Reviews
“Fascinating doc about doctors who took too long to heal themselves… Scintillates… So many vibrant and articulate participants [recall] their part in a battle that did a great deal to change longstanding (and not yet extinct) prejudices.” —The Hollywood Reporter
“Featuring interviews with queer activists next to survivors of electroshock conversion therapy, the film is uplifting despite its subject material, showing how resilience and persistence have always been at the heart of the ongoing LGBTQ+ Rights Movement.” —NYLON
“Suspenseful and furnishing a slam-dunk case about the landmark importance of this event, Cured is probably the best LGBTQ documentary of the year.” —Bay Area Reporter
“Riveting … deserves its place alongside other seminal documentaries such as How to Survive a Plague, The Celluloid Closet, Before Stonewall and The Times of Harvey Milk.… It’s hard not to be deeply moved and shed tears of appreciation for the queer heroes who came before us as the end credits roll and the beautiful song co-written and performed by TUCKER, The Other Side of the Rainbow, plays out. —The Queer Review
“Both illuminating and engaging, it’s a timely opportunity to reflect upon a historical context for present-day struggles to ban conversion therapy and to address ongoing transphobia—a measure of how far social change can progress and yet how long-lasting impacts can also stubbornly and inexplicably resist them.” — Georgia Straight
“[A] striking documentary. One of the five best LGBTQ+ films we watched [at Outfest].” —USA TODAY
“Patrick Sammon and Bennett Singer’s taut, informative 80-minute documentary ‘Cured’ illuminates the hidden history of how LGBTQ activists fought to remove the classification that being gay was a disease.” —EDGE Media Network
“A fitting tribute to many unsung heroes in the gay rights movement … highly recommended for younger viewers in the LGBTQ+ community who may not – but need to – know the history of their peers and their courageous efforts.” —Brent Marchant
“[C]ompelling … meticulously researched … one of the most in-depth film contextualizations of gay liberation out there.” —Stir
“As paradigm shifts go, the speed of the APA’s turnabout is astonishing. In 80 minutes, Sammon and Singer show how it was done, and their use of the tools of film expands our understanding of the methods well-described in both academic and popular histories of the early gay rights movement. Cured belongs with those essential LGBT documentaries [Before Stonewall and Word Is Out], and it will also likely prove to be an excellent tool for teaching the history and philosophies of science.” —Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry
“This powerhouse documentary from directorial duo Patrick Sammon and Bennett Singer couldn’t be timelier… Shedding much-needed blinding light on a largely unknown part of queer history, Cured is a rich and rousing documentary that serves as a crucial reminder that we can’t get too comfortable in the fight for equality in the wake of current battles.” —Movie Marker
In the News
“Energizing [and] absorbing… Sammon and Singer have captured something mighty.” —The Moveable Fest
“Eye-opening… A strong, timely testament to the power of persistence and righteous anger to effect change.” —Rage Monthly
“A lively presentation from beginning to end. Co-directors Singer and Sammon have done cinematic justice to a long-unheralded but all-important grassroots political victory in LGBT history. Highly recommended.” —Video Librarian
“[B]eautifully chronicled… [an] important lesson.” —Washington Blade
“Cured is a must-see for anyone who is curious about how activists fought and won against a powerful institution and not only changed LGBTQ people’s perception of themselves, but changed society as a whole. Cured reminds us all that justice is possible and that the fight must continue for all to be truly free.” —TheBody: The HIV/AIDS Resource
“A story of queer tenacity, resilience and solidarity — one as uplifting as it is infuriating, and one that proudly introduces its viewers to a menagerie of heroes we’ve failed to honour in modern civil rights discourse…. The charismatic queer activists that the film introduces us to bring levity to the upsetting context, and their charm alone makes Cured a crucial text for anyone interested in the history of the western queer rights movement. You’ll walk away from this feeling impacted, inspired and informed — what more could you possibly want from a documentary? —James Green Review







