Unprescribed

Directed by Steve Ellmore, Unprescribed revolves around the growing movement to replace traditional medicine with marijuana as a means for helping combat veterans overcome the trauma of battle. It’s an interesting topic that’s employed to familiar yet eye-opening effect by Ellmore, as the filmmaker does an impressive job of blending compelling personal anecdotes with a myriad of marijuana-related facts and figures – although, as becomes clear, Unprescribed is at its best when focused on the former more than the latter. (There is, for example, a captivating segment in the movie’s second half wherein the mother of a deceased soldier explains the degree to which pills and overworked doctors drove her son to suicide.) And although some of Ellmore’s directorial flourishes ultimately detract from the otherwise intriguing atmosphere – Kai Engel’s obtrusive score often threatens to drown out certain portions of the proceedings, for example – Unprescribed‘s surfeit of effective, affecting stories ensures that it succeeds as an in-depth look into subject matter alien for most viewers.

*** out of ****