Freudian Nightmare: Feature Film

Genre: Supernatural Romantic Comedy, Dark Comedy, and Buddy Movie

Tone: All of Me meets American Beauty meets The War of the Roses

Logline: The spirit of Sigmund Freud falls in love with a woman who he thinks is going to be his future mother, only to discover that she can’t get pregnant because her prominent Psychiatrist husband he has secretly promised his narcissistic daughter from his first marriage that he would get a vasectomy so as to maintain her ‘only-child’ status. Filled with 'Freudian nightmarish' interactions, the two of them discover a past-life connection that forever changes their relationship.

Overview: This discourse on psychology and the role of the soul brings a new perspective to Freud’s teachings. In this story, even the great Sigmund Freud is driven by the unfinished business in his soul and not just by his libido, which runs contrary to many of his theories. The soul of this romantic comedy is the notion that when love imprints on the soul, it can drive us and transform us for lifetimes to come.

Synopsis: RENAIA BATEMAN (40) wants to have a baby. Her world-famous psychiatrist husband, NORMAN BATEMAN (55) has secretly promised his spoiled, Oedipally-challenged daughter from his first marriage, KIMMY BATEMAN (21) that he would get a vasectomy as a birthday present to her so she would never have to share his affections or his finances with another half-sibling. Kimmy and Norman are both Narcissists, and initially Renaia doesn’t stand a chance against them. Their twisted father/daughter relationship provides fodder for the Freudian Nightmare scenarios that occur throughout the script. Renaia’s true journey is to figure out how to move forward with her life and free herself of this toxic drama. In order to do so, she must ask the deeper question, why did she choose to marry Norman in the first place? What part of her soul drove her to this level of dysfunction and why?

SIGMUND FREUD wants another chance at life. He’s got some unfinished business from his previous lifetime that has to do with his first, great love, a wholesome country girl whom he abandoned because of his family’s own dysfunction and desire for him to be highly educated and marry a Jewish woman.  Freud has chosen Renaia as his future mother for reasons that aren’t fully revealed until the third act. At first blush, it looks like he chose Renaia as his mother so he could reincarnate and set the record straight about some of his theories, especially since his future father (Norman) is a fanatic follower of Freud’s theories. Sigmund first appears in their bedroom as Renaia is trying to seduce Norman to have unprotected sex with her since she really wants a baby. Sigmund follows her everywhere until she ‘breaks through’ and finally sees him in all his ghost-like glory.  At first, she’s freaked out and thinks she might be having a psychotic episode due to the heavy dose of fertility drugs she is secretly taking. Her close friend and co-owner at their yoga studio, ELLA LAZAROVICH used to work as a medium in the ‘old country’ and sees Sigmund’s spirit before Renaia does. Ella reassures Renaia that she’s not crazy, just encumbered with the spirit of one of the greatest minds of the last century, “Sigmund Fucking Freud."  

Set in any affluent suburb outside of a big city, their lavish lifestyle gives rise to various Freudian-inspired family dysfunction, coupled with the evil underpinnings of white privilege. As classic Narcissists, Norman and Kimmy have little empathy for Renaia and encourage a plethora of sexual behaviors that range from unhealthy to downright disturbing. This dark comedy celebrates the resilience of the spirit and explores the interplay between Freud’s theory of the libido and a more profound illumination of the soul, both of which have a great impact on our behavior, our emotions, and our lives.  

A series of ‘Freudian nightmares’ drive the plot forward, bringing Renaia and Sigmund to a revealing moment when they discover that Norman has “banked” some sperm in anticipation of his vasectomy. As Renaia is about to get artificially inseminated with it and give Sigmund another chance to  be reincarnated, unbeknownst to Norman, Sigmund stops her and reveals a darker secret about Norman and his infidelity, one that makes them realize how unhappy and trapped she’ll be if she has his baby. Sigmund loves Renaia too much to rob her of happiness in her future. She halts the artificial insemination procedure and leaves Norman for good. Kimmy gets her dad all to herself. Renaia gets a second chance to find happiness. Sigmund forfeits his reincarnation out of love for Renaia that he has carried with him in his soul since his last lifetime.

Ella applauds Renaia’s decision to divorce Norman and helps her see the bigger picture.  She hypnotizes Renaia into a past life regression, which reveals her romance with Sigmund from their previous lifetimes. Renaia was his first, great love, a young, country girl named, Gisela Fluss. Though he was always in love with her, he never married her due to pressure from his own mother to live in Vienna and to marry within his religion. Sigmund loved Gisella throughout his entire life, but they were never truly reunited until now. 

The final scene takes place one year later as Renaia nurses her new baby girl and lives with a sexy, younger man, their gardner who she has always had a thing for.  The baby gives Renaia the ‘signal’ that Sigmund had promised Renaia he’d give her when they parted so she’d know that it was really him incarnated in her baby. The signal to ‘play with her breast’ could be just normal baby behavior or it could be him. There’s no way to know for sure, but the real truth is that some experiences continue to resonate in our souls long after the interaction is over. In other words, love never dies.