As they meet up at their favourite park bench to swig from cans of Special Brew, drinking themselves to death is the only life they know.This is the harsh reality for the damaged souls featured in this realistic but rather harrowing portrayal of alcohol and drug addiction. They are a group of old school friends who are running out of options in one of England's most picturesque towns.There is English countryside with rolling hills, a canal, luxury apartments, bowling green, tennis courts and this group of men no one wants to acknowledge.This is an extremely powerful and compelling documentary that slowly and sometimes painfully unearths the far-from-idyllic life of those struggling in Hebden Bridge, Yorkshire.It doesn't gloss over any of the facts as it delves into the darkest depths of self-destruction fuelled by drink and drugs. These people don't know any different. One piece of graffiti matter-of-factly reads: ‘Welcome to Hebden Bridge, the place for alcoholic children' while someone else calls it a “drug town with a tourist problem”.It's a deeply personal journey for filmmaker Jez Lewis who is “terribly sad but confused” as he makes his way back to his hometown for the funeral of a childhood friend, who has died of a heroin overdose at the age of 37. Five of his friends from the street where he grew up have committed suicide and he wants to know what his life would have been like if he had stayed in Hebden Bridge.The juxtaposition between the rich and poor is played upon with locals talking about their bleak future of no prospects and nothing to do. In contrast the affluent out-of-towners are frowned upon “for living in their own little world”. It's described as “paradise for some and purgatory for others”.Bermuda-born Lewis narrates the film from behind the camera as he follows around Cass, a loveable rogue who describes himself as: “The dirtiest dirt in dirt land.”His ‘office' is the local park where he sits and drinks with friends. He truly believes: “One of the hardest things to do is stay sober in Hebden.”Cass vows to change his ways when he is rushed to hospital, but the only way he can be coaxed into rehab is with a can of Special Brew. He manages to move away from the town and celebrate his first sober birthday in 30 years, but his struggle to stay clean is always overpowered by the need for another four-pack of lagerWe also get to know his all-day drinking friends; ex-soldier ‘Silly' who drinks to numb the memories and 27-year-old Liam who is hooked on heroin “and trapped in a 15-year-old's body”.The film's highlight is the way Lewis prompts so many honest and thought-provoking discussions among the very people who aren't normally given the chance to be heard.But it's heartbreaking to watch these men talk so openly about the tragic loss of lives. They believe death is like the plague, agreeing: “We don't know who is going to be next, we're having a lottery.”And just when you think the film is heading towards a fairytale ending, you are left without any glimmer of hope. You have no choice but to suspect the fate of death for the men you have got to know so well.