When neo-fascist terrorists take over a nuclear power plant, a former Marine K9 sergeant struggling to adjust to civilian life must learn to break some rules to save the plant, the public and her daughter.

SYNOPSIS:

USE OF DEADLY FORCE opens minutes before daylight as a team of terrorists hand glide from the bluffs above the nuclear power plant onto the turbine building. We then meet TERESA MANKILLER (30s, Native American) - "patroling" her condo balcony in the early morning while waiting to go to work at that plant. Her daughter, AYA (15,) surprises her as she comes onto the balcony in her Halloween costume. Teresa hits the deck when the grim reaper's heavy metal sickle drops with a bang. Teresa hates knives. The mother/daughter relationship is strained; Aya was raised by Teresa's warm and wise mother, RITA (60s Native American), who thinks frybread cures all problems in life. Later that day at her job, Teresa is a "by the books" type of person. After years on a K9 team, she knows that people who don't follow the rules get killed. We'll learn more about how her dog, Wilma, was killed in a flashback, but for now, the inciting incident comes when she discovers the hand gliders on the roof. She suspects terrorists came in at daybreak and are waiting for the night to take over the plant when there is less alpha staff - including her. Management disagrees, thinking the gliders belong to workers, so Teresa's boss wants her to go home - it's Halloween, Teresa's first one with Aya. Teresa decides to stay and help clear the top level of the turbine building, but then a terrorist kills a rent-a-cop.. The plant goes on alert, and Teresa must again choose; should she go home and get her daughter and mother far from the plant, or stay and search - and possibly fight? It is not a hard one to make at the end of Act One -- this is what she was trained to do - it is her job, and she's good at it. But later in the next act, she has to decide again whether to break the rules and tell her mother and daughter to "get out" and flee the danger zone.

Other Characters:

Jackson – (20s) The geeky IT guy who, in the first few pages, broke the rules and left a sound-powered phone plugged in - causing a false alarm, but this later becomes a key item in knowing what the terrorists are really doing.

Cathy – (50s) Tough head of security that always has Teresa's back - a mentor like her mother.

Malcolm - (50s) - Teresa's out-of-shape partner who prefers to cut corners and avoid conflict.

Sammy (30s) - Smart-mouth member of the security team who likes to shoot first…follow rules - last.

Jim Hovel (50s) Plant manager who thinks the rules are made for others.

During Act Two, the department heads rush to the Admin Building. Teresa joins the rest of the elite team for their briefing. Sammy shows a picture he took of the protesters last week, and many agree that they are Eco-terrorists, but Teresa heard what she thought was German. The terrorists now have a sniper on top of the high turbine building inside the secured area and have taken over the control room. There is some hope; some of the control of the plant can be done through the TSC - the computer center where geeky Jackson sits underground, doing a server upgrade - unaware of the alert. To protect the servers from hackers, the TSC is a no communications area - no email, radios, phones, cell phone reception – no link to the outside. But if someone can get to him; Jackson might be able to take control of the plant by loading a simulation routine that trips the plant and shuts it down. It is getting dark, and Teresa volunteers - she's combat trained in the best shape and is used to dodging bullets in the dark.

The rest of the alpha team heads toward the security building to draw the gunfire away from Teresa, and she makes it into the TSC and updates Jackson. The Eco-terrorists call management and make their demands; they want all 92 nuclear plants in the US taken offline - if not, they will drain the cooling water and expose the core. The plant manager explains that nuclear plants are privately owned and it will take a long time to get the owner owners to agree. While in the TSC, Teresa discovers that a sound-powered phone is plugged in at the control panel and can listen to the terrorist. When she goes upstairs to try and send a text to Cathy, the terrorist takes her prisoner. Later there is betrayal after the alpha team is captured, and the villain, KARL, thinks she was leading that assault – Sammy agrees, and Karl kills Malcolm and Sammy. She is able to get Sammy's knife out of his boot. Then, the Feds attack and injure Karl's brother, CLEM. Karl tells Teresa that she must keep his brother alive - or she dies. She figures out what their real purpose is - they plan to shut down all the nuclear plants in the country and take over the grid. Lots of twists and turns as she uses the knife to take control, but Act 2 ends will no hope of retaking the plant. The terrorists start to expose the core - and make their escape down to the shore. Teresa, while talking to Clem, speaks toward the sound-powered phone about earthquakes and the logs on the bluff. Jackson picks up on the clues and understands her new plan to defeat these terrorists using that simulation routine and Teresa's idea to lure the terrorists out into the turbine building where the SWAT team awaits. Using Sammy's knife, she stabs Karl in the knees to enable a prisoner to question about the Sons of Liberty. The story ends - as a bookend of the opening scene. Teresa sits on the balcony, drinking a cup of tea and watches the pelicans dive into the water. Relaxed. Her daughter joins her - and finds a kite - and all are delighted that Teresa is taking some time off, and they're going to have some fun and fly the kite - even if it requires deadly force to fight the winds predicted for that day.

Why Me - Why Now?

Half a million people live within fifty miles of Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant, and although it was due to be decommissioned in 2025, it will most likely be extended another 20 years because it provides 17% of California's power. It might seem way too expensive to make this film - most of the scenes could be filmed at any old factory. Native American females (Echo) have never been so popular! I'm Cherokee won the 2023 Native American Media Alliance fellowship twice. In my first NAMA fellowship earlier in the year, I wrote a TV pilot comedy – Technically Soccer, set in the exciting world of women's professional soccer and AI - AI-artificial intelligence - with a Cherokee team captain. In my second, I wrote Blood Moon Wolf, which is set on the Cherokee reservation. I am a non-WGA screenwriter with an animated SciFi script being produced by BlackOrb Studios. I graduated from UCLA’s Advanced Screenwriting Program. My low-budget feature SciFi thriller, Last Woman, is in the top 8% on Coverfly, and I’ve been a Nicholls Fellowship finalist with two scripts and an Austin Film finalist with 4 scripts. I have over 20 projects on Coverfly, with 3 on the Red List.Use of Deadly Force was a Quarter Finalist in the Los Angeles International Screenplay Awards Spring 2023