DOREE SIMON HATFIELD | USA | 2026 | 100 MIN | ENGLISH
After her brother’s death, director Doree Simon Hatfield digs into the realities of stigma, harm reduction, and addiction in America, confronting the toll it takes on families like her own.
Losing her brother to an overdose at 23 leads director Doree Simon Hatfield to begin examining the world that failed him, and her grief propels her into a search for answers. As she traces the barriers that prevented him from receiving help, her journey leads her from heartbreaking living room conversations to harm reduction programs and through legislative chambers where advocates fight to reshape public policy around addiction. Along the way, home remains a constant anchor, a place where her family unearths the trauma and complex feelings surrounding a beloved life gone far too early. Conversations with experts deepen her understanding, as they pull back the curtain on America’s War on Drugs and expose how drug criminalization has long oppressed marginalized communities across racial lines, linking past policies to present suffering. Simon Hatfield’s own assumptions about drug use begin to evolve, leading to a decision that surprises those closest to her: to experience them firsthand. Her personal choice tests the stability of her family’s quest to heal, transforming her investigation into a bold call for compassion over punishment.
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