Brief

After a young soldier's wiped memories begin to resurface, he discovers that he's been serving malevolent forces all along. With this new knowledge, he secretly joins the Resistance and together, they make a plan to retake the country and bring peace, unity and equality to all.

What We Liked

The project is socially relevant, and equal parts satirical and sci-fi. At its core, this is a direct message to the Trump administration and an empowering story for liberals, the LGBT+ community and those who wish to preserve US democracy in the chaos of political turmoil.

Film: In order to successfully translate this to the feature format, it feels like the story needs a bit of a deep dive into character development, and the plot needs to be streamlined a bit. Put simply, there's a lot to keep track of here and with the confines of a feature, perhaps not enough time to do it. Pulling out the most important plot points and ensuring that they're properly set up, exploring character relationships and motivations and figuring out a definitive end point are all likely required in order to ensure success.

TV: In many ways, this is the LGBT+ equivalent of The Handmaid's Tale, but with the added benefit of sci-fi elements peppered in. Additionally, the story doesn't seem to have a concrete starting or end point, which means that the source material is rich for exploration. And make no mistake, there is much to explore in this world, both in terms of character and plot. This iteration of the world ends on a cliffhanger, leaving ample room for expansion and continuity.

Key points:
Socially relevant.
LGBT+ narrative.
Political themes.
Satirical.
Suspenseful.

Synopsis

DILLON MACKENZIE works as an enforcer in the New Republic, where he follows the lower caste and prevents them from rebelling. He tries to quell his attraction to fellow soldier, NATHANIEL.

Mackenzie begins to recall memories from his childhood, before he was taken away from his parents to serve the Elite. At the Great Wall, Mackenzie watches the latest press conference and takes a bet on how long LORD DAMPNUT’S new Press Secretary will last.

Mackenzie watches as a girl who has just reached puberty is carted away, to have her virginity sold to the highest Elite bidder. He is approached by COMMANDER JON MCCORD. He leads him into a pre-Republic ‘Fake News’ printing press and shows him a news printing of the first days of Lord Dampnut’s Cleansing.

After rifling through the rest of the artifacts, Mackenzie notices a door. Behind it are more artifacts, all labeled ‘Real News.’ McCord pushes Mackenzie to watch old recordings about the end of the United States. He watches the last democratic election, and the great Unifying event that solidified the Elite. Mackenzie is distracted by a scream and emerges from the room to find a middle-aged Hispanic woman being accosted for harboring black market goods. The Enforcers locate her young children hiding behind a cart and pull them forward.

McCord tells Mackenzie that he’s been chosen for the Resistance and slips him a book called New Polari. The presence of the children brings back a memory for Mackenzie, and he oversteps his authority by asking the men not to kill them children. McCord chastises him for displaying emotion, but soon promotes him to a role better suited for Mackenzie to communicate with the Resistance.

Mackenzie is honored by VICE CHANCELLOR PINCER. He encounters Nathaniel again and struggles with homosexuality in a world where it’s been outlawed. Mackenzie is introduced on stage and given a pin by FIRST LADY PORNIA DAMPNUT. McCord slips a second pin into Mackenzie’s pocket. Nate slips a card into Mackenzie’s pocket, and they make plans for the following evening.

Mackenzie arrives home to find a box of spy gear from McCord. On his first day at his new job, Mackenzie vows to stop the mistreatment of children. When he gets a chance to look at the private data chip from the United States, he learned that the President orchestrated the Unifying event that would bring an end to democracy.

Mackenzie arrives to meet Nate, in disguise. After Nate takes the stage to sing a song, he introduces Mackenzie to TINKER, SAMUEL, and SCARLETT, all of the Resistance. He also meets LUCAS (13). A voice sounds in his inner ear and McCord warns him of an impending raid. Mackenzie loses his disguise and pretends to arrive to do his job, after sending Nate to his apartment to disable his tracker.

Mackenzie and Nate spend the night together. McCord calls Mackenzie to his office and they discuss plans to begin a rebellion.

Scarlett informs Mackenzie of unrest in what used to be St. Louis. There, he meets Lucas, who produces a dead laptop computer. Mackenzie instructs Lucas to take it to Tinker to get it working again. After Lucas is caught by Watchmen, Mackenzie roughhouses him and pretends to take him in for questioning. They arrive to meet Tinker, who informs them that the laptop will only work in the Wastelands.

McCord escorts Mackenzie to a state dinner, where he meets an agent from the Old Union. ELI MINSK arrives and presents Dampnut with his pre-republic Hollywood Star. The dinner ends abruptly when Dampnut takes ill, and the guests are all dismissed.

McCord disables Mackenzie’s shuttle home, and Pincer offers up one of his own fleet. Eli and Mackenzie get on the shuttle, under the watch of Pincer’s men. Eli tries to consult with Mackenzie, but the shuttle begins to crash. Eli leads Mackenzie to escape pods and they land in the ruins of the Midwest. Bullets rain down on them, and Mackenzie learns that Eli has been working with the New Republic from within.

Mackenzie pushes a distress button while chaos ensues outside. When a door is blown off the escape pod, Eli and Mackenzie run for cover. They find themselves in a crematory of one of Lord Dampnut’s death camps. Lucas appears, along with other members of the Resistance, having answered Mackenzie’s distress call.

Eli helps cease the fire and departs with this Envoy. Samuel and Lucas tell Mackenzie that the Resistance has the silent support of the UN, and that they’ve been planning to retake the country for decades.

The Resistance drops Mackenzie off in the middle of a blizzard, so he can be picked up by Pincer and his men. After being questioned about Eli, Mackenzie is sent to court to preside over the sentencing of masses indicted on negatively speaking about the New Republic. Instead of sentencing them to death, he sentences them to labor camps in what he hopes is a favor.

Mackenzie is on a walk, and he receives a call from Nate to learn that he is being followed. He tries and fails to identify his stalker on his way to meet Nate and a woman who wishes to see him. The woman is one of the women that Mackenzie sent to the labor camps, and she produces a tablet from one of Eli’s shuttles. On a list of materials, Mackenzie discovers specialized missiles for biotech weapons and suspects collusion.

Word begins to spread among the lower castes of Mackenzie’s work with the Resistance. He is pursued again and taken to the home of an accused Resistor. When Mackenzie learns that there is no proof, he has the man released immediately.

Mackenzie is cornered by his stalker in a pub and learns that it is his former second in command, HANDSON. Mackenzie is called to see Pincer, who tells him that he is being accused of inciting unrest among the lower castes. Mackenzie asks for proof, but Pincer has none. Then, Mackenzie is promoted to McCord’s position, while McCord is called to diplomatic duty.

Mackenzie is called into court, where he defends his time with the lower castes. He turns the tables on his accuser, Handson, and gets him charged with treason. He is sentenced to reconditioning and taken away.

Mackenzie, Pornia and Pincer attend Handson’s reconditioning. Mackenzie is presented with his new office, which has been thoughtfully redesigned by Nate. Nate tries to seduce Mackenzie, because now that Mackenzie is part of the Elite the anti-LGBT+ laws no longer apply to him.

Pincer and Pornia lead Mackenzie to Lord Dampnut, where he learns that nano-tech has been inserted into him to make him pliable to the Omegas, the true Elite. Mackenzie meets with McCord, who tells him that the Omegas are planning an attack on the rest of the world. He learns that he has been chosen as a part of the Omegas to take down the worst of them. He is instructed to produce whatever Eli needs to conduct a counterattack.

Nate and Mackenzie try to work out how to get Tinker in a position to help stop the nano-tech. They decide to use Nate’s human avatars, which are essentially optimized robots that are nearly identical to humans. Tinker and Lucas choose avatars, and they sneak into the lab. Mackenzie is looking around when he is intercepted by a soldier. He is led to Lord Dampnut, who instructs him to begin making examples out of the lower castes by way of torture, public executions and whatever else he sees fit.

Pornia walks Mackenzie to her office and tells him that she’s been having a years-long affair with McCord. Pincer has taken off to find McCord and unauthorized new arrivals. Mackenzie worries for Lucas and Tinker. Pornia promises to go to the lab, if Mackenzie goes to find McCord and take them away from Dampnut. They all are caught and thrown into a cell. Mackenzie tries to find a way out. He’s knocked out by a guard and wakes up in the lab, moments before having nano-tech inserted into him. Handson arrives to do the deed but is soon revealed to be Nate in a Handson avatar. The group escapes just as things begin malfunctioning. Tinker warns them that they must leave quickly.

They encounter Pincher, who shoots Pornia in the head. Dampnut arrives and his guards drag in Nate’s avatar. He stabs its spine and it falls to the floor. Dampnut and Pincer argue, and Pincer shoots Dampnut dead. Pincer tells Mackenzie that the Omegas will replace Dampnut with a clone.

Chaos ensues as the group tries to escape. They do so successfully, and Mackenzie learns that Nate turned him into an avatar. Mackenzie sacrifices his avatar in order to save the nano-tech samples and wakes up on one of Nate’s yachts weeks later. The lower caste begins to rise up, and the country begins to try to unify again. But the group knows that the Omegas are still out there, and they ready themselves for another battle.

About The Author

J. Steven is the author of nearly two dozen books and lives in Chicago with his husband, Tom, and their Siamese cat.