A young woman, while grieving the death of her mother, starts dating a mysterious man. But when the man dies in a freak accident, she finds herself drawn into a complicated affair with her dead lover's mother.
A young woman working as a K-1 immigration officer in London starts dating a mysterious man to distract herself from the recent death of her estranged mom. But when the man suddenly dies in a freak accident, the young woman is drawn into a complex affair with her dead lover's mother, setting her on a path towards uncovering her own family's long-buried secrets.
Think the psychosexual dynamics of Todd Haynes' MAY DECEMBER meets the complicated family melodrama of SENTIMENTAL VALUE.
Laila is a British-Indian woman who has recently moved back in with her father, SANTOKH, after the sudden death of her mother. The two struggle to connect over their shared grief; Laila acts out, while Santokh refuses to talk about his wife.
Laila works as a K-1 immigration officer at the US Embassy, where she determines if married green card applicants are truly in love. She meets a couple, VICTORIA AND HASHEM, who are applying for Hashem's US Visa. Though their marriage seems legitimate, Laila doesn't seem convinced.
To distract herself from her grief and her job, Laila spends time drinking, dancing, and having sex with a hot new guy she has just met, OLIVER. Their situationship isn't perfect, but he's a welcome distraction from Laila's crushing daily depression.
But then, one night, suddenly and without warning, Oliver dies in a horrific car accident.
Both in shock and morbid curiosity, Laila attends Oliver’s funeral. Here learns another bombshell: Oliver has had a fiancee this entire time. In fact, he was mere weeks away from getting married.
While Laila's reeling, she meets Oliver’s mother, HELENE, a beautiful, mysterious woman deep in the throes of her own grief. At first their exchange is brief, but then Helene wants to meet Laila in the real world. Soon, their guarded talks blossom into something more. And this cautious friendship starts to turn into an illicit romance.
As Laila and Helene dive head first into a taboo affair, Laila learns more about the mysteries surrounding her own mother's life - and she is forced to face her grief head-on.
Anu Valia is a writer/director whose roots are in India and Indiana. A graduate of NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, Anu's work has screened around the world. Her short film, LUCIA, BEFORE AND AFTER won the US Fiction Award at the Sundance Film Festival in 2017.
Anu’s TV directing credits include SHRINKING (Apple), SHE-HULK (Marvel, Disney+), A MAN ON THE INSIDE (Netflix), The AFTERPARTY (Apple), AND JUST LIKE THAT (HBO), SHRILL (Hulu), NEVER HAVE I EVER (Netflix). She is the executive producer and pilot director for Apple TV's BIG DOOR PRIZE.
Her debut feature, WE STRANGERS, premiered at SXSW in 2024 and is supported by Cinereach, Sundance Institute, Women in Film, Tribeca Institute, IFP, and Hamptons Screenwriters Lab. Her upcoming feature, MOTHER TONGUE, was featured on The Women’s List.
Anu is the inaugural recipient of the Blackwell Prize in Filmmaking in partnership with the University of West Georgia. She is part of the Reframe Rise 2025-2026 cohort, sponsored by Netflix and WIF. She was also named a Gotham Series Creator to Watch in 2025 and a New York Film Festival Artist Resident in 2017.
