Directed by Madeleine Hicks, this is the story of Elaine (Clara Vance). She’s teetering on the edge of thirty, living in a world that’s suffocating under the weight of total environmental collapse. More than right now, that is.

Oxygen is a luxury, and humanity is dying. The government solution is a medical procedure that repurposes a woman’s reproductive system to perform photosynthesis. Instead of having a baby, you become a human air purifier.

Elaine joins the Sunshine Girls, a group of these converted women who act as living, breathing lung replacements for society. It’s supposed to be an empowering, life-affirming transformation, but is it? As Elaine begins to thrive, the film peels back the layers to show that when you’re turned into a human plant, you’re also prone to being harvested.

In her director’s statement, Hicks said, “Sunshine Girls is both a love letter and a rallying cry. ​ Women are the sunlight illuminating everything around them. They are nurturing. They are strong. They are giving. They are the seeds from which we grow and the roots that ground us. ​ We want to explore the beauty and tenderness of life-giving, while also acknowledging the potential for violence and suffering alongside it.“

You can watch this either in-person or virtually at the Chattanooga Film Festival. For more info, visit the official site.