Adam Meeks

That is not the case with the new film, Union County.

I have with me its writer-director, Adam Meeks, and its star, Will Poulter.

Guys, thanks so much for being here.

And let me start with you, Adam, because it really, it finally is a story about compassion, isn't it?

And what that stuff, those opening interactions in the film are our documentary interactions.

And so it was always the hope that it would be our kind of like our compassionate and empathetic lens into the story and into the community.

It's The Tree, and we're talking about the new film, Union County, with its writer-director, Adam Meekson, star Will Poulter.

And Will? I can't help but notice, and I think we talked about this a little bit at Sundance, that one of the things I think you have a real affinity for is showing how pride can get in the way of somebody's development.

Union County is now screening at the IFC Center.

The film marks the first feature written and directed by Adam Meeks.

He joined us here in studio alongside Will and Noah.

Adam was born in Columbus, Ohio, and he had a lot of exposure to the area growing up.

You know? Um, and to have something personal to bring.

Yeah.

That was my conversation with actor Will Poulter and Noah Centineo and director Adam Meeks.

Union County is now screening at the IFC Center.

Check out my new podcast, Back at the Movies.

We've got a special bonus episode up on the movie that took Sundance Film Festival by storm, Union County, starring Will Poulter and directed by Adam Meeks.

We got a chance to go to a screening for that, so spoiler-free, but this way you can listen to the show and see if it sounds like a movie that you might be interested in, whether it's worth a 30, 45-minute drive to go see it in the theater, or if you would rather wait for it to stream.

We are also gonna have a brand-new episode that should be up by the time you hear this on Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, directed by Martin Scorsese.

We do a spoiler-free review of the movie, give you an idea of whether it's worth going out of your way to see, because a lot of people are not gonna be super close to theaters that have it, 'cause it's in select theaters.

Is it worth the 30, 45-minute drive to go see it? Should you wait until it's streaming? We'll talk all about it, plus we discuss the Q&A that was done with director Adam Meeks and star Will Poulter.

And coming up tomorrow we've got another brand-new episode.

Frank Scalise, who used to be a member of the WWE creative team, also wrote for Soaps In Depth, he's gonna join me to break down Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, a lost classic by Martin Scorsese.

As a wise person once said, there's a lot I can't understand and a lot I don't know how to forgive.

Today, we're back at the movies for a very special bonus episode, talking the movie that took the 2026 Sundance Film Festival by storm, Adam Meeks' Union County, starring Will Poulter.

I'm Cody and I'm an addict.

I've been addicted to opiates since I was 17, and I'm part of the adult recovery court program, and so I'm here.

And so he texted me knowing that I had wanted to see the movie Union County, which made a lot of noise at the Sundance Film Festival.

It stars Will Poulter, who you may know from the TV show The Bear.

And it was directed by Adam Meeks in his directorial debut, or at least the first full-length feature that he's directed.

And so, of course, I was thrilled to go.

He meets up with his foster brother, played by Noah Centineo, who is also in drug court, but he's not keeping as clean as he should be.

The thing about this movie is that director Adam Meeks sets it near where he lives in Ohio, and he gets people from a real drug court, both the people who went through it and staff who work there, to play themselves.

And that gives the movie an honesty that most movies about addiction just don't have.

So three and a half stars for Union County.

I mean, I, I don't know.

I mean, you know, if, if I can use, you know, Union County as an example, um, which, uh, was written and directed by Adam Meeks, that, that came to me, um, in sort of short film format together with the screenplay for the, for the feature.

And Adam, at that point, had not yet made a feature film.

And so inherently, just on paper, you know, in the context of things that might, you know, arrive on your desk, so to speak, there's already certain, like, risk attached to that, right? And so you're, you're, you're reading the script, trying to, uh, analyze it, you know, kind of in isolation of the director's sort of, uh, level of experience and just like, "What is the quality of this script?" And it was So beautiful.