This would not be the first film about drug addiction, nor would it be the first film about the rehabilitation process. The state of battling addiction, no matter what it was you were addicted to, is a bit of a gold mine, albeit a depressing one, for filmmakers. Often, that’s because it allows for personal reflection and offers that human connection to the audience. People will watch Union County and immediately be able to relate to it or take something away from it, whether they themselves have found themselves on the exact same path or they’ve watched somebody else go down it. Union County remains an effective emotional journey that makes an impact where it matters most. For people who need a reminder that rehab isn’t easy, it isn’t perfect, and for those on the outside looking in, the challenges ahead are equal to climbing a mountain. Not everybody reaches the peak, but everybody wants to.

Union County, which is being distributed by Oscilloscope in the United States after debuting earlier this year at the Sundance Film Festival, stars Will Poulter and Noah Centineo as brothers Cody and Jack Parsons. Both are addicts trying to rehabilitate themselves and get clean. In Ohio, where Union County is set, they are going through a court-mandated rehabilitation program that involves taking accountability, presenting themselves in front of a court, and following all the intricate rules of the process along the way. At first, it seems like Jack is going to make it the furthest since he is currently living in a sober house while his older brother Cody is living out of his car. But things change, and eventually Cody finds himself living in a sober house while Jack is expelled for breaking a rule and has to start over from scratch.

We see how difficult this journey is for both of them and how the guilt weighs particularly heavily on Cody, played by Poulter. We learn the most about his journey with addiction and how he feels responsible for his younger brother becoming addicted as well. It’s not a typical sob story, and they’re not a typical family. They came out of a foster situation but remained a tight-knit group, even staying in contact with their sister, Katrina, who managed to stay clean. There’s a lot of history there, including the fact that she once allowed Cody and Jack to stay with her without knowing they were bringing drugs into her house. Union County doesn’t need to manufacture additional tragedy because there’s already more than enough embedded in the complicated history of these characters.

Will Poulter certainly has come a long way, and this is just one more role, one more notch on his belt, that demonstrates his maturity and range as he continues looking for roles that challenge him as an actor and push him places he hasn’t gone before. It’s nice to see a child actor like Poulter grow up and embrace adulthood with increasingly complicated roles. Poulter carries with him the weight and responsibility necessary for Cody, making you understand the guilt this man carries around with him and how difficult it is for him to imagine a future beyond his addiction.

Noah Centineo, who I did not think had this amount of dramatic depth in him, is definitely the supporting player of the two, but he has the opportunity to break your heart and spirit. That’s not something I necessarily thought Centineo had within him. Union County remained a surprise for me because Poulter and Centineo are both absolutely excellent in their roles. It’s a small film, and it’s not a happy one, so I wonder how much traction it can get with audiences willing to commit to something that won’t necessarily leave them feeling uplifted, even though I wouldn’t say the film ends on a completely dour note.

Union County is what indie filmmaking is for: to harness these incredibly personal stories, tales of tragedy laced with the possibility of revival or redemption but still carrying a weight that feels too heavy to be a major theatrical release for a studio. Without Oscar nominations, I could never see Union County being something pushed into 3,000 screens. But an indie distributor like Oscilloscope knows exactly which arthouse theaters attract an audience willing to give this film the time of day it deserves. Union County is an exceptional character study brought to life by a director patient enough to allow Poulter and Centineo to deliver career-best performances.

The sad truth is that Oscilloscope likely won’t be able to carry this much further than perhaps the Independent Spirit Awards. So, as far as recognition goes for the work Poulter and Centineo are doing here, perhaps it’s just building goodwill among those who end up seeing Union County. It will impress people, and you never know who sees what film and how it propels your career forward in the strangest of ways. Steven Spielberg, after the passing of Sam Neill, talked about how seeing him in Dead Calm helped lead him toward casting Neill in Jurassic Park. Those characters aren’t remotely similar, but there was something Spielberg saw in that performance, and that’s all that matters. So for Poulter and Centineo, who knows who will see Union County and what they’ll be offered next?

Sadly, this film doesn’t have audio description, which I knew when I accepted the screener. But I had heard really good things about Union County, and I wanted to see how much of it I could follow. I wouldn’t recommend it for a blind or low-vision audience without audio description because it is a quiet, meditative drama. There are plenty of times when it patiently waits for dialogue to come, seemingly lingering on landscapes or the barren, flat and sometimes desolate areas surrounding these characters. It feels like the kind of film where characters stand outside and ponder life a lot, staring off into the distance, thinking about the choices they’ve made and wondering what they’ll be able to accomplish if they have the strength to kick their addiction.

In the scenes where there is dialogue, the characters shine and are able to pull out some really lovely work. But I would be lying if I said I didn’t miss a few things as a blind film critic watching a film like this that is not heavily reliant on dialogue. Audio description bridges a gap, and there definitely were gaps that needed to be bridged. Can I look at this film objectively and suggest it to a broad audience of people who aren’t worried about accessibility? Absolutely. If for no other reason, watch it for these performances.

I tend to be able to recommend films based on performances even if the film itself doesn’t live up to their potential, but I actually think Union County is pretty good. It’s written well, directed well, and the performances are terrific. It’s one of the better films I’ve seen this year. Perhaps I might have scored it a little bit higher if I knew exactly what I was missing in some of those quiet moments, but I’m already giving the film a pretty decent score.

If you have a chance to check out Union County, I hope you do, because films like this need to continue to be made. With the way theatrical distribution is looking more and more, we are pushing things so quickly to streaming services and premium video on demand that theatrical runs are becoming shorter. Films have less time to spend in limited release before potentially going wide and gaining that word-of-mouth connection. Often, films like Union County can simply get lost if they don’t find an audience and build that word of mouth almost immediately. Union County is one of the most heartbreaking films of 2026, and it features two stunning performances. What more could you ask for?

Fresh: 8.5/10