Sweet Mercy

***Sweet Mercy*** is a 2022 thriller drama film based on the stalking of Kimberly 'Kim' Hough (née Mercy) and her struggles as a young child with a stalker named 'Dr. Ramsey.' The true names of the family involved are all changed and the characters are intentionally fictionalized so as to not glorify the situation. The title of the film is a reference to Kim's Reddit name 'sweetmercy'.

### Produced by

Me

Set in 1978 Minnesota, the film follows the soon-to-be 10-year-old Dawn Redman, who becomes the target of a mysterious stalker claiming to be a pediatrician. When she turns to her family for help, terrible events follow that are going to cost Dawn the rest of her childhood. *Sweet Mercy* is the second film in the Boydverse to take place outside of the main Lawsverse, which acted as the building blocks for the Boydverse. However, *Sweet Mercy* stands out as the only film in the Boydverse that is based on real events.

A possible sequel has been considered, but it may not come true as given how the movie ends and what happens in it, it would be unethical to develop a second film, as it works better as a standalone.

## Summary

### Plot

In 1978, near Minneapolis, Minnesota, a 9-year-old girl named Dawn Redman comes back from a holiday with her family; father Robert, mother Melissa, younger brother Richard, older sister Kelly, and older brothers Michael and John. In addition to the Redman family is their dog, a German Shepard named Jared who was born the same day Dawn was. The family unpacks their belongings while Dawn watches TV in the house. A few weeks later, Dawn starts school again and her family as well as her friends simultaneously are preparing for a big celebration: Dawn’s 10th birthday.

In order to get Dawn out of the house for birthday preparations, Robert consistently asks her to walk Jared every day so that she doesn’t see any birthday plans. A week of this goes by, and one day, Melissa runs out of pasta sauce. She asks Dawn to get some more, to which she agrees. Dawn goes into Minneapolis to Mona’s Convenience Store to get pasta sauce, which she pays for with a $5 bill. On her walk home, as she nears her house, Dawn is approached by a mysterious older man who was following her in the store. He introduces himself as ‘Dr. Johnstone’. He claims to be a pediatrician and peppers Dawn with many uncomfortable questions and comments, including comments about her hair and her address.

Dawn, disturbed by the man’s uncomfortable overfriendliness, becomes suspicious of him and runs home. Jared greets her at the house and takes notice of Dawn’s alarm. The next day, when Dawn is in her bedroom with Jared, she looks out her window and sees Dr. Johnstone driving a blue Ford Galaxie. She becomes frightened when Dr. Johnstone seemingly waves at someone on the front porch of their house, even though no one is there. After he drives away, smiling and waving at no one, Dawn confides that she feels uncomfortable to Jared. However, a few days after, Dawn is playing outside when Dr. Johnstone drives by the Redman property again. He waves to Dawn, smiling at her, before driving away. She runs inside and explains to Melissa that when she went to get the pasta sauce that Dr. Johnstone approached her. Melissa dismisses Dawn’s worries, as she believes that because he says he is a pediatrician, it makes sense that he would be waving at and smiling at children.

When Robert comes home, Melissa tells him about Dr. Johnstone, and both of them dismiss the claims as a coincidence. However, after the parents are made aware, Robert picks up the phone one day and Dr. Johnstone is on the other side. He asks to speak with Dawn, and Robert denies, saying that if he is a doctor, he can just speak to a parent. However, Dr. Johnstone hangs up. Robert tells Melissa, and both of them start to become alarmed. After Dr. Johnstone calls the house asking for Dawn again, Robert talks with his daughter about the mysterious man. He reveals to her that Dr. Johnstone knows Dawn’s name, as he was asking for her by name. Dawn says that she didn’t tell him her name.

Robert and Melissa become worried. Dr. Johnstone calls the house again, and Robert turns on his protective father mode. He screams at Dr. Johnstone, making the entire family aware that something is wrong. The parents tell all the children that they are to not answer the phone if it rings. For weeks and weeks and weeks, the phone in the Redman house consistently rings, and every time someone picks up, Dr. Johnstone demands to speak with Dawn. The entire family becomes very disturbed, and it gets so bad that the family, on a weekly, almost daily basis, have to disconnect the phone line to stop the phone ringing. When Robert picks up the phone one day, however, Dr. Johnstone says that he will hurt Dawn unless he can speak to her.

After the calls persist past Dawn’s tenth birthday, Melissa and Robert realize that Dr. Johnstone is now becoming a very serious problem. Due to stalking laws not being implemented and the family having no proof of Dr. Johnstone threatening Dawn, Robert calls one of his close friends, police officer Christopher Cartwright. He asks Chris to escort Dawn to and from school and everywhere else she goes. Chris agrees and for weeks, Dr. Johnstone is unheard of and unseen of, presumably due to being intimidated by Chris. However, one night, some members of the family are in the kitchen when John notices a man standing inside the detached garage of their house.

The family looks at him, and the man disappears. The man pops open the garage door and looks back up at the house, and Dawn immediately recognizes him as Dr. Johnstone. Johnstone runs away, and Michael and John rush out the house and attempt to chase him down. However, Dr. Johnstone is able to outrun them by darting into another property. Melissa calls the police and they arrive just as Robert gets home. The police take down statements from members of the family, and warn the Redmans to call them if Dr. Johnstone shows up again.

After the garage incident, two weeks go by and the Redmans do not hear from or see Dr. Johnstone. The family initially begins to believe they are safe again, and Robert even calls Chris to say that he is no longer needed as Dawn’s escort. However, one day, the family notice that Jared is missing. They spend around two days looking for him, but to no avail. However, one afternoon, Robert comes home from one of these searches, and discovers Jared’s lifeless body. Robert breaks down into tears, just as the entire family come home. They scream and cry, mourning the loss of their beloved animal.

As they sit at dinner, they all begin wondering if Dr. Johnstone killed Jared. Dawn tells her family that she knows that he did it, prompting Robert to call the police. When they show up, he confers his suspicions. However, the police tell him that due to a lack of evidence proving that anyone killed Jared, they are unable to do anything. They also tell him that there is no one under the name ‘Dr. Johnstone’ in the local area, and he is most likely using a fake name. That same night, the family sit in their house and grieve Jared’s death. The phone rings, and Robert picks up, not expecting Dr. Johnstone as it had been two weeks without any activity from him. However, when he picks up, Dr. Johnstone identifies every person in the house and where they were. Robert, startled, runs around the house to make sure everyone is okay. When he sees they are, he spends most of his time locking up the house and making sure everything is secure.

When the family plugs the phoneline back in, the daily calls with Dr. Johnstone begin again. Every time someone answers the phone, he identifies who is in the house and where they are. John, at one point, tries threatening him, but it ultimately proves ineffective. When Robert picks up again after a few days of this, Dr. Johnstone, instead of giving the report, simply says “I can open your kitchen window and I can open the French doors to the side of your house.” Robert immediately uses various handmade methods to keep every faulty entrance to the house secure until he orders proper precautionary security to keep the house locked. However, after this, once again, activity from Dr. Johnstone decreases and he doesn’t show up anywhere.

The family, after experiencing weeks of this, start to gain peace of mind and believe that Dr. Johnstone has found new interests and is leaving them alone. However, one night, Dawn, Richard and Kelly are forced to be left at home, due to Robert and Melissa attending a company function that doesn’t allow kids. Although not comfortable leaving their children at home, the parents ultimately reassure themselves that Dr. Johnstone has officially left them alone. However, as soon as they leave, Dawn notices that the French doors to the side of their house are beginning to bow inward.

She sees Dr. Johnstone on the other side, trying to force his way inside. Dawn freaks out, as do Kelly and Richard. They retreat into Kelly’s room. Kelly uses her window to look outside, where she sees Dr. Johnstone trying to get inside. After he starts banging on the doors, Kelly demands to know what he wants. Dr. Johnstone, after unconvincingly saying he was the pizza delivery man, leaves after Kelly threatens to call the police. A couple of minutes later, Michael and John return from an ice-skating rink. The younger children tell them what happened. After an unsuccessful search, Michael and John order every one to arm themselves with kitchen knives and wait for their mother and father to return.

They all retreat to their bedrooms after locking everything and turning off all the lights. After one hour, Richard gets hungry and goes downstairs to get a bowl of cereal. He becomes scared when he gets the sense that someone is watching him. Richard walks over to the French doors and looks outside, where he sees Dr. Johnstone smiling back at him. After screaming, all the siblings come downstairs, but Dr. Johnstone has escaped. All of them stay up late in the kitchen with the lights on armed with knives until Melissa and Robert finally come home. They tell them what happened, and the parents feel awful. They call the police, however, much like the last few times, they are unable to do anything, as no one was hurt, he wasn’t there now, and nothing was taken.

A couple of wretched weeks for the family go by, which included Robert taking time off of work just to protect his children and be with them 24/7. One day, when Dawn is at school and playing outside, she sees that Dr. Johnstone has parked his blue car across the street, and is waving at her and yelling her name. She rushes to a teacher and tells them who the man is. Dawn’s teacher takes her to the principal’s office, who calls Melissa. Melissa explains that she had previously gotten a call from the school asking her to verify whether her husband was picking up Dawn early, to which she said he wasn’t. Everyone realizes that Dr. Johnstone had feigned being Dawn’s father in order to pick her up. Melissa, angered and telling Robert what happened, rushes to pick up Dawn.

Robert, as soon as she leaves, has a complete psychological breakdown, becoming violent and enraged. That night, after the school incident, Dawn goes downstairs for a drink of water, where she sees Robert sitting at the kitchen table staring at a chrome black revolver. She asks if he is okay, to which he angrily says that he is sick of not being able to protect his own children and tired of wondering if his family will still be here when he leaves the house. He concludes his soliloquy with 4 words: “This has to end.”

Dawn sits in silence with Robert until he tells her to go back to bed. Robert then leaves the house and drives into Minneapolis, where he sees Dr. Johnstone driving around the streets in his blue car. Robert follows Dr. Johnstone until he reaches a park where Dawn used to walk Jared. He crashes into Dr. Johnstone’s car, flipping it over and gravely injuring him. Robert steps out and drags a severely disfigured Dr. Johnstone into the open field, where he tells him he is sick of everything he has done.

Robert then shoots Dr. Johnstone with his gun, killing him. After staring at the corpse for a while, Robert drives back home and stumbles inside. He is immediately full of regret, but when Dawn and the rest of the family come downstairs and embrace, Robert changes his tune. He also looks at Dawn, and realizes in the moment that he is prepared to do anything for her.

## References

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJm1XUoDWcE - MrBallen story of which was used as the main outline.

https://www.reddit.com/r/LetsNotMeet/comments/19oxoc/dr\_ramsey/ - Kim's Reddit story.