Grief is an odd little thing in that everyone deals with it differently. Some people just want to retreat, close themselves off and deal with it by themselves, getting by the best that they can. While others smother it with human contact, ignoring it and spend time with friends and family, hoping that the worst of it passes.

In new lesbian film Raven’s Touch, both of these things are reflected.

Dreya Weber (who wrote the film and co-produced/co-directed it with Marina Rice Bader) stars as Raven, a woman who has unfortunately just lost her niece and so she is now living alone in the wilderness.

It’s her own personal retreat and so understandably, the dynamic shifts when Kate (played by Traci Dinwiddie) rolls into town with her two children.

After getting out of a relationship with Angela (played by Nadège August) who is described as a ‘toxic’ woman with a violent streak, Kate and her children have come to this campsite (that was owned by Kate’s grandfather) in order to get away and just spend some time together as a family.

Raven doesn’t exactly give them the warmest of welcomes and from the trailer, it looks as though the two are anything but abrasive to one another.

But instead of butting heads for 90 minutes, viewers eventually see how Kate and Raven fall for each other, dealing with the things that trouble them and letting them go in order to be happy.

Speaking to AfterEllen, Dreya explains that

… if we can intervene on our own behalf when we are suffering grief and let others in, then we can be healed”

and that part of the inspiration behind Raven was her brother who was diagnosed with HIV and has the “instinct to want to crawl into a corner and isolate”. But ultimately, “we need people” to help us cope, she says.

Raven’s Touch had its premiere in August, visit the film’s Facebook page for more information on how you can see it.