Blink is a touching documentary following the extraordinary adventure of one family who turn a devastating diagnosis into something that brings them infinitely closer. As with any documentary from National Geographic, the film is full of stunning sights from some of the most obscure and beautiful places around the globe, but the framing of the film makes every moment feel new. Instead of simply marveling at the beauty of the world, Blink invites us to step out of our comfort zone and explore everything the world has to offer.

Édith Lemay and Sébastien Pelletier have four young children, who, like many others, are boisterous, loud, energetic, and full of personality. However, three of the four were also diagnosed with a rare genetic disorder which guarantees they will slowly, but surely, lose their ability to see. To fill the children’s memories with all the beauty the world has to offer, Édith and Sébastien take the kids on a round-the-world trip over six months. What they find is so much more than just mountain tops, deserts, and safaris, as the family grows closer than ever.

Blink Is A Story Of Growth, Love & Overcoming Challenges

While there were several avenues for the powerful documentary, Blink‘s approach is entirely hopeful and joyous. Yes, the family struggles and there are difficult questions and tough moments, but the film does a fantastic job conveying the emotions, with the prevailing theme being one of growth and love. Even taking a step back from the diagnosis, the idea of backpacking around the world with four young kids seems like an impossible task. Still, with persistence, it becomes a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

The film reveals that life is so much bigger than one sense.

At no point is the diagnosis played down, and it continues to linger throughout as the family is frequently drawn into these conversations discussing the kids’ futures, but Blink reveals that life is so much bigger than one sense. This is also beautifully conveyed in a scene at the beginning where the screen is simply black, with the voices of the family laid over. Yes, sight may be an important way to communicate and manage the surrounding world, but the absence of it does not remove anyone from being connected to it in so many other ways.

While the journey may have started as an attempt to fill the children’s visual memories, it evolved into something deeper. Through these shared experiences, and the opportunity to travel and embrace the world around them in some incredibly unique and challenging ways, the family changed. The children’s diagnosis didn’t disappear, but instead of bleak, hopeless darkness, their story feels more like a beginning than an ending, with the family ready to face the next chapter.

Blink’s Message Is A Call To Action

While not everyone will be experiencing such dramatic circumstances as the Pelletier family, the documentary inspires and encourages us to seize the day. Most people may not have the means, or the ability to go on a six-month trip around the globe, but the lessons learned in Blink reveal that meaningful time together, and adventures with family anywhere can provide the same closeness and growth. Rather than sticking to a routine of eating, sleeping, working, and playing, breaking up the routine can be life-changing.

While not everyone will be experiencing such dramatic circumstances as the Pelletier family, the film does appear to inspire and encourage audiences to seize the day.

Blink may not be a typical documentary, and it is not a simple nature documentary, but it does incorporate these elements to create a richer, more impressive story. Rather than go into technicalities about illness, or research to try and change these things, it offers a concrete way to act now instead of sitting and waiting. For the Pelletiers, this meant traveling the world together. That journey may look different for others, but the core emphatic message of Blink is to ultimately do something different to better experience the natural world around us.

Blink is now playing in theaters. The film is 84 minutes long and rated PG for thematic elements, some language and brief smoking.