An eye-opening journey into the lives of cancer survivors and beyond

Review of Courageous Warriors Beauty from the Ashes

Cast: Dee Wallace

Critics Rating:  4 stars out of 5 

Director: Darla Rae

Duration: 1 hour, 31 minutes

Genre: Documenatry

Streaming on; e360tv.com

From:  February 24, 2022

Story

With interviews from cancer survivors and caregivers, this inspirational documentary gives more than a peek into their lives and how they battled the most difficult phase of their life.

Review

I started watching ‘Courageous Warriors Beauty from the Ashes,’ thinking it’s going to be yet another documentary with stories from cancer survivors, but within seconds of watching, it was clear that this wasn’t just another documentary. This truly is a labour of love from writer-director Darla Rae, who saw the illness up, close and personal when her mother got it. But she doesn’t drive her film as a dedication to her and instead goes beyond the usual sad stories that are associated with an illness.

Darla picks her survivors carefully and gives her audience a wholesome view of what it is to be a cancer patient. Along with that, we also see the perspective of caregivers, be it family members or medical professionals. The film goes on to reveal how men are also susceptible to breast cancer with a case-study of Murphy Houston, a Radio Personality, who not only survived the illness but also was a caregiver for his wife. The documentary is filled with hope and motivation that comes from the varied survivor tales that include those currently battling breast cancer to those who have beaten it and living a healthy life for over four decades. It’s a wide spectrum of people and each one has a different story to tell.

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One of the biggest highlights, however, is also how Rae brings doable solutions to the table. Like including Gentle Jen, the Tattoo Artist, who turned many a lives around with her art and caregivers, who selflessly became the knights in shining armour for their loved ones. To that effect, this film is very much a part of the answer and not the question.

Overall, it’s an easy watch for a difficult subject. This is because a sensitive filmmaker has managed to unravel different aspects of the realities of breast cancer and everything associated with it.

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