Come See Me in the Good Light


Come See Me in the Good Light is a 2025 American documentary film directed by Ryan White. Retracing the life of American poet and activist Andrea Gibson, the film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 25, 2025, where it received positive reviews from critics and won the Festival Favorite Award.
The documentary was critically acclaimed, being included on the National Board of Review Top 5 Documentaries of 2025, receiving several awards and nominations including the Academy Awards, Satellite Awards and Film Independent Spirit Awards. American singer-songwriters Sara Bareilles and Brandi Carlile wrote and performed the original song "Salt Then Sour Then Sweet".

Plot

American poet and activist Andrea Gibson shares their life story, starting from their childhood, describing their early struggles with identity and trauma from family and their awareness of their sexual identity. Gibson also explained how poetry intertwines personal pain and how it helps spread their messages about the LGBTQ community and human and political inequalities. Gibson also addresses the theme of love with their wife Megan Falley, with whom they recount the drama of their battle with terminal ovarian cancer diagnosed in 2021.

Production

The documentary was conceived by American comedian Tig Notaro and producer Stef Willen, both longtime friends of Gibson and Falley, who contacted Jessica Hargrave and Ryan White. It was filmed in the couple's house in Longmont, Colorado, between January 2024 to December 2024, accompanying Gibson through the process of treatment and care for the ovarian cancer diagnosed in July 2021. Singer-songwriters Sara Bareilles and Brandi Carlile serve as among the executive producers; they co-wrote a song for the documentary, "Salt Then Sour Then Sweet", with Gibson.

Release

It had its world premiere at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. In April 2025, Apple TV+ acquired distribution rights to the film, scheduled for fall release. Although Gibson lived to attend the Sundance premiere, they died from their cancer on July 14, 2025, before the film aired more widely.
The film was released on November 14, 2025, on Apple TV+.

Reception

Barry Levitt of Time described the film as "a gateway into their remarkable artistry" because "it is accessible, yet profound, and it's easy to understand how those who might not count themselves as poetry fanatics would fall in love with their poems", and that " the documentary arrives at a time of great political unrest, with the queer community under threat in America". In a four out of five review, Adrian Horton of The Guardian praising the "way in which the director "constructs a delicate portrait of the poet, collaging readings of their most poignant poems".