"Unrest" is a documentary style film which was directed and produced by Jennifer Brea. The movie follows the struggles of character Jennifer Brea who is about to marry the love of her life when she becomes deathly ill. "Unrest" follows Brea's degeneration with her illness and focuses on how the couple deals with a life-long illness that suddenly rears its head. The movie was screened this year at the Sundance Film Festival where it received great reviews. "Unrest" was so critically acclaimed that it will be arriving in theaters later this year.
Casting includes the like of such actors as Jennifer Brea herself, Omar Wascow, Samuel Bearman and Linda Tannenbaum.
The real life story of Brea's struggles
The documentary follows the story of its creator Jennifer Brea as she struggles against a mysterious illness. The beginning of this documentary started when Jennifer felt like her illness was being dismissed by doctors back in 2012. She knew that if she was to find out what illness she was dealing with she'd have to go about it her own way. From there she began the documentary. She conducted interviews over Skype and gradually built up her team. With support from her husband, Brea was able to put the documentary into motion.
Though she tried to be involved as much as possible Jennifer was bed bound for most of the film's production.
She started a video diary of her struggles on her iPhone which would later come to feature in the documentary. As the documentary continues Jennifer finally gets diagnosed with myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) which is more commonly referred to as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Jennifer and her husband must now deal with this revelation as it means that Jennifer will be left fighting the disease for rest of her life.
The documentary gained great reviews
"Unrest" was screened at the Sundance Film Festival this year in 2017. The documentary received great reviews from critics. According to Variety, Dennis Harvey gave the film resounding praise. He stated that the movie was a perfect representation of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. It was not too energetic in pace and emotionally followed the struggles of Jennifer Brea perfectly.
"Unrest" won a Sundance Special Jury Prize for Editing. The documentary also screened at other film festivals such as Dallas International Film Festival and Cleveland International Film Festival.
"Unrest" is due to be released in theaters come 2018. The documentary is an exceptional look into the life of someone suffering from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and gives the audience a new perspective on the implications of the disease.
