This article was originally written by Patrise Holden for Word In Black.
On a hospital bed, surrounded by white walls, beneath fluorescent lights, and a hum of medical machinery, filmmaker and comedian Jared “J.” Snow lifted his phone and pressed record. Hooked to an array of life-sustaining tubes and flanked by medical specialists, he did not yet know that this simple act of recording would be the act of bold courage that ultimately saved him.
“Honestly, I was in a low place when I started recording on my phone,” said Snow. “My recordings were meant as a goodbye, something to leave behind in the event that the disease ultimately won.”
Premiering at the Landmark Theatre in Hollywood, California, Feb. 23, “You Look Fine” is a groundbreaking new documentary, offering an intimate, first-person account of living with sickle cell disease. The documentary by Snow, co-produced by Marlon Wayans, is the first of its kind to turn the lens inward on sickle cell disease, giving viewers a vulnerable, never-before-seen look at a lifetime spent behind hospital curtains.
“If my illness was going to be misunderstood by the world, I decided to start documenting the truth,” Snow said.
In January 2025, before Hollywood took notice, Snow had built a following on YouTube and social media, crafting bold sketch comedies shaped by the era of Dave Chappelle.
“I’ve always needed to create,” Snow recounted. “I was the kid holding court at recess.”
But, at this critical juncture in 2025, medically, he was facing significant complications, financially, he was struggling, and emotionally, he was sinking.
Snow’s own revolution began with an email. Once he edited all his footage, he sent early drafts of the film everywhere, to friends, to major creators, to anyone who might listen.
One day, his phone rang. Wayans, calling from vacation in Italy, said: “This film is incredible. What do you need?”
The celebrated comedian then brought in producer Rick Alvarez, expanding the project’s reach.
Intimate life moments, recording his intense struggles, allowed Snow to tap into his creative skills as he pushed through painful treatment towards healing.
“Filming restored my will to live,” he said.
Peeling back the hospital curtain
Disproportionately affecting people of color, sickle cell disease is a hereditary blood disorder that contorts red blood cells from soft, round carriers of oxygen into rigid, sickled shapes. The result is excruciating pain, organ damage, chronic fatigue, severe mental strain, and shortened life expectancy.
Nivia Charles, diagnosed with the most aggressive form of sickle cell disease at birth, calls the disease “relentless” and “wholly unpredictable.”
“And too often, it is to a large degree completely misunderstood,” added Charles, a fourth-year student at Howard University.
Understanding the challenges of sickle cell warriors firsthand, Charles explained that the intentionality and realness revealed in “You Look Fine” will help foster further understanding about the disease.
“It is excruciating to go through having sickle cell disease. This disease can bring you to your knees in pain, in sorrow, in grief, in abject sadness,” she related.
“It feels like something is taking away your agency. The one thing that you should have dominion over, your body, you don’t.”
In “You Look Fine,” Snow, with incredible vulnerability, seeks to boldly chronicle what occurs in the life of a person who, to most, looks fine.
“I kept my camera filming as long needles pierced my skin, the many times I was hooked to tubes and willed myself to get out of bed and walk, and as I watched gallons of my own blood withdrawn from my veins and replaced with a stranger’s,” Snow quietly reflected.
Then, almost defiantly, the footage in his documentary cuts to Snow in Egypt, Paris, and joyfully leaping from a plane with his arms flung open to the sky.
“Seeing those parts, you think, ‘Wow, that person has a great life,’” he said. “And that’s exactly what I want you to feel. Despite what some might call insurmountable challenges, I’m embracing life in a way many never get to do.”
The documentary’s power lies in that juxtaposition: life-sustaining restrictive tubing and skydiving; overwhelming sadness and Snow taking center stage as a comedian, fostering smiles and laughter on national stages like BET and The Laugh Factory.
From the first time Charles met Snow, she witnessed his uncanny gift of bringing joy to others.
“We were seated side by side as speakers on a panel. He was cracking jokes under his breath the whole time,” she said while laughing. “From that moment on, we’ve been like family.”
With the premiere of “You Look Fine,” Charles looks forward to the world getting an up close look at Snow’s journey, from being hooked to hospital intravenous lines to delivering punchlines on national stages.
She vividly remembers how she felt during a prescreening of the film.
“A huge sense of pride came over me,” she recalled. “To bravely show some of the gruesome parts of what I, and the rest of my community experience, then turn around and show artistry, talent, beauty, and laughter only frames later, it was revolutionary for me.”
‘Storytelling is an act of revolution’
At the Howard University Center for Sickle Cell Disease, genetic counselor Barbara Harrison has spent her career serving at the intersection of science and humanity, and has seen treatment, education, and engagement around the illness shift over the years.
“The old school of thought was to address sickle cell clinically,” Harrison explained. “But we cannot ignore the impact of environmental factors on health and well-being.”
Harrison sees what the public often does not: the isolation, identity struggles, and the mental toll of a lifetime spent fighting a completely unpredictable disease.
“Just because people look fine on the outside,” Harrison cautioned, “that does not mean they are not fighting a private war.”
Snow’s title is not accidental. “You Look Fine” is the phrase so many with chronic illnesses hear, complementary and completely dismissive at the same time.
For Charles, the power of Snow’s message is both courageous and deeply human.
“Storytelling is an act of revolution,” she stated.“Bearing witness to our stories is an integral part of the act of being human. The moment that we lose that, we lose our humanity.”
Charles also emphasized that storytelling is one of the biggest agents of change for people of color.
“During times of slavery and the Civil Rights Movement, one of the biggest forms of revolution was the arts,” she said. “Art, revolution, and change, historically, for us, they go hand in hand.”
Though the premieres are set for Hollywood during the Slamdance Film Festival, Snow’s vision stretches far beyond the February screenings in California. He hopes a global streaming platform will carry the documentary, placing it in the hands of those battling chronic illness, caregivers, and medical professionals worldwide.
“The dream,” he said, “is to sustain myself with storytelling. To wake up and get paid to figure out how to bring my next idea to life.”
For those living with sickle cell disease, Snow hopes the film strengthens their belief in themselves and the power to pursue their own unique purpose.
“You are part of a fraternity by DNA,” he said. “You ultimately have the power to choose how sickle cell is positioned in your life.”
Patrise Holden has genotype SS, the most aggressive form of sickle cell disease. She lectures and advocates nationally for inclusion of mental health support and holistic and alternative medicine as treatment for those with chronic illnesses. This article first appeared at The Washington Informer.