The following preview has been approved for
APPROPRIATE AUDIENCES
by the American Motion Picture Association Guild of the United States, INC.
The film advertised has been rated PG-13
Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.
ampgaus.org
The trailer started with a sad piano tune plays with deep notes.
Movie trailer narrator: "Meet Mrs. Wallenstein, a mother who's on the warpath for her daughters. One of her kids was stolen at birth by a demonic cult. She is willing to do anything it takes to get her family back together."
The scene shows the same woman in her forties, staring at a stained photograph of twin babies in the hospital nursery. She weeps as the camera closes on tears falling on the photograph.
Some short shots are shown. A brunette girl playing in the backyard under the loving but bittersweet gaze of her mother. Another almost-identical girl, a redhead, dressed in rags and locked up in a cage, while hooded figures chant something unintelligible. The camera focus on an evil tattoo on their necks. One of the cultists approaches the cage with a knife as the girl huddles against the bars, whimpering in fear.
"Have you ever wondered how to fight such wicked enemy when nobody is willing to believe you?"
Shots of the woman begging, pleading, speaking angrily in a courtroom, crying in her bed with the photograph.
"Her only choice was to join them."
Studio cards and vignettes.
Cultists are shown backstage of a theater, then talking to a judge in her office, as well as other government officials as they appear to infiltrate all aspects of society. Shots of the cult leader, Mr. Roger Marthan as he contacts some cultist soldiers (who are shown to have the same tattoo under their collars) to bring weapons into a camp, probably Guantanamo.
"They didn't listen to her. Now, a dark shadow will cover all of America!"
The girl grew up. She's Catherine Wallenstein, the cult has its sights on her. It's hinted that she's sexually abused, then drugged and thrown off a building, making it seem like a suicide.
The cult leader then orders her dead by any means and stages the attack on the George Washington Bridge. At the same time, he's seen at high society events talking to politicians.
Things escalate. The cult succeeds at summoning a minor demon in Florida, and the military prepares for action. An aerial shot of Doswell appears for an instant before the screen goes dark, leaving only the sound of gunshots, men shouting, and explosions in the background.
Mrs. Wallenstein is shown arguing with the cult leader in a hotel lobby. "Let me see my daughter!" She demands.
"Not yet. You haven't yet proven your worth," he snickers back.
The man walks away.
Catherine Wallenstein is shown arguing with her mother.
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"Mom, you need to get out of that cult. It's ruining our lives!"
"You wouldn't understand, daughter," the woman bemoans. "It is for your own good."
She attempts to leave but the girl holds her back and shoots her tear-laced questions, "Then explain it to me. Tell me, mom, why wouldn't you even come to visit me at the hospital?"
"Leave. I'm tired," the mother rudely demands, and the girl complies as she stomps out of the bedroom. Behind her back, Mrs. Wallenstein finally let her emotions show as she whispers, "I'm sorry, they'd have killed you if I did."
The screen shows VFX as the names of the cast appear on the screen.
Shots of both mother and daughter fighting their own battles, as their paths diverge but their goals remain the same, even if they don't know it.
Actual shots of a destroyed and smoking Doswell appear as the camera shoots north over the countryside and closes on Fort Hamilton. As the camera slows down, a demonic being lands on the military facility and spreads its wings. Soldiers are called to action and the battle begins. Leaving behind the fighting but still displaying the sounds of battle and the screams of the soldiers, the camera finds Catherine hiding behind a military jeep. She is clearly sick and afraid as she watches the battle but then she stands up.
"It's me you want, fiend!" She defiantly shouts.
The camera rotates and the demon screams, "Catherine!"
The shot cuts to the girl running across the Brooklyn with the demon giving chase. She jumps over a police cruiser but the cops don't stop her, as they are momentarily stunned by the demon landing off-camera.
"Catherine!" The demon shouts, and the cops start shooting.
The shot shows Catherine leaving a pawn shop with a couple of shotguns. She stared defiantly at something in the distance, probably the demon.
"It's time to Second Amendment you out of this country, demon!" She states.
The camera goes up, showing Manhattan with Fort Hamilton on fire. The music stops suddenly. A shotgun goes off.
"Based on a true story, Warmer Brothers presents, The Wallenstein War!"
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"How are you feeling now about mom's role? Have you changed your mind?" Catriel asked in a hushed tone.
"I loved it," Catherine confessed. "You were right. For the sake of the family name, we needed to clear mom of all suspicion. It was well known she was involved with the cult, now people know why."
The two sisters watched the trailer play from a side monitor while they waited to be called on the stage. They were invited to a late-night talk show to promote their upcoming summer blockbuster. What was funnier was that besides the cringy movie one-liners and making their mother the heroine, the rest of the movie was as truthful as it could be.
They had to shoot a lot of scenes in China and get some Chinese actors to fill the quota to get access to that market as the studio demanded, but the rest remained untouched. They both were executive producers and actresses in the movie. They didn't expect any Academy Award for that, but one could dream.
Finally, it was time. The show host started to talk.
"All of us felt the effects of the terrorist organization that turned our country upside down last year. What some of you may not understand was who or what caused all that. Well, my next guests hold all the answers to that. Please welcome the Wallenstein Sisters!"
They entered, greeted the audience, and sat on the couch, making sure there was no wardrobe malfunction to distract the cameras.
"Thank you, Jeff," Catherine said. "We heard America wanted the truth, and we did our utmost to make the movie as truthful as possible. The supernatural parts might not be as accurate as we wished, but we couldn't find a live cult leader to tell us what they really did."
"Because our troops killed them all," Catriel half-grumbled, half-cheered. She made sure to show how angry she was at being kept hostage for her entire life. "And good riddance!"
The crowd cheered.
"Catriel, how was the experience of being a hostage for your entire life?"
"Terrible, Jeff," she deadpanned. "A few cult ladies homeschooled me out of compassion, but the fear, the despair, is not something I'd wish on my worst enemy."
"Catherine, do you believe they summoned actual demons?" Jeff asked.
"I can't say," Catherine replied. "The current belief is that they did terrible genetic experiments on humans to create such terrifying mutants like the Florida Walker and the Brooklyn Demon. Their research was lost, though."
"And I hope it remains buried," Catriel retorted.
"They were GMO people, then."
"Maybe, but let's not bundle everything together," Catherine added. "It's like saying nobody can have a kitchen knife because sometimes people get stabbed with them."
"Obviously," Jeff replied. "How was the experience of producing your own movie?"
"A lot of hard work," Catherine said. "Before that, I always wondered why the producers were the ones to go on the stage to get the Best Movie Award but now I have a profound respect for all of them. The producer may not make a movie, but they can break it. We learned a lot and we had wonderful teachers."
"Sometimes the cultists let me watch a movie," Catriel confessed. "And I was always curious about life in the outside world and how these magical things could be done. It was awesome to peek behind the curtain."
The rest of the interview went on, with Jeff trying to pry some things here, but most of it was scripted. They had exclusive rights to the story because it was theirs, so the movie was a big hit as the entire world was curious about what happened.
There was a hidden agenda behind the movie too. They left a few real elements of the "other world" leak, in hopes returners recognized it and contacted them. It was their first step in setting up a corporation that would help and gather the magically-inclined people around them.
The world was changing. As more kidnapped people returned from the "isekai", conflicts between them would surely arise. That corporation was the Wallenstein sisters' answer to that looming threat.