"Searching for Caregiving Aid"
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What You Need To Know:
UNSEEN is a very real snapshot into the lives of stressed parent caregivers all over the world who are raising special needs children. The movie’s writing, personal and professional testimonials, and pacing are well done. The production succeeds in raising awareness about the needs of parents who are raising special needs children. However, some of the content gets a bit repetitive. UNSEEN has a strong moral, inspiring worldview. It urges viewers to follow the words of Psalm 82:3 to “uphold the cause of the poor and oppressed.” The documentary drives this theme home repeatedly. UNSEEN has some upsetting sounds and scenes and implied violence. So, MOVIEGUIDE® advises caution for younger and older children.
Content:
More Detail:
UNSEEN is a documentary showing in theaters and on local PBS stations following the journey of Jess and Ryan Ronne as they struggle to find aid and answers in raising a child with overwhelming health obstacles. Jess and Ryan are a widow and widower with multiple young children who married and have a blended family of 10 children. Jess’s second child from her first marriage, Lucas, was born with severe hydrocephalus, “water on the brain.” The couple uses largely non-verbal communication to help Lucas in every aspect of his life due to his need for total care. Jess and Ryan are worn thinner and thinner as Lucas hits his teenage years. Unable to communicate to parent and family caregivers, he lashes out with screams and incoherent sounds. As a young man getting stronger, his violence could impact his family and everyone around him. The stress on Jess and Ryan, and thousands of others in similar situations, is immense and deleterious. Their appeal for help in the movie is compelling and heartfelt.
UNSEEN is a very real snapshot into the lives of parent caregivers all over the world who are raising children with special needs. The enormous challenges they face daily are shown in detail without being graphic or pushy. Parent caregivers, social workers, and medical personnel weigh in on these challenges in a way that shows how the American caregiving “system” particularly fails such families as the Ronnes. As Jess Ronne says halfway through the movie, “Society is only as healthy as the caregivers.” The movie makes it clear this is a societal-wide problem, and not just a niche issue that can be handled on a case-by-case basis. Thus, one of the social workers in the movie contends that the government should give parents like the Ronnes more aid, in the form of taxpayer subsidies. This is, of course, a debatable solution.
The writing, personal and professional testimonials, and pacing in UNSEEN are well done. The production accomplishes its goal of raising awareness. The movie is less than an hour, but some of the music, sound and images became repetitive.
Subtitled “How We’re Failing Parent Caregivers & Why It Matters,” UNSEEN has a strong moral, inspiring worldview. It calls attention to a societal need and raises awareness of a problem that impacts all of society. As such, the movie argues that the public can’t afford to ignore the need for better parental caregiving for children like Lucas. The filmmakers remind viewers of what the Psalmist says, that we should “uphold the cause of the oppressed” (Psalm 82:3), especially parents who are oppressed by the labor of constantly caring for older children like Lucas who can’t care for themselves. UNSEEN drives this point home repeatedly.
UNSEEN has some upsetting sounds and scenes and implied violence. So, MOVIEGUIDE ® advises caution for younger and older children.
