Coming Clean

"Coming Clean" is a gripping, breath-taking documentary on the opioid crisis. It presents the stories of its subjects with detail and empathy, while simultaneously showing a sweeping overview of the social and political implications of the crisis. Through masterful storytelling, haunting animation and virtuoso documentary filmmaking, it held my attention from the first frame to the last. Brava, Ondi Timoner, and thank you for making such a powerful and memorable documentary.

No matter what topic she tackles, there is a common thread to Ondi Timoner's work: the ability to interpret complex issues and those impacted by them through a compassionate lens. In "Coming Clean," Ondi Timoner examines the fraught subject of opioid addiction, but in a way yet to be seen. Unlike other meditations on this complicated crisis, one leaves this film with hope. She manages to navigate the myriad players from big pharma and the insidious marketing companies who do their bidding, to the addicts battling towards recovery and political leaders on the local level creating programs that can be paradigms for meaningful change. As you watch Ms. Timoner interview her subjects at the end of the film, you understand that it is her humanity that informs her brilliance. She creates a bond between her audience and the subjects that translates to the screen in ways that inspire change.