In this modern day drama, Oscar®-winner Melissa Leo beautifully conveys the heart-wrenching struggle that comes with love and addiction. She plays hopelessly hopeful Faye, mother to Sylvie who, many months after a car accident, continues to complain of back pain. After refusing physical therapy, it becomes clear to everyone but Faye that her daughter is addicted to pain killers. When earnest environmentalist Beckett moves to town, Faye quickly befriends him, hoping that he will be the solution to Sylvie’s problems. As Beckett finds himself further intertwined in their lives, he inadvertently helps Faye realize the depth of her family’s problem. Before too long Faye’s hand is forced, and she must decide whether to protect her daughter or find the happiness that she has long denied herself.

Nearly a decade after the success of her critically acclaimed Evergreen, director Enid Zentelis offers a stirring look into the debilitating effects of prescription drug abuse in Bottled Up. With a talented cast supporting Zentelis’s well-crafted script, we are drawn to a protagonist faced with the difficult choices of living a life dictated by the daughter she loves or beginning to live according to her own needs.

—Holly Voges