Girl in the Palms is an indie feature that presents a new take on the road-trip-to-revelation story. It stars Lupe Sujey Cuevas as a young woman named Luna who is hitchhiking through Florida, heading south. Despite her limited resources, Luna’s resilience and determination shine through as she relies on help from strangers and whatever paying work she can find along the way. Some people offer her help, a few are in need of her help, and others are dangerous predators. The husband-and-wife team, Jon and Tracy Cring, bring Luna’s odyssey to life, with Jon directing and both of them writing.
“…a young woman named Luna who is hitchhiking through Florida, heading south.”
Luna’s journey is not just a physical one but an emotional one as well. She is running either away from a situation or toward one, and it isn’t clear until the end of the film why she’s on the road. Each encounter results in an experience that gives her insight into different people and aspects of life, and the audience is taken along on this emotional rollercoaster. Luna lands briefly in a hippie enclave, hanging out with a free spirit named Tug (Charlie Way Hayes). He tells her in all sincerity that his friends are all shamans, dragons, or such. When Luna asks if he, too, is a magical creature, he replies that he’s just a pirate. Such is the cinematic universe of Luna’s quest.
We are treated to a beautiful sunset and chill soundtrack as the seemingly down-on-his-luck Tug takes her on a cruise on a stunning sailboat. Whatever the reality, Tug is a nice man, and Luna takes her leave of him, being better for knowing him. She winds up, as if by destiny, miraculously in Key West at Christmas time for a fateful reunion with her estranged mother, Bebe (Monique Parent). The conversation between them is a reset, and we finally learn about the dark place that Luna is coming from.
"…a powerful testament to female empowerment."
