When two women burst a tyre on an isolated road after burying the body of their abuser, they have to rely on help from another pair of women on the run from their troubled pasts. The already destabilised situation escalates further when a mysterious man arrives and offers to help.
The film follows Frances, a young woman preparing for a solo journey, and her strained relationship with her mother, Claudia. The narrative unfolds against the backdrop of the Sonoran desert in 1970, where tensions escalate when in an act of self-defence Claudia ends up killing her abusive husband, Jimmy.
Despite their turbulent relationship, Frances helps her mother by driving to an isolated area to bury the body. On their way back, they encounter Olga and Lili, a lesbian couple fleeing their troubled past. Frances gets a flat tyre from nails scattered across the road, triggering Claudia’s suspicion. Believing they have been set up by the couple, Claudia points her gun at Lili, forcing her to drive to the nearest town for a tow truck. This switch of partners allows each character to travel with a ‘stranger,’ reflecting their insecurities and trauma.
Claudia embarks on a surreal journey after a confrontation with Lili. A Witch saves her, leading her into an alternate realm where she learns valuable lessons about self-pleasure and empowerment, guided by Madame Christine. Parallel to this, Frances is left alone with Olga in the middle of nowhere, struggling with pain from her fibroids. We see the fibroids as huge jellyfish hanging from the sky, their tentacles reaching for Frances.
To ease her mind, Frances opens up to Olga about her guilt over an abortion, believing she deserves the fibroids while contradicting her belief that she wasn’t ready for motherhood. Olga helps her see the situation differently, beyond religious and political standards. They share a moment, and in this way, Frances manages to shrink the jellyfish.
As the story progresses, conflicts arise, suspicions deepen, and a mysterious figure, The Man, complicates the situation, manipulating Frances into a tense standoff with Olga and Lili. However, at the peak of tension, Frances realises the illusory nature of The Man and chooses to release herself from the chaos, leading to relief and reconciliation among the women.
In a twist of realms, Claudia and Frances face car trouble once more, but this time, Olga, despite initial hesitations, extends a helping hand. This gesture symbolises an understanding of vulnerability and marks a newfound sense of unity among the women, transcending their tumultuous journey through the desert. The film concludes on a note of healing and forgiveness as Claudia and Frances reconcile, signifying a shift in their relationship dynamics.
Throughout their multi-dimensional trip across the Sonoran Desert, the film explores themes of trauma, trust, empowerment, and reconciliation, culminating in a resolution that emphasises the strength found in vulnerability and mutual support among women.
Maria Millan is a Venezuelan-British filmmaker based in London. She recently directed *Hands on Clay*, a film commissioned by Sheffield DocFest and sponsored by Prime.
This film intimately portrays the dynamic between artists Evelyn Albrow and Nichola Gensle as they share a pottery studio. *Hands on Clay* premiered on Saturday, June 21, at Sheffield DocFest, followed by a Q&A session.
An alumna of The Latino Filmmakers’ Fellowship at Sundance Film Festival 2025, where she participated with her screenplay ‘The Hollow Women’.
After Sundance, she signed with the Star Collective in LA. Recently, her documentary Trans_CCS won Best Film at That Film Festival in the Cannes showcase, in May 2025.
She is now shadowing Series Producer Mat Chaplin and Director Sean James Grant in an Apple TV series, produced by 60-Forty Films in the UK.
Millan was also an alumna of the Hessen Lab within the B3 Biennale in Frankfurt, Germany, in October 2022, with her screenplay, The Hollow Women, which was a semi-finalist for the Stowe Lab Screenwriting Fellowship in the US in 2024 and the Abortion Pipeline 2025.
Before that, she was part of 'Talent Led: Next Gen' by the Independent Film Trust (now Story Compound) in London for the 2022/2023 term.
Her academic foundation includes a BA Honours in Communications and Media, specialising in Audio-Visual Arts, from the Catholic University Andres Bello in Caracas, Venezuela. To further her skills, she did a 4-month course in Directing Actors and Video Editing Skills at the renowned International Film School in San Antonio de Los Baños, Cuba (EICTV).
Maria's journey in film and TV commenced in the art department, crafting sets for TV ads in Caracas. Relocating to London in 2011, she transitioned into photography, capturing stills for esteemed publications such as Vogue Italia, Cosmopolitan, Fruk Magazine, and more. She demonstrated her diverse capabilities and led the Production Design for Christopher Granier-Deferre's film "Chop Chop" (2016).
Her directorial prowess shone in the film The Refuge (2018), which features actresses Lujza Richter Hugo (Phantom Thread, Dracula) and Demi Hannah Scott (Showstudio). The film earned a place in the official selection of The Women’s Film Festival in Seattle and L’Etrange Film Festival in Paris. Maria received an exclusive screening and Q&A at David Lynch's Private Members Club: Silencio. The Refuge is now on Amazon.
In October 2023, Maria premiered her 23-minute documentary ‘Trans_CCS' at the 33rd Tampa Bay International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival. The documentary found recognition in various international film festivals, including GRRL HAUS cinema, BANGIFF, Philadelphia Latino, The Lonely Seal Film Festival in Boston, Seattle Latino, Tokyo Shorts, and it was part of ’Cine Social, La Imagen del Sur' in Spain the past November 2024.
Adding another milestone to her career, Maria directed her first feature-length documentary ‘Family Pride, Queer Aside’, which premiered in September 2024 at the 9th annual Feminist Border Arts Film Festival in the US, where it won both the Jury and Audience Awards simultaneously.
‘Family Pride, Queer Aside’ also screened at the Philadelphia Latino Arts & Film Festival. In Europe, the documentary premiered at the Queer Film Festival Utrecht in the Netherlands in September 2024.
The film has attracted significant attention from researchers, educators, and sociologists due to its anthropological and societal relevance. It was included in the research for the Queer Studies Department at the University of Boston, received a private educational screening at Lakeside School in Seattle.
Recently, Maria Millan showcased ‘Family Pride, Queer Aside’ at the University of Bayreuth in Germany, leading a forum about Latin Identity and Queer families.
Maria Millan is a member of WFTV, Film Fatales http://www.filmfatales.org/directors/mariamillan and Prime Network https://primetime.network/@mariamillan/
Latino Filmmakers's Fellowship at Sundance Film Festival 2025
Independent Film Trust 2022-23 - 'Talent Led: Next Gen' (London)
Semi-Finalist for the Stowe Lab Screenwriting Fellowship, 2024.
The screenplay has gotten an ‘Honourable Mention’ in PrimeTime Network UK, 2024.
Hessen Lab- B3 Biennial - Germany 2022
