Julia Hart’s new film sees Gugu Mbatha-Raw playing a woman with superhuman capabilities without superhuman ambitions. As someone in “Fast Color’s” trailer phrases it, “This woman can affect the energy of the earth.” Ruth (Mbatha-Raw) suffers seizures that, along with being painful and disruptive, alter the weather and other rules of nature. In many ways, Ruth is a superhero — but she has no plans to save the world.

Ruth has been on the run for years from people who want to capture her and use her powers for their own gain. She finally has nowhere left to go but home, back to her mother, Bo (Lorraine Toussaint, “Orange Is the New Black”), and daughter, Lila (Saniyya Sidney, “Hidden Figures”).

Lila has powers too, but Bo assures Ruth they’re “not like yours.” Even though Lila’s capabilities don’t seem to cause her discomfort, she shares her mother’s opinion about whether she should use them. “Our abilities can’t fix things,” Ruth says. “If something’s broken it stays broken,” she and Lila conclude in unison.

Hart made her feature directorial debut with “Miss Stevens,” a comedy that follows a high school teacher as she chaperones a drama competition. She also directed “Stargirl,” Disney’s upcoming adaptation of the award-winning 2000 YA novel about a nonconformist teen. Hart wrote “Fast Color” with “Miss Stevens” collaborator Jordan Horowitz.

Mbatha-Raw’s best-known credits include the “Black Mirror” ep “San Junipero,” “A Wrinkle in Time,” “Beyond the Lights,” and “Belle.” The untitled Jennifer Aniston-Reese Witherspoon morning show drama series, and “Misbehaviour,” Philippa Lowthorpe’s biopic about the 1970 Miss World protest in London, are among the projects on her slate.

“Fast Color” hits select theaters March 29. It will open the Athena Film Festival on February 28.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbbgfU_vU7A