BROOKLINE — Actor Will Poulter and director Adam Meeks visited the Coolidge Corner Theater last week to promote their new film, “Union County,” which premiered exclusively at the venue on Friday. The film, Meeks’s first full-length feature, follows Cody Parsons (Poulter) and his foster brother Jack (Noah Centineo) as they navigate a mandated rehabilitation program while trying to reintegrate into everyday life after incarceration.

“Union County” builds on a short film of the same name that Meeks directed, which debuted at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2020. For the feature, Meeks took an unconventional approach by casting non-professional actors from a recovery program based in rural Ohio. This choice aimed to bring authenticity to the portrayal of addiction recovery and the rebuilding of relationships.

Meeks described the collaboration with Poulter as an immediate connection, noting that Poulter quickly responded to the script after it was sent through traditional agency channels. The director emphasized that participation in the film was always voluntary for the non-professional cast members, many of whom were drawn directly from the community the film explores.

A notable feature of the film is the deliberate ambiguity surrounding Poulter’s character, Cody. Meeks said this was intended to shift the focus away from the reasons behind substance use disorder and instead highlight recovery and human connection without perpetuating stigma. “The reasons or the ways that they became addicted to substances is neither here nor there and beside the point,” Meeks said. Poulter added that the lack of explicit backstory offered him creative space as an actor to develop an internal understanding of the character that informed his performance.

The director and actor both highlighted the film’s departure from typical addiction narratives, which often rely on melodramatic and stereotypical depictions. Meeks explained the drive to challenge those portrayals came from his close relationship with the Ohio community portrayed in the film. “The more time you spend with folks living the experience, the more you see how false a lot of [those portrayals] are,” he said. The film aims to present a more authentic and nuanced picture of recovery.

Poulter and Centineo were given the opportunity to engage with people in recovery programs prior to filming, allowing them to draw on real-life experiences rather than relying on media portrayals. Poulter said spending that time was important to avoid “becoming an impression of an impression” and to ground their performances in reality.

Meeks credited the success of working with non-professional actors to the strong relationships he built with community leaders, including program director Annette Deao, who appears in the film as a fictionalized version of herself. Deao’s standing in the local recovery community helped encourage participation and foster trust. Meeks described the project as an invitation, emphasizing compassion and hope as central themes.

“Union County” offers a thoughtful exploration of recovery, avoiding conventional clichés, and highlighting the complex, everyday realities of those rebuilding their lives after addiction.