Hunted by Lies

Date

8-29-2024

Department

College of Arts and Sciences

Chair

Nelson Durrell

Keywords

screenplay, fantasy, Christmas

Disciplines

Creative Writing

Abstract

This thesis is a ninety-page drama screenplay titled "Hunted by Lies," written for the purpose of exploring the themes of sin and forgiveness. The plot is set in an undefined time and country in the premodern world. This is done purposely to give this story a timeless, fairy tale-like aura. The protagonist is a priest who disgraces himself with an extra-marital affair with the wife of the town blacksmith. The details of this affair are kept hidden from the audience until the third act of the screenplay. He flees his town after his newborn child from this affair dies a few days after birth. He flees through the forest to find a new vocation. He encounters characters of other faiths, monsters, and sorcerers. Each of them challenge his notions of God and the nature of forgiveness. One of these is an evil spirit named Selma, who wishes to use the priest's sins to attack the Christian community. The disgraced priest enters a monastery and meets a holy man named Samuel who takes him on as his apprentice. Samuel is secretly deathly ill. He recognizes that his time on earth is drawing to a close. He is motivated by his desire to have an heir. He confides in his protégée, telling him that most men who seek seclusion do so because they are running from their past. Paradoxically, some holy men are running from God. He asks the priest to be his successor. The priest is hesitant. He realizes that he has no choice but to agree. Samuel has the priest shadow him. The priest watches as Samuel refuses admittance to another man who is running from his past. Samuel admits that a house of the Lord cannot be a place of refuge for literally every man who comes knocking. He is soon sworn in as the head of the monastery. Samuel happily steps down. Selma enters the monastery. Due to the priest's sins, which are unconfessed and consequently unforgiven, she is able to walk around freely and invisibly. Her origin and true nature are left open to the interpretation of the audience. She kills Samuel, who reveals that he knows her in his dying moments. She kills more holy men, forcing the priest to confess his sins to one of his brothers. They have a discussion about the eternal fate of the deceased child. Soon after this, Selma snaps his neck. The priest dies with his sins forgiven, having finally admitted to them. In the final segment of the film, two good spirits enter the monastery and vanquish Selma. The surviving monks are reminded of Christ's Great Commission. They are urged to return to society, and to take all that they have learned with them.

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