-Written by Michelle Vorob.
2025 SLAMDANCE FILM FESTIVAL REVIEW!
Premiering to a sold out theater and winning an Audience Award at this year's Los Angeles Slamdance Film Festival, Under the Burning Sun goes from zero to sixty in a flash. Set in an almost “Mad Max” type environment, we meet Mowanza (Stephanie Pardi), who learns she's pregnant [by rape] and goes in search of an abortion. In this fictional land, abortion is illegal and Mowanza learns of a land beyond the border where she may be able to obtain one.
Let me start by saying that despite what you may be thinking, Under the Burning Sun is not political, religious, or even set in reality. Imagine The Twilight Zone staging an episode in the world of Mad Max. At its core, Under the Burning Sun is a thought exercise. By the end, it isn't even quite realistic, in terms of human physical limitation, but it is absolutely a phenomenal dystopian sci-fi. It addresses many aspects of violence against women, by simply having Mowanza encounter different people during her journey.
Under the Burning Sun takes place in a harsh land, where the people are as harsh as the landscape. Everything is tattered and torn, like one big desert junkyard, including the people. At first, I found myself caught up in trying to find logic in the story; how and why were they living and behaving this way? What the setting does, however, forces you to focus on the people.
Without the trappings of a realistic civilization and set in a barren wasteland, we are forced to focus on the people and their treatment of each other. That is the purpose of what writer and Director Yun Xie has created; the perfect landscape to explore womens’ agency over their own bodies in every regard, and for women to be seen as individuals; as people, not chattel.
Along her journey, Mowanza comes across several different women, in different circumstances, which shapes how they view and interact with Mowanza. Now, you may be thinking, oh, sisterhood, she finds friends along the way; but it isn't that simple. People are products of their environments and we know that abuse victims can also perpetuate more abuse. It's familiar; it feels like control.
While I won't go into detail about all of the interactions and relationships during Mowanza’s arduous journey, the one that stuck with me most was her meeting and befriending an abandoned little girl (Madeline Ma) at a gas station. Nothing breaks through a hard shell like an innocent child. Mowanza was concerned for the girl's well-being and wanted to drive her home. The little girl didn't want to go home--it was her parents who purposely left her at the gas station; she wanted to go with Mowanza.
I thought Mowanza might gather passengers with her as she traveled to this other land, but that was not the case. Mowanza left each encounter alone and none bothered me as much as Mowanza leaving that sweet little girl alone, essentially abandoning her again.
Mowanza's story ends in a way I didn't expect. I could say it was outlandish, but this succinct, 75-minute movie had to hammer home its point. You would be doing yourself a disservice to not watch this excellent, dystopian sci-fi.
Slamdance Film Festival 2025 on-site screenings in L.A. have concluded, however, online screenings are available on the Slamdance Channel through March 7th, showcasing 146 unique, independent, and inclusive films, chosen from roughly 10,000 submissions.
Written & Directed by Yun Xie
Starring Stephanie Pardi, Stevie Kincheloe, Dylan Monti, Amy Copsey, Martyna Frankow, Madeline Ma, etc.
9/10 = DROP EVERYTHING AND WATCH IT NOW
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