In a state determined to eradicate divorce through government oversight and chemical compliance, one woman begins to transform—body and mind—into something the system never predicted… and cannot control.
In the near future, South Carolina has become the nation’s test site for a radical experiment: the elimination of divorce. Under the guise of protecting the American family, the state monitors marriages through mandatory oversight. When a wife shows instability or noncompliance, she is prescribed treatment—first medication and then finally the HARMONY procedure: a surgery to replace the uterus with a synthetic one and chemically enforce docility.
HAZEL (32) is doing everything right. She keeps a beautiful home and works at The Pairing House, a state facility where widows must remarry or face forced HARMONY.
During a night swim in their backyard pond with her husband, BEAU (38), something unseen drags Hazel underwater. She barely survives. When she resurfaces, a strange wound marks the back of her neck. It festers. It changes. Soon Hazel is plagued by visions of a grotesque version of herself. A relentless buzzing fills her ears. Her skin begins to peel. Doctors call it hormonal. Her Harmony Compliance Officer calls it hysteria.
At a barbecue, Hazel’s confident sister-in-law PAM (40s) confides that her husband is pushing her into HARMONY early. After the surgery, Pam returns eerily calm—her spark gone.
Hazel’s symptoms escalate. During a deer hunt she wanders into the woods and uncovers a pulsating larval form bearing her own distorted face. After the encounter, she becomes feral, changed and unrecognizable to Beau.
Her case is sent to DR. STEVENS (50s), the public face of HARMONY, who offers injections as a final alternative before surgery. Desperate to avoid losing herself, Hazel agrees.
Meanwhile ELOISE (49), the defiant widow Hazel befriended, is forced into HARMONY. When Eloise later takes her own life, Hazel finally understands what compliance demands.
Hazel attempts to flee the state, but without Beau’s consent she is returned home. Believing he is saving their marriage, Beau authorizes the procedure. Hazel wakes after surgery to find the creature from her visions waiting beside her.
She returns home, but when Beau insists he can still bring “his” Hazel back, her skin begins to split and a deafening scream stops Beau’s heart.
Hazel walks to the pond one final time. Beneath the water she sheds her human skin. Her empty body floats away as something else emerges—reborn and finally free.
MK McGehee is a Los Angeles based, award-winning filmmaker and photographer who began her creative journey in site-specific and experiential theatre around the world. She holds a BFA from NYU Tisch and an MFA from UCSD/La Jolla Playhouse. Formerly the Creative Director of a respected LA indie magazine, she produced print and video shoots with artists like Helen Mirren, Jared Leto, Patricia Clarkson and more.
A queer child of the Deep South, MK grew up torn between the gothic beauty of her home and the quiet anger of being condemned for who she was. That tension—between love and repression—inspired her most recent feature script, HYSTERIA, and continues to shape her voice as an artist. A survivor of violence and profound trauma, she channels her lived experience into bold feminist psychological horror. Her debut short film, THE RE-EDUCATION OF JANE BROWN, screened at over two dozen international festivals, winning awards for “Best Narrative Short,” “Best Director,” and “Best Horror Short.”
Most recently, MK’s feature script, THE RE-EDUCATION OF JANE BROWN (based on her proof-of-concept short), was selected as one of only twelve screenplays to take part in Meryl Streep and Nicole Kidman’s ‘The Writers Lab’ in 2025. It is currently in development with plans to begin production in 2026.
MK is repped by Zero Gravity Management in Los Angeles.
