MORTELLE “Welcoming the Dead”

Mortelle is a gothic dark-comedy series about death, the Afterlife, and the stories people leave behind.

Every episode follows a different soul arriving in the Afterlife, welcomed by Mortelle, a mysterious and effortlessly sarcastic guide who has seen it all. Through her eyes, we discover who these people were when they were alive, their choices, regrets, secrets, relationships, and the things they never got to say.

In the pilot, Mortelle takes us on a quiet journey through the Afterlife while reflecting on what people bring with them when they die. Just as she finishes telling us her little story, a new soul arrives. And that soul is only the beginning! Where I Would Take the Series Next? I imagine Mortelle becoming an ongoing anthology where every new arrival has their own story. Some stories could be told in just one episode, while others might take two or even a few episodes to really understand. At first, we might see someone as selfish, cruel, ridiculous, or even completely undeserving of sympathy, but as their story unfolds, we slowly learn what happened during their life and what made them the person they became.

Mortelle would be the one constant throughout all of these stories. She welcomes every soul, tells us their story, occasionally roasts them a little, and sometimes gives them the reassurance they need to finally move forward.

I also want every story to leave the audience with something small to think about a piece of life advice, a regret, a choice someone made, a relationship, or simply a reminder of something we usually take for granted while we're alive.

At the same time, I don't want to explain Mortelle too much. She should stay a mystery. As the series goes on, we'd slowly pick up little pieces of her through the stories she tells, the places she knows, and the way she reacts to certain souls. Her own history would come out naturally over time instead of being dumped on the audience all at once.

So while every episode is technically about someone who has died, there's another story slowly building underneath it all: Who was Mortelle before she started welcoming everyone else? 👻

Good luck cii