Bruised

Since surviving the accident that killed her parents, Daya Wijesinghe has found physical pain easier to manage than grief. Roller derby initially looks like an ideal outlet: fast, rough and full of opportunities to collect bruises. Joining that world also means navigating teammates, trust and the kind of closeness Daya has been avoiding. The sport’s demands challenge her attempts to stay emotionally untouchable, while first love and questions about identity make withdrawal harder to sustain. Tanya Boteju follows a queer Sri Lankan teenager whose search for control becomes entangled with a community she did not expect to need. Healing requires more than learning how to take a hit.