1980s icon Michael J. Fox was at the pinnacle of his celebrity when he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease at 29 years old. The documentary Still looks back at his career and activism on behalf of millions living with the disease.
Director Davis Guggenheim previously did docs on the work of world-changing figures Al Gore and Malala. When the film premiered at SXSW earlier this year, the Austin Chronicle wrote:
It’s all based on the thesis that he was never still, ever, in his life. How else could he have survived shooting hit sitcom Family Ties in the day and Back to the Future at night for three and a half months? How could he have even made it to the point where he would be asked to balance both roles? After all, he was an undersized kid from Canada who was getting cast as a 12-year-old or Rumpelstiltskin when he was 16. He became an expert in hiding his symptoms, and those tricks will make you reappraise so many of his performances
And as with so much of his work in recent years centering around his diagnosis, it’s an open, honest, and crystal-clear explanation of what it is like to like to live with Parkinson’s, much of it painful, with no offramp.
Fox has been blessed to have his wife Tracy Pollan with his the whole way. In the trailer, Fox recalls her first whispering words to him when he told her about his diagnosis: “In sickness and in health.”
The Canadian has been influential in fighting for stem cell research, which holds great promise for Parkinson’s and other debilitating illnesses. Some conservatives seek to block stem cell research because stem cells are often extracted from fetuses.
The film premieres on AppleTV+ May 12.
Watch.
Image: YouTube / AppleTV+
