Good Deed Entertainment’s Caterpillar made its theatrical debut at the Firehouse: DCTV’s Cinema for Documentary Film in New York on Nov. 7.

The documentary, which was directed by Liza Mandelup, follows David Taylor, a Miami native who decides to undergo a risky procedure to change his eye color from brown to green, Deadline reported. 

Caterpillar chronicles Taylor’s journey from contacting BrightOcular, the controversial “artificial iris implant” company that offers the procedure, to the side effects he experiences after going under the knife. 

Here’s more on Taylor’s journey and the dangerous side effects of procedures that change eye color. 

Taylor wanted the surgery because of his experiences with racism as a biracial man 

Though Taylor could afford the surgery, he reached out to BrightOcular in hopes that the company would offer him the surgery in exchange for promotion, People reported. He explained he wanted “light eyes” because of his experiences with racism as a biracial man and his father’s green eyes. 

BrightOcular agreed, and Taylor joined a group of clients who traveled to India for the procedure (the company’s implants have not been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and the procedure is not available in the United States. However, BrightOcular does note on its website that it’s legal to have the surgery done in “several clinics across the world,” including the South Asian nation).  

Though BrightOcular promises Taylor that the surgery will be “life changing” and that it will help him “feel better and look better,” it’s not all smooth sailing. Caterpillar does not shy away from highlighting the dangers of the procedure. 

In the documentary, another client asks a doctor who performs the surgery if he would do it himself. He says no, citing his comfort with the eye color he was born with, and tells the client that she should not get the surgery if she can live without it. He also mentions the potential “side effects” as a reason to forgo getting the surgery. 

The client decides to ignore his suggestion, as did Taylor and two other people in the group. 

The procedure can lead to glaucoma, inflammation or blindness

According to BrightOcular’s website, some of the complications of the implant surgery include “infections, high pressure in the eye, glaucoma, inflammation of the iris, swelling in the cornea, loss of cells around the cornea, deterioration of the iris and more.” Studies have shown that these procedures can also lead to blindness and irreversible vision loss, The New York Times reported. 

The potential side effects are so severe that the American Academy of Ophthalmology has urged those interested in changing their eye color to do so without going under the knife. 

“Don’t think that these surgeries carry no risk,” JoAnn Giaconi, MD, a clinical spokesperson for the American Academy of Ophthalmology, said in a January 2024 news release. “No surgery is free of risk. With purely cosmetic surgeries on the eye, it’s just not worth the risk when it comes to your good vision.”

Taylor’s implants started to irritate his eyes over time

As seen in the documentary, Taylor’s experience pre-surgery hits a few bumps in the road, including getting jade green implants instead of the frost gray he requested, but he still moves forward with the procedure. He later successfully changes his eye color, and he seems to be on top of the world. But his post-surgery bliss is short-lived.  

After a while, Taylor starts to feel as though “something’s not right” with his implants. He experiences “throbbing” headaches, sensitivity to light and watery eyes, People reported. He decides to go to the doctor, who tells him that while there’s “no collateral damage” to his eyes, the implants need to be removed because they are “just sitting somewhere where there’s no anatomical place for them to sit.”

Another surgery is required to remove the implants, and Taylor does not have the money or resources to get the procedure done. He decides to keep his implants, even though his eyesight is in jeopardy.

Despite the discomfort, Taylor said he has no regrets about getting the surgery.

“I’m happy that I got to try a dream. The eyes don’t make me. I’m growing into the person I want to be,” he says in Caterpillar.

Caterpillar is now available on demand.