CLEARWATER, Fla. — There's a new movie hitting theatres Friday and coming soon to Hulu based on a true story out of Pinellas County. It's called "Suncoast" and you'll see some familiar local sites featured.
The film is about a teen girl coming of age in 2005 in Clearwater, while her brother is dying at Suncoast Hospice. This is the same hospice where Terri Schiavo was being cared for at the time. Schiavo was the Clearwater woman at the center of a 'right to die' case playing out on national news.
Activists on both sides of the issue were often rallying outside the hospice center. Laura Chen wrote the film based on her own life experience.
Current President and CEO of Suncoast Hospice Johnathan Fleece saw the film.
"While most of the world remembers what it was like on the outside of our facilities at Woodside and Suncoast Hospice, Laura Chen invites the audience inside," Fleece said. "So it really opens up the audience to see what care looks like day to day."
The film stars Nico Parker as Doris, Laura Linney as Doris' mom and Woody Harrelson as an activist who befriends Doris. The movie will be shown at AMC Veterans 24 in Tampa starting Friday, Feb. 2. Then it will be released on Hulu on Feb. 9.