In Indiana in 1842, an unhappilymarriedwoman accuses a young, immigrant priestof raping herin the confessional. His vow to keep the Seal of Confessionprevents him from speaking in his own defense. Aclimate of xenophobia and anti-Catholicismfuelsa sensationaltrialandviolent, shameful eventsthatultimatelyproveredemptive. Based on a true story.

Get to know the writers:

1. What is your screenplay about?

A young, German seminarian comes to America to finish his preparation for the priesthood and enter the mission field. Upon ordination, the bishop assigns him to assist a pastor in southwest Indiana. An anti-Catholic, anti-immigrant climate poses challenges to his ministry. These come to a head when an unhappily married woman accuses him or sexually assaulting her in the confessional booth. The screenplay essays the accusation, the resulting trial, his conviction, incarceration, and ultimately his pardon and release from prison.

2. What genres does your screenplay fall under?

Historical Drama

3. Why should this screenplay be made into a movie?

O’Leary: This is a fascinating true story of how xenophobia, religious bigotry, racism, and misogyny plant deep roots in America’s cultural fabric. These forces combine and erupt in a gross miscarriage of justice in antebellum Indiana—a state that less than a century later would become the stronghold of the KKK.

McMullen: It reveals an often forgotten era of 19th-century American history, making it a compelling series for a general audience, while also exploring the depths of religion, law, and society in early American history.

4. How would you describe this script in two words?

McMullen: perilous, inspiring O’Leary: active, tense

5. What movie have you seen the most times in your life?

McMullen: I can’t name just one. I return to good films, like good books on my shelf, again and again. Casablanca (1942), Vertigo (1958), Paths of Glory (1957), Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961), Ben-Hur (1959), Planes, Trains, and Automobiles (1987), and Raising Arizona (1987) all come to mind.

O’Leary: The Wizard of Oz (1939). It used to air on network TV once a year and it was always an event for the whole family. Those flying monkeys really creeped me out.

Among the pictures I’ve viewed multiple times are Deliverance (1972), Lonesome Dove (1989), The Hustler (1961), One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975), and the wonderful LOTR trilogy (2001, 2002, 2003).

6. How long have you been working on this screenplay?

McMullen: I have been researching this story since 1996 and have continued to do so throughout the writing of the screenplay, which we began in the spring of 2022. The full story arc spans 250 pages, or roughly four hours of screen time. We envision it as a series of four, one-hour episodes.

7. How many stories have you written?

McMullen: I have written a collection of short stories and a coming-of-age novella,

Eugene and the Haunted Train Bridge. My novel Poor Souls, an account of a seminarian’s time in seminary and at the parish of Our Lady of the Poor and Forgotten Souls in Purgatory Parish, was written in part as a therapeutic response to the Catholic priest sexual abuse scandal in the early 2000s. My historical narrative, The Miracle of Stalag 8A, details the life of Olivier Messiaen and how he came to write the Quartet for the End of Time while a POW in a German Stalag in 1940-1941.

O’Leary: My career as a writer has been spent working in sales and marketing. You might say I’ve written scores of little stories around selling products and services. This is my first screenplay. My second, “Sylvie’s Bed,” is a short in the children’s fantasy genre.

8. What motivated you to write this screenplay?

McMullen: This story deserves to be seen and heard not only for its significance in American history, but for the sake of the enduring principles of our republic, for liberty, and for democratic ideals.

O’Leary: I was astounded to learn this event had taken place in my own hometown. I am convinced it needs to reach a wider audience because the forces that fueled this injustice are still at work today. Perhaps this sad chapter from our history can teach us something we have failed to learn.

9. What obstacles did you face to finish this screenplay?

We’ve approached this as a team from the beginning, so notching out the time to collaborate in the face of other demands has been a bit challenging.

10. Apart from writing, what else are you passionate about?

McMullen: I have been writing since I was young, drawn especially to history and the stories it preserves. I have studied and taught theology, philosophy, and ethics at both the high school and university levels. I am an ordained Deacon in the Catholic Church and serve as a Board Certified Chaplain and Spiritual Care Practitioner. For the past ten years I have served in hospital and hospice chaplaincy. I love birds, classical music, art, reading, and film.

Many of my projects focus on matters of justice. My book The Last Blackrobe of Indiana and the Potawatomi Trail of Death explores the grave injustice of “Indian Removal” in 1830s Indiana. This screenplay, along with my earlier book ROMAN: Unparalleled Outrage, confronts America’s history of xenophobia, racism, and religious bigotry.

As an advocate for the dignity of the human person, my beliefs are rooted in the theological belief that every human person is created in the image of God, as well as in the philosophical principle that each human person must be respected as autonomous.

This conviction grounds my passion for defending the worth of every human being and ensuring the respect for each person regardless of status or ethnicity or religious belief or non-religious beliefs.

The Golden Rule—“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”—shapes my perspective. As Les Misérables says, “To love another person is to see the face of God.”

And in Jesus’s final parable, the Lord of History declares: “Whatsoever you did to the least of my people, that you did unto me.” For me, authentic religion and lived spirituality must bear fruit in works of mercy, justice, and love.

In my preaching and storytelling, I seek to speak truth to power and elevate mercy, empathy, compassion, justice, beauty, and the mystery of grace.

Life is too short for bitterness, which is why humor matters so much to me. G.K. Chesterton once said, “Angels can fly because they can take themselves lightly.” That’s a spirit I try to carry into both my work and my writing.

O’Leary: I’m passionate about social justice and defending democracy from what I see as a rise in authoritarianism in the United States and around the globe. I see hopeful signs that citizens will assert their power against the forces of tyranny—which thrive on the very evils we’ve limned in this story—and people can restore trust in one another and the institutions we rely on to, as the founders put it, “promote the general welfare.”

They weren’t right about everything, but that one phrase from the preamble of the Constitution is golden.

I’m passionate about my belief in a perfect and loving Divinity and that no individual is beyond the reach of her redeeming, life-giving love. I try to live that belief in my every interaction with people.

11. What influenced you to enter the festival? What were your feelings on the initial feedback you received?

We read about the festival via ISA and at first thought we might be ineligible because the festival focuses on raising up the work of women writers. We saw that the festival also considers stories with strong female characters, and that is what encouraged us to enter.

Our female lead is quite complex and has always been an enigma to those who have studied the historical record. So we wanted to look deeper into what made her tick and ultimately we came to the conclusion that she, too, was a victim. It would have been easy to demonize her, but that would have been another injustice and would not have made much sense in the context of the conspiracy that took shape around her accusation.

As for the notes we received, we felt they were specific, actionable, and helpful. We incorporated the feedback into a revision and believe what we have now is much stronger as a result. We have entered several contests and done fairly well at earning recognition. But sometimes the notes we get back from readers are not helpful, or even seem at odds with notes we get from other readers. So we have to be careful about how we use the feedback we get; sometimes our creative instincts compel us to ignore it. In other words, the teacher is not always right. That goes for readers in screenplay competitions as well.