Rainbow Rites of Passage

New Year’s Eve, 2019: a pivotal day for the unsuspecting world at large. Twenty-one-year-old Jaden Symmes is about to leave behind a life of routine, ensnared in a whirlwind of takeoff into the year 2020—as portended by the consumption of his first marijuana edible. Once he comes back down, he must head straight to baggage claim, forced to confront haunting familial scars head-on; chiefly, the suicide of his eldest sister, whose demise manifests in the form of night terrors.

By day, Jaden is an employee at Briardale Square Mall, where along comes a new friend, introducing him to the lures of gay nightlife. Jaden’s alternate home life—plus his fight for financial independence—fall by the wayside as he spirals, descending into alcoholism, his habit keeping the nightmares at bay.

A simultaneous chronicle of the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic: the terror of its waxing occupation, the hateful political divide, the historic run on toilet paper—all from the exclusive vantage point of a retail employee. After the lockdown is lifted, there is a general feeling of hope as the world pines for normalcy. Jaden decides to enter a new relationship—just as it’s reaching full bloom, a health scare of atrocious origin makes a surprise attack, compelling him to make a criminal sacrifice for the sake of having compromised his boyfriend.

Rainbow Rites of Passage is a story of resilience. A roller coaster of tears and generational trauma, Jaden maintains his trademark humor through it all to mitigate not only personal challenges, but also an unprecedented time in human history.