BAD SURVIVOR

When sarcastic teen, Alex, is “broken up with” by her oncologists who can’t wait to get rid of her, she’s ripped out of the chaotic hospital life she finds cozy, and sent back home to her multicultural family. Despite trying to pick up where she left off one year ago, her overbearing immigrant parents, hypochondriac sister, and MIA best friend have all moved on. This is remission. But Alex doesn’t ring a bell to celebrate, throw on a cancer ribbon t-shirt, or organize a multi-million dollar fundraiser. Instead, she begs for her daily morphine drip, clings to her radiation mask as a safety blanket, reminisces about gory hospital stories, and plays heart monitor beeps in her headphones to fall asleep. Despite everyone’s high expectations of her, she can’t get herself to play the part of the inspirational survivor. She’s a bad survivor and everybody knows it.