It is the story that tells the story of Jennifer Brea, who was studying for a doctorate at Harvard University. That real tragedy began when that girl was hit by a fever, leaving her bed and embarking on a virtual journey to live with what was happening. Now, this girl is trying to experience a new experience to document her story as she struggles with a tragic illness.
The film is both a chronicle of how the illness devastates lives (as Brea puts it, it was as if she died but was forced to watch the world move on) and a cold-case mystery.
This isn't just a film to inform those who are lucky enough to know very little about ME, it also serves as a love letter of understanding for those who have it and a call to arms for everyone.
Director Jennifer Brea has ME herself, and she structures the film around footage from her own video diaries; these excerpts personalize the medical lesson and give the film an emotional core.
Using her own experience with the syndrome as a springboard, Brea offers an affecting film that, when made available on video, will be embraced by the millions suffering CFS worldwide.
Brea shot much of the film on her iPhone, which often gives it the tone of a found-footage horror film. Making it all the more horrifying is the fact that not only is it real, but it's while Brea is unable to stand up or often even move beyond crawling.
The movie delivers a striking degree of emotional authenticity with its home footage, allowing it to become more about its central couple's resilience than the hardships that tests their bond.
As often happens with video diaries, the film is limited in scope. But it is still an engrossing and important documentary that convincingly demonstrates that ME is real and gives voice to people whose homebound condition makes them largely invisible.
