Brief

After the entire world has been quarantined due to an unexplained virus, a furloughed middle-aged father of two works with his sons to try to beat a band of crooked scientists to a unique religious artifact that is central to their plans for world contamination.

What We Liked

This is more than just a pandemic story. In what's likely to be an oversaturated COVID-19 market, HINDSIGHT 2020 has the added benefit of fantasy elements to sustain it and keep it feeling fresh. It also has a nice, albeit slightly forceful, core message: enjoy the time you have by living in the moment. With a cast and a storyline ripe for crossover appeal, the story has a wide potential reach and source material with decent potential for development.

Film: Although it feels like firmer resolution is necessary in order to make a solid film from the source material, the potential exists. Equal parts pandemic film and fantasy film, the source material is elevated by its crossover appeal and approachability. With clever development, deeper character development and more proficient use of subplot, it could stand apart from other stories of its kind, as a high-stakes, high-tension action/adventure film.

TV: Although the story starts and ends with some degree of finality and would work well as a standalone piece, it feels like the subject matter could translate nicely into the television format. The pandemic, as described, doesn't end with this story. And the lead characters' goal, saving the matriarch, doesn't have firm resolution either. There's room for continuity here, both internally and externally. The villains could resurface, the characters could return to explore the fantasy world, or they could work to achieve some larger goal or global change. As is, the story is a great jumping off point. And one that could go in several different directions with some degree of success.

Key points:
Socially relevant.
Fantasy elements.
Religious undertones.
Endearing core message.
Crossover appeal.

Synopsis

An OLD MAN works on a wooden box and a scroll beside a stream, as a young boy listens to him speak about a coming outbreak. He says that a guide will be necessary to keep them from succumbing to it. Years later, the wind-torn manuscript sits on a stump, with the half-finished wooden box buried in the soil.

LUKE PARETE (15) dreams of the medieval age, where MOTHER CLARE carries a monstrance through the streets to deter violent invaders. He awakens in a cold sweat for the third time in a week. He tells his brother, NICO (16), of his recurring dream.

LI WU, an executive for the Xiron Corporation, plans vaccines and mask development. His boss, SHI HAN, tells Li that he has seventy-two hours to track down the one living ancestor with the critical antibody necessary for vaccine production.

Li Wu and his team work around the clock to create a vaccine. When one of them appears to be successful, the team gathers around to inspect. Unbeknownst to them, several drops of the substance leak onto the table and then onto the palm of one of scientists, XIU MING. Xiu Ming begins coughing on this way to the grocery store, and the illness begins its spread. One month later, the world is in a lockdown. Luke and Nico’s parents, GINA and TOMMY, work to protect Gina after chemotherapy for a tumor in her large intestine. Luke begins receiving emails in Chinese and continually deletes them.

Tommy and Luke arrive at a church to pray. They notice a man highlighting two bibles in the back pew. The man approaches and Luke recognizes him from his dreams. He provides two coins and tells Luke to find the monstrance to heal. When the church empties, Luke and Tommy approach the alter. They drop the coins into holy water and the water begins to spin. It explodes and they find an ancient scroll that describes a sanctuary for healing.

Xiu Ming dies from his illness and Li Wu’s area of the lab is shut down. He is hunkered down in his office when the electricity goes out. Three men appear and shoot Li Wu in the head. Meanwhile, Tommy worries about how to protect Gina. Late one evening, he discovers Luke in his office making notes about the scroll. Luke has deduced that the scroll is leading them to their church, and a stream in the nearby woods. Near the stream, the old man from church lies dead from a bullet wound to his head.

Tommy and Luke discover the story of Mother Clare. Luke is anxious to follow the old man’s trail, but Tommy reminds him that they’re under strict quarantine. Luke wakes up his brother and after some heavy convincing, Nico agrees to sneak out of the house with Luke.

Nico discovers that the scroll is Latin for ‘writer’s block’ which is a place lined with books for every soul of humankind. The legend says that there is a line of gatekeepers who are the only ones who have access to writer’s block. Mother Clare was a gatekeeper and judging from ancient images that look exactly like Luke, Nico suspects that Luke is next in line.

Nico and Luke distract their parents with a leaky toilet and sneak out of the house. A black sedan follows closely behind. The sedan approaches and an Asian man rolls down the window to ask for the scroll. Nico and Luke rush off to a nearby backyard.

Tommy and Gina realize the boys are missing and Tommy sets off after them, determined to add more time to all of their lives. Gina, with her immune system, stays behind. The boys arrive at the church and see several more sedans pull in. They decide to call Tommy, who tries to get them to return home.

Luke and Nico try to text Tommy and soon realize that something is awry. Luke decides that they have set up booby traps to catch the bad guys and get them to writer’s block without trouble. Meanwhile, Tommy has is captured and led into the church. Before long, Shi Han appears.

The boys begin setting up traps along the passageway and take a moment to slide into its natural pools. Shi Han tells Tommy that they need Luke’s antibodies and his access to writer’s block. He uses Tommy’s phone to secure the boys’ location and the scientists set off after them. One of the men gets caught in the boys’ traps and is tossed fifteen feet over a ridge. The men continue to pursue the boys’ location and finds Luke’s phone in a backpack full of scorpions. Tommy overtakes the third man leaving just him and Shi Han. Shi Han holds his gun to Tommy’s head, as the boys watch from a distance. They begin throwing rocks at Shi Han, until Tommy is able to overpower him.

The boys free Tommy from his bindings, grab Shi Han’s gun and leave him out cold. They spot the entrance to a cavern atop a mountain. They make a joint decision to climb it, but there’s no grip. Nico finds a trail carved into the stone.

They get to the top of the trail and find nothing. Luke begins to cry, and Tommy tries to console him. Soon enough, Luke realizes that to find writer’s block, they must go home. They find an abandoned train track and stop to try to call the police. Luke checks his email and finds dozens of emails from Lin Wu. Nico looks up and sees an 1800s train approaching. They discover that the scroll is their ticket to board and do so together.

On the train, they are surprised to find the old man waiting for them. He motions for them to join him, and they sit down to an expansive buffet. Other diners appear out of nowhere and occupy the train. The old man tells the group that all of the diners have been fighting unique battles. Tommy and his family’s battle is for love. The old man cautions them to remain present in the moments they have with Gina, without worrying too much about adding pages to her book.

Shi Han receives a call from billionaire LYLE MOREHOUSE, who informs him that he and his men will take matters into their own hands. Meanwhile, the old man identifies some of the famous diners. But Luke doesn’t care about any of them, except for Mother Clare sitting in the back. He approaches her, to see that she’s holding a monstrance.
Luke returns suddenly to warn them that Gina is in danger. The train appears in front of their house, and they depart. They try to warn Gina about the impending danger, but she is blinded by her anger. She demands that the trio all showers and disinfects immediately.

At least thirty goons show up to the house, and Tommy hurries his family upstairs. As the men try to gain access to the house, Luke rushes to find the monstrance. The men disperse and a portal opens in the backyard. Only one is allowed to enter, and Luke tells Tommy that this is his purpose. Tommy enters the portal and works to find Gina’s book. But try as he might, he is unable to make changes to it. He weeps, and then takes another look at the cover. In Latin, it tells him to appreciate every day. Tommy vows to do just that, as he exits the portal and reconnects with his family. Luke’s emails from Lin Wu go viral, and expose the lab, and all appears well.

About The Author

John Cicero is the author of Hindsight 2020, Sway and the Rainbows Shadow Series. He writes fictional, spiritually themed adventure novels sprinkled with symbolism, suspense and inspiration.