ABOUT THE PROJECT

LOGLINE
Louise—a depressed millennial—is drunk and breaks her hip, landing her in physical therapy. There, she makes an 86-year-old BFF who speaks no English. This unlikely friendship gives her the courage to face what she’s been running from all along: Her mother’s younger-onset Alzheimer’s.

SYNOPSIS
Louise is depressed but won’t admit it. She got dumped; she plays no music even though she’s a musician; and—in her words—all her friends are bullshit. She comforts herself with alcohol and stretchy pants and does everything she can to distract herself from the real pain: Her mother’s rapid deterioration from Alzheimer’s.

One night she shows up at her ex’s place uninvited and manages to fall and break her hip while scaling his gate. She lands in the hospital and then in physical therapy with Òthe greatest generationÓ (#arguable). There, she meets Antoinette, an 86-year-old Polish woman who can’t speak a word of English.

Louise winds up caring for Antoinette one night; she lets her sleep at her place after they both get stranded at their bus stop and Louise can’t figure out how to get Antoinette home. It’s kind of weird, but they also start to enjoy each other’s company—especially when Louise realizes that they share a rebellious streak. Antoinette’s overwhelmed granddaughter ends up asking Louise to be a permanent caretaker, and they even sorta become friends.

But Louise can’t help but return to bad habits. She takes Antoinette out dancing one night, gets too drunk, and doesn’t notice when Antoinette falls and hurts herself. At this point, Louise has to confront her selfishness, the shitty care that she’s been giving Antoinette, and her own fractured relationship with her mother, Dorothy.

LATE BLOOMERS is a multigenerational coming of age story about two women who are both coping with the pain and awkwardness of growing up at different stages of life. It’s a story about the feeling we all have—that we’re not growing up as successfully as everyone else. Through Louise and Antoinette’s odd-couple friendship, we learn it’s okay to mess up along the way as long we keep trying.

PROJECT TYPE Narrative Feature

DIRECTOR Lisa Steen
PRODUCER Alexandra Barreto, Taylor Feltner