FILM REVIEWS

“Head Games,” Steve James’ new revelatory and poignant documentary concerns the growing concussion crisis in American sports.

Chronicling an unknown (and in many ways secret) problem, the non-fictional work centers on athletes from the professional to the youth levels as they share their personal struggles in dealing with the devastating and long-term effects of concussions, an epidemic fueled by the ‘leave everything on the field’ culture so prominent in American sport.

Inspired by events from the book ‘Head Games’ written by former Ivy League Football Player and WWE Wrestler Christopher Nowinski, the film contrasts medical evidence and cutting-edge science on head trauma from the nation’s leading medical experts with first-hand accounts from professional and amateur athletes, coaches, and parents who must tread the difficult balance between sports excellence and basic self-preservation.

“Head Games” aims at exposing viewers to one of the leading public health issues of our time, raising the significant question of: “How much of you are you willing to lose for a game?”