Documentary Film Review “Peaking: Psychedelics & The Pursuit Of Happiness” An exceptionally insightful, even euphorically revelatory, exploration of an unheralded answer to mental healing
WATCH THE TRAILER BELOW:
First, the Recap:
The troubled soul. When we come to a place where our thoughts are unsettled, the world around us is simply overwhelming, and the notion of even trying to EXIST each day is a challenge, the need for resolution becomes paramount. Being on the edge, feeling utterly defeated, spent, and hopeless is no place to try and live, with the most extreme options to find peace a reality that is just as dire. Where can you turn? What path could remotely be the answer we seek to rediscover mental wellbeing?? Welcome to a new actuality. Welcome to an answer……psychedelics.
What follows is a testament to the filmmaking prowess of writer/director/producer Jordan Kronick, producer Hannah Vicente-Kliot, executive producers Erich Tengelsen and Tracy Miedema Tengelsen, plus archival producer Matthew Fisher. Read on, and prepare for some seriously…loaded…praise for a more than noteworthy project!
Next, My (altered) Mind:
I would be lying if I didn’t state that when this particular review request arrived to me and I saw the accompanying film’s title, even knowing it was a documentary effort, I just wasn’t sure what I was about to get into. In general terms, I have never made it a secret that this particular genre of the filmmaking realms is a continually slippery slope for me, as even when documentaries are founded in real life, there’s never an absolute guarantee the topic being explored will have any immediate chance to grab me, much less keep my attention. But, this is also the indie film arena, and if any community is going to find the means to capture and captivate me, it’s this one. And so, I ended up witnessing a massively surprising, eye-opening, educationally-fueled, research-backed, awareness-raising, truly inspired 95-minutes that had me from start to finish, no exaggeration. It’s a wake-up call in the most unexpected of ways at a time when the need is great.
Now, I will preface this and state that while the specific means of mental liberation and amazingly lasting healing we’re privy to here might not BE for EVERYONE (plus, it isn’t even legally available in the U.S. to begin with), that doesn’t preclude the sheer truth that it could unlock a controlled and viable source OF non-harmful, non-recreational dosages and treatments centered on certain psychedelics that would change the lives of THOUSANDS of those whose struggles with mental illness and addiction are present, real, and tragically lead to potentially devastating finality. This is the power of this film, as it doesn’t just try and be some random propaganda piece pushing drug use. It’s a wholly expanded journey that navigates the history of some of the primary forms of psychedelics: LSD, Ibogaine, Psilocybin, MDMA, Ayahuasca, and Toad, ALL of which are banned in the U.S.
Learning the background of these drugs, initiated in the 1950’s, what immediately stands out for me was the fact that from the beginning, these were all substances created, researched, and present in LABS, the scientific community, and those dedicated to seeing how the use of them could legitimately and constructively aid those battling mental health and addiction issues, for their BENEFIT, that could then allow these people to go back to LIVING. But, as we sadly so often see occur with things that are meant for good, there are always those who choose to take it out into the world for either their own agenda or profit, which is what LEAD to the U.S. government making the decision to then wage war against these drugs. Make them illegal, criminalize them. But there was a downside to this….it ALSO stopped the actual research aiming to HELP people, and this is the genuine travesty that comes to light throughout the film’s runtime.
Through the direct testimonials of a perfectly conveyed cross-section of people in desperate need to conquer their ravenous inner demons–former pro athletes, military veterans, and a (now) former addict, we get to absorb their own personal narratives about the ugly nature of their traumas and pain, the place of hopelessness they had reached, and the choice to seek the means (usually out of the country) to try psychedelics, figuring “what do I have to lose?”. The results, to say the least, are in my opinion, borderline miraculous. Former NHL players Daniel Carcillo and Stephen Johns, former soccer star Michelle Akers, military veterans Thomas Wyatt, Jesse Gould, Chalvia Brown, and Broc Hooten, and opioid addict Cheryl Hedrick are but a few sharing with candid, straightforward vulnerability about the depths of conflict they were encountering, their subsequent decisions to try psychedelics, and the pure, valid, PROVEN healing they experienced.
Symptoms including brain fog, fatigue, slurred speech, and more from concussions, the violent horrors of war relived with PTSD, to the inexorable, damaging monster of addiction and all the deviant behavior it can bring with it, laid bare but then CONQUERED. But, it doesn’t stop there, we also get the perspectives of professionals who’ve dedicated their lives to the study of psychedelics and their genuine potential and uses for curing so many mental maladies, including Neuroscientist Robin Carhart-Harris, psychedelic historian Erika Dyck, and cognitive neuroscientist Roy Salomon, all of whom have known about, supported, and fight for the re-legitimzing of psychedelics. Additionally, legalization activist Rick Doblin, Beond co-founder Talia Eisenberg, music producer Paul Oakenfold, and underground practitioner Frank “Bearheart” Saputo (along with clients Brian, Jason, and Scotty) all weigh in as well.
What it is adding up to is the indisputable fact that these drugs DO WORK, again providing not just temporary fixes or recreational highs, but rather brain-chemistry alteration and associated effects in MONITORED, CONTROLLED settings with people who CARE about the wellbeing of those who so deeply require this kind of newfound stability and LASTING effects TO…THEIR…BETTER…HEALTH. What if hours, sometimes days, eradicated what YEARS of other therapies couldn’t?? Emancipation from trauma, pain, destroyed self-image, hopelessness, possible suicide?? Is this NOT something to at last realize and support when it could indeed be an answer for so many?? The push is on here in the U.S. to see since the early 2000’s to once more research psychedelics. And as one individual stressed as well, this isn’t some “escape” that does the work for you…it’s simply an open door one must CHOOSE to walk through.
Folks, all I have written above honestly doesn’t even scratch the surface of what this 95-minute film encompasses. It is a viewing adventure that must be seen to fully grasp, to take in, to comprehend the realities of what is being put on display here and discern the unequivocal authenticity of everyone we hear from, what they share, and again, results that speak for themselves. So, in total, “Peaking: Psychedelics & The Pursuit of Happiness” is a no holds barred dive into a world most would dismiss offhand but hence need to step back and contemplate again, thanks to undeniable illustrations of how we could see an actual dent put in the debilitating impact of PTSD, stress, anxiety, depression, sexual and physical trauma, and who’s to say how many other mental issues with the kind of proper and recognized research. AIDING thousands. PREVENTING deaths. SEEING people healed and healthy. I mean, if you DON’T want that…you ARE trippin’!
STAR RATING (out of 5):
As always, this is all for your consideration and comment. Until next time, thank you for reading!
