Still reeling from the loss of her mother, college senior Immy joins a double date vacation weekend at a remote lake house. When a series of gruesome murders turns their getaway into a nightmare, the survivors discover they are trapped inside a carefully constructed death trap. As the body count rises, Immy must overcome her grief and summon the courage to face a terrifying threat in order to save the person she loves most.

ACT 1:

A group of friends, comprised of two couples, arrive at a lake house: Immy (21) and her boyfriend, Owen (22), and, Shawn (23) and his girlfriend Gretchen (22). Owen was the one who organized the vacation and rented the house, as a way to help cheer up Immy, following the recent passing of her mother. Immy still wears the pendant her mother gave her that has inscribed on it, "My Greatest Love -Mom." Gretchen questions how Owen found the house through a supposed obscure website, but Shawn points out that despite the place only having 20 reviews, they're all five stars. Later we see Immy and Gretchen, while doing their nightly routine, talking about their relationships. Immy is appreciative of Owen organizing the trip, but feels as if he speaks too much about joyous things in his life, like his job, and feels as if there has not been space for her grief. Gretchen acknowledges Immy's feeling, and states that Owen probably does care about how she is feeling, and that they never know what goes on in a man's head. Just then, a loud thud is heard from the bedroom.

ACT 2:

Immy enters the room, followed by Gretchen. She looks around, when suddenly the power goes out. A CLICK is heard at the window. Gretchen tries to open it, as Owen and Shawn enter the room. It is discovered that the windows are locked from the outside and the glass is indestructible. They all begin to panic. A crash sound is heard from downstairs. The friends decide to all go together to check it out. While downstairs they come across the breaker and try to turn the power back on. It fails. They then head for the door, only to discover that it too is locked from the outside. Immy then realizes that Gretchen is no longer with them and Shawn calls out to her. They then discover Gretchen dead on the floor. Enraged, Shawn calls out to whomever killed her. A hand holding a knife then appears out of the darkness and stabs Shawn, killing him.

ACT 3:

A woman, Denise Anderson, emerges from the shadows and reveals himself to be the owner of the house. Driven by bitterness over failed relationships and a twisted desire to punish those in love, she created a false website to lure couples to the lake house, where she would murder them. Denise turns his violence on Owen, stabbing him and preparing to finish him off. Immy, frozen with fear throughout the ordeal, finally breaks — she charges at David, overpowers her, and chokes her to death using the pendant necklace, transforming a symbol of grief into an instrument of survival. Immy then calls 911 and caresses Owen, who is on the floor wounded as sirens are heard approaching in the distance.

Characters:

Immy: Early 20s, Caring, Timid, Grieving, Resilient

Owen: Early 20s, Protective, Optimistic, Brave, inquisitive

Shawn: Early 20s, Intelligent, Confident, Playful, Selfless

Gretchen: Early 20s, Practical, Resourceful, Sarcastic, Fun

Denise: Late 20s, Bitter, Manipulative, Sadistic

Inspiration for the film:

Halloween (1978)

Friday the 13th (1980)

Scream (1996)

Sick (2022)

Visual Inspiration:

Why to Contribute:

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• Cast & Crew – Hiring talented, experienced people to bring this story to life.
• Locations – Securing the ideal setting for the film, including a lake house central to the story.
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Director's Statement:

I've always been a fan of thrillers. There's something about experiencing tension in dire situations that I consider top-tier escapist entertainment. I wrote Deadly Stay as an homage to the movies that gave me that feeling — particularly the slasher films of the '70s, '80s, and '90s, like Halloween, Friday the 13th, and Scream. I've always loved the thrills these films provide, and I have a real soft spot for their tropes: the isolated setting, the friend group picked off one by one, the killer with a twisted, personal motive.

I wrote this film to emulate those elements while setting the story firmly in the 21st century — where a "perfect getaway" is booked through an Instagram ad instead of a classified listing, and where the real danger hides behind supposed "five-star" reviews. At its core, though, Deadly Stay is about overcoming grief and finding connection. Immy carries the weight of losing her mother throughout the film, symbolized by the pendant she wears — and it's that same object, born from love, that ultimately becomes her means of survival. Meanwhile, Denise, our killer, is driven by her own loneliness and resentment toward couples she sees as inauthentic. In a strange way, both characters are wrestling with isolation; only one of them finds a way through it.

My goal is to give audiences a good old-fashioned scare ride — one that evokes the feel of those classic slasher films while weaving in a deeper theme of overcoming your inner demons and finding strength through the people, you hold onto. In the end, I hope to deliver a thrill ride audiences won't forget.