Documentary “Complicated” – When Help Turns to Harm
TGDNN supports disabled filmmakers or authentic films highlighting the lived experience of those with chronic illnesses or disabilities. One documentary premiered at Slamdance Film Festival 2025 caught our attention: Complicated.
Summary
COMPLICATED follows children and young people with complex, often invisible illnesses—especially Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS)—as they navigate a medical system that misdiagnoses and dismisses them, or even criminalizes their families. Filmed over seven years, the documentary exposes medical gaslighting, withheld treatment, and the threat of custody loss, while highlighting the resilience of patients and parents who become their own advocates in the fight for appropriate care and a more accountable healthcare system. (2025, 85 min.)
Film Website: Open Eye Pictures
Trailer
Visual Description
Black Screen with text: Open Eye Pictures; a mother and daughter sit in front of their house, the girl twists her elbow beyond the normal range of motion, text on screen: “inspiring and heart-wrenching”; a person ice skating, a family video of a little girl figure skating; hospital machinery; a young girl attached to a lot of machines and tubes has a seizure; text on screen: from the acclaimed director of “Under our Skin”; text on screen: a broken system of care; a doctor looking at MRI images; a young girl with a neck brace getting from a wheelchair into a bed; family court; text on screen: families torn apart; a court room with a group of people; text on screen: a powerful expose… a rallying cry; short cuts of crying parents and children; text on screen: Complicated. Different people giving short quotes.
