Reviews

Drunk on Too Much Life is an intimate and deeply moving documentary that follows the brilliant, courageous, and perceptive 21-year-old Corrina and her parents, Michelle and Pedro, as they venture down a path less traveled in search of a more inclusive and compassionate form of healing outside the confines of mainstream psychiatry. By tracing Corrina’s journey through the mental health system and beyond, the film challenges dominant narratives about experiences often labeled as “psychosis,” offering a psychosocial and spiritually informed perspective that honors and integrates their inherent meaning and transformative potential.

The film is both a testament of love to Corrina and a beacon of hope for families and individuals seeking healing beyond conventional systems. As Corrina and her parents connect with prominent activists, therapists, and peer leaders like Gabor Maté, Sascha Altman DuBrul, and Kevin Healey, they uncover how the singular focus on symptom eradication in psychosis often undermines humanity, dignity, and personhood. Instead, the film underscores the importance of connection, creativity, acceptance, and understanding as fundamental elements of recovery. With its raw honesty and uplifting message, Drunk on Too Much Life is essential viewing for anyone invested in transforming mental health care.

Leah Giorgini, Executive Director, ISPS-US

Drunk on Too Much Life is a poignant documentary that provides a distinct point of view regarding psychology and mental illness that others before it have failed to do. It destroys any sense of stigma and any viewer is surely better for it. This film will be a strong addition to any academic library, especially one with a strong health science, mental health, or social work background.

Bryan J. Sajecki, University at Buffalo

Drunk on Too Much Life guides us through a young woman’s experience with psychosis, from her initial experiences navigating a biomedically-based mental health system to her journey of meaning-making and personal empowerment. This documentary challenges deficit-based models of “serious mental illness” and uplifts humanizing and dimensional understandings by embracing the power of personal narrative and creativity.

Lauren Gonzales, PhD, Assistant Professor and Clinical Psychologist, Columbia University Irving Medical Center

Drunk on Too Much Life is a delicate, thoughtful documentary in which I walked away with an even deeper understanding of the complexities of mental health and the way it can impact the individual as well as the family unit. It’s one of the best documentaries I’ve seen all year.

Mental Filmness Festival, Director’s Club Podcast

[This] inspiring documentary sheds light on mental health struggles in relation to higher levels of creativity and emotional connection… While the film acknowledges the hardships that mental illness can bring, it also celebrates the creative visions and heightened perceptions of those who experience mental illness… Drunk on Too Much Life would be a great pick for a documentary film collection in a public or academic library that focuses on mental health or creativity.

Christian Gainey, Video Librarian

We’ve all heard stories of mad artists or seen biopics about creative geniuses who channelled their inner demons into radical, transformative art. The doc explores these ideas with a personal approach as Corrina and other mental health advocates inspire audiences to frame the ways in which we perceive and discuss mental health.

Patrick Mullen, POV Magazine

Drunk on Too Much Life is a brave and powerful personal documentary that radically makes us rethink ‘mental illness’. It is a must-view film for mental health practitioners and families alike as it offers a unique, holistic, and much-needed perspective on the journey towards recovery.

Samantha Wehbi, MSW, RSW, MFA, PhD, Professor, School of Social Work, Toronto Metropolitan University (Formerly Ryerson)

Drunk on Too Much Life tells an expansive story of mental health that uplifts all facets of what makes us human: creativity, connection, and culture. The documentary invites the audience to transcend an illness-only paradigm of mental health, and witness the transformative potential when storytelling and meaning-making are foregrounded in these experiences.

Jessie Roth, Director, Institute for the Development of Human Arts, NYC

Drunk on Too Much Life is a deeply searching film of fear and redemption in the face of a crisis of the mind.

Daniel Bergner, author of The Mind and the Moon, Contributing writer for the New York Times Magazine

I am thankful to Michelle Melles and her family for the opportunity to watch this compelling and challenging documentary. As someone who feels most at home at the intersection of music and mental health, I was delighted to see the threads of music, art and family woven into Corrina’s recovery story. Much like the music which infuses the film, there is an unwavering sense of optimism throughout the film as well as a commitment to breaking down the seemingly arbitrary divisions that remain in our siloed mental health system. There were several difficult moments in the film in which I found myself talking back to the screen. Perhaps this is a strong indication that the film accomplishes what it sets out to do—namely to initiate conversations about recovery, about fragmentation of mental health care, about the multiplicity of factors contributing to wellness. Once again, I am humbled when thinking about our fragmented system, the challenge of treating the whole person and the limitations of our clinical language and applaud Corrina, Pedro and Michelle for this thoughtful film.

Ken Harrison, MD, University Health Network, RECONNECT Community Health Services, University of Toronto Department of Psychiatry

Melles’ film, Drunk on Too Much Life is an intimate, emotional journey of recovery that’s consistently compelling and thought-provoking…. Drunk on Too Much Life offers a new perspective on how society views mental illness.

CJRU.ca

Drunk on Too Much Life is a personal film, a meditation on the narratives that dominate discussion about mental illness, and a love letter to peer support workers.

POV Magazine

[Drunk on Too Much Life] strives to change how people perceive those with mental health issues framing their conditions as potentially insightful gives rather than burdensome disorders and will lead to conversations about ways the Canadian [and American] mental health programme succeeds and fails to accommodate and support young people in their healing.

Toronto Guardian

An important film that invites us to examine our preconceptions about mental illness and the way language and labels limit our understanding. Deeply intimate and compassionate, this film teaches us that we are all connected and that healing takes place in community.

Dagmar Schroeder, Stella’s Place Young Adult Mental Health Toronto

Drunk On Too Much Life is a beautiful exploration of a family’s journey to understand, survive, and celebrate their daughter’s mental health challenges. Through a heartfelt examination of language, mysticism, art, and nature, this film questions so much of what we know about psychosis and alternate realities and has the power to change how we understand and approach treatment and healing.

Elisa Gorez, MSW, Social Worker, Stella’s Place, Young Adult Mental Health Toronto