Synopsis/Details
Deceptive Vows is a 120-page screenplay. It's a compelling fictional drama inspired by “Sleeping with the Enemy” and “The Burning Bed.” It tackles domestic violence and asks, “What if you or someone you know experienced this?” The story begins with Patricia already in prison, serving her sentence. She shares her story with the prison psychiatrist, Dr. Morgan, during a group therapy session with other women who have killed their husbands. Her story explains how she and her husband, Andrew, faced the ups and downs of their relationship. Problems start when she marries Andrew after only six months, despite warnings from her best friends, Yvette and Vanessa, and her parents, Charles and Donna. This sets Patricia on a difficult journey through hell with the man she loves. In one abusive incident, Patricia (eight months pregnant) is forced to shoot her husband in self-defense and is arrested. She is later cleared and faces more challenges as she reenters society, finds faith, becomes a domestic violence advocate, and writes a best-selling domestic violence novel that is adapted into a feature film.
This screenplay won the Best Drama Screenplay award at the 2021 Summer in the South Film Festival in Atlanta, GA. The 6-minute short film version was selected by 10 festivals, with 4 of those selections winning awards. The short film currently has over 590,000 views on YouTube and more than 6,800 ‘Thumbs up.’ I adapted this screenplay from my play titled “Until Death Do Us Part,” which I wrote, produced, and directed. The play was performed in Oakland, CA, in 2000, with an encore in 2001. My 211-page book version, Deceptive Vows Revised Edition, is available on Amazon. The feature film can raise awareness about domestic violence and potentially save lives, just like the book and play versions have.
