A Million Little Pieces

After James (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) wakes up on an airplane and doesn't even know where it's going, he's checked into a Minnesota rehabilitation clinic. Seething with rage, cynicism, and self-loathing, James isn't buying into the promise of 12-step, not its talk of a higher power nor its assurances that it can make him stop seeking oblivion through booze and crack. The only things that keep James going are the support of his peers — among them a former crime lord (Billy Bob Thornton) and a desperate former sex worker (Odessa Young) — and, eventually, his calling as a writer. Above all, recovery will reveal a pathway to renewal and redemption that James never could have found alone. (Toronto International Film Festival)