Wonderful character development!

Very well executed

ridiculous rating

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

A friend of a friend is a user, so we managed to write a short but dense critique on this excellent documentary. We are both Generation Y (24-25), so it's like watching the lives of our imaginary junkie cousins.First of all, this documentary is true. Well, you're gonna say "aren't documentaries suppose to outline reality?". Yes, but this masterpiece manages to not become over-dramatic, and follow the lives of 5 very different personae.Second of all, the shocking nature of this work of art is not meant to create an atmosphere of "drugs are bad, okay?" but to portray how the misuse of such a powerful substance can lead to the destruction of many people's lives, when the information about the substance itself, its use and its pharmacology is purely street-wise due to the lack of the Internet.Today there are a lot of people who we can technically call "addicts", but they live perfectly normal lives because of the information given through the internet, even before start self-medicating with opiates.We live in a post-curt Cobain world, so when you watch this documentary, try to have in mind how these characters would be if they lived in the age of Web 2.0

After seeing this documentary, I, like most people, wondered what the fate of those featured was. WELL, surprisingly enough, I was at the dog park today in Portland, Oregon and noticed a familiar face. It was none other than Alice, the punk rock girl from the movie! I found it hard to believe that it was really her, so I went up and talked to her and sure enough, it was! I guess she moved here 6 years ago and has been clean ever since! She told me that they were talking about doing a 'where are they now?' follow-up, but it never happened. I guess the lesbian girl who was working as a sex worker with HIV has since died, but most people are up to the same old. . .sad, but nice to know at the same time. People make choices, you know. Seeing her gave me hope. Thanks for taking the time to talk to me Alice, wherever u are.xo sigrun

This film should definitely be shown as a wake up call for impressionable young people. As these kids mention several times in this movie: "We watched this Sid & Nancy movie, and it lead to this and that" Really, it sometimes doesn't take more than that for a kid to experiment. "Let's be cool, and show a two fingered salute to this tedious world, let's pretend to be rock-stars!" Many young people look up to artists who romanticize the junkie-lifestyle. The problem is that artists usually have the money to buy drugs, places to live etc. Young minds doesn't think of all the gut wrenching horrors and desperation that come in the wake of a junkie-lifestyle (ask Sid how fun his last days were). If this film prevents young people becoming some idiotic Sid Vicious, Courtney Love wannabes, it has served a purpose.

I have known a few people caught in the horror of heroin, this documentary is very accurate and done well. It is very depressing but very true. I only hope HBO will do a follow-up story (if any of the people featured are still alive).