Heal is a 2017 documentary film written and directed by Kelly Noonan Gores that examines the connection between the mind, emotional state, and the body's capacity for physical healing.
Heal follows several individuals diagnosed with serious illness as they pursue recovery through mind-body approaches, interleaving their case studies with commentary from doctors, scientists, and spiritual teachers. Featured voices include Deepak Chopra, Bruce Lipton, Joe Dispenza, Marianne Williamson, Gregg Braden, Anita Moorjani, and Anthony William, among others associated with integrative and mind-body medicine.
The film foregrounds belief, intention, emotion, and consciousness as variables in the healing response, positioning itself as a counter-narrative to the conventional Western medical model. It opens with Gores framing rising rates of chronic disease against environmental and dietary toxicity, then builds its argument through alternating personal stories and expert testimony.
Heal premiered on June 1, 2017 at the Illuminate Film Festival in Sedona, Arizona, and was later acquired by 📝Netflix, where it became one of the platform's most-watched titles in the wellness category. Critical response was mixed: some reviewers credited it with valid points about stress and health, while others characterized it as an infomercial that presents contested or pseudoscientific claims with the framing of established science.
Heal was first recommended to me by Sarah Lane at 📝Symposium.