The Last Vote

Dear Readers: 

This script marks my first experience with screenwriting. Two months ago, I had never even read a script, let alone attempted to write one. Since then, I’ve been learning the language of scriptwriting and experimenting with dialogue, pacing, and staging. The process has been daunting but also incredibly rewarding. Now, I’ve discovered a deep appreciation for shaping scenes not just through what is said, but through what is shown, left unsaid, or implied.

The script I’ve written is intended for a short film or TV series. The story unfolds in a near-future dystopia where every citizen is wired into a seemingly utopian network of instant communication and total connectivity. Specifically, the government controls people’s rights through it and most importantly, the right to vote. 

The inspiration for this project came from observing political developments not only in the U.S., but across the globe. We’re living through a time when wealth and power are increasingly concentrated among elites, while average citizens often feel voiceless and overwhelmed. While we may not be living under absolute dictatorships, the echoes of authoritarianism are unmistakable and deeply troubling. I wanted to write something that reflects my unease with the growing imbalance of power. 

This story is written from my new found understanding of the US. I didn’t grow up here. I come from a place where democracy was hard-won. Protests, prison sentences, and even deaths were part of the struggle to secure civil liberties. I’ve always been struck by the way civic participation—voting and free expression—is sometimes treated as a nuisance or even a threat in more established democracies. This script, in many ways, is my response to that contradiction. Furthermore, I’m particularly interested in how technology, often framed as a tool of progress, can also become a mechanism of control. In my imagined world, people are surrounded by innovation, yet they’ve lost their ability to think critically. The state doesn’t silence dissent with violence; it numbs it with distraction. My goal was to write a cautionary tale urging people to think about what is right and wrong and what to do in response. It is not to predict the future.

In workshops and peer feedback sessions, I’ve learned to pay closer attention to the pacing of a scene and building context. The feedback helped me add stronger settings and back stories. I also realized that I don’t need to explain everything as the most powerful moments often come when the story invites viewers to reach their own conclusions.

Writing this script has helped me develop as both a writer and a thinker. It’s pushed me to reflect on the kind of stories I want to tell, which is current event critiques. My background and identity shape the questions I bring to the page: What does it mean to be free? How do systems of power maintain themselves? What responsibility do we have to resist?

Ultimately, I hope this project contributes to a larger conversation about civic engagement, technological ethics, and the future of democracy. I hope it reminds viewers that their voices matter and that silence, too, is a choice.