drug addiction – ALLIANCE OF WOMEN FILM JOURNALISTS

BOY GEORGE & CULTURE CLUB (Tribeca 2025) – Review by Leslie Combemale

June 4, 2025June 6, 2025 Leslie Combemale Alison Ellwood, Boy George & Culture Club, documentary, drug addiction, Tribeca 2025

When Boy George sported a hat in 1982, you couldn’t walk down the street without seeing someone copying his style. That hat, dramatic makeup, and an oversized coat was THE uniform for kids in the know. Now, in the new documentary Boy George & Culture Club, award-winning editor and director Alison Ellwood shows just what an impact this 80s band had on the culture of the day. In revealing and insightful interviews with all four band members, she also brings their personal journeys, warts and all, to light.

Reviews

SWEETHEART DEAL – Review by April Neale

September 4, 2024September 5, 2024 April Neale Aurora Avenue, documentary, drug addiction, Elisa Levine, Gabriel Miller, prostitution, Seattle, Vaughn Elliott Doescher

Sweetheart Deal‘s wolf in bum’s clothing is Vaughn Elliott Doescher. This film explores the world of this arch-psychopath who lived in an RV on Aurora Avenue in Seattle, Washington. There, he courted sex workers in the guise of offering refuge, lecturing them on their “monster” of addiction—crack or heroin or both. Elliott strings them along in a phony familial structure intended to serve him sexually and use these women without the overt appearance of being manipulative. If you are a student of the human condition or studying psychology or criminology, this is a fantastically worthwhile film to seek out. It will show you and reinforce what tuned-in healthy people already know: The weak will always feed the strong.

Reviews

JACINTA – Review by Lois Alter Mark

September 30, 2021October 2, 2021 Lois Alter Mark documentaries, drug addiction, jacinta, jessica earnshaw

Like mother, like daughter takes on a whole new significance in Jessica Earnshaw’s extraordinary documentary, Jacinta, a devastating movie about the cycle of addiction and dependency. The film presents a powerful portrait of inherited trauma that’s, ultimately, also a story of love and hope.

News

Julia Roberts Talks BEN IS BACK, Motherhood and Drug Addiction – Nadia Neophytou reports

December 21, 2018January 3, 2019 Nadia Neophytou (Archived Contributor) 0 Comments ben is back, drug addiction, julia roberts

Julia Roberts says she hopes her latest film will help start conversations about the continuing epidemic of opioid addiction. The Oscar-winning actress plays a mother of a drug-addicted son in Ben Is Back opposite Lucas Hedges, who was nominated for a supporting actor Oscar in 2017.