Like their previous film Lenny Cooke, sibling directors Benny and Joshua Safdie focus on a true story in Heaven Knows What, only this time they shoot it as a feature narrative instead of a documentary. The story behind it is unbelievable. While researching another project, Joshua ran into a young woman named Arielle Holmes and soon discovered her heartbreaking story of being a former homeless heroin addict who nearly died from a suicide attempt. So the Safide’s convinced Holmes to write a book about her life and then decided to have her play herself in the film. The result is an honest portrait of the heroin subculture found within the streets of New York City.

Heaven Knows What opens with a haunting exchange between Harley (Arielle Holmes) and her abusive boyfriend Ilya (Caleb Landry Jones), who is screaming that if she really loved him, she’d have killed herself by now. Neither of them are in a right state of mind, both being gaunt heroin junkies living on the streets of New York City. Harley eventually takes Ilya up on his wishes and slits her wrist, nearly killing herself right in front of him. After miraculously surviving her suicide attempt, Harley ends up in a psych ward at the Bellevue hospital.

The film doesn’t spend much time showing her stay at the hospital, lasting only as long as the opening credits, but cinematographer Sean Price Williams (The Color Wheel, Somebody Up There Likes Me) makes the most of it. This visually stunning scene involves frequent camera movement and focusing to mimic the disorienting state of a heroin addict’s mind. On top of that, a dizzying synth score completely drowns out all other noises, making these moments feel more fragmented than cohesive. It’s a spectacular montage all aspiring filmmakers should watch.

Sadly, Harley ends up right where she left off after being released from the hospital. Even though Ilya isn’t around to manipulate her anymore, Harley continuously makes poor decisions. She trades a physically dangerous boyfriend for a slightly more stable yet equally addicted one named Mike (Buddy Duress). But because Mike is a drug dealer, Harley remains on her path of self-destruction.

The Safdie brothers paint a hopelessly depressing picture by focusing on her dangerous urge to receive the next rush of heroin. Furthermore, just when opportunities of escape begin to surface–such as Ilya finally finding a way off the street for a trip to Florida–they’re crushed as fast as they can develop.

Caleb Landry Jones is the most recognizable name in the cast and one of the few professional actors, but that doesn’t mean he puts on the best performance. Two of the best performers are non-actors off the street, Holmes and Duress. Both use their real life experiences to provide a level of authenticity that transcends basic acting. Not being able to distinguish real actors between non-actors is a testament to everyone involved.

Heaven Knows What tends to wander exactly like its characters do, without a predefined destination or sense of urgency. Showing that life is only worth living until the next high makes it all the more discomforting to watch. Their relentless determination for the next heroin fix–even resorting to such dismal means as stealing mail in hopes of finding a gift card to sell–is what keeps us transfixed to the screen. Like the wayward lives of its characters, it’s never knowing what’s going to happen next that makes for a fixating film.

Originally published on 9/7/14 as part of our TIFF coverage

How is it possible that the #1 high school basketball player in America never ended up playing in the NBA? You probably never even heard of his name before. The documentary Lenny Cooke attempts to answer this question by containing a typical rise-and-fall framework, but packs more of an emotional punch than most of its kind. Lenny Cooke was extremely gifted at playing basketball–but like most teenagers his age–also had the downfall of looking for every possible shortcut. But one of his other rare talents is his relatively modest attitude, making it impossible not to cheer for him.

Back when Lenny Cooke was in high school he ranked just as high as players that went on to have successful careers in the NBA (Amar’e Stoudemire, Carmelo Anthony, and even LeBron James). In fact, he was ranked the #1 basketball player in the country for his age at one point. The opening montage features clips of Cooke dominating basketball camps that were attended by these future professional all-stars. It seemed all but inevitable that Cooke would someday be an all-star himself, but the fact that he does not is what makes this story so fascinating.

In 2001, one year before Cooke was eligible to be drafted, him and his closest friends gathered around his television set to watch the NBA draft. That draft was the first in NBA history to have the #1 overall pick be a person straight out of high school (Kwame Brown). And he was not the only one. The second and fourth overall picks were also fresh high school graduates. It was a year that shocked critics of the sport because not only are these young teenagers who have no financial wisdom suddenly becoming millionaires, but they are being lured away from pursuing a higher education at the collegiate level. It would be another five year before the NBA eventually changed its rules so players could not be drafted to the league straight out of high school.

Instead of relying on mostly “talking head” interviews, Lenny Cooke benefits from showing exciting footage of basketball camps and amazing behind-the-scenes material from a camera that followed Cooke around everywhere. This intimate portrait of him makes the whole situation all the more heartbreaking when his name was not called during the 2002 draft. But what really makes the viewer root for Cooke is that he remained fairly humble about his future prospects from the very beginning. When someone would ask him if he will be playing in the NBA, he would respond with “hopefully” instead of a self-assured answer like “absolutely”.

What makes the story of Lenny Cooke so much better than others is that his story is not a clichéd one about a kid with a bright future ahead who tragically turned to violence or something of that nature. As Robert DeNiro preached in A Bronx Tale, “the saddest thing in life is wasted talent,” which is exactly why Cooke’s story so poignant. Lenny Cooke provides the stark contrast between what his life nearly was and what his life currently consists of–visually evident by the amount of weight he gains over the years. It is unfortunate that the documentary ends with Cooke essentially pleading you to feel bad for him, because the story alone accomplishes that. Even though the final ten minutes becomes more of a pity party for Cooke than anything else, the rest of the documentary is compelling enough to make up for it.

Lenny Cooke trailer