Park City hosted the premiere of Adam Meeks’ “Union County” on Sunday, much to the delight of the audience. There was a long standing ovation after the screening at the Eccles Theatre.
The drama, starring Will Poulter and Noah Centineo as brothers in drug recovery, was filmed in an actual drug court in Ohio. Many of the co-stars were not actors, but worked on the show itself.
The biggest cheer from the Sundance crowd went to Annette Deo, who works in real life as a therapist helping people recovering from addiction. Deao has some emotional moments with Poulter.
In a Q&A after the screening, Meeks talked about how he became interested in this project.
“I’m from central Ohio, the area where this movie is set, but my immediate family and I left home when I was 6 years old,” he said. “It wasn’t until 2016 that I started spending a lot of time there as an adult. My grandmother got sick, so I came back to spend some time there, and I think because I was away for so long, I fell in love with Ohio and it changed the way I saw this place and the way I saw people. Around the same time, my relatives were telling me how the opioid epidemic at the time was impacting their friends and loved ones,” Meeks said. “It was intense. In fact, my uncle introduced me to the drug court judge at the time, the former judge, and he invited me to sit in on a meeting. I was hearing things that I think most of us are hearing. I immediately saw people recovering and starting to get back on their feet. I was also seeing the great work that Annette and her team and everyone were doing.”
Before the screening, Meeks spoke to Variety on the red carpet about how Poulter became involved in the project.
“He actually read the script through his agent and contacted us,” Meeks said. “I got on Zoom with him and instantly fell in love. At the end of the call, I acted coy, like, ‘Okay, I’ll talk to my guys, you talk to your guys.'” And five minutes later, we offered him the role and he accepted. It was a really organic, beautiful, mutual connection. ”
Deao also spoke to Variety on the carpet about how opioid abuse is progressing in the Midwest.
“We believe the opioid epidemic is changing,” Deao said. “Part of it is education. People understand it. Even our medical professionals understand it much better, but you can’t continue to prescribe it and expect people not to become addicted. We’re seeing improvements. And medication is an amazing part of how people recover from substance use disorders.”
