Elizabeth Abraham has two names. In her medical practice, she’s Dr. Abraham, a family physician trained in India, now based in Chicago. But in the world of film, she’s simply Elizabeth: screenwriter, actress, and most recently, executive producer of her debut psychological thriller Text M for Murder. Both titles are accurate, but neither tells the full story.
“I’ve always had my heart in storytelling,” she says, a smile lingering in her voice. “Even as a kid, I used to read all the time. That was my release.”
Her most recent release? A 10-day shoot in Atlanta, where she wrapped production on her first feature film—Text M for Murder, a modern nod to Hitchcock’s Dial M for Murder, reimagined as a psychological crime thriller. “It’s about a rookie cop teaming up with a seasoned officer to solve a series of murders that are more connected than they seem,” she explains. “There’s a twist, of course.” Naturally.
What’s more thrilling than the plot, however, is the fact that Abraham—who once spent 12-hour shifts in clinics—is now spending those hours on set. “I never imagined I’d be doing this,” she admits. “But once you get bitten by the bug, it’s hard to stop.”
Medicine & Murder: A Dual Life
That duality has defined much of Abraham’s journey. Born into a traditionally minded family, she pursued medicine because it was stable, respected, and, yes, because she was good at it. “I was always drawn to helping people,” she says. But her creative inclinations ran parallel. “In high school, I took broadcasting, radio, then three years of TV. I loved the behind-the-scenes process. Seeing something come to life, from script to screen? That stuck with me.”
While in medical school in India, a student theatre group gave her an unexpected nudge. “They didn’t have enough people, so I ended up playing the old lady who dies in Mousetrap,” she laughs. “And afterwards, people kept saying, ‘Hey, you’re actually really good.’”
Still, it wasn’t until she finished her residency in family medicine and raised two young boys, one with special needs, that she returned to that itch for storytelling. Acting roles trickled in. She played doctors first (unsurprisingly), but soon found herself exploring deeper creative territory: writing screenplays that wove together her love for tight plotting and lived experience.
“I’ve used my medical background in my scripts,” she says. “Like, what kind of overdose would go unnoticed? Or how someone could technically get away with a crime?” She’s also drawn to the psychological complexity she witnesses daily in her clinic. “You meet people with all kinds of personalities. I can’t use real names or stories, obviously, but I find myself thinking—‘what if this person took a darker turn?’ It sparks ideas.”
Writing Between Worlds
That in-between-ness between reason and instinct, science and art, isn’t always easy to navigate. “There’s tension,” Abraham admits. “You work so hard for something as demanding as medicine, and you don’t want to let it go. But if you want to truly follow your creative path, you need time. And time is the one thing I’ve never really had.”
And yet, when she talks about her film work, especially writing, her tone shifts. “When I wrote Text M for Murder, I had these scenes in my head. Then to be on set and watch actors bring them to life… I got chills. Like, this was just in my mind, and now it’s real.”
Being on set as both writer and actor gave her a rare perspective. “A lot of writers never even see their words on set. But because I was so involved, I got to be there for every step.” That collaborative process extended to casting, where she championed a South Asian woman in the lead role. “Why can’t an Indian woman be a lead detective?” she asks. “We have to write the world we want to see.”
Reimagining Success
For Abraham, success no longer looks like accolades or box office numbers. “Honestly, for me, success is just doing it. Being on set. Creating something that connects.” She adds, “I’ve done films where I wasn’t paid. And I’ve turned down work in medicine that would pay ten times more. But I wanted to be there for the love of it.”
That love is evident in how she speaks about Text M for Murder, and about the other projects in her pipeline, including two scripts in development with Netflix. One is a suspense thriller, the other, science fiction—her “out of comfort zone” genre. She’s also currently writing a film with another Indian female lead. “Representation matters,” she says simply. “Growing up, I never saw anyone who looked like me on American screens. That’s changing, and I want to be part of that change.”
A Seat at the Creative Table
In our conversation, Abraham reflects on the broader impact of film in creating cross-cultural empathy. “So many stories from different communities actually share the same emotional core,” she says. “You watch something set in another culture and think—wait, that would happen in mine, too. We’re not as different as we think.”
She believes deeply in working with people who are in it for the right reasons, people whose intent is creative, not transactional. “When you pour your heart into something, the audience can feel it,” she says. “That’s what makes a film more than entertainment. It becomes a connection.”
That’s also what makes Abraham’s story more than one of career-switching. It’s about living expansively, refusing to choose between purpose and passion, between healing people and haunting them with a plot twist.
“I always say,” she smiles, “my medical life is about treating symptoms. My film life? It’s about telling stories that leave a mark.”
And Text M for Murder? That’s just the beginning.
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About Adya Rohira, The Writer
Adya Rohira is a senior at Parsons School of Design, majoring in Fashion Design and minoring in Fashion Business. Growing up immersed in the design world from a young age, Adya found her footing in both fashion design and retail strategy. With a blend of the two, Adya has honed her skills through hands-on experience with brands like NAADAM Cashmere, House of Jaya, and JADE by MK. Her work in fashion design is grounded in emotional storytelling through garments, while her expertise in retail strategy allows her to approach the industry from a holistic, market-driven perspective. Adya is passionate about pursuing a career that seamlessly merges these two realms, blending artistic expression with strategic insight to drive impactful change within the fashion industry.
