Blood Stripe

Our Sergeant (Kate Nowlin) returns home after a third tour with the Marines in Afghanistan. Unable to sleep, wracked by paranoia and anxiety, it is clear that in addition to the scars she bears on her body, she also carries unseen wounds. When a boisterous homecoming party provokes an explosive outburst, Our Sergeant has nowhere to turn, and so she runs deep into the North Woods of Minnesota. Discovering a picturesque summer camp on a lake, Our Sergeant seeks refuge and, at first, finds solace. But she cannot outrun her own heart of darkness and the pristine wilderness eventually becomes fraught with peril. "Blood Stripe" explores a character that is relatively new to both U.S. policy and to movies - a fully-combat-participatory female soldier. Co-filmmakers Remy Auberjonois and Kate Nowlin (the pair co-wrote the film, while Auberjonois directed and Nowlin stars) deftly feminize the warrior archetype while building the story to an emotional crescendo, reminding us of how little we understand post-traumatic stress beyond its definition. It is both an unusual and universal portrait of trauma and war's cost to the individual and society.