Terminus (Revised) by Andrew Milito

A revised version of my idea “Terminus”, originally found here: https://imaginecasting.com/titles/results/13351/terminus/. Bear with me, this might get a little long: it's a project I'm writing as a script, so I have plenty of ideas!

Plot: 17-year-old Daniel Neilson is an aimless, troubled outcast: he struggles through assignments and participating in class each day at Midway High School, and avoids contact with as many of his peers as he can. The exception to this is Lucy Holmes, a fellow outcast whom he can relate to. At home, he lives a distanced life from his father; his mother has passed away.

Everything changes for Daniel one fateful night. He is awoken by a cataclysmic storm ravaging through the country, but currently in his coastal hometown. Before he is able to find shelter, the storm tears through his home, obliterating it and everything inside.

Only… Daniel finds himself back in bed the next morning, everything unchanged. He assumes it was a dream, until the day at school reveals that it is the previous day. It culminates in the same way: another catastrophic storm, and Daniel awaking in his bed the next morning.

Daniel must find a way to break the time loop he's trapped in, or face an endless cycle of succumbing to the storm.

(Feel free to ask about plot details in the comments: I have the whole thing outlined, so I can answer just about anything!)

Characters:
*Daniel Neilson - a high school outcast stuck reliving the same day over and over.
*Lucy Holmes- a fellow outsider who befriends Daniel and is drawn into his situation.
*Bill Neilson - Daniel's distanced father, grieving the death of his wife.
*Michael McIntyre - Daniel's English teacher who is disappointed by Daniel's lack of focus in class.
*Katheryn Copeland - a school counselor that Daniel seeks out for help.
*Principal Wyatt - Midway High's principal, whom Daniel visits after an outburst in class.

A couple of notes:
*Ideally, it would have the same timeless, dreamlike atmosphere as It Follows. The score would have the same sort of 80s synth sound (like Stranger Things), but less frantic than It Follows.
*This is still tentative, but I've considered making this the first in a series of “anthology” movies a la the new Cloverfield movies, in that it would be a series of human stories masked under sci-fi concepts. I've considered throwing my idea “Night Skies” into this series, as well as a couple of ideas I haven't completely fleshed out yet.

Inspirations: Donnie Darko, Groundhog Day, Take Shelter.

Rated R for language and thematic elements.

tags (add tags): coming-of-age, drama, sci-fi

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posted: 01/23/2017 by PointMan528491 comments | results | vote