
[Note: Organizers asked me to write a review of the movie
Sight ahead of the public screenings on August 5 and 6, and I happily obliged. I will attempt a fuller write-up ahead of its wider theatrical release in October.]
"The present is made possible by the past" is a common refrain among characters in
Sight, a new movie based on the life (and the 2016 autobiography) of pioneering laser eye surgeon Dr. Ming Wang. It's the ghosts of this past, particularly past traumas from the Cultural Revolution, that push Wang's efforts to help the blind see in
Sight, both literally and figuratively.
Sight is based on the true story of eye surgeon Dr. Ming Wang, and his autobiography
From Darkness to Sight: A Journey from Hardship to Healing. Starring Terry Chen (Almost Famous, Falling) as Dr. Wang and Greg Kinnear as godfather and mentor Misha Bartnovsky, it traces his life from poverty in Hangzhou through superlative success on the college entrance exam to late-night study sessions at MIT to his reputation as a "miracle worker." It was filmed in 2021 and spent nearly two years in distribution limbo before this summer’s barnstorming promotional tour.
Sight will have
three free advance screenings in Pittsburgh on August 5 and 6 before returning to theatres nationwide from October 27.