State Of The Heart

 

Full Buck Moon  – Drama – Adult 

Logline: A spirit appears to a dying woman, healing her and giving her the ability to heal others. But, her family believes she has gone mad. 

It is like: Don Quixote meets Resurrection (1980).

Synopsis:

A girl finds a notebook in the New Mexican desert written by legendary miracle worker Veronica Smith-Sanchez. Years of chain-smoking cigarettes have left her – in her thirties – on her deathbed with lung cancer, questioning God about the purpose of her life. The spirit of a Native American man appears in her room. Thinking he is the angel of death she prepares to die, but instead he takes the cancer from her lungs, and gives her the incredible power to heal others. 

Her husband is already mourning her, already distraught at his wife’s impending death. He has turned to drinking to numb his pain. When she tells him about her visions and healing he refuses to believe her, thinking she is cracking from the stress of her imminent death.   

With a second chance and a renewed purpose for her life, she defies her husband and sets out across the Sangre de Christo Mountains and the northern New Mexican landscape. Her brother joins her thinking they are on one last road trip before she dies. Traveling in her pristine, white, 1968 Shelby Mustang Fastback, she encounters a rock star, a wealthy philanthropist, a federal prisoner, a fortune teller, a priest, and attend a pow-wow. Everywhere she goes, people are healed, miracles happen, and a pack of coyotes appear or can be heard howling, earning Veronica the name among those who meet her DONA DE LOS COYOTES, or Lady of the Coyotes. 

One of Veronica’s flaws is that she is so transformed by her visions that she is naïve in her belief that preaching will heal anyone and anything. But, her own brother cannot believe the miracle he has witnessed, leading the audience to question also; are these things only happening in Veronica’s imagination? In the end, her  family betrays her. The trickery they pull off to save her from herself ends in a fatality no one sees coming; Veronica’s death by her own husband’s hand.  

There are quotes of wisdom and magical realism that make this dramatic script unique to others. As well, a past-life vision revealing her connection to the Spirit of the Native American man that heals her helps this movie out. It is the shock of Veronica’s death that will make this movie unforgettable.  

Dona de los Coyotes, her legend lives on…

For me, a movie is like a time machine. It takes me out of my life into another world, new experiences, people, places, sounds, and even smells, for a little while. So use the power of your imagination and travel with me to a world of madness and miracles,  spirits and sagebrush…

Ext. NORTHERN NEW MEXICO – THE DESERT VALLEY WEST OF THE SANGRE DE CRISTO MOUNTAINS, EAST OF THE RIO GRANDE – Midday – Establishing

 

A Thirteen year-old Native American girl squints against the sun as she surveys her path.

 

Her dirty sneakers kick up little clouds of dust behind her as she goes.

 

A RATTLESNAKE catches her eye. She notices something black in the sand, under the snake’s belly, partially buried.

 

She reaches for the buried treasure – the snake coils and hisses, ready to strike.

 

She has no fear; the snake slithers away into a hole.

 

Pulling the object out of the ground, the sand slides off as she shakes it out. Wiping the dirt off the surface with her hand…

 

A black leather-bound notebook is revealed.

 

The girl looks behind her; there is a ranch house in the distance. She looks to her right, to a large mesa about 20 feet away, and at it’s base a rock juts out about five feet above the ground, making a shady spot.

 

She goes to it, with the notebook held tightly against her chest, and sits in its shade.

 

She blows a little more dust from the cover, opens it, and begins to read.

 

Over her shoulder, we see feminine handwriting in black ink.

 

THE SHOT PANS TO THE SUN IN THE PALE BLUE SKY – THEN BACK DOWN TO THE SAME SPOT.

 

Now we see a tall, thin, woman under the rock, writing in the notebook. She is in her thirties, with short blonde hair.

                    

                VERONICA

                (V.O.)

I’m compelled to write all that has

happened to me. The things that I

will tell you- the amazing things

I have seen are evidence that God

has not forgotten us. Some say I am

crazy; that I see things that are

not there. But, I swear this is the

truth. My truth. My name is VERONICA

SANCHEZ. This is how I came to be

known as the Lady of the COYOTES,

or, DONA DE LOS COYOTES. 

                         

 

Series of still images in fast forward

 

Close up of a newborn baby’s face.

 

A cross on the altar of a baroque Spanish church.

 

A pack of COYOTES howling in the desert at dusk.

 

The palms of two hands side by side.

 

Close-up of VERONICA taking a long drag from a cigarette.

 

A white horse running in the desert.

 

A mass of bright, white, swirling energy in the air.

 

Grill of a pristine 1965, white Mustang, with a license plate that says EPONA.

 

An angry man in the sunlight cocking a shotgun.

 

VERONICA removing her gold wedding band.

 

Native Americans dancing around a fire at night in ceremonial dress.

 

A full moon against an azure sky.

 

The baby’s face again. 

 

 

 To request a copy of Full Buck Moon, the feature-length screenplay, you may email me at sloane_9@hotmail.com

 Sincere Regards, 

Susan Sloane