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Logline

When a mysterious director begins replacing a cast of A-list actors with flawless, murderous doppelgängers at an isolated desert retreat, a jaded Hollywood writer must weaponize her own messy humanity to survive.

Synopsis

DEVON, a jaded indie screenwriter, reluctantly accepts an invitation to an isolated Mojave Desert estate. She is reuniting with her former friends—A-list actors TESS, JASON, and ANTON—under the guidance of GENNA, the ruthless producer who stole Devon’s last script. The draw? A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to workshop a film for HASTUR, the world’s most elusive, billionaire director. Genna offers Devon a private deal: complete the four-day workshop, and her stolen movie will finally get made.

The workshop is grueling and unorthodox. Genna strips away the actors’ defenses, demanding they mine their deepest traumas for raw authenticity. When the actors finally deliver breakthrough, soul-baring performances, they are rewarded with a sign from the mysterious director: a single yellow rose.

But the reward is a death sentence.

One by one, the actors are violently murdered by featureless, white-masked doppelgängers. These synthetic replacements peel off the actors’ faces, wear them, and steal their roles to perform with flawless, unfeeling perfection.

Devon soon discovers the horrific truth: Hastur is not a Hollywood visionary. He is an ancient cosmic entity harvesting human art. To survive the isolated desert and escape the cursed production, Devon must outsmart a monster that demands perfection by weaponizing the one thing it cannot replicate: her own flawed, messy humanity.
 

Meet the Filmmakers

Mark Christopher Havenner — Writer/Director/Actor
Mark Christopher Havenner is a writer, director, and actor with a lifelong dedication to storytelling. After a successful career in corporate strategic communication and video production—alongside publishing novels and ENnie Award-nominated tabletop roleplaying games under the pseudonym Christopher Grey—Mark transitioned his multidisciplinary storytelling expertise fully into independent film in 2024. Leveraging decades of production and world building experience, he wrote and directed the existential found-footage horror short LISTEN, followed by his debut feature film, THE END IS TRENDING. Now funding his second feature, the cosmic horror THE KING IN YELLOW, Mark is the founder of Khepri Films. His mission is to push the boundaries of independent cinema and champion the core of what makes the medium so vital: humans making movies about humans, for humans.

Merivelle — Cinematographer
Merivelle is an American director, writer, and actor of Greek heritage. She gained recognition for her films Opa and The Sitdown. Her films have won multiple awards and received critical attention at various film festivals. At just 19 years old, she became one of the youngest filmmakers to win Best Student Short at the prestigious Beverly Hills Film Festival for her film, The Sitdown, a key milestone in her career.

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Contact

For inquiries, please contact [email protected].