A DAY FOR DRIVING

ADFD SYNOPSIS

Emilio works for a big studio as a sound engineer after giving up on his dream of becoming a successful musician and has settled for a paycheck. On any given morning he wakes up to his dull daily routine, when an unknown number starts texting him provocative female photos out of the blue. Emilio eventually engages with the stranger thinking it’s a sexy woman chatting him up. He soon finds out the man behind the unknown number has also kidnapped his wife and the only way to ensure her safety is to follow his disturbing instructions to a T. The demands are bizarre but harmless at first, until they quickly become more and more twisted, involving the destruction of his own family and close relationships, and eventually placing Emilio in dangerous and life threatening situations.

Emilio is reluctant to comply with the unknown caller at first and attempts to involve the police, making the situation worse and putting his wife Sonia in imminent danger. After several failed attempts to rebel against extortion, he finally succumbs to his new reality and obeys the unknown caller on every single outrageous instruction in order to save his wife. Emilio drives his truck all over Los Angeles meeting absurd deadlines and making distressing phone calls to his loved ones. Amongst these is one to his brother Felipe where he has to tell him he’s having sex with his wife. A call to his wife’s best friend asking her to be sodomized by him. He is also instructed to ditch a very important sound session while insulting his boss, resulting in him getting fired. After several upsetting situations that seem self destructive, his life and reputation fade swiftly. And yet, it is the only way he can save his wife. When Emilio completes the last task on the list, which involves him driving around with a powerful explosive on the passenger seat, the unknown caller decides he’s bored playing this game and shoots Sonia in the head while Emilio is on the line. He then hangs up and disconnects the number leaving a demolished Emilio on a side road unable to reach his wife or her captor and with no valuable information to provide to the authorities.

Emilio has lost everything and everyone, his life has been completely destroyed for no clear reason and there’s nothing he can do about it. Powerless to even seek revenge, he then decides to go home to kill himself by swallowing pills mixed with alcohol. As he fades away, his wife walks into the house and it’s clear she’s not injured or upset. She has no idea of what is happening to her husband. When Emilio tries to speak, his lights go out. Six months later we find out Emilio has survived the suicide attempt and is now in therapy. He's on the phone with his brother and seems to be on good terms with everyone. Just as he hangs up the call, a news alert pops up on his cell phone screen that reads:

"A Day For Driving" under FBI investigation. The virtual game played by the elite living in Mars allegedly responsible for dramatic suicide rate increase on planet earth. Emilio freaks out and begins searching online to read more about it but, not only does the article disappear, but he can’t find anything on the topic whatsoever. He breathes deeply and takes medication pills in order to regain control. This leads to the assumption that it’s all in his mind. Emilio keeps on and on the morning of his niece’s birthday, while he awaits calmly in the car for his mother, after taking his medication and doing his breathing therapy, he receives one more disturbing text. What now?