GUNDOWN
a feature film pitch deck
OVERVIEW
Logline
Twenty people voluntarily enter a deadly survival game, each with their own motivations, only to find that winning may demand more than just staying alive.
Target Audience
Fans of high-stakes action thrillers like Battle Royale, The Hunger Games, and Squid Game, aged 18-45, who enjoy intense psychological drama, moral dilemmas, and visceral action.
Themes
Survival and morality, the human capacity for violence, the price of ambition, and the fragility of trust under extreme pressure.
Genre
Action/Thriller
THEMES
The Cost of Survival
Exploring how far individuals are willing to go to stay alive and the moral compromises they make in the process.
The Complexity of Human Motivation
Unpacking the diverse reasons—greed, desperation, curiosity, vengeance—that drive people to make life-and-death decisions.
Trust & Betrayal
Examining how alliances form and crumble under the weight of paranoia and the desire to win.
The Dark Side of Humanity
Revealing the primal instincts, violence, and ethical boundaries tested when ordinary people are pushed to their limits.
TREATMENT
When the opportunity to join a mysterious underground competition arises, twenty individuals willingly sign up, each driven by their own reasons.
THE RULES:
- "Gundown" is a game in which players are given a profile of a fellow contestant. Their aim is to hunt them down and kill them. The game has been played in Sydney, Toronto, Vienna, and Berlin.
- The game is played twenty four hours a day, for twenty days. The screening process ensures a diverse cross section of society. They could be your postman, the man next to you at the bus stop, a waitress. Players cannot enlist any outside help at any time. Players are forbidden to kill any player not assigned to them.
- Players are required to stay in the designated vicinity until the game is won. Any attempt to withdraw oneself from the game will result in termination. Players must kill with precision and stealth. If there are two or more players remaining by midnight day twenty, a sudden death scenario commences.
- Deception and creativity have benefited previous champions. The winner collects a cash prize of twenty million pounds. Players may only use the weapon we provide. Players are responsible for their weapon and ammo usage.
- Players receive a package containing a silenced hand-gun and ammunition, a target's name, head-shot, their home and work address, and their e-mail address. Find and kill, by way of the gun, the target.
- Players must avoid police detection. Any attempt to incriminate others will result in termination. Players are prohibited from involving a non player's participation. No hostages, blackmail or other means of coercion.
- If a target is successfully assassinated, the Player wins the deceased's contract. The player they were supposed to kill becomes your new target. The target can only be killed by way of the gun. No knives, no strangulation, absolutely no explosives. Strictly last person standing wins. Players participate on their own accord.
We did not approach you. You found us. You will experience what it is to live in fear. Try to stay alive.
MAIN CHARACTERS
Karon
Barmaid, 28: Resourceful, and deeply driven. Working-class, she learned to fend for herself from a young age. After her brother mysteriously died, Karon suspects foul play and enters with a single-minded goal: uncover the truth behind his death.
Senki
Waitress, 24: A dreamer trapped in a nightmare. She’s spent her entire life working dead-end jobs, dodging shady characters, and scraping by. Desperate for an escape from her bleak existence, she sees the game as an opportunity to start fresh. Despite her desperation, she is compassionate, often hesitating when faced with violent decisions.
Magnus
Travelling Salesman, 50: The embodiment of sophistication and cold efficiency, a man who treats the game as a business transaction. A calculating predator who rarely acts on impulse. His background in high-stakes corporate deals has honed his ability to manipulate, strategize, and stay three steps ahead of his competitors.
Stevie
Unemployed, 45: cunning, ruthless, and unrelenting, a man hardened by years of failure and desperation. Once a skilled tradesman, his life unravelled after losing his job, family, and home. The game offers him what he believes is his last chance to reclaim control of his shattered life, and he is willing to do anything—lie, cheat, and kill—to win.
Christopher
Freelance photographer, 33: Chaos personified, he treats the game like a sick joke. His clown mask, crude sense of humour, and erratic behaviour make him unnervingly charming, but his unpredictability ensures that no one is safe when he's around. He enters the game for the sheer fun of it, treating each kill as a prank and each encounter as a macabre performance. His penchant for tormenting others borders on sadistic.
Lorien
Librarian, 55: An unassuming enigma, quiet and seemingly harmless: but she’s a master manipulator who has left a string of mysterious deaths in her wake. Her soft-spoken nature and unassuming appearance mask a sharp mind and lethal cunning. She’s patient, observant, and methodical, using her unthreatening demeanour to lull others into a false sense of security before striking.
TARGET AUDIENCE
Fans of High-Stakes Survival Stories
Viewers who enjoy films and series like Battle Royale, Squid Game, and The Hunger Games that combine intense action with psychological drama and moral dilemmas.
Action Enthusiasts
Audiences who crave adrenaline-pumping sequences, visceral combat, and the constant tension of life-or-death stakes.
Psychological Drama Fans
Those drawn to stories that explore human nature under pressure, with complex characters and unpredictable alliances and betrayals.
Fans of Dark & Gritty Themes
Primarily 18-50-year-olds who enjoy mature, thought-provoking narratives with themes of survival, greed, morality, and the human condition.
COMPARABLES
Battle Royale
A group of high school students is forced into a government-sanctioned survival game on a remote island, where they must kill each other until only one remains. Known for its intense violence, complex character dynamics, and sharp social commentary, the film explores themes of trust, betrayal, and the dehumanizing effects of societal control, making it a definitive precursor to modern survival game narratives like GUNDOWN.
Squid Game
Hundreds of financially desperate individuals voluntarily participate in a series of deadly children’s games for a massive cash prize. The show masterfully blends high-stakes action with psychological tension, exploring themes of class disparity, human desperation, and moral corruption under extreme pressure. Its mix of relatable characters, shocking twists, and social commentary makes it a standout comparable for GUNDOWN.
Series 7: The Contenders
It features ordinary people participating in a televised survival game where they must kill each other to win. Like GUNDOWN, the contestants have unique backstories and motivations, adding depth to the carnage. The film blends dark humor with gritty action, focusing on the moral and emotional toll of survival. Its satirical take on media exploitation and societal fascination with violence parallels the thematic undertones of GUNDOWN.
THE WRITER
Andrew Wright is a screenwriter and author who has worked in various roles in the film and television industry, alongside Lord Richard Attenborough (Jurassic Park), Dominic West (The Wire), and Kathy Burke (Nil By Mouth). His first student film was co-funded by Terry Gilliam (12 Monkeys).
MUSIC PLAYLIST
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