Treatment

The plot for my thriller:

A serial killer is on the loose, killing young girls in their own homes. The police race against the clock to find out who he is and what the connection is between the girls. As the murders continue, the police finally discover the connection. The serial killer used to be a patient at a psychiatric hospital because after his daughter died he was driven insane by guilt. Whilst he was in the psychiatric hospital the psychiatrist failed to help him, now after being let out he is taking his revenge on the psychiatrists by killing their daughters.


The opening 2 minutes:

We fade into a shot of girl called Rachel who is home alone, upset because her and her boyfriend have had an argument. The door bell rings and Rachel gets up to go and answer the door. At the front door there is a newspaper, she picks it up and opens the door. Her friend, Lex has come round with a bottle of wine trying to cheer her up and tells her she ordered them a take away on her way round.

They both walk back through the living room to go to the dining room where they open the wine, on the way they read the front of the newspaper and start discussing the news story about a serial killer whose been killing girls in their own homes.

When they're in the dining room, we see the killer pass the patio doors, however the characters don't see this. Lex hears the doorbell ring and says it must be the take away and they both run to the door arguing who should pay. Once they're gone, the killer then opens the patio door, eerie music starts playing. As he enters the dining room he doesn't shut the patio door completely as it will make a noise. He hears the girls coming back and runs through a door into the study.

The girls come back through to the dining room, Lex asks Rachel if the patio door was open earlier, she says "No.." and Lex says jokingly "Well it must have been, who else would've opened it?" She picks up the newspaper "The intruder?!" they both laugh and both go into the lounge and sit down to watch TV.

We cut to a shot of the intruder walking around the study looking for something, moving papers around, he then sees a picture of a woman he seems to recognise. He drops the picture on the floor which makes the girls jump and say "What was that?". They hesitate and argue about who will go check what the noise was, obviously frightened. They eventually both go into the study and check, the window is wide open and everything is a mess. They realise it was the intruder. They leave the room to go and call the police, on the way talking about how lucky an escape it was, however as they turn back into the dining room the intruder is standing there with a knife. Cut to black screen, titles fade in.

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I believe this opening is successful as it builds up suspense and entices the audience, leaving them wanting to watch more. The audience want to find out who the intruder was, what he was looking for in the office, why he recognised the woman in the photo and what happened to the girls.