Grief and Grace Share the Frame

Read Time:5 Minute, 22 Second

MOVIE REVIEW
Walk With Me
–

Genre: Documentary, Drama
Year Released: 2024 2025
Runtime: 1h 30m
Director(s): Heidi Levitt
Where to Watch: opening in Los Angeles on October 31, 2025, through November 6 at Laemmle Monica Film Center

RAVING REVIEW: WALK WITH ME is exactly what its title promises: an invitation to stay present as a marriage reshapes itself around early-onset Alzheimer’s. Shot over four years by filmmaker and casting director Heidi Levitt, the film tracks her husband, Charlie Hess—an artist, father, and community builder—through the incremental changes that a diagnosis brings. There’s no manufactured drama here. Instead, we get the paces of real life: clinic visits, family conversations, small victories, and the tougher days when words slip, plans falter, and the world narrows. The honesty of that approach is the documentary’s power. It doesn’t explain Alzheimer’s so much as it lets you inhabit its slow encroachment, moment by moment.

Levitt’s choice to be both filmmaker and participant is risky and rewarding. The camera is close—sometimes an iPhone held by the person who knows Charlie best—and that proximity reframes what “coverage” means. We’re not watching a subject through a neutral lens; we’re living alongside a partner who’s figuring it out in real time. That access yields images you can’t stage: the way Charlie searches for a word and then laughs at himself, the way routine becomes scaffolding, the way a family’s humor becomes a life raft. Because Levitt films regularly over the years, those small differences accumulate. You feel the passage of time the way caregivers think it—not as plot beats, but as a steady drift.

WALK WITH ME mixes textures—home video, observational scenes, and more composed, quiet images that let a room breathe. That collage suits a story about memory. The present is always in dialogue with what used to be, and the film respects that paradox without turning it into a cheat. When the medical experts appear, the film stays grounded. Neurology doesn’t arrive as exposition to tidy things up. It sits alongside lived reality, adding clarity without overshadowing the day-to-day labor of love: lists, reminders, reframed expectations, the art Charlie still makes, and the community that holds them.

The documentary’s emotional center is the marriage. Levitt refuses the two easy traps—triumphalism and despair—and finds something truer. She lets frustration exist without apology. She also lets joy show up where it can: a joke that lands, a walk that goes further than expected, a familiar song that still unlocks a smile. That balance honors caregivers who are too often flattened into saints or martyrs. Here, caregiving is work—tedious, improvisational, and frequently beautiful. The film understands that love is not a cure; it’s a commitment to show up, especially on the days that won’t make a highlight reel.

Charlie emerges as more than a diagnosis. His creative life threads the film, a reminder that he is—and remains—a maker. Even as certain capacities fade, the core of who he is—warmth, playfulness, leadership—keeps surfacing. That’s the quiet thesis of WALK WITH ME: identity can be altered without being erased. The camera keeps finding those glints of self, not to deny the loss but to insist on the full personhood that persists within it.

The film benefits from experienced collaborators who understand restraint. The edit respects silence. Scenes aren’t overcut; they’re allowed to breathe until the emotional truth lands. Sound design remains transparent, allowing domestic spaces and natural sounds to carry texture without editorial intervention. The score provides lift without dictating feeling. It’s a confident, empathetic approach—one that assumes the audience can sit with ambiguity and still feel held.

The film’s real-world engagement extends beyond the screen. WALK WITH ME has been recognized and programmed widely, including Hamptons (Special Jury Prize for directing), Woodstock, AFI Fest, Palm Springs, Santa Barbara, Galway, and Maine, with a Canadian premiere event at TIFF Lightbox. It’s also rolling out in targeted theatrical engagements, including a Los Angeles run at the Laemmle Monica Film Center.

The “should I watch it?” question is straightforward. If you want a compassionate, ground-level understanding of early-onset Alzheimer’s—what it asks of a family, what it doesn’t take away—this is essential viewing. It avoids sentimentality without withholding feeling, and it never uses illness as spectacle. It’s the rare documentary that functions both as witness and companion: not only something you watch, but something you carry into conversations with loved ones, clinicians, and communities.

Consider this an emphatic recommendation with the understood caveat that it’s an emotionally demanding sit. The filmmaking is measured, the performances (lived, not performed) are deeply human, and the insight-to-runtime ratio is high. WALK WITH ME earns its impact honestly and respects the audience enough to leave space—for reflection, for sorrow, and, crucially, for hope that’s rooted in the everyday.

Please visit https://linktr.ee/overlyhonestr for more reviews.

You can follow me on Letterboxd, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube. My social media accounts can also be found on most platforms by searching for 'Overly Honest Reviews'.

I’m always happy to hear from my readers; please don't hesitate to say hello or send me any questions about movies.

DISCLAIMER:
At Overly Honest Movie Reviews, we value honesty and transparency. Occasionally, we receive complimentary items for review, including DVDs, Blu-rays, CDs, Vinyl Records, Books, and more. We assure you that these arrangements do not influence our reviews, as we are committed to providing unbiased and sincere evaluations. We aim to help you make informed entertainment choices regardless of our relationship with distributors or producers.

Amazon Affiliate Links:
Additionally, this site contains Amazon affiliate links. If you purchase through these links, we may receive a commission. This affiliate arrangement does not affect our commitment to honest reviews and helps support our site. We appreciate your trust and support as you navigate these links.