Union County Review

This reappraisal is based connected a screening from the Sundance Film Festival.

In Union County, writer and manager Adam Meeks offers an intimate glimpse into America's opioid epidemic. His diagnostic debut, adapted from his 2020 abbreviated of the aforesaid name, employs a blend of actors and non-actors. With permission, Meeks collaborates with the participants of the 2025 Adult Recovery Court successful Bellefontaine, Ohio – his hometown. What's presented is an impressively understated portrayal of the highs and lows of battling addiction, noteworthy for its solemn authenticity.

Will Poulter stars arsenic Cody Parsons, a cause addict since helium was a teen who enters a court-mandated rehabilitation program. The Adam Warlock histrion tackles a mostly internalized role, arsenic Cody chokes down his demons portion attempting to pb a sober lifestyle. In the aforesaid programme is his member Jack (a scruffily bearded Noah Centineo), whom Cody introduced to narcotics 7 years prior. Together, Cody and Jack be their Adult Recovery Court meetings successful the anticipation of progressing to further levels…but there's nary disconnected power for their cravings.

Meeks’ chameleon enactment of inserting Poulter and Centineo into existent Ohio addiction meetings pays mighty dividends. Like 2023’s Sing Sing, which formed real-life alums of the Rehabilitation Through the Arts group, Union County ne'er feels similar it’s pandering oregon retired of touch. As participants instrumentality the podium to update the justice connected their advancement oregon struggles, we witnesser their genuine reactions. It's not hard to prime Poulter oregon Centineo from the lineup astatine first, but that's not the point; successful these scenes, the actors slice into the inheritance portion existent addicts bare their humble vulnerabilities to the audience. It's the benignant of autarkic experimentation that's cleanable for the Sundance Film Festival, and it would marque Robert Redford proud.

Poulter is up for the situation arsenic Cody, thrown into a tumultuous relation wherever each time and determination is monumental. From relapses to rebuilding, Poulter keeps a stoicism astir Cody that reads similar a antheral who's perpetually astatine warfare with himself. There's a correlation betwixt accrued dialog and Cody's upward trajectory, arsenic Meeks uses his self-isolating protagonist to show the healing powerfulness of community. Union County does a beauteous occupation of capturing the compassion and dedication wrong Bellefontaine's Adult Recovery Court, from encouraging guardians to motivated graduates.

Everything rides connected the believability of actors mingling with untrained programme participants, and the movie passes with flying colors. “

The Ohio-based accumulation draws connected the townsfolk’s spirits, which helps everything autumn into place. Costume designs blend Poulter, Centineo, and the fewer different nonrecreational actors with the others portion cinematography captures the midwestern vacancy of lumber plants and wavy, grassy fields. Nothing's Hollywoodized; play is kept brushed and quiet, contempt the gravity of the consequences. As Cody gets a menial job, moves into a no-frills sober house, and crushes connected a adjacent protagonist astatine the neighboring woman's location (Anna, played by Elise Kibler), Meeks locks successful connected the prevailing silence, successful which addicts tin unluckily endure each excessively ofteen.

However, Meeks' debased rumble of an addiction movie mightiness trial the patience of circumstantial viewers. It's highly grounded, with a listlessness to its communicative progression. At times, Union County feels similar it's settling into the too-familiar motions of the addiction subgenre, shuffling toward the adjacent tribunal quality without overmuch escalation. Meeks' intentions are plain, and helium achieves the code and pacing helium deems appropriate, but the movie astir hesitates astatine points earlier moving guardant with a reasonably evenhanded yet sporadically tepid consistency.

That said, what Meeks accomplishes by embracing biology normalcy is simply a potent achievement. Poulter interacts with programme members arsenic if they're longtime acquaintances, portion they reciprocate integrated empathy erstwhile Cody shares his symptom successful radical sessions. Everything rides connected the believability of actors mingling with untrained programme participants, and the movie passes with flying colors. It's a compassionate, penetrating, bare-all snapshot of what radical with a substance usage upset look passim their lives, and a movie that inspires excitement astir the aboriginal of American autarkic filmmaking à la Kelly Reichardt oregon Derek Cianfrance.