Synopsis
The Caretaker
The Caretaker is a multi-decade thriller about power, morality, and the cost of escaping death, set around the slow collapse of the Dixie-Five Mall and the secret world hidden beneath it.
In the 1960s and ’70s, Floyd Buelleur rises from obscurity to become the trusted manager of the Dixie-Five Mall, mentored by its larger-than-life owner, John P. Canary. He builds a family and devotes his life to keeping the Mall running at peak popularity.​
Floyd builds a successful but grounded life with his wife Donna, whose warmth and intuition balance his rigid sense of order, and their adopted son Simon, whose unsettling drawings hint at things Floyd refuses to acknowledge.
As the 1970s unfold, subtle fractures begin to appear. Certain executives pass through the mall with unusual authority. Faces return unchanged years later. Donna notices first, sensing that something beneath the mall feels wrong — too controlled, too hidden.
By the time Floyd begins to question what the mall is truly protecting, Donna has already been seen — and marked. Donna, is murdered after unknowingly crossing paths with a secret immortality project operating in the shadows of the mall.
Donna’s murder shatters Floyd completely, his control begins to unravel as grief hardens into bitterness. He drinks heavily, isolates himself, and clings obsessively to the mall as everything else in his life slips away. His authority erodes, his reputation fades, and his appearance deteriorates alongside the building he refuses to leave.
Meanwhile, what began as covert military experimentation in the 1940s has evolved into a cult-like network led by Florence, a brilliant, ageless scientist who believes humanity must shed emotion and morality to transcend death. This takes place somewhere within the heart of the dying mall.
Under her control, the cult grows more organized, more powerful, and more ruthless, quietly influencing executives, officials, and those willing to trade their humanity for eternity.
Florence and her followers transform John Canary’s dream into a temple of control, recruiting or eliminating anyone tied to the mall’s history. Staff tied to the mall’s past are approached first, those who refuse are erased.
Brutal occurrences ripple through the property, and fear hastens the decline. By the late 1970s, the mall’s golden promise rots—stores leave, crowds vanish, and corridors are sealed off for renovations that never come.
Clinging to a shrinking management role, Floyd insists the decline is cyclical—temporary, controllable. But beneath his reassurances, the cult tightens its grip. Florence’s followers consolidate corporate power in the shadows, stripping his authority away piece by piece.
As the mall’s reputation collapses, Dixie-Five is officially shuttered. Corporate announces the closure as an unavoidable financial decision, and Floyd—once its most visible defender—is dismissed as mall manager.​
Rather than remove Floyd entirely, they demote him to a low-level security guard. To the outside world, he’s a harmless remnant of the past. In truth, he’s cover—kept in place while Florence and her followers prepare the next stage of expansion.
When Floyd closes in on the truth, Florence’s cult moves to turn or erase him. His mortality makes him unpredictable—and dangerous. What follows is a battle of ideology: a mortal hunted inside the system he once led.
Floyd is not entirely alone in this battle. His adopted son, Simon, a boy once known for his eerie childhood drawings that seemed to predict future events, now serves as Floyd’s emotional anchor. His quiet insight mirrors that of a biblical prophet, Simon’s quiet wisdom and prophetic intuition offer moments of clarity. With Simon’s encouragement, Floyd’s resolve hardens.
At the center of the conflict is Wallace, Florence’s trusted lieutenant, whose growing doubt fractures the cult from within. His wavering loyalty transforms the struggle into a psychological war of surveillance, deception, and competing truths, as each side attempts to control not just events, but the narrative itself.
As the mall nears its final days, the conflict escalates into an open psychological war. Florence’s cult tightens its grip through deception, surveillance, and calculated lies.
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The building’s destruction is inevitable. What remains unresolved is whether Floyd was a disposable asset—or the one variable the system failed to account for.
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As the last employee holding on to the dying mall, Floyd is reduced to a broken security guard. Still present, still watching, he begins noticing patterns: people who never age, and areas he’s told not to enter. As he investigates, the cult responds. He is tracked, monitored, manipulated, and increasingly isolated —
With his suspicions confirmed, Floyd’s quiet investigation shifts to an outright obsession. He becomes a stalker at the dead property, tailing his former colleagues who have been absorbed into the cult, eavesdropping on conversations, and piecing together the true scope of its power.
The Caretaker is a story about decay and resistance, where remaining human — fragile, finite, and imperfect — is the last act of defiance.
Let’s Work Together
Interested in seeing this produced into a movie or mini-series?
Contact me at lucasa.damours@gmail.com
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Please note, this screenplay is an original, copyrighted work and is protected under applicable intellectual property laws. Any use, distribution, or reproduction without authorization is strictly prohibited.
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© [Lucas D'Amours], [2020-2025]. All rights reserved.
