In returning to his central Ohio roots to reconnect with relatives, director Adam Meeks, found what could be called a passion project – telling the story of recovering opioid addicts in the film “Union County.”
He recently appeared at sold out shows at the Nightlight in Akron along with star Will Poulter, participating in question-and-answer sessions prior to the film’s Aug. 14 opening there.
Meeks, based in Brooklyn, New York now, lived in Columbus until he was 6, and returned to the area in 2018 when he was 24. It’s then that he saw relatives and friends of family struggling with the effects of the opioid epidemic that continues to devastate communities, especially in rural areas.
“I was kind of coming to get to know this place that I’m from originally for the first time as an adult around this time. And I found myself falling in love with this part of Ohio at the same time that I was realizing that so many of us were looking around and recognizing the intensity of the epidemic,” he said during a recent interview with the Beacon Journal. “And as I started asking questions, wanting to get a comprehensive picture of the kind of causes and effects and impacts of the epidemic, my uncle introduced me to the drug court judge at the time in Bellefontaine, Ohio.”
This resulted first in a short with the same title and, eventually, the feature that played at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year and screened at the Cleveland International Film Festival this spring.
Putting a face on the opioid epidemic in rural Ohio
Returning to Ohio and putting a face on the epidemic personalized the issue for Meeks, he said. He was aware of the stats associated with addiction, but he wanted to go beyond those oft-cited numbers.
“I think getting to know a person behind a number can be profound and is an important role that storytelling can play,” he said. “I remember early on, and obviously our film evolved in directions away from this, but I remember really early on thinking about ‘Fruitvale Station,’ and the way that that film put a multi-dimensional human behind a number and a tragedy and an issue in this country and thinking if our film could do the same, that’s what I was setting out to do.”
That narrative attracted Poulter (“Detroit,” “The Bear”), who also serves as a producer on the film. Poulter portrays Cody, a young man struggling with sobriety along with his brother Jack (Noah Centineo), who has to make amends for the wrongs committed and, hopefully, regain the trust of those around him. It doesn’t come easy.
“I think Adam’s clear intention to humanize Cody so that there was no danger of Cody as a character falling prey to some of the stigmatization that follows people in recovery and that is an inherent part of the conversation around addiction all too often in film,” Poulter told the Beacon Journal.. “I think I really saw more than anything else, a young man who was struggling with his mental health and his substance use disorder was a manifestation of having a lack of choices, a lack of support, a lack of infrastructure, rather than it being something that was tied to morality or was tied up in the stigma that is so often a part of the conversations around addiction.”
Will Poulter gets to tell the story from another perspective
It’s not the first time Poulter participated in a project that explored the epidemic. He appeared in “Dopesick,” a Hulu series, as a lawyer who financially exploited the mass infusion of opioids into society for financial gain, who eventually grew a conscience. The powerful series, for which star Michael Keaton won an Emmy, also charts the evolution of Poulter’s character, giving him an opportunity to tell the opioid story from another perspective.
“I think the focus with the ‘Union County’ is different. The focus is, well, in acknowledgement of so much of that irreparable pain and damage,” he said, “what can be done for folks who still have an opportunity to get better and to get back on their feet? And what is a workable, actionable program or response to this sort of pretty tragic situation?”
For both, it offered an opportunity to spotlight the adult recovery program that operates in Bellefontaine and serves as the home court for counselor Annette Deao, who is featured in the film, adding a significant element of authenticity to the film.
That sense of truth comes from being allowed to film participants in the program as they make their court appearances updating the judge on their current status.
“Everybody who steps up to the podium besides our two main actors are folks who are actively in the program at the time,” Meeks said. “And then in addition to that, we have a couple of sober support meetings that Will’s character goes to once he moves into his sober living house.”
They were respectful of how accommodating participants were willing to be during the process, Poulter said.
“Never did we overstay our welcome. We were always very conscious of infringing on the natural process of things, and that was kept top of mind,” he said. “And Annette was a really good steward for that. And her and Adam were very much in lockstep over making sure that the filming process didn’t interfere and so that we were always additive and not extractive.”
George M. Thomas covers a myriad of things including sports and pop culture, but mostly sports, he thinks, for the Beacon Journal.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Director Adam Meeks, Will Poulter humanize addiction in Ohio-based ‘Union County’
Reporting by George M. Thomas, Akron Beacon Journal / Akron Beacon Journal
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By George M. Thomas, Akron Beacon Journal | USA TODAY Network
