As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Something often overlooked now given a real run through. I loved the movie's message but the actual movie blew me away! 10/10 on all fronts! The cinematography is incredible. It is such an important issue that is not given a lot of attention in this political America we live in. Everyone needs to watch this movie. truly changes your views on what heroin has become.

This is one great documentary. I couldn't stop watching as the subjects and their stories are so compelling that it's impossible to turn away. It's about the current opioid epidemic that's sweeping the country and taking lives of otherwise healthy productive people. The hook of the drug is insidious and grabs people like a Venus Fly Trap. The irony is that many if not most of the cases could be avoided if the doctors and hospitals that dispense the drugs so freely were more cautious about giving them out and providing adequate guidelines as to the potential hazards involved. In other words many of the cases of addiction which sometimes led to death, could be avoided. At one point I had tears running down my face as I was so moved by the stories of loss and sadness that all I wanted to do was hug my kid with the thought of putting a protective wall around her. Thank you HBO and kudos to the production team. Well done.

Warning: This Drug May Kill You is an absolutely outstanding film. What is happening with prescription medications and how addictive they can become is horrifying. This film could save the life of one of your loved ones - it is a 100% MUST SEE! It is informative, smart, well paced, and brilliantly tells a hard, but "must be heard" story. Perri Peltz did an exceptional job bring this very sad, but real story to life. She is to be congratulated. Amazing work! If you know anyone who takes too may pain killers or is using heroin - help them by seeing this incredible film. You could save a life.

This HBO documentary is an OK introduction to opioid addiction as it exists in 2017. It's only an hour long and features a handful of families sharing their stories of addiction. In each case, the opioid addiction started with individuals being prescribed opioids for pain relief, but without needed education, support, and oversight. Individuals were prescribed high doses of multiple medications for too long, and they became addicted and then progressed to heroin when the prescriptions are cut off by the doctor and the (now) addicted person learned that heroin is cheaper than buying pills on the street. I hear this story all the time in my work with people with substance use disorders. It's like a bad dream that recurs over and over again. But it's real, and I'm only seeing a drop in a larger ocean of pain.I do wish HBO had gone ahead and made a 2-hour film (at least) with more in-depth information, including how the drug works in the brain/body of the addicted person, why one person becomes addicted and another doesn't, what kinds of treatment are most effective in supporting long-term recovery, the ways for families and other loved ones to support people in addiction and recovery, and the kinds of policies and programs needed to reduce the incidence of addiction and to help those who are addicted, etc. (I know HBO touched more on these matters in their 2007 Addiction movie, but that was 10 years ago.) It seems unfortunate to me that the movie introduced the problem with so little to say about what can be done to address it. Especially at a time when the current Republican government seems hell-bent on cutting insurance coverage for addiction treatment!In a nutshell, this isn't a bad place to start if you've heard about the so-called opioid epidemic but don't know anyone affected and feel that the problem is someone else's and could never happen to you or your loved ones. But, it leaves a ton of questions unasked and mostly unanswered.