Emotional, cinematic, and rooted in realism, Psycho & Psyche is a love letter to crime dramas and superhero epics.
Emotional, cinematic, and rooted in character, Psycho & Psyche is a marriage of the superhero epics I loved as a kid and the crime dramas I love as an adult.
Mood disorders are often misunderstood.
Although stressful for patients, neuroscience has suggested that mood disorders can sometimes have advantages. Disorders like OCD, ADHD, and bipolar can give certain patients increased mental abilities.
Studies have shown that OCD patients have increased memory recall… People with ADHD are shown to have increased levels of creativity… Bipolar patients have increased empathy, resilience, and sense memory because of the way their brains are structured…
Kim Peek, who inspired the film Rain Man, was born with severe brain abnormalities that impaired his physical coordination and made ordinary reasoning difficult, but he could perform astonishing feats like reading facing pages of a book at once—one with each eye—and he read as many as 12,000 volumes! Even more remarkable, he could remember what he had read.
What if the people we perceive as “delusional” were onto something?
DIRECTOR DAVID FINCHER © 1995 NEW LINE CINEMA
At St. Owen's Mental Hospital in LA, bipolar patient ERIC KLAVEN fears an intruder tried to break in and kill him. Eric dresses up as a “superpowered” vigilante called PSYCHO and starts an investigation to prove he’s not as crazy as he seems. At the same time, Eric’s estranged police detective sister, SARA, attempts to solve the murders of several of their cop father’s old contacts, hoping that she and her brother will not be next.
We follow the siblings as they put aside their differences and compare notes to stop the killings. As they seek the truth, Sara and Eric will arrive at the same shocking conclusion: the stalker who Eric believes framed him for murder and the killer Sara is tracking are the same person. But who would want both siblings dead?
With the help of security guard MALCOLM, Sara begins to break Eric out at night to solve the murders. They pursue a list of suspects: a hulking dairy delivery man who stalks Eric, a cold and dangerous psychiatrist with a personality like poisoned honey, and a teenage anarchist hacker, and they even consider the possibility that the phantom criminal, MR. BLACK, who Eric believes framed him for murder, may be real. On top of everything, the siblings must protect their father's old partner from a predator, prevent Eric from seeking out his ex, who filed a restraining order against him, and make peace after the traumatic death of their brother, JASON.
To stop the murders and save their lives, Sara will have to confront the possibility that she's not as sane as she thought and that Eric's psychic abilities may be real. To assist the siblings are Sara's coworker, KURT LAWSON, and Eric's therapist, DR. REESE, who help them narrow down the suspects and come face-to-face with the horrible truth of the identity of their killer--a reveal that will fracture both Eric and Sara’s worlds.
MENTALIST CREATED BYBRUNO HELLER
The episodes of the show will follow a three-act format.
ACT ONE: Episodes 1-3 will focus on Eric trying to convince people that Mr. Black is real. Similarly, Sara and Kurt will track the Westside Slayer, a serial killer who stabs his victims and paints an insignia on a nearby surface in the victim’s blood. Both siblings feel misunderstood in their lives: Sara because she is the only female detective at work and Eric because everyone thinks he’s delusional. Act One will end with the siblings teaming up to solve the murders, but failing to protect their father’s old partner—their uncle figure—from being killed by Mr. Black, who leaves a taunting message in blood.
ACT TWO: Episodes 4-6 will focus on Eric and Sara attempting to unravel Mr. Black’s identity. Eric will chide Sara that the chronic headaches she experiences are the emergence of her superpower. Led by a clue, the siblings will revisit their childhood home in Riverside and their memories of their brother Jason, who Eric was framed for killing. An argument will cause them to drift apart again. Act Two ends with Eric learning that Mr. Black has kidnapped his ex-girlfriend, Beth, and Sara’s superhuman abilities emerging.
ACT THREE: Episodes 7-8 will focus on Eric embracing his vigilante identity as Psycho and Sara learning how her powers work. The act will climax with the siblings reuniting to combine their information – Eric with the knowledge of where Mr. Black is hiding and Sara with the clue to his identity, and together, the siblings will face the terrible truth of who Mr. Black is.
The main theme of the series is how mental health affects Eric and Sara’s sibling relationship.
Eric and Sara will fight like real family members do, even physically. I want to display bipolar disorder correctly and respectfully, honoring the struggles of those who carry the burden of the disorder.
Ultimately, there is love and acceptance Eric that finds from his sister.
On occasion, Eric’s mental health will be portrayed as quirky and humorous, while at other times, it will give emotional weight to the scenes between Eric and Dr. Reese, his fellow patients, and Sara. Likewise, Eric’s speech will become less rational and more delusional when he is stressed to convey his bipolar disorder.
Lighting and camera angles will be altered when Eric experiences manic and depressive episodes. Distorted camera techniques like a fisheye lens will be utilized when Eric is experiencing panic attacks. Dim lighting and claustrophobic camera angles will be used to draw the viewer into his larger-than-life emotions.
DARKO DIRECTOR RICHARD KELLY
© 2001 PANDORACINEMA
The show will inhabit two visually distinctive worlds: St. Owen’s and LAPD.
For the St. Owen’s scenes, I envision the style of David O. Russell’s films where there are closeup, claustrophobic shots of characters’ faces and quick cuts to show a high level of observation. The lighting and atmosphere will use muted colors to convey the way taking medication can make a user feel “foggy.”
For the LAPD scenes where Sara and Kurt are questioning witnesses on the street, the show will use long tracking shots and low lighting like a David Fincher film. For the Eric/Sara investigation scenes in Acts Two and Three, the show will balance humor and police drama similar to the TV series, Bones.
Psycho & Psyche will walk the line between gritty realism and dark comedy, which brings the characters’ humanity to the surface.
DIRECTED BYDAVID O. RUSSELL
ERIC KLAVEN, 30s, was institutionalized for the murder of his brother, Jason–which he says he did not commit. Eric is highly observant of his surroundings and loves comic books. Bipolar and naturally suspicious, Eric works to exonerate himself and return to the girlfriend who left him.
DR. CLIFF REESE, 50s, is Eric’s psychiatrist and the only person who thinks there might be some credibility to Eric’s belief in Mr. Black.
MALCOLM, 30s, is a security guard at St. Owen’s who is friendly with Eric. Loyal to a fault, he is easily bribed with comic books into letting Eric escape. Malcolm is single and lives with his mother.
DR. EILEEN “DR. O” O’CONNOR, 40s, is chief of medicine who strives to maintain order at St. Owen’s. She despises Eric for breaking the rules and wants to see him transferred to a criminal facility where he would be under 24-hour surveillance.
PSYCHO is Eric's superhero alter ego with the ability to see the history of any object he physically touches, but only the last person who touched it. A man of action and few words, Psycho is analytical and prefers to throw punches first and ask questions later. He is the result of Eric's repressed childhood trauma and is trained in various martial arts, giving Eric the edge he needs to find Mr. Black.
Psycho wears a navy blue trench coat, camo face paint, and a green bandana around his head. His weapons of choice are sharpened wooden stakes, which he keeps in his black backpack with a large tiger's face on it.
For the moments where Eric is investigating crime as Psycho, the tone will be more comedic since he is just starting out as a vigilante, and then he will embody a more serious tone as the plot progresses. In Act Three, Eric will display a more serious attitude since Eric will become more unhinged once he learns that his ex, Beth, has been captured by Mr. Black.
CREATED BY HART HANSON
© 2005 FOX
SARA “PSYCHE” KLAVEN, 30s, is Eric’s sister. An LAPD detective, she tries to hide that she has a “criminal” brother. She has been aloof ever since the loss of her older brother, Jason, and blames Eric for his death.. Sara thrives on results and secretly loves Detective Lawson if only she could let down her walls to tell him. She has chronic headaches, which Eric says is a sign of an emerging power. Sara eventually realizes she can hear the dead, explaining her knack for solving homicides.
KURT LAWSON, 30s, is Sara’s smooth-talking partner. Her emotional anchor, Kurt doesn’t realize her interest in him. He charms women easily. From St. Louis, he is polite, courteous, and loves golf.
JACK VAN HORNE, 50s, is the Chief of Police. He is stern, commanding, and used to work with Eric and Sara’s detective father.
JASON KLAVEN, 30s, was Sara and Eric’s older brother. Angry and brash, Jason pursued a life of crime…and was found dead in Eric’s arms one day. Jason appears in flashbacks.
DIRECTED BYCHRISTOPHER NOLAN
© 2008 WARNER BROTHERS
MR. BLACK is the criminal mastermind who Eric says framed him for murder. According to Eric, he is six feet tall and wears a black hoodie that obscures his face in darkness.
Eric believes Mr. Black is plotting to kill him. He says that Mr. Black sent him a letter in the mail—which he lost—that read, “This is the only way you’ll learn.” No one believes Eric until he and Sara find the missing letter in a storage unit containing his things from his old apartment.
Once Eric proves that Mr. Black exists and Sara realizes the killer she is chasing is the same criminal, the race is on for both siblings to catch Mr. Black—and resolve their differences.
Each time one question is answered about his identity, there’s another question beneath, like layers of an onion:
“Who is Mr. Black?”
“What lesson does he want Eric to learn?”
“Why does he want Eric and Sara dead?”
The season finale will reveal Mr. Black’s identity, which will shake the foundations of both Eric and Sara’s worlds.
Several revelations in the season finale will need exploring:
The reveal of Mr. Black as someone Eric and Sara know will change their relationship– but how?
Once Sara becomes convinced that she has powers, what does this mean for her sanity? Will her powers spin out of control and take her down a dark path, leading Eric on a mission to save her from self-destruction?
In the next season, we learn that Mr. Black was just a pawn for a bigger villain – who has the power to bestow dangerous abilities on anyone he chooses and for his dark designs.
I created the characters of Eric and Sara when I was a kid. I also envisioned an assortment of new characters, THE SUPERHUMANS. Now that Eric has gained control of his powers, he could help train these new people to use their powers – and maybe even lead a team of heroes – and experience some of these enhanced people becoming villains.
