• Release year: 2024
• Director: Ted Passon.
• Producers: Kyla Harris, Innbo Shim and Emily Spivack.
• Screenplay by: Lee Getty, Kyla Harris and Patrice Jetter.
• Cinematography by: Ted Passon and Aly Spengler.
• Music by: Molly Joyce.

Shotgun Commentary: the most beautiful, inspiring and hopeful documentary of the year.

Review

Patrice: The Movie follows Patrice Jetter, a disability rights activist whose life is made ridiculously hard by a system designed to take advantage of the weak. Patrice is the kind of person you wish you could have as a neighbour: fun, caring, extroverted, sociable, and incredibly kind. Her story serves not only as a lesson on how to properly live life, but also as a reminder of the violation of human rights that is currently taking place in the US.

Designed to fail

The feature begins by introducing Patrice and her hopefully-one-day husband. They both live with disabilities that make them dependent on the little help they get from benefits, Medicare and social security. Their treatment is quite expensive, so they can’t pay it by themselves. However, it is this dependency that is being taken advantage of by the system.

If they have more than a small amount of money, they are deemed illegible for help, which means that they have to start paying all the medical services, inevitably going broke and needing the state’s help again. Preventing people from being able to build any capital is bad enough, but then Patrice provides us with the next piece of the puzzle. If she marries or lives with her partner, they will both lose all benefits and free medical services. So, essentially, not only they keep you poor but also completely alone.

In a situation that would make a lot of people want to quit life and leave it at that, Patrice is a beacon of light, energy and joy that brings hope into a society that is being robbed of it. She is a can-do woman. Remember how many times you’ve thought about trying out a new hobby or doing something you think might be fun, but then you never do it? Patrice is the one that does. She didn’t see costumes her size? She makes them. The world is acting ugly? The builds a mini perfect world to cheer herself up. She even figures skates!

Life is but a play

This gorgeous person she has become didn’t just happen. Through an endearing, quirky, fun, and sometimes heartbreaking theatre play, Patrice talks about her life. These short interruptions of the present timeline add very relevant information to get to know Patrice and, most of all, to see all that is wrong with the system in which she grew up.

To make the content lighter, the actors of the play are children, Patrice is the only adult in her story, and she plays herself at all ages. The contradiction of a small girl playing mother and Patrice playing daughter is hilarious and touching. The horrors described as each year of her life went by make you thank over and over again that all other actors are children. Had they not been, this would have been a tragedy sadder than any Shakespeare play.

The lady in the van

Her fight to gain the right to get married and live with whomever she wishes, and the rollercoaster of her past life, make way to another one of the present struggles: the need for a van. She takes the van to work on a job that she got by being incredibly persistent. A job that she loves and performs fantastically. But the van breaks, and she doesn’t have enough money to get a new one. If she did, she wouldn’t be receiving any medical aid.

After trying collecting cans and other small actions of the sort to raise some money, she finds out her only possible answer is to beg in order to get the money before she loses her work forever. And guess what? Crowdfunding is also counted as income, so same ending. How does she fix this? Does she get the van? Those are questions that can only be answered by the documentary.

All in all, Patrice: The Movie is absolutely brilliant. The subject is a fascinating woman and her struggles are definitely worth talking about and raising awareness of. The format is beautiful, combining interviews with present actions and a theatre play, and the pace is just right. This is undoubtedly one of the best documentaries of the year.

Advice to take from this movie:

• Never thought it possible, but yours truly can definitely confirm it is possible to cry about a random van.
• The US Government has big issues, and they need to be addressed ASAP for the sake of everyone living in the country.
• Don’t leave your dream hobbies for tomorrow, do them today!

What’s your take? Have you watched Patrice: The Movie? Don’t hesitate to let me know your thoughts in the comments section below, or leave a message in my contact page! For more reviews and cinema-related articles, check out the rest of my blog! 😀