Serpentine
Type:
- Feature
Status:
- For sale
Genre:
- Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Budget:
- Independent
Title: Serpentine (Copyright/WGA Registered)
Screenplay: Leslie Davis
Genre: Mystery Thriller
Female Lead
Locale: New England
Skills: Figure Skating, Hockey
Subgenres: Mystery, Suspense, Supernatural
Tagline: If you lived before, how did you die?
CASEY MCNEIL, a paycheck-to-paycheck rural mail carrier, is startled when her son returns from visiting his grandmother, insisting he barely escaped another deadly airplane crash. Because, the fact is, six-year-old ETHAN has never been on an airplane before in his life!
Despite being scolded for making up untrue stories, Ethan soon recalls other details from his past life, including memories of living with another mother in a fancy lake house and taking expensive figure skating lessons.
Unable to afford skating lessons on her postal worker salary, Casey forbids any further mention of his “previous lives.” But when Ethan displays a remarkable skating ability the first time he puts on ice skates, she starts to question if there isn’t more to her son’s story.
Set in Connecticut’s “Quiet Corner,” Serpentine is a gripping supernatural mystery about a street-savvy mom who’s trying to start a new life, and her child’s obsession with a bloody past that’s rapidly catching up to them.
From Readers
- A cross between the story of the boy who saw too much in "Witness," and the girl who died too soon in "Audrey Rose."
- Casey is an actress bait protagonist!
Author eMail: fdavis_mobile@hotmail.com
Semifinalist: Roadmap Writers Screenwriting Contest
Top 10: Creative Screenwriting Competition
Coverage Notes Excerpts
From Launchpad Feature Competition By the Tracking Board
Serpentine is an ambitious and structurally sound thriller that explores themes of motherhood, past lives, and murder set against a chilly Boston winter backdrop. The main characters work well, with Casey's struggling single mom being portrayed with a maturity and naturalism that benefits the resourcefulness and relatability of her role.
The reincarnation element is obviously the big genre hook to this movie and the script more or less succeeds in exploring it.
Overall the script is written with great visual language and has a professional polish. The blocking and direction are clear and much of the dialogue is realistic and solid. Only some minor hiccups in terms of plot concepts being introduced hinder the script's quality and with some small adjustments there's tons of potential for the material.
Coverage Notes Excerpts
From The Screenplay Mechanic (Andrew Hilton)
We like some of this author’s traits and he seems to possess the tools necessary to refine this material. For the most part, this scribe has an enjoyable style to read. The bulk of his narrative description is effective and paints a vivid portrait of the story’s Connecticut backdrop. If this writer can make this a leaner, more consistently focused, and logistically-manageable thriller, then it could work well as a sub $6M indie. NOTE: Serpentine is a mystery/thriller, NOT an action thriller. The script was subsequently shortened by 20 pages without compromising the misdirection required in a mystery.
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This Script Is Loved By
The Writer: Leslie Davis
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