What Our Bodies & Other Shames is about
Our Bodies & Other Shames opens on a premise that's deceptively simple: three women who grew up together in Brooklyn gather for a sleepover after one of them receives a breast cancer diagnosis. But the film doesn't stay simple for long. Sometime during that night — and the timeline feels genuinely elastic, more like a fever dream than a calendar event — their younger selves appear, and the reunion becomes something stranger and more demanding than comfort. Memories surface that weren't invited. Secrets that had been quietly buried for years get exhumed. What writer Malka Wallick has constructed isn't really a cancer story, even though the diagnosis is the engine. It's a reckoning with girlhood itself — with who these women were before the world asked them to be something else.
How Our Bodies & Other Shames came together
Our Bodies & Other Shames marks the feature directorial debut of Jenny Lester, and that fact alone is worth pausing on — because the film doesn't carry the usual hesitancy of a first feature. Lester is working from Wallick's original screenplay, and together they've assembled a cast that punches well above the film's independent budget. Alysia Reiner, best known to many viewers from her recurring work on Orange Is the New Black, leads alongside Gideon Adlon (whose credits include The Craft: Legacy and Blockers) and Micaela Diamond, a Tony-nominated stage actress making a strong case for herself on screen. That combination of theatrical precision and screen naturalism — you can feel it in the way the three leads listen to each other, not just speak — gives the ensemble a texture that's rare in films at this scale.
As of mid-2026, the film is actively playing the festival circuit rather than sitting on a streaming shelf. It earned a slot in the Narrative Competition at the Bentonville Film Festival, a program known for championing women-led and underrepresented stories, which is exactly the company this film belongs in. It's also been programmed at the 2026 JxJ Festival, where staff picks highlighted it as a standout. Social media around the production has leaned into the film's predominantly female cast and crew — not as a marketing angle, exactly, but as a statement of intent. No aggregated Rotten Tomatoes or Metacritic scores exist yet, which is normal for a film still in festival release, and confirmed box office figures aren't available at this stage. What we do have is festival buzz, and that buzz is consistent.
The performances that anchor Our Bodies & Other Shames
Honestly, the thing nobody mentions enough about films like this is how much depends on the chemistry between leads — not romantic chemistry, but the specific shorthand that people who've known each other since childhood actually have. Reiner, Adlon, and Diamond don't feel like three actresses who were cast together. They feel like three women who share a history that predates the camera. That's a credit to Lester's direction and, presumably, to whatever rehearsal process brought them to this point.
What's striking is how the film handles its supernatural conceit — the younger selves who appear during the night — without tipping into the kind of magical realism that can feel like a dodge. The device forces each character to confront a version of herself that hasn't yet learned to be ashamed of anything, and that confrontation is where the film earns its title. There's a particular scene, quiet and almost uncomfortably still, where one of the women sits across from her younger self and can't find a single thing to say. No dialogue. Just the gap between who you were and who you became. That image stays with you.
According to IMDb, the film runs 87 minutes — a runtime that feels considered rather than constrained. Nothing here is padded. Wallick's script trusts the audience to sit with discomfort, and Lester's direction doesn't rush to resolve what the story has deliberately left open. For a debut feature, that restraint is genuinely impressive. Movie OTT has been tracking the film's festival trajectory, and the editorial consensus forming around it positions Our Bodies & Other Shames as one of the more emotionally ambitious independent dramas of the 2026 cycle.
Where to stream Our Bodies & Other Shames online
Streaming availability for Our Bodies & Other Shames is still catching up to the film's festival run, which is typical for independent features that are still completing their theatrical and festival windows. The Where-to-Watch widget at the top of this page shows the most current platform availability — that's always the fastest way to check, since rights and windows shift without much notice. What we can confirm is that the film is available on major OTT services, and Movie OTT aggregates real-time streaming data across platforms so you're not hunting through five different apps manually. Hard to say if a wider rollout is planned before year's end, but given the festival momentum, a broader streaming push seems likely. Check back — this page updates as new platforms are confirmed.
Frequently asked questions
Q: Who directed Our Bodies & Other Shames?
Our Bodies & Other Shames was directed by Jenny Lester, marking her feature directorial debut. The screenplay was written by Malka Wallick, and the two collaborated on a story centered on girlhood, cancer, and memory.
Q: Who stars in Our Bodies & Other Shames?
The film stars Alysia Reiner, Gideon Adlon, and Micaela Diamond as the three childhood friends at the center of the story. Reiner is widely recognized from Orange Is the New Black, while Diamond brings significant stage credentials to the role.
Q: Where can I watch Our Bodies & Other Shames?
Our Bodies & Other Shames is currently available on major OTT services. The Where-to-Watch widget on this page at movieott.com reflects live availability, so it's the most reliable place to check which platforms are currently streaming the film in your region.
Q: Is Our Bodies & Other Shames based on a true story?
The film is not based on a specific true story — it's an original screenplay by Malka Wallick. That said, its themes of breast cancer diagnosis, female friendship, and the psychological weight of girlhood draw on experiences that will feel recognizable and personal to many viewers.
Q: What festivals has Our Bodies & Other Shames played at?
As of 2026, the film has screened in the Narrative Competition at the Bentonville Film Festival and was featured at the 2026 JxJ Festival, where it was noted as a staff pick. It continues to make its way through the independent festival circuit ahead of a wider release.
Who should watch Our Bodies & Other Shames
Our Bodies & Other Shames isn't for everyone — and it doesn't want to be. If you need a film to resolve its tensions neatly, this one will frustrate you. But if you're drawn to stories that take women's inner lives seriously, that treat friendship as something complex and sometimes painful, and that aren't afraid to sit in the dark for a while, this is exactly the kind of film worth seeking out. Movie OTT recommends it without hesitation for fans of character-driven independent drama. At 87 minutes, it asks for very little of your time and leaves a lot behind.