Sidelined is a story about acceptance. It is about a type of grief that may be overlooked by some people, who think grief is limited to the loss of someone. Hopefully, our film gets to touch on the feeling of grieving for something you could have been.

Set in a post-apocalyptic world where fossil fuels have run out, humans must run on treadmills to generate electricity and hit mandatory output targets. An 18-year-old girl who often struggles to hit her output targets meets a disillusioned 30-year-old man, who wants to escape this life. Through their journey, she begins to wonder about the meaning of being alive.

Siti has devoted herself towards preparing her 7-year-old son Aqil - who has autism - for an upcoming psychology assessment; this assessment will dictate if Aqil will qualify for a mainstream primary school. Her family has also been dealing with a bedbug infestation. Despite her husband’s financial worries and her mother-in-law’s frustration at Aqil’s inability to speak Malay, Siti is bent on sending Aqil to a mainstream primary school. However, Aqil fails the assessment despite his savant-like memory. Compounded with the recurrent bedbug infestation, Siti loses her temper at a distressed Aqil. It is only when Aqil makes a small act of kindness towards her and the bed bugs that Siti is touched by his empathy, finally putting down her pride as a mother and deciding to send Aqil to a special education school.