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The Ride Ahead

Play trailer Poster for The Ride Ahead 2024 1h 37m Documentary Play Trailer Watchlist
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Tomatometer 6 Reviews Popcornmeter 0 Ratings
Samuel Habib's goals are pretty typical for a 21-year-old. Moving out of his family's New Hampshire home. College. Establishing his career. Dating. Sex. Yet every rite of passage is fraught with challenges. Unexpected seizures and uncontrollable movements caused by his rare genetic disorder. Friends' homes that are inaccessible to his wheelchair. His labored speech and use of a communication device are barriers to a social life. He craves more independence and a family of his own one day. "But no one tells you how to be an adult," he says, "let alone an adult with a disability." Samuel is determined to avoid the statistical realities: unemployment, isolation, institutionalization. A turning point comes when he starts talking to disabled adults, who have been through all he is going through now. And when he begins to channel their insights, a roadmap for himself, and for other young adults like him, begins to take shape.

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The Ride Ahead

Critics Reviews

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Tim Grierson Screen International 04/30/2024
The Ride Ahead gets its urgent, breezy tone from Samuel who, speaking through his electronic voice, offers us a running commentary on his evolving mindset — from being excited to go off to college to worrying that he will not fit in. Go to Full Review Christopher Campbell Nonfics (Substack) 07/19/2025
Samuel is another very likable documentary character, one I could watch and listen to through more of his life’s journey...yet this is unfortunately another documentary with very unnecessary animations that harm the flow and groundedness of its narrative. Go to Full Review Paul Emmanuel Enicola The Movie Buff 12/04/2024
B+
The documentary insists on celebrating possibility rather than focusing on limitation. Samuel doesn’t ask for sympathy; instead, he demands respect, autonomy, and access. Go to Full Review Jim Schembri jimschembri.com 08/22/2024
4/5
A stirring, touching doco that is illuminating and occasionally infuriating. Go to Full Review Katelyn Nelson Daily Grindhouse 07/15/2024
...The range of responses paint a rich picture of the ways success, happiness, and life can and does look for each of them at different moments in time. Their responses are candid and frank, explaining harsh realities others may never even consider... Go to Full Review Larry Fried POV Magazine 06/26/2024
Dan and Samuel Habib will get more opportunities to carve out a formal sensibility for what disability cinema looks like from Samuel’s perspective, to the point that maybe Samuel will direct a film on his own. Go to Full Review Read all reviews
The Ride Ahead

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Cast & Crew

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Dan Habib

Director

Samuel Habib

Director

Samuel Habib

Self

Judith Heumann

Self

Dan Habib

Producer

Erica Lupinacci

Producer

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The Ride Ahead

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Movie Info

Synopsis Samuel Habib's goals are pretty typical for a 21-year-old. Moving out of his family's New Hampshire home. College. Establishing his career. Dating. Sex. Yet every rite of passage is fraught with challenges. Unexpected seizures and uncontrollable movements caused by his rare genetic disorder. Friends' homes that are inaccessible to his wheelchair. His labored speech and use of a communication device are barriers to a social life. He craves more independence and a family of his own one day. "But no one tells you how to be an adult," he says, "let alone an adult with a disability." Samuel is determined to avoid the statistical realities: unemployment, isolation, institutionalization. A turning point comes when he starts talking to disabled adults, who have been through all he is going through now. And when he begins to channel their insights, a roadmap for himself, and for other young adults like him, begins to take shape.
Director
Dan Habib, Samuel Habib
Producer
Dan Habib, Erica Lupinacci
Production Co
Like Right Now Films
Genre
Documentary
Original Language
English
Runtime
1h 37m
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