In the near future, a mother and daughter must rely on their ingenuity and intelligence to survive a virus that has already decimated half the Earth’s population.

(Script took 2nd Place in The Monthly Film Festival AprMay2018)

SYNOPSIS:

In the near future, the Earth’s population has been decimated by two cycles of the Adipose Virus. The virus attacks a person’s fat cells, then their vital organs, making it especially lethal for thin people.

BLAKE MONTGOMERY, 17, a spunky, thin girl has ambitions of becoming a doctor. Her mother, ANN MONTGOMERY, 35, a moderately obese nurse practitioner, encourages her by teaching her skills such as suturing.

A third cycle of the virus forces Blake into a government run Quarantine Center for slim, at-risk girls. Thinking fast, Blake keeps her phone from being confiscated and explores off-limit areas of the center.

NURSE LAWRENCE, 30, tends to the center’s residents, but also works under a secret government mandate to sterilize the residents.

Blake notices girls are called in for a physical, become sick that night, and are taken to the infirmary for surgery. When a young girl becomes gravely ill after surgery, she’s taken to the hospital where Ann cares for her as she dies. An autopsy reveals she developed sepsis after being sterilized.

Ann becomes desperate to get Blake out. Unable to convince authorities that the girls are in danger, Ann directs Blake over the phone to do the unthinkable.

Alone and afraid, Blake makes shallow incisions, mimicking those used for sterilization, closing them with stitches. Days later when she gets a notice for a physical, the scars convince Nurse Lawrence that Blake’s already been sterilized.

All is well until Nurse Lawrence finds the used suture kit Blake hid and confronts Blake. The next morning Nurse Lawrence tests positive for the Adipose. A day later Blake tests positive and is rushed to the hospital.

Ann chases an unlikely lead that sends her to the abandoned office of a surgeon who had experimented with a procedure to grow fat cells in a clinical setting. While at the doctor’s office, Ann’s notified the hospital has authorized a limited fat transfer from her to Blake.

At the hospital, doctors comb through the files Ann retrieved, desperate to save Blake and give humanity a chance. It may not come soon enough as Blake’s condition takes a turn for the worse.

The doctors find what they’re looking for and rush to get fat cells from Ann to grow enough to save Blake’s life. By the time the transferred cells are accepted, Blake’s kidneys have been destroyed… but she’s alive. In time, she’s sent home to recuperate until strong enough to receive one of Ann’s kidneys.