Natural Selection

A woman eager to grant what could be her husband's last wish ends up on a road trip with an ill-mannered criminal in this comedy from writer and director Robbie Pickering. Linda White (Rachael Harris) has been married for more than 20 years to Abe (John Diehl), a Christian so devout that he refuses to have sex with his wife; when the couple had trouble conceiving early in their marriage, a doctor discovered that Linda was infertile, and believing that sex without producing offspring is a sin, Abe insisted their union be celibate. Linda, an obedient spouse and devout Christian, has obeyed Abe's edict, but when he suffers a stroke likely to claim his life, Linda makes a surprising discovery -- Abe has been making frequent deposits at a sperm bank, and wants to meet one of the children he's sired before he dies. Linda is able to track down one of the products of Abe's seed, but Raymond (Matt O'Leary) is hardly the sort of son most folks wish for -- he's a mean-spirited prison escapee with a taste for drugs who agrees to travel from Florida to Texas with her only to avoid the cops who are on his trail. At first, Linda and Raymond mix as well as oil and water, but after a few days on the road the two discover they have a bit more in common than they expected. Natural Selection won both the Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award at the 2011 South by Southwest Film Festival.