Selma Blair, in her piercing documentary Introducing, Selma Blair, says it was her smooch with Sarah Michelle Gellar, that may have put her on the map. But it was her work in a slew of other films—such as Legally Blonde, The Sweetest Thing, and Hellboy, that truly endeared her to audiences. But it is since her MS diagnosis in 2018 that the public has seen a different side of Blair. It is still one that embraces her glamorous world, but one who is suffering immensely under the weight of a disease with no cure that attacks your nervous system and brain, and each person differently.
She let cameras into her life at that point to document the struggle. To raise awareness, but also I think to provide a diary for your young son Arthur, who makes a few appearances in the doc and is ever supportive, as is his dad who doesn’t live with Blair.
There are moments of pure Selma Blair, where fabulousness is on display full force, such as her triumphant return—super stylish cane in hand—at the Vanity Fair Oscar party. Then, there’s her breaking down to barely breathing sobbing as she wrestles with her new normal, one that includes falling, being unable to talk and in general, getting her brain to do what she wants it to accomplish.
Introducing, Selma Blair is a stunning portrait of courage. A young woman at the top of her game as a professional, as a mother, and as a friend. Her struggle is real. It is palpable and we feel each pain, each frustration, and every single time her body fails her when all she wants is a shred of normalcy. She gets those, and they are like diamonds in the rough.
The crux of the motion picture is her journey to Chicago for a stem cell replacement procedure that is taxing, painful, decimating, and could ultimately lead to her death. But it could also lead to her moving closer to a more “normal” life with her son and perhaps, just perhaps a return to acting.
She must go through weeks of chemotherapy, stem cell injection, and then harvesting that is some of the worst physical pain and suffering one can endure. She bravely shows herself to her camera and the film’s camera when she is at her worst when it looks like death is truly around the corner. Her peace and general attitude towards life and living are refreshing, inspiring, and above all else, contagious. May we all have the fortitude and grace that Selma Blair has going through the unimaginable in a manner that is part stoic, somewhat devasting, and all-encompassing.
Blair is on a mission. That much is clear in Introducing, Selma Blair. It is to raise awareness for this disease. How there is no cure. How it is different for each person. She even relays a story of a fellow MS survivor whose friend went through chemo and stem cell treatment and died because her body could not handle it. Death is a real possibility and seeing her grapple with that, knowing she has an elementary-age son is beyond heartbreaking. We pull for her, yes, but this documentary works so well because it is not just about Selma Blair.
This film inspires and is about every single person grappling with a life-changing health issue that cripples us and makes us a shadow of what we (physically) used to be. It is a lesson on strength, palpable power to proceed, and the very lust for life that is innate in all of us.
Grade: A