How Long Is “Steam”?

Three women struggle with the joys and sorrows of love in this three-part drama from writer and director Kyle Schickner. Teenaged Elizabeth (Kate Siegel) has been raised in a conservative, deeply religious household, and when she goes away to college she revels in her first taste of freedom. Elizabeth falls into a relationship with Niala (Reshma Shetty), an attractive and free-spirited bisexual, and is introduced to the heady pleasures of sex. However, while Elizabeth is deeply in love with Niala, she soon discovers that Niala puts little stock in exclusive relationships. Laurie (Ally Sheedy) is in her mid-forties and has lost nearly everything in a messy divorce, including full custody of her son, who now spends half his time with his father and his new (and younger) wife. Laurie is so filled with resentment and anger that she can scarcely get through the days until she meets her son's soccer coach, who wastes no time letting Laurie know he's smitten with her. And Doris (Ruby Dee) is an elderly woman who is deep in mourning after the death of her husband. While friends and volunteers from her church try to help Doris break out of her funk, she seems inconsolable until she meets a man her own age who lost his wife. The two bond over their shared loss and fall in love, but while they're eager to marry, the man's son is convinced Doris' motives are not pure.