Brief

Sam and his brother Mitch are involuntarily brought into a mysterious and powerful criminal organization. They are forced to perform tasks in order to get a million dollars and survive. A detective investigates said organization. The organization gets what it’s after and the brothers are going to be used again.

What We Liked

There is high-stakes drama when two brothers are blackmailed into performing crimes for a powerful shadowy organization. The brothers are good guys in a bad situation and do their best to complete the tasks. A very capable detective woman is investigating the criminals as well and it’s interesting to see what the brothers’ next “mission” will be. Revelations about the brothers’ past are also interesting. They’re in a catch 22 and seem to have no way out and are forced to kill innocent people to survive.

Film: It’s very fast paced and full of action. The mystery is compelling and you root for the protagonists. There are plenty of reveals that keep the story moving. The antagonists are smart and capable which ratchets up the tension as the story unfolds.

TV: There is plenty of suspense to keep a viewer coming back for more. The characters are pretty compelling and there is a strong “need to know” regarding the shadowy organization and its motives.

Key points:
A mysterious criminal organization
Empathy-worthy protagonists
Violence and action
A strong need to know
An original story

Synopsis

Sam, 17, is woken up by his big brother Mitchell. It’s Sam’s birthday. Mitch surprises him with a cake and two motorcycles he rented to give Sam a riding lesson. They ride past a lot of people fighting and then a lot who are injured by a collapsed building. Sam falls off the bike. A dead body stares at him. Sisters Sarah and Claire talk on the phone about sex and marriage. Claire is married to Phil and Sarah has moved to London and talks about the guy she slept with the previous night. Sara gets a call from Pete Tanner, her former superior in the police department, who wants her to find a missing girl named Megan North. She’s not interested in making friends in her new job and figures people would hate her anyway. Her new boss Doughty briefs her on the missing girl. He introduces her to the rest of the team and she goes to the nearest bathroom, takes off her wig to reveal a bald, scarred head. Sam and Mitchell pick themselves up and decide to leave before the police come; there was nothing they could do to help the injured gypsies. They don’t know the way home after taking a different route to avoid the area and get stuck inside some warehouses they tried to cut through. Sarah goes out to a gypsy RV camp where her colleagues were. They are questioning them about the building collapse. She talks to Rosie, who says she’ll get in trouble talking to the cops and meets her at a pub later. Rosie says her and Megan were supposed to run away together and she never would have left without her. Something is wrong with Megan.

Sarah finds out Megan worked in a posh bar and had a boyfriend, a non-gypsy, named Tom. Tom recently committed suicide. Sam loses Mitch in the dark warehouse and the lights on his bike go out. He crawls his way through a tunnel and wakes up - back in his driveway. Mitch is on the ground next to him and the bikes are gone. Very, very weird. They go inside to clean up and eat, and find they both have small cuts that were stitched up on the same place on both of their legs. They takes a bus back to where they were and find a big computer warehouse. Sam is convinced it’s the same place but Mitch isn’t. Sam puts his hand on the wall and feels a shock and is frozen until Mitch comes over.

They meet a man dressed in a white suit who tells them, “Welcome to the Stitchin.” Sarah goes to the dead boyfriend’s place and breaks in. She looks at pictures on the wall and sees another girl that appears to be his girlfriend - and it isn’t Megan. She goes through his room and finds a hidden picture of him and Megan. She meets Sam outside and questions him. He knew Tom but not Megan. She gets a phone call letting her know that Tom’s Range Rover was found at the bottom of a reservoir. Mitch tells Sam to get ready for an epic night at the club. Sam recalls the man in white (Mr White) who informs them that they have been chosen to complete 14 tasks and when completed they’ll get a million pounds. The Stitchin is a super secret organization and they’ve already completed the first task. To be chosen is an honor and it’s not to be discussed with anyone. There is no opting out and they’re in it for life. Failure means death. Mr White says they already got the first stitch - the sutures on their legs. He gives them the stamp that will get them into the club where they can drink for free in the VIP area. Sam wonders if their new membership in the Stitchin might help them find out what happened to their parents. An SUV takes them to the club. A girl comes up to Sam. She has the same stamp. Her code name in Sitchin is “The Assassin.”

Sarah oversees the removal of the Range Rover from the water. She talks to some of the gypsies that have gathered, including Megan’s grandmother. They accidentally open the back door to the SUV and Megan’s body falls out. Sam and Mitch wake up in a hotel room. There’s a naked girl there. They are both attached to the same catheter with a strange green liquid going into their bodies. The girl has 14 stitches on her body. She tells them not to be alarmed. The two brothers leave the hotel room with a hidden bag and go to a lobby filled with the hotel staff who seem upset. The manager talks to a cop.

Another cop stops the guys, saying he needs to talk to them. Sarah talks to a friend, a pathologist, and asks her to do the post mortem on Megan. Dr Sobczyk leaves her a message - there is something strange about Megan’s body. The brothers are told to go to a doctor who will removed that catheter and the booby trap attached to it. All compliments of the Sitchin. The doctor is nice at first, but then tries to hit on Sam who punches him. When they leave. Sarah talks to the pathologist who says she’s never seen anything like this before, referring to Megan’s corpse. Another doctor calls her to tell her that her former boss, Pete Tanner, is dead. Sam and Mitch play poker with some shady people who are part of the Stitchin. Then, they are driven to a house and given guns. Sarah reminisces about her and Tanner’s affair. She doesn’t think he could have had a heart attack. Doughty tells her that the hospital burned down and both pathologists are dead. Sam has a visit from his dead father, but he’s used to this. His father gives him some advice and the disappears again. Sam recalls Mitch using poison to kill a dog.

Sam vows never to kill for the Stitchin again. Mitch consoles him. Sam opens a package sent to them. It’s a tablet that says, “Task 6” on it. Then Mr White appears and tells him to follow upcoming instructions. Mitch comes out and asks Sam if he also had a fifth suture appear on him. He did. Sarah reports to the hospital that burnt down. The records are burnt as is Megan’s body. She discusses possibilities with another cop. Sarah thinks everything is linked to Megan’s murder. She goes through the office of Dr Impey and finds out he was dating Tanner’s mother. She checks Tom’s phone - there is video of him having sex with Megan. Someone comes up behind her and sticks a needle in her neck and she passes out. Sam and Mitch’s next task is torture a woman and send pics.

Mitch isn’t against it but Sam is. They go to a bar where Mitch pics up a woman. Back at their place, they engage in some BDSM while Sam hides in a wardrobe and takes pictures of the woman - then he recognizes her - it’s The Assassin. Sarah comes to, tied to a chair and groggy from the drug they gave her. She’s with Dr Impey now, who has put an exploding device in her chest. She asks him about the Stitchin and he’s shocked.

He tells her she works for him now. She struggles with him, kills him, and gets free - then uses electric paddles to shock her chest and disable the explosive device. Mitch and Sam find Jack, the brother of owner of the dog that they killed. They show him pictures of his brother’s family. They try to get him to take their implants out. Jack is having none of it. He tries and uses a device to make the boys’ legs explode but it doesn't work. Mr White et al must have disconnected the device.
The brothers are given tuxedos and have to show up at a tall building where robotic like receptionists tell them to each get in a different elevator. Sam is hurled upward and into a dark room. A voice tells them they’re getting a gourmet meal and they have to finish it all. Sam feels his way in the dark until he comes to a chair and sits down and eats a strange meal he can’t see. He wonders where Mitch is. Then, he throws up and is forced back inside another elevator that fills with water. There is a snake in the water. Sarah explains to Doughty, who’s tied up in a chair, what she knows about Stitchin. He barely believes her, but says they killed Tom. She explains that Stitchin is a shadowy organization that is more powerful that governments. She says Impey told her there are devices in their members legs that can be deadly. She says Impey killed himself and she stuffed him in his car then took him to her place and put him in a tub of ice. She cuts him loose and he makes a drink but then ties her to the same chair. Sarah goes to a doctor’s office where Megan works. She talks to a woman named Anushka, who brings her beers. She’s shows a video and is surprised to see Mitch on it with a woman. Sam is able to break the glass in the elevator and the rising water gushes out, along with the snake. Then he finds himself hurling down a chute. He lands and finds an unconscious body that wakes up and they fight but Sam has a syringe and injects the guy who passes out. Sam gets out of there and finds Mitch waiting for him in a car. Mitch is dressed in black and has a bag from Don Luciano with a gun in it.

They wonder if the green liquid that was in the catheters has changed their personalities. Sam dresses up with a mask as somebody named Loni then goes to his office in a bank when someone dressed in black with a gun bursts in. Sarah follows Bea to the club where she worked with Megan, posing as a PI trying to keep the girls safe. Bea doesn’t have much to say.

At a gym, Bea and Mikey (Megan’s brother) talk about Sarah’s subterfuge but they don’t question it. Sarah is hiding under used towels listening. Sarah wonders what’s in Megan’s locker, then follows them to a carnival and sneaks into the big top and hides while the guys fight in an underground fight circuit. The fight starts with Mikey as one of the fighters, so Sarah goes through his things and finds a bag. Mikey bursts in and she runs, trying to hide on one of the rides which lights up and starts moving.

Sam watches everyone in the bank drop to the floor with their hands behind their heads. In a mask, a robber hands Sam a bag to fill with money, but first Sam goes to the safety deposit boxes and finds Impey’s and collects two envelopes. Sam is worried for his brother. He hands over the bag of money and the guy (Ronson) shows his stitches and says to Sam they’ll be family someday. The manager shoots a robber dead. Ronson and Sam are now at a restaurant and Sam gives him one of the envelopes while a waiter has a gun pointed at Sam. Sarah talks to Mikey about Megan, telling him she needs clues to find out what happened to her. He gives her Megan’s bag, and Sarah finds twenty grand in it. Mikey doesn’t know anything about Tom and insists that none of this gets back to the gypsies. They drive around and talk, stopping in front of an electronics store where they see the image of the bank robber and Mikey identifies him as Tom’s killer. On a train, the brothers are headed to France to deliver a suitcase. They question Jack, who says it’s a bomb. They can either kill a bunch of people or get killed themselves by not delivering it. Mitch tells Sam to get on a train back to London and that he will take the bomb to the hotel. Sam does, but then gets off and looks for his brother. He sees the hotel - and a bomb goes off knocking him down.

Sarah and Mikey part ways and Sarah finds a tube of the green liquid in Megan’s bag. Back at the station, Sarah gets intel that Megan’s neighbors have sons named Mitchell and Sam. Sarah finds Mitch and he tells her that Tom’s parents paid him to have sex
with Megan and take pictures in order to break Megan and Tom up. In the back of a car, Mitch and Sam decide they will turn themselves in soon. Jack gets in the car, drunk, and they head to the Falcon club. Sarah think this is all tied together. Megan frequented the Falcon Club; she had their membership card on her. She was potentially killed by Tony, who killed Tom. He broke in the bank for some reason. He is associated with the people who own this club. The cops need to seize a man, Jack Dixon, who has potential answers about the Paris bombing - which means the Stitchin was involved in the Paris bombing. When she finds out the victims of the French bombing were all geneticists, a light bulb goes off and she knows it has something to do with the green liquid. The cops are going to the Falcon club to arrest Jack. At the Falcon club, Sam is intercepted by The Assassin who tells him to get out of there because the club is going to be bombed.

Sarah looks for Mikey to warn him to get out of there because of the impending arrests. She finds him and he tells her to stay out of the way even as she pleads for him to leave. Sam sees a red dot on his chest but The Assassin takes the guy out then all hell breaks
loose as club goers panic and run. Sarah hears Doughty’s voice in her earpiece telling everyone that Jack is headed toward the Don’s table. Mikey heads toward the Don who fires at him and Mikey collapses. The Don gets shot. The gypsies are warring with the Italians. Jack is dead too. Sam and Mitch get back in the car that brought them but smoke pours from the vents and they pass out. Inside, Sarah comes face to face with The Assassin and takes her out to her car. The Assassin admits she killed Tanner.
Sarah is infuriated. Another car hits them.

Tied to chairs, the brothers are addressed by Mr White who tells them there is a button on each chair and whoever pushes it kills the other. Mitch confesses to Sam that he actually signed them up for all this so he deserves to die. Sam begs him to push the button. They’re both in tears. Mitch confesses his part in Megan’s death. He pushes his button and Sam is released - and tries CPR on Mitch - but he’s gone. Sarah is in a glass coffin that fills with water. Mr White offers her membership in the Stitchin and he will let her live. He leaves. At the last second, someone breaks it. She wanders around and finds out she’s on a big boat. She finds Sam who confesses to her that he took the Range Rover on a joyride and that’s how Megan died. Sam says he was told how to scuttle the ship and it’s going to sink but he’s staying on it. She hits him with an oar and takes him on a lifeboat while the ship explodes in the distance.

Epilogue. Laurna (Number 13) is informed that the ship is operational. The ruse worked. Also, Mitchell is alive and in an interrogation room with a two way mirror and The Assassin is in there with him but they’re just talking. Mr White tells her that both brothers will play ball to keep each other alive. There are guards in neon yellow uniforms. She goes to the lower level of the ship and meets with No. 14 who is an android. They’re creating more androids as soldiers. She gives 14 an envelope with the latest data. No. 1 is at the table as well but his face is hidden. No.14 slams his hands on the table. It says they need to attack. No. 1 takes her to a ship within the ship and they take off. No. 1 tells her the brothers will be good for the next mission.

About The Author

Mark Lakeram hails from London.