HER ROYAL BLOOD
Madelaine's search for the man who saved her when she was a kid leads to a dusty, Texas lounge.
Vanderbilt Beach, Florida. A biker lies dead in the dunes, his face reduced to a grisly death-mask of flesh and bone. The meagre possessions strewn around him speak to a transient lifestyle and deviant inclinations.
Though there’s something more to this grim scene: an upturned pink sand bucket and a trail of small footprints leading away—those of a child.
Jump forward in time to 30-something Madelaine Van Rose whose journey to confront the past has led her to a dusty trailer-park on the fringes of Austin, Texas; a land of god-fearing hospitality and suspicion of outsiders in equal measure.
As Madeline’s tale unfolds, we shift back and forth between the events of an ill-fated childhood vacation and a search for the stranger who risked it all to save her:
INT. ROADHOUSE - NIGHT
Madelaine walks in, takes a seat at the bar.
BARTENDER
What'll it be?
MADELAINE
Do you know how to make a Salty Dog?
BARTENDER
Isn't that a kiddie cocktail?
MADELAINE
Not if it has vodka.
He moves off to make the drink, she looks around the bar and sees a small stage with instruments set-up for a jazz combo, including a vibraphone front and center.
A banner behind the drums announces SIR JEAN.
The vibraphonist (70s) plays solo to backing tracks, ends a tune with a flourish to a smattering of applause.
He retreats to the dressing room behind the stage.
The bartender returns, sets the drink in front of her.
She downs it in one go.
It’s here in the confines of a dimly lit Texas roadhouse that Madelaine is reunited with a ghost from her past in the form of aging Jazz musician, Sir Jean.
But what does he recall of that fateful day some 20-years previous?
And will either of them finally be able to step free from the shadows of that bloody encounter in the dunes of Vanderbilt Beach?
J. Phillip Wilkins’ Her Royal Blood delivers a measured slice of desert-noir crafted for the filmmaker looking to expand their portfolio with a character-driven tale rich in atmosphere and brooding emotion as two restless souls reconcile with the darkness that bound them together.