OBLIVIOUS CHASE by Reimagined by John Silver, Original (Chasing) by Tristan Hartup

Original Plot: A top of his game yet extremely lonely undercover CIA operative grows attracted a civilian nurse whose already engaged and tries to win her over.

Revision: Donald Leland and Nadine Kelly are a soon-to-be married couple; Leland is an upcoming investor while Nadine is a psychiatrist who is joyful in helping children and families resolve their own conflicts without any drastic escalations.

However, a few weeks before their planned wedding, Frank McAvoy, an emotionally disturbed young man, visits Nadine's office, looking for a second chance to break away from his traumatic past. Nadine is suspicious of Frank's attitude because of his overly polite behavior, but empathizes with his troubles.

Things start to get out of control when Frank begins stalking the couple (unknowingly), and each visit that he makes to Nadine gets even more shadier as he develops an intense liking towards her, which strains Donald and Nadine's relationship. Forced to look into his history, Nadine discovers that Frank had been sexually abused as a teenager and has been looking for the man responsible for ruining his life, skeptical as to whether her fiance had any involvement with Frank's past.

Things take a turn for the worst when Frank's desire for Nadine gets intense and some of Donald's friends and other acquaintances from Frank's past begins to emerge on the news, which leaves Nadine questioning herself about the man she fell in love with whilst avoiding the man and any psychological consequences.

Comparison Pitch: The Gift meets Identity.

MPAA: Rated R for violent content and language throughout.

Changes:

- Seeing that the action comedy romance route didn't work out well, I changed it into a psychological horror thriller.
- Instead of the story being a mentally disturbed man trying to win a woman's love, I'd add it as a subplot and the central focus is on Nadine figuring out the mystery behind Frank's past and to see whether her fiance is actually affiliated with the man's past.
- I wouldn't make Frank the complete antagonist here. I'd make him more of a neutral character to leave it up to people whether or not Frank should be a sympathetic character or if there's something really mysterious to Frank.
- The twist would be Frank is actually Donald's step son who suffered from divorce and physical abuse, his father being an alcoholic. He wanted to get revenge on his step father for his alcoholic behavior but decides to turn him into the police instead, ruining his life.
- I don't want this story to be too dark like David Fincher's Se7en or The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, but I would add in some dark comedy elements regarding Frank's love for Nadine.

Other Characters:

Henry Goldberg - Donald's rival in the investing business.
Detective Chase Matherson - Nadine's cousin who is investigating Frank McAvoy.
Sabrina Maguire - Frank's girlfriend.
Graham Nichols - Frank's former psychologist who used to be a criminal.
Jared Hanson - Donald's old friend from his high school who used to be friends with Frank.

tags (add tags): horror, mystery, Psychological, reimagining, suspense, thriller

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posted: 05/18/2016 by MovieCriticGamer comments | results | vote