Say It Again: A Treatment

"Flashback of Clara's entire life in roughly one minute. Smiling as a child. Sledding on a snowy hill. Her parents' execution by a Russian gang. An idyllic college campus. Playing school soccer. Her teammates' execution by a Russian gang. Moving to New York. Going to a party. Everyone at the party being killed by a Russian gang. Training at Langley. Then back to present day."

"Establishing shot of London. A TITLE: London. England. Where M.I.6 is located. The "M.I." stands for "Military Intelligence." It's where spies work. And where Clara is going to find a double agent. Look. There she is now. You remember her. Clara walks into M.I.6, but, as she does so, she turns to camera and mouths, "I'm Clara the spy." She also smiles and does a raised-eyebrow thing, like, "Can you believe this shit?""

"MARTIN: Chanel No. 5. CLARA: No, it's Clara. MARTIN: I meant your perfume. You smell like my nana. CLARA: Oh. Thank you. MARTIN: So. You took the train from Paris. MARTIN: And your parents were murdered by a Russian gang. CLARA: Yes, they were. MARTIN: O.K. then. Well. I'd like to give you the chance to go after them. But know that it's dangerous. And it might lead to surprising discoveries."

Clara's life is shown in rapid flashbacks: childhood sledding, college, relocations, and multiple massacres by a Russian gang that killed her parents, teammates, and partygoers. She trained at Langley and travels to London to track a Russian double agent at M.I.6. In London she enters M.I.6, breaks the fourth wall by mouthing "I'm Clara the spy," and meets Martin, a handsome man who secretly is the double agent. Martin banters about perfume, confirms her trauma, and hands her an address for a Russian safe house, warning of danger and surprising discoveries. Clara notes a prior sexual encounter with Martin.

Read at The New Yorker