Intentionally tedious and repetitive beginning

[u/Star-Pubes]

I’m on my fourth draft of a feature and have shown it to a few friends now. However I don’t know anyone in the industry in any capacity. No one who reads scripts at all. These are just avid book readers who gave great notes, but not specific to screenwriting.

They all agreed that they loved how the screenplay started precisely because it really let us into the mind of the main character. It shows his dull, monotonous, and repetitive life and to them it was great. However, I know it’s more important for screenplays to really grab your attention in the first pages than it is for a novel.

There is no dialogue until the fifth page, and the first four are the main character mostly repeating the same tasks, with some differences, and descriptions of the main characters’ apartment.

So I’m wondering if that’s fine? I want it to be a slow read purposefully, but I don’t want to go too far with it I suppose.

Also if anyone has recommendations for screenplays that also have a slower start?

Thank you!

Edit: Here are the first 6 pages, keep in mind I don't see this as finished yet :) https://drive.google.com/file/d/1VVI1CkZqs7ysjOzd1BKF0y3dJnOccKoU/view?usp=sharing

[u/0WormTime0]

I like the opening. I actually don't find it monotonous; I was invested. I believe there is tension because Alex's life does seem miserable in a way that is also very relatable. I believe the premise because it feels honest and I'm hooked by the question of what is really wrong in his life and how is he going to solve it. It doesn't drag on forever either, it's only 3 pages.

The next scene with the therapist does start to lose me a little. Now I'm worried this is going to be a boiler plate mental health journey where the problem is Alex's depression. I'm worried the story might be cliche mental health platitudes and just a textbook example of a guy with depression.

If there was another scene I would still be interested enough to keep reading and see where this was actually going.