Time Under Tension

M.S. Harkness is graduating from art school in Minneapolis and facing a crossroads in life. She has a strained relationship with her mother, a sexually abusive father on parole, and is in love with an aspiring MMA fighter who mostly hangs out with her to get high and already has a girlfriend and career prospects with a fight promoter. An art career feels untenable -- as one professor tells her, 'Don't expect to get by on this fucked-up broke girl shit.' She decides to get a personal trainer's certificate -- it seems like a feasible and sensible career option -- but continues to dabble as a sex worker and weed dealer because the money is too irresistible. With idle hands due to no classes or full-time work, M.S. has ample time to aimlessly fuck around -- or, to get her shit together. 'I want to be better, I want to be stable and solid. I don't want to keep aimlessly shifting between untenable situations.'