September 17, 2018
In this biting satire of reality shows and today’s U.S. political atmosphere, 17-year-old Dee Guerrera, framed for the murder of her stepsister, is dropped onto a nightmarish island in San Francisco Bay where she must fight for her life against state-sponsored killers. Dee is sentenced to Alcatraz 2.0, a show and attendant app created by an anonymous television mogul that offer “televised capital punishment.” After accidentally killing her would-be executioner in self-defense, she becomes an instant sensation. Now branded the #CinderellaSurvivor and forced to portray a Disney princess for audience appeal, she forms a tenuous alliance with fellow inmates in a desperate attempt to unravel the island’s secrets and expose the injustice of their situation, all while suspecting she was brought there for a specific reason. McNeil (I’m Not Your Manic Pixie Dream Girl) offers a tense, fast-paced tale that balances gore (numerous people die in creative, occasionally graphic ways), pop culture, and dark comedy. Ages 14–up. Agent: Ginger Clark, Curtis Brown Ltd.