Everyone pause.
Louis Theroux has a new documentary which will be released in October and it’s important we learn everything there is to know about it.
Theroux, the single greatest documentary-maker of our time, has turned his sights onto “America’s love affair with prescription painkillers that has led to widespread dependency on opiates.”
He spends time in an Appalachian community which has been crippled by heroin use in Huntington, West Virginia.
POST CONTINUES BELOW: The Louis documentary you absolutely must watch.
In the past, Theroux has most notably explored the subcultures of Scientology, sex workers, neo-Nazis, the Westbro Baptist Church, porn stars, paedophiles and prisoners.
The documentary titled Dark States – Heroin Town, sees Louis, “immerse [himself] in some of the most dysfunctional and disturbing aspects of American society. They combine hard-hitting actuality with intimate interviews,” he says.
“I have been granted access to the police in several states; I’ve got to know the people affected by crime; and I’ve also spent time with the perpetrators of crime, with the idea of understanding the causes of it, both on a systemic level and also in a very personal way,” Theroux told NME.
The opiate crisis in the United States has led to a crackdown on over-prescribing drugs, and has since led to an unprecedented epidemic of heroin use.
Drugs now claim more lives in the United States than car accidents or gun-related crimes, and for the first time in 20 years the average life-expectancy is declining. Experts attribute this phenomenon to the rise in drug overdoses.
This isn’t the first time Theroux has delved into drug culture in the US. In 2009, he resided briefly in California to film Louis Theroux: The City Addicted to Crystal Meth.
Heroin Town will be broadcast on the 8th of October, on the BBC.
Two more documentaries are set to follow, one titled Murder in Milwaukee and another titled Sex Trafficking in Houston.
Theroux began with Louis Theroux's Weird Weekends in the late 1990s, before endeavouring on the series When Louis Met. More recently, Theroux has worked on BBC Two Specials, including By Reasons of Insanity, and A Different Brain.
The documentarian has also announced he has a new project in sight. Donald Trump.
“The story seems to change every day with Trump. There’s something new bubbling under. It’s hard to get your head around such a big subject," he told NME.
“The challenge with Trump would be… something so abhorrent that walks on two legs and is a human being, you have to explore where his foibles come from.”
We cannot wait.
You can listen to the latest episode of Mamamia Out Loud, here.
Top Comments
He seems to be against Trump before he even starts the project.
He really is a great talent! My hubby and I love watching his doco's.