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Oxyana

At first glance you could be forgiven for thinking that the town known as Oceana, located in West Virginia is perfect. It is one of the oldest town’s in Wyoming County and is surrounded by pure beauty, mountains filled with colour, calm rivers flowing on the outskirts of town with its inhabitance moving at a leisurely pace. All of the above is true but in recent years a more sinister side has evolved from this seemingly innocent place.

Oxycodone is an opiate based prescription drug which has begun to plague much of America with widespread addiction, but this is no more evident than in Oceana or rather Oxyana, with it having been said that here “you either work in the mines or you sell pills”.

Oxyana is an award-winning film by Sean Dunne, it takes us right into the heart of this crippling addiction and presents us with the true heartbreak and despair faced by those afflicted. Oceana was once a booming coal mining capital that became crippled by big corporations coming in and taking over a large portion of the industry which at one time belonged to the people.

The town itself is now in the depths of a full blown epidemic with more prescriptions per capita than any other city in the country by as much as 50%. Here Dunne has done a perfect job of chronicling the daily lives of those who have been hurt most without the slightest hint of judgment being passed.

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  1. A really well constructed documentary. And I agree with the “heart breaking”, and *haunting” and *sad* comments below…. I really hope those people are still alive; and as well as can be..

  2. Unwatchable with fucking slow as fuck Vimeo.

  3. Haunting.

  4. Jesus Christ is the only true hope for anyone caught in the sin of addiction. I used to be addicted to oxy. Jesus is the breaker of the chains that inslave us. Believe on The Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.Thank you God for your mercy on my life.

  5. Oh this is heartbreaking. I hope they find help in rehab or somewhere. It’s the drugs, it’s not you. I wish you all success.

  6. Mind blowing to say the least

  7. I really feel for all the people in this story! Each one has their own take on it, from their own experience, yet they are all tied together with the one commonality–the place, the landscape, the why of it.
    I really do hope everyone I saw in the story can come out the other side, clean, alive, and happy.

  8. This was the saddest documentary I have ever watched. What is the solution? How does this story end? So very sad 🙁

  9. This is heart breaking. We have to start seeing and addressing addiction as a disease. We need to make treatment more accessible which includes being able to afford it. This is a town of folks that’s gonna be wiped out if someone doesn’t do something .

  10. i didnt understand a word he just said…