ACONITUM
GENRE
SUSPENSE/THRILLER CRIME DRAMA MYSTERY
Core Theme
CULTURE - AND CLASS-CLASHING
TIME PERIOD
1980s & '90s,2000s
COMPARABLE TITLES
PSYCHO, VACANCY, THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE
CHARACTER LIST
DAVID: MID-30S. MALE. INTELLIGENT. INQUISITIVE. ASPIRATIONAL..
CATHERINE: EARLY-30S. FEMALE. ROMANTIC PARTNER.
PAUL: MID-30S. MALE. FATHER.
EMMA: MID-30S. FEMALE. MOTHER.
THELMA: LATE-50S. FEMALE. ANTAGONIST.
FRED: 50S. MALE. ANTAGONIST'S ALLY.
Logline
After a series of mysterious murders occur at an eerie Bed and Breakfast, a young businessman goes on vacationing in the area with his wife, only to find himself mysteriously into the midst of those past events.
Genre
Suspense/Thriller,Crime,Drama,Mystery
Target Audiences
Age: 18-34,35-54,55+,13-17
Target Gender: Female Leaning,Male Leaning,LGBT Leaning,Universal,Other
Setting
Country side of New York
Based on a True Story
No
Starting Description
A fascination of a fatally dangerous flower and the eerie use to celebrate anniversary in death. The deadly secret was hidden for so many years, until one day things changed.
Ending Description
Losing someone is not easy. But it's even worse when the lost is because of a serial killer who collects and celebrates it.
Pitch Adaptation
Celebrating an anniversary is blessed with joy, the question is whose. Even though it all started as a normal day for the unaware celebrating couple visiting a B&B at the countryside, the celebrations is there. That cozy and nice holiday and celebration turns into a nightmare of historical proportion. They are not the only one who celebrates their anniversary. Even the dark forces have its own anniversary to celebrate. Those two anniversary destinies will be merged in to an ugly and unpleasant way where an innocent and beautiful flower has the main role of their combined anniversary story.
WGA Number
The author has not yet written this
Mature Audience Themes
Extreme Violence
Plot - Other Elements
Twist
Plot - Premise
Tragedy
Main Character Details
Name: Thelma
Age: 58
Gender: Female
Role: Protagonist
Key Traits: Aggressive,Complex,Confident,Decisive,Narcisstic,Manipulative,Villainous
Additional Character Details
Name: Paul
Age: 36
Gender: Male
Role: Logical
Key Traits: Adventurous,Charming,Faithful,Educated,Romantic,Masculine
Additional Character Details
Name: Emma
Age: 33
Gender: Female
Role: skeptic
Key Traits: Charming,Complex,Confident,Faithful,Gracious,Educated,Sophisticated
Additional Character Details
Name: David
Age: 36
Gender: Male
Role: emotional
Key Traits: Adventurous,Charming,Empathetic,Faithful,Educated,Modest,Romantic,Sophisticated
Supplemental Materials
Information not completed
Genre
SUSPENSE, THRILLER
Brief
A couple decides to visit a house with the intention of buying it, and they discover the macabre story of a serial killer who used to poison her victims to keep them close.
Overall Rating
GOOD
Narrative Elements
Authors Writing Style: GOOD
Characterization: GOOD
Commerciality: GOOD
Franchise Potential: GOOD
Pace: GOOD
Premise: GOOD
Structure: GOOD
Theme: GOOD
Accuracy of Book Profile
It is accurate.
Draw of Story
Thelma’s bad intentions are noticeable right away, which instigates knowing what she is capable of. The hook is absolutely clear from the very start. From page one we understand the tone and what’s coming next.
Possible Drawbacks
Not really. The script has a concise, direct narrative that expands the atmosphere of suspense step by step, making us want to continue reading.
Use of Special Effects
THE STORY DOES NOT RELY ON SPECIAL EFFECTS
Primary Hook of Story
The hook is the suspenseful atmosphere that is created in this b&b from the beginning. It’s meeting the character of the serial killer who kills her guests to have the proximity of people in her home. The hook is a suspenseful film with a dramatic layer that makes the story even more powerful.
Fanbase Potential
The story itself and how it was told contain enough elements to attract a wide audience that likes this genre, and some jump scares.
Awards Potential
Because it is a well-structured story that connects two couples separated by 30 years of difference and that interestingly sews the two narratives, it would have good chances for awards.
Envisioned Budget
LOW BUDGET
Similar Films/TV Series
MA: A LONELY WOMAN LURES TEENAGERS TO HER HOME WITH THE INTENTION OF KILLING THEM. BATES MOTEL: BECAUSE OF THE STORY OF A BOY WHO KILLS HIS MOTHER AND KEEPS THE BODY IN HIS HOUSE, AND ALSO BECAUSE OF THE LODGING ENVIRONMENT
What’s New About the Story
The connection between the two couples is only discovered at the end of the script, bringing an original plot twist and giving greater intensity to the whole story.
Lead Characters
Thelma is a fascinating character precisely because of her duplicity. She appears to be a harmless middle-aged woman when she is a serial killer deep down. But Thelma’s depth doesn’t just focus on this duality of character but also on her intentions. Thelma has reasons to seek the proximity of people in her home because she lived in the absence of a mother without affection. All this makes her a very remarkable character. The two couples have similar characteristics to each other, which makes the connection between them even more intriguing.
Uniqueness of Story
It is not a rare gem, but it is a beautiful example of a well-developed story in the thriller genre, and it has the potential to draw attention for being well constructed and highly entertaining.
Possible Formats
Film
Analyst Recommendation
CONSIDER
Justification
The narrative is told in an engaging way that hooks our attention from the first pages. Perhaps it would have a more effective and even more exciting pace if some scenes were reduced, especially the scenes involving couples in brighter environments and whose dialogue has nothing to do with the frightening tone of the story. But even with its more than 100 pages, the thriller manages to be concise and keeps the flow interesting until the final pages. It sounds original because it mixes the horror genre with an almost mental time travel connection. The mix that might seem strange at first fits well with the narrative, scenes, and character traits. The story gets even more interesting along the script, where we gradually see a thriller that seems simple at first - a unique environment (house) and a serial killer thirsty to kill - gain new nuances and new narrative layers that reveal unexpected plot twists and unknown motives for the characters. Thelma is the great character of the story. She has a touch of Octavia Spencer in Ma, with Isabelle Huppert in Greta, both characters driven by loneliness and a turbulent past. Despite having the necessary elements for a very popular and remarkable film, the narrative would need some adjustments, especially in the long scenes in which we see the intimate life of the couples and at the moment when the final revelation is delivered. Maybe if the revelation came sooner, we could see Thelma terrorizing these characters in other ways as well. Anyway, it’s a script to consider.
Brief
Young professional couple David and Catherine visit an old house upstate with intentions to buy. Little do they know the house's ex-owner had a habit for killing her guests--and she's not finished yet.
What We Liked
Named after the entrancing yet deadly flower it is named after, ACONITUM is a similarly deceptive script that begins as a simple thriller and gradually pulls the reader into a fascinating and imaginative story which blends thrills, horror, and time travel. With its unnerving and fabulously intriguing antagonist, Thelma, who brings to mind both Norman Bates from PSYCHO (1960) and Annie Wilkes from MISERY (1990), ACONITUM is sure to thrill, terrify and fascinate audiences in equal measure. Interesting parallels are drawn between the two couples at the heart of this story--thirty years apart--and a surprising twist ending caps off this script which gradually builds tensions from its first page in a confident manner. As a largely contained film with a small cast and no need for SFX, ACONITUM could be a popular and profitable low-budget thriller.
ACONITUM is a feature-film script and is perfectly suited to this format. At 104 pages, this script is concise already but if 15-20 pages were knocked off with the dialogue tightened and some more use of images made, this could become a very tight and fast-paced thriller script in a manner similar to the highly successful low-budget contained thriller DON'T BREATHE (2016). The structure here could use a little reshuffling and the time-travel concept requires a better--and earlier--introduction, but ACONITUM shows massive promise as the potential next highly popular and profitable low-budget thriller, and could be a valuable property sought after by studios, streamers and networks.
Key points:
1) Concise, fast-paced script
2) Low budget (contained, small cast, no SFX)
3) Fascinating concept blends a simple thriller with time travel
4) A perfect balance of thrills, horror, and intrigue
5) Perfectly suited to the feature-film format
Synopsis
5th JULY, 1985: Great Milford, New York, a few miles outside NYC. Mid-30s couple PAUL and EMMA (wealthy and educated) arrive at a bed-and-breakfast run by THELMA (late-50s; not so wealthy and educated). Paul and Emma are celebrating their anniversary and the 4th of July simultaneously.
Flashback to 1939: 12-year-old YOUNG THELMA is aggressively yelled at by her mother who calls her a worthless idiot like her father.
Back to 1985: Thelma makes dinner for the couple but invites herself to the meal. In the kitchen, she privately bristles at Emma’s upper-class snobbery, likening Emma to Thelma’s own mother. At the table, Thelma is upset when Emma says they are leaving tomorrow. Thelma was hoping they would celebrate the 30th anniversary of the B and B with her. She explains that the blue-and-purple flowers on the table are called aconitum. The flowers wave at the building from a hill outside as well.
Thelma explains that her father was an alcoholic who beat her mother when he was drunk; and that her mother berated Thelma’s father when he was sober. Her mother passed away in her sleep a few years later.
In the bedroom, Emma demands that they leave this place in the morning. Thelma hears them argue through the vents.
The next morning, Emma is desperate to leave but Thelma offers them breakfast before they go—already paid for. Paul accepts. They drink orange juice happily, marveling at the unique taste. Thelma says she makes it with her flowers. Suddenly Paul and Emma feel light-headed. They realize they have been poisoned and are furious but then they collapse, dead. Thelma drags the corpses down to the basement and calls her cousin FRED (50s, skinny, long white hair) to get rid of the car.
A new guest arrives: JOHN (late-40s). He notices Paul’s car. Thelma gives him a room key. John comes down for breakfast and Thelma gives him the poison juice and watches him drink it.
5th JULY, 2019, NEW YORK CITY: Wealthy professional couple DAVID (mid-30s) and CATHERINE (early-30s) talk in their apartment. David mentions having that strange nightmare again where he is in a basement. It’s his and Catherine’s anniversary and David has a surprise: He has found them a potential home in the countryside in the small town of Great Milford. He is going to bring her to visit the house today and they will stay the night over in a hotel in Great Milford. He shows her a photo of the house: It’s an old colonial house, decayed, and needs renovation. But it is also the b and b Paul and Emma died in.
David and Catherine stay in a nice hotel. At dinner the waiter hears of the house they plan to purchase and warns them that it has been abandoned for thirty years. Later in the hotel room, David finds a newspaper article about the owner of the house who was killed after she shot at police following the discovery of a dead body in the house.
The next morning, David visits the house alone. As he looks around, he suddenly ends up in 1985 and from hiding watches as Thelma calls Fred while a man lies dead on the floor. Thelma leaves. David feels s weak pulse on John on the floor. He calls for an ambulance. Thelma returns and sees David, demanding to know who he is with a shotgun trained on him. The police arrive and shoot Thelma. In the chaos, David slips down the basement stairs and is knocked unconscious.
David wakes up on the floor back in 2019, alone. He washes his wound out with a liquid he finds in the house. He calls Catherine and tells her to meet him at the hospital. There, Catherine tells the sheriff (the same sheriff as 1985) that Thelma shot David. The sheriff says it’s impossible as Thelma is dead.
The doctor comes out. David is going to be fine Strangely, there is no bullet wound or bullet. David was not shot but was cut by something sharp. Later, the doctor says David’s condition is deteriorating similar to poisoning and they must test his blood.
The sheriff searches the old house and finds bodies buried under the floor and realizes Thelma was a serial killer.
David and Catherine return to New York City, feeling very grateful for their apartment. The sheriff calls David and David learns a horrifying truth: The dead bodies found in the house were his parents, Paul and Emma.