Raindance Film Festival 2019 review

Masculinity, mental strength, and isolation are all challenged in director Tom Webb’s heartfelt documentary about six men and their battles with fertility treatment. They all share their stories, discussing how the challenge to conceive has affected them, and ultimately how it has changed them. We follow them through the process, and as multiple procedures and surgeries devastatingly fail, both they and their partners have to make tough decisions, take risks, and be there for each other, as they hope to start a family.

Though a man’s physical contribution to conception may be ‘the easy bit’, the emotional battle of treatment is not easy at all. After undergoing fertility issues himself, Tom found it important to share these stories, to let men going through IVF and similar procedures know that they are not alone. Portraits of conception issues are often viewed through a solely female lens, but THE EASY BIT perfectly sums up how emotionally equal the journey of fertility must be, for any two in a partnership who hope to be parents. A challenge shared by two people, and not tackled alone.

Review by Bailey Graham