Sonic Cinema

Grade : A- Year : 2023 Director : Adam LaBrie Running Time : 1hr 30min Genre : Documentary

*Seen at the 2023 Atlanta Film Festival.

There are plenty of stories of parents who seem to gain strength when it comes to saving their children from danger. In “My Last Nerve,” we get an extraordinary story of a son whose life is transformed by wanting to save his father. Max Glanz’s attitude borders on arrogance at times, and when you see what his father is going through, it makes sense- he’s driven by emotions, but his process is fundamentally scientific. “My Last Nerve” shows his unbelievable journey.

My journey with my own mother’s health is not remotely the same as Max’s is with his father, but it’s still been a journey. For me, dementia is something that the medical community is familiar with, and knows how best to manage it. For Max, his father’s particular neuropathy was a disease the medical community was familiar with, but not aware enough of how it happens, and what the best way to manage it is. Since Max was 7-years-old, Jon Glanz has suffered from a type of neuropathy where the nerves in his hands and feet constantly feel like they are on fire; eventually, his nerves will simply die, and when that happens, so will he. When he got old enough to do something about it (age 16), Max did something insane- he began working with scientists at universities to try and find a treatment to stop his father’s pain. As he has found potential, he’s also come along to the bureaucracy that can prevent bold new ideas from being explored- in this case, that mollusks in the Arctic might hold the key to keep his father’s condition at bay.

LaBrie’s documentary is as straightforward a narrative delineation as any documentary, and that’s the best way for this film to proceed. Max’s story is remarkable enough that there don’t need to be any directorial flourishes or visual augmentations to make this compelling. This is, in the words of one of Max’s mentors, a straightforward hero’s journey. That is part of why we move past Max’s brash nature, and accept that what he is doing is simply a remarkable human story. Stories of people challenging the world around them, and finding ways to have their passions thrive in spite of that world, are inspiring and necessary, especially in a world where such exceptionalism is looked down upon if you are not already privileged to have a leg up. “My Last Nerve” is, as Max puts it, only the first leg of his journey. As the film ended, he was getting ready for the real challenges ahead of him. I hope for his sake, and those whom his work could help, he succeeds.