The Sickling (2026)

Gabriel Badejo has spent a lifetime enduring the relentless pain of sickle cell disease. Now he takes his biggest gamble yet: an experimental stem cell transplant that could finally offer a cure. The Sickling captures his raw emotional and physical passage as he faces structural bias in the medical system, haunting memories of care that failed him, and the worldwide reality of a condition that is often unseen. Traveling from Toronto to Nigeria, the film examines where illness meets identity, family, and survival while exposing the long-standing disparities that still shape sickle cell treatment across the globe. At its core, The Sickling is an intimate account of healing, endurance, and one man’s determination to claim a future he was once told might never be possible.