ITHACA, NY (607NewsNow) — From Monday, April 13th to Thursday, April 16th, Nate Hilgartner‘s film ‘NO CHOICE’ will come to Cinemapolis.
The film follows protagonist Amy as she becomes unexpectedly pregnant and starts to have prophetic dreams of her own death if she doesn’t receive an abortion. The idea for the film started after the overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022.
The film premiered at the 2025 Dances with Film Festival in Los Angeles, California last June. Hannah Deale, who plays Amy, impressed Hilgartner and the film crew from her reels alone. It didn’t take long for them to realize she would be able to bring Hilgartner’s vision for the film to life.
Photo on set of ‘NO CHOICE.’
“After the first read, we were completely sold on her [Deale]. She was able to derive a really compelling story from her own experiences. Finding someone who would tell Amy’s story in a way that hopefully galvanizes people to take action was crucial, otherwise we wouldn’t have gone ahead with the film,” said Hilgartner.
Still shot of characters Amy and Debra in ‘NO CHOICE.’
A native of the Ithaca area, Hilgartner grew up here and knew he would one day come back for another project. Photo of Hilgartner on set.
“I grew up working on on theatre and film projects in Ithaca, so I knew I wanted to come back and create here again. Ithaca is very culturally rich and punches above its weight for such a small town. There’s such a great local art scene here, so I wanted to take advantage of what the area offers. I owe a lot of this movie’s production to the Ithaca College student interns and local actors, particularly Jennifer Herzog, Robert Denzel Edwards, and Hayden Frank,” said Hilgartner.
Hilgartner’s parents and cousins also worked on the film as co-producers, aiming to have the film and filming process foster a sense of community. Creating an all-encompassing film set out of a former local grocery store site, the film has pieces of Ithaca cemented into its foundation.
“We filmed in a lot of rural locations, including scenes of characters riding their bikes down roads that perceptive Tompkins County drivers will recognize.”
Still shot from ‘NO CHOICE.’
At the time of filming, the premise of the movie was a cautionary tale. Now, 4 years after the decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, the plot of the film has caught up to reality.
“We wanted the film to be a juxtaposition of horror against a very real and serious reality for many people, particularly women, across the country as the film toggles between dream and reality. Some conversation around the ruling in 2022 has minimized the impact of it by saying that ‘people will just travel’ for abortions, making me wonder about those who don’t have that choice. It seemed like a horror movie to me.”
If the film receives a good turnout at Cinemapolis, additional showtime dates may be added. Learn more about showtimes and tickets for the film on the Cinemapolis website here.
All photos courtesy of Nate Hilgartner.
