The Frost on the Hacks
In the biting chill of a Winnipeg winter, retired curling champion Devon confronts a spectral figure from his past in a dimly lit convenience store, where old debts and unspoken threats glide across the scuffed linoleum like stones on ice.
### **THE FROST ON THE HACKS**
**A Film/TV Treatment**
**1. LOGLINE**
A washed-up curling champion, haunted by a fixed game from his past, is blackmailed by a shadowy former associate into participating in a new, dangerous scheme, forcing him to confront the ghost of his compromised victory on a treacherous new sheet of ice.
**2. SYNOPSIS**
DEVON (68), a man weathered by age and regret, lives a quiet life of mundane routine, his glory days as a provincial curling champion a distant, painful memory. His world is the late-night quiet of a Winnipeg convenience store, where his only interactions are with PATTI, the young, silent night-shift clerk. This fragile peace is shattered by the sudden arrival of ELIAS, a charismatic and menacing figure from Devon's past, not seen in twenty years. Elias, with his expensive coat and chillingly familiar charm, corners Devon, subtly referencing a dark, shared secret: the championship game Devon intentionally threw two decades prior for a sum of money. He reveals his purpose is not a social call but a business proposition—a new, high-stakes game that requires Devon's particular, compromised skills. Elias leaves Devon with a pristine business card, an implicit threat that makes it clear this is not an offer but a summons. Left alone in the sterile silence of the store, Devon is trapped, the ghosts of his past now dictating a dangerous and uncertain future.
**3. CHARACTER BREAKDOWN**
* **DEVON (68):** A former athlete now defined by the aches in his bones and the heavier weight of his regrets. He is quiet, solitary, and lives a life of careful, self-imposed penance. His past prowess on the ice is matched only by the shame of his greatest failure, a secret he thought was long buried. He is a man cornered, whose dormant survival instincts are about to be reawakened.
* **ELIAS (late 60s):** A silver-tongued predator. Impeccably dressed and exuding an aura of congenial menace, Elias is a master manipulator who views people as assets and old sins as leverage. He is Devon's opposite: where Devon is worn down by the past, Elias is energized by it, seeing it as a resource to be exploited. His charm is a weapon, and his smile never reaches his sharp, calculating eyes.
* **PATTI (early 20s):** The quiet, observant clerk. She is a silent witness to the tense reunion, representing the normal, unassuming world that Devon is about to be violently pulled from. Her presence heightens the tension, a reminder of the ordinary life that is at stake.
**4. SCENE BEATS**
* **OPENING IMAGE:** A close-up on a gnarled hand wrapped around a paper coffee cup. We pull back to reveal DEVON, 68, sitting alone in a sterile, fluorescent-lit convenience store. The setting is mundane, lonely, and cold. He is a man frozen in time.
* **A FRAGILE PEACE:** Devon observes PATTI, the young clerk, as she meticulously cleans. Their interaction is minimal, based on a nightly routine of a coffee and a single "Lucky Loonie" scratch ticket. This establishes his quiet, predictable existence.
* **THE GHOST ARRIVES:** The automatic doors hiss open, admitting a blast of arctic air and ELIAS. The atmosphere immediately shifts. Devon’s body tenses; a flicker of recognition and dread crosses his face. Elias is a shark in a fishbowl.
* **A PREDATOR'S CHARM:** Elias engages Devon with a voice like "gravel and velvet." His dialogue is a dance of pleasantries laced with subtle threats. He bypasses the cheap coffee for the gourmet blend, establishing his superior status and taste. Patti watches, sensing the undercurrent of danger.
* **THE VEIL IS LIFTED:** Devon's direct question, "What are you doing here?" cuts through the charade. Elias leans in, his smile vanishing. He begins to talk about a new "opportunity," directly linking it to a past event.
* **FLASHBACK (INTERNAL):** As Elias speaks of a "less than zealous" sweep, we flash to a memory inside Devon's mind: The roar of a crowd, the intense focus, the weight of the curling stone. We see the moment of decision—a flicker in his eyes, a deliberate, almost imperceptible hesitation in his sweep that causes the stone to veer ever so slightly off course. The memory is sharp, visceral, and laced with shame.
* **THE HOOK IS SET:** Back in the present, Devon is breathless, his denial weak and unconvincing. Elias has him. He lays a pristine white business card on the counter—no name, just a number. It’s not an offer; it’s an order.
* **THE EXIT:** Elias delivers a final, chilling line about "one last, perfect draw," winks, and departs, leaving a vacuum of silence and the lingering scent of expensive cologne. The doors close, sealing Devon back in his fluorescent cage.
* **CLOSING IMAGE:** Devon stares at the business card, then at his un-scratched lottery ticket. The two objects represent his fate: one a game of pure chance, the other a game with no chance at all. The hum of the refrigeration unit sounds like a low growl. He is trapped. He picks up the card. The decision has already been made for him.
**5. VISUAL STYLE**
* **TONE:** A grounded, patient neo-noir. The atmosphere is heavy with unspoken history and the oppressive weight of a Winnipeg winter. The tone should be tense and melancholic, reflecting Devon's internal state. Think *Fargo* meets *A History of Violence*.
* **COLOR PALETTE:** A desaturated, cold palette dominates. The sickly yellow-green of the convenience store's fluorescent lights contrasts with the deep blues and inky blacks of the night outside. Warmth will be reserved only for the brief, painful flashes of memory on the curling ice, making the past feel more alive than the present.
* **CINEMATOGRAPHY:** The camera work should be deliberate and controlled. Static, locked-down shots will emphasize Devon's stagnant life. When Elias is on screen, the camera becomes more predatory, utilizing slow, creeping zooms and subtle reframing to heighten the tension. Extreme close-ups on key details—Devon's arthritic hands, the condensation on the glass doors, the sharp edges of the business card—will be used to ground the audience in the sensory details of his dread.
* **SOUND DESIGN:** The soundscape will be crucial. The oppressive silence of the store will be punctuated by sharp, diegetic sounds: the hum of the freezers, the clink of a coffee cup, the hiss of the automatic doors, the howling wind outside. Elias’s voice should be mixed to have a distinct, unsettling presence. The score, if any, will be minimal and atmospheric, using low, sustained notes to build a sense of impending doom.
**A Film/TV Treatment**
**1. LOGLINE**
A washed-up curling champion, haunted by a fixed game from his past, is blackmailed by a shadowy former associate into participating in a new, dangerous scheme, forcing him to confront the ghost of his compromised victory on a treacherous new sheet of ice.
**2. SYNOPSIS**
DEVON (68), a man weathered by age and regret, lives a quiet life of mundane routine, his glory days as a provincial curling champion a distant, painful memory. His world is the late-night quiet of a Winnipeg convenience store, where his only interactions are with PATTI, the young, silent night-shift clerk. This fragile peace is shattered by the sudden arrival of ELIAS, a charismatic and menacing figure from Devon's past, not seen in twenty years. Elias, with his expensive coat and chillingly familiar charm, corners Devon, subtly referencing a dark, shared secret: the championship game Devon intentionally threw two decades prior for a sum of money. He reveals his purpose is not a social call but a business proposition—a new, high-stakes game that requires Devon's particular, compromised skills. Elias leaves Devon with a pristine business card, an implicit threat that makes it clear this is not an offer but a summons. Left alone in the sterile silence of the store, Devon is trapped, the ghosts of his past now dictating a dangerous and uncertain future.
**3. CHARACTER BREAKDOWN**
* **DEVON (68):** A former athlete now defined by the aches in his bones and the heavier weight of his regrets. He is quiet, solitary, and lives a life of careful, self-imposed penance. His past prowess on the ice is matched only by the shame of his greatest failure, a secret he thought was long buried. He is a man cornered, whose dormant survival instincts are about to be reawakened.
* **ELIAS (late 60s):** A silver-tongued predator. Impeccably dressed and exuding an aura of congenial menace, Elias is a master manipulator who views people as assets and old sins as leverage. He is Devon's opposite: where Devon is worn down by the past, Elias is energized by it, seeing it as a resource to be exploited. His charm is a weapon, and his smile never reaches his sharp, calculating eyes.
* **PATTI (early 20s):** The quiet, observant clerk. She is a silent witness to the tense reunion, representing the normal, unassuming world that Devon is about to be violently pulled from. Her presence heightens the tension, a reminder of the ordinary life that is at stake.
**4. SCENE BEATS**
* **OPENING IMAGE:** A close-up on a gnarled hand wrapped around a paper coffee cup. We pull back to reveal DEVON, 68, sitting alone in a sterile, fluorescent-lit convenience store. The setting is mundane, lonely, and cold. He is a man frozen in time.
* **A FRAGILE PEACE:** Devon observes PATTI, the young clerk, as she meticulously cleans. Their interaction is minimal, based on a nightly routine of a coffee and a single "Lucky Loonie" scratch ticket. This establishes his quiet, predictable existence.
* **THE GHOST ARRIVES:** The automatic doors hiss open, admitting a blast of arctic air and ELIAS. The atmosphere immediately shifts. Devon’s body tenses; a flicker of recognition and dread crosses his face. Elias is a shark in a fishbowl.
* **A PREDATOR'S CHARM:** Elias engages Devon with a voice like "gravel and velvet." His dialogue is a dance of pleasantries laced with subtle threats. He bypasses the cheap coffee for the gourmet blend, establishing his superior status and taste. Patti watches, sensing the undercurrent of danger.
* **THE VEIL IS LIFTED:** Devon's direct question, "What are you doing here?" cuts through the charade. Elias leans in, his smile vanishing. He begins to talk about a new "opportunity," directly linking it to a past event.
* **FLASHBACK (INTERNAL):** As Elias speaks of a "less than zealous" sweep, we flash to a memory inside Devon's mind: The roar of a crowd, the intense focus, the weight of the curling stone. We see the moment of decision—a flicker in his eyes, a deliberate, almost imperceptible hesitation in his sweep that causes the stone to veer ever so slightly off course. The memory is sharp, visceral, and laced with shame.
* **THE HOOK IS SET:** Back in the present, Devon is breathless, his denial weak and unconvincing. Elias has him. He lays a pristine white business card on the counter—no name, just a number. It’s not an offer; it’s an order.
* **THE EXIT:** Elias delivers a final, chilling line about "one last, perfect draw," winks, and departs, leaving a vacuum of silence and the lingering scent of expensive cologne. The doors close, sealing Devon back in his fluorescent cage.
* **CLOSING IMAGE:** Devon stares at the business card, then at his un-scratched lottery ticket. The two objects represent his fate: one a game of pure chance, the other a game with no chance at all. The hum of the refrigeration unit sounds like a low growl. He is trapped. He picks up the card. The decision has already been made for him.
**5. VISUAL STYLE**
* **TONE:** A grounded, patient neo-noir. The atmosphere is heavy with unspoken history and the oppressive weight of a Winnipeg winter. The tone should be tense and melancholic, reflecting Devon's internal state. Think *Fargo* meets *A History of Violence*.
* **COLOR PALETTE:** A desaturated, cold palette dominates. The sickly yellow-green of the convenience store's fluorescent lights contrasts with the deep blues and inky blacks of the night outside. Warmth will be reserved only for the brief, painful flashes of memory on the curling ice, making the past feel more alive than the present.
* **CINEMATOGRAPHY:** The camera work should be deliberate and controlled. Static, locked-down shots will emphasize Devon's stagnant life. When Elias is on screen, the camera becomes more predatory, utilizing slow, creeping zooms and subtle reframing to heighten the tension. Extreme close-ups on key details—Devon's arthritic hands, the condensation on the glass doors, the sharp edges of the business card—will be used to ground the audience in the sensory details of his dread.
* **SOUND DESIGN:** The soundscape will be crucial. The oppressive silence of the store will be punctuated by sharp, diegetic sounds: the hum of the freezers, the clink of a coffee cup, the hiss of the automatic doors, the howling wind outside. Elias’s voice should be mixed to have a distinct, unsettling presence. The score, if any, will be minimal and atmospheric, using low, sustained notes to build a sense of impending doom.