Treatment – ‘Corrupted’
Everyone knows a kind, and friendly neighbour. To us they seem to lead a relatively normal life; their routine consists of mowing the lawn, taking the dog for a walk and vegging out in front of the TV. Following the story of a 32 year old man, ‘Corrupted’ is a thriller filled with suspense and excitement, which reveals the ugly truth of an unassuming bipolar-sufferer.
A car pulls up in a driveway on a street which seems full of life as a man steps out with a smile on his face. A tall man around 6 ft walks up the path wearing; light blue jeans, a white short sleeved shirt and a black blazer with a black satchel over his shoulder. Showing the immaculate place he lives in where everything has a place, it seems like the man has a normal life just like everybody else on the street and in the world.
A simple everyday mistake made by the man, knocking over a cup of tea has set off a bad mood, he begins to switch as he starts to build with rage and anger by shouting and throwing the cup against the white polished wall causing it to smash all over. A sound of a thud from outside catches the man’s attention. In his rage he goes outside to find a little boy, Tommy Rider from across the road, fetching his ball off the grass and apologising for hitting the man’s car.
The man goes back into the house furious and pulls out a small note book which in a distance seems to be a diary, as he starts to plot against the small boy. A brief looking over the shoulder, looking on to the page where he seems to be writing, reveals slight sketches and brief notes which are not clear to the audience. As days go by the man’s mood has changed, so it seems. He begins to act slightly normal till he see the little boy on his own and pumps up Tommy’s ball. Drugging the Tommy Rider’s drink, he waits till night fall and puts him in his car and drives off. Arriving at a dark, abandoned house deep in the forest. He pulls up and takes Tommy inside. Giving him a change of clothing to change into he sends him on his way upstairs. As Tommy goes upstairs, the man goes into the kitchen and pulls out an apron from the drawer under the toaster. He then goes to lock all the doors and windows leading to outside.
Pulling out a cloth from the cupboard, the man takes Tommy down to the cellar where lay a dirty old mattress and an old wooden chair with restraints on the arms and legs. He encourages the boy to sit in the chair and straps him in. He bangs the cloth on the table and reveals several tools such as knives, hammers, saws, screw drivers, thin wire and pliers. Each individual tool had dark, crusty blood stains on. He begins to slowly torture Tommy, until his depressive episode passes and he realises what he is doing. Running to phone the police and an ambulance to come and get him. He then gets rope and goes to a tree and hangs himself.
By Charlotte Bracken
