Insidious chapter 1 EPISODE: 1

The universe is deathless;

Is deathless because, having no finite self,

it stays infinite.

A sound man by not advancing himself stays the further ahead

of himself,

By not confining himself to himself,

sustains himself outside himself. FADE IN

INT. DARKENED BEDROOM - NIGHT

A spherical black monolith rises up from a white surface...

white like the moon.

In the darkness, the towers metal skin is barely visible.

We ROTATE AROUND, revealing the tower to actually be a LAMP --

not rising up from a surface, but hanging down from a white

ceiling. The bulb unlit.

Directly below the lamp is the very definition of innocence -

a sleeping child. Chest rising and falling with each breath.

We HOVER over the young boy...watching him. A blanket

emblazoned with dinosaurs is draped across his limbs. His

mouth is slack, eyelids twitching to dreams unseen.

The truly deep sleep that an adult can only wish for.

We move away from him, exploring the dark room. Strewn with

toys. The door is slightly ajar. We float through it into--

INT. CORRIDOR - CONTINUOUS

--a long hallway. Even darker than the bedroom. And without

the boys rhythmic breathing, even quieter.

A window at the end of the hall enlarges as we approach.

Someone is standing in front of it.

The murky silhouette of the figure turns and walks away. We

follow it, tentative. Turning a corner, we see the figure.

Standing in a doorway.

Now we can make out the edges of the person. It is an old

woman. Hair in a Victorian bun. A corseted dress.

She stares at us.

WOMAN

Let me in.

CUT TO:

OPENING TITLES play out to the shrill screams of George

Crumb's 'Black Angels I: Night Of The Electric Insects'. INT. BEDROOM - NIGHT

Eyes flick open.

A woman blinks awake, gazing around the room. Another

bedroom. Sparse. Just a bed and a cabinet. It is 5.43 AM.

Her eyes settle on the man lying next to her in the dark. His

heaving snores have woken her up.

She is RENAI (pronounced Renee) LAMBERT (36). With a quiet

determination she is holding on to her youthful good looks,

but the lines of age are creeping in.

She has settled into the 'comfort' years of a marriage: hair

pinned up messily, wearing dowdy pajamas.

She beholds her husband, taking him in. Considering him. He

snorts and smacks his lips. Very unflattering.

She climbs out of bed.

INT. LIVING ROOM, LAMBERT HOME - NIGHT

High ceilings. Exposed beams. Spanish style windows.

Renai treads across wooden floorboards into a sunken living

room. No matter careful she is, there is a loud creak with

each step. A GRANDFATHER CLOCK in the corner ticks steadily.

There is barely any furniture in here, only a BOOKCASE and a

PIANO. What there is a lot of...is boxes. Large moving boxes.

Renai plops cross-legged onto the floor and rips open one of

the boxes, marked BOOKS. She plucks out a handful of books

and lines them up on the bookshelf. Then another handful.

They are all self-help and self-improvement books. Titles

like 'Be The Better You' and 'Inch By Inch, It's A Cinch: A

Guide To Achieving Your Goals' pop out.

She spots a sealed box labelled PHOTO ALBUMS. She strips away

the tape and wrestles out a dusty album of wedding photos.

Smiling faces greet her as she thumbs through the pages. The

happy couple. Young. Glowing. Sadness washes over her.

VOICE (O.S.)

Mom?

She snaps out of it and turns to see DALTON LAMBERT (8). Her

son. He approaches her, rubbing his eyes. (It is not the boy

we saw in the opening scene.) RENAI

What are you doing up, kiddo?

DALTON

I don't like my room.

RENAI

You'll get used to it. It's only

your first night.

He climbs into her lap. She bites on his ear playfully.

RENAI (CONT'D)

Argh, I'm going to eat you.

DALTON

What are you looking at?

RENAI

Just some photos.

DALTON

What photos?

She hefts another album from the box, prying it open. A photo

of a grinning young girl greets them, hair in pigtails.

RENAI

Do you know who that is?

DALTON

No.

RENAI

That's me.

DALTON

It doesn't look like you.

RENAI

I know. I'm so happy there. But

it's me. When I was your age. I was

a kid once too, you know.

DALTON

No, you weren't.

Renai bursts out laughing. She is famous for her big laugh.

RENAI

Thanks. Maybe you're right...I don't

remember being this person at all.

I hope she smiled like that all the

time, whoever she was. She sizes up her son. The living embodiment of the photo.

RENAI (CONT'D)

This is a terrible thing to admit,

Dalton, but sometimes I get jealous of

you. That you're so young. That you

haven't made any of your decisions yet.

DALTON

I don't wanna grow old.

RENAI

Well, it starts happening to us

from the moment we're born.

She points to the hands on the grandfather clock.

RENAI (CONT'D)

Every time that clock ticks, we all

get a little bit older.

She turns the page in the photo album, seeing an old man.

RENAI (CONT'D)

That's your grandpa. You wouldn't

remember him.

DALTON

He smells like smoke.

RENAI

Yeah...good memory. He did smoke

that god awful pipe, didn't he?

DALTON

Show me a picture of dad when he

was a little kid.

RENAI

I don't even know if we have any.

He's hopeless with keeping photos.

DALTON

Show me a picture of me when I was

a little kid.

RENAI

Your pictures are all in the computer.

Nobody keeps photo albums like this

anymore, they're ancient relics. They

should. I like being able to touch

something, instead of it floating

around in cyber world. If the laptop

breaks, your whole existence is erased. DALTON

What was I like when I was a little kid?

RENAI

You are a little kid.

She kisses him on the forehead and stares into his eyes.

RENAI (CONT'D)

If only you knew what I know.

We hear a baby crying off screen.

RENAI (CONT'D)

You certainly didn't cry as much as

your little sister does. Come on.

INT. KITCHEN, LAMBERT HOME - MORNING

Chaos.

Boxes of dinnerware have not been unpacked yet and it is

turning the usual morning routine into a nightmare.

Renai is on the phone as her kids buzz around a kitchen island

at top speed, creating a high-energy, manic pace in the room.

RENAI

(into phone)

Billing department.

Her son FOSTER (6), tugs on her leg, holding a box of cereal.

FOSTER

I need a bowl, mom.

Renai rips open a box, rifling through newspaper, phone

wedged against her shoulder. She holds out a cup, flustered.

RENAI

Billing department.

FOSTER

It's too small.

RENAI

Make it work.

(into phone)

Speak to an agent. Speak to an

agent. Speak to an agent.

Foster slumps on the floor, pouring cereal and overflowing milk

into the cup. A baby girl in a high chair, CALI (2), squeals. INT. BATHROOM, LAMBERT HOME - MORNING

JOSH LAMBERT (37) gapes into the mirror, face covered in

soap.

He washes it off. Now he's awake we see that he is a handsome,

clean-cut guy - a former high school nerd who got revenge by

growing into his body.

He sorts through a box labelled JOSH'S BATHROOM STUFF.

He takes out two bottles - TONER and MOISTURIZER. He dabs the

toner on, then smooths the moisturizer into his forehead and

around his eyes.

He suddenly notices a grey hair. Looks mortified.

JOSH

(Michael Corleone voice)

Every time I think I've pulled you

out...you grow back in.

He plucks it out, wincing melodramatically.

JOSH (CONT'D)

Ouch!

INT. KITCHEN, LAMBERT HOME - MORNING

Josh strides in, tie hanging open around his neck. Renai is

still on the phone. Josh points to his tie.

RENAI

Well, I'd like to keep the old

number if I could.

(to Josh)

You really need to learn how to do

this, honey.

She threads the tie into a knot for him.

JOSH

(to Foster)

Don't eat on the floor, buddy.

Foster stays where he is, slurping cereal from the cup.

Dalton is playing a handheld videogame. Intensely focused.

RENAI

(into phone)

Okay, well, please let me know by

the end of today, I have to give

the number out. Thank you. She hangs up, pissed.

RENAI (CONT'D)

Foster, get up. Now.

Foster frowns and obeys.

JOSH

(to Renai)

How come you were up so early? Was

Cali crying?

RENAI

You woke me up.

JOSH

What do you mean?

RENAI

You were snoring.

JOSH

No I wasn't.

RENAI

Yes you were.

JOSH

I don't snore.

RENAI

Yes you do.

JOSH

My father snored. I do not snore.

RENAI

How would you know what you do?

You're asleep.

Renai marches out of the room. Dalton's game unit beeps

loudly and he pumps his fist.

DALTON

Yes! I made it to the last level!

Invisiworld!

Ever amiable, Josh high five's his son.

JOSH

Good one, champ.

(beat)

I don't snore, do I? INT. LIVING ROOM, LAMBERT HOME - CONTINUOUS

Renai sees that all the books she unpacked earlier are now

scattered across the floor of the living room.

RENAI

Where are my bleeping pills?

INT. KITCHEN, LAMBERT HOME - CONTINUOUS

Renai charges in. Josh snatches an apple out of a fruit bowl,

biting into it. He quickly gags and spits it out into the sink.

JOSH

What the heck is this? Wax?!

RENAI

Yes.

JOSH

Let me get this straight - we have

no actual fruit but we have wax

fruit?

RENAI

Yes.

JOSH

That is dangerous. It could kill

one of our kids.

RENAI

Where are my pills, Josh?

JOSH

Probably where you left them,

Renai.

She finds them on the counter, snatching them up.

JOSH (CONT'D)

See.

RENAI

That's not where I left them.

DALTON

Mom, I need my lunch.

RENAI

Oh, geez. Look, just...take last

night's dinner.....