Not Going Quietly

After being diagnosed with ALS, Ady Barkan embarks on a national campaign for healthcare reform. Barkan, Rachael King, Elizabeth Jaff, Ana Maria Archila, Nate Smith and Tracey Corder appear in the film.

The film was directed by Nicholas Bruckman, who co-wrote the film with producer Amanda Roddy. Kent Bassett served as editor. Executive producers included Mark Duplass, Jay Duplass, and Bradley Whitford. Produced by People's Television and Duplass Brothers Productions, it received fiscal sponsorship from Film Independent. Filming centered on Ady Barkan's 2018 midterm activism, capturing his advocacy and ALS challenges, including declining speech.^[5]

It had its world premiere at South by Southwest on March 17, 2021.^[6] It was scheduled to have its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival on April 15, 2020.^[7][8] However, it was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[9] It was theatrically released in the United States by Greenwich Entertainment on August 13, 2021.^[10] Internationally, the film was distributed by Vice Media. In June 2021, PBS acquired broadcast rights, airing the film as part of the POV series on January 24, 2022.^[11] It became available for streaming on platforms including Hulu.^[12]

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 100% of 24 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 8.1/10. The website's consensus reads: "Not Going Quietly uses its subject's remarkable story to offer an uplifting tribute to the way an individual voice can lead to activism and collective change."^[13] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 73 out of 100, based on nine critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.^[14]

Nick Allen of RogerEbert.com called the film "A pure shot of inspiration."^[15] John DeFore of The Hollywood Reporter called it "A stirring tale of activism."^[5] Tomris Laffly of Variety wrote: "An emotionally stirring, politically rousing doc."^[16]