Empty by Design

After finishing her university education overseas, Sam reluctantly returns to assist her older, pregnant sister, Trish after their parents’ sudden and tragic passing. Her grieving is clouded by a city, and a family, she can barely recognize. Meanwhile, Eric, in town for stunt work on an action movie, feels even more a foreigner. Having been away for a longer period, Eric doesn’t even speak Tagalog anymore, a fact that troubles him when he goes to visit his Lola.  Meeting as former classmates, Sam and Eric connect over this shared hollow feeling and, after a late night break-in to their old high school, Sam tells Eric: “I really thought that coming back would feel more like coming home.” It’s a sentiment that pervades Sam and Eric’s personal journeys of self-discovery. (Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival)