Based upon true events, when a decorated Luftwaffe officer and his family on holiday accidently end up on a train to Treblinka, they have 24 hours to convince the death camp commandant that they are ‘Aryans’ and save their lives.

“Based upon true events”– I think this is necessary because the setup that follows is unbelievable without it. It’s required to establish the credibility of the story. This is an instance when the truth is stranger than fiction.

“…when a decorated Luftwaffe officer and his family on holiday accidently end up on a train to Treblinka” — this is the story hook. These 18 words sell the story. The remaining words are pro forma.

“…they have 24 hours to convince the death camp commandant that they are ‘Aryans’ and save their lives.” — the dramatic conflict, stakes and objective goal.

I see it differently. I see the protagonist beginning from a state of total ignorance about his past involvement with the technology. (He could have been a guinea pig in a protocol testing the technology, and his memory was purged afterwards.) All he — and the audience knows — is that he’s a professional assassin who has been hired to do a dirty job.

He descends into the rabbit hole of a Looking Glass world where things are not as they seem. By a gradual process of discovery,he goes from ignorance to knowledge of his past.

The challenge is to come with an explanation of why the player is being played. Why is he being set up like this? What is the conspiracy behind the mission he has been given?

Think “Blade Runner”. Why was Deckard tapped to go after the replicants? Because he’s the best. Why is he the best? (What doesn’t he know about himself?)