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THE RHODORA

Historical - Development 2023

Two sisters as they embark on a perilous journey, traveling alone in 1909 through rural Northern California, to uncover a family secret that will change their lives forever.

- Year of production
- 2023
- Genres
- Historical, Drama, Female director
- Countries
- USA
- Languages
- ENGLISH, PORTUGUESE, CANTONESE
- Duration
- 120 mn
- Synopsis
- In 1909, rural Northern California is a tumultuous mix of long-time settlers, recent immigrants, and indigenous dwellers struggling to carve out a life for themselves. The particular undercurrent of anti-Chinese sentiment, and the restrictions of local prohibition, compound social tensions and interpersonal divisions.
  Mathilde is a hardworking dreamer on the brink of womanhood who straddles a dual identity. Her father Mateus is a Portuguese immigrant fisherman, and her mother Sara, a cultured European settler’s daughter who died tragically a year ago. In a time when social standing can mean life or death, Mateus’ status as a relative outsider, especially after Sara’s death, keeps the family under near constant scrutiny.
  
  Since Sara’s death, Mathilde has assumed the work of feeding the family, maintaining the household, and caring for her younger sister, Rose. Mateus has grown withdrawn, sullen, and unemployable. But when Mathilde learns that a devastating rumor implicating Mateus in Sara’s death is spreading through town, she fears the worst. She grows suspicious of her father, and in a desperate move, steals away with her sister to the last place she saw her mother alive - her grandfather Robert’s cabin in rural Pepperwood.
  
  As the two travel unaccompanied on foot through the pre-industrial Northwest, dangers from man and nature lurk around every turn. Mathilde and Rose grow increasingly at odds with each other as the journey wears on them and their dwindling food supply. Mathilde’s resolve is tested when a severe leg injury threatens their ability to finish the journey.
  
  Mateus breaks from his somberness and begins frantically searching for the girls to save what is left of his family. But when he reaches Robert before the girls do, it becomes a race against time to find the girls before something tragic strikes their family again. When Robert learns of the girls’ disappearance, he joins the search, but not without reopening old wounds.
  
  Deep in the woods, Mathilde’s wound turns grave. If the girls are to reach their grandfather, and find out the truth, Rose must summon her young courage and find help. The girls encounter Meilin, a Chinese midwife and laundress, and May, her bootlegger daughter, who live in forced reclusion from townspeople hellbent on expelling Chinese immigrants. Though Rose is desperate to heal her sister, helping the girls could threaten May and Meilin’s sanctuary.
  
  The Rhodora is an ensemble drama featuring a suspenseful journey through a lush landscape while exploring the nuance and complexity of family bonds, the strain of societal expectations, and the dangers of family secrets.