OVER THE KNEE

BLACK SCREEN JULIE (V.O.) The first spanking I ever received was on the day I was born… CUT TO A DOCTOR holding BABY JULIE. He slaps her bare bum. BABY JULIE Thank you, sir, may I have another? The doctor’s eyes grow wide. FREEZE JULIE (V.O.) Ironically it was that slap on the bottom that put air in my lungs and gave me life. CUT TO ADULT JULIE sitting in a college classroom, absently scribbling on a piece of paper. She’s blond and quietly pretty. An affable girl-next-door type. JULIE (V.O.) Now I slog through the days like a zombie in a bad B movie, only sometimes I feel that craving human brains would be more socially acceptable than what I’m really after. Her boyfriend, ZACK, taps her on the shoulder. ZACK Birthday party for Melissa tonight at her place. 7:00. JULIE Cool. She turns her attention back to the front of the room and that vacant gaze returns. JULIE (V.O.) Truthfully, all I want is a re-birth, the start of a new life. But first… I need that slap on the bottom. INT. SUBURBAN HOME - NIGHT A raucous birthday party consisting mostly of college students. Everyone’s having fun and giving gifts to the birthday girl, MELISSA. Lots of beer and loud music. Julie and Zack are hanging out with friends in the corner. ZACK (to Julie) Can you grab us another beer? JULIE Sure. She heads for the refrigerator just in time to see Melissa’s BOYFRIEND grab her by the arm and pull her across his lap. Melissa grins from ear to ear. MELISSA’S BOYFRIEND What would a party be without the time-honored tradition of spanking the birthday girl? Julie stops and watches, almost in a trance, as he raises his hand and SMACKS it across her butt over and over, while the partygoers laugh, whistle, and keep count. Julie turns to look at Zack, a slight smirk on her face. He looks back at her as she quickly returns to him. JULIE Forget the beer. Let’s go upstairs. ZACK Yeah? JULIE Yeah. ZACK (grinning) All right. INT. UPSTAIRS BEDROOM Julie and Zack stumble to the bed, making out the whole way. Julie kicks off her shoes, pushes Zack backward onto the bed, and straddles him, kissing his lips, cheek, and neck. After a deep, long kiss she smiles down at him. JULIE Sit up. They both sit up, Zack a little disappointed since he was just starting to get into it. JULIE I want you to do something. ZACK What? In answer, Julie slowly lies down on her stomach across his lap. He looks down at her, dumbfounded. JULIE Spank me. ZACK What? JULIE Spank me. ZACK Are you serious? You want me to hit you? JULIE No, I don’t want you to hit me; I want you to spank me. (she slaps her behind with her hand) Like that. Only harder. A beat as Zack tries to comprehend this….and fails. ZACK Why? JULIE Because I like it. ZACK (beat) Why? JULIE Because I just do! So come on, more spankin’, less talkin’. ZACK I’m not going to hit you! Julie sighs and shakes her head. Obviously the brain on this one is not yet fully developed. JULIE You’re not hitting me. It’s not the same thing. ZACK Yes, it is! Spanking is hitting, Julie! I know, because my parents spanked me when I was a kid…. JULIE Lucky you! ZACK ….and it scarred me for life! JULIE It scarred you for life? Get real! ZACK I’m serious! It’s cruel and abusive! I’m not gonna hit you! JULIE Will you stop getting so hung up on the hitting thing! Can’t you just accept that I want to be spanked and friggin’ spank me already? (beat) Besides, Melissa didn’t think it was cruel and abusive. ZACK Well, that’s different! JULIE How is it different?! ZACK It’s her birthday! JULIE So pretend it’s my birthday!! ZACK No! He lifts her off his lap and plants her on her feet. He holds her hands and looks her in the eyes. ZACK (firmly) No. I’m not going to hit you. Julie rolls her eyes and pulls her hands away. JULIE Fine. She slips her shoes back on and heads for the door. ZACK Wait a minute, where are you going? She stops and looks back. JULIE I guess to find a man who knows how to treat a woman right. She slams the door behind her. Zack just stares after her, still clueless. ZACK What the hell are you talking about?! CUT TO BLACK TITLE: OVER THE KNEE INT. GROCERY STORE - DAY Julie is working one of the cash registers, a long line of customers waiting. She’s bored, going through the motions, and just happens to glance up at the handsome BAG BOY standing at the end of the other lane. She stares at him, her work suddenly forgotten. The bag boy sees her staring and motions for her to keep working, but she gives him a look like she doesn’t understand. Finally he shakes his head, swiftly approaches her, and takes her by the arm. BAG BOY Come here. JULIE Where are we going? BAG BOY You’re gonna daydream on the job, you’re gonna suffer the consequences. INT. THE OFFICE He pulls her in behind him and locks the door. He sits in an armless chair and bends her over his knee. BAG BOY This is gonna hurt you a lot more than it does me. He raises his open hand, starts to bring it down -- WOMAN’S VOICE Excuse me?! Julie snaps out of her daydream and looks at the ANGRY WOMAN in front of her. ANGRY CUSTOMER Is this gonna take all day?! Julie looks around as if she just woke up in a strange place. She’s standing behind the register, holding a head of lettuce in one hand, a long line of customers glaring at her. The manager is standing nearby, hands on his hips, giving her a dirty look. JULIE Um…I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. She scans the head of lettuce. ANGRY CUSTOMER You already scanned that once! I’m not paying for it twice! JULIE Shit, sorry! The woman gasps at her profanity. ANGRY CUSTOMER My Heavens! Julie tries to clear the lettuce from the register, but nervously hits the wrong button and the drawer opens. The angry customer grumbles under her breath. JULIE Sorry. She briefly glances over at the bag boy. He shakes his head. BAG BOY Freak. INT. SUBURBAN HOME - EVENING Julie is sitting at the dinner table with her MOTHER and FATHER and LITTLE BROTHER, who are speaking incoherently to each other at a hundred miles an hour - Dad recounting his day at work, Mom telling the gripping tale of her hair appointment, Little Brother using his spoon to catapult peas off Dad’s head - yet none of them are even acknowledging the fact that the others are speaking. Julie glumly pushes her food around on her plate, watching them. There’s so much conversation going on between the three of them that we can’t even make out one word of it. JULIE I quit my job today. They keep chattering, paying no attention to her. JULIE (obviously lying) I quit school too. I really don’t think I need either one considering how much money I can make as a stripper. I think that’s more suited to my particular talents anyway. (beat) Oh, and I may be pregnant. I don’t know for sure, but by now I should be! They’re still babbling. They haven’t paid attention to a single word she said. She stares at them for a long moment, then lets loose a loud, piercing SCREAM. They all fall silent and gape at her. She bolts from the table and runs upstairs. They stare after her for a few seconds and then resume their rapid-fire conversation, Little Brother still bouncing peas off of Dad’s head. CUT TO BLACK JULIE (V.O.) My parents were no more interested in being parents than they were in being together. No discipline, no rewards, no structure, no nothing. Is that why I am the way I am now? We’re told that desires like these are borne out of childhood experience but I’m not so sure. What about lack of experience? INT. JULIE’S ROOM – LATER - NIGHT She’s lying on her stomach on the bed in a nightgown, reading a book while the TV drones in the background. McLintock is on. PATRICK WAYNE What you need is a good spanking! CLOSE on Julie as her eyes travel from the book to the TV. PATRICK WAYNE And I think I’ll give you what you deserve! STEFANIE POWERS You wouldn’t dare! PATRICK WAYNE Oh, wouldn’t I? Julie watches intently as he puts her over his knees and paddles her with a coal shovel, then her eyes move from the TV to the hairbrush lying on the dresser. CUT TO Julie pacing the room, turning the hairbrush over and over in her hands, feeling the weight and thickness of it. She smiles slightly. CUT TO Julie bending over the back of a chair at her dresser. She places the hard side of the hairbrush flat against her bottom, pauses for a moment, then takes a deep breath, starts to raise the brush -- -- and is stopped by loud POUNDING on her wall. She looks momentarily confused…and annoyed to be interrupted. INT. LITTLE BROTHER’S BEDROOM He’s lying on his back on the bed, reading a comic book and kicking his feet on the wall as hard as he can. INT. JULIE’S ROOM Angrily, she goes to the wall and starts pounding back. INT. LITTLE BROTHER’S ROOM He kicks harder, trying to drown her out. INT. JULIE’S ROOM Surrounded by the incessant pounding, she groans in frustration and holds a pillow over her head. That doesn’t work, so she puts on her headphones and turns the music up as loud as she can. The loud pounding now blessedly silenced, she collapses onto the bed and turns off the light. HOLD ON DARK SCREEN, then -- -- we hear a loud CRASH. CUT TO TEN-YEAR-OLD JULIE in the living room with a baseball bat amidst the shattered ruins of an expensive lamp. MAN'S VOICE Julie! She looks up. A MAN is standing over her with his arms folded. It's not so much her father as it is a representation of a father figure. MAN How many times have I told you not to play with that bat in the house? BACK TO JULIE. She's FULLY GROWN now, but with the demeanor of a little girl. JULIE I don't know. Never? MAN Nev-- Julie! A million times! You remember I told you what the consequences would be? (he sits) Come here and turn over. Julie dutifully starts to obey. MAN And get those pants down! She freezes and swallows hard. JULIE Bare bottom? Just then the BLARE OF AN ALARM CLOCK startles Julie awake. Unable to believe that morning has come so soon, she shuts off the clock and looks at it: 8 A.M. She’s going to be late for school. JULIE Damn it! She jumps out of bed. CUT TO Julie in the shower, scrubbing her hair. CUT TO Julie in front of a mirror, struggling to untangle the knots. CUT TO Julie digging in her closet and dresser, looking for school clothes. CUT TO Quick, modest shots of Julie pulling on a pair of jeans and putting on a white shirt. She grabs her backpack. CUT TO Julie coming out of her bedroom and getting hit square in the chest by a splatter of spaghetti sauce. JULIE What the hell?! Little Brother laughs wickedly and takes off for his bedroom. JULIE You little creep! Julie runs to the top of the stairs and sees her mother in the kitchen talking on the phone with her girl friend and chattering at a hundred miles an hour. JULIE Mom, look what that little brat did to me! Paying no attention, Mom laughs very loudly and obnoxiously into the phone. JULIE Mom! Mom is still chattering. Julie groans in frustration, runs back to her room, and changes the shirt. INT. LITTLE BROTHER’S BEDROOM Julie sneaks in behind him, grabs him, and throws him in the closet. She puts a chair under the knob to hold it shut. Little Brother pounds angrily on the door. LITTLE BROTHER Hey, what are you doing?! Let me out of here! JULIE Maybe that’ll teach you a lesson! DOWNSTAIRS Julie’s mother is still on the phone, chattering away. Julie hurries down and starts out the door. JULIE Bye, Mom. Her mother keeps jabbering, ignoring her. JULIE Mom? Her mother laughs obnoxiously again. JULIE Love you, too. She sadly walks out the door.