Aquarium

After graduating college, Alex, or as Sasha as her close friends call her, decides to leave home to work aboard a luxury cruise ship. While this isn’t the type of work she thought she would be doing at twenty-one, she hopes that this new path will help rid her of the depression that plagues her days back home in Ukraine. But life at sea isn’t what she expect. It mirrors systems she’s already more than familiar as she faces hierarchies, sexism, and daily reminder of the classism prevalent in luxury environments. Through this all, she longs for connection. Though each day becomes repetitive, she tries to maintain a sense of identity through romantic encounters, snuck smoke breaks, and stolen treats all which offer both refuge and risk. Inspired by a real journey, Aquarium offers a quiet, unsettling portrait of a misogynistic world sustained by power, performance, and psychological pressure, exposing the human cost beneath the promise of five-star escape.