Healing from the loss of her father and the end of a long-term relationship, an isolated young woman embarks on a cargo ship journey, where she meets a magnetic young officer. The two ignite a spicy affair— exploring sex and intimacy as she confronts what it means to truly live in the moment. Based on a true story.
Scout, 31, an isolated woman navigating the loss of her father and the end of her long-term relationship, embarks on a cargo ship journey from Hong Kong to California, only to discover she's the only passenger and only woman on board. What begins as a quiet time of reflection and exploring the ship, quickly takes an unexpected turn when she meets Mihai, 30, a magnetic officer.
At the crew’s party to mark the beginning of 14 days at sea without land, the ship’s lead engineer and raucous crew take Scout under their wing, giving Scout a taste of joy she had forgotten. During the party–rife with bad karaoke and whiskey–Scout and Mihai get to know each other, and the spark between them soon ignites into a secret, spicy affair.
Stealing private moments, Scout and Mihai’s affair deepens into something vulnerable and real as the journey progresses. Her finite time with Mihai looming, Scout recoils, confronting the fleeting nature of their connection. As she comes to terms with her feelings for him, the two reconnect, and through their powerful exploration of sex and intimacy–as well as the camaraderie of the crew–Scout learns that even in the wake of loss, life is still a celebration – to live fully in the moment and connect while you can.
CARGO is a female-lead, sex-positive story of intimacy, vulnerability, and what it means to live in the moment.
Writer-Director Erin Cantelo tells devastatingly uplifting stories about women healing from grief or trauma, with the aim to break your heart wide open. She has spent the majority of her adult life working in various crew positions on film, TV, and commercial sets, racking up thousands of hours of first-hand experience behind and in front of the camera.
With a belief that you must live stories worth telling, Erin is prone to adventure, including a 4-month solo trip to Southeast Asia where she took a 5-day motorbike trip in rural Laos alone, a 10-day silent meditation retreat in Southern Thailand, and a 16-day cargo ship ride home from Hong Kong to California. The latter of which inspired her most recent feature script, CARGO, which is a Stowe Story Labs and WeScreenplay Diverse Voices Labs Finalist.
Erin is a queer, neurodiverse, Muppet at heart, native-Californian based in Los Angeles. She loves tacos, tea, chatting up strangers, and her unbroken-12-years-and-counting, daily meditation practice.
Stowe Story Narrative Labs - Participant September 2025
WeScreenplay Diverse Voices Lab - Finalist 2025
Emerging Screenwriters - Quarterfinalist 2025
Production Designer - Jason Kisvarday
