Psychological Thriller – Would you watch it?
Paul ClarkeSamurai
A na?ve new prison psychiatrist takes it upon herself to fight for the rights of an aging hit-man kept in solitary confinement, but when her husband is kidnapped, he?s the only one she can turn to for help.
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Paul,
I would watch this movie. But from your log line I don’t see the inherit conflict between the hit man and the psychiatrist. How are they at odds to help each other? Of course the he would want to help her, quid pro quo, right? Speaking of which, it has some flavor of Claris Starling, Hannibal Lecter and the plot of Silence of the Lambs. Does her fighting for his rights just establish their relationship or is it integral to the rest of the plot? If it’s establishing, then maybe it doesn’t need to be here? Is the husband’s kidnapping a first act development? Then you might consider starting with the inciting incident. Something like “When the husband of a naive new prison psychiatrist is kidnapped the only one who can help is a bitter, aging hit man in solitary confinement.” Here you have maximum contrast between the two characters who must work together. I mean, if they don’t work together, then you have no movie, right?
Hope this helps,
Doc
Thanks Doc.
I think you summed it all up perfectly. Yes, it has Silence of the Lambs written all over it. In fact, I’m trying to avoid making it too similar. The points you make have made me rethink the structure of the movie. Shows you how important these loglines are. The kidnapping would be around the middle. When things become serious. Up until then it’s merely threats and small gestures. So I think I will remove it from the logline.
The idea is, there is a Mob Boss in the prison who wants the Psychiatrist to have him transferred to a low security mental facility. But I’m not sure how to include him and the hit man. Do I need both? What would Silence of the Lambs logline be? Would it include Hannibal and Buffalo Bill?
I might have to remove the part about fighting for the hit mans rights.