SXSW FILM REVIEW: Netflix Documentary ‘Take Your Pills’ is the Medicine We Need

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For as much play as the opioid crisis has been getting in the national media over the past several years, there’s been another pharmaceutical problem has been lurking just beneath the surface. Amphetamines have been a sort of unspoken issue that everyone seems to know about, but no one cares to discuss. Take Your Pills is looking to change that.

The new Netflix documentary, which premiered at SXSW, takes you on a deep journey into a potential new prescription crisis that has been bubbling up for decades, examining the growing trend of students and professionals using and abusing Amphetamines, in the form of Adderall and other ADD/ADHD drugs, and what effects those drugs are having both on individuals and as a society.

Anyone who’s tried to make a living in America knows that productivity is the name of the game. Employers and managers are looking for people willing to push themselves to 16-hour or 18-hour days, week after week. This overvaluing of performance has been part of the root cause of the rise of pharmaceuticals such as Adderall, with more and more people using these performance enhancing drugs to help them reach new heights of productivity.

This is explored in some depth in Take Your Pills, though admittedly not in as much depth as it could have been. Still, with testimonies from medical professionals and people who use and abuse the drugs, the film does paint a stark picture of the dangers of productivity obsession. The film talks with everyone from students, pro-athletes, artists, businesspeople, high volume stock traders, and tech engineers about their experiences with using Adderall, which has found its way into seemingly every corner of our modern life.

That should be a wakeup call for all of us. This is a full-fledged epidemic spawned, in large part, but overzealous pharmaceutical companies and their insidious marketing plans. Take Your Pills goes into great detail about Amphetamine was rebranded through the ages—from being used by fighter pilots in World War II, to being the weightless “pep pills” of the 50s, to being simply speed in the 60s, to being rebranded as pills to help with ADD. (Apparently, the name Adderall is a portmanteau of “ADD” and “All”, a clever name that reveals an insidious marketing plot, and explains why seemingly everyone can get a prescription.)

At just over 80 minutes, however, Take Your Pills feels more like an introduction to the problem rather than the deep dive it could’ve been. Much of the dangers are suggested more than explored, and many of the health problems are glossed over. It might have been nice to see some people who have had their lives or careers ruined by Adderall taking part in the conversation. They do interview Eben Britton, who was given a four-game suspension after taking Ritalin rather than his approved Adderall. His career as derailed because of the drug, sure, but that was more of a technicality than anything.

That might be why we don’t hear much about the growing problems with Adderall and the like. We don’t picture the people who are abusing those drugs the same way we’re picturing those addicted to Oxycontin or Xanax. They’re being productive so they’re not losers. Right?

Maybe it’s our attitude about what is and isn’t a drug that needs to change. Behind all the productivity we’re seeing are people literally killing themselves to make a living. That’s not sustainable in the long term, and the problems we’ve been avoiding will start hitting us sooner than we expect. It would have been great if Take Your Pills had explored that a bit more.

As it is, however, it’s still a powerful wake up call about our relationship with Amphetamines and productivity. Even if it’s slim in certain areas, it does help shine a light on the problems of over-relying and over-prescribing these dangerous drugs. In that way, Take Your Pills is the medicine that we need.

Take Your Pills premieres on Netflix on March 16.