Rhonda

A “Alacrity Productions” FILM
WRITTEN BY Jamie Lawrence and Kate McGill

After 15 years of secretarial work, love-challenged Rhonda’s desperate to escape her slow-paced life in Eketahuna, terrified she might shrivel up into a ‘nobody’.
Rhonda seeks the kind of dazzling romance that makes her heart visible through her polar-fleece zip-up and her ears satiate with music.

After overhearing locals discussing her pitiful existence, a cord snaps, and with wild abandon Rhonda cracks open her piggy bank, packs up her life – including her menagerie of plastic African animals – and embarks on a quest to prove them all wrong and find true love in Auckland.

Rhonda finds herself a modest room in a crumbling apartment complex, over-occupied and under-heated with precarious communal showers. Following a rocky start, where she is subjected to the wandering hands of her neighbour, old Mr. Petrovich - his brain febrile with thoughts of pink panties and getting laid - Rhonda’s life does a loop-de-loop. Kevin – her charming landlord – learns of Rhonda’s infatuation with pop music and he introduces her to the joys of the local karaoke club.

By day, Rhonda manages ‘Kupcake Kingdom’. By night, she swoons over the sounds of desire at ‘Knightly Karaoke’. In between power ballads and Cher wannabes, a mild-mannered emo named Malcolm develops a secret attraction to Rhonda. Rhonda finally starts to feel like ‘somebody’.

Unbeknownst to Kev’n’Malc, Rhonda finds a way to string them both along and dual romances begin to bloom.
As Rhonda’s insecurities fade, so too does her unique personality. When the ‘men’ finally discover the truth, Rhonda carries out a series of increasingly desperate actions that becomes more anguished self-interrogation. Things go properly pear-shaped and Rhonda wonders if she’s truly worthy of change.

Follow Rhonda on her befuddled journey through music and misadventures full of whimsy and pathos, as she ultimately learns that love isn’t the only answer.