Frederick Banting

When the COVID-19 vaccine became available within a year, some medical experts called it a modern miracle. Although it deals with diabetes, the documentary The Human Trial brings home why such a feat is rare indeed. The film follows five years involving the biotech company ViaCyte of San Diego, California, and two diabetes patients in Minnesota who volunteered for a clinical trial of the potential treatment it developed. Making her feature directing debut, Lisa Hepner illustrates the severity of this disease with hand-drawn diagrams on white paper and a sobering voiceover from someone who knows this subject well from personal experience.