PROJECT TITLE: Agaetys Byrjun
GENRES: Road movie, buddy movie, comedy, adventure, drama, romance
LOGLINE: When Alex, an insecure teenager, discovers he’s been adopted, he decides to take a
trip with friends to Iceland to meet his biological parents.
1. Opening Image (1): Wide shot on a lonely benighted house on a hill. Lights inside. A group of
young people heads towards it. We hear their voices despite the distance. ‘Come on, Alex! Open
it!’ A door cracks. Then the silence.
2. Theme Stated (5): The search for identity.
3. Set-up (1-10): Alex is a twenty-year-old boy, trying to find himself, living with his parents.
They have a troubled relationship. Alex doesn’t feel like he fits. He doesn’t open up to them,
and they don’t find the right way to make him happy. It’s quite the contrary: Alex’s behavior at
school gets him appointments with the school shrink. “You guys seem to plot for my
misfortunes.”
4. Catalyst (12): Alex learns he’s been adopted in Iceland and that his biological parents have
tried to make contact.
5. Debate (12-25): Alex has finally something to look onto. He prepares his trip and asks his
friends to come with him. Tom accepts instantly. Alex got to come up with the lie that Charlie is
into Elliott for him to join. He does the same with Charlie who accepts on the condition that her
cousin Chloé comes too. ‘The one with the blond hair?’ ‘Yeah why?’ ‘Nothing…’ At some point,
Alex doubts of the sense of his impulsive idea. How could his biological parents be better than
those who adopted him? How could he be a better son to them? Tom and Elliott talk him out of
it. They pack and leave.
6. Break into 2 (25): They land in Reykjavik and head to the location where his parents live.
Nobody here. He asks a neighbor who tells him he saw his parents leave about a week ago in
another village.
7. B Story (30): As they look for a place to stay for the night, Alex tries to get closer to Chloé.
8. Fun and Games (30-55): They find a boarding house run by the Baldursdottir family. They get
friendly with their son Lini who proposes to be their translator for the trip.
Alex is in a hurry to get to the point of their journey and would like to get going as soon as
possible, but the group talks him out of it, willing to enjoy their trip.
Lini takes them to beautiful locations and the mood is light. They get to see the natural geysers
and end up in a local bar. Under the influence of drinks, Chloé kisses Alex on the cheek. Elliott
tries to do the same to Charlie but she slaps him.
As they leave the bar, Lini comforts Elliott: ‘You’re one slap away of getting her.’ ‘What d’you
mean?’ ‘Some girls show their affection thru contact.’
They head to a hill and lean on the grass to admire the starry sky. Alex is to lean near Chloé but
Lini preempts him.
‘D’you have any picturesque horror stories in your bag?’ ‘Sure.’
Lini tells his story and as he reveals its ending, Elliott tries to scare Charlie who scare him even
more, and they start to affectionately struggle. Lini gets closer to Chloé and Alex walks away to
sit by the shore. Tom joins him and tries to worm his feeling out of him. ‘C’mon, talk to me, I’m
not here to judge you.’
9. Midpoint (55): The US parents phone Alex. They want him to come back and they’ll explain
everything calmly. The tension rises. Alex burns his bridges: he won’t come back before he sees
his real parents. And if they keep calling him, he won’t come back at all.
10. Bad Guys Close In (55-75): Alex, still pissed off, demands to get going to the village where
his parents went. It’s a six hours trip. They pack and take some camping stuff. They hike in the
forests hills. At some point, Lini talks alone with Alex.
‘What do you expect from them?’ ‘I don’t know.’ ‘They probably don’t even speak English
well.’ ‘I don’t care about that point, there’s much more to look forward to.’ ‘You don’t find it a
bit strange that you happen to already like Iceland?’ ‘Actually, no I don’t. I believe there is
something inside of me that is resounding to your country.’ ‘What is that?’ ‘I don’t know if
there is a psycho term for it but… I believe I’ve soaked in your culture when I was a baby, as I
was soaking in my placenta.’ ‘So… My country is your country now.’ ‘I guess.’
They get to talk about Chloé and Lini explains he’s no more interested. ‘She got too many
problems.’
As the night falls, they set up their tents and light a fire. Lini takes out his guitar. Elliott: ‘You
gotta be kiddin’ me!’ He starts to play and sing Sigur Ros’ Illgresi. Alex stares at Chloé who
stares back at him. After a moment, he sits beside her and they stay silent.
In the morning, Lini proposes to make a little detour by the beach to enjoy the good weather.
Lini is the first to go in the water. Elliott: ‘That’s one crazy dude! I think I like him!’ Elliott joins
him and Charlie follows. Chloé prefers to walk along the shore. Alex joins her.
They finally arrive to the village. Nobody is there either.
11. All Is Lost (75): Alex starts to think he will never see his real parents. Maybe they have even
changed their mind.
12. Dark Night of the Soul (75-85): Alex phones her mother. ‘Have you spoke with them
recently?’ ‘Yeah, we did.’ ‘Where are they?’ ‘We won’t tell unless we’re sure you won’t make
anything stupid.’ ‘Like what?’ ‘Like staying with them.’ ‘What if I want to?’ ‘You’re not serious,
Alex! Listen, we’re trying to understand what you’ve been hiding all this time but we need you
to open up. We just want you to be happy. Don’t you see there’s nothing to expect from a bunch
of people who abandoned you? They’ve done it once and they could do it again! We’re your
parents!’ ‘No, you’re not.’ Silence. ‘They are on a lonely green house outside of Alafoss. Have
fun with them.’ She violently hangs up.
13. Break into 3 (85): They finally find the house where the parents stay. There is light inside.
They are here. Alex is finally going to see his parents. It’s going to happen. He is about to knock
at the door when a last doubt strikes him. Nothing will ever be the same. Chloé comforts him
and he opens the door. His parents are here. His adoptive parents.
14. Finale (85-110): Surprise, there never were Icelandic parents. Just us. Alex freezes then starts
to run off. Tom tries to stop him. ‘It was for your own good!’ ‘You knew!? Fuck you, man!’ He
pushes him and walks hurriedly, angry. He stops on the edge of a cliff, struck by the beauty of
the sea. Chloé catches up with him and admires the scene. ‘It was all an illusion, uh?.. Did you
know too?’ ‘I swear I didn’t.’ ‘How can I know for sure?’ She holds his hand. ‘We should hear
what they have to say.’
They come back to the house.
The parents explain everything they undertook, and why they did it. They love him and were
desperate to see him open up to them. They thought of this plan, this plot for his happiness.
‘You’re crazy… Leave me alone.’ They give him his airline ticket and hope he’ll join them at the
airport to come back home at the end of the week.
We see Alex thinking, alone, with Chloé, with Lini and the rest of the group. We see Alex and
Chloé sitting in the tall grass on a hill. ‘It’s amazing to see everything they’ve done for you. I
wonder what’s it like to have loving parents. I wish I had what you have.’ ‘You kinda have it
too.’ ‘What d’you mean?’ ‘Well, you may not have caring folks… but you got me.’ They kiss.
At the airport, parents are waiting for their plane. They can’t help but look out for Alex’s
arrival. He eventually comes and hugs them, in tears.
15. Final Image (110): ‘I’ve missed you.’ Frozen image of Alex in his parents arms, surrounded
by his friends.
16. End Credits (110-115): We see all the pictures taken during the trip and realize Alex found a
way to be happy.
