Dominion

PROLOGUE:

FADE IN:

OUR POINT OF VIEW OPENS ON A MURAL

Colorful, faded, looks a thousand years old, but done by a

post-modern artist. As we MOVE across the mural, images come

to life, animate and play out the action over a YOUNG WOMAN’S

VOICE. This is CLAIRE and we’ll meet her soon enough.

We focus on the drawing of a SINGLE EYE. It slowly blinks.

CLAIRE:

It used to be said that if God

didn’t exist... mankind would need

to invent him. In the end, we

didn’t need to do anything. He was

real. And twenty five years ago he

disappeared.

The EYE BLINKS again and stays closed, becoming a single line

that dissipates like dust being blown away by a strong wind.

CLAIRE:

No one knows when HE lost faith in

us, or why, but looking back at

that time it’s not hard to see the

many possible reasons.

We then see what looks like the Roman God of War, GABRIEL the

Archangel, swoop down fiery, angry, deadly. The Archangel

MICHAEL, beautiful, heroic, epic meets him in battle.

CLAIRE:

In HIS absence, a civil war broke

out amongst his angels over the

fate of mankind, driven by those of

them who despised Man and felt that

he had been unjustly elevated above

them.

We focus on each ARCHANGEL as they BATTLE...

CLAIRE:

Gabriel, the Archangel of death,

led this war. Michael, the

greatest of all Archangels, fought

him. These warring angels brought

their fight to earth in a great

cataclysm.

2.

EARTH, blue and green, burns... swirling around it are

frightening ANGELIC WRAITHS that look like the Ark Ghosts

from RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK.

CLAIRE:

Sides were drawn, the entire lower

rank of angels joining Gabriel.

Unlike Archangels, Gabriel’s lower

angels, “the Dogs of Heaven,” were

lesser spirits without a physical

form. They could not visit earth

without a body so the angels’ first

line of attack was to steal ours...

they seized control of our bodies,

killing us from within, turning

brother against brother, husband

against wife, mother against son.

The mural artwork continues to come to life, showing images

of human beings being possessed and transformed: mouths full

of jagged teeth, distended limbs, hands with razor sharp

talons and jet black eyes. Rampaging and killing.

CLAIRE:

Most of humanity were either killed

or possessed in the first weeks of

the “Extermination War”, while the

remaining few had the strength of

spirit to fight off possession.

These survivors mobilized, pulling

back into fortified cities, and

fought the angels to a standstill

across what is now called the Rysen

Line, after the great General who

led the battle. My father.

A LINE runs across a map of the US, specifically the western

states. The rest of the map shrivels and forms into an

ANGELIC BABY, a perfect Cherub...

CLAIRE:

Then came whispers of a chosen

child who would grow up to lead

mankind out of darkness and war.

His legend quickly spread, giving

humanity hope, a reason to fight

back... and the angels hated it.

They sought to find and destroy

this “chosen” baby, strengthening

our resolve even more. It is said

that Michael acted alone, saved the

child, and took the baby into

hiding.

3.

The Archangel Michael swoops down and takes the baby away...

CLAIRE:

Ten years ago, the war as we knew

it, ended. For a time, small bands

of angels continued to attack our

city, but their numbers dwindled

until they disappeared altogether.

Gabriel has not been seen since.

The Archangel Gabriel and his possessed recede, pull back and

change into swirling black ink...

CLAIRE:

Since then, we have rebuilt our

lives, moved on with as much

normalcy as possible in a world

torn apart by the realization that

God is real, and not only were we

not alone, but his angels were our

most hated enemies.

(beat)

And we continue to hope, to

believe, that THE CHOSEN ONE, the

baby hunted by the angels, our

Savior... ...will someday reveal

himself to us.

ACT ONE:

INT. CASINO FLOOR - DARK

A darkened casino, gamers long gone. Wires dangle, tables

overturned, the place destroyed. A tomb. A FLASHLIGHT BEAM

sweeps through the wreckage. A MAN steps through the debris,

followed by his sharp eyed Jack Russell, ELI.

The man wears a blue uniform, a CROWN OF LAUREL LEAVES

emblazoned on one arm, below it a small set of WHITE WINGS.

He’s heavily armed, a shotgun on his back, and strangely,

incongruous with the period, a short sword strapped to his

upper thigh.

This is ALEX LANNEN (25), handsome rebel, a Cool Hand Luke

among the ruins. Alex has a mischievous glint to his eyes,

but underneath a hard earned seriousness, as if his lot has

always been a conflict between dealing with what life has

given him versus doing what he wants.

Alex moves cautiously, a pack slung over his back, a man on a

mission. He enters the ruined showroom floor of a Range

Rover dealership, the cars all gone.

4.

Alex walks to the back and pushes aside a giant tarp; a RANGE

ROVER is parked in an office, blocked from view, a hidden

secret. His secret.

This is something Alex doesn’t want anyone to know about and

we see why when he opens the back gate. It’s filled with

SUPPLIES:
weapons, extra gas, food, stacks of batteries,

clothes. He’s planning on going somewhere.

Alex takes more supplies from his pack, loads them into the

truck. He contemplates his stash. The dog whines.

ALEX:

Soon, Eli. Very soon.

INT. CASINO FLOOR - MOMENTS LATER

Alex heads back through the casino toward the open exit doors

when he freezes, sensing something. A presence behind him...

He slowly turns to see the fading light from the doors

illuminating a poker table, and four ragged PLAYERS playing,

a motley CREW:
a MAN dressed in a soldier’s green army

uniform, a STRIPPER, heavy face make-up cracked and dry as if

it had been applied years before, a CHILD in pajamas, and a

muumuu wearing FAT MOMMA playing dealer.

Alex backs away, steps on a discarded WOODY DOLL: I’ve got a

snake in my...

The PLAYERS turn, revealing distorted mouths, grotesque,

disfigured with sharp rotting teeth, their eyes BLACK. Fat

Momma grins.

FAT MOMMA:

We have an open seat if you want to

join usssss.

Without hesitating, Alex opens fire, catching the Stripper in

the head. Alex bolts for the doors. And something shocking

happens... the Soldier unfurls WINGS and leaps after Alex,

inhumanly fast, while Momma flips up to the ceiling and

scurries after him.

Most chilling, the Child’s legs bend backwards, distort,

snap, mimicking a grasshopper. She bounds twenty feet

clearing the machines separating them.

EXT. VEGAS STRIP - SUNDOWN

Alex reaches the OUTSIDE, just ahead of them, and we realize

we’re at the far end of the VEGAS strip, at least what’s left

of it. This is the decrepit, ghost town version of its

former glory, a war waged here.

5.

Alex jumps into a MILITARY HUMMER and tears out... just as

the poker players reach the street. Alex guns it for them

and WHAM! - clips Momma spinning her to the ground.

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