Infectiously Frightening

The documentary "Under Our Skin" makes a powerful argument. To wit: that Lyme disease, contrary to much that has been reported about it, is neither rare nor easily treatable. Given that its often multifarious symptoms (swollen joints and joint pain, fatigue and weakness, headaches, blurred vision, memory loss, mood changes and other cognitive problems, skin rashes and other manifestations) can sound like the results of ordinary wear and tear on the body, this is not a movie for hypochondriacs.

It is also the reason, at least as advanced by filmmaker Andy Abrahams Wilson, that the disease frequently is overlooked by its sufferers or misdiagnosed by the medical profession. Add to that the possibility that the bacteria that causes Lyme can hide in the body, and the fact that some doctors don't even believe that a chronic form of the illness exists, and you've got a compelling reason why the more than 20,000 new cases reported each year could actually be closer to 200,000. Which would make Lyme disease, as the film points out, more prevalent than AIDS.

It's a scary thought. But it's only one of many scary thoughts in a movie that, like a well-made thriller, gets under your skin.

Does Wilson have a bias against Lyme-denying MDs who dismiss sufferers' complaints as all in their heads? Against an insurance industry that he claims denies coverage to save a buck? Against funding agencies that won't pay for research because the disease is more controversial -- and less sexy -- than others? You bet he does.

"Under Our Skin" has a major ax to grind, but if even half of what it alleges is true, it's more deeply terrifying than any slasher film you'll ever see.

-- Michael O'Sullivan

Under Our Skin Unrated, 104 minutes Contains disturbing images of human suffering. At the Avalon.