kateobr

I've been watching lots of movies lately on sobriety and recovery. Always looking for new suggestions though. My favorite movie I've seen on recovery lately is "Smashed". This one was really good! It really was like looking in a mirror during some scenes. It is mainly about a young woman's toxic relationship with her boyfriend that revolves around alcohol and drugs and her decision to leave the relationship and get sober. Aaron Paul from Breaking Bad is one of the main characters and plays his part so well. I've seen this one about 5 times. Lol. It resonated with me that much.

Also really liked "28 Days" with Sandra Bullock. More lighthearted take on recovery but a lot of good aha moments in that movie too. "When a Man Loves a Woman", "Beautiful Boy" & "A Million Little Pieces" were also really good.

Two documentaries on alcoholism I saw recently were "Drinking to Oblivion" (EXCELLENT!!!) & "Drinkers Like Me", also very good!

Any other suggestions? I'm stuck at home currently so late night tv watching is my current vice.

stickyone

Flight with Denzel was good. That movie Beach Bum with Matthew M wasn't good it highlights alcoholism like crazy.

babycat

Thanks for the recs!! I quite love Aaron Paul. One documentary that everyone has talked about for years is "Rain in my Heart". Apparently very heartbreaking. Honestly? I have always been too scared to watch it and have always turned it off after a couple minutes. I think I might be ready now tho.

babycat

Beach Bum was very odd. Just in the feel of it? I don't know. But def some strong alcoholism in that movie, no doubt!

kateobr

Never heard of that one so I looked it up. It does look quite intense. The full documentary is available for free on youtube if anyone is interested in seeing "Rain in my Heart".

stickyone

That movie was trigger happy.

Runswithspoons

I watched Rain in My Heart a few months ago on a recommendation here. Very sad and hard to watch; also, the British accents are not easy at times to decipher!

BarbieKen

If you like old classic movies ....

Days of Wine & Roses

The Lost Weekend

abraxas69

As mentioned, Days of Wine & Roses - I'm not a big fan of old classic movies per se, but this is very good. Similar to Smashed insomuch as it is about the three-way relationship with a spouse/partner and alcohol.

My Name is Bill W. - my path (so far at least) hasn't been via AA, but I found this film incredibly insightful.

Clean and Sober is on my watch list - gets largely good reviews, but if anyone else has seen it I would be interested in your opinion. Another that I have seen recommended but not seen myself is Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far.

Louis Theroux: Drinking to Oblivion is indeed excellent - watched it (for the 2nd time) yesterday as it so happens! Many gut-wrenching scenes, but the moment one of the participants says they're "more scared of giving up alcohol than of dying" was particularly moving.

D122y

I have only saw Flight and Rain. Both great movies about addiction with Rain being the most hard hitting because it is "reality."

I watched "I See You" with Stallone recently. It was a murder mystery/action/drama. He gets heavily addicted after his wife is brutally murdered.

Obviously, "Leaving Las Vegas" with Nick Cage. A guy trying to drink himself to death. Creepy.

I haven't yet to see a movie about what I/others preach about as to the heart of drug addiction (in my case booze).

I am a bit of a conspiracy theorist on this subject, but maybe dopamine etc. doesn't make for good TV.

I still work, I was blessed to have a COVID proof job (thanks to SR), but work less hours so I find myself with at least 5 hours to kill almost daily. Movies etc. are a norm for me as well.

I watch the free movie channels like Tubie/Pluto/IMDB and Prime. (Prime is free with my $120/year Amazon sub).

I also listen to at least an hour or 2 of music. I pay extra to Amazon for commercial free etc. Yesterday morning I did a Bee Geez binge. Those dudes are cool.

While it may not seem like addiction therapy, or whatever, music does get me a little high.

Thanks.

BlissWithin

Besides all the ones mentioned here, the movie Drunks (1995) is also good, it's about an AA old timer who relapses on booze instead of going to a meeting, so the movie is split between the meeting that is happening that night and the relapse of the protagonist

sortofhomecomin

28 Days
Smashed
Clean and Sober (underrated 80s flick, probably the least well known on my list in spite of Michael Keaton being in it)
Flight
Everything Must Go

(I don't think the main character in the last one mentioned actually gets into recovery in the course of the movie so perhaps not the best choice, but a good movie all the same. It certainly doesn't glamorise alcoholism.)

babycat

I forgot about Everything Must Go. That was a good one.

Aellyce

Two of my favorite documentaries related to alcoholism are Risky Drinking (four people at different stages) and Lipstick and Liquor (about women, with a suspense element that makes the film interesting). I didn't find either of these too scary or depressing and they include stuff about relationship challenges and recovery success as well.

Billymacintosh

Definitely rain in my heart, quite hard hitting, the wet house is a good one, saving Ed Mitchell, Brian's story. Sad to watch, but a good insight and encouragement to turn things around
Billy x

EllyB

Watching “Come on Eileen“ on Amazon Prime. It’s a low budget film, but pretty realistic.

TheAten

I watched “Rain in my Heart” last night after seeing a recommendation on here - wow. Very powerful. I really wanted to give Vanda a big hug and make her a mug of tea - she seemed like a very nice person who was riddled with demons and was slowly committing suicide...

As I wrote that, I was thinking, am I on about Vanda, or was that me? Maybe both. Anyway, very powerful, and I would love to know what became of her and the young lad Mark - sadly, we know what happened to the others ☹️

Vincent484

You guys are going to make fun of me but.....the documentary "The Resurrections of Jake The Snake" is probably he best documentary about relapse and recovery I have seen. Very realistic ups and downs in that one.

DariaM

I really enjoyed Patrick Melrose with Benedict Cumberbatch. It's a limited tv series based on a set of novels.

Description from IMDb: This five-part limited series based on the acclaimed novels by Edward St. Aubyn, tracks Patrick Melrose (Benedict Cumberbatch) from a privileged but deeply traumatic childhood in the South of France, through severe substance abuse in his twenties in New York and, ultimately, toward recovery back home in Britain.

daisy1

Rain in my heart is too triggering for me, the addict in me feels envious seeing Vanda drink vodka the way she does. Strange that it shows the ugly and real side of the effects of alcohol and yet I still wanted to be Vanda drinking herself to oblivion!