Documentary Chronicles Fox’s Battle with Parkinson’s and Addiction

At the Sundance Film Festival over the weekend, Michael J. Fox, known for his iconic role as Marty McFly in the Back to the Future movies, premiered a heartfelt documentary titled “Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie.” In the documentary, Fox recounts his struggle with being diagnosed with the degenerative brain disorder Parkinson’s Disease in the 1990s and the subsequent challenges with alcohol and drugs.

In the film, Fox shares, “Therapeutic value, comfort – none of these were the reason I took these pills. There was only one reason: to hide. I became a virtuoso of manipulating drug intake so that I’d peak at exactly the right time and place.”

Fox reflects on his battle with alcoholism, revealing, “I didn’t know what was happening. I didn’t know what was coming. So what if I could just have four glasses of wine and maybe a shot? I was definitely an alcoholic. But I’ve gone 30 years without having a drink.”

In 1998, Fox went public about his Parkinson’s diagnosis, stating in the documentary that keeping his truth concealed only made life more challenging. He emphasizes, “To me, the worst thing is restraint. The worst thing is to be confined and to not be able to have a way out.”

Expressing moments of darkness, Fox shares, “There are times when I went, ‘There’s no way out of this.'”

Despite the hardships of living with Parkinson’s, Fox holds onto optimism. He says, “Some people would view the news of my disease as an ending, but I was starting to sense it was really a beginning.”

The documentary “Still” will be released to the public later this year on Apple TV+.