Back Towards Light

I have seen this twice now. I believe that my own life experiences, albeit very different from the outside, make this documentary very captivating. I usually don't like that much dramatized documentaries but here it didn't bother me at all. The powerful and at the same time somehow fragile presence of Marissa herself throughout the film was all that was needed. Her voice telling the story. Her courage. And by that I mean being able to sit there and show how the memories of the most traumatizing events of her life still shake her and bring up tears. That's a tall order. And her descriptions of the events have this sense of synaesthesia to which I can relate to very well. I suppose others who have rated the film (which are very few anyway at this point) don't have as many similarities with their inner experiences, or maybe they just haven't had serious traumatic events in their life. For me to say this was moving is an understatement.

I don't have much to say about any technical aspects, I just watch films, and if something is bothering me visually or sound-wise, it really does bother me, and I remember those very well afterwards. Nothing there to criticize. This one made me go through the rabbit hole of my own past as I watched, and listened, but afterwards I didn't feel battered at all. Something must have been done right to tell a story like this and leave someone like me feeling hopeful in the end. I'm not one to easily consider forgiveness or see the light ahead. Maybe that's why people like me need films like this.