'The Guilty Few'

By Peter Devonald

LOGLINE
An amnesiac man pieces together the events surrounding the murder of his wife, whilst fighting to rescue his kidnapped daughter.

SYNOPSIS
Khristov's daughter and wife have been kidnapped. Desperately he does a deal with the 'kidnappers'. He goes to the drop site to pick up his daughter, but is confronted by a media frenzy. The kidnappers have been brutally killed.

Back in his apartment, Khristov looks at the photographs of his wife and daughter, and holds a braid of her hair. On the TV, Hayward, a sleazy but effective hack, shows the crime scene and the after effects of the killings. Khristov appears on screen, running, looking guilty. Khristov panics. He burns the photo and belongings of his daughter. The fire alarm goes off. Khristov runs from the building. Hayward and the media are there. He runs into the building as Khristov watches. In the apartment, Hayward finds the braid of hair and the half burnt photographs. Khristov looks guilty.

Khristov turns to his father, Mortensen, for support, but in so doing enters a dark world of lies, deceptions and abuse. Mortensen is already involved in an unspecified but unsavoury business. Mortensen says he'll protect him, but Khristov hallucinates and remembers the kidnapping.

The media circle closes in as they construct and reconstruct the events around the killing of the gangsters. Children were also found dead at the crime scene. But nothing is known about Khristov or the kidnapping.

Why didn't Khristov go to the police about the kidnapping? Who was the girl he was paying for? Where is his daughter?

The media find out more information about Khristov than should be possible. Angry that he's endangered his family, Mortensen hits Khristov.

Khristov makes friends with Mortensen's wife, Christine, but is plagued by nightmares in which he remembers that his wife was killed. He also realises the significance of his father in all the dealings with his daughters kidnappers. He follows him and finds out that Mortensen's lawyer has given money to Hayward. And Hayward now has incriminating photographs of Khristov. But the braid of hair found in Khristov's flat does not come from any of the dead girls, and his photographs of his daughter don't match any of the dead...

Khristov tells Christine what he knows. She says she'll try to help him. Mortensen also says he'll 'help' him, but in an ambiguous meeting with his lawyer, helping him seems to be the last thing on his agenda. Khristov follows Mortensen to the warehouse where he first dealt with the 'kidnappers'. Khristov is confronted by his Mortensen, who draws a gun on him.

Hayward bursts into the police station and tells them that something is going down. The media and the police close in, believing Khristov to be a paedophile.

Mortensen reveals that he always knew what was happening, and Hayward was paid to implicate Khristov and make sure there was a quick and easy arrest. He throws a pile of photographs at Khristov - and reveals that Christine is actually Khristov's sister.

Khristov looks at the photographs and sees himself involved in paedophilic dealings - orchestrated by his father, executed by him... But then Khristov started killing the gangsters.

Mortensen throws Khristov the gun - life and death are up to him. Khristov stands there with the gun in his hand...

The police and media reach the entrance to the warehouse. Hayward records as the police surround them.

Mortensen reveals that he told the gangsters to kill his wife and daughter. He then tried to 'help' Khristov by suggesting that he could get his daughter back if he was involved in the other dealings. Khristov took him literally.

Khristov points the gun at Mortensen. The police order him to put the gun down... Khristov goes to fire, but the police fire first. Khristov falls, blood everywhere.

But the game of bluffs and lies is about to take a surprising twist...

THEME
The Guilty Few explores dark territory of loss, repressed memories and media exploitation. It is a complicated game of bluff and counter bluff, lie upon lie, with the truth only a frame away.

Cast
Eighteen - five main (4 m/1 f), - six other speaking

Genre
Thriller/ Film Noir

Duration
100 minutes

MAIN CHARACTERS

Khristov
Handsome, but unusual looking, 29, well educated, loner. Family means everything to him - his naïve attempt to rectify the terrible family life he had as a child.

Mortensen
Khristov's father and married to Christine. 50. Self centred. Uses people. Paranoid. He has at best a dubious character and at worst...

Christine
Mortensen's wife. 25. Doesn't know Khristov exists. She is intelligent, worldly wise, but has suffered a lot.

Hayward
A sleazy TV journalist, 32, who uses sex and violence to get an audience. Hayward is attractive in an arrogant, cocky way.

Galdeno
A hard nosed detective with a line in sarcastic wit and unencumbered by history. Aged 49 and been in the force for thirty years. He has forgotten more than most know.

Maddox
59. Largely ambiguous character - businessman and loving father, but is he all he appears to be?

BBC REVIEW

I enjoyed reading your script and thought that you had succeeded in creating an intriguing and dramatic scenario. I found it a complex, intellectually ambitious piece. I was particularly impressed by the way in which you challenge our conceptions of the truth. I thought that your use of the media, deconstructing and reconstructing the evidence, raised lots of fascinating issues. (BBC Development).

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Copyright 2006-2009: PETER DEVONALD