SummaryEvery era gets the drug it deserves. In America today, where competition is ceaseless from school to the workforce and everyone wants a performance edge, Adderall and other prescription stimulants are the defining drugs of this generation.
Directed By:Alison Klayman
Take Your Pills
Metascore
Mixed or Average
54
User score
Mixed or Average
4.3
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Top Cast
Metascore
Mixed or Average
60% Positive
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
40% Mixed
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Mar 12, 2018
75
They are tough and necessary questions that make Take Your Pills, for all its dizzying energy, a grounded and rigorous film. Though at times, it feels too squeamish to lean all the way into an idea or too hard on a particular truth, which makes it feel too deliberate and maybe not quite the earnest dissection it could be.
Mar 16, 2018
70
The kinds of connections that Take Your Pills makes, between the culture of information overload and a radically tightened job market and heightened personal performance and the chemical itch that fuels this whole late-stage capitalist dynamic, may strike some as too speculative for comfort. Yet it’s precisely by making connections like these that a documentary can fire up your perceptions enough to burn through the cumulative effects of advertising.
User score
Mixed or Average
33% Positive
5 Ratings
5 Ratings
27% Mixed
4 Ratings
4 Ratings
40% Negative
6 Ratings
6 Ratings
Nov 15, 2025
8
Take Your Pills: Xanax was a solid 8/10 for me. It’s a pretty engaging documentary that dives into anxiety, medication culture, and how common Xanax has become without turning into a judgmental rant. What I liked most is how it shows different perspectives — people who genuinely need it, people who struggled with dependency, and doctors explaining why it’s both helpful and ****’s not flashy or dramatic, but it’s honest and informative in a way that sticks with you. A well-made, thoughtful look at a topic most people don’t talk about openly.
Mar 30, 2018
1
The premise of this movie appears to be oriented towards criticizing the capitalist system and the societal pressures that are derived from it. As a result, the focus of Adderall in the film is posed as a cognitive enhancer to compete with others in a capitalist society. In addition, the people selected to be interviewed further exasperate the central focuses of Adderall being an over prescribed addictive substance. In contrast, it egregiously misrepresents the impact of ADHD on an individuals daily life. As well as, other mental health issues that occur due to untreated or undiagnosed ADHD as an adult. Instead, the film generalizes the drug and people with ADHD into the same reductive category. Thus, further stigmatizing people who are prescribed Adderall in order to minimize the symptoms of their ADHD. Overall, this film poses a strong argument for its political pursuit, but dangerously simplifies the struggles derived from ADHD as something that may be remedied with meditation.
Mar 19, 2018
63
It’s pretty late in the game to be getting a primer on this years-long epidemic, but the least you can say about this super-slick, ADHD friendly film is that you can’t watch it and say you don’t have an idea how it could benefit you or your kid, and just a taste of exactly why it’s a bad idea.
Mar 15, 2018
50
Although the prescription drug users that Klayman (Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry) profiles have some interesting things to say about how these products affect their performance and perceptions, the steady stream of talking-head experts doesn’t do much to raise the movie’s pulse.
Mar 12, 2018
42
A reductive documentary that’s far too focused on the big picture to really unpack the human element.
Mar 21, 2018
1
Complete misrepresentation of ADHD and the actual purpose of Adderall. Instead of focusing on what Adderall actually does for those who have a diagnosis (e.g. allow basic functioning), the takeaway message is one that reads somewhere between "ADHD is made-up" and "everyone should have access to these pills because they're MAGIC and there are no consequences." The only things well done in the film were the actual editing/film quality (not content), the history of the medication & it's development, and the explanation of the mechanism and neurobiological pathways it works on. There was so much opportunity to blow open the misconceptions of ADHD, but instead of painting an accurate picture of what unmedicated life looks like for a majority of people (perpetual **** because of a lack of comprehension of time, social problems because of an inability to remember birthdays and deadlines and a lack of a filter, perception of the most basic tasks being entirely overwhelming, a life ruled by disorganization and piles), they continued to focus on hyperactivity and distractibility. Very few statements made that were actually backed by science. As an individual with ADHD, it was indescribably hard to feel like the filmmakers were perpetuating the idea many of us have heard growing up; "this is all your fault, you don't have a disorder, you need to try harder." Additionally, not nearly enough discussion on the negative side effects/long term effects of taking these pills.
Mar 22, 2018
0
The most conceded, fake news pile of garbage I've ever seen. If you're an early 20s hipster that still gets off on letting everyone know how dangerous and edgy you are, you speak with a super cool croak at the end of every word and you think basic stimulants are so much more deep and complex than they really are, then this is the **** heap for you.
