BLOOD AVOCADO AND BUTTERFLIES

Psychological thriller, feature

Writer-Director: Boris Rodriguez

LOGLINE: 

Following the murder of his environmental activist wife, a mild-mannered Mexican ore miner makes the vengeful, and soon-regretted, decision to join a band of corrupt detectives that kidnap the foreign owner of the mine.

SYNOPSIS

Fuelled by vengeance after the murder of his environmentalist wife MIRANDA GONZALEZ (30s), NACHO GONZALEZ (30s), a mild-mannered Mexican ore miner, joins a consortium of crooked ex-cops who kidnap Canadian mining magnet, MARK ARMSHIRE (50s) whom Nacho believes ordered the murder of his wife. Miranda wanted to protect the local Monarch butterfly sanctuary and was raising funds for an eco-retreat that would clash with the Canadian mine’s interests. The kidnappers’ leader, PACO OCHOA (40s), a corrupt detective, needs Nacho’s broken English to draw information from Mark and better negotiate the sizeable ransom payable by the mining company’s insurance. But guilt gnaws away at Nacho as Mark insists on his innocence and begs for a chance to reunite with his daughter SABINA ARMSHIRE (20s).

Mark senses that Nacho, like him, is a family man and attempts to persuade him to opt for a safer money transfer over the phone instead of a risky cash drop. Mark is well-versed in the various mechanisms that can be used to safely move money. Nacho attempts to convince Paco about the transfer but Paco becomes hostile, unwilling to trust a white-collar crook. Mark then makes a daring offer: Nacho should kidnap him from the kidnapers then call his daughter and arrange for the money transfer. With Paco’s violent streak becoming more obvious, Nacho fears he may be as dispensable as Mark and accepts the offer. 

Nacho secretly contacts Sabina, Mark’s daughter who will be able to arrange the transfer. But on the night of the great escape, Nacho and Mark’s plot is uncovered by Paco and Nacho suffers punitive retaliation. To make matters worse, it’s revealed that Mark has been embezzling funds from his company and hiding it in Sabina’s charities. Mark’s partners will terminate his partnership and seize the missing funds. If Mark is no longer a part of the company, the company’s kidnapping insurance won’t cover the ransom, making him and Nacho more expendable than ever. 

In an unexpected twist, Mark and Nacho convince Paco to work with them in order to move the embezzled funds out of Sabina’s charities and into an anonymous off-shore account. In order for the plan to succeed, English-speaking Nacho will have to pose as a business tycoon and attend a high-stakes meeting with powerful corporate lawyers capable of setting up the off-shore structure. Nacho's training begins with Paco coaching him in intimidation tactics while Mark arms him with the necessary knowledge and terminology of the financial world. Gradually, Nacho is transformed from a humble soft-spoken miner into a perfect hybrid of millionaire and gangster. If he succeeds in fooling the law firm, Nacho walks away a millionaire. If he fails, both he and Mark, the man he wanted to punish, then save, are as good as dead.