A GUIDE TO FALLING OFF THE MAP

Two teens in Murwillumbah, Australia, struggle to find their footing in life and cope with the long shadow cast by the death of the mother of one of them.

Ambitious actor Vinnie has her heart set on moving to New York with her friend Lilah and attending Juilliard. Focusing on this specific future helps her avoid thinking about her mother, Aggie, whose death by suicide after a multiple sclerosis diagnosis devasted Vinnie and her dad, as well as her best friend, Roo, and his mother, who was a close friend of Aggie’s. Roo, a talented photographer who’s secretly in love with Vinnie, dropped out of his final year of school for a photography apprenticeship that wasn’t the learning opportunity he anticipated, and he constantly feels he’s disappointing his single mum, whom he wants to help financially. In a compelling, introspective dual narrative that alternates between Vinnie’s and Roo’s first-person perspectives, Vinnie’s plans go awry, and Roo is compelled to make decisions about what he’d like to do. The story, which is split into three parts, follows Vinnie and Roo on a vividly imagined road trip through New South Wales in Vinnie’s mum’s old turquoise Kombi Volkswagen van, setting the stage for their quirky, poignant romance. Vinnie and Roo present white, and there’s some diversity in ethnicity and sexual orientation among the cast members.

An emotionally rich meditation on people finding their way.