The title refers to the name of a six-month residential recovery program in Virginia that houses recovering women addicts following imprisonment. Containing no voice-over explanatory information about the facility (how the women are chosen, number of residents, funding, staff, etc.), the film relies on cinema verité footage and conversations inside the home and other settings for insight. Viewers quickly become invested in the experiences of Maddison, Grace, and Selena as we watch them working on recovery, interacting with others, meeting with staff, attending facility classes, journaling, and expressing their feelings to the camera. The film begins with Maddison leaving Arlington County Jail in handcuffs where she is transported to the Guest House. Maddison is assigned a room with Grace who tells the intake staffer that she became addicted to pain killers following hand surgery and that as a good student in high school, she never thought that like her father, who overdosed on pain killers, she would become a drug dealer and addict.
Selena who has been at Guest House longer than the other profiled women is committed to maintaining a schedule, setting goals, and finding a career path. She gets accepted at DC Central Kitchens, a well-known community kitchen that trains unemployed adults to develop cooking skills. Comments from the clinical director of Guest House reveal that program goals help the young women, some of whom are mothers, to become accountable, build confidence, and move forward without drugs or alcohol. As we watch the young ladies progress, we cheer for long-term recovery and rejoice in their happiness, such as when Selena tells us at her birthday celebration that it’s the first time in 27 years she has been sober on her big day. Like Selena, Grace is accepted into DC Central Kitchens and gets an internship at a major hotel chain. Maddison is hired in an office position. The film forthrightly captures the struggles, successes, and setbacks of a group of women who seem eager to embrace sobriety and professional treatment. Aud: H, C, P. Recommended.