
She steps into the cylinder.
IAN
What you hired her to do.
125 INT. CYLINDER CHAMBER - CONTINUOUS 125
Plain, dimly-lit from below, cramped.
Louise puts her fingers on the inside wall, feeling it --
-- and then the cylinder seals her up inside, in darkness.
126 EXT. LANDING SITE - CONTINUOUS 126
The cylinder elevator lifts off. Noiselessly.
127 INT. CYLINDER CHAMBER - CONTINUOUS 127
Louise can feel the acceleration in her stomach, and in the
pitch of the low tone reverberating inside.
She looks around for anything else in the chamber with her.
No windows. No views outside.
99.
Outside the walls of the chamber, another metallic ROAR.
Followed by a distant HIGH PITCH.
Louise waits for a portal to open. None do. She's trapped
inside this space.
LOUISE
-- Hello?
At her feet, light sets the floor aglow.
And then a luminous GAS seeps in and begins to rise around
her. Filling the cylinder.
LOUISE
Oh god - oh god oh god --
Louise puts on the oxygen mask as the barrier rises up to
her shoulders, then her neck and finally up over her head -
-
UNDERNEATH, the world is bright and mostly clear, and yet -
-
Louise's hair drifts up around her face as if she were
underwater. Louise breathes through the mask. Looks around.
A portal opens up opposite her. Light shines on her face.
128 INT. "THE SHELL" - CONTINUOUS 128
Louise steps out to a dimensionless sea of bright mist.
No walls or ceiling.
She looks up to see what might be a heptapod drifting into
the white void far above her.
Her breath is shallow. She is in a truly alien place now.
There is no reference for this experience.
Something dark and enormous "swims" through the mist,
passing by her, always just far enough to make it
impossible to see clearly -- it could be a swarm of small
things, or something the size of a blue whale.
And then a heptapod approaches from behind her. Louise
spins around in time to see it as its seven limbs advance
to her.
100.
Beat. She finally controls her breathing.
LOUISE
Costello?
Costello stands with limbs poised before her --
Then the mist clears a bit, revealing more of his heptapod
body. The limbs and torso? What seemed to be the entire
form of the alien? Not so. It is more like the fingers and
hand of a much larger being.
Costello towers over her. She looks up, in awe.
And then it writes on the invisible floor beneath them.
With two fingers. Ink sluicing out from them into a
logogram.
SUBTITLES: "Louise."
Louise takes a breath.
LOUISE
Where is Abbott?
Costello moves the ink around with one appendage and a new
logogram forms.
SUBTITLES: "Abbott is dead."
Louise holds her stomach, she's hit so hard by this.
LOUISE
I'm sorry. We are sorry.
The logogram ink shifts again. Louise looks down to read
it.
SUBTITLES: "Abbott chooses to save Louise and Ian."
Another ink-shift for a second logogram:
SUBTITLES: "Louise has question?"
Louise remembers her mission. Her reason for making the
trip.
LOUISE
I need -- need you to send a
message. To the other sites.
Costello replies by modifying the first logogram.
101.
SUBTITLES: "Message here. Louise has weapon."
LOUISE
That's just it, I --
(directly)
What is your purpose here?
Costello stares down at her.
Inky globules drift in from the mist, showering not
randomly but into patterns. Circles. A hundred logograms. A
thousand.
Click-click , flutter-whisper-tone. SUBTITLES: "The story
of our people. A span of two point nine billion years."
Louise marvels at it.
A chain of them light up at her feet, shifting for her to
see. Louise reads it aloud:
LOUISE
"Three thousand years from this
point, humanity helps us. We help
humanity now. Returning the favor."
(to Costello)
You know both your past and your
future -- How?
A podium screen rises between Louise and Costello. The
timeline riddle appears. Up close, more details are
visible.
It's more artful than a simple line segment with a large
bulbous flourish at one end. There are little stems and
curls along the line. And then that familiar logogram --
SUBTITLES: "Solve."
LOUISE
Did we answer wrong?
A NEW SERIES OF SYMBOLS: "Many answers given. Many become
one. Only one matters."
The message the Russian Scientist translated, in part.
Louise looks back at the timeline.
LOUISE
But I don't understand, it's time -
-
(then)
102.
Time. Wait. Is it? What's the
logogram for time --
Louise is seized with a realization. She reaches out and
touches the timeline on the screen. Nudges it. It moves.
From both ends, she wraps the line into its own circle an
exact representation of the logogram. It pulses when she
completes the action.
LOUISE
Time --
Then, a few more inky shapes bleed into the symbol for a
crucial sentence.
The awareness causes a memory attack --
QUICK POPS:
129 EXT. LAKE HOUSE - DAY - FLASHBACK 129
Hannah age 8, skipping stones in the lake.
130 EXT. MONTANA LANDING SITE - DAY - FLASHBACK 130
The Shell landing in Montana.
131 INT. LAKE HOUSE - LOUISE'S BEDROOM - NIGHT - FLASHBACK 131
Louise at home alone.
132 INT. "THE SHELL" - BACK TO SCENE 132
Louise sucks in a breath, mentally returning to present day
in a panic. Even more confused and frightened.
Costello retreats from her, as she translates the sentence
--
LOUISE
"There is no linear time"--
(then)
Wait! What is happening to me? What
do I do?
The ship shudders. The THRUM returns as the cylinder
descends, to seal Louise inside once more.
103.
Costello turns to her, some of his arms float in the air
like the strands of Louise's hair. Despite his unearthly
figure, he seems to look upon her with tenderness. A final
logogram forms on the floor between them:
SUBTITLES: "You already have. You choose life."
The THRUM increases in urgency. That same cylinder rises
around her feet to encase her once again.
LOUISE
I don't understand -- WAIT --
With a ROAR, the cylinder seals her up, into darkness.
133 EXT. BASE CAMP - DAY 133
From the top of the hill, the massive Shell begins to TURN
on itself. Rotating, yet remaining in place. Like spinning
a billiard ball on its axis.
The ovoid craft reverses its hemispheres until finally it's
sitting upside-down from its previous position.
Louise emerges from behind the hill, running toward us. Her
hair is damp from the exposure to the alien atmosphere.
Three pickup trucks rush toward her. SIX MEN in full HAZMAT
suits grab LOUISE, as the spaceship starts to leave the
ground with an ASTONISHING SOUND.
Ian is among the men. He calls her name but it's drowned
out by the sound of the ship overhead.
The spaceship then disappears in the clouds.
Everyone outside base camp stares up at the sky, every face
fretting and worried about what it means.
Weber is among the six. He steps close to Louise, grim.
COLONEL WEBER
You got everyone's attention with
your little field trip.
IAN
I hope you got good news, too.
Captain Marks rushes to Weber:
CAPTAIN MARKS
104.
Sir! We're getting the order from
command to evacuate immediately.
COLONEL WEBER
What for?
CAPTAIN MARKS
Big Domino.
Captain Marks and Weber move for the War Room tent.
Louise gives Ian a pained look. Like she's lost and afraid.
LOUISE
Ian -- I don't know what it means.
Louise wobbles a step. Ian holds onto her.
IAN
Whoa now. I got you.
Louise looks down at her boots --
They're covered in mud from the slog across the field --
134 EXT. LAKE HOUSE - DAY - FLASHBACK 134
Louise stands on the back patio, one hand on a deck post.
Her boots are covered in mud. She looks around. It's
raining.
A 7-year-old Hannah comes in from the rain and sits down on
the bench at the patio.
Louise reaches up and feels the length of her hair. Looks
at her hands. Notes her wedding ring -- she's still wearing
it.
HANNAH (O.S.)
Help me, mommy.
Hannah struggles to get her muddy shoes off.
Louise bends down and starts to work the laces.
LOUISE
Baby? What day is it, do you know?
HANNAH
Sunday.
(then)
105.
Are you gonna leave me like Daddy
did?
Louise snaps back to full attention on her daughter.
LOUISE
Hannah, honey, your father didn't
leave you. You'll spend time with
him this weekend.
HANNAH
He doesn't look at me the same way
anymore.
Louise touches Hannah's hair. She has so much love for her
daughter.
LOUISE
Oh, god. I'm -- That was my fault.
I told him something he wasn't
ready to hear.
HANNAH
What?
LOUISE
Believe it or not, I know something
that's going to happen. I can't
explain how I know, I just do. When
I shared it with Daddy, he got real
mad. Said I made the wrong choice.
HANNAH
Why? What's going to happen?
LOUISE
It has to do with a very rare
disease. And it can't be stopped.
Kind of like how you are when you
get focused on swimming, or poetry,
or any of the amazing things you
share with the world.
HANNAH
I'm unstoppable.
Said like a little mad scientist. Louise brings Hannah in
close, to hide the fact that she's trying not to cry.
Louise breathes in the smell of Hannah's hair.
LOUISE
(to herself)
106.
Hold onto this moment --
135 EXT. BASE CAMP - BACK TO SCENE 135
Ian holds onto Louise.
LOUISE (V.O.)
Hold onto this moment.
She realizes she's back. Sucks in a breath. She's crying.
IAN
What just happened?
LOUISE
I remembered something.
IAN
What was it?
Louise looks into his eyes. Then pulls him in for a hug.
LOUISE
Why my husband left me.
Ian didn't expect that answer.
IAN
You were married?
Louise wipes her eyes and struggles to find her game face.
136 INT. SCIENCE TENT - MOMENTS LATER 136
The translators, scientists, and techs are gone here. ARMED
SOLDIERS now populate the place, tearing down all non-
essential material as fast as possible. Halpern supervises.
Louise rushes in and gets to a keyboard at her hutch. She
calls up the heptapod data on the screens. Spreads it to
every available screen. Loops and whorls of logograms, all
strung together like DNA strands. Geometric formulae
animate around the cursive writing. A wall of alien
graffiti.
Ian hurries in behind Louise.
IAN
107.
It's too late for this. We've only
cracked maybe one percent of it,
it'll take weeks --
Louise puts up her hand, silencing Ian. She closes her
eyes.
137 INT. LAKE HOUSE - LOUISE'S STUDY - DAY - FLASHBACK 137
Louise pulls a hardback book from a box of advance copies.
Its cover: "The Universal Language" by Dr. Louise Banks.
138 INT. LAKE HOUSE - LOUISE'S STUDY - DAY - FLASHBACK 138
The table of contents show twelve chapters.
139 INT. LAKE HOUSE - LOUISE'S STUDY - DAY - FLASHBACK 139
Hannah's drawing is now framed.
HANNAH (V.O.)
That's supposed to be a book.
The girl's handwriting: "Mommy and Daddy save the world."
140 INT. SCIENCE TENT - BACK TO SCENE 140
Louise's eyes snap open, and she takes in the sight of all
the alien symbols once more.
She lets out a ragged breath, in awe of it.
LOUISE
I can read it --
(then)
Ian, I know what it is.
A new SIREN now begins to wail around the campsite. Louise
and Ian look up, unsure what to do.
Colonel Weber enters and marches for them with Captain
Marks behind him --
COLONEL WEBER
You two: We're evacuating you right
now. Come on.
IAN
108.
What's happening?
COLONEL WEBER
War, that's what.
Weber grabs onto them both and wills them into motion.
LOUISE
Wait -- I figured out the gift!
COLONEL WEBER
Good for you.
He ushers them outside --
141 EXT. BASE CAMP - HELIPAD - CONTINUOUS 141
-- and they keep marching for the helipad, despite Louise
trying to slow things down.
LOUISE
It's their language. They gave it
all to us. It's in twelve parts
because I separated their first
symbol into twelve segments -- and
they knew I would. Understand?
COLONEL WEBER
So we can learn heptapod if we
survive. Not much of a gift.
LOUISE
(emphatic)
When you learn it, truly learn it,
you perceive time the way they do.
It's nonlinear.
Weber stops as they're two dozen feet from the chopper. He
has to shout over the sound of the rotors and the siren.
COLONEL WEBER
I see we are out of time. We did
our best, but it wasn't enough. The
dominoes are falling now.
Weber gestures at Ian to suggest: Get her on the chopper.
Then he turns and hurries back for the ops tent.
Louise stands, rigid with tension. Ian tugs at her:
IAN
Come on!
109.
Louise whirls around to face Ian but when she does --
142 INT. BALLROOM - NIGHT 142
-- she is dressed in a RESPLENDENT RED EVENING GOWN. Her
hair is done up. She looks stunning.
All around her is a cocktail party in full swing. Classical
music plays from a live band nearby.
Louise looks around and takes in the ambiance. A dozen
national FLAGS hang on the walls as a symbol of unity. On a
stage (currently unoccupied), that heptapod logogram for
"time" is on prominent display.
The crowd of PARTYGOERS is international and dressed up.
One of them sets their sights on Louise and advances: A
distinguished Chinese man (65) in a tailored tuxedo. She
has seen him before, on monitors. GENERAL SHANG.
GENERAL SHANG
Doctor Banks, what a delight.
LOUISE
General Shang. The pleasure is
certainly mine.
They shake hands, but Louise offers a slight bow.
GENERAL SHANG
Your President said he was honored
to host me at the celebration, but
I confess I am only here because I
wanted to meet you in person.
LOUISE
Me? Well. I'm flattered.
GENERAL SHANG
Eighteen months ago, you did
something -- remarkable. Something
not even my superior has done.
LOUISE
What was that?
GENERAL SHANG
You changed my mind. In a way, you
are the reason for the unification.
All because you reached out to me
on my private number.
110.
LOUISE
Your private number? General, I
don't know what, uh --
Shang shows her his sleek SMARTPHONE. It's open to an ID
screen with a number. She accepts it, staring at the
screen.
GENERAL SHANG
Now you do. I do not claim to know
how your brain works, but I believe
it's important you see that.
LOUISE
(beat)
Wait. I called you, didn't I --
GENERAL SHANG
You did. And you spoke to me. I
will never forget what you said.
LOUISE
General, you must forgive me. I've
had a bit to drink tonight. I might
need a reminder.
GENERAL SHANG
Yes. You warned me of this as well.
He looks over his shoulder, to make sure no one is
eavesdropping. Then he leans close to her.
She turns her head so he can speak into her ear.
The classical MUSIC plays and the other Partygoers chat,
providing a drone of noise.
Louise's eyes widen. She puts her hand over her mouth.
Above the music and chatter, that high RINGING TONE builds
up again, overtaking it all --
Louise blinks and --
143 EXT. MONTANA LANDING SITE - DAY 143
She's right back where she was a moment ago. Ian tugs at
her to get into the helicopter.
Louise sucks in a breath like she was just pulled from cold
water. The memory of the future leaves her shaking.
111.
IAN
Come on!
But she doesn't follow him. She turns and runs for the
tents. Ian runs after her.
IAN
Louise!
144 INT. NEW OPERATION TENT 144
Halpern watches a monitor as others around him pack up for
evacuation. One of the SYSTEMS OPERATORS seated near him
frowns and gets Halpern's attention.
SYSTEMS OPERATOR
Sir! A sat line here is dialing
China.
AGENT HALPERN
Here? What do you mean "here"?
SYSTEMS OPERATOR
Base Camp, sir.
145 INT. CORRIDOR 145
Louise hurries down the corridor. Sat phone to her ear.
Waiting for an answer on the other end of the line.
LOUISE
C'mon, c'mon --
A voice on theother end answers. It's Shang. Louise gets a
jolt of hope.
146 INT. NEW OPERATION TENT 146
Halpern is now leaning over the Systems Op, focused on his
screen.
AGENT HALPERN
Whose phone is it?
SYSTEMS OPERATOR
Sir, it's your phone.
Shocked and alarmed, Halpern looks to the table for his
phone. It's not there. Now Halpern is on the move, as he
goes:
112.
AGENT HALPERN
(to CIA)
Search the base now!
147 INT. CLEAN ROOM 147
Louise enters the clean room, speaking urgently with Shang.
LOUISE
(in Mandarin)
General, I'm calling from the
American site.
148 INT. CORRIDOR 148
CIA and Soldiers search the base.
149 INT. CLEAN ROOM 149
Louise speaks with Shang as two soldiers arrive in the
clean room.
Louise locks herself in the chamber, still talking to
Shang.
LOUISE
(in Mandarin)
Your wife spoke to me in a dream,
she said you'd help save the world
by being braver than everyone else
--
SOLDIER #1
(in headset, to Systems
op)
We found the source of the call,
waiting for instructions.
Tan arrives from Yellow Tunnel, opens the door of the
chamber.
IAN
Louise! What are you doing?
LOUISE
Changing someone's mind -- give me
20 seconds.
Ian gets in the chamber and locks the door.
113.
Halpern arrives from Yellow Tunnel and draws a gun. The two
soldiers raise their rifles on the other side of the
chamber.
Ian locks the second door and puts himself between the
soldiers' guns and her.
HALPERN
Drop the phone now or we shoot!
Ian protects Louise from both sides with his body.
IAN
You can't stop this now.
LOUISE
(in Mandarin)
War doesn't make winners, only
widows.
She listens briefly and then drops the phone.
LOUISE
I already did.
150 EXT. HELICOPTER FIELDS 150
Weber, talking to officers, is interrupted by another
officer.
OFFICER
Colonel, urgent message from the
Pentagon.
151 INT. CLEAN ROOM 151
On the walkies: "China is standing down!!!"
Halpern, hearing the news, lowers his weapon.
IAN
What did you do?
LOUISE
I repeated what hiswife told him
before she passed away --
IAN
How did you know that?
114.
LOUISE
He told me.
(ALT)
He will tell me.
152 INT. SKYPE ROOM 152
Weber and Halpern enter into the Skype room followed by
Louise and Ian.
One of the monitors at another nation's site comes to life.
CHINA. On screen is GENERAL SHANG. He looks shaken to his
core. In articulate English, he announces.
GENERAL SHANG
China is standing down. Instead, we
offer the information we received
at our site -- the "gift."
(beat)
It is one of twelve.
A second monitor awakens.
BRITISH SCIENTIST
We won't be upstaged by you blokes.
Uploading our data.
Then a third monitor returns to life. Australia.
Everyone in the room starts to breathe again.
153 EXT. BASE CAMP - MOMENTS LATER 153
Louise steps out with Ian close behind.
IAN
(amazed yet scared)
Are you all right?
Louise is simply overcome by the emotion of what she just
experienced. She looks at Ian in an entirely new way. It's
a moment where she wants to tell him everything, and
doesn't know where to start.
And there's a tsunami of joy, sorrow, pain, and hope
hitting her as she realizes where she is again.
Finally, she nods at Ian, wiping her face. Tenderly:
LOUISE
115.
Ian -- If you could suddenly see
your whole life, start to finish --
Would you change things?
IAN
I don't say what I mean enough. And
I'm changing that right now.
Ian is just as tender with her.
IAN
I've been tilting my head to the
stars for as long as I can
remember, and you know what's
surprised me the most? It's not
meeting them. It's meeting you.
That's all it takes for Louise. She puts her arms around
Ian, and kisses him on the mouth.
As the kiss intensifies, that high pitch returns. And when
Ian shifts from a kiss to a tight hug, when Louise hugs
back --
154 INT. HANNAH'S ROOM - NIGHT - FLASHBACK 154
Louise hugs Hannah (age 4, tucked in bed) goodnight. Louise
goes to click off the light by Hannah's bed.
HANNAH
Mommy?
LOUISE
Yes, little-nose?
HANNAH
Why is my name Hannah?
LOUISE
Don't you like it?
HANNAH
I don't know yet. Where did it come
from?
LOUISE
Oh, so this is another episode of
your series, "Why is it this way?"
HANNAH
You make me curious about
everything.
116.
Louise smiles sweetly at her daughter. She then gestures at
a wooden NAME PLAQUE spelling out HANNAH on the wall.
LOUISE
Your name is special. It's a
palindrome. That means you can read
it both forwards and backwards, and
it's still the same.
Hannah gets it right away.
HANNAH
I've decided. I like my name.
LOUISE
I love you, Hannah.
Hannah smiles at her mother.
IAN (O.S.)
Well, I love you both.
Louise looks back at --
IAN, standing in the doorway. Smiling.
Ian is Louise's husband. And Hannah's father.
HANNAH (O.S.)
Daddy!
Ian steps in and scoops Hannah and Louise into a bear hug.
A rush of noise again, and --
155 EXT. BASE CAMP - BACK TO SCENE 155
Louise is still hugging Ian. Her face half-buried in his
shoulder, she says quietly:
LOUISE
I forgot how good it feels to be
held by you.
156 EXT. LAKE - DAY 156
A black sedan pulls up to the driveway of Louise's house.
157 INT. BLACK SEDAN 157
117.
Louise and Weber both sit in the back seat. It feels like *
they've been riding in silence for some time.
WEBER
I'm not going to pretend to
understand what you did up there.
LOUISE
I'm not going to try to explain it.
WEBER
I took a lot of risk when I chose
you. But it was clearly the best
decision I've ever made.
LOUISE
Thank you for believing in me.
WEBER
Goodbye Louise.
LOUISE
Goodbye.
Louise steps out and walks towards the house.
LOUISE (V.O.)
So that is your story, dear Hannah.
158 INT. LAKE HOUSE - DAY 158
Louise stands in the empty room that we know is Hannah's.
159 INT. LAKE HOUSE - DAY - FLASHBACK 159
QUICK POP: The artwork of Hannah's, with the stick figures.
160 INT. UNIVERSITY CLASSROOM - DAY - FLASH FORWARD 160
QUICK POP: Louise teaching a group about logograms. On her
right hand is a sparkly ENGAGEMENT RING.
LOUISE (V.O.)
It's also the ongoing story of our
people. I can see moments as we
prepare for the future. Ian was
right: It's about choice.
161 INT. LOUISE'S FOYER - EVENING 161
118.
The front door opens: It's IAN. Dressed up as nicely as he
can be. Bottle of wine in hand.
Louise is dressed beautifully. With a new haircut: short.
Just like the flashbacks.
IAN
Wow. You look amazing.
(re: hair)
The change fits you well.
162 INT. LAKE HOUSE - NIGHT 162
Louise steps in, carrying her wine glass.
LOUISE (V.O.)
I'm about to make a choice, too.
One that I will have to live with
forever.
This is the same scene as the first. Shot for shot.
She finds the message written on glass: "Do you want to
make a baby?"
Beat. The twinkle in her eye, the thoughtful moment. It all
breathes here.
LOUISE (V.O.)
In some ways this choice saves the
world, but I'm not thinking about
that, Hannah. I never am.
FINAL SERIES OF SHOTS:
163 INT. LAKE HOUSE - HANNAH'S ROOM - DAY - FLASHBACK 163
Louise cradles NEWBORN HANNAH in her arms. Hannah crooks
her tiny hand around Louise's finger.
164 EXT. LAKE HOUSE - DAY - FLASHBACK 164
Four-year-old HANNAH dressed as a cowgirl.
HANNAH
Stick 'em up!
119.
165 INT. LAKE HOUSE - DAY - FLASHBACK 165
Hannah, age 12, getting grounded:
HANNAH
When do I get to live my own life?
166 INT. MERCY HILL GENERAL HOSPITAL - DAY - FLASHBACK 166
Louise standing with DR. J. BYDWELL in a hospital hall.
She's hiding her face in her hands. Bydwell reaches out and
puts a consoling hand on her shoulder. Her body shifts from
a sob.
167 INT. HOSPITAL - PATIENT ROOM - NIGHT - FLASHBACK 167
Hannah, on her death bed in the hospital. Holding Louise's
hand. The two clinging to each other.
LOUISE (V.O.)
I'm just thinking about you.
168 EXT. LAKE HOUSE BALCONY - NIGHT 168
Louise touches the glass where the question is written "Do
you want to make a baby?"
IAN steps into view, with a wine glass in his hand, too.
IAN
Well? Do you?
She smiles broadly at him and replies:
LOUISE
Yes.
And now we stay here a moment longer than the opening
scene, and see that while Louise is smiling, a tear slips
down her cheek. She is both the happiest and the saddest
right now. Because she knows what happens next.
FADE TO BLACK.
THE END