Ahead of the 2024 U.S. Presidential Election, political commentators on both sides of the aisle compared the fraught voting process to a kind of national biopsy. Now, “Come See Me in the Good Light” — a striking and airy documentary about genderqueer poet Andrea Gibson and their harrowing battle with ovarian cancer — is premiering at Sundance 2025 against a flurry of new anti-LGBTQ steps recently taken by President Trump.
Director Ryan White delivers this touching look at the fragility of human life at an essential time for queer and trans people in media. White’s atypical portrait of Gibson — reminiscent of something like the tragicomic “50/50” from 2011 — relies on intimate beauty and sharp humor to champion the poet’s art, identity, and partner Megan Falley (also a poet) with optimism and vigor.
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The well-spoken and likable subjects foster a generous tone that could earnestly inspire compassion from some less tolerant Americans. The couple’s involvement also boosts Gibson’s public visibility as a singular voice in a difficult historical moment. (It is an awkward reality of the so-called “cancer documentary” subgenre that the patient’s fate often doubles as a dramatic question. In January 2025, it’s worth knowing that Gibson is still battling cancer and frequently posts new work online.)
Andrea Gibson in ‘Come See Me in the Good Light’
Although the poet laureate was born in eastern Maine, Gibson has been an artistic fixture of Boulder, Colorado for more than two decades. The 49-year-old writer rose to fame as a spoken-word performer known for selling out rock clubs with their impassioned but still accessible musings on gender, politics, and society. Self-described by Gibson as “poetry you don’t need a degree to understand,” the artist’s socially conscious, raw, and vulnerable prose melded with their approachable androgyny for an onstage persona their partner likens to a “gay James Dean.”
Even battling a scratchy throat from a side effect of chemotherapy, Gibson’s heartfelt delivery evokes an incisive and alluring warmth reflective of their knack for connecting with audiences — whether that’s reciting poetry live in a theater or in-conversation with White’s documentary lens. Fittingly, the poet was suggested for the mostly unscripted project by producer Tig Notaro, who appears briefly toward the end and boasts a body of complimentary work in stand-up comedy.
“If I die, Meg’s really going to need me to support her,” the ailing Gibson offers in one of many bittersweet asides directed to White’s crew. An endless font of darkly brilliant romance and comedy, Gibson and the 35-year-old Falley use laughter to endure oncology treatments, canceled plans, and the ever-increasing weight of potential grief. The eloquent lovers invite viewers into a recognizable queer relationship that’s authentic, charming, and at times quietly devastating — if only because you get the impression that Gibson and Falley are truly and deeply in love.
A bright spot of sapphic representation in recent documentary film, the partnership depicted in “Come See Me in the Good Light” suggests how you live your private life and love the people in it can be its own kind of artform. Minor details (blink and you’ll miss a classic lesbian “U-Haul” moment) appear alongside bolder displays of LGBTQ pride (prepare for a joke about fingering a tumor and, of course, the revelation that Gibson is close with an ex-girlfriend). It’s apowerful snapshot that stands to affirm some audiences and subtly educate many others.
‘Come See Me in the Good Light’
As much an exercise in empathy as it is a slice of life, “Come See Me in the Good Light” tracks Falley’s meandering journey as a terrified partner through agonizing push and pull. It’s a relatable emotional arc regardless of your sexuality, and particularly poignant when incorporating the two writers’ thoughtful essays, poems, and discussions. Simultaneously, Gibson dissects their complex life’s experience in extended one-on-one interviews — speaking at length about the irony of their troubles with depression years before their ovarian cancer diagnosis in 2021. Gibson spends much of the movie fighting to get back onstage, but the road to recovery proves more complex than the laureate or Falley would like.
Shrugging off physical vanity and even declining to correct strangers on their nonbinary pronouns, Gibson retreats from identity in the face of an all-consuming and transformative illness. That emotional shift comes into focus through White’s expressive narrative framing. Although imperfect, the filmmaker’s presentation of cancer’s various transmutable qualities via Gibson’s creative legacy and inspiring life partnership is effective. Enough so that it overcomes the documentary’s bloated length and sometimes inconsistent tension. “Come See Me in the Good Light” co-mingles the kaleidoscopic themes of genderqueer poetry with the grueling daily management of a deadly illness — and does the vulnerability of its well-chosen subjects remarkable cinematic justice. Through that, White creates a sense of existential wonder and a film bursting with hope for all kinds.
Grade: B+
A Tripod Media and Amplify Pictures Production, “Come See Me in the Good Light” had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 25. It is currently seeking distribution.
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