Chattanooga 2025 Review: UNDER THE BURNING SUN Brings an Abortion Road Trip Movie to the Apocalyptic Wasteland

Directed by Yun Xie, the film stars Stephanie Pardi, Stevie Kincheloe, and Martyna Frankow.

Contributing Writer; Chicago, IL (@anotherKyleL)
Chattanooga 2025 Review: UNDER THE BURNING SUN Brings an Abortion Road Trip Movie to the Apocalyptic Wasteland

Under the Burning Sun could easily, and fairly accurately, be described as Never Rarely Sometimes Always and Unpregnant meet Mad Max.

Like the first two, Under the Burning Sun follows its young woman protagonist, Mowanza (Stephanie Pardi), as she journeys to find abortion care. Like the third, it takes place in a mid-apocalyptic world where people still use money to buy securely locked away water.

But the more interesting parallel is to Jacqueline Audry's Olivia. Olivia is so focused on the women of a boarding school and their relationships that in the single scene with men we only see them from behind. It's a move that writer/director Yun Xie deploys brilliantly in Under the Burning Sun, a film with several men whose faces remain in shadow, out of frame, and, in one instance, behind a mask. These men are either incidental or inciting, they are not who this story is about.

This story is about Mowanza and the women she encounters on her pilgrimage to the neighboring nation of Iropus, where abortion care is available. Early on, she meets a small group of religious women, who tell her not to seek an abortion while also helping her along on her journey by offering her water and helping her start her car when it stalls. She steals food from a fighting straight couple before helping the woman chase down the man who left her stranded in the desert. We hear the woman say "you can't keep treating me like this" as she climbs into the car with him.

Most importantly, Mowanza meets Mavis (Stevie Kincheloe), a mechanic and mother whose abusive husband became her husband after sexually assaulting and impregnating her. Mavis gets the most time in the story as Mowanza develops a relationship with her and has the impulse to rescue her. Of course, things are more complicated for Mavis, who doesn't want to abandon her young son.

Mowanza's impulse isn't only altruistic, there's an element of proxy revenge to it as well. As we learn in a flashback, the fetus she wants to rid herself of is the product of assault. That scene is brought to the screen via intercutting of a violent fit of frustration after abortion pills fail and the violence of her being subjugated in the flashback. The filmmaking gives the exposition greater impact and communicates that Mowanza carries the experience of the assault with her, both psychologically and physically through the fetus. Multiple shots with significant negative space and our protagonist on the edge build upon this psychological landscape and emphasize her isolation as she carries this burden.

Xie, cinematographer Tianyi Wang, and editors Christopher Ma and Bowei Yue don't only flex their talents on obfuscating men or making horror more immediate though, they also bring them to bear on highlighting the moments of beauty and hope that persist in this world. Many of Under the Burning Sun's key scenes take place at dawn and dusk allowing Wang to capture some stunning images of the sun rising and setting.

It's a not-so-subtle and very pretty thematic accent for this story about moving from one place to another, both in space and in way of being. These moments also offer images of characters in soft light rather than the harsh brightness of their days and the blackness of their nights, as if these transition periods are the only times they can be at least somewhat comfortable.

Sometimes the movie's beauty is equally majestic and intimidating, as with the several awe-inspiring wide shots of the desert and its mountains that dwarf our characters. Yet it's precisely that repeated visual of this uncaring, often hostile world that makes an unshowy slow zoom hit surprisingly hard when the camera glides towards Mowanza as she sits with a child she bought some ice. Yes, all of the brutality of men exists, and no, the natural world depleted of resources can't help, but there can be moments of kindness and tenderness.

It's disappointing that this remarkable road movie stumbles at the end. The narrative grinds to an awkward halt and a feeling of "let's wrap this up" creeps in, leaving Under the Burning Sun a classic case of "it's about the journey, not the destination." And that's ok when the journey is this well realized.

The film screens at the Chattanooga Film Festival 2025.

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Chattanooga Film FestivalMartyna FrankowStevie KincheloeYun Xie. Stephanie Pardi

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