Cast:

Directed By:Shoshannah Stern

Release Year: 2025

Audio Description Provided by: DeCapta

Written By:

Narrated By: Julian Strauss

What Is it?: another terrific disability documentary that also premiered at Sundance this year (along with Deaf President Now), which centers on matlin, her rapid rise to Best Actress Winner, and the presssure of being the face of the movement. Her life had ups and downs, but her Oscar afforded her the opportunities to blaze new paths for others to follow. Matlin talks candidly about her career, her personal demons, and what it is like to be the first (and only) Best Actress Oscar Winner who is deaf.

What works: Everything. I loved everything about this. I had no idea she had such a tumultuous relationship with William Hurt following Children Of A Lesser God. i didn’t know she struggled with substance abuse. I did know Henry Winkler is a saint, but I had no idea he factors so heavily into Matlin’s life. I’ve always been aware of Matlin, and what she meant in the overall history of the Oscars. Much like how Halle Berry is somehow still the only black actress to have ever won the leading actress trophy, or how it took until just a few years ago for Michelle Yeoh to break a similar glass ceiling. for an awards ceremony nearing 100 years, it certainly isn’t very diversified.

And, if I had to pick at one thing, I maybe would have asked Alaqua Cox to participate. They made a big deal about Lauren Ridloff being the first Deaf Marvel superhero, but Cox’s debut as echo in Hawkeye was literally just weeks after the debut of Eternals in theaters.A slight release date change could have changed who broke the ceiling there.

And Ridloff’s inclusion is so interesting, because I actually know her from the Walking dead, which is a show that really put her character Connie front and center. The problem is, The Walking Dead has no audio description. While i did start watching the series before losing my vision, Connie’s debut was after my vision loss, so I never truly got to enjoy her performance. I love that she’s getting her name out there, but the casting in Walking Dead is a little performative as it seems to block them from being reprimanded for lack of accessibility.

I mention this, because this documentary has audio description. Which is amazing, because without it, all the times someone is signing would be lost on a blind audience. Matlin seems to understand the importance of audio description, as she lobbied for the advancement of closed captioning, even testifying in front of congress. She broke barriers by doing the first scene on TV with no spoken dialogue, when she and Camryn Mannheim exchanged purely through sign language and no interpreters on the Practice.

the not alone comment focuses really on the fact that her Coda co-star won an Oscar, but Troy hasn’t quite had the same post-Oscar success Marlee had. The truth is Hollywood just isn’t that great at making space for disabled actors.

Hopefully, documentaries like this will continue to tilt the windmills at those responsible, and in an age where diversity, equity, and inclusivity became naughty words, hearing real people talk about what it is like to actually see themselves represented on screen, will continue to change hearts and minds.

The Audio Description: I’ve never heard of DeCapta, but they made a great track. For a documentary, it found ways to describe the visuals, as well as transcribe when some one in the film is communicating through sign language. I’m grateful that the audio description is here, and I can fully embrace this for all it is.

Why You Might Like it: Admittedly, my bias is to lean in on disability centric documentaries, believing that their representation matters, and hoping that they’ll get in front of the right people to make systematic change. So, if you feel like that’s you, and you have been looking for the next Deaf President Now, then check this out.

Why You Might Not Like it: I suppose it’s possible. But unlikely that someone who takes the time to read the opinions of a blind film critic, would be somehow against a documentary that explores the importance of representation in another facet of the disability community.

Final thoughts: this blind film critic is deeply affected, and proud to call this one of the best films of 2025.

Fresh: 9.4/10