Synopsis
Baby Sister is an indie drama with a hangout comedy soul that takes place over three weekends, each about a year apart, at a Texas lake house.
Weekend 1: RYAN, her older sister CAROLINE, and Caroline's husband JAY visit Ryan's mother GEORGIA, a successful novelist recently diagnosed with terminal cancer.
Georgia puts a lot of baby pressure on her eldest daughter, unaware of Caroline's infertility. The sisters discuss their similar situations: Ryan, as a lesbian, also can't conceive naturally. Ryan asks Caroline if she'd ever consider using a surrogate; Caroline says no.
Later, Ryan is furious to discover a surrogacy contract in Caroline's bag with “Ryan Gordon” as the surrogate. A sisterly spat turns into an honest conversation and a request from Caroline: that Ryan will be her egg donor and surrogate so Georgia can meet her grandchild before dying.
Ryan takes time to consider. She Googles egg donors, skinny dips and studies her body, considers consulting her partner Syd but chooses not to, and discusses pregnancy with Georgia. Ultimately, she decides she can't handle the responsibility and tells Caroline no.
Weekend 2: During the time jump, Georgia passed away and Ryan changed her mind: she's four months pregnant with Jay and Caroline's baby. She's nervous about bringing her nonbinary partner SYD to the lake house. To make matters worse the hospital calls with news that, despite her request for three, she's only allowed two guests in the delivery room. She has to pick among Syd, Jay, and Caroline.
The purpose of the weekend is to spread Georgia's ashes, but the delivery room question looms over everything. The family manages to keep it together until lunch, when Ryan and Caroline get into a blowout fight.
After each couple debriefs, Caroline and Ryan reunite (without fully reconciling) to sort through their mom's stuff, while Jay and Syd bond over fixing the family jet ski. After the family spreads Georgia's ashes, Ryan informs everyone that she's chosen Caroline and Syd as her attendees. She leaves the room before she sees Caroline react.
Early the next morning, an emotional Ryan kayaks alone. Another pregnant kayaker appears, and the strangers sit together. When Ryan returns to the dock, Caroline is waiting, ready to haul the kayak out of the water.
Weekend 3: Another year-ish later, the family gathers again at the house for Ryan and Syd's wedding. This time, baby George has joined the family. After the ceremony, Ryan and Caroline sneak off with George. The sisters agree that their mom knows everything worked out.
About the project
Baby Sister is a portrait of Ryan Gordon and her family. It's a story of a family persevering through immense growing pains and, quite literally, a labor of love. It's about fertility, home, and grief, and it argues that the ideas we inherit about family aren't fixed. We believe that the action of family is mostly hanging out, so we are interested in exploring these big themes through little moments like poker night conversations about whether the cheap beer Lone Star Light is any good or not.
Tonally, we're inspired by Frances Ha, Juno, Insecure, and My Old Ass, which allow humor and big emotions to live side by side and all feature protagonists who stumble into discovering their own impact. We'll add to that a certain Texanness: the pace and sensibility that's almost baked into you when you hang out in the heat and humidity your whole life. This unhurriedness can be seen in Texan films like Dazed and Confused and Bottle Rocket.
