BENIGHTED
psychological thriller, feature film-pre-production

Niki Carson-an ordinary girl from Georgia, comes to New York City to work as an art curator.Through her work she meets Karl von Hildebrand, an older Austrian banker who falls for her innocence and purity.
Their romance leads to a lavish wedding in Vienna, where she finds out he is a late successor to the Habsburgs. For her passionate interest in history she is introduced to private archives of the von Hildebrands and their noble friends. It is here, where she comes across a story of the dark and mysterious Elizabeth Bathory-Nadaszy, the 17th century Hungarian Countess. Niki is immediately drawn to this story for ambitious professional reasons, but her work turns into an unstoppable obsession. Her husband suddenly dies and she is left alone with their daughter Carla.
But she dedicates her life to the fanatical research, and her dangerous experiments with her own mind make her believe she discovered a path to countess Elizabeth. She becomes possessed with Elizabeth in a very risky manner, and agrees to carry on Elizabeth’s mission.
Her worlds start merging together as she is no longer capable of distinguishing reality from her visions. Elizabeth begins controlling Niki’s life and even involves her daughter Carla. After sacrificing nearly everything for her obsession, Niki finally resists Elizabeth’s influence and steps out of the darkness.
She manages to overcome her fears of herself and accepts reality and a new beginning.