Why We Made This Film

Living on Methadone began with a simple question: if methadone has been used for decades and is one of the most established treatments for opioid use disorder, why is it still surrounded by so much stigma, misunderstanding, and restriction?

As we began researching the subject, the answer became much more complicated. We met people who credited methadone with helping them survive and rebuild their lives, but who still had to organize work, parenting, transportation, travel, and family responsibilities around the rules of treatment. We also heard stories of people who felt judged not only because of addiction, but because of the medication they were taking to recover.

One early encounter stayed with me. During research, I met a mother at a methadone clinic who brought her young son with Down syndrome to every appointment because she had no other option. Before we parted, she told me, “You should make this film. People don’t know how hard this is.” A few days later, I learned that she had died from an overdose. That conversation became one of the reasons I felt an obligation to continue.

Over the following years, the project grew through conversations with patients, families, clinic staff, physicians, historians, journalists, and policymakers. What emerged was not a simple story about whether methadone is good or bad. It was a much larger story about recovery, dignity, public policy, and the complicated relationship between evidence and the systems we build around it.

The film focuses on methadone, but it is ultimately about people. It asks what happens when someone is trying to rebuild a life while navigating a treatment system shaped by decades of regulation and stigma. It also places methadone within the broader landscape of medications for opioid use disorder and recognizes that recovery does not look the same for everyone.

We made Living on Methadone because too much of the public conversation about addiction still reduces people to statistics, stereotypes, or moments of crisis. We wanted to stay longer, listen more carefully, and show the everyday reality of recovery: its uncertainty, setbacks, relationships, small victories, and quiet resilience.

Our hope is that the film can replace some judgment with understanding and help create a more informed conversation about addiction, treatment, and the people living through it.

Mani Mehrvarz
Director & Producer, Living on Methadone