Devoured Pitch Deck

DEVOURED

DEVOURED LoglinE The last isolated inhabitant of a holiday village on the bleak coast of Wales guards his home – and his mind - against real and imagined horrors.

BUDGET $3 million

GENRE Psychological horror

THEMES Guilt, Dementia, Grief and Family

SYNOPSIS At the end of the summer season, as the last tourists leave, the picturesque Welsh village empties…except for DYLAN (70’s) the last year-round resident.

As the night’s grow long, the dark windows of the silent houses stand vigil, watching as Dylan keeps himself busy with maintenance and chores, while waiting for the results of hospital tests. Later, Dylan fishes off the new jetty in the harbour, but it suddenly collapses, revealing his fear of deep water. Pulling himself out of the frigid sea, he looks up and sees a mysterious boy watching him, but he vanishes upon a second look, unnerving Dylan. Is the boy to blame?

CERI (60’s), Dylan’s estranged wife visits Dylan. She tries to convince him to move on, let go of their once-happyhome and divide their assets so they can finally get divorced. Rather than face this loss, Dylan “retreats” into memories of happier times in his home and the village when he was young.

But Dylan begins to be stalked by an ominous presence from the ocean, sometimes taking the shape of a boy, and at other times an unseen “horror.” This monster terrorises him in the present before it starts to creep into his mind and “devour” his memories: and we reveal Dylan’s medical tests and diagnosis: Dementia.

The “sea horror” grows stronger, as Dylan tries to protect his memories from its hunger. As memories are stripped from him, he is forced to confront his past mistakes - the breakdown of his marriage to Ceri and the death of his son in a tragic accident at sea.

The film reaches its crises, as Dylan and the malevolent sea presence wrestle for Dylan’s most precious and last remaining memory of his son…and Dylan loses. Memories devoured, he is removed from the cottage and sent to a Nursing Home.

His house, once full of memorabilia and trinkets, decorated with photos and memories, are cleared and all traces erased. Now its walls are blank, a cookie-cutter Airbnb rental for holidaymakers.

TONE & FEEL

CHARACTERS

DYLAN (40s & 70s) A man whose face, mind, and body carry the scars of a life of regret. Dylan is haunted by his past – the death of his longed-for only son. Dylan blames himself and feels he should have died trying to save him. This loss shattered any love between him and his now mostly estranged wife CERI. Dylan’s refusal to move on from the past turned him inwards, bitter and finally aggressive, until he drove Ceri away. A regret he is still to face up to. Today his wife is both a torment – demanding he sell the family home which he prizes as a precious memorial to his son, while also existing as a constant reminder of all he has lost.

POTENTIAL CAST OLDER T.O.M YOUNGER T.O.M Anthony Hopkins Matthew Rhys Jonathan Pryce Aidan Turner Brian Cox Ben Foster Patrick Stewart Trystan Gravelle Ian McKellen Iwan Rheon

CERI (30s & 70s) A woman who has survived loss upon loss - and found a way to keep moving forward. When her son died time stopped for a while.

But Ceri found the will to continue – while her husband stayed frozen in time – and in the end was forced to leave Dylan for her own sanity and sake. Today, she cares about him, but is increasingly frustrated by his erratic behaviour while they try to split their assets – unaware that he may be suffering from Dementia. Once she realises this, it’s the kind of leverage - that could make her life easier – but will she use this against her former husband?

POTENTIAL CAST YOUNGER CERI OLDER CERI Morfydd Clarke Lesley Manville Olivia Thirlby Brenda Blethyn Cynthia Erivo Marianne Jean-Baptiste Gugu Mbatha Raw Imelda Staunton Kerry Condon

director’s statement DEVOURED is a film about loss – loss of the land, of family, of community and memory and how those things intertwine with one another and the devastation that can wreak. But, I’d like to think there’s still a hopeful message – confronting the horrors that stalk around us can lead to a resolution because looking away will, in the end, be the downfall of everything.

The film is set in an isolated Welsh fishing village, huddled within a jagged and harsh cove. The houses in the village are packed together like misshapen teeth, pitted and eroded by the salt sodden air. The land looms over the village, the headland lush with grasses, and cascades down into a small bay with a decrepit harbour. The greens and blue of the sky, grasses and sea, clash with the black cliffs and the faded but colourful houses of the village. The vestiges of a busy and bustling place are evident but the decay is palpable and permeates everything.

The tone will be one of uncertainty and dread, incorporating uncanny set pieces to induce confusion. My goal is for the audience to experience the same fear and disorientation as dementia sufferers. Rather than relying on jump scares, the film will feature horrifying and startling moments dispersed throughout, along with isolated instances of gore. Visually the framing will be observational and position Dylan as being part of the town – including its erosion into the sea. The main reference points would be Ari Aster and Robert Eggers, specifically the slow creep of menace and dread and the holding of the audiences gaze on the more horrific elements. This will be coupled with a soundscape that relies heavily on a hyper realised version of the natural sounds of the town and sea, to create an uncanny and unsettling atmosphere. The stand-out element of the soundtrack will be the use of a carnyx – an ancient Celtic battle horn used in warfare to rouse troops to battle.

DEVOURED has personal resonance for me - three of my grandparents suffered from various forms of dementia before they passed away. I saw first-hand the destruction of their personalities as their memories ebbed away. It is a stark realisation that we are little more than a repository for the experiences we collect in life.

WRITER’s statement On a personal level this story is important to me: I watched two grandparents navigate Dementia before passing away, and I am now currently watching a third. It is a haunting experience to see someone you love disappear in front of your eyes…as their current memory is destroyed, they appear to live in the past more and more, until even those memories are obliterated. To me, this devastating disease seemed to kill my grandparents long before their bodies stopped working. So in DEVOURED I want to explore this disease from the inside out - taking our viewers inside the horror of losing ones memories, told mostly from the POV of the sufferer Dylan, as well as glimpses of the experience of those witnessing this externally - through his wife.

RYAN ANDREW HOOPER - DIRECTOR Ryan Andrew Hooper is a Welsh filmmaker based in Cardiff. Ryan began his career as a writer and director of short films and quickly gained attention for his ability to infuse emotion and humour into his work. His short film CATAWAMPUS, received critical acclaim and was showcased in numerous festivals. Hooper also directed THE SHIRT for BBC and in 2019 directed AMBITION as part of the BFI and Ffilm Cymru’s Beacons scheme. In 2021, Ryan made his feature film debut with THE TOLL, a black comedy film that displayed his knack for blending wit and satire with relatable characters. The film was well-received by both audiences and critics, solidifying his position as a promising director. His most recent work is LADY BIGFOOT for BBC Wales, a comedy pilot about a lovelorn Bigfoot living in the Welsh woodlands.

Ryan is currently a producer at the BBC and is in development with Ffilm Cymru on two film projects, as well as a TV series with ITV Studios.

LARA BARBIER - WRITER Lara is a Cornwall-based screenwriter working across TV, Film, Radio and Video Games. She was selected for the Channel 4 TV Drama New Writers Scheme (West and South West) 2023 where she developed an original TV series GOING COASTAL. Lara’s debut audio drama for BBC Radio 3, M IS FOR MUSSELS, was nominated for an Imison Award 2023 and has won a Torc Award for Excellence for Best Audio Drama. She is currently co-writing an original historical series, LOLA, for Constantin TV with long-term collaborator Emily Rhodes. She is also developing a dark historical fantasy film, THE ASH UNDER THE MOUNTAIN for Standoff Pictures with development funding from Ffilm Cymru. Previous projects include co-writing a feature-length adaptation of a German language YA novel for Bavaria Fiction and Netflix and participating in BFI-financed writer’s room for Alien8ed led by Simon J. Ashford, produced by Phillippa Giles. Lara has developed original series with Red Planet and Sprout.

NAn davies - producer Nan Davies is a Welsh film producer whose award-winning shorts have screened at BAFTA and Academy Award qualifying festivals around the world. She studied film production at the New York Film Academy and in 2022 attended the Edinburgh International Film Festival Talent Lab. In 2023 she was selected for the prestigious BFI Insight Programme for emerging feature producers, is a member of BAFTA Connect and a BAFTA Cymru judge. She recently spent six months at Ffilm Cymru as their Development Executive. Before moving to film, she produced and exec produced video and TV commercials for brands including The BFI, The BRIT Awards, Tesco, Wrigley’s and Swarovski. She was the series producer on BEST BEFORE, a non-scripted music series for Channel 4 and was the development producer on BBC Four’s LIFE CINEMATIC which profiled iconic filmmakers including Sam Mendes and Sofia Coppola. She’s drawn to stories that examine contemporary social themes through unique and inspiring characters and is passionate about putting Welsh stories on the screen. She is currently developing a slate of features through her Cardiff-based company One Wave Films.

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THE TEAM

COMPS GET OUT (2017)

HEREDITARY (2018)

IT COMES AT NIGHT (2017)

Budget: $4.5 million

Budget: $10 million

Budget: $5 million

Box Office: $176 million

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Box Office: $19,735,344

THE BABADOOK (2014)

SAINT MAUDE (2019)

THE LIGHTHOUSE (2019)

Budget: $1.2 million

Budget: Unknown

Budget: $13 million

Box Office: $10.2 million

Box Office: $1,383,868

Box Office: $18,129,854

why now?

The resonance of films like GET OUT and MIDSOMMER demonstrate the growing appetite for psychological horror interwoven with social commentary. These films have proven that when universal themes are explored through a genre lens, they have the power to captivate a vast and diverse audience.

Memory has been explored throughout the history of cinema due to its universal relevance, emotional and philosophical depth, narrative complexity and intrigue- as shown through classics like VERTIGO and ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND. Our exploration of memory through a protagonist with dementia is particularly timely as one in two people will be affected by Dementia in their life-time with 1 million people currently living with dementia in the UK. DEVOURED uses the genre of monster horror to tap into a society-wide awareness of this disease.

The film’s evocative setting, a once-thriving fishing village now hollowed out by holiday homes and eerily deserted during the winter, serves as a poignant reflection of the very real erasure of entire communities seen in countless coastal towns across the UK today. This erosion of community underscores the palpable threat to mental health, particularly faced by the older generation.

This film’s target audience are horror fans however through these universal themes, a visually unique world and savvy casting we believe DEVOURED will connect with a much wider audience.

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DEVOURED CONTACT nan@onewavefilms.co.uk

one wave.