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GLOOMY LEGACY
By Arthur Charpentier

GENRE: Thriller, Film-noir
LOGLINE:

The former military man inherits an old mansion and a debt to the mafia, and now the hero must find and return this money. A charming policewoman helps him in his search, with whom the hero begins an affair.

SYNOPSIS:

The main character is Maxim Vetrov (28). A former military man, a combatant. A tall, strong man with scars on his body and soul.

After returning from the army, Maxim suffers from wounds received in the war, as well as from post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and insomnia. Health and mental problems do not allow Maxim to find a good job, but he is too law-abiding to work for the mafia.

For a long time Maxim is forced to earn extra money as a security guard, bodyguard, collector and private detective.

This continues until Maxim Vetrov receives a call from a friend of his youth, Anastasia Topoleva (25). She works in the police and reports that his uncle Leonid Sorokin (55) died of a heart attack. Anastasia asks Maxim, since he is the only heir, to come and look after his uncle's mansion. Leonid Sorokin was a widower, his wife Tatiana Alexandrovna died, and two sons worked for the mafia, Dmitry died in a shootout, Alexei was killed in prison.

Maxim Vetrov comes to the city and settles in the Sorokins' mansion. Police officer Anastasia Topoleva comes to Maxim and tells the details of the case. Leonid Sorokin was found a few blocks from home. Anastasia suggests that Sorokin could have died during the robbery, since no watch and wallet were found with the corpse. Anastasia and her partners interviewed the whole street, but there are no witnesses. She promises to do everything to sort out the death of Leonid Sorokin.

Maxim offers Anastasia lunch, she agrees. During the conversation, Maxim and Anastasia talk about the past. During their student years, they met, and then broke up. Maxim tells how he served in the army, and then tried to come to terms with the horrors of war and find himself in a peaceful life. Anastasia tells how she became a police officer, got married, but the marriage was unsuccessful.

Anastasia admits that she still has feelings for Maxim.

Maxim is too absorbed in his problems to build serious relationships with women. However, he decides to give his ex-girlfriend a chance and sex happens between them.

After sex, Anastasia tells one detail. The medical examiner found small traces of rope or handcuffs on Leonid Sorokin's hands. She suggests that Sorokin could have been tortured, and the body could have been left on the street after death.

Anastasia asks Maxim to go to the store owned by Leonid Sorokin and ask the sellers if their boss had any problems or conflicts with anyone. She says she talked to the sellers, but they didn't tell her anything.

The next day Maxim Vetrov comes to his uncle's store. From the seller, he learns that Sorokin had accumulated large debts on loans and he barely kept afloat to pay taxes and own a large mansion.

Maxim studies the financial documents of the store and realizes that they are fake. The turnover of a small shop can't be that big. After looking closely, Maxim notices that some visitors go deep into the store and disappear. With the help of charisma and brute force, he forces the seller to open a secret door.

Behind the door there is an illegal bar and casino, which was run by the late uncle. Maxim Vetrov finds out from the bartender that Leonid Sorokin worked for a mafia named Garik Ponomarev.

The bartender advises Maxim not to stir up this case, but to rejoice in the money that the illegal business will bring.

Maxim arrives at the police department to Anastasia Topoleva to find out about the mafia Garik Ponomarev. She brings the documents and tells everything that is known about the smuggler's gang. Garik Ponomarev is engaged in smuggling alcohol, tobacco and sanctioned products, which he delivers through the dock of the river port.

Anastasia suggests Maxim to find the smugglers' headquarters in the port and interrogate one of Garik's assistants. She is sure Philip Neverov is a coward and will quickly tell the truth about whether they killed Leonid Sorokin or not.

After meeting Anastasia at the police station, Maxim goes to a bar. There he bumps into Veronica's ex-husband named Sergey Shiryaev (29). In his youth, Maxim and Sergey were friends until Maxim stole a friend's girlfriend. Sergey is in a bar with friends and is hostile. A fight ensues, which is stopped by suddenly appearing policemen – Anastasia's partners.

At night, Maxim Vetrov sneaks into the territory of the port, but falls into the trap of Garik Ponomarev's gang. The mafia boss denies involvement in the murder. On the contrary, Sorokin was very useful. But now he is dead, the illegal business is suffering, and therefore Garik demands from Maxim to return the money that his uncle stole from the mafia.

Maxim returns to the mansion, where Anastasia is waiting for him. Maxim is upset by the quarrel with Sergei and the problem with the mafia, but Anastasia seduces him and they have sex.

Maxim tells after sex that probably Garik Ponomarev did not kill his uncle. And that his uncle seems to have stolen from the mafia a large amount of income from illegal business.

Anastasia suggests Maxim to search his uncle's mansion. They do not find hiding places and money, but among the things of Leonid Sorokin, his photo with a young girl is found. Maxim suspects that this is his uncle's mistress and she may be involved in his murder.

Maxim finds the girl from the photo, however, the stranger turns out to be Sorokin's illegitimate daughter named Kristina Evseeva. Apparently, her father did not want mafia boss Garik Ponomarev to find out about their relationship. For the same reason, Leonid Sorokin made Maxim Vetrov the heir, and not his own daughter, since there are more problems than benefits from such an inheritance.

Maxim returns to the mansion and learns from Anastasia that she has detained a suspect in the murder of his uncle. This is a member of a street gang named Nikita Kiselyov. Leonid Sorokin's ring was found in his possession. However, Kiselyov has an alibi at the time of the crime. Anastasia is forced to let him go.

Maxim Vetrov finds Nikita Kiselyov in the gym and checks him in a fight. The guy turns out to be an inept fighter, and the technique of blows is different from the one used by the killer. Maxim lets Nikita go, making sure that he is not the murderer of his uncle.

Sergey Shiryaev quickly becomes aware of this case. Together with his friends, he decides to attack Maxim and put him in his place. Maxim at this time decides to check out Leonid Sorokin's abandoned dacha outside the city. Sergei and his comrades are watching Maxim and will attack at night on the territory of the dacha, but Maxim easily fights off enemies. The beaten Sergey is forced to retire, but in retaliation he disables Maxim's car.

Maxim sends the car to the car service, and he returns to the mansion by taxi. Left alone and without a car, Maxim checks the garage. In the brickwork of the wall he finds a secret safe, and inside he finds a plane ticket to another country. There are also fake documents and a certain amount of money.

In one of the departments of the safe Maxim discovers a box with receipts from a workshop for the manufacture of tombstones. One receipt indicates that the new tombstone for Uncle Leonid Sorokin's wife is ready and can be picked up. But Maxim remembers exactly how his uncle quarreled with his wife and did not particularly like her. He suspects that his uncle may have hidden the money in a gravestone in the cemetery.

Anastasia arrives at the mansion in the evening. Maxim shows her the find and suggests that her uncle could have hidden the money stolen from the mafia in the cemetery. Anastasia objects, as much money as Leonid Sorokin stole won't fit into a small tombstone. However, she agrees to go with Maxim to the cemetery and check the grave. Then they have sex.

At night, Maxim Vetrov and Anastasia Topoleva arrive in a van at the cemetery. Maxim smashes the tombstone with a sledgehammer and discovers a cache of gold bars and diamonds inside the marble.

At this time, two of Anastasia's police partners appear. Maxim understands everything right away. Anastasia admits that Leonid Sorokin died accidentally, no one was going to kill him. She found out that Sorokin had bought a ticket and was going to escape abroad. Together with her partners, Anastasia only wanted to take the stolen mafia money. However, during the interrogation, Sorokin had a heart attack. The police could not take him to the hospital, so Sorokin died, and his body was then dumped a couple of blocks from home.

Maxim reproaches Anastasia, believing that everything could have worked out in their life together. She replies that the war broke Maxim, and peaceful life finally finished him off. She says she despises him and has been manipulating him all this time to find Leonid Sorokin's money.

Having found out the truth, Maxim Vetrov pretends to pray before his death. Suddenly, he snatches throwing knives and kills Anastasia's partners with them, after which he pulls out a gun and kills her in a rapid firefight.

Maxim arrives in a van at the port dock, to the gang of Garik Ponomarev. He gives away the gold, but Garik is unhappy. He demands to return the entire amount. The bandits beat Maxim badly. He leaves, leaving the van at the dock.

After getting out of the port dock, Maxim goes to the chief of police. Maxim tells about the illegal business of Sorokin and Garik Ponomarev. About the fact that Anastasia suspected Garik of murder and went to follow him in order to get evidence. Maxim expresses his fears to the police chief, because she has not been in touch for a long time and assumes the worst options, since Garik is a very violent mafia.

The Chief of Police sends a capture team to check the port dock. SWAT team discovers a van with the bodies of police officers. The police chief gives the order to shoot to kill. The capture group destroys the bandits. Garik Ponomarev is trying to escape by car. A chase begins, as a result of which a traffic police post shoots a mafia car with machine guns.

Anastasia Topoleva and her partners are buried with honors at the cemetery. Officially, the dead policemen figured out the killer of Leonid Sorokin and uncovered a mafia gang.

The Chief of Police sends a capture team to check the port dock. SWAT team discovers a van with the bodies of police officers. The police chief gives the order to shoot to kill. The capture group destroys the bandits. Garik Ponomarev is trying to escape by car. A chase begins, as a result of which a traffic police post shoots a mafia car with machine guns.

Anastasia Topoleva and her partners are buried with honors at the cemetery. Officially, the dead policemen figured out the killer of Leonid Sorokin and uncovered a mafia gang.

Maxim Vetrov meets at Anastasia's grave with his uncle's daughter. He tells Kristina Evseeva that it was Anastasia who helped solve the murder of her father. And there is some truth in this. After that, Maxim gives Kristina the keys to the mansion, because he believes she is more worthy of receiving her father's inheritance. Kristina replies that the mansion is too big and offers Maxim to stay in it to live. Maxim agrees.

The final.

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