**A cutting portrayal of the pursuit of work-life balance from the
cartoonist of *Shit is Real
To achieve the proper work-life balance perhaps we just need the right
therapist to coach us through our day-to-day. Anita, Sandra, and Dex
have ambitions. Anita wants to move from making utility ceramics to
fine**-**art sculpture but her pent-up dissatisfaction results in an
outburst that puts her studio mate's work at risk. Sandra juggles her
practical administrative day job at a startup with her
wellness-influencer channel, finding both in jeopardy when a messy
affair with a coworker comes to light. In another corner of the same
startup, Dex's innovative ideas are rejected, leading him to spend his
days hacking and working as a bike courier. All three are disillusioned
with the daily grind. As the pressure for self-improvement builds, they
end up looking to the same therapist for answers.
Soon the boundaries between work and life begin to bleed into each other
and it becomes increasingly impossible to find balance. All the solace
the characters expect their therapist to provide is obscured by her
quirks, whims, and psycho-parlance, leading to sessions that are
neglectful at best and actively inhibit growth at worst. In striking
colors and trippy transformational sequences, Aisha Franz captures the
comedic absurdity of contemporary work life and the wellness culture in
Work Life Balance.
