Title: Lunatic: The Luna Vachon Story
MPA Rating: Not Rated
Director: Kate Kroll
Starring: Luna Vachon, Debra “Medusa” Miceli, David “Gangrel” Heath
Runtime: 1 hr 54 mins

What It Is: This documentary tells the story of Canadian professional wrestler and women’s wrestling icon Luna Vachon, daughter of a legendary Canadian wrestling family and one of the WWF’s best female villains of the 1990s. The film explores her struggles with bipolar disorder, the events that led to her children being separated from her, and how she coped with that loss. We also dive into her storied, yet often underappreciated career as a unique voice in women’s wrestling during a time when the division was simultaneously growing and fading from prominence.

What We Think: Kate Kroll clearly holds deep love and respect for Luna Vachon as a person, and that shows through every moment of the film. Raven Banner really knows how to support wrestling documentaries, and similar to Nail in the Coffin a few years back, the intimacy we are granted here is rewarded with rich, emotional storytelling. Luna’s story is tragic, but the woman born Gertrude “Trudy” Vachon in Montreal changed the landscape of her profession forever. Looking at the modern women’s wrestling scene, her fingerprints are all over it.

Our Grade: B+, If you grew up a wrestling fan like I did, this doc will absolutely try to make you cry, and for many it will succeed. It came close for me. The Fantastic Fest screening I attended was not very full, which is a shame because this documentary hit me on a personal level. Luna Vachon deserves to be in the WWE Hall of Fame now. There is no reason she should not already be there. When this becomes available to watch, whether you’re a wrestling fan or not, I think you’ll find something worthwhile and deeply affecting in it. Getting to know Trudy felt like a gift that most people never had the chance to receive.