After a cruel, abusive caretaker dies in a freak accident, two brothers must convince those around them she is still alive in order to stay together, but they soon discover evil doesn't always stay dead…

SYNOPSIS:

“STRAYS is a compelling horror that boasts some excellent characterization and inventive genre elements. The concept is simple and the structure is tight. There is a good deal here that would translate to an effective low budget production.” --Coverage from Tracking Board

Two Brothers, STEPHEN “SCOOP” JOHNSON (8, quiet, black, still clings to his innocence despite years of foster care) and MILES JOHNSON (17, black, rough around the edges, a teenager who never had a true childhood of his own), live in torment under their foster care provider EVELYN ELDRITCH (77, stern, white, crinkled face with frown lines and brown spots, her only love is for the church and Jesus Christ himself).

We learn very quickly that Eldritch is merely fostering the boys as a way to claim caregiver checks. She has no love for the brothers and that reflects in her mental abuse of them. Eldritch uses fear and intimidation to keep older brother Miles from taking any action against her as well.

This comes to a boiling point when a confrontation turns physical and Eldritch accidentally takes a fatal slip down a flight of stairs. Fearing being blamed for the accident and separated, the brothers instead hatch a plan to maintain the impression that she is alive until Miles turns 18 and can claim legal custody of Scoop.

While Miles tries to convince his jaded Social Worker to help him with the legalities of guardianship, he struggles to keep his job at the local grocery store under his demanding jerk boss, not to mention trying to escape a pestering neighborhood gangbanger who wants Miles under his employment. Meanwhile, young Scoop begins to realize his worst nightmares come to life: Eldritch’s corpse is moving… and soon turns deadly.

Coverage from Tracking Board:

“STRAYS is a neatly contained horror that mines a good deal of tension and suspense from its concept. The characterization works very well, quickly aligning us with the young brothers and building empathy for their plight. Scoop is credibly excitable and innocent, whilst Miles is more world-weary and pragmatic. Eldritch herself is also a compelling creation, being utterly vile and yet righteous in her own twisted mind. She is scary both alive and (un)dead. The contained nature of the story is also a bonus in production terms. The script has a condensed cast and much of the tension and suspense created in the script requires little more than manipulation of the lighting and editing. Therefore there is scope for STRAYS to be shot for a low or even micro-budget, making costs easier to recover.”