A shut-in with a paralyzing fear of death, contracts a rare and lethal food poisoning that causes surreal hallucinations, forcing him out of the safety of his home, and into a shadowy culinary underworld, where he will team with an eccentric deli owner to find the lost mythical sandwich that might save him.

SYNOPSIS:

Herbie Dinwiddle is a shut-in with a paralyzing fear of everything… especially death. He obsessively safeguards against even the tiniest of household risks. His only lifeline to the outside world is a recipe book left behind by his late parents—celebrated chefs. He passes the time by building odd sculptures in his living room. His carefully controlled life is upended when a bad piece of chicken gives him deadly food poison that’s possibly not of this world, spiraling him into feverish blackouts, hallucinations and a surreal death-venture!

Linda, The excentric neighborhood deli owner across the street, believes Herbie has contracted the “Red Fowl Virus.” An ancient food-borne illness. The only known cure? A sandwich that’s become legend among culinary fanatics: The Montague Sandwich, or as it’s whispered in the underground… De Sandwico.

With a golden-gun-wielding assassin on his tail, cryptic visions haunting him, and clues buried in his parents’ cookbook, Herbie must team up with Linda for a race to find the sandwich, and the truth about both of their pasts. Their journey winds through a clandestine culinary underworld—featuring shadowy food markets, food-truck gypsies, and the secret back kitchens of five-star restaurants.

But the deeper he gets, the more he begins to question: Is this all just happening to him?—or is he at the center of a much bigger recipe?

Characters:

• Herbie Dinwiddle – A neurotic, hypersensitive shut-in whose fear of death is slowly killing him. Clinging to routines and childhood trauma, he’s forced to confront a world far messier than he ever prepared for.

• Linda Mayfield – A bold, slightly unhinged deli owner with a mysterious past and a lifelong obsession with underground food lore. Her compassion is real—but so is her appetite for danger.

• Bent Mustache – A mute, expressionless killer with a bent moustache and a golden pistol. His mission: Get Herbie Dinwiddle.

• Skillet – The charismatic, burn-scarred owner of The Cornucopia, a lavish food complex hiding dark secrets behind gourmet glamour.

• The Girl in the Chicken Hat – A surreal, spectral figure who appears throughout Herbie’s hallucinations and may hold the key to the mystery—or be part of it.

Themes:

• Fear of death vs. the courage to live.

• Reclaiming your identity through grief.

• The absurdity and power of obsession.

• Found family, food, and forgiveness.

• What we inherit from those who fed us—literally and spiritually.

Visual Style:

Gritty meets hallucinatory. Think animated fever dream with grounded emotional stakes. Herbie’s world starts sterile and colorless but expands into a vivid, greasy neon inferno as he descends deeper into the underground. The Black Farmer’s Market glows like Blade Runner at brunch. The Cornucopia is a food-worshipping cathedral of late-capitalist gluttony. Action scenes are wildly imaginative—meat tenderizers clash with golden guns, while dream logic and food lore fuel the chaos.

Why It Will Succeed:

Bad Chicken is a deliciously offbeat adventure about confronting the things that scare us most. Its absurd premise—food poisoning as a gateway to self-actualization—is rooted in deep emotional truth. It’s a high-concept film with cult potential, genre-defying humor, and enough heart to surprise even the most jaded viewer. Visually, tonally, and thematically, this script stands out in a market hungry for originality.