Fandemic

NATALIE LEONARD wants a weekend away from the pressure of being Hollywood’s hottest actress. Her sister and agent, LAUREN LONARD has organized a trip to an isolated mountain resort with her new boyfriend, pop sensation TYE BEATZ. After one last contentious meeting between the two sisters, Natalie, Tye and their ex military security detail RODNEY COLE, catch a flight out to the resort.

The MOUNT PLEASANT INN is situated far from the prying eyes of the public, and is as close to empty as it gets this time of year. The trio get settled and prepare for a few days of rest and relaxation. The inn offers picturesque views, scenic hiking trails, and most of all solitude. The staff are friendly and accommodating, and none of the other guests seem to recognize Natalie. They run into a bird watcher, as well as JEFF and ANDREA CALLOWAY, who are celebrating JEFF’s retirement from his lucrative cosmetic surgery practice, Their daughter SAM, who Tye and Natalie can’t help but notice looks a lot like Natalie, wants to be an actress just like her one day.

Things become tense when Tye accidentally knocks Natalie’s medication into the toilet, and things spiral from there. Natalie begins hearing strange things in the night, including voices and past sexual experiences with her ex husband, renowned director TOM CARRINGTON. She also becomes convinced that the ‘bird’ watcher’ is actually watching her. Tye brushes off her concerns as side effects from being without her medication. Natalie is not convinced. Neither is Rodney, who seems to be experiencing the same things and is becoming progressively more tense and paranoid. There also seems to be an abundance of security cameras on the property, watching Natalie’s every move.

News of a freak snowstorm blanketing the state keeps Natalie and Tye trapped at the inn, though Natalie sees no sign of any storm. Things come to a boiling point when Natalie has a vivid and terrifying hallucination about her former assistant, who committed suicide the year prior after Natalie berated her for making a mistake on set. Her ex-husband Tom arrives for a vacation of his own and claims it is just a coincidence. Natalie also catches the bird watcher taking photos of her and attacks him, destroying his camera in the process. As each day passes, Natalie’s grasp on reality seems to slip more and more. Tye tries his best to be accommodating, but it isn’t clear whether he even believes her. The only one she can confide in is Rodney, but he is more irritable and withdrawn by the day.

Natalie does some digging and realizes there is no storm keeping her trapped at the Mount Pleasant Inn. When she finds a series of hidden cameras in her room, Tye is unable to question her any longer. They go to Rodney for assistance and enter his room just in time to see him shoot himself in the head while horrible sounds blare from an unseen speaker. She and Tye attempt to escape through the front door of the Inn but run into Tom, who stabs Tye and chases after Natalie with a knife.

Natalie hides in the room of Jeff and Andrea, but finds dozens of photographs of herself hanging around a bloody surgical table. Natalie bumps into Sam to find she now looks almost identical to her in every way. Natalie flees from the room and leaps through a second story window to escape Tom, who follows her into the dark woods.

Injured and cornered by Tom on the edge of a cliff, Natalie prepares to fight for her life. A shot rings out and Tom crumples to the ground. Lauren stands behind him, gun raised. Natalie almost cries tears of joy as Lauren approaches her, but Lauren grabs her sister and throws her off the cliff to her death.

The credits roll on screen and a small auditorium that erupts in applause. Lauren, Tom and the rest of the crew come out on stage to a standing ovation. Tye is alive, his death at the hands of Tom nothing more than a stunt. The hotel staff are the film’s production crew, the bird watcher was the cinematographer, the concierge the 1st AD, etc. The entire thing was a setup for a new and cutting edge variety of bloodsport entertainment. Lauren explains Natalie’s death was necessary due to her toxic behaviour in the past. Facilitating Rodney’s suicide by pushing him to his breaking point was also necessary because he committed atrocities while serving in Iraq so he deserved it. The audience laps up every word.

Lauren and Tom are arrested by a Detective and are taken behind the building. The detective explains that they are under arrest for the murder of Natalie Leonard and the death of Rodney Cole. Natalie steps out from the shadows and explains the entire thing was a publicity stunt. She says she is also broken up about Rodney’s death but that he would have killed himself anyways due to his immense guilt over his actions in the war. With no family to press charges, Rodney’s case cannot be pursued. The Detective has no choice but to release Lauren and Tom. As the squad cars drive away, the pair congratulate Natalie on an excellent performance and we see the makeup covered surgery scars on her face. Sam has completed her transformation into the new Natalie Leonard, ready to reappear in years time after raking in all the profits from their bloodthirsty fans. Lauren opens her phone to call a private car for them. We see her background is a photo of her and Natalie’s former assistant, very much in love. She stares at it longingly, then calls their car.