A 52-year-old with ALS “preserved his voice with a company called Voice Keeper, which is one of several companies using artificial intelligence to ‘bank’ people’s voices while they are still able to speak and re-creates those voices for text-to-speech software. ... Voice banking used to be expensive and time-consuming, but AI has made it more accessible to people with conditions that could impact their ability to speak, such as ALS, throat cancer, cerebral palsy and Parkinson’s disease.” (Thanks, Mike Rhode!)

Four friends are stopped by a group of policeman on their way home from a party. A good-natured policeman called Bartholomew plays good cop while the others play bad. The encounter gets really heated and the friends are forced to the police station.

At the station, Bartholomew (Batman) strikes a bond with one of the women. She later finds out his wife is a friend of the family and in fact attends their weekly house fellowship. This softens the conversation significantly, and eventually the friends are allowed to go home.

An older woman is driving recklessly with a younger, pregnant woman in the passenger seat.

We see the older woman in a hospital, hurriedly speaking to hospital staff and pointing at the car.

We see the younger woman on a stretcher. The women are holding hands anxiously.

The hospital staff wheel the younger woman into the operating room. The older woman stays back.

There's a flurry of activity in the operating room.

Eventually, the doctors lift the baby out of the woman.

Her eyes flutter a few times, then close.

FADE TO BLACK

FILM TITLE: MAMA

OPENING

We see the younger woman, heavily pregnant, drawing something in her journal.

We hear a voiceover.

"My name is X and I just found out I'm pregnant. I started this journal to document my experience. If somehow I manage to lose it, and you find it, please return to ..."

With this voiceover, we're transported to when the younger woman first finds out she's pregnant.

For the next couple of minutes, we experience her pregnancy journey through illustrations in the journal. Each illustration transports us into a different story, told cohesively as a montage.

How did her body change? How did work change? Where did help and advice come from? What interesting things did she learn? What moments were memorable?

The goal with this montage is to share a peek into the internal world of young mothers and what first-time childbirth can feel like. The film is very much about the woman.

After the pregnancy montage, we zoom back to her in present time, scribbling her most recent journal entry.

She closes the book.

FADE TO BLACK

We return to the opening scene, driving quickly to the hospital.

The women don't look alike, and it's not clear what their relationship is. This is intentional so as to make the story as universal as possible.

We see the younger woman being lifted on to the stretcher.

We see the older woman pacing in the waiting room.

We return to the operating room to watch her give birth.

The childbirth montage is very detailed. The goal (much like the pregnancy montage) is to educate people on what childbirth feels like from the perspective of the woman.

When it's over, the doctor hands over the baby to the new mother. There's a twinkle in her eye as she collects here newborn child. We don't see the baby.

The image (of the mother's face) turns into an illustration (as in the journal).

Credits roll.

END

On his way to the office, a guy receives a text message from a friend that says "How far". He ignores the message.

He arrives at work and drives into the compound. As a security man tries to help him park, his phone starts to ring. He ignores it again.

He stops the car and thumbs up the security man. Then alights, reaches for his bag, picks up his phone and locks the car.

As he heads for the office, two "Chat Bubble People" (Bubbles) come out of the phone. They represent the two missed texts.

He pauses for a second, as if to acknowledge the Bubbles, but then ignores them and continues heading towards the office. They follow him haphazardly.

In a meeting, he gets a text from his dad. He skims through and then turns the phone on its face. One more Bubble seeps out of his phone.

Later, three more messages come in: from a friend, his mom and his sister. It's a really busy day at work so he keeps ignoring the messages. Three more Bubbles come out of the phone.

Now six, the Bubbles play with each other and try to distract him. He doesn't acknowledge them.

Eventually the day is over. As he leaves the office, the Bubbles run after him. They all squeeze into the car and distract his driving. He ignores them and drives home slowly listening to music.

When he gets home, he keeps the engine running, picks up his phone and starts to read and respond to the messages.

One by one, the Bubbles start to disappear until there's only one left: his sister.

He reads the message...

I cooked
Lmk when you get home

He gets very happy and responds

love you!!!!!!
Just got home

For the first time, he smiles and acknowledges the Bubble in his car.

He walks into the house holding the Bubble.

END