Salem, New Hampshire looks idyllic from the outside. With beautiful fall colors blanketing the landscape, the city is the perfect picture of suburban bliss. But that exterior hides a wound that festers in plain sight. Searing documentary “Hometown” reveals how badly the opioid epidemic has affected this small town and others around it.
A grieving mother has spoken of her dead son’s heroic efforts to overcome his drug addiction. We learn about her son’s hopes and dreams, the setbacks that lead to his downfall, and his mother’s inability to stop the drug from eating her son like a deadly virus.
A detective captures another drug offender in another segment of the film. He yearns to return to the environment in which he grew up. We meet another lifelong resident who no longer walks the streets of his hometown, surrounded by familiar comforts; he now has to deal with the pleas of desperate addicts eager for their next dose.
Like most small towns across America, Salem, Massachusetts, and nearby Lawrence are built on the traditions of previous generations. Cities have faced challenges in the past. A heroin epidemic spread in the 1980s as textile mills closed or relocated. Today’s recession doomed these cities to a similar fate.
We see how local police officers interact with patients. Few people in the city have not been affected by the pandemic, and police have sympathy for the lost souls battling this insidious beast. About 85 percent of their monthly arrests are related to opiate abuse, an epidemic that kills as many as 500 people a year. Many of these victims were young men who had lived vibrant and promising lives. Prescription opioids are the new alcohol for rebellious and adventurous teens. When money and resources are scarce, habitual users often turn to cheaper alternatives to heroin.
With a collection of honest and raw testimonials, accentuated by creatively colored animation, Hometown is powerful and profound.
Directed by: Brandon Lavoie
