California

California follows Frida and Cal, a married couple who have abandoned an economically and environmentally collapsed Los Angeles to live off-grid in the California wilderness, occupying a shack left behind by people who died there. When Frida discovers she is pregnant, the isolation that kept them safe starts to feel untenable, and they set out to find a nearby community they have heard rumors of. The settlement, called the Land, is walled, organized, and governed by figures from Frida and Cal's own past, and it does not welcome children. Lepucki builds the tension out of the gap between the couple's hopes and the rules of the place that might shelter them, turning a survival premise into a close study of trust, secrecy, and what people will accept for protection.