Title: Manipulative Ways

Author: Cheryl Smith

Type: Feature-length Film

Logline: When a young woman unexpectedly takes possession of a winning
lottery ticket, she finds herself ensnared in a web of deception and
escalating violence as she struggles to keep it.

Summary:

The story begins with flashbacks: a middle-aged woman in a psychiatric
hospital; a young woman working a pole in a strip club. Susan
Passaretti works as a waitress in a greasy-spoon diner during the day;
and by night, she is a stripper. Fate introduces an extraordinary turn
of events when Susan meets Jonathan, a man well past his prime, and a
habitual lottery player who finally believes he has struck gold. It is
Jonathan’s idea to take Susan to a cheap motel to have a little fun.
All along, Susan is concocting a scheme to part Jonathan from his
lottery ticket and claim the two-million-dollar prize for herself.
Susan’s actions set off a chain of events that put her on a
collision course with Jonathan’s wife, Mary.

Mary, a woman scorned and unstable, is in the habit of following her
routinely unfaithful husband. Mary is right outside the motel room
seething as the scene between Susan and Jonathan unfolds. Because Mary
is unaware of her husband’s newfound lottery fortune, she offers no
resistance when Susan leaves the scene of the crime. After putting the
pieces together, Mary’s emotional state deteriorates rapidly as she
goes on a vicious rampage of revenge that includes arson and murder.
Susan underestimates Mary’s capacity for retaliation. This
misjudgment sets the stage for escalating violence. The film explores
the theme of emotional bullying as disturbing events culminate in a
violent showdown of cat and mouse. With her life at risk, the promise
of millions does little to placate the troubled Susan, leaving her in
a dreadful predicament of her own making.