• The Ancestor

  • Kay Oyegun
  • Set Up
  • Thriller
  • 2020
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Market: Fri, 12 Jun 2020Sold: Mon, 15 Jun 2020
Actor: Tika Sumpter
Producer: Michael B. Jordan, Alana Mayo, Khaliah Neal
Executive: Emily Gerson Saines
AgentAllysa Bauer, Yasmine Pearl (WME)
ManagerTrevor Engelson (Underground)
StudioHBO Max
ProductionOutlier Society (Michael B. Jordan's Company)
6-15-2020 - Had several offers and sold for high-six figures, according to Deadline.
An African American female med student finds herself in a timely psychological thriller premise in the tradition of Get Out.
Years after her mother has killed herself, a young woman begins her residency at a prestigious New Orleans hospital she starts to see the same ghostly figure that caused her mother to go insane.
A doctor who believes she's a schizophrenic finds out that she's being haunted by her ancestor.
Film
Drama, Fantasy, Supernatural, Racially Based, Medical, Murder, Prison, Social Commentary, Suicide, Dysfunctional Family, Illness, Killer, Mother, Mother/Daughter, Motherhood, Obsession, Parent, Pregnancy, Science, Secrets, Suspenseful, Workplace
98
PG-13
Medium
F
Black / African
NA
Attractive
"Candyman" (1992) "Beloved" (1998)
Present / 4 months 1992 / 1 night 1830 / 3 weeks
New Orleans: hospital, maternity ward, nurses station, patient room, auditorium / jeep / road/ apartment building / apartment / bar / plantation manor / park / police station / carriage / slave hut / forest / Texas: park / street/ quaint house, living room, bedroom
GRACE THOMAS (late 20s) arrives late to her going away party. Afterwards, she finishes packing with WHITNEY (60s), the woman who raised her. While packing, Grace hears slight whispers. They say their good-byes and Grace drives to New Orleans.

Starting her residency at the hospital, Grace befriends JANE WOODBINE (late 20s). The new group is told by DOCTOR PATTERSON (40s) they will have a competition and that the winning doctor will get money to further research their topic. Grace decides to focus on schizophrenia and use herself as Test Subject #1, as her mother was a schizophrenic which led to her suicide.

While working, Grace hears more whispers, with nothing around her. DR. FRANK WOODBINE (50s), Jane’s father, mistakes Grace for a nurse and moves on.

The group hangs out at a bar. Drunk, Grace helps Jane walk home. Talking all night, Grace spends the night. She dreams of a black woman hanging from a tree with the same voice she’s been hearing. Later on, Grace starts to see the woman throughout the city.

The new residents are invited to a banquet at the Woodbine manor. Grace see’s the hanged woman figure inside the house. She drops her...