By Geena Monahan—For the North Star Reporter
An Attleboro native has earned national recognition at one of the country’s largest horror film festivals for a screenplay inspired by a real-life encounter in North Attleborough,
Writer and actress Allie Markova’s screenplay, “Somebody’s Baby,” was recently named Best Feature Screenplay, Judges’ Choice and received several additional honors at the HorrorHound Film Festival. The script has also won at the Los Angeles Film Awards and was nominated at the Rhode Island International Film Festival.
“It still feels a little surreal to say plainly, but I’m very proud of it — and very proud of where I come from,” Markova said.
Now based in Los Angeles, Markova draws from the places she grew up — from Attleboro to coastal Rhode Island — to build a distinctly regional backdrop for the film.
The idea for the film traces back to a night in North Attleborough, when Markova and a friend stopped at a Wendy’s on Robert Toner Boulevard while driving to Boombox, a karaoke bar in Providence. What should have been a routine stop quickly escalated when a man began pounding on their car before following them for miles — all the way back to Markova’s home.
“It was the kind of moment where you’re sitting in your driveway afterward just trying to process what just happened,” she said.
After that encounter, a song playing on the radio — Jackson Browne’s “Somebody’s Baby” — which sparked the idea that would shape the story.
“What if he was chasing us on a delusion?” she said. “What if he thinks we have somebody’s baby?”
That question became the foundation for a screenplay that follows two teens — a closeted beauty queen and her punk best friend — over the course of a single night as they are pursued by a man convinced they have kidnapped a child.
Rooted in New England
While the premise leans into suspense, Markova said the story is grounded in the textures of New England — something she felt was essential to capture authentically.
“I think storytelling is a very exciting medium, and people can imagine New England and the textures,” she said. “The visuals of small-town New England are very striking.”
She pointed to specific details — from Del’s Lemonade to the Frosty Drew Observatory — as the kinds of elements that help bring the setting to life.
“I want it to feel like people can visit Rhode Island in the 80s,” she said.
Markova recalled frequent trips with her father through Rhode Island — including Bristol, Warren, Middletown and Newport — where stops at Colt State Park and Coggeshall Farm left a lasting impression. Even small memories, she said, stayed with her, like a hand-painted “Boys Club No Girls Allowed” sign on a shed in Warren.
“I really think New England is a profoundly unique part of the country,” she said. “Something about leaving it — the culture is so different. Everything is better back home.”
She described spending time at the Attleboro Public Library with her best friend, where they would sit for hours talking about their future — a friendship that has endured, with her friend now working in theater in Rhode Island.
Markova said she has not been able to return to the area since moving to California about five years ago due to a heart condition that makes long flights difficult, but said her connection to home remains strong.
“I miss it so much. I think about it all the time,” she said.
Markova’s path to screenwriting was not a direct one, starting with her early years living in a downtown North Attleborough apartment while attending Fine Mortuary College in Norwood. She also studied forensic psychology through Bay Path University’s American Women’s College.
She said experiences with loss — including the death of a close friend and a family tragedy — shaped her perspective on mortality and led her to pursue mortuary school.
After attending mortuary school, Markova moved to California, where she began working as a funeral director and explored acting and modeling. She continued working in the funeral industry through the COVID-19 pandemic, describing the toll of handling a high volume of deaths before ultimately stepping away from the field.
“It truly is a calling,” she said, “but I needed a break.”
That pause, Markova said, became a turning point. Returning to the story she first imagined in her early 20s inspired by that night in North Attleborough, she began writing in earnest, eventually developing “Somebody’s Baby” into a full screenplay.
Now, as she works to bring the project to production, Markova said she hopes to return to the region that shaped it.
“I’d love to film on location in Rhode Island,” she said. “It doesn’t feel like a story that belongs anywhere else.”
She added that she hopes to involve people from the area if the project moves forward.
“New Englanders want to help each other,” she said. “I really love where I came from.”