Dope (1968)

• 78%
• 1968
• Documentary
• Sheldon Rochlin
• Diane Rochlin

A feature documentary about a young girl's descent into drugs. Shot in 1960s London, we see Caroline, a ravishing sixties naif, become a junkie, caught in the contemporary drug culture of the age. A protege of psychedelic artist Vali Myers, Caroline-tattooed head to toe in honor of her idol-cavorts with Myers in her famous mountain hideaway before spiraling downward from marijuana and psychedelics to heroin and cocaine. We come to understand not only the drug lure of the era, but also the soul of a free spirit who is caught in the grip of forces she cannot penetrate or comprehend. Like a butterfly caught in a web, Caroline struggles against her fate but its seductive attractions threaten to vanquish her. Featuring Caroline Thomson, Casey Deiss (later immortalized in a Shawn Phillips song "Ballad of Casey Deiss), with Vali Myers in a supporting role. Music by Geno Foreman.