Parity Pipeline

Genre

Synopsis

As the professors’ darling at film school, Meg always thought she was destined to be a successful screenwriter. But at 38, she finds herself a frustrated insomniac with an anger problem, stuck working at a grueling set job alongside her best friend, aspiring painter Casey, and staying up all night writing esoteric scripts to send to agents who never respond. Until one does. Edward, small-time but ambitious, calls Meg in for a meeting. He says he can’t do anything with her scripts, but asks her: Has she ever tried writing a novel? Given her writing style and the state of the film biz, he thinks a bestseller could be her (and therefore his) key to success. Unable to get started, Meg turns for advice to Denyse, a former film school classmate who’s become a rich author of trashy romances. But when Meg goes to see Denyse at her fabulous penthouse, their boozy meet-up opens old wounds, which turn into a fight, that spirals into an enraged Meg slapping Denyse…and killing her. While crying her eyes out over what she’s done, however, Meg comes up with a way to make Denyse’s death look like suicide — and that taps into some well of creativity she never knew she had. Meg goes home and spends several feverish days writing the murder and the cover-up into a brilliant first novel, for which Casey designs the cover. The book becomes a hit, and Edward sends Meg on a successful TV, radio, and podcast tour. She wants to publish something more literary, but he says that first she has to write a follow-up. Again unable to get inspired, Meg goes to a party with Casey and other former crew colleagues to try and relax, hoping to reconnect with arrogant production designer Max, a former crush. She does, but when her fame takes the spotlight away from him, Max turns nasty, sending her into another rage that ends in murder. She’s able to make his death look like an accident, but this time, a true crime podcast host who has always had questions about Meg’s “inspiration” sees Meg sneak out a window as she attempts to hide the crime. True to form, Meg writes a great new novel about the murder, but the pain of what she’s done spirals into nightmares. She starts drinking and taking pills to keep it together while she goes on the next book tour, which gets her way more money and a hot actor boyfriend. The podcaster goes to the cops, but when they question Meg, Edward provides an alibi — making Meg wonder how much he knows. Then Meg’s rage unexpectedly re-emerges when she visits Casey and sees how happy she is; she’s built a comfortable life thanks to the work Meg has given her, while rich and successful Meg is still miserable. This time, Meg is able to control her anger to keep from killing Casey, but a visit to her shrink makes her conclude that she will only be happy if she finally publishes her literary “baby.” Edward tells her no — she’s a killer, not an author (yep, he knows everything) — but promises that he’ll keep being her number one enabler as long as she does what he says and keeps him as her agent. So of course, Meg murders Edward. Ten years later, Meg seems to have everything: a film she’s directing, a husband and family, and all the fame and money she could possibly want, giving her the ability to revitalize her local community. But it’s all thanks to continuing to murder people and write novels about it. She now has a team of enablers, but Casey is the one person who knows the full truth about Meg, and loves and supports her anyway — helping Meg to accept that murder is, just as Edward said, her true talent.