So I literally registered IMDb to write an update about the four addicts in this film. As of 2012 Michelle passed away, to view her Obituary just Google search Michelle Boswell Obituary As for Sebastian a few websites have stated that he is clean and still lives in NYC. As for Tracy and Matt. I found Tracy on face book as well as Matt they have a daughter named Savannah.
21 Reviews
Depressing yet eye-opening
DarkSkyX16 July 2007
One of the most macabre, depressing, yet eye-opening docs. I've watched in awhile. There's no narration or story that's told, just a "third eye" type camera following around 2 couples of heroin addicts in NYC through the seasons. Watching them shoot up on the floors of public washrooms then "clean" their needles in the public toilets... sometimes it's a bit too much and you need to hit pause just to go for a breather.
Anyone currently in recovery of alcohol/drug addition should watch this when they're craving - it really shows you to what you could be going back to! After seeing this it's a wonder how anyone could even try this drug to begin with.
The only thing it needed was a follow up at the end to tell where these people are today. Judging from what is shown in the doc., there's no hope for any of them. They mention wanting to get better and quit, but it seems the only end to their habits is to quit by way of dying.
This definitely isn't for all audiences. I found myself kind of like watching a car accident - after I started watching it I just couldn't turn it off. I had to keep watching with a dark/morbid fascination of what it's like inside the lives of these addicts.
Anyone currently in recovery of alcohol/drug addition should watch this when they're craving - it really shows you to what you could be going back to! After seeing this it's a wonder how anyone could even try this drug to begin with.
The only thing it needed was a follow up at the end to tell where these people are today. Judging from what is shown in the doc., there's no hope for any of them. They mention wanting to get better and quit, but it seems the only end to their habits is to quit by way of dying.
This definitely isn't for all audiences. I found myself kind of like watching a car accident - after I started watching it I just couldn't turn it off. I had to keep watching with a dark/morbid fascination of what it's like inside the lives of these addicts.
First rate doc
JohnSeal19 September 2005
Warning: Spoilers
Tracy and Matt, Michelle and Sebastian: these are the two couples whose lives of addiction, crime, and squalor are brilliantly captured in this raw and honest HBO documentary. They're in turns petulant, charming, repulsive, astonishingly stupid, and dedicated: to the drugs and to each other. They're also each very different: Matt is a working class boy who clearly revels in his naughtiness, whilst prep school dropout Tracy supports the couple with Western Union money from her moneybags father, who makes a surprisingly sympathetic cameo towards the end of the film. Meanwhile widow Michelle (whose hubby died of an OD) earns her daily bread by posing as an NYPD vice cop willing to cut her would-be Johns a deal to avoid prison time, and sad sack companion Sebastian lives off the proceeds. You'll be pulled into their stories and will wish the film went on for twice as long. Unlike most documentaries of this kind, there's no coda providing us with an update about their progress (can Matt and Tracy really keep that Brooklyn apartment? Will Michelle go back to Bellevue for more detox? And can Sebastian become any more pathetic?). As a result, the film seems incomplete, but that may have been the point. Essential viewing, as long as you aren't completely averse to scenes of people shooting up.
My best friend is one of those featured. He's doing OK 👍
UNOhwen26 April 2012
When this doc was made, another was Add at the same time, here in NYC: UNION SQUARE THE MOVIE. Both of these featured people from the same group
I was in the latter film, my best friend (Sebastian) was in this.
It's '12, and both of us are not on the street. He lives with me, and we're both doing MUCH better than we were at that point in our lives.
Michelle's son is currently incarcerated. Matt & Tracy (who we know), are alive. How much better they're doing is questionable, and not something I want to comment on.
Suffice it to say, (Sebastian & I) have both been through a lot. We made our films for different reasons (the makers of Sebatian's flick would give him money to get high - then film it. I had a contract (of which I was the only one paid, and even I was screwed).
But, it's over: we're older, and we both want to get on with out lives.
I wouldn't change way happened, but, I don't wish anyone would go through this. It's NOT 'fun.' nor glamorous. Unfortunately, you can't make people learn from your mistakes.
UPDATE: Michelle passed away in May '12. That's all I know (Someone told me. I told Sebastian - who wasn't interested).
I was in the latter film, my best friend (Sebastian) was in this.
It's '12, and both of us are not on the street. He lives with me, and we're both doing MUCH better than we were at that point in our lives.
Michelle's son is currently incarcerated. Matt & Tracy (who we know), are alive. How much better they're doing is questionable, and not something I want to comment on.
Suffice it to say, (Sebastian & I) have both been through a lot. We made our films for different reasons (the makers of Sebatian's flick would give him money to get high - then film it. I had a contract (of which I was the only one paid, and even I was screwed).
But, it's over: we're older, and we both want to get on with out lives.
I wouldn't change way happened, but, I don't wish anyone would go through this. It's NOT 'fun.' nor glamorous. Unfortunately, you can't make people learn from your mistakes.
UPDATE: Michelle passed away in May '12. That's all I know (Someone told me. I told Sebastian - who wasn't interested).
Too real
Mike85430 March 2019
I was a paramedic for ten years during the worst of the opiate crisis and in the course of my daily duties I encountered people like this all the time I firmly believe that this should be shown to high school students so they can see the ugly side of drugs, and especially the desperation to make enough money for the next high. Note that they never eat. They just get high.
Heroin users on the streets of NYC
tbyrne42 June 2006
"Dope Sick Love" is a really remarkable documentary made for HBO about two pairs of heroin addicted lovers roaming the streets of NYC. I managed to catch it one night by accident and found it absolutely mesmerizing. There is no narration and we never see any interviews with the subjects, the camera just follows them around, like a third eye, completely detached. The people being followed don't even seem aware that they're being filmed! (or, at least, they don't seem to care). The footage is amazingly candid. Some of the most candid I've ever seen. This is as real as it gets. The nuts and bolts of what its like to be on the street and addicted to heroin. We watch them score dope, shoot it, make up, hustle, and even impersonate cops to rob people, and about a million other tiny details that less observant documentary filmmakers would leave out.
Some of the footage is truly horrifying. Like watching one guy frantically searching for fix he lost. I found myself praying that he would find it, just so that his misery would temporarily end. And when he does find it, the guy literally dances in the street.
The cyclical nature of drug addiction becomes very apparent while watching this. EVERYTHING is about getting the next score to these folks, yet the next score seems to be well worth the immense trouble they go through.
I would love to get a copy of this, if anyone knows where it is available. Highly recommended, if you can catch it on HBO.
Some of the footage is truly horrifying. Like watching one guy frantically searching for fix he lost. I found myself praying that he would find it, just so that his misery would temporarily end. And when he does find it, the guy literally dances in the street.
The cyclical nature of drug addiction becomes very apparent while watching this. EVERYTHING is about getting the next score to these folks, yet the next score seems to be well worth the immense trouble they go through.
I would love to get a copy of this, if anyone knows where it is available. Highly recommended, if you can catch it on HBO.
Weren't Parts of this Staged?
recluse210 May 2019
When Michelle gets into Maxima to rip off trick, didn't it seem staged? How are the conversations inside the car recorded very loud and clear? (cameraman is not inside car).Is it recorded with a pocket recorder (or phone) by Michelle and then re-recorded later? Other parts also appeared staged. And were the two couples paid to be in the film? And if not, why would they do it? Another nagging question is: Are these couples homeless? We are never told whether they are sleeping outside or have places.
Still worth 6 stars though.
Still worth 6 stars though.
Sad and Depressing
view_and_review31 January 2022
Watching people self-destruct is not my idea of a good time. "Dope Sick Love" followed two drug addict couples around New York as they filled their days and nights A.) trying to get drugs B.) trying to get money for drugs or C.) using the drugs they just scored. It was a sad existence and it was depressing to watch.
A true look at addiction
jrichardpercussion10 November 2021
This movie provides a real look at what addiction and life on the streets can be like. I'm sure some of the scenes were partially stages, or re-recorded to protect identities, but other than that, this is as real as it gets.
dope sick love
faithineden15 December 2007
Warning: Spoilers
i watch this film with horror in my heart because my mother also was a crack head like Michelle. i've been wondering where Michelle is now. there has been times where i had to find my mother in places i was scared to be but more scared to leave her there! to see Michelle act like that made me wonder where she was sleeping all that time?? i watched in hopes the it was never that bad for my mom! and what i want to know is... where did Matt and Tracy "tear that ass up"?! worst scene for me was watching Tracy shoot up in an old navy dressing room!!!! u never who try clothes on before you and it looks like all of them except Michelle has aids!!!! where are they know 2008? can we get an update??????????
I Know These People
tbug-4760020 August 2019
As a heroin addict in Greenwich Village in the early 2000s, I have often wondered what became of these two couples who's paths I often crossed. Although, I didn't know Michelle as well as Matt, Tracy and Sebastian, I was sorry to hear of her passing. Having had the benefit of a roof over my head and other responsibilities, my hustle was not as desperate; I told jokes to tourists for dope money. I very well remember them being shadowed by a skeleton crew from HBO (a camera man and boom operator) and can attest to its authenticity. They asked me to sign a release so I could be filmed too and I emphatically and thankfully refused. I found the actions of the film crew to be exploitational and certainly more unseemly than the actions of my friends (who were paid $40 a day) in the film. I was taught to only punch up, never punch down. It pained me to watch Dope Sick Love where people I knew to be clever, kind and funny were put on salacious display during their darkest days. To Sebastian especially I want to say I am so glad you're still around. You were always a true gentleman. I have been clean for over 5 years and although it hasn't always been easy, it's well worth it. None of us should ever be defined by our past. If you see Matt and Tracy pass on warmest regards from Tess.
Two drug addicted couples on the streets of New York City.
petemon28 March 2005
This documentary was originally part of the America Undercover series produced by HBO and presents a searing view of life at the bottom of the drug culture. Shot in cinema verite by film makers Brent and Craig Renaud there is no narration, no music, and there are no special effects. It documents an 18 month period during which two couples, living on the streets of New York City, struggle day by day, and, sometimes, hour by hour to feed their crack habits. They are caught up in an endless hustle to make the next score, then the next , then the next. This is a film which should be required viewing for any young people who think there is romance in crack addiction.
This documentary chronicles the lives of 2 heroin addicted couples living on the streets of New York City
libertyjroman27 February 2017
Warning: Spoilers
This documentary was so intense, unfiltered and raw. I feel as though many people know that drug addiction is bad, but this documentary shows what people really go through under the control of drugs.
Hearing/seeing the sexual acts they all performed regularly for drug money was really shocking and a hard reality of what many people on the street feel they must submit to, especially hard seeing that they wanted to be loyal to each other but felt they had to do this to survive. I remember at one point one of the men saying he just tries to dissociate himself from his physical body, so he can do what he has to do.
They also scammed people a lot. Picking locks and trying to be buzzed in to buildings they don't live in to shoot up,stealing receipts from the trash, finding the item in the store, then "returning" it for money, and Michelle even pretending to be an undercover cop willing to break a deal to men who have picked her up
They also have rough family dynamics. Two had children they hadn't seen in months. Matt had a falling out with his brother in the middle of the street when he was given a hard truth.
This documentary showed a lot, what I wish it did show was an update at the end.
Hearing/seeing the sexual acts they all performed regularly for drug money was really shocking and a hard reality of what many people on the street feel they must submit to, especially hard seeing that they wanted to be loyal to each other but felt they had to do this to survive. I remember at one point one of the men saying he just tries to dissociate himself from his physical body, so he can do what he has to do.
They also scammed people a lot. Picking locks and trying to be buzzed in to buildings they don't live in to shoot up,stealing receipts from the trash, finding the item in the store, then "returning" it for money, and Michelle even pretending to be an undercover cop willing to break a deal to men who have picked her up
They also have rough family dynamics. Two had children they hadn't seen in months. Matt had a falling out with his brother in the middle of the street when he was given a hard truth.
This documentary showed a lot, what I wish it did show was an update at the end.
Searching for updates made me sad.
xxdmarklexx5 October 2021
Its 2021 & just watched this amazingly done documentary. It shows how drug addiction is not glamorous. Too many shows and movies show the party side of addiction & drug use, especially those in 80-90s. Sadly heroin is a much bigger issue in 2021 & sadly becoming a true epidemic in US. I myself have been blessed to not fallen victim but we've lost multiple friends to drugs. Drugs does not discriminate as it afflicts all races & all class levels.
This was such a simple yet grippingly grim doc. Its not easy to film human tragedy without stepping in to stop or aid those in pain.
I was saddened to read Michelle has passed on. I pray her son has found peace after losing both his parents. It affects so many in our lives when drug shatters a family.
Definitely a timeless documentary that should be a must watch in schools.
This was such a simple yet grippingly grim doc. Its not easy to film human tragedy without stepping in to stop or aid those in pain.
I was saddened to read Michelle has passed on. I pray her son has found peace after losing both his parents. It affects so many in our lives when drug shatters a family.
Definitely a timeless documentary that should be a must watch in schools.
Really Good but also Really Sad...
lizzyblueyez23 December 2015
This is such a depressing movie but it's a very well made movie capturing the lives of 2 drug addict couples day in and night. It shows what they go thru and how they survive on the streets chasing that high they can't live without.Made me really sad them waste their lives that way.But then everyone makes their own choices in life and unfortunately they all chose the life of drug abuse and homelessness-even crime. I think all young people (high school age) should see this film and I bet it would be a complete eye-opener. I've watched the film now 2 times. That's how well done it is. It's very very gritty and real and maybe some might think some scenes go too far, or are too graphic. That just makes it a better film. I wonder if Mr.Alpert will do a follow up film. To see where the people featured ended up.
Cinema verite on drug addiction:
chickenpuss6 July 2010
I will use the words drug addiction, because this is the operative life style exposed in a overt representation on four beautiful human beings lost in hardcore drug addiction. I was disgusted seeing the first viewing; because I am a recovery addict. I have lived aspects of this life style, so I know the pain and suffering these individuals struggled with on a daily basis. Hustle for the drug; or give the drugs up. It is easier said than done. Most people are brainwashed to scapegoat drug addicts. This has been done for a long as demon drugs(cocaine/crack; heroine; speed) are viewed as the problem: once you try it you cant stop. This is a lie, and scientifically proved by many scientists. People are either prone towards addiction or they are not. If you were raised in a loving fashion by caring individuals, there is no way you will ensconce yourself in an existence of drug dependency; such as the brave characters filmed in this awesome movie. One may be genetically predisposed, but this is another fallacy. If you were loved and validated as the unique person you were in your formative years or ''upbringing'', it doesn't matter if you have those addictive genes, environmentally, you will not be drawn to this life style, and if you were; I believe there is a very slim chance you will be come a drug addict. Why would you want to abuse yourself and suffer. It makes no sense to an intelligent being! My theory is: if you studied those individuals depicted in this harrowing account of crack/heroine addiction, I'm certain you will find not one of those people were loved, validated, or acknowledged for who they were, while they were raised. If you look close, I'm certain you will find abuse to some degree unresolved; this is why they became addicts. Personal & societal dislocation with no psychosocial integration!
The People Responsible For This Film Should Be Ashamed of Themselves!
JohnHoving26 May 2015
These film makers took advantage 4 terribly addicted people. It is just irresponsible to film people who could possibly overdose at anytime. Showing the audience long drawn out shots of the couples shooting up, coping drugs, nodding out, engaging in acts of prostitution and a host of other activities is just about the lowest form of film making I have ever witnessed.
All I can say is this is not something I could ever condone and find their methods selfish and self serving. The only party benefiting from this sick relationship the film makers developed with these couples is themselves. Probably only to make a quick buck and make a name for themselves and off the backs of drug addicts, just disgusting.
I'm also wondering how much they paid these folks to allow their camera people to follow them around for 18 months. Truly reprehensible behavior not to mention irresponsible. Their just lucky no one died in their quest to make a name for themselves!
All I can say is this is not something I could ever condone and find their methods selfish and self serving. The only party benefiting from this sick relationship the film makers developed with these couples is themselves. Probably only to make a quick buck and make a name for themselves and off the backs of drug addicts, just disgusting.
I'm also wondering how much they paid these folks to allow their camera people to follow them around for 18 months. Truly reprehensible behavior not to mention irresponsible. Their just lucky no one died in their quest to make a name for themselves!
Review is both a 10 and sadly a 1.
dsalyer-4113812 February 2024
Watching over this films again I have to give it a 5, but not because it is mediocre but because those rating it much lower have a point. It is raw and shocking in showing the truth behind drug addiction. I only hope it resonates with anyone out there thinking about using drugs. A 10 for showing the truth behind drug use and addiction.
However, one has to wonder if it would be ok to offer a documentary on some other type of disease. How about showing a graphic documentary of AIDS, or better yet a disease that has no social stigma behind it, one that people are less likely to blame the victim. How about following people in a dementia unit. People striped of their humanity as their mind decay. Would it be ok to watch someone acting crazy, soiling themselves, screaming and yelling at staff? Of course not, but why is ok to film people who have the disease of addiction? It is because society tends to view addicts as victims of their own moral failing. And for this I would give it a one for voyeurism and exploitation.
However, one has to wonder if it would be ok to offer a documentary on some other type of disease. How about showing a graphic documentary of AIDS, or better yet a disease that has no social stigma behind it, one that people are less likely to blame the victim. How about following people in a dementia unit. People striped of their humanity as their mind decay. Would it be ok to watch someone acting crazy, soiling themselves, screaming and yelling at staff? Of course not, but why is ok to film people who have the disease of addiction? It is because society tends to view addicts as victims of their own moral failing. And for this I would give it a one for voyeurism and exploitation.
See also
Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews
