Dead Filter

Maine Arkwright (17) is obsessed with becoming the next viral sensation, the problem is, she has no self-confidence and even less self-esteem. When she is anonymously gifted a social filter, she’s desperate to show it off. But when her followers use the filter, a ghoulish woman, known as The Gaze, appears and tears out their soul. Now, if Maine doesn’t find a new victim every 12 hours, then The Gaze will murder her! Maine must fight The Gaze and find out why she was cursed, but her fame-hungry friends have other plans for the filter. Dead Filter is a ghost story for the tiktok generation, it combines modern themes of anxiety, social media addiction and cyber-bullying with the classic motifs of betrayal, teen-love and shock horror. One location (a suburban house), excellent character roles, small cast, low budget, a memorable monster, and obvious sequel potential. Outline: A TV PERSONALITY stares into the lens of a Morning Show camera, a fake smile plastered on her face, she pulls out a Colt 44, places it in her mouth and pulls the trigger – her brains hit the ceiling. The video is swiped away and replaced by MAINE ARKWRIGHT, 17, vlogging in her room. She tries to be a compelling, clickable idol, like all the other Instagram girls, but she just doesn’t have “it”. She is comforted by her best-friend, CHLOE, 17, a deep-web troll. Chloe convinces Maine to film a hate-filled rant about influencers; but this inadvertently completes and ancient ritual and Maine is cursed. She is sent a link to a ‘filter’, that says it should be forwarded to anyone that ‘wants attention’. Thinking it’s a joke, Maine forwards it to a Raving Influencer. The next morning, the Raving Influencer is found dead from an overdose; in her last online video, she used Maine’s filter and a ghoulish woman appeared behind her: no face, just a shattered, gnarled mass of bone and cartilage – this is the THE GAZE. As soon as the camera moves off The Gaze, she teleports and attacks the influencer, who convulses and dies with blood pouring from her eyes. Maine gets a notification saying that she has 12 hours to send the filter again or The Gaze will come for her. Maine goes to the police but they think she’s insane, However, she is believed by Chloe; LUCAS (18, a boy who saw the death), DELEWARE (20, Maine’s brother) and KORI (18, Del’s girlfriend). The gang hole up in Maine’s house and fight The Gaze. Maine discovers that as long as The Gaze is on camera, it can’t move, but The Gaze has more tricks – it turns all the screens in the smart-house into front-facing cameras and teleports behind Maine to kill her, but Chloe quickly sends out the filter, saving Maine’s life. Unfortunately, Chloe has accidently sent it to Kori. They hide Kori in a pitch-black bathroom, and summon The Gaze, but it can’t get through the bathroom door and is stuck outside. Everyone starts to feel disturbed as The Gaze corrupts their minds, turning them against each other. Chloe discovers Lucas is the Raving Influencer’s ex-boyfriend and wanted to get revenge on Maine, but Maine has already fallen for Lucas’s charms. As the night passes, Maine studies The Gaze and realises it is the TV personality who committed suicide at the start – this is Maine and Del’s MOTHER! Maine seeks out their GRANDMOTHER, who has Alzheimer’s, and eventually finds out the truth: her mother created The Gaze on purpose to stalk Maine. They discover that as long as someone is stalked by The Gaze, everyone will worship them – this is exactly what Maine yearned for at the start. The only way to stop The Gaze is to let it kill Kori and then send it to a victim who truly does not want to be worshipped – Del. Before they can complete the plan, Chloe becomes fully corrupted by The Gaze and betrays them. She performs a new ritual, curses herself and sends The Gaze to kill Lucas, furious that Maine has picked him over her. The Gaze stalks Lucas through the house as Maine fights Chloe, trying to save him. Maine wins, but by the time she does, Lucas is already dead. Maine decides to end the chain of the curse by sending it to herself. From the POV of a front-facing camera, we see Maine living her life with the curse, her phone is always streaming, 24-7. The Gaze is always visible, no matter what Maine is doing: eating, working, showering, watching TV – because The Gaze is stuck on camera, it can’t kill Maine. She sleeps in her bed, with The Gaze looming behind her, like a watchful mother.