A fresh take on family, survival, and second chances is coming to the big screen with Caroline, a dramedy that marks the feature directorial debut of actor and multi-hyphenate Morningstar Angeline (Outer Range, Yellowstone).
James Udom (Judas and the Black Messiah), Davida Williams (Game, Set, Love), and breakout star Sa’Raya Paris Johnson (IF) have been tapped to lead the film, alongside Teri Polo.
At the heart of Caroline is 11-year-old Caroline (played by Johnson), a wise-beyond-her-years girl trying to navigate life alongside her single mom Jocelyn (Williams), whose version of parenting includes boosting merchandise to keep them afloat. But when Caroline’s estranged father Corey (Udom)—a smooth-talking small-town hustler—reappears fresh out of prison, their dysfunctional trio gets a brief taste of peace. That is, until a looming debt threatens to crack their fragile reunion. Pushed to the edge, Caroline and Jocelyn risk it all in one final, ill-fated heist.
Angeline, a queer Navajo, Chippewa, Blackfeet, Shoshone, and Latina creative, directs from a script by novelist Daniel Blum (The Feet Say Run). The story leans into the charm and chaos of small-town life—where the stakes are high, the options are few, and a child’s imagination can stretch a tiny corner of the world into something infinite.
“Caroline maintains a perspective from a young girl at the precipice of becoming a teenager,” said Angeline. “Even when the stakes feel high, the audience remains with Caroline, enduring her life through her naivety, curiosities, and ambitions.”
The film heads into production at the end of May in Syracuse, NY, with Rob Goodrich and Jason Armstrong producing through their Walk Like A Duck Entertainment banner, alongside Ellyn Vander Wyden (Voices Carry).
Keep an eye out as this one takes shape—because sometimes the biggest heists happen in the smallest towns.