What really happened to Robin Williams near the close of his life? Robin's Wish, a 2020 documentary directed by Tylor Norwood, sets out to answer that question, and its answer centres on an illness: Lewy body dementia, a deadly neurodegenerative disorder. The film runs 77 minutes.
What is Robin's Wish about?
Tylor Norwood's documentary concentrates on the last period of Williams's life and not on the full span of his career. It describes his fight against Lewy body dementia and treats the disease as the key to understanding his final days. Alongside the medical story it offers an intimate look at his fragile state of mind during that time, and at the man remembered as one of the great comedians in the history of cinema. The film presents itself as the final word on a story that left many questions open, giving an account of the disorder he was up against.
About the cast
Susan Schneider Williams, Shawn Levy, John R. Montgomery, David E. Kelley and Rick Overton are named in the credits, alongside Robin Williams himself. Because this is a documentary, they are participants and not actors playing parts, and the film leans on their presence to build its portrait. Tylor Norwood is the director.
Context & significance
Biographical documentaries about entertainers usually trace a rise to fame. Robin's Wish has a narrower purpose. Listed under both biography and documentary, it uses the story of a famous comedian to explain a brain disease that many viewers may not have heard of before. That gives it a reach beyond admirers of Williams: families living with dementia or another neurodegenerative condition may recognise parts of what it describes. It is an American production with a running time short enough for one evening. The subject involves serious illness and the end of a life, so it is best suited to adults and older teenagers. Expect a quiet, reflective documentary whose attention stays on the illness and the person, with the comedy that made him famous as background to that story.
Watching Robin's Wish on Ktime
Robin's Wish can be watched on K-Time with a Persian dub or with Persian subtitles, whichever you prefer. This page is free to read, while playing the documentary requires logging in to a K-Time account. K-Time is a Persian-focused streaming service for the Iranian diaspora, and the Farsi interface lets you move from this title to other documentaries and biographies without leaving your own language.