A silence filled the room after viewing this film. A silence that could only be coming from that of a recovered addict. A recovered addict like myself. I say recovered because no one deep into drug use would find themselves sitting down for a nice 107 minute long movie about drugs. Nor any movie for that matter. This is a film for those of us who know this story all too well. Who have lived it. This is a powerful contribution from actor/director Joey Klein but thats where it ends. This movie seems to have all the parts to make up a great indie drama. The thing is, though, is that it's amateurishly directed which is a big let down. I really like Joey Klein as an actor. I loved him in "Painless" and weirdly he was my favorite character in " What Keeps You Alive". He is a great actor who needs more screen time. However, as a director, err, well, he isnt proving himself all that well. I feel like this film should have had the feeling of despair and the atmosphere of "Painless". I have been sober for almost 8 years and it is usually quite the experience watching movies of this nature. I usually have to bravely triumph through the movie but here i find myself slightly bored and tired of seeing the same nothingness the whole movie. This film has very dark lighting. It has a kind of dingy and half lit type of look to it. Its not gritty, its just...dark. Alex Wolff is a phenomenal actor with such a bright future as we saw with his most recent "The Cat and the Moon" which will go on to be one of my favorite movies of all time. Alex Wolff creates a VERY real world there in both directing and acting. This was the next thing of his to be released and I was so excited to see him acting but for some reason this movie didn't cure the itch. This film must be personal for Klein one way or another because i feel movies of this nature arent just made randomly. I feel he was trying to say something. Make a statement with what he hoped would be a powerful movie.. For some it will resonate very well. Some people stayed with the pills while for others, pills wasn't enough anymore. This is where some will be lost. All of these movies always seem to only chronicle the hardships of doing pills but never heroin like it's too scary of a journey to trek even in fictional film. Also, this movie is maybe a liittle bit too late. The opiod crisis started in what, 08? 09? And this movie is just coming out now towards the end of 2020? Ummm ok. At this point it all seems very dated... Still, though, I love Alex Wolff as an actor AND director and I also love Joey Klein......as an actor lol.
