Thirty-Seven Dollars
A street robber finds his past catching up to him when his intended target refuses to cooperate.
Poorly lit back-alleys are the kind of place best avoided in broad daylight—let alone after dark. But such is the place we meet respectable fifty-something Jessica—down among the overflowing garbage cans and human detritus on the wrong side of town.
Soon enough, her presence attracts Donnie, a hardened street-rat with a habit to feed and a gun his only means of support.
But Jessica isn’t like the other marks. She has some questions of her would-be robber; the kind of questions that make a thug like Donnie wonder what would bring a woman like Jessica to a place like this:
The questions make Donnie uncomfortable.
He looks around the alley, suspicious.
JESSICA
Is it a burden? Does it haunt you,
the lives you’ve taken?
DONNIE
Fuck them! Why try and fight a man
with a gun for thirty-seven dollars?
That’s crazy! Far as I’m concerned,
that’s a self-inflicted wound.
May as well be suicide.
Jessica smiles sadly:
JESSICA
Thirty-seven dollars. ...
You value your life so little?
DONNIE
Hey, I value my life plenty. Not my
fault if some wise-ass carries on
like they carrying the Crown Jewels
on them. How am I to know they ain’t
being rational?
(raises gun to her head)
Particularly when they have a nine
millimetre pointed at their head.
Jessica looks down at the handbag, stroking it:
JESSICA
Some people are emotional.
They cling to things. Things other
people see as worthless.
She looks up, tears in her eyes, but unflinching.
Donnie has had enough:
DONNIE
Christ! Just drop it and walk away.
JESSICA
I’m sorry, I can’t do that. I wish
I could. But there’s quite a bit more
than thirty-seven dollars in here.
And with that they reach an impasse: one ruthless hood and his would-be victim who refuses to be cowed—no matter what the cost.
Only one question remains: who will leave this alley alive?
Robert Bruinewoud’s Thirty-Seven Dollars is a short script with a brutal twist that stays with you long after as you sift through the clues for answers. With just three characters, a single location, and some minor visual effects this would make a great project for amateur and experienced filmmakers looking to hone their craft with a micro-budget short built around a single dramatic scene.