English
We open in a classroom. The students have just received back an exam. We see that Spencer has failed his exam. The teacher has left him a note to stay behind and see her after class.
The Bell rings.
He approaches his attractive English teacher Mrs Donnick. She explains to Spencer that if he does not improve he will fail this subject. Spencer is mystified, he thought he was doing well, and if he were to fail this course it would make it very hard for him to gain acceptance into his desired course at university.
Mrs Donnick explains that there are several ways for Spencer to pass this subject, as she runs her hand up his leg, Spencer shocked, confused and aroused, quickly leaves the room and heads for home.
Spencer and his family are sitting at the table having dinner. Spencer finds out that his parents are off to his school for a parent teacher night. He is nervous he doesn’t want his parents to know about him failing his English class. Graham, Spencer’s father is trying to communicate with his son, asking him about his day, any new girlfriends, joined any teams or clubs at school. Spencer gives tight-lipped one-word answers.
After dinner his parents leave and Spencer heads up to his room. With his parents gone, Spencer breaks out his bong and weed and smokes himself a cone and starts to fantasise about Mrs Donnick.
At breakfast his parents mention that he is not doing well in English, and would like to know why. Spencer replies, ‘I dunno, I thought I was doing alright.’
‘All right? You failed your last exam and just scraped by on your last assignment!’ His father says. Spencer does not offer a response quick enough to satisfy his father. His mother interjects and says that his teacher has quite kindly offered to tutor Spence personally. Spence refuses, he will pick his grades up on his own, he doesn’t need any help. His parents make it clear that he is to be tutored and that this is the end of the discussion, he has no choice.
Spence starts to be tutored; seduced by Mrs Donnick, ‘ Call me Carla, Spence,’ an affair begins. Spence starts to fall for Carla, as their trysts become more frequent and passionate. Knowing that she has gained the full trust of Spence she confides in him. Telling of her husband’s abusive ways, he beats her, makes her do things sexually that she doesn’t want to do; emotionally abuse is a daily occurrence along with the physical abuse. Spence becomes infuriated, he used to respect Mr Gibson he seemed to be a nice guy that actually cared for the well being of his students at Deakin High. Carla tells Spence about Mr Gibson’s life insurance policy. Spence is not convinced, starts to get rattled, ‘You want me to kill your husband?’
‘Yes,’ she whispers into his ear caressing him. Spence is frozen, he can barely think, let alone get dressed and run out the door.
Carla grabs a photo from a drawer next to the couch.
It is a photo of Mr Gibson and what Carla claims to be his mother having an affair. Spence is still not convinced, how can he be sure that it is even his mum? Carla produces more photos, now Spencer is definitely sure. It is his mum! That bitch! How could she do this to his dad? He instantly hates her. He stares at the pictures and turns to Carla, ‘When?’ Spencer puts a photo into his pocket.
Spencer is getting ready in front of the mirror. He has his balaclava on his head when Graham calls out to him and opens his door. Spencer frantically shoves the balaclava into his jacket pocket, forcing out the photo he took from Carla’s. He doesn’t notice. His dad wants to watch a game with him; Spencer can’t as he has study plans. Spence suggests a raincheck. Graham promises to hold him to it. Spencer flies past his dad.
A clock is seen on the wall as Spencer enters the house. Following the meticulous plan, Spencer is to make it look like a break and enter gone horribly wrong.
We cut to see Carla giving herself a rock solid alibi, nervously looking at her watch in the movie theatre.
Back at the house we see Spence take off on his bike.
Spence falls into his couch exhausted. He turns paranoid, grabbing the phone wanting to call Carla, thinking better of it; Spencer is almost dancing with the phone. Spencer packs himself a cone to calm down, stoned, he turns on the television, above he sees a picture of his family, and they look so happy. Spence grabs the photo and stares long and hard. He throws it in the bin.
Carla arrives home and sees the murder scene, just as they had planned. A tiny smile can be seen on her lips for an instant, as her eyes fill with tears as she starts to dial the police.
The headmaster of the local high school being murdered has created media frenzy. As the police begin their investigations, Carla is sticking to the plan, breaking off all contact with Spence. Spencer is getting desperate; he needs to speak to Carla about the investigation, he needs to tell her that he is madly in love with her.
Spencer sneaks out of the house and arrives at Carla’s place just as the police are leaving.
Spence dives into the garden but the police spots him, they ask him a few standard questions, but most importantly, what is he doing at his teacher’s house after dark?
Spence replies that he just wanted to see the house where murder took place. The police take his details and seem satisfied and send him on his way.
‘Carla do you know a boy named Spencer Hanson? Asks the officer.
‘I teach him English. Why?’
‘ Well another officer just caught him snooping around outside. Any idea as to why he would come over to your house?
‘I, I, don’t know. Curiosity maybe? You know teenage boys they are curious.’
‘Yes ma’am I do, I have two teenage boys myself. Thank you Mrs Donnick, we will be in touch.’
The police come to see Spencer’s parents. They tell the officer about the parent teacher night and Spencer being tutored in English privately by Mrs Donnick. Spencer over-hears his parents telling this to the police and panics.
He needs to see Carla.
Spencer knocks on the door Carla doesn’t answer. He knocks again, nothing. This time he bangs on the door! Carla finally opens the door and thrusts him inside.
‘What are you doing here?’ she demands.
‘I, I needed to…’
‘To what?’ Carla is impatient and agitated.
‘I love you! To tell you I love you,’
She laughs, ‘you don’t love me Spencer. I’m a crush, and I used you and you used me to live out your adolescent fantasies. ‘
Spencer is mystified, ‘But you said that…’
‘I know what I said!’
Spencer pleads his case. They both start to yell at one another. Carla slaps Spencer. Hard.
‘I told you not to come around here! Especially, especially once the police started to investigate. Now you’ve gone and fucked things up by turning up here the other night. Now they’re asking questions, you have got to stick to the plan Spencer…’
‘Fuck the plan!’
‘Get out! Stay away! I will contact you when it is time.” Carla thrusts Spencer back through the door.
As Spencer rides off down the street on his bike another car pulls up. Out of it steps Graham Hanson. He knocks on Carla’s door. She flings the door open infuriated, expecting Spencer. Graham asks if he can have a moment, Carla looks him up and down and invites him. They take a seat on the couch.
Graham asks if she has seen Spencer since the murder, she says she hasn’t. He also asks if she knows why the police would of come around to their house to ask them questions. Carla has no idea why. Graham tries to get a little more comfortable, on the couch. His hand feels something underneath. She offers Graham a drink of wine or scotch. He politely accepts. As Carla gets the drinks, Graham pulls out a photograph, it is a photograph of his wife and Don Gibson together. He pockets the photo. Carla tries to seduce Graham; he almost succumbs, but walks out just before anything serious takes place.
Carla is furious, we fade out as she picks up the phone and starts to dial.
The police have arrested Spencer. Carla has given him up. She claims that Spencer has been stalking her since their first tutoring session, which she had to cancel because of his behaviour. She thought he was harmless but had no idea that he would go through with his threat of killing her husband to be with her. Thought he was just a kid with a silly crush.
Down at the station the police question Spencer. He admits he was there. He claims that he was going to do it but just couldn’t go through with it. He provides details of how the house was when he left. The police go back to Carla’s house to find more clues based on what Spencer has told them.
The police find the photographs of Spencer’s mother and Mr Gibson, they only take one, and they do not want to let Carla know that they could be building a case against her. During their investigations they have also found out about the life insurance policy that Mr Gibson had in place before his death. This strengthens the case against both Carla and Spencer.
They take Carla to the station for questioning. She denies any knowledge of a deal with Spencer but does admit to knowing of the affair between his mother and her husband, but denies using this as a weapon against young Spencer.
Spencer tells the police that he wanted to kill Mr Gibson but he just couldn’t do it. He is upset, thinks he is gutless, he has shamed himself, his family, but most of all he has let down Carla.
The police release Spencer into his parent’s custody. They hold Carla pending more enquiries. She is dumbfounded, she thinks all evidence points to Spencer and that she is in the clear. Her mind races over the plan, trying to find faults anything that could lead to her downfall.
Back at home Graham tells Sophie that he wants a divorce. An ugly fight takes place; Spencer can hear the muffled screams through his walls.
Sophie says she is going to her mothers and storms out. Graham yells at her, tells her to never come back, calls her a dirty whore.
Graham makes a phone call as we fade out.
Carla is sitting in the interview room, waiting nervously. The Detective enters, and drops the murder weapon on the table. All colour drains from Carla’s face.
‘How do you explain that Mrs Donnick? How do you explain it being wrapped up and placed in the manhole in the ceiling? Very clever, you almost got away with it.’
‘But I, I, I was at the movies, I have my ticket stub, I mean people saw me there!’
‘Mrs Donnick, no one from the cinema’s has come forward to back up your story, and as for the stub you could of gone through a rubbish bin and found that.’
Carla’s world is crashing down, how could her plan of possibly failed?
The police release Spencer cleared of all charges.
Carla is sentenced to life in gaol.
Graham divorces Sophie; it hurts Sophie much more when Spencer tells her that he is going to live with his dad after what she did to the family.
Graham and Spencer are sitting at the table having a man-to-man chat over a beer.
‘ Don’t hate your mother Spence, I’m sure she had her reasons.’
‘I don’t hate her dad, I hate that we’re not a family anymore. I also hate to think that all this lead to murder. Mr Gibson didn’t deserve to die…’
‘Hey! Spence! Mr Gibson got what he deserved.’ Graham pulls out two photos and throws them on the table. Spencer recognises one of them as the picture he took. He has seen the other one before, but he left it at Carla’s.
Spencer stares at his dad, speechless.
‘Like I said Spence, he got what he deserved.’
The end credits roll, during which we see –
Graham picks up the photo from Spencer’s floor.
Graham follows Spencer to Carla’s house. He watches his son walk up to the door and chicken out, frantically jump on his bike and pedal towards home.
Graham shakes his head, looks at the photo and puts on some gloves.
Graham is taking pleasure in killing Mr Gibson, one painful thrust at time.
Graham wraps up the murder weapon and places it in the ceiling.
Graham makes an anonymous phone call to the police after the argument with Sophie.
The police find the murder weapon in the ceiling.
We cut back to the table; Graham finishes describing to Spence how he did it.
We finish on a close up of the two photos.
Spencer says, ‘He got what he deserved.’
Graham says, ‘Like father like son.’
We hear two bottles clink.
