THRILLER SCRIPTS
DARK HEART
Psychological Thriller
Logline: A schizophrenic man responsible for the death of a family
develops a relationship with the only survivor while trying to maintain
his sanity.
Story: After a quarter century of incarceration in a
mental institution for multiple homicide, Lloyd Wilson seeks out Anna
Townsend (26) -- the lone survivor of the fateful night in which all but
one member of a family were brutally murdered. Moving into Anna's
neighborhood, he connects with the young woman and a surprising
relationship develops between the two, even as Lloyd struggles to maintain
his sanity and keep his past a secret. Only time will tell if Lloyd’s true
intention is to beg forgiveness or to finish the dark deed he began so
many years ago.
About: Co-written by prominent criminal
psychiatrist Dr. Barry Mills, this story accurately portrays the decent
into paranoid schizophrenia. Steeped with strong characters and abundant
plot twists, Dark Heart will appeal to fans of suspense and
psychological thrillers along with emotionally driven character dramas.
Writer: Jon Keeyes & Barry Mills
Director: Jon Keeyes
TESORO
Crime Thriller, Drama
Logline: A Mexican woman crosses the US border seeking money for her dying father's operation and discovers her path back home blocked by the deadly Mendez drug cartel.
Story: Ana Ramirez is a child barren poor
woman living in Mexico. Desperate to secure money for her father's
life-saving operation, she agrees to accompany Ciro across the US border
to deliver a "package." At a Texas motel, Ana meets Michael, a lonely
orphaned boy hungry for her attention. Spiraling into desperation to
return to her sick father, all of Ana's attempts to return are foiled by
Michael, who steals her resources in an effort to survive, leaving her at
odds with the boy. Despite an English-Spanish language barrier, it is only
when Ana and Michael join forces do they realize how much they need each
other. The stakes are then raised when Ciro, Ana and Michael find
themselves in the deadly path of Domingo and his dangerous drug cartel's
search for the stolen TESORO diamond. Will Ana make it back to Mexico
alive?
About: In the style of Slumdog Millionaire, Tesoro is an
action packed crime thriller intermingled with the heartfelt themes of
love and family. Dealing with a smuggled diamond, the poverty and wealth
of a Mexican bordertown and the conflicts inherent within family, TESORO
puts the concept of “blood is thicker than water” to the test.
Capitalizing on the popularity of gritty gangster movies while tapping
into the enormous bilingual speaking Hispanic audience, Tesoro is poised
to be as popular as El Mariachi, Desperado and Steven Soderbergh's
Traffic.
Writer: Sandy Baumann
Director: Jon Keeyes
LAST CHANCE CAFE
Thriller, Drama
Logline: After a car wreck closes a highway, six travelers find
themselves at a mystical café. As each begins to divulge their past, it
becomes apparent that they are living in parallel realities, their lives
mysteriously interwoven, each uncertain if they are alive or dead.
Story: Love and redemption becomes the focal point of six people flung
together by fate at an isolated and mystical café in the middle of the
nowhere. Learning about each other, time begins splintering - creating
multiple futures that begin intersecting with each other. Hurdling toward
a dangerous climax, each person must face their own secrets and fears as
they are led down a path to their last chance at redemption.
About: In the style of surreal dramatic thrillers, Last Chance Café is a
character-driven tale exploring the belief in alternate realities and how
one decision can change the future.
Writers: Darlenne Susan Girard
& Jon Keeyes
Director: Jon Keeyes
HE LIVES
Thriller
Logline: A mysterious young man with mystical powers sets out to confront and destroy an evil global conglomerate run by satanic forces.
Story: An entity known only as �The Stranger� and believed to be the �Second Coming� by those around him is hunted by minions of an evil corporate conglomerate. With the help of a down-on-her-luck reporter and her mysterious daughter he sets out to destroy them. With time running out, he has to face the ultimate evil in a terrifying quest to save mankind.
About: HE LIVES is dark, mysterious, and full of vivid, full-rounded characters. Emotionally charged, but never overly sentimental, with a plot that will keep the audience guessing right until the end HE LIVES! delivers a top notch thriller in the best tradition of The Bourne Identity and Starman.
Writer: Carl Kirshner
AMANDA AND CARA
Thriller, Crime Drama
Logline: A middle class wife battles for her life when she is lured
into the seedy underworld of drugs and live sex shows.
Story:
Amanda was an ordinary middle class wife and career college student who
always played it safe. Her life takes a drastic change when she meets the
dangerous and charismatic Cara. Manipulated through the promise of
excitement, Amanda is sucked into Cara’s world – one filled with sex,
drugs and rock’n’roll. As their relationship grows beyond friendship,
Amanda becomes addicted to crystal meth and finds herself sinking further
into Cara’s underworld; eventually performing in live sex shows to feed
her habit. With her marriage nearly destroyed and her addiction to both
Cara and the drugs growing, Amanda’s life becomes endangered by the
seediest underbelly of America.
About: Amanda and Cara
is a fatalistic view of drug addiction and the price a person will pay to
continue getting their fix. Hard, edgy, sexy and gritty, Amanda and
Cara is a provocative thriller in the style of “21 Grams” and
“Requiem for a Dream” that can only end in disaster.
Writers: Jon
Keeyes & Charles Burnley
Director: Jon Keeyes
THE STRAYLITE
Apocalyptic Musical
Logline: At The Straylite Cabaret & Cafe, song and dance performers
deal with their own mortality on the last night of the end of the world.
Story: It’s New Year’s Eve and the world waits to see if the
unspeakable will happen – Nuclear War. Inside The Straylite, the
performers’ battle with fear, regret, love and lust – mirrored in
plentiful song and dance routines – while trying to make this final show
the best they’ve ever given. And when the news finally comes and the bombs
are in the air, the slogan “the show must go on” takes on a whole new
meaning.
About: The Straylite is wickedly macabre and delightfully
energetic, giving a whole new meaning to “apocalyptic musical.” Structured
like most successful musicals, The Straylite holds a fantastical vision of
the end of the world while balanced between introspective drama and
fun-filled song and dance routines.
Writer: Darlenne Susan Girard
& Jon Keeyes
Lyrics: Bart D. Van Bemmel
Director: Jon Keeyes
DREAMING THE DARK
Supernatural Thriller
Logline: Following a car accident, a pregnant woman begins dreaming of
two men that urge her to kill her unborn child. When the men begin to
appear more frequently, her sleep becomes filled with apocalyptic
nightmares and she finds herself losing her sanity as reality and her
dream world become intermingled. Struggling for answers - and running from
the all-too-real visions of the men and her son- she is led down a
terrifying path toward the ultimate decision as to the fate of her child.
About: Dreaming the Dark taps into the fear of
nightmares and the terror that the sleeping world can bring. With
well-developed characters and a plot that blurs the edges of reality and
keeps the audience guessing, Dreaming the Dark falls in with
films like “Rosemary’s Baby” and “The Seventh Sign” while forcing the
audience to deal with their own fear of nightmares and the everlasting
question, "what is reality?".
Writer/Director: Jon Keeyes
ANGELA'S BODY
Thriller, Drama
Logline: Following the death of her son, a dramatic and emotional story
of mental illness unfolds as the mother has a breakdown and murders her
family.
Story: An ordinary middle-class woman suffers a tragedy
when her 7-year-old son dies from diabetes. Following his death, the boy’s
mother, Angela, spirals out of control as she suffers a mental and
emotional breakdown. Her postpartum psychosis carries her through
attempted suicide, a psychiatric stay and the eventual murder of her
family.
About: Told out of sequence, over three inter-cutting
periods of time, Angela’s Body is an emotionally driven,
brutally realistic portrayal of one woman’s journey through a psychotic
breakdown. Angela’s Body has been designed to take advantage
of the film festival trend of honoring and recognizing gritty, edgy
dramas.
Writer/Director: Jon Keeyes
GIRLFRIENDS
Erotic Thriller, Supernatural
Logline: Two women have a sordid affair that uncovers a terrifying
secret.
Story: As ten-year-old girls, Michelle and Anne made a pact
to be best friends forever… no matter what. But time took them from each
other and now, fifteen years later, they have found each other living in
the big city. Getting to know each other anew, Anne coerces Michelle into
an affair that brings turmoil into Michelle’s already rocky life. But then
a series of bizarre events begin to unfold that lead Michelle down a
terrifying path to the truth about her girlfriend’s past.
About:
Girlfriends is first and foremost a character-building
exploration of love and loss as told through the eyes of two childhood
friends. However, Girlfriends is also an erotic thriller
told intelligently and artfully in the style of Adrian Lynne and Ken
Russell.
Writer: Darlenne Susan Girard
Director: Jon Keeyes
