‘Joybubbles’ Review – A Journey To Our Inner Child [Sundance 2026]

One of the great things about documentaries is the opportunity to tell stories that have never been told before. In many cases, this takes a great deal of time and patience. But more importantly, it takes a curious mind. For instance, JoyBubbles focuses on, among other things, the history of hacking. One might assume they have an image of how this particular practice began, but the truth is so much more interesting and, honestly, shockingly innocent. This curiosity allows us to discover not only the tale focused on here, but just a little bit of our own humanity (and inner child) along the way. Director Rachael J. Morrison takes us on this journey of not only discovery, but genuine empathy and kindness.

JoyBubbles follows Joe Engressia, who was a young blind boy in the 1950s. As one might expect, there were not very many ways for Joe to engage with the world. Disability, even now, can lead to some deep levels of isolation if there is no access to appropriate services. This was, of course, even more true 70 years ago. The documentary takes great pains to put us in the mindset of a person with few outlets. For Joe, one of his few outlets was, of all things, the telephone. Smartly, many of those interviewed point out that, for a blind person, speaking on the telephone “evens the playing field” as no one can see the other person during a phone call, at least prior to FaceTime and similar technologies. Morrison also uses beautiful, mostly black-and-white photography, paired with simple animation to place us in the right time and place.

Young Joe also had a special gift, perfect pitch, which enabled him to whistle into the receiver. Using this odd skill, he was able to quickly learn what tones were necessary to call different areas of the country and the world without paying long-distance fees. He was, without having a name for it, hacking the telephone system. Hearing him discuss this via recordings shows a childlike fascination with the process, which gives us a clue as to where the story will take us. As the film travels through his life and sadly, to the end of it, there is a deep wealth of both joy and loneliness that draws us closer to him. 

This documentary is well-formed, in the sense that, despite being about many things (disability, hacking, Phone Phreaks, discovering your inner child), it never feels out of its depth. The conical structure, funneling the narrative from ultra-broad to hyper-specific, helps us learn and grow along with Joe. Beginning with his childhood, the focus then moves to the phone connection, his school and work experience, and finally to his mostly solitary adult life. As the film leaves behind the hacking (after some legal issues), we finally see Joe for the person he has become. That person has a name, the titular JoyBubbles. He changed his name in 1991, but it was rooted in an experience when he was much younger. There are many things in his life tied to childhood, and because of this, he becomes more lovable the longer the film goes on.  But that name, and the feeling it evoked, marked the perfect name for this genuine, kind, loving man. 

Painfully, through his own words, the film shows how many of us misjudge those with disabilities and those with open hearts. In moments, he makes it clear how much this upsets him, and the infantilization that he has been forced into for most of his life. This leads him to create an early version of a podcast, through voice recordings and, you guessed it, a telephone line. This invention, which brought him so much joy, enabled him to transfer that joy to others. Hearing the accounts of people who, despite never meeting him, were able to feel that exact emotion because of him.

Joybubbles manages to be about many subjects, but they are all housed in one, that being the man that it is based on. If all of us had a little of his openness and childlike exuberance, the world would be a much better place, indeed.

Joybubbles had its World Premiere in the U.S. Documentary Competition section of the 2026 Sundance Film Festival. 

Director: Rachael J. Morrison

Rated: NR

Runtime: 79m