'Union County' Spotlights Ohio Drug Recovery Court with Over 50% Success Rate

The new film "Union County," directed by Ohio native Adam Meeks, offers a bruising yet poetic depiction of a real-life drug recovery court in Bellefontaine, Ohio, where individuals join long-term treatment programs with daily sobriety testing. The film follows Cody Parsons, played by Will Poulter, a young man who faces the possibility of returning to jail for drug possession and is given the opportunity to enroll in the real-life Adult Recovery Court program. In turn, he is reunited with his foster brother, Jack, played by Noah Centineo.

The film is a hybrid of narrative feature and documentary-style elements, with much of the supporting cast made up of first-time actors who share their real, and often painful and non-linear, stories of recovery. Annette Deao, the real-life director of the program, also serves as one of the film's lead actors, playing a kind but firm counselor who becomes a parental figure to Cody. "When Annette says 'I'm really proud of you,' it's the first time he's ever heard that in his life," Poulter said.

A Program That Prioritizes Recovery Over Punishment

A central theme of the film is the contrast between recovery-oriented approaches and punitive, criminalizing responses to substance use disorder (搜索)搜索该疾病. Poulter emphasized that the film does not shy away from the devastating realities of substance use disorder and its effects on both those who experience it and their loved ones. However, its focus lies primarily on the success of the recovery program.

"The success rate of this program is over 50%," Poulter said. "Some of the alternatives, you know, the rate at which folks are able to sort of avoid relapsing rarely gets into the double figures if they're simply sent to jail." He described the program's success rate as "phenomenal – incomparable in some ways," noting that the film is "really about platforming that above all else."

Humanizing Substance Use Disorder

Poulter described how the film aims to challenge audiences to look past the label of "addict" and see individuals for who they are. He noted that substance use disorder (搜索)搜索该疾病 often "robs folks of their real selves, of the ability to express themselves and in order to feel the full range of emotions." This is reflected in Cody's character arc, as he begins to talk more and "blossom" from a personality and social standpoint as he gets better.

"There are plenty of people in their mid-20s who have never had that kind of affirmation or support," Poulter said. "And yet we hold them to the same standard as people who have been told they are loved on a regular basis. That's shame on us for stigmatizing people in that position."

Poulter also drew a connection to his earlier role in the television series "Dopesick," in which he played a pharmaceutical salesman. He described that series as documenting the opioid crisis and how "one particular family and company took advantage of a lot of folks in America by wrongly selling a dangerous narcotic under the guise of that it was medicine and that it was safe to prescribe via doctors." He said "Union County," in many ways, answered the question posed at the end of "Dopesick" about how people can support others toward recovery.

Collaboration With the Recovery Community

Poulter emphasized that the film was made in collaboration with, rather than about, the Bellefontaine community. "It was clear to me from the outset that Adam wasn't interested in making a film about a community as he was in making it in with a community," he said. "Top of mind was not interfering with the recovery process and not infringing on the path that the participants were walking. I think that's the reason they were so generous."

Meeks had previously collaborated with Bellefontaine locals on a 2020 short film of the same title, which helped establish an authentic sense of trust. Poulter noted that the real participants are in an 18-month program, and "the work and recovery is never done," contrasting his own experience as an actor simulating these experiences with the daily reality of the program's participants.

Poulter also addressed the broader policy context, referencing a recent report that the Trump administration has cut more than $1 billion in federal funding to mental health and addiction programs. "Those kinds of rollbacks are devastating to me because I can't detach myself from the idea that that is informed by a lot of harmful stigma and misinformation," he said.