‘Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore’ Review: The Trailblazing Actress and Activist Gets to Tell Her Own Story

Sundance: Shoshannah Stern's documentary may sound traditional enough, but there's a profound power to its choices (and its subject).

The questions shouldn’t surprise, not after all these years, but they do. Well, not the questions so much — people are naturally curious, especially about what they don’t know or have never seen — but the ways in which they were asked, the ways in which they were lobbed at a young Marlee Matlin, hot on the heels of her first major film role in “Children of a Lesser God” and the buzz (and Oscar win!) that followed. It was a consistent query in 1986, when the deaf star burst on to the scene: what else could a deaf actress possibly be good for, other than deaf roles?

Matlin hasn’t forgotten those questions or interviews or articles, and filmmaker Shoshannah Stern doesn’t skimp when it comes sharing them in her documentary about the actress and activist, “Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore.” It works as both recent history — too recent — and a thesis. Well, what else was Matlin good for? Plenty, including now (finally!) as a forthright and compelling documentary subject.

Despite the unkind assumptions so often ascribed to her and her work, Matlin isn’t eager to throw stones, and despite some tough revelations in Stern’s documentary, the tone remains mostly celebratory and light. Even when reflecting on the ways in which some people turned on her during her rise to fame (and her Oscar win, which made her the first deaf performer to win Best Actress), Matlin doesn’t get mean. Instead, she turns any fear and anxiety back on herself and her reactions. There’s a reason why the deaf star has endured all these years — take that, every single journalist and Oscar pundit who sniffed at her as a “sympathy pick” or point-blank asked what sort of future there was for a disabled actress — but it’s clearly taken hard work, broken hearts, and tough lessons.

Stern’s documentary opens at the 2022 Oscars, as a dazzling Matlin readies for the annual event. Those familiar with Matlin’s career will likely understand immediately how that opening — at Hollywood’s biggest night, where Sian Heder’s film “CODA,” starring Matlin and a host of other deaf performers, will ultimately triumph — is in conversation with Stern’s film’s title. But Stern, despite some initially traditional documentary trappings, is weaving something a bit more canny here. We will return to the 2022 Oscars later, with significantly more context. We will also do the same for the 1987 Oscars, and much more.

Before all that, however, Stern (herself a deaf actress in addition to her filmmaking) and Matlin clearly have accessibility top of mind for the film. We’re greeted with not only on-screen captions (later, pairing perfectly with stories about Matlin’s fight to make closed captions the standard for TV), but copious scenes of both deaf and hearing talking heads (signing heads?) using American Sign Language to tell stories. For Stern, it’s an easy choice — her subjects should feel comfortable using the language of their choice, and she’s happy to make it accessible for all — and one even more stirring when we see it in action, such as with multiple scenes in which Stern and Matlin sit facing each other, signing away with gusto and emotion.

In addition to Matlin and herself, Stern has assembled a strong array of participants to contextualize Matlin. Henry Winkler and Aaron Sorkin are there, plus her brothers, her eldest daughter, other deaf performers (including “CODA” co-star Troy Kotsur, of course), and even her childhood best friend. Her long-time translator Jack Jason proves to be a vital voice, just as good at communicating Matlin’s thoughts as his own.

But Matlin is the most moving and exciting star on offer, and while she’s always been outspoken about her life and career — see: closed caption crusade, her involvement with the Deaf President Now! movement, her accusations against former partner and “Children” co-star William Hurt, and her own autobiography — there’s something quite moving about watching Matlin tell her own story, on her own terms.

While that means there are certain things she’s not interested in sharing (discussions about how her hearing family handled her, both then and now, could easily inspire another film), that’s part and parcel of letting someone tell their own story. For “Not Alone Anymore,” the message isn’t just the medium: it’s the access to that medium, the fact that these messages are able to be shared, for some to see, some to hear, and all to benefit from.

Grade: B+

“Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore” premiered at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. It is currently seeking U.S. distribution.

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