review for I Remember Me on AllMovie

I Remember Me is an inquisitive and touching documentary about the mysterious illness known as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Director Kim Snyder has battled the condition herself, so this is a deeply personal film. Snyder articulately and movingly describes her own suffering with the syndrome, including a relapse that struck her during the production of this documentary. She also unearths a wealth of little-known information about the illness, tracking down clusters of outbreaks that occurred around the country, and as long ago as the 1930s. She even gathers together a group of women who were afflicted with undiagnosed cases of CFS during an outbreak in Florida that occurred decades ago. The medical community was unable then to come to grips with the complexity of the condition, and the film offers ample evidence that things have not improved in that regard. Snyder makes a damning case that, unable to pinpoint the cause of the illness, the Centers for Disease Control has treated it dismissively. The embarrassment and anger the victims feel at being dismissed as hypochondriacs by the ignorant and uncaring is fully explored in the film. Some have suffered with the debilitating illness for years, and can only wait, as Snyder herself did, for the symptoms to ease, so they can try to return to their lives. Snyder uncovers a wealth of information about CFS, and interviews a broad spectrum of advocates and medical professionals, but the film offers no answers. Empathetic viewers will share her frustration. Hopefully, this will spur a more serious and concentrated inquiry into the illness, which afflicts over half a million people. Technically and aesthetically, the film is merely adequate, but Snyder has produced a passionate documentary which should go a long way toward educating audiences.