Wicked Women and Their Men

The recent emergence and spread of online celebrity scams have resulted in millions of dollars being stolen from innocent victims who believed they were developing real connections to and helping their favorite celebrities.
Informed by actual online conversations with impersonators, “Wicked Women and Their Men” opens the door to understanding why and how any innocent fan would get suckered into the manipulation of the scammer and illustrates the often-overlooked emotional consequences of being scammed. The story also weaves the themes of generational dysfunction and emotional manipulation as we see the lead character’s vulnerability played out, especially in tense moments where he’s seeking validation by trying to connect online with his celebrity crush, Forrest Livesay, only to be repeatedly duped by impersonators, some of whom happen to be his aunt and cousin.
The story starts with Henry, the lead character, who is emotionally abused by the matriarch of his family, his grandmother, Lucy Hardy. We learn in a stark and visual way of Henry’s trauma early on and it lingers over everything that Henry experiences. It truly captures the whole “sins of the past haunting the present” vibe as we also witness the dysfunction with Henry’s Aunt Ruth and Aunt Joy, his cousins Alice and James, and his Uncle Bob.
Henry’s journey from the childhood trauma that we witness in the first scene to his unmet and desperate need for connection and love as an adult through online relationships is both heartbreaking and painfully real. This story is intense, layered, and emotionally raw, and it has a deep, psychological weight to it that makes you sit with the characters and their pain.