Breaking Habits

The aroma of Louis J Gasnier's 1936 shockumentary Reefer Madness pervades Robert Ryan's profile of Christine Meeusen, the Californian mother of three who has rebranded herself as Sister Kate in order to promote her medicinal marijuana business. Realising that "an anarchist, activist nun" who uses guns to protect her crop has a certain cachet, Ryan exploits the quirkier aspects of the story. However, Meeusen's domestic travails are far more interesting, as she was duped by a bigamist husband who scammed her savings, fell out with her brother and then found herself having to deal with her son's methadone addiction after founding the Sisters of the Valley in Merced County. There's an intriguing tale to be told here about American attitudes to drugs and the hypocritical nature of the Nixonian crusade to eradicate them. But Ryan's approach is so scattershot that it feels as though the entire picture is under the influence, as it meanders and muses without bothering to draw (m)any conclusions about Meeusen or her enterprise.