“Will I spend my entire time on Earth being worried?”

Anxiety and fear go hand in hand in Christine Chevarie-Lessard’s NFB documentary O Fear, O Night, which explores the roots of her own anxieties while offering a compelling, humorous, and warm-hearted look at what it means to live with anxiety and fear.

The French-language doc, which recently premiered at the Rendezvous with Madness Film Festival, centres on the filmmaker. Bound by childhood fears of the ozone layer to more recent health anxieties, Chevarie-Lessard connects with members of Anxiety Anonymous and, together, the group shares their very specific, but somehow still universal, anxieties.

O Fear, O Night does a fantastic job of visually and physically communicating what it is like to live with anxiety. For the blessed few who are unburdened by fear, this doc makes anxious experiences tangible onscreen.

In more lighthearted moments, fears take physical form as a larger-than-life pink furry beast and a pointy-nosed puppet named Berta, who has been a constant source of anxiety for one member. Tapping into expert perspectives on anxiety and fear in the modern day, the film acknowledges anxiety as a legitimate response to everything from small-scale, personal fears rooted in societal expectations like shyness or how long it takes someone to reply to an email, to larger stressors like climate change and politics. This research-based approach gives the film depth beyond purely anecdotal experiences.

Much of the film plays out at night, when our anxieties truly take hold. Awash in warm lighting, the night scenes feel comforting, not lonely or intimidating. Chevarie-Lessard’s voiceover conveys her internal thoughts — at times quite poetically — expressing a desire to be soft and unburdened like a jellyfish, whose relaxed existence revolves around floating rather than thinking.

This is not a documentary about people paralyzed by fear. The members of Anxiety Anonymous are ordinary, functional people who can both laugh at and acknowledge their anxieties. By poking fun at themselves and sharing their individual experiences, the group normalizes these feelings while creating opportunities for camaraderie and growth.

At 70 minutes, O Fear, O Night gives its subject matter enough time to be explored without overstaying its welcome. Screening as part of the Windsor International Film Festival on Halloween night and again on November 8, the film offers a thoughtful opportunity to reflect on our own anxieties and perhaps find some comfort in knowing we’re not alone.