After playing pro football for the New Orleans Saints, Steve Gleason retired from the game in 2008; he became a local and national hero when he blocked a punt in a home game, giving the Saints a welcome win just after Hurricane Katrina. Then, three years later, after experiencing a series of muscle twitches in his body, he was diagnosed with ALS at the age of 34. Shortly afterwards, he and his creative and caring wife Michel learned that she was pregnant.

This emotionally rich documentary follows Steve and Michel through the next four years as they fight the disease. Facing the fact that it could kill him in two to five years, Gleason starts a video journal for his unborn child in which he shares who he is and what he believes. It is not an easy project, as the former athlete struggles with the swift and debilitating attacks on his body. When Michel gives birth to their son Rivers, Gleason gets even more focused on the things he wants to say to the boy. He and Michel create ways for father and son to be together. By the time Rivers is a toddler, he clearly adores his dad and enjoys playing with him.

A major theme in this documentary is the former NFL star's edgy relationship with his father Mike, a fundamentalist Christian who takes him to a faith healer and then, behind the scenes, subjects him to a series of unsuccessful attempts to convert him to his religious beliefs. In one of the film's most heart-rending sequences, both father and son confess and forgive each other for their unloving ways.

Meanwhile, Michel rises to the challenge of being her husband's primary caregiver and Rivers' mother. In her few moments of free time, to focus her energy and give herself a mental break, she begins drawing, proving herself to be a gifted artist. As Steve's disease intensifies and his physical condition worsens, more help arrives.

When Steve begins to lose his voice, he makes recordings so that a voice simulator will sound like him. Later he uses a computer that can detect his eye movements to create sentences that are then rendered by the simulator. By year three after his diagnosis, Steve can't move on his own or control his body functions. Feeling guilty, he apologizes to his wife for "wearing you down to the bones."

Through it all, Steve has a passion to help others with ALS. He becomes their voice and then goes further by setting up a foundation called Team Gleason which provides trip opportunities and special technology to ALS patients. With their motto "No White Flags," they inspire others and are able to raise a lot of money.

Director Clay Tweel makes the most of the Steve's video diary for Rivers; through close-ups we see the changes in his body and his ability to speak. The documentary takes us inside the Gleason household where we are given an honest view of what it is like to live with ALS. We also are present at rallies, fundraisers, and board meetings where we see how Steve becomes a force for changing attitudes and laws affecting the benefits available to its victims. Finally, this superb documentary is a tribute to the love between Steve and Michel. We are deeply moved by this sensitive and emotionally rich portrait of a couple trying desperately to cope with suffering, loss, and impending death.