Unstoppable: On the Road - Complicated (Feature)
July 6, 2025
Slamdance Unstoppable: On the Road
In a failing healthcare system, children with complex, invisible illness and their families are labeled “too complicated” or torn apart by accusations of medical child abuse. Documentary feature.
Director Andrew Abrahams scheduled to attend for post-film Q&A.
“A powerful exposé of children with complex illnesses and the systems that fail them. With investigative depth and personal storytelling, Andrew Abrahams delivers a heartbreaking wake-up call and a rallying cry for change.” — SOUNDS with Tom Needham Podcast
Complicated reveals the untold stories of children suffering from complex, invisible illness, marginalized by a medical system that fails to provide the care they desperately need. Shuffled between specialists, misdiagnosed, and often labeled with psychological disorders, these young patients fight for validation, respect and normalcy. The film exposes a dark side of pediatric medicine, where parents pushing for answers risk being accused of medically harming their children and even losing custody.
Filmed over seven years, this unflinching documentary explores the “complicated” journeys of young people with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS), a little-known connective tissue disorder that is far more common than most realize. Ranging from mild to life-threatening, EDS is often invisible, and the lack of research and awareness leads to medical gaslighting, where treatments are withheld, insurance is denied, and families are torn apart.
In a healthcare system under intense scrutiny, Complicated pulls back the curtain on a hidden world of suffering and resilience. It highlights courageous young people fighting for their lives, mothers risking everything to protect them, and a system that too often turns a blind eye. Amid this struggle, a spark of hope emerges as patients become their own advocates, researching potential tests and treatments that could change their lives—and possibly the future of medicine.
- Director: Andrew Abrahams
- Country: USA
- Year: 2025
- Running Time: 85 min.
- Producer: Andrew Abrahams, Donna Sullivan, Tracy Finnegan, Charlotte Deering McCormick
- Cinematographers: Andrew Abrahams
- Editors: Alex Albers
- Website: Official Film Website
- Awards: Worldfest-Houston Int’l Film Festival (Remi Award)