Feature Screenplay AFIN 304
PRECURSOR
Written by Steve Brown
AFIN 2025 Nominee
- 2025
-
United States - English
- M
- Sci-fi
- Thriller
- Suspense
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Synopsis
When a wave of global disasters coincides with a mysterious neurological outbreak, a burned-out neurosurgeon risks everything to expose a terrifying truth: the end of the world is being deliberately engineered.
Set in the near future, the world begins to unravel in ways that defy logic - earthquakes in impossible locations, tsunamis reshaping coastlines, planes falling from the sky, and now a bizarre contagion that’s driving its victims mad with chronic déjà vu.
At the center is Dr. Michael Shaw, a brilliant but deeply broken neurosurgeon, who teams up with a group of unlikely allies - a journalist, a priest, a rogue scientist - each trying to explain the chaos through their own lens: science, faith, or conspiracy. But as the events escalate, a chilling pattern emerges. The disasters aren’t random - they’re connected. And they’re being orchestrated by a powerful, centuries-old secret society engineering what they call “precursor” events in order to trigger the apocalypse.
Tonally, it’s MR. ROBOT meets THE LEFTOVERS - a grounded, character-driven, psychological thriller with global stakes, where a series of escalating disasters appear to be by design, and the real tension comes from not knowing what - or who - to believe.
What makes this one special
From the Judges
From the Judges
What gripped them here was the mounting sense of dread, built through disturbing visuals and unsettling religious overtones that hook the reader from the opening pages. The screenplay fuses psychological mystery, apocalyptic sci-fi, and character-driven drama into an atmospheric, richly imagined world, with sharp dialogue and layered subplots that promise a larger unfolding story. Its themes of time distortion, deja vu, and the unraveling of reality land as both timely and chilling.
Writer's Biography
Steve Brown Writer
Steve Brown, a graduate of the UCLA Professional Program in Screenwriting, holds dual degrees in Journalism and English from the University of Arizona. In 2023, he transitioned from corporate copywriting (for popular brands such as Nintendo and Kaplan Test Prep) to pursue his passion for film and TV. Today, he dedicates his time entirely to screenwriting and maintains a focus on mysterious, cerebral, sci-fi storytelling. Steve’s works, while always grounded in science, take a deep dive into quantum physics, collective consciousness, astrophysics, mysticism, ancient symbology, and more.
In less than two years, Steve has garnered more than 175 awards. He recently won both the Richmond International Film Festival Screenplay Competition and NexTV Writing & Pitch Competition with his two latest one-hour TV scripts: PRECURSOR and THE AGE OF THE EMPATH. He has also been a finalist in many other competitions, including: Cinequest Film Festival, Vail Film Festival, Writers X Writers, Filmmatic Inroads Fellowship, Dallas International Film Festival, and Script Summit, among others.
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PRECURSOR was an official Nominee for Best Feature Screenplay at the AFIN International Film Festival 2025, a Top 100 Best Reviewed and IMDb-qualifying festival.
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