Gentle by Birth

About the film

After her 23-year-old brother dies of an overdose, filmmaker Doree Simon Hatfield investigates the stigma she believes blocked his access to treatment and support. Her search takes her from her family’s living room to harm reduction sites, music festivals, and the halls of the Pennsylvania Capitol, where she meets experts working to change how addiction is understood and treated. But as her own fear and stigma around drugs begin to dissolve, Doree makes a radical choice to try them herself—transforming the film from a dissection of her brother’s addiction into a provocative reckoning that threatens her family’s fragile healing.

After her brother’s fatal overdose, filmmaker Doree Simon Hatfield investigates addiction stigma—from her family’s living room to Pennsylvania’s Capitol. Her decision to try drugs herself turns that search into a deeply personal reckoning.

Directed by

Doree Simon Hatfield

US release dates

1. Thu, Nov 5
   Wide release

   Three Rivers Film Festival