DO YOU REMEMBER WHEN I LEFT YOU BEHIND?
Feature Film Narrative
Project Type: Feature Film Narrative
Project Status: Pre-Production
Writer and Director: Jessica Barr
Producer: Mitchka Saberi
LOGLINE
On the tenth anniversary of their father's death, two estranged sisters return to Wyoming to scatter his ashes - but when the older sister reconnects with her ex to have a child, the trip fractures into a battle between holding onto the past and choosing a future.
SYNOPSIS
Ten years after their father’s death, Maggie (30) and her younger sister Alice (26) reunite for a trip to Wyoming to scatter his remaining ashes. Intended as a gesture of closure, the trip carries an unspoken secondary agenda for Maggie: reconnecting with her longtime ex, Stephen (30), who works at a nearby lodge.
Stephen’s presence quickly destabilizes the dynamic, and the trip itself begins to drift from its original purpose. As the trio move through landscapes steeped in memory-lakes, trails, and family property-Stephen’s girlfriend Olivia (23) enters the orbit, further shifting the emotional terrain.
Gradually, Maggie’s intentions come into focus: she has been attempting to conceive and asks Stephen to donate sperm, not as a romantic gesture, but as a way of building a family rooted in something known. While she frames the decision as practical and self-directed, the request exposes the lingering entanglements between them and the ways the past continues to shape the present. And Alice and Olivia begin to question whether bringing a child into the world as it is today is a good idea at all.
As the trip unfolds, unresolved grief, blurred boundaries, and long-standing patterns resurface, forcing Maggie, Alice, and Stephen to confront the roles they’ve been playing since their father’s death.
A restrained character study about motherhood, misaligned intimacy, and what endures after loss-not the family that’s gone, but the one still possible.
DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT ABOUT THE PROJECT
Much like Maggie, I have always been drawn to romanticizing my past. My work often returns to grief and memories from my childhood, but also an attempt to understand how memory can both comfort and trap us. In my own life, I found myself holding onto relationships that became extensions of that grief, people who functioned as touchstones to a version of myself I wasn’t ready to let go of.
At the same time, this story grew out of a very contemporary anxiety: my generation’s fear of the future and uncertainty around bringing children into the world. We are living through a moment where the future often feels impossible to picture clearly—politically, environmentally and technologically. There is a paralysis that can come from constantly anticipating collapse. I’ve found myself strangely nostalgic not just for childhood, but even for the world as it existed ten years ago—a recent past that now feels radically different from the present.
I’m interested in the liminal spaces we inhabit when we are caught between what has been and what could be. The characters in this film exist in that in-between, surrounded by a natural world that often feels suspended in time. There’s a ghostly quality to that feeling—not in a literal sense, but in the way memory lingers in objects, in language, in the spaces we return to.
What follows is an intimate, bittersweet story about unconventional motherhood, asexuality, family grief, and the complicated process of release. I’m drawn to stories where very little “happens” on the surface, but everything is shifting underneath—where silence, duration, and environment carry as much weight as dialogue. At its core, this is a film about learning how to live in the present. It’s for anyone who feels stuck, caught in the gravity of the past or frozen by fear of the future, and needs the reminder that life is happening now.
Meet The Filmmakers
-
Jessica Barr
Director / Writer
Jessica Barr's work often explores loss and coming of age. She's known for stirring and cerebral stories - grounded in naturalism. Sophie Jones, a feature that Barr wrote, produced and starred in premiered at the Deauville Film Festival and was acquired by Oscilloscope Laboratories, earning a rare 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Her psychological-thriller Tight had its world premiere at SXSW in 2024, where Harper’s Bazaar named it one of the top ten films to see. It is an official Vimeo Staff Pick. She has been supported by Future Of Film Is Female and is a 2026 Dirty Films x Netflix Proof Of Concept Awardee. She worked as a director's assistant on S2 of The Summer I Turned Pretty.
Jessica’s directorial feature debut The Plan, a single-take thriller, had its world premiere at the 2026 Slamdance Film Festival. It recently won best feature at the Lower East Side Film Festival.
-
Mitchka Saberi
Producer
Mitchka Saberi is a Producer at the LA-based production company Echobend Pictures, where she has worked on commercials for brands such as Dr. Squatch and Scrub Daddy, as well as music videos for artists such as Bon Iver, SZA, The Black Keys and Becky G. The narrative short she produced, SHE RAISED ME, premiered at Aspen Shortsfest in 2025 and went on to play at Palm Springs Shortfest, Newfest, and more. She also recently produced Blush (premiered at 2026 Aspen Shortsfest) and executive produced I THINK ABOUT KILLING YOU (official selection at 2026 Tribeca Film Festival), which are both on the festival circuit. -
Alexander Spenser Gould
Producer
Alexander Spenser Gould is a producer and line producer with a wide range of experience across commercial, documentary, and feature filmmaking. He has produced work for major brands including his Telly Award winning campaign for AT&T. In 2025 he was the line producer on a new five episode tv show, OCEAN PARKWAY, Executive Produced by Influence Media. His latest feature documentary, LET NO ONE LOSE HEART, is currently in post-production and his narrative feature, THE PLAN, written & directed by Jessica Barr, premiered at Slamdance Film Festival in 2026.
Meet the Cast
-
Sasha Frolova (Maggie)
Sasha Frolova (Maggie) is an actress, model, and photographer. She is known for ‘Red Sparrow’, where she acted opposite of Jennifer Lawrence, ‘The Empty Man’ and the HBO series ‘Mare of Easttown’ starring Kate Winslet. Based in New York, she has built a diverse career across film and television, with notable appearances in ‘Little Women’, directed by Greta Gerwig, and in ‘Little America’ for Apple TV.
-
Ryan Simpkins (Alice)
Ryan Simpkins (Alice) is an award winning actor who booked their first film at the age of 4. Ryan has been seen in features including THE EXORCISM co-starring with Russell Crowe, the FEAR STREET trilogy with Sadie Sink, PLEASE BABY PLEASE with Demi Moore, and THE HOUSE playing the child of Will Ferrell and Amy Poehler. Most recently Ryan starred in independent features THE PLAN, which premiered at Slamdance 2026, and UGLY CRY, which premiered at SXSW 2026.
-
Ian Edlund (Stephen)
Ian Edlund (Stephen) is a Brooklyn based actor. He appeared in This Closeness, which premiered at SXSW 2023, earning critical recognition for its intimate, character-driven storytelling. Edlund’s additional screen work includes the award-winning short films Dream Creep (Sundance 2024) and The Ref, which was a Vimeo Staff Pick. On stage, Edlund recently appeared in Picture Day, written and directed by Levon Hawke, as part of New York’s downtown theater scene.
-
Arkira Chantaratananond (Olivia)
Arkira Chantaratananond (Olivia) is a Thai-American actress. Her upcoming 2026 features include leading roles with a major horror studio, Sundance Institute’s Feature Film Program, and two indie features that had their world premieres at SXSW (Downbeat) and Slamdance Film Festival (The Plan). Her film credits include a supporting role in Twinless, as well as appearances in Paradise Records and The Night Always Comes, directed by Benjamin Caron (The Crown).
Your Help
DO YOU REMEMBER WHEN I LEFT YOU BEHIND? is a fiscally sponsored project of Cinematography for Actors, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Your donation will be tax-deductible!