Cursed (2024)

Directed by David Bruckner  

SCENE 1: THE ABANDONED ESTATE

VISUAL:
A crumbling Gothic mansion at dusk, tangled vines clinging to broken windows. Inside, dust motes dance in the beam of LILA’s (Emma Mackey) flashlight as she uncovers an ornately carved idol buried beneath rotting floorboards.

SFX:
A low hum as her fingers brush the relic’s surface.

LILA (whisper):

“This… this shouldn’t exist outside the archives.” 

 

SCENE 2: FIRST WHISPERS

VISUAL:
Lila and CHARLOTTE (Kiernan Shipka) pack away the idol in Lila’s SUV. As the engine fires, the radio crackles to life with disembodied chanting. The artifact’s eyes glow faintly on the rear seat. 

CHARLOTTE (nervous):

“Did you tune into that broadcast?”
LILA (uneasy):
“No… I think it’s coming from the relic.”

 

SCENE 3: NIGHTMARE VISION

VISUAL:
Black-and-white flash: an ancient ritual beneath a blood moon. Hooded figures circle a blood-soaked altar. Cut to present: Charlotte wakes in a cold sweat, screams echoing in an empty room. 

CHARLOTTE (terrified, to Lila):

“They showed me… my own name carved into stone.”

SCENE 4: BLOODLINE REVELATION

VISUAL:
A dim library lined with leather-bound tomes. Lila deciphers a family tree—both their surnames entwined with the artifact’s creators. Dust swirls as the idol levitates, blood-red runes glowing across its surface.

LILA (shaken):

“We’re tied to this curse… by birthright.”

SCENE 5: CONFRONTING THE CURSE

VISUAL:
Snow-covered forest at midnight. Charlotte aims a shotgun at a spectral figure emerging from the trees (see

). Icicles drip as wind howls.

CHARLOTTE (resolute):

“You won’t take another soul.”

(Blast of shot; screen fractures to black.)