The Fatal Error by Nicholas Zingarelli | Script Revolution

The Fatal Error

Gaslighted by his father and still haunted by his mother's ghost, HARRY has to solve the mystery of her death while a strange conspiracy closes in on him.

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Page Count: 
110pp

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Based On: 
The Fatal Heir by Nicholas R. Zingarelli
Synopsis/Details: 

Hamlet meets Ghostbusters in Arkema

This is a heart-pounding low-budget fantasy/thriller with a heart, combining a coming-of-age romance, a murder mystery, and a ghost story with elements of matricide, physical abuse, and psychological torture in the form of parental gaslighting as its key themes.
Harry as a young boy is devastated after witnessing his mother Gwendolyn’s suspicious drowning. He not only blames his father for her death, but he vows from that moment forward to prove his father’s guilt.
His father, Richard, will use every form of psychological torture and physical abuse his limitless wealth, which allows him to keep his son in a perpetual state of confusion with mind-altering psychotropic medications and forced commitment with the help of his sycophant witch doctor/psychiatrist and his asylum.

There are two reasons for all of this. If Harry cannot carry out his duties as the sole heir to his late mother’s fortune, his father will continue as the guardian of the estate until Harry is judged as psychologically fit.
The second reason is that buried somewhere in Harry’s head is the key to the whereabouts of a damning piece of evidence that will shed light on his father’s guilt in the drowning of Harry’s mother.

That’s where Sarah comes in when Harry and Sarah meet in the witch doctor’s asylum between shock treatments with her help and the help of the ghost of Harry’s mother Gwendolyn. They will not only defeat his father, but Gwendolyn will exact her eye for an eye revenge from her watery grave.

In the end, the ghost is raised as young love triumphs over every patriarchal obstacle this how done it can produce.

All Accolades & Coverage: 

TMFF The Monthly Film Festival March 31, 2017
Quarter-Finalist. Quarter-Finalist Page Turner Screenplays 2021
Official Selection Hollywood Horrorfest 2021

Finalist Scream Writing Festival 2022
Santa Barbara Film Awards Official Selection 2022
KinoDrome: International Motion Picture & Screenplay Festival Official Selection/XL Feature Nominee First Runner-Up 2023

The Short List, Barnstorm Fest 2023
17th Annual StoryPros Awards Semi-Finalist 2024
Page Turner Screenplays Genre Contest Drama Semi-Finalist 2024
HorrOrigins Official Selection 2024
ISA Fast Track Fellowship Fall 2024 Season Second Round Selection

Submitted: October 30, 2018
Last Updated: September 26, 2024

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This Script Is Loved By 24 Readers

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The Writer: Nicholas Zingarelli

I have been writing short stories and drawing cartoons since I was in grammar school in Chicago. I was a bit of a delinquent when I was young and got into trouble with the police many times. When I finally wised up, I got a union job in the building trades and subsequently built over two hundred playgrounds for inner-city children in Chicago. I started writing screenplays twenty years ago while recovering from three severe work-related injuries that led to surgeries that have left me physically challenged. Man, I thought getting in trouble with the police, severe injuries, and the subsequent surgeries and growing up in the inner-city was tough, but this screenwriting thing is a whole new... Go to bio

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