A tender portrait of a troubling issue
Unfortunately there has been a recent wave of films and TV shows about the U.S. prescription drug and opioid epidemic. Not unfortunate in the sense of artistic merit achieved (I’m NOT looking at you, Hillbilly Elegy), but unfortunate that there exists a crisis of this magnitude in the first place. Millions of people are affected by drug addiction each day, and the opioid crisis has already taken countless lives. The new indie film Stay Awake shines its own match light on the disease with great care and an intimate focus. In this film we don’t have villains (well, maybe the enabling doctor and drug co.), cringeworthy child abuse, or the stereotypical yet often truthful standards set forward by the depiction of drug addicts in Hollywood. Rather, Stay Awake shows that sometimes addiction and family issues lay just beneath the surface of small town normalcy and kind, functional people, and that caretakers deserve some of the spotlight.