The Silent Spy Speaks Out

This film is about insecurity; the deep insecurities we harbor that drive us to greatly overcompensate. It’s also about a silent spy. She can speak, but chooses not to.
Our silent spy is KATIE (15), an average middle school student moonlighting as a top secret agent for the organization HEIST (Heightened Espionage, Intelligence, Services and Technology). She never speaks, not personally, not professionally, not even to the cute barista who’s sweet on her. When her agency is attacked and destroyed, it leaves Katie without the one thing in her life making her feel worth anything.

Despite trouble at home and school, Katie can’t let spying go. She discovers a bizarre person of interest associated with the HEIST takedown: DEAN GORRESKI (40), the CEO of a major health drink corporation, and the creator of the drink “Cheeky Monkey.” Katie investigates, and discovers that she has fallen into Dean’s trap.

Dean Gorreski is unfailingly driven, successful in all aspects, and thrives off of victory. He revels in lording his brilliance over others, and especially over Katie, recognizing a similar drive, determination, and fear of inadequacy in her as in himself. To escape, Katie leaps off the skyscraper they’re on, barely snagging a passing helicopter. She’s slipping off, calls for help, but can’t get the words out: Katie has a debilitating stutter. She falls, and ends up in the hospital with a broken leg.

Katie is a lot like Dean. She thrives off success, and does not like being played. The broken leg cripples her physical skills, but she’s still able to rally her allies by doing something mortifying: speaking. Her allies include: her former boss, EMILY (40’s), a driven and stern woman; Emily’s daughter, ROXY (10), who is packed full of moxie; a helpful, albeit bumbling concerned stranger, JON (30’S); and STEPHANIE (14), Katie’s bestie, a somewhat ditzy grades-oriented student.
Katie discovers Gorreski’s drink is lowering people’s IQ, which will greatly assist him in his run for president. At every turn, Katie tries to stop him, but Gorreski expertly stays one step ahead (and is extremely arrogant about it). He leaves Katie with one option: expose him at a fundraiser to all his backers.

It’s a major fail. Dean Gorreski has them laughing her out of the building. Katie’s last effort is unsuccessful, and her self-esteem is destroyed. Her name is tarnished. Katie is broken. Her crush barista attempts to comfort her, and inadvertently gives her the pieces she’s missing: nobody would ever drink Cheeky Monkey if they knew what it did, and Dean Gorreski never loses.

Katie marches back into the gala, challenges him to drink his poisonous drink. He does, one after another. He has a cure he plans to market, so he can drink all he wants. He doesn’t care, at least until Katie reveals that she stole the cure. Oh, and destroyed his manufacturing plant. Dean becomes enraged, physically attacks the young girl. Katie doesn’t defend herself. She takes the hits, with the world’s eyes on her nemesis. Dean realizes what he’s done, and Katie ensures he knows it. He defeats himself; he had a voice in this world, and misused it, so now he does not. Plus, as Katie will later brag to her father, she finally spoke to the cute barista, which for her is the biggest win!