October Saturday Night at the Movies: Ruined Wings

The Virtual REEL Recovery Film Festival, in association with In The Rooms, is pleased to present this month’s Saturday Night at the Movies film of the month! This Saturday, October 10th, at 9 PM Eastern, we will be screening Ruined Wings. First shown in 2019 at the REEL Recovery Film Festival in New York and Los Angeles, Ruined Wings tells an all too familiar story that starts with a prescription and ends in addiction.

Over 22 million people in America suffer from substance use disorder. Every day, roughly 128 people die from overdose due to opioid use and misuse. Those numbers increased as of late due to the pandemic. A lack of resources and the psychological impact of isolation and social distancing is taking its toll. Awareness is just the beginning in overcoming the stigma that surrounds drug abuse and addiction. Film is a powerful way to raise awareness open up a dialogue for better understanding.

About the Film

Director Sabrina Stewart uses the opioid epidemic as a backdrop for the very intimate story of a family suffering a horrible tragedy in Ruined Wings. Olivia Hobson, as Callie Novak, is outstanding in her portrayal of a young woman at the brink of success, brought to her knees by an unthinkable family tragedy, personal failure and the devastation of addiction. Abuse and misuse of prescription drugs amongst young adults is higher than in any other demographic. What begins as a prescription for an injury can quickly stem into drug abuse. In Callie’s case, the knee injury suffered on the ski slopes is compounded by the emotional injury of her father and brother’s death. This leads to her addiction—to the one thing that erases her emotional pain as well as her physical pain.

It is brutal watching her change, and watching her watch herself change, on screen as she goes from bright, ambitious and thoughtful, to cold, hardened and willing to do whatever it takes to get her fix. She sells drugs, sells her body and sells out her friends. Anyone who has experienced active addiction or loved someone with that disease will relate. I, too, remember what I did to get what I needed; lying, cheating and stealing were as natural as breathing.

Like in life, Callie’s fate is left open-ended, for the viewer to decide. Will she go to rehab and get clean? Will she live to draw another breath? Or, like the 128 people a day, does she die a death of loneliness, isolation and despair?