‘A 45-Year-Old Queer Dyke’ Is Headed To Sundance

Sundance is getting a dose of authentic, complex queer storytelling this year in the form of Work In Progress, a comedy premiering in the film festival's Indie Episodic program. Out has the first look at the not-yet-picked-up series pilot which will screen starting Jan. 29.

Created by comedian Abby McEnany and writer-director Tim Mason (No Other Way to Say It), the show follows a woman, also named Abby, dating a trans man, who decides to re-evaluate life after the death of her therapist mid-session. She must also choose whether or not to confront the woman responsible for ruining her life, Saturday Night Live's Julia Sweeney who plays herself. Abby is described as "a 45-year-old queer dyke who is finally coming into her own or she is a 45-year-old queer dyke who is about to kill herself. Both are true. It just depends on which day you meet her."

The dark comedy, which stars McEnany and is directed by Mason, aims to present an all-too-relatable character struggling with depression, weight, fear of intimacy, and general anxiety.

"When we set out to make this show we wanted to be as truthful in our writing and production as possible," the pair said in a statement, "truthful to the realities of all the characters involved; truthful to the comedic and not-comedic situations they find themselves in, and, most importantly, truthful to what life looks like to Abby and how she lives it."

"Abby is unlike most other characters on TV and we want to represent people and populations like her," they added. "We want to tell a love story the like of which has rarely been seen before. We want to bring mental illness out of the shadows and we want to do it in a way that is funny, emotional, and real."

Check out the trailer below:

Related | How a Straight Man Is Telling Well-Rounded Queer Stories in Hollywood