After a serious surgery, Emmy Award winning Producer and Director Katherine Brooks (Loving Annabelle, The Osbournes, The Newlyweds, The Real World, The Simple Life) suddenly realized that though she had thousands of Facebook friends, she had no true friends in real life. Not one single person came to visit her. No one sent flowers. She was alone.
It was then that she decided to post a Facebook status stating that she would visit the first 50 people to comment. After an overwhelming response, she pulled herself out of bed and for the first time in months, felt like her life had purpose.
From the trailer and decal on her car, I had prepared myself to see 50 cities, 50 strangers, and hear 50 stories. What I found as I watched was that it was actually 50 cities, 5 or 6 strangers, and only a couple of stories, mostly her own. Another interesting plot twist was that she was not just coming out of a deep depression, but she was also fighting a severe addiction to Xanax and had recently attempted suicide. This compelling addition to the story lends itself to break downs, relapses, and even a conversation with her lawyer and agent begging her to stop talking so freely about her addiction on camera as they fear she will seem unstable.
However, the once reality TV director had one goal during this film. She wanted to make a documentary that was 100% real and transparent. She refused to shy away from the messy parts of her life and in doing so, showed a beautiful story of personal transformation. During her quest, she not only struggles with her addiction, but also shares the very emotional and tumultuous story of her childhood and openly talks about how it has affected her adult life. She even reunites with her first love and inspiration behind “For Emily”, a lesbian short film about a teenage girl who writes a love letter to her female best friend and then watches in horror and humiliation as the she reads the letter aloud to her friends.
Though the film only showcased a few other stories, they are equally as fascinating. Brooks shows that when we take the time to put down our phones and step away from our computers, we open ourselves up to the opportunity to meet some incredible people and truly connect with those around us.
It takes a lot for one person to put themselves in the public eye during their darkest hour, but by doing so, Brooks makes a documentary that inspires and encourages others that might find themselves in that same place. By the end, the journey enables her to walk away with real friends that she can count on while simultaneously saving her own life.
