Borderline

source: Borderline

This is the second Rich Mallery work I have viewed, the first being Maid Droid. Similar to Maid Droid, this skips any build-up or historical plausible context and instead gets straight to business quickly. In this case, we are dumped in the lap of a young, attractive female who seems to only exist to get high with her bestie roommate. She has a job, she has a mom, and even has a boyfriend- all of which are used to get drugs. Within her empty and hobby-less life, the priority is to get the next fix and she uses every tool in her box to get there. The common plot traits are here on her spiraling journey, but I was hoping for a little more dread, and rock bottom shock than what was presented. Or at least, something we haven't seen yet (eg; Rue in Euphoria or some of the clips in Requiem). Unfortunately, it misses an opportunity to say something unique about this horrid crisis that needs much more negative visibility. With that said, it was still pretty good on this budget, and Kate Johnston did quite well (with some daring expose). I can't say I was overly impressed with the supporting cast, but again.. budget. The final product held my interest utilizing edgy ingredients, adequate direction and a solid enough lead.

I don't know about the borderline-part, but this movie nails it when it comes to opiate addiction. The main character shows exactly what torments the addictee goes through, extreme selfishness during withdrawals, lack of money, violence, crime, and with a complete disregard of the consequences, as long as acquiring the objective, which is, of course, drugs. The main supporting character is perhaps even better. A drug user herself, she is not addicted and mostly able to keep her head cold, and her affection for the more compromised main character is also realistic, although many would have quit before her - there really are some ones that go several extra miles for their friend. There is explicit nudity, yes, but that is also realistic. The actors are only * in situations where their characters realistically would be *. Nothing is exaggerated for shock value. Can recommend for all drug users currently struggling and for relatives of same. Of course it has its flaws with such a small budget, but it is more than worth it.

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