The Salt Stains on the Glass
A silent ferry journey to Vancouver Island becomes a battleground of unspoken resentments for two friends, as the weight of a disastrous family loan hangs between them in the cold, salt-laced air.
# The Salt Stains on the Glass
**Format:** Short Film / Anthology Episode | **Est. Length:** 10-12 minutes
## Logline
On a tense ferry ride across a grey sea, a young couple is forced to confront the financial and emotional wreckage of a failed business venture, which has exposed the class divide between them and threatens to sink their relationship for good.
## Themes
* **Class and Resentment:** The unspoken tension of the couple's different socioeconomic backgrounds is dragged into the light by a failed loan, turning affection into a dynamic of benefactor and failed project.
* **The Weight of Trust:** The story explores the fragility of trust—in a partner's judgment, in their ability to succeed—and the corrosive shame that comes from breaking it.
* **Silence and Isolation:** The characters are physically trapped together in a confined space but are emotionally miles apart, where unspoken feelings and resentments create an unbridgeable chasm.
## Stakes
At stake is the very survival of Billie and Samuel's relationship, which is being crushed under the weight of financial ruin, familial disappointment, and the deep-seated shame that has rendered them strangers to one another.
## Synopsis
Trapped in the sterile lounge of a BC Ferry, BILLIE watches her boyfriend, SAMUEL, smoke on the outer deck. The space between them is thick with the fallout from their recent fight over twenty thousand dollars—a loan from Billie’s parents that Samuel lost in a counterfeit goods scheme. The money is gone, and with it, the trust Billie’s family had in her judgment.
From Billie’s perspective, the loss is compounded by her parents' quiet disappointment, which feels more damning than anger. She feels like a fool for vouching for Samuel, forced to confront the class difference she had always tried to ignore. The loan has made her a benefactor and him a failed project, poisoning their dynamic.
Outside, Samuel is drowning in shame. He resents having to ask her wealthy parents for the money and feels like he has proven their unspoken, negative assumptions about him correct. The venture was meant to be his way of finally getting on his feet and proving his worth to Billie and her family. Now, he feels like a piece of debris, lost and insignificant.
Steeling himself, Samuel comes back inside to face Billie. He tries to break the suffocating silence, admitting he feels like he’s drowning every time he looks at her. His vulnerability is met with Billie’s exhausted, steel-laced anger. She reminds him of her own humiliation and the position he has put her in with her family. Just as the confrontation reaches a breaking point, the ferry's horn announces their arrival. The moment is lost. They walk down to the car deck in silence, a careful distance between them, having arrived at their destination but with their emotional conflict completely unresolved.
## Character Breakdown
* **BILLIE (20s):** Raised in quiet, upper-middle-class comfort. She is intelligent and loving, but has been made to feel naive and foolish by Samuel's failure. She is caught between her genuine affection for him and the crushing weight of her family's disappointment and the social implications of his mistake. She is quiet but her stillness hides a deep well of resentment and exhaustion.
* **Psychological Arc:** Billie begins in a state of passive disappointment and withdrawal, stewing in her resentment and avoiding direct confrontation. By the end, Samuel's attempt to connect forces her to articulate her own pain and sense of betrayal, moving from quiet suffering to voicing her exhaustion and anger, leaving their future more uncertain than ever.
* **SAMUEL (20s):** From a working-class background, he is charming, ambitious, and proud, but deeply insecure about his social standing. He is desperate to prove himself and escape the cycle of "failed schemes." His failure has plunged him into a spiral of shame and self-loathing, making him feel inadequate and confirming his worst fears about how the world—and Billie's family—sees him.
## Scene Beats
1. **THE WATCHER:** INT. FERRY LOUNGE. Billie sits alone, watching Samuel smoke on the deck through a salt-stained window. We learn through her interior thoughts about the lost twenty thousand dollars and the fight it caused.
2. **THE WEIGHT:** Billie sees a child mesmerized by the churning water, feeling a kinship with the boy—both are pressed up against a powerful, uncontrollable force. She recalls her father’s words of disappointment, establishing the deep familial stakes for her.
3. **THE EXILE:** EXT. FERRY DECK. Samuel’s POV. He stares into the waves, sick with shame. He remembers the humiliating lunch at the yacht club where he secured the loan, feeling like a "bad investment" who proved everyone right.
4. **THE SURRENDER:** Samuel finishes his cigarette and flicks it into the ferry's wake, watching it disappear. Seeing himself in the lost butt, he makes the decision to go inside and face Billie.
5. **THE CONFRONTATION:** INT. FERRY LOUNGE. Samuel sits opposite Billie. The silence is heavy. He breaks it, confessing he feels like he’s drowning.
6. **THE CHASM:** Billie’s exhaustion finally cracks, and she retorts with quiet, sharp anger, revealing her own pain and humiliation. The ferry horn blows, cutting the argument short. They stand and walk toward the car deck, a physical and emotional gulf between them, the conflict unresolved.
## Visual Style & Tone
The visual style will be naturalistic and intimate, reflecting the characters' internal turmoil. The color palette will be muted and cool—the greys of the sky, the dark greens of the distant islands, and the blues of the water—to create a melancholic, oppressive atmosphere. The camera will use subtle, handheld movements and favor tight close-ups on faces, hands, and small details to capture the non-verbal tension. The salt stains on the window will serve as a recurring visual motif, representing their obscured, distorted, and damaged view of each other.
The tone is intimate, melancholic, and deeply tense, focusing on the quiet implosion of a relationship. It aligns with the raw, character-driven drama of films like *Marriage Story* or *Blue Valentine*, where the primary conflict is internal and the dialogue is fraught with subtext.
**Format:** Short Film / Anthology Episode | **Est. Length:** 10-12 minutes
## Logline
On a tense ferry ride across a grey sea, a young couple is forced to confront the financial and emotional wreckage of a failed business venture, which has exposed the class divide between them and threatens to sink their relationship for good.
## Themes
* **Class and Resentment:** The unspoken tension of the couple's different socioeconomic backgrounds is dragged into the light by a failed loan, turning affection into a dynamic of benefactor and failed project.
* **The Weight of Trust:** The story explores the fragility of trust—in a partner's judgment, in their ability to succeed—and the corrosive shame that comes from breaking it.
* **Silence and Isolation:** The characters are physically trapped together in a confined space but are emotionally miles apart, where unspoken feelings and resentments create an unbridgeable chasm.
## Stakes
At stake is the very survival of Billie and Samuel's relationship, which is being crushed under the weight of financial ruin, familial disappointment, and the deep-seated shame that has rendered them strangers to one another.
## Synopsis
Trapped in the sterile lounge of a BC Ferry, BILLIE watches her boyfriend, SAMUEL, smoke on the outer deck. The space between them is thick with the fallout from their recent fight over twenty thousand dollars—a loan from Billie’s parents that Samuel lost in a counterfeit goods scheme. The money is gone, and with it, the trust Billie’s family had in her judgment.
From Billie’s perspective, the loss is compounded by her parents' quiet disappointment, which feels more damning than anger. She feels like a fool for vouching for Samuel, forced to confront the class difference she had always tried to ignore. The loan has made her a benefactor and him a failed project, poisoning their dynamic.
Outside, Samuel is drowning in shame. He resents having to ask her wealthy parents for the money and feels like he has proven their unspoken, negative assumptions about him correct. The venture was meant to be his way of finally getting on his feet and proving his worth to Billie and her family. Now, he feels like a piece of debris, lost and insignificant.
Steeling himself, Samuel comes back inside to face Billie. He tries to break the suffocating silence, admitting he feels like he’s drowning every time he looks at her. His vulnerability is met with Billie’s exhausted, steel-laced anger. She reminds him of her own humiliation and the position he has put her in with her family. Just as the confrontation reaches a breaking point, the ferry's horn announces their arrival. The moment is lost. They walk down to the car deck in silence, a careful distance between them, having arrived at their destination but with their emotional conflict completely unresolved.
## Character Breakdown
* **BILLIE (20s):** Raised in quiet, upper-middle-class comfort. She is intelligent and loving, but has been made to feel naive and foolish by Samuel's failure. She is caught between her genuine affection for him and the crushing weight of her family's disappointment and the social implications of his mistake. She is quiet but her stillness hides a deep well of resentment and exhaustion.
* **Psychological Arc:** Billie begins in a state of passive disappointment and withdrawal, stewing in her resentment and avoiding direct confrontation. By the end, Samuel's attempt to connect forces her to articulate her own pain and sense of betrayal, moving from quiet suffering to voicing her exhaustion and anger, leaving their future more uncertain than ever.
* **SAMUEL (20s):** From a working-class background, he is charming, ambitious, and proud, but deeply insecure about his social standing. He is desperate to prove himself and escape the cycle of "failed schemes." His failure has plunged him into a spiral of shame and self-loathing, making him feel inadequate and confirming his worst fears about how the world—and Billie's family—sees him.
## Scene Beats
1. **THE WATCHER:** INT. FERRY LOUNGE. Billie sits alone, watching Samuel smoke on the deck through a salt-stained window. We learn through her interior thoughts about the lost twenty thousand dollars and the fight it caused.
2. **THE WEIGHT:** Billie sees a child mesmerized by the churning water, feeling a kinship with the boy—both are pressed up against a powerful, uncontrollable force. She recalls her father’s words of disappointment, establishing the deep familial stakes for her.
3. **THE EXILE:** EXT. FERRY DECK. Samuel’s POV. He stares into the waves, sick with shame. He remembers the humiliating lunch at the yacht club where he secured the loan, feeling like a "bad investment" who proved everyone right.
4. **THE SURRENDER:** Samuel finishes his cigarette and flicks it into the ferry's wake, watching it disappear. Seeing himself in the lost butt, he makes the decision to go inside and face Billie.
5. **THE CONFRONTATION:** INT. FERRY LOUNGE. Samuel sits opposite Billie. The silence is heavy. He breaks it, confessing he feels like he’s drowning.
6. **THE CHASM:** Billie’s exhaustion finally cracks, and she retorts with quiet, sharp anger, revealing her own pain and humiliation. The ferry horn blows, cutting the argument short. They stand and walk toward the car deck, a physical and emotional gulf between them, the conflict unresolved.
## Visual Style & Tone
The visual style will be naturalistic and intimate, reflecting the characters' internal turmoil. The color palette will be muted and cool—the greys of the sky, the dark greens of the distant islands, and the blues of the water—to create a melancholic, oppressive atmosphere. The camera will use subtle, handheld movements and favor tight close-ups on faces, hands, and small details to capture the non-verbal tension. The salt stains on the window will serve as a recurring visual motif, representing their obscured, distorted, and damaged view of each other.
The tone is intimate, melancholic, and deeply tense, focusing on the quiet implosion of a relationship. It aligns with the raw, character-driven drama of films like *Marriage Story* or *Blue Valentine*, where the primary conflict is internal and the dialogue is fraught with subtext.