STEAL THIS IDEA, part X

     This is kind of like a twist on It's a Wonderful Life. I was thinking of a film where the protagonist is suicidal. Since it would be dramatic, he is saved moments before he would die from a self-inflicted wound by a mysterious person who takes it upon him/herself to convince the protagonist that life is worth living. The course of the movie could have the protagonist introduced to people this person associates with.

     I don't want the reason for this guy's desire to suicide to be known: it's not important at first. It's just a jumping off point. He just believes he needs to die because he is sinful and a bad man. The advertising goal of the film should be to make it like a redemption drama; a feel-good film if you will. The kind of film which would restore your faith in humanity.

     However, I want a sense of uneasiness about the protagonist...that something isn't quite right about him. It could be played off as parts of his past that we the audience would forgive because the protagonist is a better person now (let's say) or genuinely sorry. I want there to be an uneasiness about why these people are helping him. Nothing obvious. No creepy organizations or outfits. They should be like regular psychiatrists doing their jobs and doing their jobs properly and competently, although perhaps they emphasize the spiritual a bit more often than a professional psychiatrist ever would.

     As for the twist, I want the person whose life is saved to actually be a very bad person, or rather, someone who will become a very bad person. Say it's a time-travel adventure in disguise. We learn the protagonist is being driven to suicide during the film by people coming back to make sure this person never lives long enough to do harm (make it like it has to be suicide or else someone will take the protagonist's place - maybe s/he has followers/believers already?) and that the people who save him/her and perhaps also fight the ones who had driven him/her to suicide (action flick?) be people on the protagonist's side.

     I just want the audience being tricked into rooting for the wrong people. Subtle clues throughout (the kind you would miss or overlook on a first viewing) can give away that this is a person not worth saving.

DISCLAIMER: To anyone reading this, you are welcome to not only use, but claim this idea as your own without giving credit to me. I sometimes have ideas, but I do not have the skills needed to express them. It is more important to me to see these ideas done than to receive recognition for them. That being said, giving me a mention anyway would make me giddy. If this idea has in fact already been done, then I strongly suggest you not actually steal it (at least not without major revisions) :-)