An informative doc that’s a matter of life and death for the disabled community.

It’s very rare we get documentaries about disabled people that are made by disabled people, and “Life After” is an example. This one is made by Reid Davenport, who has cerebral palsy and makes docs about disabled people from an overtly political perspective. We try our best to understand him (with all respect), but he does have a voice in cinema and he wants to get the messages out as much as possible.

This is the story of Elizabeth Bouvia (1958-2014), who was diagnosed with cerebral palsy, which left her disillusioned with how bedridden she had to be and how she had to rely on people to take care of her. She became a figure in the right-to-die movement in the 80s.

As you can tell, the theme of “Life After” regards disabled people who want the right to commit suicide. But Davenport wants us to acknowledge that this doc isn’t about suicide, but about disabled people trying to find their place in this world. And this finds its place by expressing the problems within the disabled community. How doctors treated them, how society treated them, and what becomes a matter of life and death for them.

In Canada, the Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) was initiated, which means that disabled people can find medical professionals who can help them die. So far in America, the only states that legalizes it are California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington. But “Life After” is more focused on Canada at this point, and it also focuses on how assisted suicides saves a lot of money in health care.

We get interviews from Elizabeth’s family, who admit that the father filed for divorce, the mother was stressed, her new husband was abusive, and they were poor. There were also surgeries that contributed to her pain. This was far from an easy childhood for her.

We also hear other disabled people like Michal Kaliszan who has spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), but was denied medical care. And there’s also Melissa Hickson whose quadriplegic husband Michael was denied care for COVID-19 by doctors at South Austin Medical Center, and died as a result.

Later in the movie, we see Reid riding on the sidewalk with the camera facing the sky, and a cop stops him because somebody told him that Reid looked like he needed an ambulance. He responds he fine and that he’s shooting a video. This is how serious he seems about his job, and he also tells another person that he wouldn’t know where he would be without support from his friends and family.

I may not understand all the politics presented in this real life story, but I can acknowledge how there are disabled people who wish to die, those who were wronged by doctors, and those who still wish to live. It’s all merged together in society, and it’s quite shocking. Reid worries that this film will be seen as cynicism, but he still willing to tell the story. People of all disabilities (including those with autism and ADHD) are humans, too, and “Life After” needs to remind others about that.

In Select Theaters

One Week Only at the Film Forum in NYC