So after a couple of years (8 in fact!) I’ve finally finished the script for our first feature film ‘Black Widow’. This began life as a short film back in 2010 entitled ‘Song of the Goat’ which was co-written by Jon Oughtred and myself and focused on the events of one night in London when the UK’s most prolific drug lord (Athena) and police chief (Helen) came to blows in quite an epic action/thriller showdown. Since then a LOT has changed and apart from the fact that these two characters are long lost sisters…not much else has remained the same!
The idea worked well as a short film but to turn that concept into a full-length feature needed more depth and character development. The film now stands as a modern retelling of ‘the Prince and the Pauper’ tale in which two sisters are separated at birth and reunited later in life, never knowing either one existed. One sister was raised by a drug-abusing mother and the other raised by one of London’s top barristers – they of course then went on to lead very different lives however are both at the near-pinnacle of their careers when they are reunited in their late 30’s. The eldest sister, Helen, now leads an investigation into the black cocaine drug ‘Black Widow’ which has overtaken the streets of London like an epidemic with high potency and low prices, whilst the younger sister Athena is the drug lord behind this operation. Serendipity brings the two together and the rest plays out like a Greek Tragedy.
The film then focuses on what it means to be ‘family’ – why do people feel the need to reconcile with long lost family members when truthfully they are total strangers? What makes ‘blood’ so important that we will try to make this person part of the family even when they have never been involved in our lives? As an (l!)only child this concept really puzzled me and it was an extremely interesting study into the meaning of ‘family’ and why it’s so important.
The film also plays heavily on ‘right and wrong’ and how not everything in life is merely ‘black and white’ and as simple as ‘dealing drugs is wrong’. Yes, granted, it is – however due to the nature in which the character of Athena deals the drugs, she has inadvertently reduced gang crime and even the need for a gang via selling her drug on the Dark Web. No more street corners and no more gangs, just people themselves choosing to buy drugs and being supplied them.
One final theme the film touches on is ‘class’ and how someone as wealthy and powerful as Athena can still feel terrible upon the realisation that she has turned her back on everything that has made her who she is and the struggles she faced. She has the money and power to do something about it and help others struggling in the same way she did, but she has chosen not to and now lives in her ‘castle on the hill’ watching as those below her suffer.
So that’s just a quick insight into the film and what it’s now all about! With the script now written it’s a case of getting the original team back together and seeing how we can take this and get it made!
