Unpregnant

A road film set in America. Veronica is in her final year of high school, her grades are good and her future is planned. She finds out she is pregnant. In her state the procedure requires parental consent for anyone under eighteen, and she cannot tell her parents. The nearest option is nine hundred miles away. She has no car and cannot tell her friends. In the end she tells one person: Bailey, a former friend she fell out with years ago. Bailey has a car and agrees to drive. The film proceeds across the journey: filling stations, motel rooms, a car that breaks down and strange people met on the way. The real subject is the relationship between the two girls. Why they stopped speaking, who left whom and the time in between are talked through along the road. The narrative does not open the question for debate; it shows a decision already made and its practical difficulties. Haley Lu Richardson plays Veronica and Barbie Ferreira plays Bailey. Giancarlo Esposito is in the cast. Rachel Lee Goldenberg directed. It was released on a streaming service. A light, well-acted example for anyone who likes road films and stories about friendship. For a viewer expecting heavy drama, the film keeps its register close to comedy.