Filmmaker Natalie Morales talks how ‘Plan B’ movie highlights healthcare system failures in America

Hulu’s upcoming teen movie Plan B, tells the story of Sunny and Lupe, two high school students and best friends who embark on an unexpected odyssey to hunt down a Plan B pill after one of them had an unfortunate first sexual encounter.

Directed by Cuban-American filmmaker Natalie Morales and written by Joshua Levy and Prathiksha Srinivasa, the movie covers contemporary issues such as racial and sexual misconceptions, bullying, and more.

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“It is a script that I came across, and I knew the producers that had it,” Morales told Hola! USA. “They were looking for directors, and I thought there was a lot of potential in the scripts, and I thought I could make it something great.”

According to the filmmaker, she took the shot even though she didn‘t have any feature directing experience. “I pitched them my idea for it, and they hired me. I was very lucky for that to happen,” she said.

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Plan B also covers other subjects such as homosexuality, parenting, and cultural differences. “It covers a lot of subjects, and if anything, I just wanted it to be realistic,” she said. “I’ll be hilarious and R-rated, crazy but with a realistic look at teen life today in America. It’s less of a message and more of a peek into what it’s like to be a teenager [in the United States].” Morales says that she hopes the movie speaks not only to teenagers but also to adults.

The movie highlights how the U.S health care system fails these teenagers and gives the audience an idea of the lack of Planned Parenthood centers across the country.

In some parts of the United States, pharmacists, physicians, or other healthcare providers are allowed to not provide certain medical services for reasons of religion or conscience. The so-called conscience clauses are legal despite the person requesting the service have complete control of their body.

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“There are many states in America that allow any pharmacist to deny people contraception birth control pill or anything they want, if it goes against their personal beliefs and South Dakota is one of those states,” Morales said. “And if you live in a town where there’s only one pharmacy or in a town where all the pharmacists feel the same way, then you’re out of luck. But that is a very real thing.”

“Also, there is only one Planned Parenthood in the whole state. And they provide so many services to people. When I was in my early 20s, and I didn’t have any health insurance, I would go there for checkups, and it was free and it was the only place that I could get that care,” she recalls. “Planned Parenthood is very valuable for a lot of people.”

Plan B will release on 28 May 2021 on HULU. Watch the trailer below.