User Reviews (13)

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  • Fleeeks9 November 2017
    There was nothing new or revealing in this documentary for anyone who is even reasonably conversant with the news.

    The one thing that stood out for me was the lady who worked at the fire department. There was no mistaking her caliber. It's people like her who lead humble lives but walk head and shoulders above the rest of us. They go about their days doing what most of us would find physically and emotionally draining to do even once, expecting nothing in return but the joy of helping another.

    There are no words to express how much respect and affection I felt for this strong, selfless stranger.
  • Heroin(e) is a film that succinctly underlines why we need more women in positions of leadership, across the world. This Academy nominated short follows three women - a fire-chief, a judge and a missionary - as they fight an escalating drug crisis in a region dubbed the overdose capital of America. Among the many interesting moments, there's one where one of the women faces resistance during a town meeting, where she's asked to justify why she is saving the lives of people who are seen as a burden to the community. Her response really underscores the humanity of this film and almost becomes an allegory for the hope one needs to carry in times when the world is seemingly falling apart. While the film is shot on the go and the moving camera can give you a bit of a headache, it's still a beautiful ode to the power of what it truly means to be human.
  • Heroin(e) is a short documentary that tells the inspiring story of three different women in West Virginia who help people cope with Heroin addition. The documentary is informative and very emotionally captivating throughout the 39-minute runtime. It displayed some truly heartbreaking events, comeback stories, and some inspiring women. Hats off to the documentary team on this one for taking one of the biggest issues in the United States and showing how it affects so many across the country. This is worth watching for anyone who enjoys documentaries, loves stories about strong women, or is interested in the drug epidemic.
  • 10/18/17. A somewhat whitewashed version of the current opiate epidemic that some may find inspirational. While it gives viewers an inside look at what first responders must deal with when it comes to overdoses, it paints a somewhat skewed picture of those addicted. Those individuals highlighted as drug users seem a lot more cooperative than they really are. If they were this cooperative there wouldn't be such a big problem. Maybe it'll raise awareness. The one to watch is FBI's "Chasing the Dragon" on Youtube.
  • assignbydesign8 December 2021
    7/10
    Yikes
    It's depressing, but I guess that's the point. It wants us not to ignore reality anymore. The haunting part is what are we to do about such a problem.
  • Firstly, and I'll say this first before I start my praise, I can agree with some other reviewers that this documentary does not show the darkest side of heroin addiction nor the most wicked and horrendous world of the addicts. However that said, this documentary is still very very good and 40minutes well spent.

    The power and sadness of this documentary lies in the dialogue, as well as the heartbreaking monologues. "I fear that we have lost a couple of generations" (Jan Rader) followed by captions informing us that Huntington is the overdose capital of America with a death rate 10 times higher than the national average. Does the viewer really need the picture painted to them with shocking gory scenes? Abuse. Violence. Self-destruction. It's all there - inbetween the lines. In people's eyes. When the guy in the fire department says that 'all you see is the bad, it's constant, bad bad bad." He pauses, and there's such pain in his eyes as he continues "And then you drink". The subtle destruction of those working around the clock to save the lives of those using. I found that so incredibly tragic.

    A beautiful juxtaposition takes place in this documentary. Against the eerie shots of 6th Avenue, where prostitutes waste away for drug money, and scenes from the drug court, where the failure to follow the program sends dead-eyed addicts to jail, there is the power and persistence of those who will not bend to the drug and the massive problems it causes. In focus are 3 women who in each way of their own, try to make a difference. I found all of them extremely admirable - and in all the misery that is the hard world of drugs, we need this kind of hope. We need to see the fighters that do not give up - who keep at it even in a battle that seems lost. Giving space to hope is not the same as whitewashing a problem.

    I watched this with both smiles on my faces and eyes tearing up. I think there is a clever shift between despair and optimism. This documentary is not out to shock. It tells a tale of extensive drug use with calmness and that can be stronger than in your face footage. I hear the words 'elephant tranquilliser' from a former addict, and cannot even grasp what that would do to a human being. Lucky to be alive beyond doubt. A point also worth to raise. People do get clean, even if they often relapse as old heroin ghosts whisper lies in their ears and minds. This documentary shows us that too. It also gives way for recognition and wonder - the 3 women are indeed true heroines! The title delivers. This is good.
  • Wonderful. Restores faith in power of empathy. I love Jan.
  • sb-2916 August 2021
    I've been seeing this popup in the Netflix feed for quite some time and finally got around to watching it.

    1. Its way too short to provide any kind of coverage of the topic 2. Its completely one-sided from the point of view of the state services.

    As others have said, apart from saying the overdoses are getting worse, I didn't really get anything at all from this movie.

    At the end it just felt like a particularly boring episode of "Cops".

    If you want something that even remotely scratches the surface of the drug issues in the USA, please watch the 4 part series called "The Pharmacist" also on Netflix.
  • lee_eisenberg16 September 2022
    The recent Emmy-winning miniseries "Dopesick" looked at the opioid crisis in West Virginia and how Purdue Pharma (run by the Sackler family) pushed addictive medications on the people, causing large numbers of premature deaths. It turned out that there was another look at the opioid crisis. Elaine McMillion Sheldon's Academy Award-nominated "Heroin(e)" focused on a number of people in Huntington, West Virginia, a small town disproportionately affected by opioids. Part of the focus is how these desperate people turn to drugs, and another part is how other people in the town have tried to help them.

    Basically, the things to understand are how big pharma preyed on hopelessness, and how the community has sought to lessen the epidemic's impacts. Everyone should see this documentary.
  • The drug... The addict.. Isnt the problem. The root of why the addict reaches for the drug is the problem. The Dr that thinks another drug will solve the drug addiction... Is the problem. The insurance that charges the addict for treatment... Is the problem. Wake the f up everyone!
  • I'm just willing to bet the person who thought up this 'clever-clever' title also thinks they came up with 'dogis God spelt sideways'.

    Anyone so bereft of being able to come up - just with the project's name is someone who's lack of creativity is already being displayed before your eyes, is not someone who's got anything new to add to this discussion.

    This is nothing more than yet another look at the admittedly dire situation some people in W. Virginia have found themselves in, and it's through the lens of someone with zero understanding of the situation, and it comes out

    I'm not 'anti-dope documentaries - hell, I was involved with a very well-known one myself (I'm not going to say whether my involvement was in front, or behind the camera. That's irrelevant). What I am sickened by is more of the same old... same old, which this is.

    How -riventing, unique, shocking, anything can this be?

    Not very. It doesnt shine anything new onto the heroin situation.

    Personally,I'd love for a documentary which would focus - not just on the drug/addiction aspect, but, what happens to those who want to get off the 'merry-go-round'?

    The percentage of treatments the average junkie will go through will be more than 10 - EASILY. Some detoxes last such a short time (in-patient; 3 days), that, when the person's been detoxed, they're technically clean, but, they're no better than sending a person who's just had major heart surgery, & has recuperated just a couple of days. They're VERY raw, & the next step - rehab - is where many people don't/won't go (the first 10, or so times after detox), but it's necessary.

    That's where people no really want to get their lives back need to go, bit, the problem is these places are SO tricked-out, in so many ways (their's detoxes where there no one with ANY p'rofessional sheepskin' to back them up. In cc alifornia, which is NOTORIOUS, all you need to open a rehab (which is a license to steal money to many), is a couple of hundred bucks for the license.

    There's nothing about licensing only places which are being run by medical, psychological professionals - NOTHING.

    West Virginia's a place where there are I'mmany who started on oxycontin. It was only after those became scarce, or the price/pill was way too high (a bag of dope is apps US$10/20, whereas 1 Oxy's MANY times that amount. MANY. The natural inclination is 'look for the bargains..

    Unfortunately, many of the people who are making decisions on how to deal with this haven't been down the 'dark tunnel' themselves. Though they (mostly) mean well, they make decisions which can affect many (statewide, citywide) based upon what ten people trying to promote their treatment modus operandi, but, those people are interested in one thing; $.

    That means until - if ever - a state such as W Va actually gets its hands dirty by speaking with those who are currently affected, & those who - after YEARS of trying to clean themselves, & who know how hard it is, when the only person you can count on isoneseulf, places like this will never - ever - even begin to see a light at the end of the tunnel.
  • Warning: Spoilers
    Netflix' "Heroine" or "Heroin(e)" is an American 40-minute documentary in the English language from this year, very new very fresh 2017 release. The focus here is on people overdosing in the state of West Virginia and on 3 people working on getting the situation under control. Now from my very personal perspective, it is true that drug addicts are miserable and can be felt sorry for, but you have to keep in mind that the first time, the very first time they were using, it happened because they agreed to and made a completely conscious decision instead of saying no. I'd rather spare my sympathy for those who really aren't 1% to blame for their (possibly life-threatening) misery like innocent victims of accidents. That aside, I also had many issues with the approach given here by Elaine McMillion Sheldon. It is about a serious subject yes, but it's feel-good material of the worst kind in my opinion. The ways in which the state officials and the addicts are so close, keep hugging etc. the state officials are so close too with each other, the comedy, the applauding at the courtroom, the podium tears etc. In my opinion hardly anything felt authentic and realistic about these 40 minutes, which is a gigantic problem because this is the area where the (should) want to deliver the most. Everything feels scripted and the very last scene was the perfect example as the phone rings in an interview and she has to get out right away because there is another OD situation. You may mistake it for the filmmaker being humble and putting her movie second to the important work of the protagonists, but I am just not buying it. The judge was probably the least likable in here. The other ones were at least doing a somewhat honorable job that is good for them, but not for general audiences in my opinion. At least not the way it was presented here..

    That said, I still believe that this film can be a major contender during the 2017/2018 awards season and an Oscar for Best Documentary short would not surprise me at all. It is about a national, maybe global, contemporary problem set against the background of an American town in a very specific scenario. It tries to deliver heart and emotion, drama and situational comedy and I think it could be exactly what the Academy is going for. I still hope they manage to see beyond how shallow and staged it all feels and in my opinion, the quality is close to an insult to the really serious subject that would have deserved a far better execution. 4 stars out of 10 is still fairly generous in my opinion and that's all I can give this film. The outcome is as disappointing as the really simple play on words in the title. It's one for simple audiences. I give it a thumbs-down. Don't watch.
  • samlong-5171026 February 2022
    What a plastic American piece of rubbish!

    Who was important the people becoming chiefs, the people that gave one short night a week or the real people caught up in this dreadful life?

    Americans are so cheap and think they deserve a medal for doing what others do without any filmshow or glory.

    Typical self centred American crap!