Next in the Trilogy - BETTY & MARY: NEIGHBORS
- Dana Lyn Baron
- 3 days ago
- 4 min read
A dark comedy short
Written by
Dana Lyn Baron
After murdering their sleazeball boss and blowing up their workplace, two dysfunctional strippers — one jaded, one guilt-ridden — try to lay low, shake off the hangover, and figure out if their new neighbor with wings is here to help…or just judge the shit out of them.
Synopsis
In this dark comedy with a Shakespearean twist, two unlikely roommates - Betty, a jaded GenX stripper, and Mary, a guilt-ridden millennial stripper - wake up after a night of blood, secrets, and sisterhood. What starts as another groggy morning quickly unravels into a surreal spiral of sex dreams, guilty confessions, and a murder most foul... of their sleazy strip club boss.
As memories of the previous night's crime slowly return - daggers, cover-ups, and an explosive grand finale - their banter reveals a relationship built on sarcasm, survival, and maybe a little madness. But just as they start to question their fate, an ethereal new neighbor appears at the door… with wings.
Witty, irreverent, and soaked in noir-tinged absurdity, Betty & Mary: Neighbors blends sitcom snark with Shakespearean tragedy, asking: How do you bury a body, blow up a club, and still make rent?
Mission Statement
Betty & Mary, a trilogy, is a parallel-universe of films. Featuring the same two
characters, Betty and Mary, as they navigate unique challenges in circumstances
beyond their control — shaped by systems of gender, class, age, and power. While
those circumstances shift from film to film, what remains constant is an unflinching,
brazen look at how women confront, outlast, subvert, or lay down to the systems that
define them.
With disturbing comedy and deep emotional nuance, the trilogy amplifies the female
experience and invites reflection on the double standards, erasure, invisibility, and
expectations placed on women — especially those who are aging, ambitious, or
shattering the template. These films ask: what happens when women are deprived of
their agency, and what happens when they seize it? By daring to ask, Betty & Mary
claims space for every woman who refuses to be cast aside.
Writer's Statement
My stories always begin with a character. I don’t outline so much as I listen. Once I meet her, she tells me where we’re going. And Betty? She showed up loud, unapologetic, and very hungry.
She was born from a long-simmering obsession with two of my dream roles — Lady Macbeth and Martha from Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? I started to wonder: what kind of woman would be the unholy lovechild of those two powerhouses? Turns out her name is Betty, and she’s got a lot to say.
Betty & Mary: Neighbors is the second in a “triptych” of shorts exploring the ever-shifting dynamic between two women who can’t live with — or without — each other. What ties them together is my fascination with what makes women tick: their camaraderie, their ambition, their unspoken rage, and how they’re asked to pay for their “mistakes” in a patriarchal world. Tonally, I lean into ambiguity. I love stories that don’t end with a neat bow — that linger just enough to let the audience wrestle with what happens next. I’m less interested in resolution than I am in impact.
Ultimately, Betty & Mary: Neighbors is a darkly funny, surreal, and deeply human exploration of survival, loyalty, and what it means to burn it all down... and still wake up next to someone who gets it.
— Dana Lyn Baron
Director's Statement
Returning to direct the next chapter of Betty & Mary felt like slipping into a familiar fever dream—and I mean that as the highest compliment. After directing Betty & Mary: The Actors Prepare, I thought I had a handle on these two. I was wrong. This new installment is bolder, darker, and even more hilariously unhinged. It leans hard into moral messiness, female rage, and the strange, tender bond that somehow keeps Betty and Mary tethered together
through it all.
When I first read the script, I remember yelling “WHAT?!” at the page and immediately texting Dana, “Your brain is a wonder that should be studied for
science.” That still stands. She’s created characters who are deeply flawed, painfully funny, and so very alive. I love that we don’t tie anything up neatly. I love the risk of it. The ambiguity. The ride.
This film invites you to laugh, cringe, squirm, and question what you’d do in their shoes. It’s a joy—and a bit of a dare—to direct.
— America Young
TONE & STYLE
Fleabag meets Macbeth
Deadpan wit, surreal flair
Dialogue-driven, fast-paced, confined setting
Magical realism + gritty crime = chaotic charm
Think: Shakespeare gets tapped for an HBO comedy.
Visual style inspired by the Coen Brothers and Tarantino films, with gritty saturated flashbacks and ethereal lighting for the neighbor's appearance.
CHARACTERS
"Betty"
Gen X Stripper
Jaded
Funny
Runs on Coffee & Regret
"Mary"
Millenial Stripper
Soft-hearted Idealist with a Deadly Streak
"Jane"
Eternal
Mysterious Neighbor
Angelic Energy
Reality-breaking Smile
"Jim"
50's-60's
Sleazeball
Strip Club Boss who Gets What They Deserve
"Josie"
20's-30's
Stripper with a Heart of Gold and a Thing for Bunnies
THEMES
Ride-or-die female friendship
The absurdity of guilt
Explosive consequences of terrible decisions
Found family in unexpected places
Morality in a morally bankrupt world
Betty & Mary: Neighbors
Written by: Dana Lyn Baron
Produced by: Dana Lyn Baron & Jennie Sherer
Directed by: America Young
Status: Script complete | Seeking Collaborators | Production 2026
Contact: alongstoryshortprods@gmail.com
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