When a detective’s criminal nature surfaces at a mysterious murder scene, he must stay one step ahead of his precinct to discover who’s pulling the strings and possibly save the lives of everyone he’s ever loved… or stalked.

SYNOPSIS:

Current Draft included in the Scriptapalooza Fellowship Top 20 (Spring 2025)

Earlier drafts: The Script Lab Quarterfinalist, WeScreenplay Feature Lab Quarterfinalist, Los Angeles International Screenplay Awards Quarterfinalist, Emerging Screenwriters Drama Screenplay Competition Quarterfinalist.

:SPOILER ALERT:

Full Synopsis -

Athens, 2030 - Detective X is pulled away from his nightly routine (stalking a young neighbor named Gabriella and discussing his feelings with an AI therapist called H) to investigate a potential murder. He arrives at the scene to discover the victim is someone with whom he shares a proclivity for voyeurism. Not wanting his fellow detectives to know his connection, he pockets the man’s identification and goes home to do his own research. Later that night, unable to resist the urge, he stalks Gabriella, breaks into her apartment, and takes her picture while she sleeps.

When Detective X leaves the apartment building he’s set upon by Ariti, a narcotics officer who holds a grudge against X for taking nude pictures of his sleeping wife. The Narc steals X’s camera, and tells X it will take Digital Forensics three days to hack the memory card.

Detective X rushes home to make an escape but finally decides he needs to face up to himself and his crimes. Instead of retreat, he throws himself into the investigation. Over the next few days, similar crime scenes begin to pile up and X is forced to let his fellow officers in on his secret in order to catch the killer. But something else is troubling him… How is the killer always one step ahead? Are they someone close to him? Is the killer X himself?

Without answers, and running out of time before Ariti cracks the camera’s memory card, X loses control and falls back into voyeurism and stalking. Meanwhile, Gabriella is discovering her own desires and boundaries. She watches jealously as her seemingly average friend Helena skyrockets to viral fame. Finally, near her breaking point, Gabriella meets a stranger online who could help her mirror Helena’s success.

When Gabriella is invited to partake in the killer’s next crime, she decides to tip X off instead. Her clue together with a mistake from the killer reveals who has been the puppeteer all along; X’s AI therapist. But it’s too late. Ariti has already cracked the memory card, X is hours away from being arrested, and the people he cares about are already dead.

Except for one… In a waking dream, X realizes Gabriella is following her online stranger (the rogue AI therapist) to her doom in pursuit of fame. X struggles to stop her, but the world is crumbling around him. The therapy bot has manipulated the vulnerable and meek to meet its own objectives and Athens is in chaos. Out of options, X hides in a cinema where Gabriella finds him a few minutes later. She blindly meets her own tragic end by her stalker’s side - while he sleeps.