Screenwriting : Too Controversial? by Tim Mihocik

Sounds more like"Twilight Zone" than a serious premise. But AOC would love it!

I pictured it more like "A Cure For Wellness" type of movie. What's AOC? Lol I'm terrible at abbreviations and acronyms

Tim ~ Yes, and could also be a "Get Out" - type horror film.

Exactly, I love psychological films like that! It was either that or same protagonist story except its a massive pagan church with an entire town inside it that "converts" everyone and wants her baby for a sacrifice, kinda like "Rosemary's Baby"

Controversial sometimes can be the finest art in visual pieces if executed right. I think the concept is cool but personally, if you decide to go this route - decide what your main focus of storyline is. Is it revenge? Is it liberation? I tend to see so many films around slavery and it tends to get repetitive with the thought of slaves remaining in their passive ways rather than evolving into true protagonists. I say it's a great idea but maybe focus on developing your characters and setting them apart from the rest so that the audience has much more to resonate with. Just my two cents! :)

I rarely have issues with concept or content, that is the art of it. My issue with body-swapping films/screenplays is the fact we initially identify with certain characters then have to rely on completely different actors to continue the performance and it's rarely done well. FACE OFF managed to pull it off to a degree, but barely, IMO.

Not controversial. Watch the original Wicker Man (English from the 60’s).

I think it is a good premises to explore some themes.

Thank you for your input and encouragement guys, its really helped me to get a bigger picture on my story to make sure its successful in how the characters are portrayed. I don't intend to switch bodies in the film except maybe at the very end because I want to show that the situation itself is more of the antagonist than the characters themselves. Getting even is good but at what cost? When is it too far?

My intention is to keep the audience guessing who is actually the "bad guy" by using a legend of the voodoo curse (for lack of better term right now) saying the slaves are responsible for the disappearance of her husband but the I also want the plantation owner to give off the creeper vibe where you know something isn't quite right with her, making the audience think she is also the "bad guy".

The only thing I worry is that it becomes too similar in situation with "The Skeleton Key" when the protagonist starts researching the town history and the voodoo/pagan artifacts she keeps finding around the town and plantation and then when its revealed about the body switching.

And Craig - LOVE the Wicker Man and all Folk Horror movies, my absolute favorite type of films and its one that actually helped inspire this idea!

Dan - Amen to that, I've never heard of any movie pleasing every single critic. Like many others on here, my biggest critic is myself!

Dan -Amen to that! I have never heard of any movie that has pleased all the critics and, like most people on here, I am by far my own biggest critic when it comes to picking a story to work on.

I know everyone says write what you feel but I have literally a dozen ideas right now and can't settle on one because I like them all. How do you know if an idea is just better off an idea or, even better, is a seller?

If you've never shot a movie before, like me, how do predict a budget? I have lower budget film ideas but I have no idea how low they actually are. What gives you the best way to estimate the budget?

Get Out Meets The Village. A good idea, you should develop it.

Thanks, Nadir. I do really like the idea but I'm afraid companies will see it as a ripoff of "The Skeleton Key".

Hey Tim!

It actually sounds like an ok idea. Would definitely have a specific niche of viewers.

I also think that what would drive viewers mostly in the story is the wife's discovery and not the search of a husband. So, if later in the story, a husband could lead to some kind of information or a person/event that could break the curse that would be interesting.

Also, because it is a bit of a ''woo'' script, I would spice it up even more with either spirits or creatures, or even different dimensions. There is absolutely nothing more disappointing than watching a movie with magic involved but lacking powerful magical elements. The Darker the better.

I absolutely love a twist of the enslavement of previous superiors. If it was a movie only about that, I would watch it. Plus, it would be cheaper to produce!

To answer your question whether to stick with this script or not - I would say, finish it. It sounds like a great experience. And to be honest sounds like it could be a great book.

Finally, it is only my opinion. Good luck with your work!

sounds cool. I'd go see it.

Thank you for the advice, Simona! This idea is definitely one that keeps expanding in terms of story. I am with about the search for her husband being a secondary storyline, it was just a unique way to get a 8 month pregnant woman to travel by herself to an isolated town in that time period. Pregnant complications would keep her there but going there to get her husband's body really was the only reason I could come up that would sound legit for the time period.

Did you think whether it is going to be more of a suspense or action-filled story?

I think definitely more suspense. I'm trying to go with a folk horror style, like The Wicker Man or Blood on Satan's Claw, or even The Village.

The karmic law of what energy you put will boomerang back to you. You magnetize to you what you need to learn about. So, if you want to change what you magnetize, you need to change your vibration.

Your only criteria should be 'write what you want to see!' Nobody else will do it your way.