Unconformity (n): A missing interval in the geologic record of time, caused by erosion or an interruption in deposition.
L O G L I N E
A trailblazing geologist, Dr. Annie Tallon is on a mission to become the first tenured woman in her department. Her fight for credibility becomes a fight for survival when she returns to the mountains where she once conducted her research.
V I S I O N
A riveting survival story about an aging scientist coming to terms with an increasing unknown.
A suspenseful, life-affirming story about how we make sense of the world around us.
A suspenseful, life-affirming story about how we make sense of the world around us.
Characters
Dr. Annie Tallon
At 70, Annie has been retired for 5 years, and diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease for 2 years.
Good days feel almost normal. Bad days are a fog that won’t lift. She struggles to retain new information, older memories metamorphose as the details distort or vanish.
She resists her children’s attempts to take care of her.
She struggles with anger and depression about losing her independence.
In 1990, 38-year-old Young Annie is the first woman to pursue tenure in her university's geology department.
She is independent - out of choice and necessity - preferring her team of loyal graduate students to her sometimes hostile, sometimes patronizing colleagues. She believes effort and merit will always be rewarded.
She struggles to balance her passion for her work and her role as a mother.
Supporting Characters
Damien & Tanya
Damien: At 39, he has it all: a demanding job as a sales engineer, two kids, high blood pressure, debt. He pushes himself to be the perfect husband, father, businessman, and son. Taking care of Annie strains his relationship with his wife, Norah, a full-time nurse.
Tanya: Annie’s daughter, 44, a skilled interior designer, lives the perfect distance away from her mother – one state away. Growing up, Tanya felt invisible next to her mother’s career. They have never recovered that distance. She feels guilty about the bulk of elder care falling on Damien and Norah.
Dr. Paul Heubert (Dr. H.)
With one eye on his retirement, the chair of the geology department opposes Annie’s tenure is due in part to his inability to see women as scholarly equals (in his experience, where they really shine is in support roles) and in part to decades of navigating university politics.
Mia Mansuri
One of Annie's loyal graduate students. Adventurous and eager, Mia loves field work, having a fellow woman as a mentor, and is experiencing her own challenges with discrimination and sexism in the department.
Dr. Leonard Mahood
Nearing 70, Dr. Mahood is an entrenched professor. He might be long past his prime, but his ego is still in full bloom. He misses the good old days. He distrusts Annie's willingness to use new techniques and technology, but his biggest opposition to her tenure is that some of her research overshadows and supplants his own.
Dr. Zach Fowler
A fellow professor tenured in the prior year, Dr. Fowler admires Annie’s work and sees himself as an ally of his female colleague, but when faced with the choice of openly supporting Annie's case or falling in line with department pressure, his first concern is for his own career.
T H E M E S
GEOLOGY AND GEOSCIENCES
How new and competing theories in geology are developed and tested
How the evolution of research tools and techniques leads to new discoveries
The importance of teamwork in science
DEMENTIA & ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE
Experiential portrayal of Alzheimer's Disease
Accurate reflection of the progression & symptoms of Alzheimer's
The emotional, psychological, logistical, and financial toll on caregivers
DIVERSITY IN SCIENCE & ACADEMIA
How diversity in science fosters fresh perspectives, cross-disciplinary connections, and new discoveries
How discrimination and social expectations towards women affects their opportunities
Work-life balance for professional parents
T O N E & V I S U A L S T Y L E
This story has two parallel narratives: one set in 1990 when Annie is 38, the other in the present when Annie is 70.
The present-day story is a journey to the underworld, visually highlighting Annie’s vulnerability in the vast outdoors. The stakes of her being lost and stranded will be heightened by recreating visual and aural cognitive errors common in Alzheimer’s, including light and depth distortion, illusions, hallucinations, and dream confusion.
Transitions between present and past will be liminal. Conveying the sense that when Annie returns to her still intact memories, she is moving from a present where she feels weak and powerless against obstacles, to a time when she felt empowered to face challenges.
Once in the past narrative setting, visuals will convey a more confident Annie with scenes that evoke a nostalgic sense of security.
At the climax of the film, the two timelines merge in Annie’s perception.
L O C A T I O N S
INTERIORS
Mid-century ranch homes with 80s and modern decor.
Academic and professional offices.
EXTERIORS
Desert area in proximity to urban settings, e.g. Muddy Mountains and Valley of Fire outside of Las Vegas, NV
INT.
EXT.
I N S P I R A T I O N S
This painting of my grandmother hangs on the wall by my writing desk.
It is evocative of Annie's mental state and vulnerability as well as her relationship to the desert.
At 81, my mother insists on going walking alone.
Her ability to gauge whether it is too hot outside or how much water she should bring is no longer reliable.
Worse yet, she has developed a penchant for exploring "shortcuts" that we worry will get her lost.
Some Alzheimer's sufferers experience visual disturbances that prompt erratic behavior. To caregivers, it looks irrational, but for the person with the disease, their fear, panic, anger, or fixation is a rational response to visual and aural stimuli they experience.
A solitary journey.
Why have I come here?
The landscape of the subconscious.
Unconformity (n): A missing interval in the geologic record of time, caused by erosion or an interruption in deposition.
"UNCONFORMITY"
WRITTEN BY MAREN CURTIS