Is it even possible to make a movie about a younger person getting cancer more happy than sad? 50/50 came the closest, but even that one is a brutal watch more often than it isn’t. It would take a special person, and equally special people around them, to overcome those odds. It makes me so delighted to say Andrea Gibson and Megan Falley ARE that special, as they say Come See Me In the Good Light of their beautiful home, and beautiful lives.
Andrea Gibson is kind of a big deal. In 2023 they were appointed Poet Laureate of Colorado, for turning spoken word poetry into somewhat of a rock concert for hipsters. The doc follows Gibson and their partner Megan Falley, in the wake of a resurgence of her ovarian cancer, weaving in the day to day life of a cancer patient, spoken word poet, LGBTQ activist, and romantic partner into one very emotional movie mixture.
Documentarian Ryan White goes to great lengths to show how context matters. Gibson admits they are a highly anxious nervous person. But that was more true around the first cancer diagnosis. Once that horrible news was delivered, all that anxiety slowly dissipated away from the poet, instead cherishing every moment life would give her from that moment on. So the version of Andrea we meet is disheartened by the return of malignancy, but has been through this before. They learned how to process their feelings, and accept the new reality of their life. Instead of getting a broken individual, we meet someone genuinely funny, cracking jokes and constantly finding these specific little moments that lift her spirits. She converts those feelings into poetry form, where the doc then cuts to Gibson onstage, uplifting the crowds around them with honest, but ultimately euphoric spoken word. The score behind the poetry conveys what I assume to be Gibson’s soul eternal, making it impossible for us to be sad, and instead be joyous we got to spend a little time connecting with the real Andrea Gibson.
And the real Megan Falley. Because what I’ll remember Come See Me In the Good Light for most is getting a glimpse into what real love looks like. It’s impossible not to just smile and swoon as each partner talks about the other, together or by documentary talking head. The connection was clear early from their love of dancing, poetry, and sly, slightly crude sense of humor. Hearing them talk though, you feel that this is more than just attraction. The two are completely emotionally entwined, sensing what each other is feeling, and knowing their intricacies inside and out. That love makes both of them better; Megan will bring you to tears talking about her body shame that Andrea helped her over, and Andrea can barely get through the poem they wrote for Megan, who dragged our laureate out of deep depression into this beautiful life the pair have built for themselves. I’ve had glimpses of love like that but have never been immersed fully, scared of the worst case scenario. Come See Me In the Good Light makes a pretty strong case for someone to consider opening their heart wide, to that special person who loves them completely for who they are.
So please see out the happy cancer movie! It’s so wondrously rich in feeling and humanity that the only way to come out of the film is with a giant smile on your face. And yes a tissue box…but mostly from joyous tears. And maybe a yearning to try your own spoken word poetry on an open mic night somewhere. RIP Andrea…thank you so much for bringing the good light to us.