By George & Josh Bate
Raw, unflinching, bleak, and ultimately quite beautiful are just some of the words that can describe Daniel Blake Schwartz’s debut feature Cotton Fever.
Making its world premiere at this year’s Tribeca Festival, Cotton Fever chronicles the interconnected lives of various people in Chelsea, Massachusetts desperately navigating the daily troubles of substance addiction. Among these characters is James (Kyle Gallner), a man who withdraws from substance use treatment to pursue using and dealing again as his pregnant girlfriend Dina (Sosie Bacon) prepares to have their first baby. Meanwhile, Sam (Chabely Ponce) and Manny (Ari Mora) are a young queer couple living on the streets while they’re forced to make moral compromises in order to get the substances they so desperately crave. Doing what he can to help those in need is Akil (Ronald Emile), a dedicated street outreach worker who distributes food, water, and narcan to substance users across Chelsea. Their lives, and the lives of others, intertwine as they confront hard truths, form unlikely bonds, and pursue redemption.
Much like Requiem for a Dream and Trainspotting, Cotton Fever is a difficult watch. It’s not difficult in the sense that it is tedious or fright-inducing, but, rather, difficult in that, like Darren Aronofsky and Danny Boyle’s iconic films about substance use, paints an unfiltered picture of the myriad of ways in which substance use cripples and plagues the lives of anyone it touches.
Writer and director Daniel Blake Schwartz tells a story that is deeply rooted in his lived experience. The film draws on his real-life journey battling heroin addiction in Chelsea, Massachusetts and was even filmed on the very streets where he once lived unhoused and used. In turn, Cotton Fever makes for an uncomfortably realistic and personal movie, one that seems simultaneously both autobiographical and universal in its relevance. Even those who have thankfully not had substance use affect their lives or the lives of their loved ones will viscerally feel the personal anguish Schwartz brings to the story and its myriad of complex characters.
In this sense, Cotton Fever is far from a crowd-pleasing spectacle. Its honest portrayal of substance use and homeless living is likely to strike a nerve, even among the most steadfast of viewers. The streets in which the film is set are riddled with used needles. The characters live in grimy motels or even on the dirty, garbage-filled streets. When they’re not there, they can be found in rundown treatment centers, filled with others struggling with similar issues. They also stoop to unexpected moral lows, including resorting to violence and even using heroin while pregnant, such is the deleterious impact of substance use Schwartz exceedingly excels at conveying.
Enhancing the authenticity of Cotton Fever is an impressive ensemble that blends professional actors with emerging talent and non-actors. There isn’t a sole central character, rather a collective of individuals who enter and exit the movie sporadically and whose journeys intersect with the other players. The criminally underappreciated Kyle Gallner captivates as one of these characters, relying on subtlety and nuance of facial expressions and body language to portray a troubled and ultimately defeated man. Sosie Bacon similarly excels with a performance that creeps into prominence after a fairly unassuming first half. Bacon features in the film’s most disturbing scene and depicts a different, less externally tormented version of addiction that juxtaposes the dispositions of other characters.
It’s through its raw authenticity that Cotton Fever both triumphs and suffers, however. While it lends to an appropriately difficult viewing experience, it also proves exceedingly bleak and even depressing. Entirely devoid of levity, the film just barely manages to escape being characterized as a tortuous watch with a moving conclusion featuring a flicker of hope it so desperately desires.
VERDICT: 8/10
Making its world premiere at this year’s Tribeca Festival, Cotton Fever immerses its audience in a raw, unflinching, and bleak portrayal of substance use and addiction. In his feature debut, writer and director Daniel Blake Schwartz draws on his real-life experience battling heroin addiction to craft a film that resembles Danny Boyle’s Trainspotting and Darren Aronofsky’s Requiem for a Dream in chronicling the grimy, intersecting lives of various people addicted to substances. Schwartz’s film is far from a crowd-pleasing spectacle, instead operating as a disturbing and brutally honest portrayal of substance use and homelessness that even the most steadfast of moviegoers will be rendered uncomfortable by. An impressive ensemble that blends professional actors with emerging talent and non-actors heightens the authenticity of the film, with the criminally underappreciated Kyle Gallner standing out with a captivating, nuanced performance. Entirely devoid of levity, Cotton Fever teeters on exceedingly bleak and even depressing viewing and, in turn, certainly won’t resonate with everyone. But those willing to stick out the rather torturous journeys of the characters will be rewarded with a moving and deserved conclusion.