Valhalla

Valhalla
(supernatural-action-thriller)


LOG LINE: A Bedouin nomad clairvoyant, in search of her lost son, finds a Navy Seal team, who don't know they're dead.


The legend of Valhalla is from Norse mythology and is a tale of war and death. Valhalla was believed to be the afterlife for the bravest of warriors, who are killed in battle. Those soldiers who enter Valhalla are considered the ‘Chosen Dead', who will rise to battle again. In this screenplay the legend is given a modern twist. A mixture of the spiritual and the harrows of war are depicted in present day war-torn Iraq. Throughout history war has brought sadness, brutality, and sometimes hope. Too often we are not privy to what is really happening on the ground and this story dares to touch on the frightening realities of war and how the legends of the past can affect the present.

The story focuses on Trista Faheem, a Bedouin nomad clairvoyant, who is displaced by war. She desperately searches for her husband and son who were torn away from her by insurgents and violence. By a twist of fate, Trista meets a U.S. Navy Seal Team led by Lieutenant Kirkland, a grizzled veteran, who has taken Trista as their guide across an unfamiliar land, in their quest to get home. Their adventure unveils itself as Trista leads Lt. Kirkland and the Seals across the desert in which strange and mystical phenomena occur; as they die, but don't stay dead, they see ghosts, or do they?, and engage in epic battles against the greatest warriors of all time, while coming to terms with their ultimate destination.

Trista is faced with challenges at every turn. She is incarcerated by Captain Pruitt, an emotionless ice-burg, who formerly led the Seal team, to have a connection with Lt. Kirkland and his men, causing her to be imprisoned, accused of having terrorist ties. Her world falls apart, as her son is nowhere to be found, and Trista is torn between her home land and the metaphysical world of the dead. Reluctant to accept his own mortality, Lt. Kirkland slowly begins to appreciate Trista's own need to be whole again. Trista must find a way to guide the men through this violent afterlife, Valhalla, while never giving up the search for her young son.

The legend of Valhalla can be applied to a war that is in essence taking place in the cradle of civilization, where you cannot help but wonder why we haven't learned from the past. Cultures clash and unite in this epic tale of two very different people, helping each other in the most devastating of circumstances. Will the men ever find peace? Will Trista find her lost son? Most importantly, can those who are pained by the war enter Heaven or Valhalla, without learning the life lessons they need to?

Script of the Month:

Bronze Medal: October 2011

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