Over the past couple years, I’ve read several articles about shady rehab facilities and treatment programs, so when I was offered the opportunity to check out the new indie movieBody Brokers, I leapt at the chance. Now, Collider can exclusively debut a trailer and a poster for the indie crime drama, which hails from writer-directorJohn Swab– himself a former addict.
Jack Kilmer(Lords of Chaos) andAlice Englert(Beautiful Creatures)star as Utah and Opal, a couple of junkies living on the streets of rural Ohio until a seemingly chance encounter with the enigmatic Wood (Michael K. Williams) brings them to Los Angeles for drug treatment. Utah appears to find sobriety with the help of a therapist (Oscar winnerMelissa Leo), and he soon falls for a former addict (Jessica RothefromHappy Death Day) who now works as a tech at the treatment center. However, Utah eventually discovers that drug treatment is just a cover for a predatory business that enlists addicts to recruit other addicts, and Utah is no exception. Wood and his drug treatment mogul partner (Frank Grillo) take Utah under their wing and introduce him to the good life, though Utah’s addiction remains his biggest obstacle.
Owen Campbell(Super Dark Times) andThomas Dekker(Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles) co-star in the film alongside indie musicianSam Quartinand veteran character actorPeter Greene, who’s best known for playing Zed inPulp Fictionand Redfoot inThe Usual Suspects.
“I was a street junky for over a decade. During my early attempts at recovery, I went through countless rehabs and detoxes all over the country. In that time, I was “brokered” and then taught how to broker bodies. This is the true story of the multi-billion dollar insurance scandal within the substance abuse treatment industry,” Swab wrote in his director’s statement. “The FBI recently raided several of the largest treatment centers in Southern California for body brokering and insurance fraud – with more to come. With the opiate epidemic being a central topic of conversation, people need to know about the predatory nature of the proposed solution to the problem: treatment. This is a film about where capitalism fails addicts.”
Indeed, asBody Brokersexplains, when the Affordable Healthcare Act was signed in 2008, it required every healthcare provider to cover substance abuse treatment. Since the bill was passed, nearly 2,000 sober livings, 100 in-patient treatment centers, and 200 detox facilities have opened up, and that’s just in Southern California alone. That is nearly 35,000 beds that need to be filled each month, and almost 500,000 beds that need to be filled each year, which means that the dirty business of getting clean is a multi-billion dollar industry.
Vertical Entertainment will releaseBody Brokersin theaters and on VOD/digital platforms on Feb. 19. Watch the trailer above, and check out a handful of images from the film as well as the exclusive poster. You can also see Grillo in theupcoming Hulu movieBoss Level.
