My Flesh and Blood (2003) (2024)

Popular reviews

• Review by Emmett Foss ★★★★½

  I watched this because Susan Tom is my dad's second cousin and they reconnected after many years last week. I was able to meet some of her kids, including Faith, Hannah, and Katie who are all featured in the film. I loved meeting them all. They're such great people.

  This is a great documentary. The relationships between Joe and Susan and Susan and Margaret and others are so interesting to watch. If I had one criticism it's that it just kind of ends without any resolution. Of course you can't really force that in these circ*mstances. But it still is a great film and a great story.

• Review by 🐢 Katie ★★★★

  Man, this documentary was so refreshing. Emotional and horribly sad but with the right amount of hope and absolutely no sensationalizing. Susan is an amazing person but the documentary doesn't go out of its way to portray her as saintly, either. It's really a whole, new, clearer perspective on disabled lives.

  The only reason I didn't give this 5/5 was for not giving an exact look at all of the children. Knowing where they came from and their story very briefly would've been enough—for some of the kids, such as Katie, the profiles were quite 1-dimensional.

• Review by Jake Mahoney

  Another one I watched for class. Really interesting stuff. Gotta give Susan props. Not many people could have done what she did for those kids.

  Also, there was a part in this where "My Way" by Limp Bizkit plays and if that does not scream "I was made in 2003" then I don't know what does.

• Review by Florencia ★★★★

  Hace muchos años que este documental está en mi watchlist, no me acuerdo cómo es que lo encontré. Me costó un poco verlo, es bastante triste, pero el corazón y el aguante de Susan Tom es enorme y admirable

• Review by soyoka ★★★★

  i don't even know where to start with this, i'm still bawling my eyes out.

• Review by tylerburnham42 ★★

  This is one where a lot has changed since 2003 so its hard to judge. Things like clinical language has shifted for people with disabilities and this feels pretty out of date in that sense. Susan is clearly willing to go through a lot to take care of these kids. Is having 11-13 children in the house a healthy way to raise kids? I don't think so, she off handedly says its all the same after 6 or 8. But how much time can she really spend with some of them. The oldest girl is basically taking care of a lot of the kids and is that fair to her to be parentified. She just wanted to be listened to and with all that is going on we see that Susan can't find it emotionally or the time to sit and hear her out.

• Review by trip ★★★★★

  This gave me a new perspective on life. Only film I have cried in

• Review by dwtyre ★★★★½

  The best documentaries are those which capture something that you yourself could never see. They replicate the perspective of another person, someone you have never met and will never understand. And yet, through the film, you can feel their love and their loss, their joy and their sorrow, their humor and their pain. Just for a moment. And then you shut the film off and you're closer to understanding that person than you could ever have dreamed. My Flesh and Blood is encapsulated in that description perfectly. Brilliant, not so much it its cinematography or its artistry, but because of the beautiful lives toward which it calls us to bear witness. Truly a one of a kind experience.

• Review by Jeremy LaLonde ★★★½

  Tonight was documentary night in our house. Emily got to pick the films and so there's no surprise that one of them was about children - an absolute passion of hers.
  This film follows a woman and the eleven (that is not a typo) special needs children that she has adopted. Some are worse off than others - and they range from a child with cystic fibrosis (as well as some emotional and anger issues) to children with other life threatening illnesses, and to others that have just been dealt a poor hand - two sisters born without legs, and a little girl who was in a terrible fire when she was a baby (pictured above to the right). There…

• Review by ⊹ ࣪ ˖𝗆𝗈𝗈𝗇𝗅𝗂𝗍 𝖻𝗋𝗂𝖽𝖾𖥔 ݁˖ ★★★½

  the description is a lie. ‘unsentimental’? ‘uplifting’? my body was hurting the whole time,
  so prepare yourself because this is not an easy
  watch.

  i just kept thinking ‘they have to be strong, to continue living and go on with their lives. to be strong. there’s no other way’.

  the relationships are so complex and interesting.
  i really wish we could haveseen more of Susan
  and Margaret’s discussion,and i wished that Susan would stop andactually listen to Margaret, she needs attention and care just like the other children, of course it’s different, but she shouldn’t feel like her problems are less valid or less important because she’s surrounded by problems that are morecomplicated (perhaps not the right word) than hers.

  a lot of respect for Susan nonetheless ♡
  be willing to devote your life to take care of others is something I’ll always admire.

• Review by Cosme

  I'm really glad I watched this documentary. It was uplifting without becoming "inspiration p*rn," but didn't shy away from the challenges the family goes through. I loved hearing all the perspectives of the kids, and how their own individual experiences with their bio families and fostering had affected the way they interacted with their siblings, especially when the challenges from disabilities and terminal illness are added on top of that. I also loved how they didn't portray Susan as some sort of "saint" but the work she does and love she gives is still highlighted. I had so much respect for her throughout; I don't know anyone who could do what she did. I know I certainly couldn't. This really made me think about family and life, and I definitely learnt a lot. Very memorable, and I'd 100% recommend.

• Review by Effixe ★★★★★

  Had to watch it for an English class, but I'd beenlate. So, putted it on x1.5, and stumbled upon an experience. What the doodly-bimbo-lord, it seemed like gloating on a Stan Brakhage clip, I f*cking tell you that.