Is Four Good Days Based On A True Story? How It Changes The Movie

Four Good Days tells a poignant story of a young woman's struggles with addiction and tainted family relationships, but is it based on a true story?

This article contains discussions on drug addiction!

Four Good Days' take on addiction and recovery seems way too realistic, which makes it hard not to wonder if it is based on a true story. In its runtime of an hour and a half, Four Good Days walks viewers through the harrowing four-day journey of a young addict who attempts to stay clean while living with her mother. The movie's taut storyline is powered by incredible performances from Mila Kunis and Glenn Close, who play the mother-daughter duo, Molly and Deb.

In Four Good Days opening scene itself, where Deb (played by Glenn Close of the Cruella fame) sets firm boundaries when her daughter shows up at her doorstep for help, it becomes evident that the two primary characters have been through the hamster wheel of Molly's addictions and relapses before. After the initial hook, the movie gradually peels back on all the moments of lies and deception that made Deb suspicious of her daughter's motives while unfolding Molly's own road to recovery. Considering how grounded and personal the two characters' narratives feel almost throughout Four Good Day's runtime, it is n surprise the movie is based on true events.

Four Good Days Is Based On A True Story

Four Good Days is based on an article, titled How's Amanda? A Story of Truth, Lies and an American Addiction (via The Washington Post), which tells the true story of Amanda Wendler. Similar to Molly (played by Mila Kunis of the Ted fame), Amanda's opioid addiction "took off" after a doctor prescribed her a painkiller, Vicodin, following a snowmobile accident injury. This trickled into an addiction after she kept returning to her doctor to get more of the medicine. When she could not ultimately get any more of it, she turned to heroin. Like Molly from Four Good Days, Amanda moved back in with her mother at 31 after struggling with addiction for over a decade.

As a part of her recovery, she had to detox her system from heroin before receiving a dose of a medicine called naltrexone, which reduces the feeling of euphoria associated with opioid abuse and helps with recovery. However, like Molly from Four Good Days, Amanda relapsed before she could get her first shot of the medicine. Amanda's relapse came after staying clean for several days and, as a result, she went into withdrawal when she got her first dose of the opioid antagonist.

Amanda ended up in the ER following her withdrawal, but since then, she has been recovering well. In a 2021 interview (via Youtube), she affirmed being sober for three years and expressed gratitude towards the movie's creators for sharing her story. Her mother added to the same by revealing how addiction is often stigmatized, but sharing her daughter's story has the power to give many recovering addicts hope.

Four Good Days' True Stories Ties Make It Even More Important

The fact that Amanda and her mother have tried to counter the stigmas surrounding drug addiction and recovery makes the movie's awe-inspiring true-story narrative all the more powerful. It affirms that, like Amanda and her mother, Four Good Days does not treat the story as a tragedy. Instead, it offers an uncritical and compassionate view of Amanda's struggles with addiction and pursuit of regaining her mother's trust.

There is scene in the Four Good Days' final arc in which a receptionist does not take Molly's withdrawal too seriously. This scene, too, is based on the real events of Amanda's journey and perfectly highlights how there is a lack of empathy and awareness surrounding opioid addiction. In scenes like these, Four Good Days may seem a little too raw and unpleasant, but its this commitment made by the film to reflect the truth is what makes so important.

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