Grease Trap Prophecies
In a 24-hour diner where the coffee pot brews visions of the future, a waitress gets an order she can't refuse and sees a horrifying truth in the dregs.
# Grease Trap Prophecies
**Format:** Short Film / Anthology Episode | **Est. Length:** 10-12 minutes
## Logline
A diner waitress with the ability to see visions in coffee must use her dangerous gift to help a desperate customer, only to discover his problem is directly linked to the sinister mentor from her past who she thought was long dead.
## Themes
* **The Inescapable Past:** Exploring the idea that old debts and relationships, especially dangerous ones, will always find their way back.
* **The Burden of Gifts:** The psychic ability is not a superpower but a curse that isolates Judy, brings her danger, and takes a physical and emotional toll.
* **Consequences of Transgression:** Paulie's theft from a powerful source unleashes forces he cannot control, highlighting the price of dabbling in the unknown.
* **The Veil Between Worlds:** The mundane setting of a greasy spoon diner serves as a thin barrier between our reality and a darker, more mystical one that can bleed through at any moment.
## Stakes
Judy's life and hard-won anonymity are at stake, as the return of her dangerous mentor threatens to drag her back into a world of dark magic she desperately tried to escape.
## Synopsis
In the pre-dawn gloom, JUDY works her shift at 'The Greasy Spoon', a diner where she hides a strange ability: she can see visions through the diner's ancient coffee percolator. Her quiet routine is shattered by the arrival of PAULIE, a desperate regular who uses their code words to request a "Reading."
Despite her fear of using the gift and being caught by her manager, Judy sees the genuine terror in Paulie's eyes and agrees. She performs a small, subtle ritual, whispering her intent into the steam of the percolator before pouring a cup of near-black coffee. As Paulie holds the mug, the vision overtakes Judy. The diner's reality warps—the sizzle of the grill becomes crackling fire, the air smells of sulphur.
The vision reveals that Paulie isn't a victim; he's a thief who stole something from a stone altar in a dark, ritualistic room. The vision then shifts, showing who is hunting him: a shadowy figure whose hand bears a silver ring with an unblinking obsidian eye. Judy's blood runs cold. She knows the ring.
The vision collapses, leaving her dizzy and terrified. She confronts Paulie, telling him he didn't just steal something, he stole it from "him." Before she can explain, the diner's bell chimes. A man stands silhouetted in the doorway. Judy doesn't need to see his face; she sees the glint of the obsidian ring on his hand. Her mentor, the man who taught her everything and who she thought was dead, has returned—not just for what Paulie stole, but for her.
## Character Breakdown
* **JUDY (30s):** A weary but resilient waitress who carries the heavy burden of a psychic gift she never wanted. She is pragmatic and guarded, having built a fragile wall of normalcy around herself to escape a dark past. She is more powerful than she lets on but fears the source of that power.
* **Psychological Arc:** Judy begins the story in a state of suppression, actively avoiding her past and the full extent of her abilities, treating them as a dangerous secret. By the end, she is violently pulled from her self-imposed exile, forced to confront the fact that her past is not dead and that she must now face the very person who shaped her strange existence.
* **PAULIE (40s):** A man in over his head. He is frayed, desperate, and foolish enough to steal from a source he clearly didn't understand. He acts as the catalyst, his desperation forcing Judy's hand and bringing the story's central conflict to the diner's counter.
* **THE MENTOR (50s-60s):** The antagonist. An imposing and enigmatic figure of quiet authority and menace. He is a master of the dark arts from which Judy has been hiding. His presence is felt before he is seen, defined by his signature obsidian ring. He is not a monster, but a man of immense and terrifying power.
## Scene Beats
1. **THE SANCTUARY:** Establish the pre-dawn quiet of 'The Greasy Spoon'. Judy moves through her routine, her connection to the ancient, gurgling coffee percolator hinted at. The diner is her mundane sanctuary.
2. **THE PLEA:** The bell chimes. A disheveled Paulie enters, seeking refuge and answers. Through coded, tense dialogue, he begs Judy for a "Reading."
3. **THE RITUAL:** Judy reluctantly agrees. With her manager distracted, she performs the ritual: whispering a request into the steam, pouring the dark coffee into a specific cracked mug, and sliding it to Paulie. The air grows heavy with anticipation.
4. **THE VISION:** As Paulie touches the mug, Judy is hit by the vision. The sensory reality of the diner shifts subtly—sounds and smells are replaced by fire and sulphur. She sees Paulie's crime: theft from an altar.
5. **THE REVELATION:** The vision sharpens to the key detail: the hunter's hand and the obsidian ring. The sight shatters Judy's composure. The vision ends abruptly, and she gasps for air, back in the diner.
6. **THE CONFRONTATION:** Judy, pale and shaken, tells Paulie he has made a terrible mistake, that he stole from someone she knows. Her fear is now personal.
7. **THE ARRIVAL:** The bell chimes again, cutting through the tension. A figure stands silhouetted against the door. The only detail visible is the glint of the obsidian ring on his hand as he closes the door, plunging the diner into a new, immediate level of dread.
## Visual Style & Tone
The visual style is grounded neo-noir, emphasizing the contrast between the warm, greasy light of the diner and the cold, encroaching darkness outside. The cinematography will be intimate and claustrophobic, using tight shots on faces, hands, and textures—the cracked ceramic of the mug, the swirling dark coffee, the steam from the percolator. The visions should be presented not as flashy special effects, but as unsettling, sensory shifts in the existing environment, making the supernatural feel disturbingly real and immediate.
The tone blends the working-class supernatural dread of *Constantine* with the contained, character-driven tension of a classic *Twilight Zone* or *Black Mirror* episode. It is atmospheric and suspenseful, building a sense of foreboding that culminates in a moment of pure horror.
**Format:** Short Film / Anthology Episode | **Est. Length:** 10-12 minutes
## Logline
A diner waitress with the ability to see visions in coffee must use her dangerous gift to help a desperate customer, only to discover his problem is directly linked to the sinister mentor from her past who she thought was long dead.
## Themes
* **The Inescapable Past:** Exploring the idea that old debts and relationships, especially dangerous ones, will always find their way back.
* **The Burden of Gifts:** The psychic ability is not a superpower but a curse that isolates Judy, brings her danger, and takes a physical and emotional toll.
* **Consequences of Transgression:** Paulie's theft from a powerful source unleashes forces he cannot control, highlighting the price of dabbling in the unknown.
* **The Veil Between Worlds:** The mundane setting of a greasy spoon diner serves as a thin barrier between our reality and a darker, more mystical one that can bleed through at any moment.
## Stakes
Judy's life and hard-won anonymity are at stake, as the return of her dangerous mentor threatens to drag her back into a world of dark magic she desperately tried to escape.
## Synopsis
In the pre-dawn gloom, JUDY works her shift at 'The Greasy Spoon', a diner where she hides a strange ability: she can see visions through the diner's ancient coffee percolator. Her quiet routine is shattered by the arrival of PAULIE, a desperate regular who uses their code words to request a "Reading."
Despite her fear of using the gift and being caught by her manager, Judy sees the genuine terror in Paulie's eyes and agrees. She performs a small, subtle ritual, whispering her intent into the steam of the percolator before pouring a cup of near-black coffee. As Paulie holds the mug, the vision overtakes Judy. The diner's reality warps—the sizzle of the grill becomes crackling fire, the air smells of sulphur.
The vision reveals that Paulie isn't a victim; he's a thief who stole something from a stone altar in a dark, ritualistic room. The vision then shifts, showing who is hunting him: a shadowy figure whose hand bears a silver ring with an unblinking obsidian eye. Judy's blood runs cold. She knows the ring.
The vision collapses, leaving her dizzy and terrified. She confronts Paulie, telling him he didn't just steal something, he stole it from "him." Before she can explain, the diner's bell chimes. A man stands silhouetted in the doorway. Judy doesn't need to see his face; she sees the glint of the obsidian ring on his hand. Her mentor, the man who taught her everything and who she thought was dead, has returned—not just for what Paulie stole, but for her.
## Character Breakdown
* **JUDY (30s):** A weary but resilient waitress who carries the heavy burden of a psychic gift she never wanted. She is pragmatic and guarded, having built a fragile wall of normalcy around herself to escape a dark past. She is more powerful than she lets on but fears the source of that power.
* **Psychological Arc:** Judy begins the story in a state of suppression, actively avoiding her past and the full extent of her abilities, treating them as a dangerous secret. By the end, she is violently pulled from her self-imposed exile, forced to confront the fact that her past is not dead and that she must now face the very person who shaped her strange existence.
* **PAULIE (40s):** A man in over his head. He is frayed, desperate, and foolish enough to steal from a source he clearly didn't understand. He acts as the catalyst, his desperation forcing Judy's hand and bringing the story's central conflict to the diner's counter.
* **THE MENTOR (50s-60s):** The antagonist. An imposing and enigmatic figure of quiet authority and menace. He is a master of the dark arts from which Judy has been hiding. His presence is felt before he is seen, defined by his signature obsidian ring. He is not a monster, but a man of immense and terrifying power.
## Scene Beats
1. **THE SANCTUARY:** Establish the pre-dawn quiet of 'The Greasy Spoon'. Judy moves through her routine, her connection to the ancient, gurgling coffee percolator hinted at. The diner is her mundane sanctuary.
2. **THE PLEA:** The bell chimes. A disheveled Paulie enters, seeking refuge and answers. Through coded, tense dialogue, he begs Judy for a "Reading."
3. **THE RITUAL:** Judy reluctantly agrees. With her manager distracted, she performs the ritual: whispering a request into the steam, pouring the dark coffee into a specific cracked mug, and sliding it to Paulie. The air grows heavy with anticipation.
4. **THE VISION:** As Paulie touches the mug, Judy is hit by the vision. The sensory reality of the diner shifts subtly—sounds and smells are replaced by fire and sulphur. She sees Paulie's crime: theft from an altar.
5. **THE REVELATION:** The vision sharpens to the key detail: the hunter's hand and the obsidian ring. The sight shatters Judy's composure. The vision ends abruptly, and she gasps for air, back in the diner.
6. **THE CONFRONTATION:** Judy, pale and shaken, tells Paulie he has made a terrible mistake, that he stole from someone she knows. Her fear is now personal.
7. **THE ARRIVAL:** The bell chimes again, cutting through the tension. A figure stands silhouetted against the door. The only detail visible is the glint of the obsidian ring on his hand as he closes the door, plunging the diner into a new, immediate level of dread.
## Visual Style & Tone
The visual style is grounded neo-noir, emphasizing the contrast between the warm, greasy light of the diner and the cold, encroaching darkness outside. The cinematography will be intimate and claustrophobic, using tight shots on faces, hands, and textures—the cracked ceramic of the mug, the swirling dark coffee, the steam from the percolator. The visions should be presented not as flashy special effects, but as unsettling, sensory shifts in the existing environment, making the supernatural feel disturbingly real and immediate.
The tone blends the working-class supernatural dread of *Constantine* with the contained, character-driven tension of a classic *Twilight Zone* or *Black Mirror* episode. It is atmospheric and suspenseful, building a sense of foreboding that culminates in a moment of pure horror.