Come Back to Me (Vuelve a mí)

A young woman with the power to bring the dead back to life is recruited by a mysterious corporation and must choose between saving her family or confronting a system capable of using her gift for terrifying purposes.

Silvia Cid Ocampo was born dead, but came back to life under inexplicable circumstances. Today, at 19, she has discovered she possesses an unsettling gift: she can restore life to the dead with a hug. She discovers this when, during a protest in Madrid, her best friend dies after being run over and, upon hugging her, Silvia brings her back. However, the resurrection is incomplete: the body retains its injuries and her behavior is erratic and violent.

Laura begins investigating the phenomenon until she is contacted by Joaquín León, a representative of the mysterious company After Life, who offers her a job and reveals that she is not the only one with this ability. Laura is one of many “raisers” around the world, and the company needs her to “raise” personnel for all sorts of tasks, from agricultural labor to dangerous missions. Beneath the façade of a conventional job lies a global network that exploits bodies with no rights and no rest.

At home, things are no better: her father, Carlos Cid, is a disabled gambling addict; her mother, Marian, survives on precarious work; and a secret about her birth lingers in the air. Attracted by the promise of a high salary and benefits for her family, Silvia agrees to join After Life. There, she undergoes training to control her resurrected subjects while secretly hiding Laura in the apartment of her friend Gabi. She soon discovers that many employees have their own “personal Laura”: dead loved ones they refuse to let go.

The facilities reveal a dark side: exploitation of minors, clandestine production for multinational corporations, and links to abuse networks. Dennis, a rebellious employee, warns her that no one can leave the company — but that rebellion is always an option. The final straw for Dennis and Silvia is the existence of a restaurant where sexual abuse is carried out on resurrected minors, a macabre practice they decide to fight. Dennis sends his own resurrected subjects to attack the restaurant, joined by Silvia, Laura, and her friend Gabi. After the massacre, the company spirals into crisis, and Maisha Badu, its most feared executive, arrives in Spain to take control of the Spanish division.

Maisha, who is also a raiser, demonstrates absolute mastery over the resurrected — even from a distance — and targets Silvia’s loved ones to avenge the uprising. The final confrontation unfolds in La Piedad shopping mall, where Silvia’s mother works. There, both forces — Maisha’s dead and those controlled by Silvia and Dennis — clash in bloody chaos.

The battle leaves behind corpses, traumatized witnesses, and the certainty that the world will never be the same. Silvia manages to escape with Laura and Akela, a reanimated dog. But the price is steep: Gabi has died, and Silvia realizes that the connection she maintains with the dead she controls is as intense as it is impossible to break — a heavy burden. She says goodbye to her mother, believing she will never see her again, and decides to resurrect Gabi with one final embrace that closes the story. The story of a woman with a power she never asked for — and can no longer escape.

RELEVANT INFORMATION: Rubén Sánchez Trigos holds a PhD in Audiovisual Communication, and is a screenwriter and author of several horror novels. He was a finalist for the Drakul Novel Award.

Come Back to Me is a supernatural thriller with horror elements that masterfully combines the tension of a gripping plot with a raw look at corporate corruption and exploitation. The story provides the protagonist with a very original character arc, moving from the discovery of her gift to confronting the moral implications and contradictions of her decisions regarding that power. The novel has strong audiovisual potential as a product halfway between thriller and horror, with a fast-paced rhythm, rich in mystery, and characters with clear personal conflicts.

AUDIOVISUAL POTENTIAL: TV series, Miniseries, Feature Film, TV Movie.

AVAILABLE LANGUAGES: Spanish.