Sundance Film Festival 2026: ‘Take Me Home’ Review
Take Me Home from Sundance Film Festival 2026 offers another perspective on the disability experience, this time from the vantage point of caring for someone with needs. However, the film ponders the caretaking role with an added layer. More specifically, when a guardian for a person with a disability begins to require care themselves. What happens to the family we have who are vulnerable after we die? It’s a tough question that most rarely confront because considering the idea of our own death is challenging. Filmmaker Liz Sargent unwraps the discomfort by focusing on a girl with challenges being raised by adopted parents who are facing health issues.
The new film is based on Liz Sargent’s 2022 short film of the same name, which won awards at Tribeca and secured funding for a full-length version. The film centers on two aging parents, Joan (Marceline Hugot) and Bob (Victor Slezak), who are raising an adopted Korean girl with a cognitive disability.
Their daughter Anna (Anna Sargeant) has functional mobility but lacks the understanding of what she needs to do to take care of herself. For example, Anna still needs help bathing from Joan and assistance preparing her own food. Anna also has a sister, Emily, who lives elsewhere, holds a job, and lives her own life far from Anna and her adopted parents.
The film then pivots to a troubling scenario when Anna’s adoptive mother, Joan, passes away, forcing Emily to return home and help position Anna and her father in a stable new existence without the strong support of their mother.
Liz Sargent explores the instability of systems for adults with disabilities
The movie pushes further into the systemic flaws of caregiving and how it is set up for most people to fail. For example, Anna’s sister Emily wants to figure out how to get Anna caregiving help so they can take some of the stress off their father. But the Medicaid system offers no quick resolution in Florida, forcing Emily to either risk losing credibility at her current job or leave her older father with Anna to sort it out himself. And it shows how bureaucratic choices deny proper funding to the most vulnerable individuals living in the United States.
The performances are given with sincere authenticity. Ali Ahn (Agatha All Along) especially demonstrates a soft vulnerability as a sister trying to make the best decision. Her character Emily is inspired by filmmaker Liz Sargent, the real-life sister of actress Anna Sargent.
The true standout is Anna, as herself, who plays each scene with incredible emotional nuance for someone with little acting experience. Anna is an actress who faces her own challenges in real life. Since birth, she has had a cyst on her brain, which impacts cognitive functions in the form of memory and physical issues. She is also a Special Olympics athlete, which shows how diversely talented she is despite all the difficulties in life.
Anna and Liz Sargent’s connection
Because of Liz Sargent’s close connection to Anna, the ending suggests that the personal relationship might have led to a safer story direction. Take Me Home heavily comments on the fragility of the caregiving system, especially when a dependent person with a disability has no family.
But right as the movie attempts to show how upsetting these infrastructures are for those left helpless, it skips over the messiest aspects and pushes the narrative toward an idealized scenario. The situation that unfolds in Take Me Home is heartbreaking, but it might also be the best-case scenario for someone in her position. It might have landed harder if one of the worst possible outcomes had been explored or touched upon.
Despite the impression of a safe, creative choice, it’s understandable why Liz Sargent made the decision. She wants the best possible future for her sister, and the movie aims to offer that to Anna.
Overall, Take Me Home is a heartwarming slice-of-life film that offers important insight into the anxieties of long-term care for people with disabilities and aging adults. It wears a giant heart on its sleeve for the systems that abandon aging adults with various forms of disabilities.
While the ending could be stronger, the core of the story remains essential, offering beautiful insight into the challenges of providing care for the most vulnerable population.
Also check out Sundance Film Festival 2026: Most Anticipated Films to Watch
