When a star student and gymnast is expelled for a violent outburst at school, her strict immigrant mother and rebellious older sister must piece together what really happened — uncovering a hidden trauma that threatens to tear their family apart.
Beatrice Kwon is a model student, a gifted gymnast, and her mother’s great hope—until a brutal incident in a school hallway lands her before a disciplinary board with expulsion on the line. Her mother Vera, a Korean immigrant who has spent her life working, enduring, and sacrificing, refuses to let her daughter’s future slip away. But as the family appeals the decision, what begins as a case of school discipline slowly gives way to something much harder to face: a truth hidden in plain sight.
Told in fragmented testimony, shifting memories, and fractured points of view, Beatrice, Ali and Vera weaves together the story of three women bound by blood, silence, and expectation. As the older sister Ali—queer, drifting, and defiant—steps in to help, unspoken traumas rise to the surface. In the end, the story is not just about what happened that day at school—but everything that came before, and what it means to be believed. A haunting, intimate portrait of rage, resilience, and the quiet courage it takes to reclaim your voice.
When a high-achieving teen is expelled for a violent act at school, her immigrant mother fights to protect her future—only to uncover a buried trauma that forces the entire family to confront long-held secrets, cultural silence, and the cost of survival.
Leena Pendharkar is an award-winning writer and director. Her most recent work is the television movie, A Date with Deception for Mar Vista/Lifetime, and two episodes of the kids’ show, Hello Jack! for Apple TV Plus, for which she was nominated for a Children's and Family Emmy Award.
She premiered her sophomore independent film, 20 Weeks, at the Los Angeles Film Festival. It was described as an “intimate, compassionate take on abortion” by the Los Angeles Times, and was released theatrically in 10 cities in April of 2018, and on Hulu and a number of other platforms. Leena is an alum of the Warner Brothers, CBS, and Sony Diverse Directors programs.
Leena has also written/directed several-award winning short films, including her most recent Tiny Joy which played in many a number of film festivals, including Bentonville, and was recently released on Omeleto and Shorted. Leena is also an Associate Professor at LMU’s School of Film + Television, and has an MFA in Screenwriting from UC-Riverside, Palm Desert.
