Tarzana Treatment Centers offers valuable support for SUD (Substance Use Disorder) Treatment Professionals, including Psychiatrists, Therapists, and Counselors. The goal is to help them supply quality resources to their patients. For example, well-made SUD-oriented movies and series that are available on Netflix. 

Our carefully vetted top ten list can be an ongoing resource for you. 

As an important note, we recommend that you watch these movies and series before recommending them. Many of these movies and series portray the use of recreational drugs with graphic reality and could be triggering to people in early recovery. A film that could be illuminating to one patient, opening their eyes to the dangers of drug abuse, could also prove to be dangerous to another.

Thus, as a disclaimer, we ask you to use your own experienced judgment when deciding whether to recommend these movies and series to patients, particularly those vulnerable and newly sober.  

If you have a client, or a family member or co-worker of a patient, that wants to learn more about addiction, below are ten of the best movies, documentaries, and mini-series about substance use disorder presently available. All these videos can be found on Netflix. 

Easily accessible, such shows could help open the door to long-term recovery.  

Top Ten SUD Viewing Options on Netflix

 

1) Heroin(e) (2017 Documentary) 

Three women fight to save a town in West Virginia ravaged by heroin addiction and overdoses.  

2) 6 Balloons (2018 Drama)  

A young mother struggles one night to find a rehab for her brother after he relapses on heroin.  

3) Take Your Pills (2018 Documentary) 

A look at how Adderall and Ritalin became the number one drug of the Millennial generation.  

4) Flaked (2016-2017 Series) 

By Will Arnett, the show reveals the SNL actor’s own experience with alcoholism, including realistic depictions of AA meetings. 

5) Recovery Boys (2018 Documentary)  

Four young men in a farming-based rehab come together to overcome their addictions. 

6) 28 Days (2000 Drama)  

The story follows a young woman as she goes to rehab, eventually finding the path of recovery 

7) Dope (2019 Documentary Mini-Series)  

An unflinching look at the war on drugs from the perspectives of dealers, users, and the police.   

8) The Pharmacist (2020 Documentary Mini-Series) 

A Louisiana pharmacist exposes the rampant corruption behind the opioid addiction crisis. 

9) Crack: Cocaine, Corruption & Conspiracy (2020 Documentary)   

A deep investigation into the history of crack cocaine, and how it tore families asunder. 

10) The Business of Drugs (2020 Documentary Mini-Series) 

A 2020 look by a CIA analyst into the economics behind six illicit substances.  

 

If you want to know more about substance use disorder, these resources can provide a good start with easy access.