CONTENT WARNING: Drug usage

Tight Lettuce is a rare look at the darkly comic side of drug addiction and the toll it takes on everyone involved. The film follows Joel (Dakota Daulby) as he attempts to balance life with his partner (Christie Burke), his mother (Maxim Roy), his grandmother (France Castel), and his father, Bodo (Emmanuel Bilodeau).

Bodo has been struggling with an opioid addiction for most of his son’s life, and hasn’t been able to hold down a job or a place to live. Based on a true story, the film flips the script on the usual story of parents caring for children in the throes of addiction. Despite relying on Joel for his stability and support, Bodo’s relationship with his son is filled with real love and affection, and Joel never stops believing he can get his father’s life back on track.

The beauty of Harrison Houde’s debut feature (co-written by Daulby) is that, while Joel may think love is enough, it’s clear the situation isn’t quite that simple or clean-cut. With charismatic performances from its two leads, Tight Lettuce is an unvarnished look at what addiction can do, and how life rarely offers easy answers or simple cures.