'Jacinta' Review: Tale of an addict's misery makes Hulu docu a disturbing watch
Spoliers for 'Jacinta'
Hulu just released the documentary 'Jacinta' and it is quite a heavy watch. The documentary is the product of the hard work and vision of director and producer Jessica Earnshaw and the team as we see the story from the point of view of a drug addict unfold over 3 years.
'Jacinta' follows the life of Jacinta, an incarcerated drug addict as well as the people in her life who have contributed to her problem and/or have helped her try and overcome it. The real-life tale forces you to take consumption of the life-poisoning substances seriously in this gritty documentary.
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We see the documentary open with a home video of baby Jacinta smiling after which we are shown her alongside some kids pretending to be in jail behind some bars. A mom jokingly says they'll never get out of there and next, we see the glaring irony. Jacinta and her mother Rosemary is shown in jail at the Maine Correction Center with Jacinta due for a release. A hopeful and happy Jacinta gets out with the intention of staying clean and reconnecting with her daughter. This is where any hope you had for her is about to disappear.
After a happy meet with her daughter, we immediately can sense things are about to go downhill since Jacinta starts driving around her old haunts. The frustration immediately kicks in when she's back at abusing drugs again. The documentary proceeds as we see her slip down the slope once more. It's quite hard to cheer for her as she struggles with sobriety when every chance she gets, she's injecting herself again. We follow her decline over a period of months with interviews woven in. Her relapse invokes a sense of helplessness and acceptance of the situation as we watch her make bad choices over and over again.
Her daughter Caylynn, a young smart girl of around 10, manages to hurt the viewer the most. While she is angry and frustrated, she continues to believe that there may be hope for the mother she longs for, despite everything she knows. Jacinta's dad too continues to have hope and prays for the daughter he loves, even though it seems futile. We learn that the circle of problems began with Jacinta's mother who served as the gateway for drugs, consuming them with her kids who were just at a tender and impressionable age of 15. Jacinta idolizes her mom and it's quite evident she's managed to follow in her footsteps. Her actions land her back in jail and we see her back to square one. We honestly can't help but agree she's better being in jail and clean, than out high, as she says so herself.
The Hulu documentary manages to make you feel miserable and sad as you see a mother fail to stay strong for the ones she loved. Her acknowledgment of knowing she was the one who willingly made those choices even if it could cost her, her life just makes you clasp your head in the end. A watch that'll exhaust you by the end of it, 'Jacinta' manages to portray the grim reality of addicts and the circumstances of their loved ones as they cope with the illness.
'Jacinta' is now streaming on Hulu.