DOSED is a new documentary from director Tyler Chandler that follows his friend Adrianne, a suicidal woman who has struggled with depression, anxiety, and opioid addiction for decades, as she goes on a healing journey with magic mushrooms and iboga that is both beautiful and difficult. After spending years unsuccessfully trying to quit using street drugs by following a medication-assisted treatment program involving prescription medications, she at last turns to the psychedelic underground in a last-ditch attempt to heal herself once and for all.
The film opens with a dire update from the World Health Organization:
1.6 billion people suffer from anxiety, depression, and addiction.
Last year the opioid and fentanyl crisis claimed 118,000 lives.
While you watch this film 127 people will commit suicide.
After absorbing that depressing information the viewer is introduced to Adrianne, the film’s protagonist. She appears to be under the influence of opioids and is asked what she thinks the end of the documentary should be. After pondering the question for a long, drawn-out moment, she says she’d like to be sober by the end of the documentary. You’ll have to wait to find out if that actually ends up happening.
The film features an impressive cast of well-known folks in the psychedelic community including Rick Doblin, Paul Stamets, Gabor Maté, Mark Haden, Rosalind Watts, and Trevor Millar. It somehow achieves a rarely seen well-balanced vibe, being both professional and casual at the same time. That’s because it is shot and edited incredibly well but thankfully doesn’t come across as overproduced or mainstream.
One thing’s for sure—DOSED is unapologetically anecdotal in nature, which didn’t please reviewers at Variety and the Los Angeles Times. While they were hoping for a more scientific documentary that would shed light on existing research involving psilocybin mushrooms and iboga, the film is deliberately about one woman’s psychedelic-assisted journey to recovery, not scientific studies. And there’s nothing wrong with that. The reviewers are simply asking it to be something it wasn’t intending to be in the first place.
With all that said, I actually really enjoyed DOSED. At this point I’ve seen plenty of documentaries that do a good job of covering the history, research, and culture of psychedelics. So it is refreshing to watch a new sort of film, one that takes the viewer along for a wild ride to find out if magic mushrooms and iboga are capable of treating drug addiction.
While it doesn’t rely on scientific research to make its point, the film demonstrates that psychedelics may have the potential to interrupt opioid addiction. Peer-reviewed data may be table stakes when attempting to convince a scientific audience that a novel treatment is effective, but personal anecdotes are often exactly what is needed when trying to introduce a new idea to the general public. And DOSED has that in spades. At a time when many Americans are struggling with opioids, this film demonstrates that plant medicines like magic mushrooms and iboga might be able to help bring an end to the overdose crisis.
DOSED was released globally on Vimeo last Friday and the filmmakers have pledged 10% of each purchase of the film to be donated and matched by Facebook (for a total of 20%) towards coronavirus disaster relief.
One more thing—and this might seem random to mention in a film review—if you’re looking for some funky jewelry, DOSED is also selling necklaces that were cast from a real magic mushroom. Every order includes a free digital copy of the film and helps fund its marketing and distribution.
If you want to learn about how psychedelics can help treat drug addiction, DOSED is a great place to start. And if you know someone who might benefit from watching this film, consider buying a copy for them. It might just save their life.
Disclaimer: I received a free screening copy of this film in exchange for an honest review. However, this is not a sponsored post—all thoughts and opinions expressed here are my own.
