Chronic pain is a real but intangible medical situation. I happen to have a friend who suffers from Fibromyalgia, a disorder almost known by nobody until very recently. She has shared with me not only how debilitating it feels, but how misunderstood it is by society. Painstakingly, she has been labeled as lazy, exaggerated, and defeated by all those who think that all it takes is for her to try harder. Wrong!
Chronic pain alone can drive you nuts and make you a painkiller addict. But it gets worse. This vicious merry-go-round cycle will leave you feeling helpless, hopeless, depressed; even suicidal. Nonetheless, in its ignorance, society will quickly conclude that you are just not being resilient enough because -it must be- you are lazy. Wrong again!
We need so much more education on these topics in order to become more empathetic about these disorders that don’t have blood to show for. This movie comes to fill this void.
My interest in this movie started with an interview to Adriana Barraza, a Mexican actress and director I had never heard of before. Later, I found out that Jennifer Aniston was being not just lauded but nominated for the Golden Globe for all the nuances given to her character. I agree!
In yuxtaposition, these two women made of this movie a sensible immersion to physical pain and emotional devastation on one side and, of compassionate care-taking on the other. I have been in both positions throughout my life: there have been days in which I woke up having to pause for a minute or two before I could actually walk (such the pain!) and there have been days in which life summoned me as a guardian angel to wholeheartedly assist another soul in need.