Stormie

A film by Elias Posada

Stormie is the story of an adopted, Hispanic teenager who wants to find his place in the world. After leaving his family and experiencing gang life, jail, and finding his birth mother, he realizes he may have left the place he belonged all along.

Juan’s story begins during his mother’s latest drug binge, where at five-year-old he had to assume a parenting role for himself and his baby brothers. One morning, all the children are taken by Social Services and separated into different foster homes, after no one in their family steps up to take them.

Fast-forward 13 years, Juan is in high school and feels out of place at home with his adoptive parents and new younger brother. Juan now lives in a multiracial household on the privilege, predominately white side of town. Other areas of his hometown struggle with gang populations, and it is easy for him to see the road he had previously been destined for. He can’t help but feel like he never deserved the life he was adopted into. His parents do not understand how he could feel this way, which leads to arguments about what is best for him, pushing Juan away even more and driving him to search for a place where he belongs. He sleeps on the street and under bridges until his friend, Gabriel, introduces him to gang life where he becomes enamored with the sense of family that comes with it.

From that point, Juan disappears from the lives of his family. In the gang, he finds a temporary place of belonging. He feels protected, valued, and sense of earning his place. Juan falls for Gabriel’s sister, Isabella, and feels as though he is unstoppable. Slowly, the gang life that felt so comfortable begins to sour. The gang no longer has his back, and Isabella reveals her manipulative side. After fighting with Gabriel and Isabella, Juan is forced back onto the streets. Having hit rock bottom and with nowhere else to go, he feels it is time to find his birth mother.

Like the gang, Juan feels another sense of belonging once reunited with his birth family. He gets to reconnect with his younger brothers that were taken from him so many years ago. At first, it seems like this is the place Juan wants to be, but then he sees how selfish this family truly is. When Juan confronts his birth-mother about her continued drug use and selling, she tells him that he needs to accept all parts of their family or leave. With nowhere to go, Juan must figure out a way to get back to where he truly belongs.