From a sharp
comedy reboot to an erotic political thriller, Guardian writers pick the hidden films of the year that people should know more about
Aftershock takes a sprawling, urgent, widely publicized yet still under-addressed national crisis – the shameful maternal mortality rate among Black
Women in the US – and grounds it in its more personal and galling form. The film, directed by Tonya Lewis Lee and Paula Eiselt, examines the roots and manifestations of dire statistics through the advocacy journeys of two grieving families. Two Black mothers whose concerns were downplayed or dismissed, who died in
New York hospitals months apart, who would be caring for their children if not for an extremely preventable combination of medical
racism, financial pressure to perform C-sections and inadequate senses of urgency. I was crying within three minutes. The film, available to stream on Hulu, should be essential viewing as a window into the many factors underlying such devastating disparities, but also as a path forward. It shows what woman-centered, choice-driven maternal healthcare could look like in the US, and the families fighting for it after the unimaginable. Adrian Horton