A Non-linear plot teasing 'boy meets girl' situation. In two parallel story threads, the same 'boy' meets two separate 'girls'. As the chronology of events is established one turns out as the 'cause' and the other the 'payback'.
A consensual encounter escalates into a rape situation. Can this happen to anybody and at anywhere? The plot unashamedly attempts to inspect such characters involved. Ricardo is a mama's boy with questionable self worth. He is new in town. Spread over a timeline of few weeks under snowy winter conditions, Ricardo's encounter with two women, Leila and Natie, eventually becomes a tale of cause and effect. The entire chronology of events is established at the very end in this non-linear narrative.
Derived experiences tends to linger about in our psyche and goes onto, in turn, influence our responses much later at some seemingly unrelated situation. We trace such responses of the central characters Ricardo and Leila as we see each being affected by their surroundings; in turn, influencing and shaping their reactions. The backdrop chill of winter instills a want of warmth of the human touch.
Ricardo, a mama's boy with dependency issues and questionable self worth, is new in town. He is an intern with the reporting team of an online publication. His temporary accommodation doesn't present much comfort. His sleazy, intruding landlord, Rod, often uses the space for his covert rendezvous with random girls and away from his wife; thereby forcing Ricardo to wait out in the snowy cold until Rod is done with his women.
Although a workaholic, Ricardo is uptight in his personality, especially with strangers. With the onset of winter, snow covers everything around. Deep down, Ricardo is lonelier than ever.
Leila has dedicated her life to work and has been quietly building up her case for an impending promotion that would break the glass ceiling and see her moving into the main office located at downtown. Her co-workers also recognize and acknowledge Leila's deserved claim to the position.
During one of his assignments to cover an unrelated story at a warehouse situated at the outskirts of city, Ricardo unearths an elaborate setup of forced cheap labor comprising of erstwhile ex-convicts and gang members who are fleeing persecution and in return, offered employment at meager payments. Ricardo writes a compassionate essay, elaborating on giving these past criminals a 'Second Chance'. This quickly becomes a meme and a campaign slogan for many such social, political and media organizations in the area.
Leila's workplace employs an army of such low skilled workers from other areas with violent and criminal past. Her job position becomes a collateral to this 'Second Chance' campaign as the social movement starts getting momentum in certain neighborhoods with many of their schools closing down. As such, Leila is overlooked for her much anticipated promotion for a new guy who is part of company's new outreach program and with whom the workers would relate more - as per the management. Deeply hurt and humiliated, Leila struggles to make sense of this rebuff.
Meanwhile, to celebrate the publication of his major article, Ricardo signs up with an online meet-up group of bar hoppers. Over the affair, Ricardo meets Natie, a charming fun seeking open minded girl. Although, Natie takes a liking to Ricardo, he finds it difficult to reciprocate and fails to move swiftly at Natie's pace. This puts her off; forcing her to question the entire premise of why did she even put herself in a vulnerable situation like that with this stranger, Ricardo and that too, in his apartment.
Things quickly escalate and go completely out of hand between Ricardo and Natie.
Few weeks later, Ricardo and Leila meet in an awkward manner, under severe snowy conditions. A seemingly harmless and probable attractive encounter subverts the expectation and soon turns ugly. Leila discovers Ricardo's role in kick starting the 'Second Chance' campaign - that cost her dearly at her work.
Is that the only motivator to cause Leila to seek vengeance? Or, is there another deeper agenda? Was Leila's chance encounter with Ricardo a mere accident or was it an elaborate plan?
ConSensual is a captivating story that explores the concept of cause and its effect. The narration follows the journey of a boy as he meets two different girls in contrasting situations, leading to opposite outcomes. This subversive tale challenges expectations and delves into the complexities of human relationships.
