Shed Your Tears And Walk Away review

A hard-hitting look at the alcohol and drug devastation in a small Yorkshire town

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Documentarymaker Jez Lewis’ searing portrait of junkies and alkies killing themselves in the idyllic Yorkshire town of Hebden Bridge makes for devastating viewing.

Heading back home for a funeral, Lewis teams up with old classmate Cass, a likeable Shameless-style dosser who’s drinking himself to death in the local park.

He’s not alone: suicides, overdoses and hangings have turned Hebden into “suicide central” and Lewis wonders why (“It’s a drug town with a tourist problem”).

Heartbreaking in its focus on self-destructive desperation, this rough and ready doc offers no clear answers but its impact lingers like a Special Brew hangover.

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