Stream It Or Skip It: ‘After Maria’ on Netflix, a Deeply Empathetic Portrait of Women Displaced by Hurricane Maria

All they want to do is go home. Netflix short film After Maria profiles displaced Puerto Rican women and their families while they’re holed up in Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) hotels in the Bronx. And the cameras are right there with them as their assistance runs out, rendering them homeless in a foreign country.

AFTER MARIA: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

The Gist: Glenda, Sheila and Kenia have formed a makeshift family in New York City. They were brought together by tragedy: In 2017, Hurricane Maria devastated their homes in Puerto Rico, and they became neighbors in a FEMA hotel after they were relocated. They throw each other birthday parties; they share hugs and advice during trying moments; they make the best of an awful situation.

But it’s never easy. Kenia’s 11-year-old daughter is bullied at school because she doesn’t speak English. Glenda buys and re-sells clothing and jewelry to supplement her husband’s income, earned as a parking lot attendant. FEMA offers them six months in the hotel, but little else. This, in spite of numerous past relief efforts, which helped uprooted families avoid homelessness. Puerto Rico is the exception to the rule, it seems.

Glenda calls on rental openings, and gets shut out – the fact that she doesn’t speak English sure seems like a factor in some of the flat rejections she receives, although the film doesn’t make that explicit. Calls to FEMA representatives are informative, but not helpful; the deadline doesn’t budge. By the end of the film, these women and their families are on their way to homeless shelters.

What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: Spike Lee’s four-part documentary When the Levees Broke covers similar social-political and displacement issues in the context of disaster recovery.

Performance Worth Watching: Let’s not single anyone out. These women are all uniform in their ability to persevere, for their strength and courage in the face of great uncertainty.

Memorable Dialogue: “Prepare yourself for two weeks.” This is what local Puerto Rican government officials said to residents, grossly underestimating the amount of time it would take to restore power and other services on the island.

Sex and Skin: None.

Our Take: Director Nadia Hallgren skews strongly humanitarian by emphasizing personal stories over political rhetoric. It’s hard to avoid the context, however – the Trump administration denied Puerto Rico sufficient relief. Hallgren shows footage of the president’s comments and bizarre antics – the tossing of paper towels into crowds, for instance – and lets the film’s subjects provide the commentary.

The film is stronger for avoiding what we likely already know, and detailing the daily struggles of these people. For six months, they’ve been jammed into cramped room, preparing meals in hotpots on window sills. A scene of Bronx residents of Puerto Rican heritage partying and dancing in the streets shows the pride of the island’s people, and Glenda, Sheila, Kenia and their families might find a place to belong – if only they had a little more time, a little more money, a little more forgiving rental market, a little more empathy from American institutions, a little less mournful yearning for the homes they lost. After Maria helps us understand their stories better. It’s impossible not to empathize with them.

Our Call: STREAM IT. The film ends with a cliffhanger. After Maria should be a series – and hopefully one with a happy ending.

John Serba is a freelance writer and film critic based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Read more of his work at johnserbaatlarge.com or follow him on Twitter: @johnserba.

Stream After Maria on Netflix