A young woman survives against the odds in a world ravaged by a fatal virus that wipes out 99% of the population.
Short Synapsys
References: The 100, The Handmaid’s Tale (TV), The Road, Outbreak (film).
Antidote tells the story of Bella, a 21-year-old woman, her twin brothers and a disparate a group of people who survive in the aftermath of a biological pandemic, that wipes out 99% of the population.
A secondary infection that kills people more slowly, affects a number of survivors – A few surviving scientists quickly work out that people who are infected by this secondary infection can be saved via organ transplants – so healthy human organs become an important commodity for those who can afford them. Because of this, gangs of ‘Harvesters’ roam the country, kidnap people and harvest their organs.
The series observes three time periods of Bella’s life – when the virus first hits, two years after and an unknown time period. This gives us a chance to see three very different Bella’s – Bella as a naïve young woman at the start of the story and then Bella as a survivor, willing to go to any lengths to keep alive and Bella as an escapee from a hospital after a failed attempt to take her organs.
The latter is time period starts each episode – we see Bella attached to an operating table and slowly witness her escape from harvesters. Or is it Bella? It certainly looks like her…
In a bleak world where survival means doing unspeakable things, can Bella find her humanity again and let herself get close to people? Will the harvesters catch them before the Mysterious Looking Man does? And why are Bella and the twins so important to him?
Antidote is a post-apocalyptic horror, dark, brooding yet ultimately, filled with shards of hope for the future. Bella is a role model for women and men alike – strong, independent and a survivor in a backwards looking world, largely run by corrupt men. Only the strong survive and that gives Bella a head-start. But she has to do it the hard way and at huge personal cost, leaving her sanity and her humanity on the line.
Winner, Best Screenplay – Thinking Hat Fiction Challenge, 2020
Winner, Best TV Screenplay – Feel The Reel International Film Festival, 2018
3rd place, Best TV PILOT Screenplay – Las Vegas Screenplay Festival, 2019
Finalist (tbc), Best TV Screenplay – Olympus Film Festival, Los Angeles, 2019
SEMI-Finalist, Best TV Screenplay LA Cinefest 2019
