Bedeviled
Feature | English | Dominican Republic
Production Status: In Development
Tagline: Some secrets refuse to stay silent!
Logline: When a young gorgeous singer lets her sexy blackmailing ex-husband fall to his death from her cliffside studio, his ghost and the nosy daughter of her fiancée destroy her wedding to the richest man on the island, forcing her down a murderous path of no return.
Producer:
Carol Bidault de l'Isle
Writer:
Carol Gomez-Robelo
Locations:
Island location
Synopsis:
BEDEVILED is a psychological thriller that reveals the story of singer Jacqueline (Jacque) Montgomery who lives in an exclusive island community enclave, preparing to marry the island’s richest, recently widowed, old landowner, Francisco Bustamante. Shortly before the wedding, Jacque's ex-husband, Vince Mason, corners her at her cliffside smart-lighthouse studio. He threatens to leak compromising cloud-saved videos and text logs that would destroy her newfound relationship, unless she give him money, lots of it. As their argument spills onto the lighthouse balcony, a rotted section of the modern glass railing snaps under Vince's weight. He plummets over the edge but manages to grab the lip of the concrete deck, screaming for help. Jacque freezes, watches his fingers slip, and lets him fall to his death in the jagged surf below. (Continued below)
(...continued) The next morning, a guilt-ridden Jacque spots Vince's body floating near the shore. When she rushes into the surf to hide his body, the corpse dissolves into a mass of decomposing kelp. Paranoia quickly takes hold as unexplainable phenomena begin to unravel her sanity.
Down the beach, Vince’s waterlogged smartwatch washes up on Francisco’s private beach, its screen still flashing corrupted notifications, and is found by Francisco’s daughter, Nina. Jacque returns to her apartment and finds, soaked, sand-caked footprints inside her locked house. Jacque pours herself a glass of wine to calm her nerves, sits to admire her enormous diamond engagement ring, then a glitching, translucent hand manifests out of thin air and snatches the ring away. Jacque runs out of her apartment to Francisco.
An upscale pre-wedding cocktail party is underway; Jacque pulls herself together and explains away her missing ring, and a guest snaps a panorama of Jacque and Francisco, only for the digital file to render with Vince's screaming face superimposed over the couple. Soon after, Vince’s distorted voice begins hijacking Francisco's wireless earbuds and smart-home speakers, whispering that he will expose his crime to the world. Now Francisco starts to get paranoid, that someone is coming to reveal his dark past.
Jacque’s situation worsens when Nina shows up at her apartment. Nina demands that Jacque call off the wedding, as she saw a man fall to his death, found his watch, and knows that he has something to do with Jacque. Jacque’s denial that she had nothing to do with his death, that he came to blackmail her, instantly tips Nina off. Realizing Jacque is hiding dark secrets, Nina begins to blackmail her. In desperation, Jacque lures Nina to an isolated dock and murders her—unaware that one of the security guards, MARIO, secretly in love with Jacque is nearby, tracking the area with a filming drone and capturing Nina’s fall on camera.
Mario, who deeply idolizes Jacque, struggles with the horrific footage and stays quiet, even as the wedding day arrives. When the priest asks if anyone objects to the union, Mario begins to stand up, but before he can speak, Vince's supernatural power surge blows out the church's electronic systems, shattering the stained glass windows and lights, plunging the venue into total darkness.
The ceremony is completely halted; both Francisco and Jacque are completely paranoid that someone is after them and hesitate to open up to each other. Francisco demands to see the ring and Jacque uses that as an excuse to flee back to the lighthouse to pack her gear and abandon the island. There, she sees Mario who shows her the drone footage on his tablet. Realizing she is entirely trapped by his knowledge, Jacque coaxes Mario up to the broken balcony railing, intending to push him into the sea. Just as she lunges, Vince's ghost surges down from the clouds, forcing Jacque backward over the edge. She falls to her death as Francisco watches from below.
The authorities recover both bodies from the ocean later that night. When emergency responders lay Jacque’s stretcher on the pier next to Vince's body, a sudden shift causes her body to roll over, pinning Jacque in a permanent embrace. Glinting clearly on Vince's cold hand is the stolen wedding ring, sealing their toxic bond for eternity.