Inspired by his experience with addiction, writer and director Aaron Strand asks one question as his debut feature film ‘Withdrawal’ celebrated a sold-out premiere on April 30 at the Plaza Theatre as part of the Atlanta Film Festival:
Have we forgotten what stories are for?
There was a time when film meant something deeper than performance when it served as a space to confront the uncomfortable and remind us of our own fragility, absurdity, and resilience.
Withdrawal, a romantic dramedy shot on DV with a $60K budget and a cast drawn from the local arts community in Athens and Atlanta, doesn’t aim to entertain so much as to interrupt.
It tells the story of two addicts in the middle of a 24-hour detox–lovers, dreamers, people broken in ways that only intimacy reveals. It’s a love story but set against the modern opioid epidemic— where an American dies every 6.5 minutes from a drug overdose—it’s not romanticized. It’s funny in the way truth often is: unexpected because it has no other choice.
More than just addiction, Withdrawal is about honesty. It’s about what happens when you no longer have the strength to lie to yourself, or to anyone else.
“I didn’t want to make a clean film. I wanted to make an honest one,” said Strand.
More than anything, Withdrawal is a provocation. A reminder that storytelling isn’t always supposed to comfort us. Sometimes, it sets us free.
Upcoming Screening info:
Sunday, August 10th @ 6:30pm, Atlanta Underground Film Festival
Friday, August 14th @ 8:00pm, Athens Film Festival (Opening Night Film)
Sunday, August 24th @ 12:30pm, Augusta Film Festival
