A mob enforcer escorts a nameless corpse to its final resting place with the help of a young recruit, tasked with eliminating the older mobster turned informant once the job’s done.

SYNOPSIS:

DEACON REED (50), a grizzled mob enforcer for the Cartwright crime family, has a shadow following him on his latest burial run into the mountains - the very green, very nervous MICHAEL HODGE (19).

The pair head deep into the Sierra Nevada forest in a vehicle that is not theirs with a body in the trunk that is unknown to both of them. On the way to the burial site, the events leading them to this journey unfold in flashbacks, gradually revealing ulterior motives for both men at play during an otherwise easy job.

After carrying out the murder of his boss's son turned suspected informant, Deacon experiences an intense crisis of conscience. He goes so far as to contact the FBI, specifically the handler whose presence aroused suspicion in his boss's son.

Deacon becomes an informant himself with plans to tear down the mob family that has been his life for the better part of fifty years. He believes doing so will quell the ghosts that haunt his every waking moment.

Michael made a living as a card counter until he was caught cheating in a casino run by the Cartwrights. The family forces him to become their new lapdog, and his trip to the wilderness with Deacon is his latest trick.

What is supposed to be a straightforward burial becomes further complicated when the family blindsides Michael - they know Deacon is a rat and they want their young recruit to take the traitor out. In addition, Deacon cannot be allowed to find out the identity of the man rotting in the trunk.

As the trip drags on and the burial site closes in, tension builds into a climactic bloodbath that only a gritty crime film can provide.

"RAT BASTARDS" is "MILLER'S CROSSING" meets "RESERVOIR DOGS" - it marinades in dramatic irony, slowly pulling the threads of deceit until they explode into a bloody third act finale. This project oozes with genre grit on an art house scale.

If you are interested in reading RAT BASTARDS, please feel free to email meyongue@gmail.com to obtain a copy of the screenplay.