Weathering

Alexis Louder shines in Netflix’s latest metaphoric short

Alexis Louder tries to pick up the pieces in Megalyn Echikunwoke's Netflix short Weathering.

Journalist Gemina (Alexis Louder) knows something is wrong with her pregnancy. She tells her partner, and she tells the doctors, but every one of her concerns is dismissed. It’s normal, they tell her. That’s just what pregnancy feels like.

Then, she has a seizure.  

When she wakes, the baby is dead and instead of letting her grieve, doctors tell her how thankful she should be that they saved her life. She’s handed pills and sent home to piece her life back together. That’s easier said than done.

She’s filled with rage — at the medical staff that ignored her due to racism and sexism, at the partner who can’t support her in her grief, and at herself for losing the child. Her mother (Alfre Woodard) offers cold comfort and subtle recriminations that Gemina should have listened to her and given birth at home. She finds herself alone. Her only company is the gentle inquiry emails from her editor, asking if she’s written anything.

Gemina hasn’t. She has bigger problems. An entity seems to be menacing her as she tries to piece her life back together. Is Gemina hallucinating or has something malevolent found her?

Writer/director Megalyn Echikunwoke manages to cram a lot of social commentary into a 20-minute short. She plays with some beautiful metaphoric imagery, imbues meaning into her cinematography, and offers up a nuanced script. We get hints of racism, sexism, toxic nice-guy behavior, resentful mother-daughter relationships, and grief. Essentially, it’s an examination of why #ProtectBlackWomen is more than just a hashtag to throw on social media. Gemina’s loss is traumatic enough, but she must navigate it while mired in a system that doesn’t value her. Even her friends and family are cold comfort.

But while the subject matter is dense, the film doesn’t feel like a slog or a lecture. Echikunwoke merely touches on the myriad of injustices Gemina faces, showing us that she is truly alone in her pain. There’s no happy resolution or easy answers to be found, but there is an idea of what healing looks like. Gemina isn’t a victim, sadly her story isn’t even unique. But it is a look at resiliency, even in the face of an unfair life and world.

With so much ground to cover and so little time, Weathering relies heavily on its leading lady. Louder, who was fantastic in campy b-movie Copshop, is breathtaking as Gemina. You can feel the coiled anger in her as she struggles to keep a brave front. She’s an open wound, who is pretending everything is fine. It’s a stunning, intimate performance offering you insight into who Gemina is and why she refuses to allow herself to crack. This is never more apparent than in the scene with her mother, where you can infer their whole relationship over the course of three minutes of screen time.

Just in time to close out Black Maternal Health Week, don’t scroll by Weathering as you browse through titles on Netflix. It’s a stirring, beautifully acted short, that will leave you wanting more from both the cast and Echikunwoke.

Verdict: If you spent a half hour waiting for the Love Is Blind reunion, spend 20 minutes on some art. You’ll thank me later.

Weathering is not rated and is available on Netflix.