When a star student and gymnast is expelled for a violent outburst at school, her strict immigrant mother and rebellious older sister must piece together what really happened — uncovering a hidden trauma that threatens to tear their family apart.
Beatrice Kwon is a model student, a gifted gymnast, and her mother’s great hope—until a brutal incident in a school hallway lands her before a disciplinary board with expulsion on the line. Her mother Vera, a Korean immigrant who has spent her life working, enduring, and sacrificing, refuses to let her daughter’s future slip away. But as the family appeals the decision, what begins as a case of school discipline slowly gives way to something much harder to face: a truth hidden in plain sight.
Told in fragmented testimony, shifting memories, and fractured points of view, Beatrice, Ali and Vera weaves together the story of three women bound by blood, silence, and expectation. As the older sister Ali—queer, drifting, and defiant—steps in to help, unspoken traumas rise to the surface. In the end, the story is not just about what happened that day at school—but everything that came before, and what it means to be believed. A haunting, intimate portrait of rage, resilience, and the quiet courage it takes to reclaim your voice.
When a high-achieving teen is expelled for a violent act at school, her immigrant mother fights to protect her future—only to uncover a buried trauma that forces the entire family to confront long-held secrets, cultural silence, and the cost of survival.
Leena is an Emmy nominated, Award-Winning Director and Writer. She is currently in post on her third independent, feature film Days with Dandekar, which was part of the Tribeca All Access program. She premiered her sophomore feature film, 20 Weeks, at the Los Angeles Film Festival. It was distributed in theaters and on Hulu, and called, “an intimate, compassionate take on abortion,” by the LA Times.
In television, she wrote and directed A Date with Deception for Lifetime Movies, and Hello Jack! for AppleTV+, for which she was nomiated for a Children and Family Emmy Award. Her award-winning short films have also played extensively in festivals, and been distributed on platforms such as Omeleto, ShortsTV and Vimeo Staff Pick. She is an Associate Professor at LMU, where she teaches filmmaking, and holds an MFA in Screenwriting from UC-Riverside, Palm Desert.
