Atlanta indie ‘Withdrawal’ to host weeklong run at the Plaza Theatre

Atlanta indie darling “Withdrawal” is returning to the Plaza Theatre on Jan. 30 for its first-ever theatrical run — and the festival favorite is doing it without any industry backing.

For seven days, it will screen at the Plaza with a “community host” like Reel Friends, Archive Atlanta or the American Addiction Recovery Association. The hosts will also hold a Q&A after each screening with members of the cast and crew.

It’s a community-focused, distinctly do-it-yourself approach to the movie industry machine. Most screenings happen with distributors, and proper theatrical runs rely on studio backing for money and marketing.

“Withdrawal” has none of that. Writer, editor and director Aaron Strand said it’s a true “non-dependent” film. In a world where “independent films” can have up to $10 million budgets, Strand is doing something different.

The feature was shot on a $40,000 budget and filmed in his mother-in-law’s 700-square-foot Athens home for free. It tells the story of lovers Viv and Jay, as they battle to survive a night of heroin withdrawal and start their lives fresh.

“Withdrawal” premiered at the 2025 Atlanta Film Festival to a sold-out crowd and universal acclaim. Starring Millie Rose Evans and Brent Michal, it’s a propulsive film that plays at once like a horror movie, romantic drama and tight thriller.

Audiences love carried the film to a festival circuit, where it showed in 12 festivals and received even more awards and accolades. Letterboxd audiences give the film stellar reviews, and online outlets do the same. By critical standards, the film is a success.

But it doesn’t make a difference for the film’s bottom line. Strand didn’t make any money from the movie.

A full schedule of the Atlanta ‘Withdrawal’ screenings. (Image courtesy of Aaron Strand.)

“The film is having an impact, but the cavalry is not coming,” Strand said. “No one is coming to support us but ourselves.”

“Withdrawal” has played in 12 festivals, but Strand said he sent it to around 100 — “we’re batting around 10 percent,” he joked. The rejections come with notes about how great the film is, but the system isn’t biting. Neither are studios nor distributors.

It leaves “Withdrawal” and Strand without any clear path forward. How does one get a movie to the world when the industry isn’t there to help it?

“The biggest barrier that we as independent filmmakers face is convincing audiences that taking a risk on a film that doesn’t have an industry stamp of approval is going to be worth their time,” Strand said.

He could dump the film on a streaming service with no fanfare, but it runs the risk of disappearing into the thousands of titles on each major site. He needed momentum. He needed a push — an in-person push.

That’s where Chris Escobar came in. He owns the Plaza Theatre and runs the Atlanta Film Festival, and also served as an executive producer on “Withdrawal.” Escobar pushed Strand to try out a small theatrical run.

“His thinking was, if we do this for a week, if we can beat the weekly average of a studio film, we might actually be able to take that model out on the road,” Strand said. “All of a sudden, you’re creating opportunities to build organic word of mouth at every stop along the way.”

Escobar said it was a simple choice to support the film, which stars Plaza Theatre employee Brent Michal as Jay.

“Aaron has been a great partner of the Plaza, convenor of the community, and he’s incredibly knowledgeable on cinema,” Escobar said. “We would’ve already been interested in supporting his film, but the fact that he cast one of our very own, Brent Michal, who has been having a growing acting career — we had to do everything we could to support it.”

Christopher Escobar (left) with Aaron Strand at the Rome International Film Festival, where ‘Withdrawal’ was an official selection. (Photo courtesy of Aaron Strand.)

It’s also a strategic choice. A small run gives “Withdrawal” a chance to chart nationally with documented ticket sales. Strand can take those sales and compare them to studio films across the country.

Data on the national level is a key tool, especially during January and February. The months are so-called “studio dead zones” without many major releases. It opens a path for “Withdrawal” to get major attention.

But Strand has bigger plans. After the Atlanta run ends, he will take the film to Athens, Ga., where it was shot for another week of community-hosted screenings. From there, he hopes to take it “on the road” with a full tour.

This model has been used by some other independent filmmakers and smaller films. In 2024, Sean Price Williams’ film “The Sweet East” toured through major cities in the U.S. with screenings and director Q&As. Still, it had a distributor through Utopia.

Other indie darlings like the 2022 release “Hundreds of Beavers” bucked the system entirely and self-produced with small theatrical runs and a robust word-of-mouth campaign. It grossed $1.4 million worldwide on a $150,000 budget.

Strand admits the theatrical run is a “risky” leap. But he’s excited to show how a community-based film can capitalize on an ecosystem of support while still contributing. At the screenings, Strand will sell 100 self-printed DVDs and movie merchandise — a portion of all proceeds will benefit the Georgia Harm Reduction Coalition.

And the director said he’s “grateful” to have a community of people not only willing to see the movie, but to be part of his theatrical run. Reel Friends founder Rocco Shapiro, a producer on “Withdrawal” said the release aligns with the “spirit of the film.”

Shapiro will host the night one Q&A through his local production and post-production company.

“Partnering on a community-forward theatrical run felt intentional,” Shapiro said. “This approach gives the film real runway to build an audience organically and through word of mouth, spark discussion around the Georgia community and demonstrate theatrical viability beyond a one-night-only event or a purely digital rollout.”

Tickets for “Withdrawal” screenings are available on the Plaza Theatre website. Below is a full list of the community screening hosts.