Invisible Wounds
Historical Drama • War Drama
A childhood friendship forged during the darkest days of World War II ends in tragedy, leaving a young boy with questions no one will answer. Decades later, he must confront the buried truth—and the invisible wounds that shaped his life.
Logline
When a childhood love is killed in the Bristol Blitz, a young boy carries the unanswered loss into adulthood, where decades of silence, guilt, and buried trauma force him to finally confront the truth his family tried to protect him from.
About the Screenplay
In the spring of 1940, nine-year-old Billy Leach lives with his parents in the Yorkshire village of Pool-in-Wharfedale as Britain prepares for war. There he meets Barbara Johnston, a young evacuee sent north from Bristol to escape the threat of German bombing.
Against the backdrop of blackout curtains, gas masks, air-raid drills, and an uncertain future, Billy and Barbara form a powerful childhood bond. Their walks to school, afternoons picking blackberries, and quiet conversations give them both a sense of safety in a world increasingly defined by fear.
When Barbara’s parents decide to take her home to Bristol, Billy loses the person who has become his closest companion. Weeks later, Barbara and her parents are killed during the Bristol Blitz. Billy’s parents learn what happened—but believing they are protecting their son, they never tell him the truth.
That silence follows Billy for the rest of his life.
As he grows older, emigrates to America, builds a career, raises a family, and experiences further tragedy, the unresolved loss of Barbara remains buried beneath everything. Sounds from childhood trigger memories of falling bombs. Each new death reinforces his belief that the people he loves eventually disappear—and somehow he is always the one left behind.
Decades later, alcoholism and depression bring Billy to the edge. Recovery finally forces him to confront the childhood grief he was never allowed to understand. By speaking Barbara’s name and reconstructing what happened to her, Billy begins to recognize that the wound he has carried since childhood was created not only by loss, but by silence.
Years later, his son Jamie returns to England carrying Billy’s ashes, completing a journey that began more than a lifetime earlier in a Yorkshire orchard.
Invisible Wounds is a generational story of war, childhood trauma, memory, and the unseen scars carried by those who survived long after the bombs stopped falling.
Screenplay Details
Author: James Leach
Genre: Historical Drama • War Drama
Format: Feature Screenplay
Page Count: [actual page count]
Setting: Yorkshire & Bristol, England / United States
Time Period: 1940s–Present Day
Status: Completed / Available for Option
Available Materials
Screenplay
Synopsis
Treatment
Character Sketches
Pitch materials / Storyboards
About the Screenwriter — James Leach
James “JC” Leach is a U.S. Air Force veteran, technical writer, and screenwriter who has been developing original screenplays since 2008. His work spans historical drama, military and geopolitical thrillers, science fiction, suspense, horror, and stories inspired by real events.
With a professional background in technical writing, instructional design, and simulation development, JC brings extensive research, technical authenticity, and a disciplined approach to storytelling. His military experience in electronic warfare and aviation provides an additional foundation for stories involving military operations, technology, and high-stakes environments.
JC has developed a diverse portfolio of feature-length screenplays. His work includes original material as well as two adaptations of public-domain literary works, giving him experience translating existing stories into cinematic narratives.
He is currently adapting his screenplay portfolio into novels, expanding his stories across both film and publishing. JC is interested in connecting with producers, representation, and creative collaborators seeking distinctive, character-driven material with strong cinematic potential.
JAMES LEACH Author • Screenwriter 