Logline
WHY
Americans make very narrow cultural assumptions about boarding schools. Rarely, if ever, is the
boarding school movie about adults who live and work there. This is a character driven,
contemporary portrait of the lives behind the curtain of boarding school archetypes. Yes, it’s an
examination of class, status and failed relationships. Most of all, it’s a celebration of resilience,
self-discovery and friendships.
Summary
A month before he is slated to retire, a sixty-five-year-old headmaster is confronted by his wife.
She recently discovers legal documents implicating her husband as adulterer and father of a
“bastard” son. Her husband has been skimming from their retirement for years in order to
support a son he’s never met. The wife agrees to keeping the situation on the down low if the
headmaster agrees to forking over their entire 401K. In his last month, the headmaster fulfills
all of his formal responsibilities – including graduation, alumni weekend and a retirement party
minus his wife – while living on a faculty friend’s couch. Before retiring, the headmaster calls
the director of the school’s buildings and grounds into his office to hire the headmaster.
Despite objections and confusion, the headmaster approves of his director’s immediate hiring –
of himself. The day after his retirement, the headmaster is to report to Buildings and Grounds.
Before moving out of the headmaster’s swanky residence, the new head of school stops by to
take some measurements. She, her husband and their daughter will be moving in soon. The
new and old heads of school get drunk, sleep together, and escape to a village just beyond the
school’s gates. The final day in their home, the headmaster and his wife reminisce but
ultimately agree to accepting the grounds for divorce. The wife asks to see a photo of the
bastard son. On his phone, the headmaster displays a 10 year-old version of the child. The wife
calls the kid a dead ringer for someone on Buildings and Grounds. The headmaster begins his
work with Buildings and Grounds. His wife moves in with her new lover, a woman. The
headmaster now awkwardly works alongside the grounds crew. He slowly adapts to his new
life, and readily accepts a strong dose of humility. With each passing day, the former
headmaster embraces the important and simple work required of him. However, after showing
the photo of his 10 year-old version of a son to his best friend on the faculty, the former head
gets to the bottom of it.
The new head of school deals with a fool-hearty husband, jealous of his wife’s power. Their
daughter hates her new life. The former headmaster has leaned into his new lifestyle, drinking
with the crew after work and looking into a world he once ruled. Tensions rise that summer as
faculty move in and out. A recurring softball rivalry between the village and the school
employees galvanizes the relationship between the black director of buildings and grounds and
the former headmaster. He is obsessed with the truth about his son and the consequences of
the affair he had with a graduate. He confronts the young buildings and grounds colleague
about his past – the young man is indeed the son of the graduate but the former head of school
is not his father. The new head of school and the former head of school manage their dilemmas
separately, but in one night they find clarity and purpose. The former headmaster takes a liking
to the son he never had by pushing him to meet his potential.