Saving Atlas

PAIGE WARD (37) is on the brink of an emotional melt down. Her daughter is an addict, her marriage is falling apart, and she can’t stand what her life has become. Little does she know that the night she decides to leave it all behind is the same night she is held at gunpoint and kidnapped by an equally emotional black man. He threatens to shoot her if she doesn’t drive. Surprisingly, she isn’t frightened. Where most would cower in fear, Paige explodes with anger, instead. She has already been pushed to the brink, and some random guy with a gun isn’t going to tell her what to do. Her actions take VICTOR ATLAS (28) off guard. He’s the stereotypical black guy with a gun, isn’t he? Why wouldn’t she be afraid of him? Hiding his own fear, he aggressively threatens to shoot her if she doesn’t put the car into drive. This time his threat works, and she complies. Meantime, down the road in a rundown neighborhood, Detective MARTIN WARD (40) a police detective and Paige’s overworked husband, stands over the dead body of an elderly woman. He believes ex-con TREVOR ATLAS (32) is responsible for the shooting death of his grandmother. But Trevor’s wife says Victor did it. Either way, two brothers are on the run in opposite directions. Martin and a team leave the scene to pursue Victor, while a second team pursues Trevor. Both men have been pinged via their cell phones. During the search, Martin learns that Paige’s cell phone is in the same location as Victor’s. But he has no idea why. As Martin continues the manhunt to find Victor and bring Paige home safely, Paige struggles to understand why Victor is in so much pain. At the same time, Victor quietly realizes that she isn’t the privileged white woman he thought she was. She’s also experienced death and tragedy. Their skin color may be different, but the pain they’ve endured is the same. Despite this realization, their emotions and cultures still clash. At one point Paige sees an opportunity to call for help on her cell phone. This enrages Victor, and he smashes the car window and throws both of their phones out. Now Martin has no idea where they are. As Victor’s rage ebbs and flows, so does Paige’s empathy toward him. At one point, they find a moment that is without anger or judgment. But the moment comes to a screeching halt when a deer jumps out of nowhere, forcing the car off the road and into a lake. The car begins to sink quickly. Paige is stuck in the vehicle, trapped by her jammed seatbelt. Victor is not. He looks at her one last time, and escapes out the back window before the car fills with water. It is in this moment that two completely different people will make decisions that will change the trajectory of their lives, and the lives of those around them, forever.