Olivia's Swing by Mike Murphy | Script Revolution

Olivia's Swing

Grieving the loss of his daughter, a widower is offered the chance to bring her back. . . from her ghost.

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Page Count: 
25pp

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Based On: 
My audio script.
Synopsis/Details: 

Andy Dunn's young daughter, Olivia, dies at the hands of a drunk driver. Distraught, he visits the school playground she loved. Sitting upon her favorite swing, he seems to travel back in time to when she was alive.

Later that night, he hears her calling to him in the Dunn home. He realizes that she needs his help and, whatever that help is, it must happen at the playground.

At the playground, Olivia's voice tells him to climb on her swing and go as fast as he can, which he does. Not much later, he awakens to the school principal and two police officers watching him come out of some type of trance. The officers escort him home.

The next day, he hears Olivia again. She tells him that he must go back to the playground. Since the officers arrived, there wasn't enough time to "set things right." Even though it is during school time, Dunn drives to the playground. He sits again, as Olivia instructs him, and swings higher and higher. Not much later, he finds himself at the playground with his now-alive daughter on his lap. He understands none of this.

That night, there is a horrible scream from Olivia's room. Dunn finds that she is fading in and out of reality and in great pain. Dunn's late wife, Sabrina, appears and tells him that he must quickly get Olivia to the playground.

Sabrina explains that Olivia is torn between the worlds of the dead and the living. Only by letting Olivia go can Dunn save her. He is, of course, very reluctant to do this - but finally agrees.

Together, Dunn and Olivia swing higher and higher. They land back in time as Olivia is struck and killed by the drunk driver.

A year passes. Dunn speaks at the dedication ceremony of the renovated school playground now named in honor of Olivia. The only thing left from the old playground is Olivia's favorite swing. A breeze kicks up while Dunn speaks, blowing the squeaky swing about.

All Accolades & Coverage: 
2017 Moondance International Film Festival finalist - Best Short Screenplay.
Submitted: April 30, 2019
Last Updated: October 16, 2024

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The Writer: Mike Murphy

Mike, a four-time Parsec Awards finalist, has had over 150 audio plays produced in the U.S. and overseas. He’s won a dozen Moondance International Film Festival Awards (winner, finalist, and semi-finalist) in their TV pilot, audio play, short screenplay, and short story categories. A more complete list of awards is presented below by year. In 2025, his TV pilot script Milly Foster, Macabre Investigator was a quarter-finalist in the Filmmatic Horror Screenplay Awards (Season 9). In the same year, Mike's screenplay Die Laughing was a semi-finalist in the 2025 New York International Screenplay Awards. In 2020, his screenplay Die Laughing was a semi-finalist in the Unique Voices Screenplay... Go to bio

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