One-Line Synopsis
Through his father’s absence, an imaginative boy attempts to prove to his disbelieving mother that the monster beneath his bed is real.
Full Synopsis
Like a bolt of lightning, 8-year-old Max’s eye-lids flick open followed by a quick, but deep, intake of breath. He scans his eerily dark bedroom, making out objects lit from the dim moonlight. Max clutches onto a pair of metallic dog tags. A branch from the leafless oak tree scratches the window pane. A wide-eyed Max jumps out of his bed and races out of the room.
A middle-aged woman, LORAINE, props her head up from her pillow. She notices Max hurriedly crawling in her bed. Frustrated, she urges her son to return to his bed. Max shakes his head.
After carrying Max into his room, Loraine goes through her nightly routine – opens the closet, checks under the bed, and puts a flashlight on the nightstand. After Max asks about his father, Loraine remains silent and simply tucks him in – snug as a bug.
The next morning Loraine wakes up to her son tucked in a sleeping near her nightstand.
Dressed for the day, Loraine hovers above a laptop diligently typing on her keyboard. Nearby, Max is pushed against the windowsill, coloring half-heartily on a yellow notepad. He glances out the window at several boys playing in the street. Loraine notices.
Loraine suggests going out to play. Max remains silent, brushing his fingertips across the metallic dog tags. Loraine questions his behavior at school, but Max remains distracted. After a brief silence, Loraine tells Max a story about a boy who rises above his childhood fear and takes matters into his own hands. Max takes a breath, rises from the ground, and exits the room. After a moment, Loraine turns the pad over revealing a larger-than-life crayon-drawn monster.
Through a heightened montage, Max prepares an array of homemade boobie traps – several mousetraps, a hanging laundry basket, a pitcher of water, etc. On his nightstand, we notice a framed picture of a much younger Max, Loraine, and a man in a military uniform – his father. Loraine unobtrusively observes from a distance; slightly worried.
The sun has fallen, the window shades have been closed shut, and Loraine finishes cleaning the kitchen. It’s finally time for bed.
Loraine tucks Max in his comforter and promises him everything will be alright. After she leaves, the noises begin and the shadows reveal themselves. Something’s in his room! He contemplates making a run for it, but instead takes matters into his own hands. He detonates the traps, angering whatever’s in his room, then eventually catches something under the laundry basket. He jumps from his bed, causing his dog tags to detach from his neck, then bolts out of his bedroom.
Max pulls his mother inside his bedroom. Frustrated, she assures him there’s no monster and raises the basket revealing… the dog tags. Recognition brushes across Loraine’s face. She picks Max up and places him on the bed. All her frustration subsides and she decides to have a talk with the monster.
Deciding to enter her son’s “world”, she asks the monster to leave – threatening to force him out if he disobeys. Max is finally relieved that his mother believes him. Loraine approaches her son, kneels in front of him, and brushes Max’s bangs away from his eyes. She kisses him on the forehead, puts the dog tags around his neck, and tucks him in. They’re finally on the same page.
As she pulls herself to her feet and walks towards the door, something proves to the disbelieving Loraine that a child may know more than you think. Fade to Black.
