Dorian Shanley, is a heart surgeon who abuses alcohol and drugs. Dorian trades stolen pharmaceuticals for cocaine , provided by his best friend and enabler, Teddy. While Dorian's life and career take a nosedive, Shanley numbs the pain of losing his father, William Shanley, to a form of Alzheimer's common in prizefighters. To further complicate circumstances, Dorian falls in love with his girlfriend's best friend from college, Anna. The film follows Shanley through a maze of pharmacies, clubs and binges and surgeries, into the heart of drug abuse
Acting
Kirk Harris commits fully to physical deterioration.
Direction
Mark David's claustrophobic pharmacy-and-club visuals.
Director
Mark David
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Kirk Harris co-wrote the screenplay and reportedly shadowed actual surgeons to research Dorian's medical sequences.
Released in 2003 when prescription opioid crisis coverage was emerging, making Dorian's pharmaceutical theft feel eerily prescient rather than exploitation.
US
