Sign of the times

When high schooler Ruby Rossi’s parents sit her down to give her the sex talk, they do it in American Sign Language (ASL). Ruby, whose first language is ASL, is mortified because her crush, who had come over to rehearse their duet for an upcoming recital, is seated next to her on the couch. Although he doesn’t understand ASL, there are some signs so explicit they’re universal.

It’s a small, sparkling moment like this that attracted Marlee Matlin to . For Matlin, who portrays Ruby’s mum, getting the script from writer-director Sian Heder was a revelation. “You always hope to read something great. I remember not wanting it to end and not being able to put it down,” Matlin tells me over Zoom. “And I knew that this was something