Writer/director Shatara Michelle Ford is adding to the national conversation around consent and sexual assault with her powerful film, Test Pattern. The trailer below shows how not only is it important for America to reckon with its ideas around consent, but it’s also time to address how the healthcare system and police departments make it even tougher to bring perpetrators to justice.
The film, starring Brittany S. Hall, Will Brill, Gail Bean and Drew Fuller, follows a couple who try to do their due diligence by procuring a rape kit from a hospital after one of the partners is sexually assaulted. However, their already-arduous quest is hampered by the amount of red tape they must wade through to get help.
As the official description states:
Part psychological horror, part realist drama, TEST PATTERN unfolds against the backdrop of national discussions around inequitable health care and policing, the #MeToo movement, and race in America. The film follows an interracial couple whose relationship is put to the test after a Black woman is sexually assaulted and her white boyfriend drives her from hospital to hospital in search of a rape kit. The film analyzes the effects of the systemic factors and social conditioning women face when navigating sex and consent within the American patriarchy, along with exploring institutional racism from a black female point of view.
The film has already won several awards, including the Lionstage/STARZ Producer Award at the BlackStar Film Festival and the Narrative Features Jury Award from the New Orleans Film Festival. The film can be viewed via virtual cinema at Kino Marquee.
