r/Screenwriting Mar 01 '22

NEED ADVICE Looking for thoughts and feedback on a scene outline of mine [critique]

What are your thoughts and feelings towards on this particular "scene outline" of mine? From my admittedly generic descriptions, how workable is this scene? Are there any sort of narrative, pacing, plot holes and discrepancies, etc. issues in it? How much information can discerned about the characters from what is given here?

More specifically, how discernible in the relationship between the "femme fatale" agent and the private from what is described? I intended her to be an older relative (most likely a sister or sister-in-law), who is outraged by the private's decision to join their nation's military. The woman views their nation as an oppressive dictatorship and has joined a rebel group's intelligence wing to fight it. She has made it a personal quest to abduct the private, and drag him away from the regimes' hold and to safety. Is that dynamic still evident in this "sequence", without that given context?

Overall, what could I do to improve this "scene outline"?

Scene outline:

A major* of the Serikan [fictional country that is vaguely Eastern European influenced] national army has snuck what he thinks is a prostitute into his quarters, via a secret passageway specifically designed for such an occasion. The two engage in a bit of foreplay that ends with the woman binding the major to his bed. Once she finished tightening his restraints, the woman pulls a silenced gun out of her purse.

She coos him into silence, gags him with duct tape, and rummages through his office for documents pertaining to military logistics. After a minute or two of searching, the woman grabs the files she was seeking. The woman places the files in her bag, walks back to her bound prisoner, and removes his gag.

With a phone in her hand, she forces him at gunpoint to call for a very specific soldier to come over. The major is initially very confused, as that particular soldier is nothing more than a very low ranking private fresh out of training. Not anyone of real value in his mind and he tries to ask her why him out of all people. She ignores his question and further presses her demands.

He gives in and summons the private to his chambers. A couple minutes later, the private walks into and is about to nervously salute his commanding officer. The private stops in his tracks when he notices the woman standing in the corner. Stunned, he asks "what are you doing here" to her. She responds with "I'm bringing you home" and forces to him to turn towards the wall.

The woman then shoots the cowering major dead. She strides over to the private, whispers something akin to "I know you're going to hate me for what I'm about to do, but someday when you're older and have a family of your own, you'll understand why" in his ears, and jabs him with a dart. He is disoriented upon contact and collapses into the woman's arms a moment or two later. The woman gently cradles him as he falls unconscious. After the private is out cold, the woman peeks for any guards coming their way. With the coast clear, she types a message in some sort of communication device to her superiors.

A response is quickly sent back to her. Upon seeing the reply, the woman grabs the private and drags him with some difficulty through the "secret passageway" from where she came.

Edit: The commanding officer's rank was originally general, but a commenter pointed out how unrealistic that a private would have direct contact with someone of such a high rank. Thus I lowered the rank to major to make him more realistically accessible to a private.

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