To Leslie

In my 24 years in health care, i have met a lot of people with addiction. Some have been addicted to alcohol, gambling, porn, and many other things. Once you are addicted to something that´s destructive it can cause a lot of damage. Not only to your health but to your family members as well, that is if you have any family members. I am always respectful to each person, because you don´t know all the pain that they are carrying from their past. Some of them might have been abused as children, molested, or have family members who were addicted. There is always something that causes people to get stuck in addiction, and being judgemental will not help them. There are moments where you see some people being able to turn their lives around, and i especially remember one man who used to be an alcoholic. With the help of counseling and drug rehabilitation, he managed to become sober, find a wife and had a son as well. I actually met him in a store about 2 years ago ( right before the pandemic started ), and he even hugged me and thanked me for being there for him. It is moments like these you realise that there is hope, and you can change your life if you really want to. Even if it may take long and is really difficult, it may be worth fighting to make life better. When it comes to films that takes on the subject of addiction, i have a personal favourite film. And that is the 2006 independent film Sherrybaby from director Laurie Collyer. This film tells the story of recovering heroin addict Sherry Swanson ( played really powerful by actress Maggie Gyllenhaal ). She wants to start a new life and repair her relatiosnhip with her young daughter. Sherrybaby is a very emotinal film for a number of reasons, but especially to see how women with addiction problems are being used as an object. I also feel that this film manage to capture the struggle of addiction as well, and Maggie is phenomenal in the lead role. If you have not seen this film you should pick it up on DVD. As i was going through some of the films i have been curious to see, i came across a film called To Leslie. Ever since i watched the trailer i noticed that this could be interesting, about a alcohol addicted mother. Is this one of those films you really need to see, or is To Leslie not as powerful as i was hoping it would be?

6 years ago, Leslie Rowlands ( Andrea Riseborough ) won 190.000 U.S. dollars at the lottery. In present day she have lost it all thanks to her alcohol addiction, and she have no home and nowhere to go. She calls her son James ( Owen Teague ) to see if he wants to spend some time with her, and she is invited to his home. But happiness does not last very long, until she is kicked out for steeling money for alcohol and drinking as well. Back on the streets, how will Leslie find a way out of this misery?

If you need to see an honest portrait of how destructive addiction can be, To Leslie really manage to capture that on screen. Not only the addiction itself, but also all the problems that comes along with addiction. This is a film that does not hold back on how rough life can be, and everyone could be in Leslie´s shoes. Of course she did have a chance to do something with her life after she won the lottery, but since she was already damaged before she won, it didn´t matter how much money she got. Leslie is clearly a woman who never really felt loved by anyone, and you get a sense that her past made her into the woman she is today. If she would have felt loved and appreciated, she might have been able to find her way in life. Even if she have a son, she didn´t know how to raise him, because the addiction itself made her choose the alcohol instead of him. We have to talk about the acting in this film, and lead actress Andrea Riseborough ( who is really good in films such as Birdman, and the 2018 film Mandy with Nicolas Cage ) does a really powerful performance as alcohol addicted Leslie. Not only does she manage to capture a realistic body language of an addict, but especially through her dialogue. You can actually feel her pain in certain scenes when she just can´t take it anymore, and to be able to act so realistic is not easy to do. This might be the best acting performance i have seen actress Andrea Riseborough do. I also enjoy the acting performance of Marc Maron ( who is especially good in the Netflix TV series GLOW, worth checking out ) as the character Sweeney. If it wasn´t for such a nice man as him, Leslie wouldn´t have any hope left, so you realise how much he really cares for her. It has been a while since i have seen a very sad film, that does not look for a happy story. To Leslie tries to show the real world instead, that everything is not as good as you might think. Director Michael Morris ( producer of the Netflix TV series Better Call Saul ) deliver a very strong independent drama that should be seen by all ages. We should not hide what addiction looks like, and this is exactly what To Leslie does not do, but shows the truth instead. What a way to start of this new year with To Leslie and i could not have picked a better film, this is one of the best films i have seen in quite some time.

Rating: DDDD