Coma

(2011)

Synopsis

Directed by award-winning filmmaker Liz Garbus, this documentary goes inside a top US medical facility for the treatment of head trauma, and follows four coma survivors over the course of one year. Each of the four patients - Tom, Roxy, Al'khan and Sean - sustained serious injuries following accidents, and emerge from a coma only to struggle with effects of traumatic brain injury. The film charts the patients' progress and details the efforts made on their behalf by doctors, therapists and, most poignantly, families and friends. As we see, the initial optimism displayed by patients' loved ones is put to severe tests in the face of slow progress, setbacks and, in two cases, regression towards a "vegetative" state devoid of responsive behavior.

Cast