Where Daylight Dies by David Quiroz Jr | Script Revolution

Where Daylight Dies

A young woman, married to the man who rescued her from a serial killer, must reconcile her failing marriage during an anniversary retreat as a copycat killer targets them.

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100pp

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Two young lovers, ALLISON DELGADO and CHRIS NAVA, are attacked at a campsite by DEAN GRAHAM, a serial killer known as "The S&Man". Dean abducts Allison and leaves Chris for dead. Chris recovers, tracks Allison to Dean's lair, and rescues her. Dean is severely wounded, but escapes before the police arrive.

10 years later, Allison and Chris have married following their harrowing ordeal. Allison doesn't leave the house, and Chris struggles with short-term memory loss from the head wound he suffered fighting Dean. Dean is missing and presumed dead, and his widow is selling the house where his lair was in an attempt to move past the murders.

With their marriage stagnant, and Allison's nightmares becoming more intense, Chris suggests they confront their past by returning to the mountains for their anniversary weekend. Allison is leery of returning to the area where she had been attacked, but eventually agrees in an attempt to confront the past.

On the way out they're notified by a female officer, DETECTIVE DONAHUE, that there has been an abduction that matches Dean's M.O. Det. Donahue questions Chris about his whereabouts. Allison and Chris decide to maintain their anniversary plans and leave town.

At the vacation getaway. Allison is unable to relax even when Chris tries to rekindle intimacy between them. She's haunted by visions of Dean in the cabin with them, and her fears cross the line from delusion to reality as she finds Dean's catch phrase - "You belong to me" - carved into a window.

When she calls Det. Donahue to notify her, Det. Donahue reveals Chris is a suspect in the copycat crimes, and that his alibi for the young woman's disappearance didn't check out.

Allison confronts Chris. Their argument leads to ten years of pent-up frustration pouring out as they let fly all of the grievances about their marriage, and the effects of Dean's attack on them are laid bare.

As secrets kept from each other are revealed, and accusations made, it becomes clear the threat to them is more than just the emergence of a copycat killer. When Allison discovers Chris has been collecting Dean's outfits and gear, she suspects Chris has become the killer they thought they'd defeated.

The truth is discovered when Det. Donahue is revealed to be Dean's widow, who has played off their unresolved trauma to pit them against each other. In a showdown back in Dean's lair, Allison must rescue Chris when Det. Donahue holds him captive in an effort to force them to kill one another.

In the fiery aftermath of this showdown, with no more lies between them, Allison and Chris must decide if their relationship can be built on more than a shared trauma between them.

All Accolades & Coverage: 

LiveRead/LA Finalist March 2018
Six Figure Screenplay Competition - Semi-Finalist

Submitted: April 13, 2018
Last Updated: December 30, 2024

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The Writer: David Quiroz Jr

David Quiroz, Jr. is a writer, independent filmmaker, and freelance story analyst. Born and raised in Arizona, he graduated with a bachelor's degree in Film Studies from Purdue University, and received an MFA in Professional Screenwriting from National University. He began his career working as a production assistant at Sony Pictures before entering the world of independent filmmaking. He wrote and directed the feature film The Lonely Ones, which was distributed internationally by York Entertainment. The Lonely Ones was hailed by the website Dread Central as one of the top horror releases of the year. His follow-up, Promise, was released internationally by Rsquared Films. Along with his... Go to bio

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