The Bonding

Wendy Berman, a working-class mother in Minneapolis, keeps her life stitched together with caffeine, routine, and sheer willpower. Between long shifts as a barista, raising her son Eli, and supporting her husband Sage’s struggling art career, every day feels like survival. But when Eli ends up in the ER, Wendy is forced to confront the impossible: the only chance to save him lies with the estranged family she hasn’t seen since she was four years old. Wendy reconnects with her estranged mother, Asta, hoping to uncover family medical history that might explain Eli’s rapid decline. But instead of answers, she and Sage are drawn into a household ruled by secrecy, spiritual traditions, and a reverence for blood that borders on fanaticism. With medical bills piling up and the hospital demanding answers, Wendy begins to unravel buried memories — and disturbing truths about her family’s lineage. By the time a rare bleeding disorder is diagnosed, Wendy and Sage are emotionally spent, financially cornered, and beginning to suspect that Eli’s illness isn’t just genetic — it’s inherited in every sense of the word. With a diagnosis confirmed, Wendy and Sage pursue stem cell therapy — a costly, time-sensitive treatment that requires a perfect genetic match. As traditional medicine fails to move quickly enough, Wendy turns to the one place that might still offer hope: her estranged family. But asking for help means confronting old wounds, ancestral beliefs, and the truth about what was passed down through blood. As tensions reach a breaking point, Wendy must choose between the legacy that shaped her and the future she’s willing to fight for — before time runs out. Production note: Low-budget. Eli is unconscious for most of the script. Written to provide the option of a prop instead of a child actor.