Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Move Fast & Vape Things’ On Hulu, A Documentary About The Rapid Rise And Collapse of Juul – Decider

Hulu and FX collab The New York Times Presentshas delivered some top-notch documentary content this year; from award-winning investigative installmentThe Killing of Breonna Taylor andheadline-making Framing Britney Spearsto eye-opening examinations likeThe Teenager Who Hacked TwitterandWho Gets to Be An Influencer?, the series has never shied away from diving deep into a variety of subjects.Move Fast & Vape Things, now streaming on Hulu, chronicles the rise and fall of e-cigarette maker Juul.

The Gist: What if there was a way to eradicate cigarettes? To stop losing loved ones to lung cancer caused by smoking? Youd want to be a part of that, right? Thats exactly what James Monsees and Adam Bowen dreamed about when they devised the idea for Juul (then Plume), a compact e-cigarette they hoped would help adult smokers quit combustible cigarettes. What began as a well-intentioned Stanford project soon became a buzzy Silicon Valley startup that reached farther than anyone could have anticipated. With its fruity flavors and sleek design, Juul appealed to not only adult smokers and millennials, but high schoolers and middle schoolers, too. And thats where the trouble begins.

With the help of former employees, FDA officials, journalists, and a young woman whose life was dramatically impacted by getting addicted when she was only a sophomore in high school, Move Fast & Vape Thingstells the story of how a company with good intentions became swallowed up by greed and arrogance. Some 3 million children in the United States use e-cigarettes, and that is largely in part due to the rate Juul spread throughout high school and middle school populations thats a 78% and 48% increase in just a year, respectively. Today, Juul has effectively stepped away from their original mission, one that included standing up to Big Tobacco (Marlboro parent company Altria now owns a large chunk of the company), and some 2,000 lawsuits have been filed against Juul for their role in the youth e-cigarette epidemic.Move Fast & Vape Thingsexamines just how quickly good intentions can be vaporized.

What Movies Will It Remind You Of?:Move Fast & Vape Thingswill likely remind you of other installments ofThe New York Times Presents, and it may also bring to mind the films of Alex Gibney (includingThe Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon ValleyandThe Crime of the Century), as well as the Netflix series Dirty Money.

Performance Worth Watching: I was deeply moved by Jackie, the teenager who became addicted to vaping and now is suffering long-term health consequences as a result. Its gutting to watch her recount her story and how the Juul took over her life, consuming her during school hours and dominating her social life. Its impossible not to get misty towards the end of the doc when she says she used to feel bad that her parents had to know her, but now has formed an incredibly close relationship with them since quitting nicotine. Jackie and her mother really bring a lot of heart to Move Fast & Vape Things.

Memorable Dialogue: Ryan Woodring, a former marketing director from Juul, offers some of the best insight in the film. Watching him realize that what hes doing doesnt align with his ethics anymore is one of the standout moments in the doc: Am I dumb? Are we a dumb company? Or even worse, oh, shit, are we an evil company? If those are my options, I dont like either of them.

Sex and Skin: None.

Our Take:Clocking in at just around an hour long, its pretty breathtaking (no pun intended) just how muchMove Fast & Vape Thingsis able to pack in without things feeling rushed.The New York Times Presentshas been willing to ask all kinds of questions (even the uncomfortable ones) in its various installments thus far, andMove Fast & Vape Thingsis no exception; we get to see who benefited from Juuls rapid rise, who has profound regret about their role in it all, and whose lives have been dramatically impacted by the effects of these e-cigarettes.

By including stories equal parts political, emotional, and ethical,Move Fast & Vape Thingsdoes something uniquely interesting. We get a glimpse of the e-cigarette industry as a whole and the history of devices like these, were able to fully grasp the good intentions of two young men who wanted to see smoking change, and were able to see the more interpersonal picture of what childhood addiction can do to an individual (and to a family). Its great storytelling, one that will likely make you angry and aghast.

The filmmakers have assembled a great cast of talking heads, from the aforementioned Jackie Franklin and her family and former marketing director Ryan Woodring to New York Times journalists and former FDA commissioner Scott Gottlieb. All of these perspectives make for a well-rounded examination of a crisis still in full swing, one that feels unresolved by the end but is wholly compelling all the same. There couldnt be a better time for these kinds of accessible, investigative stories, andThe New York Times Presentscontinues to knock it out of the park with each unique installment.

Our Call:STREAM IT.The New York Times Presentsdelivers another winner withMove Fast & Vape Things, a fascinating examination of how good intentions can go up in smoke (or vapor).

Jade Budowski is a freelance writer with a knack for ruining punchlines, hogging the mic at karaoke, and thirst-tweeting. Follow her on Twitter: @jadebudowski.

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Stream It Or Skip It: 'Move Fast & Vape Things' On Hulu, A Documentary About The Rapid Rise And Collapse of Juul - Decider