Life According to Sam follows Sam through several years of his life and includes interviews, milestones, and family photographs. Sam, the focus of this documentary, is a middle schooler who has a disease, progeria, that cause rapid aging in children. It is extremely rare with no known cure or treatment. Sam very matter-of-factly states that most affected with progeria rarely make it out of their teens. He deals with his friends dying from this disease with an amazing amount of levity that is both inspiring and greatly saddening. He has a fantastic sense of humor and a great outlook on life and death, and all of that is captured by directors Sean and Andrea Nix Fine.
The film has a great mix of science, interviews, and personal reflections from the members of Sam's family to educate others about progeria and the research being done by Sam's mother to find its treatment. His parents have taken a terrible situation and made the best of it, working towards a cure and helping other families who are going through the same situation. Along the way, their scientific strides towards helping their son have affected other branches of medical research, advancing them further towards a cure.
Life According to Sam is a beautiful documentary that educates and makes people aware of progeria while also humanizing this disease with the interviews and footage with Sam and his family. Neither the directors nor the family shy aware from the ugly truths that have consumed their lives, which is often heartbreaking to watch. The interview footage is beautifully edited together and broken up by the more scientific information, but the flow is fantastic, and I never felt the need to check the time.
