A young Armenian-American filmmaker is almost done making a semi-autobiographical, dark, medical comedy about her experience with cyclic (or cyclical) vomiting syndrome (CVS), a rare brain-gut disorder that causes frequent and often intense bouts of vomiting that can last from hours to days. This will be the world’s first movie about the condition—“a vom-com”, as its film-maker, Sharisse Zeroonian, cleverly calls it

According to the NIH, about 3 in 100,000 children are diagnosed with CVS each year, but it’s becoming increasingly recognised in adults. Triggers can include stress and anxiety, migraine, menstruation, motion sickness and more. Although she went through short-lived bouts of digestive issues in childhood—and isn’t entirely sure if she had a milder form of the disorder— Sharisse Zeroonian, 29, went at least thirteen years without any chronic gastrointestinal problems until she started experiencing weekly and often severe attacks of vomiting at age 25 in April of 2021. After two and a half years of medical testing—including a gastric emptying study and an upper endoscopy—she was diagnosed with cyclic vomiting syndrome during a trip to the emergency room in August 2023, a month before turning 28.

“This film is helping me reclaim much of what I lost to the disease,” Zeroonian says. She isn’t making the movie for sympathy, or to lionise herself, but in her words, “help [herself] and others no longer live in shame”, and also “finally give curious people an explanation about what [she’s] been through these past several years”.

“At my lowest weight, I was sixteen pounds down from what I used to be and kept getting questioned about it.” Zeroonian recalls. “That was uncomfortable enough, but what made me even more uncomfortable was the fact that I was carrying around this dreadful secret. Once I went public with my diagnosis, my burden was lifted and I found I felt much better being open about it.”

In addition to the film’s various medical and family scenes, there are quite a few funny moments that happen in the main character, Nikki’s, workplace, which is her Armenian church newsletter. Moments that feature characters such as her best friend Tamar (Julie DeStefano), bullies Arsen and Esther (Logan Raposo and Angela Hurley), and a compassionate but no-nonsense Der Hayr (Rick DuMont).

“I don’t work at a church newsletter, but a lot of what Nikki deals with at work really does come from some of the unfortunate interactions I’ve had with my peers in the Armenian community. All names have been changed to protect the guilty,” Zeroonian jokes.

The bread and butter of the movie though is Nikki’s relationship with her psychiatrist, Dr Miller (Russ Gannon). The most common triggers for cyclical vomiting are stress and anxiety—as is the case for Nikki with all of the changes and conflicts happening in her life—and Dr Miller not only helps Nikki see the connection between her emotions and her physical symptoms, but challenges her to take the necessary steps to improve her situation.

There are pieces of Armenian culture woven throughout the movie, and even a few pieces of Armenian dialogue. But most importantly, Zeroonian says, there will be a couple of scenes that sensitively and compassionately address the rather hot-button issue of “cultural” practices and love languages—particularly when it comes to parenting.

“A lot of us grew up idealising the typical Western family system, which works for some but not others”, says Zeroonian. “A large part of this script came from my own conflict between figuring out how to be an adult by Western standards while trying to be a part of my family by Eastern standards…..Of course, there are some behaviours that happen in families which are unacceptable no matter what your background is—and the film will show plenty of those as well —but all the members of Nikki’s family end up understanding more about each other in the end.”

Starting in August, “Nothing Solid” will be released nationwide in selected theatres, submitted to international festivals and made available on streaming. A portion of ticket sales from screenings will be donated to the Cyclic Vomiting Syndrome Association (CVSA).

To follow the movie’s production and release journey, visit @nothingsolidmovie on Instagram.

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