OVERVIEW
Being Heumann tells an extraordinary story in an extremely conventional way. Directed by Siân Heder, the film follows disability rights activist Judy Heumann (Ruth Madeley) during the 1977 occupation of San Francisco’s Federal Building, where hundreds of protesters demanded that the government finally enforce Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. After years of being ignored by the institutions supposedly responsible for protecting their rights, Judy and the other activists decide to make themselves impossible to ignore by occupying San Francisco’s federal Health, Education, and Welfare offices. Their accomplishment is undeniable and inspiring. The film around them, however, is so committed to being an accessible crowd-pleaser that the people themselves occasionally get lost inside the formula.
BACKGROUND
After CODA became the first film with a predominantly deaf cast to win Best Picture, Siân Heder was already deep into another story about disability, having discovered Judy Heumann through the 2020 documentary Crip Camp. That led her to Heumann’s memoir and eventually to Heumann herself, with the two spending roughly two years developing the film together before her death in 2023 nearly convinced Heder to abandon the project. Crip Camp co-director James LeBrecht encouraged her to continue. She then cast 12 disabled leads and roughly 60 disabled background performers, with every actor playing a protester being disabled. The industry was apparently so unprepared for a cast of that size that the production found only one accessible production trailer in North America, forcing them to build their own trailers and rethink accessibility across the set.
THE REVIEW
The cast is easily Being Heumann’s greatest asset, with almost everyone finding little bits of personality and emotion that make these characters considerably more interesting than they are on the page. Ruth Madeley will be the one singled out, giving Judy not only the confidence and stubbornness expected of a movement leader, but also the frustration and exhaustion. No other disabled character is given quite as much room to shine, but simply bringing so many disabled performers together is by itself quite touching. Watching them joke, complain, argue, organize themselves, or simply exist together is frequently more convincing than the dramatic scenes Heder builds around them.
Far less interesting and complex is Joseph Califano, played by Mark Ruffalo, essentially a bureaucrat standing between the protesters and what they need, yet he keeps trying to find uncertainty and discomfort beneath a paper-thin character. The film tries to make him more complex, but he still comes across as a mustache-twirling antagonist, in the way he keeps saying no to the demands.
That is where Heder’s approach becomes limiting. Despite bringing all these remarkable people together, she still tells their story through the familiar rhythms of an inspirational crowd-pleaser, with the artificiality of a musical (there were multiple moments when I was expecting a song to start). Sacrifice is constantly discussed, but rarely observed with enough patience to make it feel lived in. We hear about what staying in that building costs them, see them act exhausted, and understand intellectually why the protest is difficult, yet the film is usually more interested in moving toward the next dramatic beat than watching what weeks of discomfort, uncertainty, and dependence on one another actually does to these people. For a story built around people putting their bodies on the line because every easier option had failed, everything feels far too easy to process, and too intentional in sending everyone home with that warm feeling.
FINAL THOUGHTS
None of this makes Being Heumann difficult to like. Quite the opposite. The story itself carries enormous emotional power, the performances are good, the intentions behind the production are admirable, and Heder knows exactly how to construct a final stretch that sends an audience home feeling inspired. It will work extremely well for plenty of viewers. I just kept wishing a film about people who did something so brave, uncomfortable, and disruptive had been willing to become a little more uncomfortable itself. Instead, it moves through most of the beats we expect from this kind of prestige inspirational drama, giving us clearly defined setbacks and victories while rarely stopping long enough to discover the messier people in between them. Judy Heumann and the protesters fought for the right to be treated as complete human beings. Being Heumann celebrates that achievement sincerely, but too often reduces the people behind it to the emotional function the film needs them to serve.
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- Where to watch
- Coming soonNov 12, 2026
- Where to watch
- Coming soonNov 12, 2026
Play trailer
- Original title
- Being Heumann
- Director
- Sian Heder
- Genre
- Drama
- Cast
- Ruth Madeley, Mark Ruffalo, Dylan O'Brien, Madeline Delp, Rob Delaney, Ray Fisher, Michael Patrick Thornton, Antwan Tolliver
- Rated
- R
- Screenwriter
- Sian Heder, Rebekah Taussig
- Composer
- Francesco Le Metre
- Cinematography
- Jamie D. Ramsay
- Editor
- Geraud Brisson
- Country
- Language
- English
- Distributor (CA)
- Apple Original Films