TheOscar-nominated short filmRed, White, and Blueis a gut-wrenching, up-close look at the brutal consequences women are facing as a result of the statewide abortion bans since Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022. Its 23-minute runtime tells the tragic story of Rachel (Brittany Snow), a single mother struggling paycheck to paycheck while supporting two children, as she travels out of state seeking an abortion. Facing financial obstacles, busy clinics, and a ticking clock, Rachel must endure an increasingly precarious journey to terminate an unexpected pregnancy before it’s too late.
Despite the film’s brevity, it packs a punch as its writer and director Nazrin Choudhury expertly tackles the polarizing political issue of reproductive freedom. Although a fictionalized story, its poignant relevancy mirrors the harsh, everyday reality of thousands of women living in the conservative states that are passing abortion bans into law. As the2024 Presidential Electionputs women’s right to bodily autonomy on the ballot,Red, White, and Blue’smessage, conveyed through empathetic storytelling, female solidarity, and a twist ending, is clear: a vote for women is the only vote to make.
What Is Red, White, and Blue About?
Red, White, and Blue’sprotagonist is Rachel,a single parentto a young daughter Maddy (Juliet Donenfeld) and son Jake (Redding Munsell) trying to make ends meet in Arkansas.Barely surviving off of a low-paying diner job waiting tables, a positive pregnancy test threatens an unsustainable living situation. Taking matters into her own hands, Rachel begins researching the nearest available abortion clinics and expected procedure/travel costs.
With Arkansas' recently instated no-exception abortion ban, she faces a nearly 16-hour round-trip drive to Illinois to receive the care she needs. After gathering all of her emergency funds (even breaking open her children’s piggy bank), Rachel still cannot afford to go on her own and must figure out how to overcome her impossible circumstances before the pregnancy gets too far along.
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The Empathetic Storytelling of Red, White, and Blue
The opening scene ofRed, White, and Blueimmediately throws viewers into Rachel’s shoes. The film begins with a close-up shot of a positive pregnancy test before panning out to show who’s holding it: a tired, stressed-out Brittany Snow in a waitress uniform. Choudhury directly introduces the character and the problem to the audience: a poor, working-class woman finds out she’s pregnant and must decide how she will proceed.
As the film continues, the story further reveals Rachel’s socio-economic position through a day in her life. She’s a single mother who doesn’t seem to have any family to rely on for help with her two children. The three of them live in a one-bedroom home where the kids share a room and Rachel sleeps on the pull-out couch in the common area. When Maddy asks if they can attend a pancake breakfast, Rachel tells her that they can only afford the diner’s food (she gets it for free).Barely surviving financially while raising the kids she already has, the film builds compassion for Rachel’s situation and necessitates herdecision to seek an abortion.
But it doesn’t stop there. As Rachel begins to dive into the logistics of seeking an abortion in a state that bans them completely without even allowing exceptions for rape or incest, the need for money, time, and resolve to travel out of state for the procedure is overwhelmingly palpable. Along with understanding her difficult circumstances and choice, audiences can clearly see through the dishonest rhetoric that abortions are immoral birth-control alternatives that women have willy-nilly. Instead,they’re shown the reality of its costs (financial, mental, and physical) as well as the nuance behind the decision. Rachel is not a bad or reckless person. She’s just trying to make the best decision for herself and her family.
Emphasizing the Need for Female Solidarity
Looking at the positive pregnancy test at work, Rachel notices a female customer glancing at it while on her way to the bathroom. She hides the test quickly and the customer walks away without a word. Initially,this seems to bring focus to how alone Rachel is in her pregnancy — a single mother without anyone to turn to or confide in. After going back to the floor where she refills customer coffees, a male customer gropes her backside while passing him. Despite a co-worker watching this assault happen, he shrugs at her in response and carries on with work. Rachel is not only alone in her pregnancy, her familial responsibilities, and her financial struggles, but also, ultimately, as a woman in a man’s world.
Resilient, Rachel attempts to figure everything out on her own and hopes to make an extra $50 a week in tips for the next month to afford the abortion. However, the longer she waits, the less time she has before she must carry to term.Miraculously, the female customer who saw her positive test comes back to the diner and asks how much she needs to get it taken care of. Despite Rachel’s protests,the woman leaves an envelope of cash on the table for her before leaving.
As a viewer, the customer’s motivations aren’t addressed. Did she have a similar experience in the past and wanted to help? Is she just a caring stranger who had the means? In the end, it doesn’t matter.The point of her generosity is to highlight how necessary it is for women to support other women’s right to choose, especially during a time in the United States when reproductive rights are being stripped away andwomen are dying as a result.
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A Tragic Twist Ending
Able to find childcare for Jake but not for Maddy, the mother-daughter duohead on a road triptogether to an Illinois abortion clinic. Along the way, Rachel does her best to make it more fun for Maddy — playing their favorite songs, and stopping at a small carnival for a quick carousel ride and cotton candy snack. As time passes, the two arrive at their destination. Leaving Maddy to rest in the waiting room, Rachel approaches the front desk. Met with an overworked receptionist and without an appointment, viewers' concern grows yet again. After getting the money, driving all that way, and needing to get home to Jake quickly, Rachel may not even be able to get an abortion anyway.The waitlist, filled to the brim with patients from Arkansas, is long.
Without a choice, Rachel adds her name to the list. However, when giving her date of birth, she says the year 2013. At this moment,the receptionist (and the audience) look at Rachel in devastation as they discover the truth: the abortion is for her 13-year-old daughter Maddy. Flashbacks to the night Maddy was raped flood the screen, showing the sickening reality that many pro-life policies callously ignore —abortion rights save kidsas much as they save women.
Rachel shouldn’t be stuck with another child she can’t afford; Maddy shouldn’t have to carry the baby of the man who sexually assaulted her.Both situations show viewers that reproductive freedom shouldn’t be black-and-white decisions up to the state. It shouldn’t involve anyone other than the patient and a doctor they have easy access to. Instead, it should give anyone the freedom to choose whether they carry a pregnancy to term regardless of where they live, their economic class, or the violence forced against them.
The film ends with a shot of Rachel tucking Maddy into bed after arriving home, the abortion complete. Before letting her sleep, she lights a birthday cupcake and tells her daughter to make a wish.Red, White, and Blueleaves audiences with a semi-happy ending.Although Maddy will deal with the trauma she faced following her assault, the women around her, particularly her mother, ensure she still gets to be a child. She gets to wish for a future filled with her own dreams and goals instead of being forced to become a mother. While motherhood can be a beautiful life for some, it should be a chosen path rather than an imposed fate.
Red, White, and Blueisfree to watch on YouTubefor a limited time.
