Three stories about the world of opioids collide: a drug trafficker arranges a multi-cartel Fentanyl smuggling operation between Canada and the U.S., an architect recovering from an oxycodone addiction tracks down the truth behind her son's involvement with narcotics, and a university professor battles unexpected revelations about his research employer, a drug company with deep government influence bringing a new "non-addictive" painkiller to market.... (Full plot summary below)
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Three stories about the world of opioids collide: a drug trafficker arranges a multi-cartel Fentanyl smuggling operation between Canada and the U.S., an architect recovering from an oxycodone addiction tracks down the truth behind her son's involvement with narcotics, and a university professor battles unexpected revelations about his research employer, a drug company with deep government influence bringing a new "non-addictive" painkiller to market.
Leave your thoughts about Crisis.
| Original-CinKim HughesIt’s not for lack of trying as Crisis has a terrific ensemble cast doing terrific work. But the film never sparks or soars. |
| Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperIt’s an ambitious reach, and the talented cast of mostly familiar names is game for the challenge, but Crisis goes over the top with too many key plot developments. The end result is a serious case of Messaging Exhaustion. |
| New Orleans Times-PicayuneMike ScottWhile Crisis can fairly be criticized as emotionally cold, with its heavy and humorless story generating more sympathy for its characters than empathy, there’s no denying its timeliness, offering a compelling look at what will certainly be remembered as one of the most underplayed tragedies of our time. |
| The Film StageDan MeccaThere is an honest bleakness to Jarecki’s tale that certainly matches the tragedy of the real-life opioid crisis, though all of it feels surface level. Without a central rooting interest that’s engaging, all of the drama suffers. There’s plenty to admire in Crisis, just not enough to recommend. |
| RogerEbert.comTomris LafflyIn a lot of ways, Crisis is a classic example of a movie that wants to be a little bit of everything, only to add up to a much lesser version of something you keep waiting to see. |
| ReelViewsJames BerardinelliIt’s not enough merely to tell stories about different aspects of how drugs impact society – the connections have to be stronger and the narratives have to go deeper that what Jarecki has provided here. Crisis is well-meaning but ultimately unsatisfying. |
| IndieWireKate ErblandThese stories are all tragic and sad and complex, and more than worthy of innumerable explorations. Many of them are even present in this film, even if nothing about them satisfies. Consider this one a crisis of its own: a well-meaning look at a world that never goes deeper than the surface. |
| San Francisco ChronicleBob StraussIt’s a more modest Traffic in several ways, adequate at what it tries to say about this dirty business but light on the wider scope of the suffering that it causes. Because there actually is a crisis, maybe it should be addressed with more of an emphasis on authentic details than on genre conventions. |
| The New York TimesBen KenigsbergThe film is well-paced but often strains credulity. |
| Movie NationRoger MooreThe three stories could each have been their own movie, and probably a more compelling one than this mash-up turns out to be. Everybody gets in everybody else’s way for the first two and a half acts. |
