Shrub 2021

Directed by Katarina Zhu

When Dakota moves back into her childhood home with her mother after finding little success two years post-grad, her fears surrounding her future combine with an infectious sense of suburban malaise to culminate in unshakeable nightmares. In search of comfort and guidance, she looks to her mother whose own upbringing during the Cultural Revolution in China has made her in equal turns tender and callous. Their volatile and tenuous relationship provides little relief for Dakota and with her friends seemingly worlds away, she is forced to find solace within herself.