Hollywood can’t stop making films about addiction and drugs — and it’s exhausting

nypost.com:

widespread drug abuse an extremely relevant issue in America? Obviously. But just as screamingly apparent is that a kilo of deflating, predictable movies about narcotics and dope are not going to bring hesitant audiences back to struggling movie theaters.

Some of the films were good, some were awful. But inhaled en masse, it’s not a good scene, maaaan.You could dismiss the downer trend, if you like, as a one-off blip at a notoriously edgy mountain gathering of indie lovers.

And maybe it was. However, the venerable Park City, Utah, event, founded 40 years ago by Robert Redford, still carries formidable weight in the movie world and offers a frequently accurate glimpse into what’s on American filmmakers’ minds right now — and what will land in local theaters and on streaming this year.Some years that obsession is with ripped-from-the-headlines dramas and shocking documentaries such as “Three Identical Strangers” and the harrowing Michael Jackson expose “Leaving Neverland.” Other editions gravitated toward heartwarming fare like “CODA” or “Little Miss Sunshine.” The horror classics “Blair Witch Project,” “The Babadook” and “Get Out” all premiered there, too.In 2023, however, many of the big hits were of the bong persuasion.Early on, I caught David Schwimmer’s darkly comic “Little Death.” In the first half, the “Friends” actor plays Martin, a frustrated TV writer — and ravenous pill addict.

In the second half, Dominic Fike and Talia Ryder enter as friends AJ and Karla — addicts and dealers. A drug run gone wrong sets the story in motion.The lineup of such movies was far from sober, er, over.Another addiction story took us on a bender: Saoirse Ronan as a raging London alcoholic whose life implodes and then is forced to go.