Brief

When the first amendment is repealed in a coup, an ex-SEAL commander needs to find allies for fighting against the new president and restoring freedom in America.

What We Liked

In this original political dystopia, America falls into terror, not because of Republicans or Democrats, but a new inclination that believes not in the freedom of speech. It's a thrilling fight of good against evil set in a reality very close to home and with a satisfying happy ending.

Film: When America Fell Silent has a well-developed plot, easily adapted to a three-act structure of a feature film. For the story to fit in a two-hour movie, the thrilling events would be kept to their most interesting beats, which would make it into an attention-grabbing feature. The premise is unique, and it has the potential to reach large audiences, which is something a movie can do better than a TV show. The scenes at the two extravaganza events organized by President Ogden are golden opportunities for visually stunning shots.

TV: When America Fell Silent would be a great limited series that can take the audience on a thrilling journey through a scary, freedom-less dystopia, from how it begins, to how it is defeated.
The way the American people react to the new power offers many possibilities to develop thought-provoking storylines that a longer-format narrative would allow. Because the characters' journeys start from very different places, an episodic narrative can give the audience the chance to follow different POVs and stay hooked by the expectation of all of them meeting in the end. Multiple episodes could also offer an opportunity for deeper character development.

Key points: Relevant premise; Original dystopia; Glimpse of freedom-less America; Well-structured plot; Well-written dialogues

Synopsis

Elizabeth Ogden is the ambitious first daughter of the United States of America, a promising over-achiever with her own presidential plans. It’s her father’s second-term inauguration day, and amongst the thousands of people in Washington DC is Wilson Hayes, an American communist, a fervent fan of the Soviet Union. Wilson planned on killing the president by paragliding from a building nearby with grenades.

The president is Wendell Ogden, a man who believes the Government should not interfere in people’s lives and who abolished the IRS, so people could do as they pleased with their money. As President Ogden finished his speech and headed to the limousine, with his loving wife of 45 years, Debbie, and daughter, Elizabeth, few people notice the commotion caused by paragliding Hayes. Hayes successfully throws the grenade that kills president Ogden, his wife, and leaves Elizabeth severely wounded.
Merely 3 hours after President Ogden’s death, Vice-President Vincent Miller, a gun-crazed man considered too crazy to take office, is sworn in as the new POTUS. In his speech, he promises to continue Ogden’s work, and in a hospital bed, angry Elizabeth dismisses prayers and grief, demanding revenge instead. When General Steel, the President’s chairman, and an Ogden’s family friend, visits Elizabeth, she recruits him to help with her plan of a military coup to keep America on track and avoid attacks like the one that killed her parents.

Two years later, Elizabeth and Steele invade a police chief annual dinner, hosted by President Miller, and announce their coup, removing Miller from power and repealing the first amendment. Elizabeth’s appeal to the law enforcers present works, as they too seek to regain their power. The whole thing is broadcasted, president Miller is killed, and Elizabeth Ogden becomes the New American State's new ruler.

Hayder Randall, Elizabeth’s ex-boyfriend and ex-Navy SEAL, watches the broadcast of Elizabeth’s take over when his house is raided by Gustavo Rivera and a military team, who kill his dog and take him to Elizabeth. In the oval office, Steele asks Elizabeth her thoughts on her quick ascension to power. Haunted by her parents’ death, she just wants to move forward with her plans.
Hayder wakes up in a cell with two civilians, Gail and Antonio, who inform him they’re considered traitors of the Ogden administration. Hayder plans to escape and sees in an old friend, former Green Beret, current tongue-less guard, BJ Morgan, a possible way out. Multiples buses arrive in Langley, Virginia, with ex-members of the Senate and Congress who weren’t executed by Elizabeth’s orders. The new era of speechless America leads many people, communities, and groups to their premature death. To help control the population, the American Speech Patrol (ASP) force is created. President Elizabeth Ogden orders every gun owner to install a chip on their weapon and help control and capture traitors.

Elizabeth conducts an Execution Extravaganza, a show with artistic performances in which she publicly executes traitors of the free speech agenda in front of a cheering crowd. Elizabeth begins to instigate the population to complain, to give her government a reason to kill them, and uses the media to spread her propaganda. She announces a divide: people are either with or against her.
In prison, BJ informs Hayder about insurgent groups in all organizations, including the FBI and the ASP. But also tells them about Elizabeth’s tighter control against violators. The trio plans an elaborate escape plan, made possible by BJ. Meanwhile, the Ogden administration organizes a second execution extravaganza in Texas. The whole thing becomes an entertainment event, and the Mayor of Houston is forced to participate, having been caught talking down President Elizabeth Ogden. His goal is to kill 100 civilians in less than two minutes, or his wife and young children will be executed. On his way to the extravaganza, BJ fights and kills his commander and all his fellow soldiers.

Hayder, Gail, and Antonio’s escape get more complicated after they crash their car, but the trio uses the guns BJ got them to kill ASP soldiers. As they drive to Houston, they stop at a zoo and let animals out to create a diversion. In Galveston Island, a former FBI agent and a gang leader, Miguel, kill ASP agents as part of their plan to fight back. Elizabeth learns about Hayder and friends and threatens Steele to get them to her or lose his own family. Then, Elizabeth broadcasts an announcement asking the people’s help to apprehend the fugitives, and she gives them two hours to surrender or else she’ll kill their families.

General Rivera captures Hayder, Gail, and Antonio and flies them to Houston. BJ attacks ASP agents and makes the surviving one, Coleman, fly him to Galveston Island, where he reunites with the gang. They plan their attack against Ogden, and the ASP agent joins their team, as he too has a grievance against the administration. Still heartbroken from the break-up years before, Elizabeth plans to make Hayder fight the extravaganza winner, who’ll have a flamethrower. Hayder and Elizabeth finally meet, both brewing their anger inside. Jealous of Gail’s proximity to Hayder, Elizabeth plans on using her as an incentive for Hayder to fight at the extravaganza.
Bj and the gang recruit an ASP officer who doesn’t serve the administration by her own will. In disguise, they invade the stadium where the extravaganza will happen. Meanwhile, severely hurt Hayder has a last meal with Antonio and Gail, as he tells them to wait for his colleagues to help them escape. Miguel meets with more allies to make their insurrection plan work. President Elizabeth opens the ceremony, cheered by many American supporters of all sizes and ethnicities. She introduces the Houston Mayor, Gail, Antonio, and Hayder as the four participants, but before the show goes on, there’s a power outage caused by hacker Coleman back at the gang’s headquarters. A message on the Stadium screen announces that Ogden is finished, which leads attendees to rush out, half still supporting the president, half with lost hope on her.

The rebels kill both Generals Rivera and Steele, rescue Gail, Antonio, and Hayder, and capture Elizabeth. Hayder makes sure she knows they won’t kill her, so she’ll face her doings in prison. Elizabeth gets a gun, shoots, and kills Gail.

The new president is the house speaker Jasmine O’Connor. Her administration holds trials to bring justice to all ASP agents and the damage of the Ogden administration. Hayder negotiates a weekly visit to Elizabeth in prison, so he can delve into her mind to understand her actions. However, Elizabeth is able to kill herself. The survivors, including the insurrection heroes, honor the dead and sigh, relieved, at the hope of a new future.

About The Author

Freddy Cruz knows how to pace his story, grabbing and holding on to the reader's attention from beginning to end. His depiction of the American people in this dystopian fantasy is equally grounded and scary.