Well-heeled couple Josh (Chris Perfetti) and Aaron (Sullivan Jones) lead a life of domestic bliss in their gorgeous Brooklyn apartment. All that’s missing is a baby. Enter their best friend, Jess (Jasmine Batchelor, subtle and exacting), who agrees to be their surrogate. Yet when they discover, 13 weeks into the pregnancy, that the baby will be born with Down’s syndrome, their commitment begins to waver. Jess, on the other hand, embraces the prospect of motherhood. On a trip to a community centre for kids with special needs, she crouches on the floor, playing with children, while Josh recoils on the sidelines.
Writer-director Jeremy Hersh tackles the intersection of race, sexuality, class and disability with rare nuance in this wry indie drama, which observes sharply the trappings of millennial entitlement and liberal hypocrisy. “We deserve to be normal like everyone else,” says Josh, instantly regretting his choice of words. Hersh understands that, for marginalised people, “normal” is a loaded term.
