The Errant Child
GENRE
ACTION DRAMA CRIME MYSTERY POLITICAL
Core Theme
LOYALTY
TIME PERIOD
Contemporary
COMPARABLE TITLES
THE GODFATHER TRILOGY
CHARACTER LIST
• RENZO: 45. LEAD. IMPULSIVE AND CALCULATING.
• EMILY: 35. RENZO'S WIFE.
• MAMMA TERESA: 70. RENZO'S BIOLOGICAL MOTHER.
• PAOLO: 70. RENZO'S BIOLOGICAL FATHER.
• EMILIO: 50. RENZO'S CONSIGLIERE.
• ANNA MARIA: 35. RENZO'S LOVER.
Logline
A man obsessed with his wife's infidelity becomes embroiled in a war brewing between the Mafia and the Vatican.
Genre
Action,Drama,Mystery,Political,Crime,Suspense/Thriller,Religious,Romance,Epic
Target Audiences
Age: 18-34,35-54,55+,13-17
Target Gender: Universal
Setting
Itally (Rome, Tarquinia, Spormaggiore), New York City
Based on a True Story
No
Starting Description
A couple's (Emily and Renzo) marriage is on the rocks. They travel to Italy to attend a wedding and are taken over by a dark past that involves a secret society struggling against the Mafia wanting to overtake control of the Vatican Bank.
Ending Description
The arcs for Emily and Renzo are notable as the pair switch places by the end, with the moral Renzo descending completely into a life of crime while Emily reverses her pleasure-seeking ideals.
Pitch Adaptation
The author has not yet written this
WGA Number
I346908
Mature Audience Themes
Extreme Violence,Nudity
Plot - Other Elements
Philosophical Questions,Meaningful Message,Twist
Plot - Premise
Quest,Tragedy,Internal Journey/Rebirth
Main Character Details
Name: Renzo
Age: 45
Gender: Male
Role: Protagonist
Key Traits: Faithful,Honorable,Leader,Educated,Masculine,Skillful,Decisive,Aggressive,Lone Wolf
Additional Character Details
Name: Emily (Renzo's wife)
Age: 35
Gender: Female
Role: Antagonist
Key Traits: Adventurous,Badass,Insecure,Seductive,Manipulative,Sexy,Narcisstic,Charming,Confident,Engaging,Educated,Naive,Secretive
Additional Character Details
Name: Mamma Teresa (Renzo's biologica mother)
Age: 70
Gender: Female
Role: emotional
Key Traits: Aggressive,Decisive,Unapologetic,Power Hungry
Additional Character Details
Name: Paolo Marin
Age: 70
Gender: Male
Role: antagonist
Key Traits: Badass,Aggressive,Masculine,Villainous,Confident,Criminal,Decisive,Leader,Manipulative,Visionary,Outspoken,Power Hungry
Supplemental Materials
Brief
Feature Film Script. A couple's marriage is on the rocks, torn apart by jealousy and deceit. They travel to Italy to attend a wedding and are taken over by a dark past that involves a secret society struggling against the Mafia wanting to overtake control of the Vatican Bank. They soon realize that the two of them are already involved in the conflict through their lineage.
What We Liked
- This is a very full story, flush with characters and plot lines;
- Several complex plot lines weave together to create a tapestry of crime, religion, betrayal, and love;
- This is for film. This script presents the possibility to be broken down, however, into a trilogy of three films, so
that enough time and attention can be given to each part of the story;
- Sex;
- Beautiful locations;
- Religious drama;
- Organized crime drama.
Synopsis
Renzo is in a complicated relationship with his wife, Emily. His wife believes that there is no harm in flirting with other men, but Renzo is jealous and believes that she is cheating on him. This isn't helped by the decade age difference between the two--Emily is much younger than Renzo and much more beautiful. However, they have two kids together, so Renzo really wants to make his relationship work.
The family travels to Italy together for a family wedding. Both Emily and Renzo are from Italy originally, and both are distant cousins. Trouble starts even on the way to the wedding, as Renzo sits next to another woman on the plane, Ali, and Emily gets jealous and decides to embarrass him in front of Ali as punishment. At the same time, tensions are brewing in Italy between the Catholic church and the local mafia. The gang, headed by Paolo and his lead attacker, Emilio, have been brutally murdering clergy and tourists in the street and leaving their bodies in gruesome messes for all to see. The local police are baffled and can't make any headway into solving either the source of the killings or their purpose.
While in Italy, Renzo has flashbacks to his time as a child, during which he would often get into trouble for attacking other kids. Emilio realizes that Renzo is actually the son of Paolo, and the next in line to ascend to head of the mafia. Renzo had been raised by Paolo's neighbors, Giuseppe and his wife, because his birth mother, Mamma Teresa, did not want to tell Paolo that she was pregnant. Emilio promises Paolo that he will keep an eye on Renzo and soon introduces himself. Meanwhile, Emily takes any chance she can to cheat on her husband while they are in Italy. Emilio reveals to Renzo the truth about his parentage as well as the truth about his career in organized crime. Renzo is slow to accept the truth but is forced to do so after repeated near death experiences from the enemies of the mafia. Emilio and Renzo help to stage Paolo's death while secretly keeping him alive. Meanwhile, Emily has been exploring her sexuality and hooking up with a female cousin of hers as well as anyone else she comes across. As Emily prepares to go back to America, Emilio tells her that her marriage with Renzo is over, and shows her photos from her various scandalous affairs. He tells her that Renzo will be staying in Italy with his new family. Emily is hurt by this but soon finds herself in a romance with Sapphire, a beautiful black escort. Together, the two women party and seduce strangers. However, at one point, two of the men they're escorting drug Emily's drink. She ends up in a coma for a while and everyone is scared to react as the two men were a part of a rival mafia. However, Emilio hunts the two men down and gets revenge on behalf of Emily. Meanwhile, Renzo has slowly fallen into a romance with another woman, Anna Maria.
Renzo wants to rule the mafia in a more calculated and less aggressive way, and that has caused some to question his leadership. His own father wants Renzo to step down. Renzo's adopted parents die. Emilio is the brother of the pope, and the pope becomes disgusted with the murders and kills him. Emily comes back to Italy to try and get Renzo back, but he refuses. She asks him to go traveling the world with her to give it a second shot, and he agrees to this at first, until he sees her flirting with someone else. Emily talks to her uncle, the pope, who advises her to go live a life as a nun, right before he's murdered. A few years later, Renzo finds Emily living in a monastery as a nun, and murders her. He's finally happy with his life, until his birth father kills Anna Maria, and he is left all alone.