Matthew Perry’s life, his tragic 2023 death, and the investigation into the ring of physicians and drug dealers accused of being responsible for his ketamine overdose at his Southern California home is all explored in a new documentary. Peacock’s Matthew Perry: A Hollywood Tragedy, now streaming, veers between probing the investigation into his death and delivering a sentimental remembrance of the beloved star of sitcom juggernaut Friends.
In the opening of the documentary, directed by Robert Palumbo for ITN Productions, the story of Perry’s childhood in Ottawa, Canada, is shown in still images as The Hollywood Reporter contributor Deborah Wilker, who was interviewed for the film, explains aspects of his early life — that his mother worked in the press office of Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau and how his dad’s work as a model and actor (at one point, he was the “Old Spice guy”) drew him toward acting. When his parents divorced, he began to fly as an unaccompanied minor from Montreal to visit his father in Los Angeles. Here, the film suggests, became ground zero for the lifelong loneliness Perry seemingly experienced, which may have led to his long and well-publicized battles with drugs and alcohol that ultimately led to his death in October 2023.
This is also where a haunting quality of the doc re-appears (after a disarming use in the documentary’s opening moments), as viewers hear voiceover of Perry reading from his revealing 2022 memoir, Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing; Perry’s words, which seem to almost anticipate what happened to him, reemerge throughout the hour-long documentary. But first, the feature follows young Matthew (or “Matty,” as his friends called him) as he arrives in Hollywood through accounts from his pal, The Simpsons voice star Hank Azaria, and various other talking heads. Perry quickly moved from appearing on sitcoms like Who’s the Boss?, Growing Pains and the River Phoenix-led movie A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon to his sudden, meteoric rise to the top of Hollywood’s A-list when Friends became a near-instant global phenomenon.
The filmmakers punctuate all of this excitement with doses of Perry’s reality, and don’t allow the dizzying highs of being young and famous to overtake the context of Perry’s tumultuous inner life. Fame is suggested as a distraction by Wilker in her interview. “We think, as outsiders looking in, if I had millions of dollars, all my troubles would go away,” she explains. “But there’s a thing going on inside that can’t be cured — money can’t cure, fame can’t cure.”
Fast forwarding to 2022 (with multiple timejumps throughout), the film focuses on Perry’s addiction issues and delicate state in recovery as he was put on display when his memoir released and he sat for an interview with Diane Sawyer. This was one year before his at-home overdose on ketamine, the dissociative drug that has historically been used for anesthesia but after decades as a niche street drug in recent years, has been used to treat depression and in pain management. Perry, whose addiction issues veered between alcohol and painkillers (rooted from a 1996 jet ski accident, the film suggests), coupled with his inner turmoil, made him a target when what law enforcement has called a gang of coconspirators came together to hook him on the drug.
The film briefly zeroes in on ketamine’s shifting role in medicine as it has become a psychological treatment, even introducing a young patient, Annie, who has been undergoing treatment for three weeks. A doctor interviewed here describes how quickly ketamine can lift symptoms of depression off of patients; in his book Perry wrote, “Ketamine felt like a giant exhale, like being hit in the head with a giant happy shovel.”
Perry’s alcohol and drug addiction issues went on for years and were apparent as his weight dramatically changed season to season on Friends amid its global popularity. Some of his costars are seen in the documentary, both in original and archived interviews, discussing how the matter was not dealt with or discussed, even as the Friends castmembers’ individual value ballooned to $1.1 million per episode. “We weren’t equipped to deal with it,” a teary-eyed Jennifer Anniston told Sawyer in her 2004 sitdown with the ABC News anchor. Morgan Fairchild, the sole Friends actor who sat for an interview with the filmmakers for the Pacock doc, reveals that, given past experience with close ones struggling with alcohol, “I tried to reach out a little bit and let him know I was there for him.” Fairchild played Chandler Bing’s mother, Nora.
In August, 10 months after Perry was found dead in the backyard hot tub of his home, it was announced that the sprawling investigation into his death led to five arrests: his personal assistant, two physicians, a lower-level drug dealer and a drugland lynchpin intriguingly dubbed “The Ketamine Queen,” who had all been tied together as co-conspirators in his death. The documentary does not veer into the seedy world of Los Angeles drug rings, and North Hollywood’s so-called “Ketamine Queen” Jasveen Sangha is only seen in a few glamorous images in the film; she is now awaiting trial on nine charges, including conspiracy to distribute ketamine and distribution of ketamine resulting in death.
Select details from the indictments against the five co-conspritors are highlighted by the filmmakers, including the text messages that show some of them allegedly plotting against Perry, who they speak of as a naive victim who they can easily extract money from by exploiting his addiction. At one point, one of the accused physicians, Dr. Salvador Plasencia, allegedly injected Perry with ketamine in parked vehicle.
“Doctors are not supposed to inject people in the back of parking lots. A trained doctor likely knew much better,” U.S. Attorney for California’s Central District Martin Estrada tells the filmmakers. “One of the overall themes of the indictment is that all these defendants should know better — they were taking advantage of an individual, and letting their greed drive them to endanger him.”
Plasencia is charged with seven counts of distribution of ketamine and two counts of altering and falsifying documents or records. Erik Fleming, Dr. Mark Chavez and Perry’s former assistant, Kenny Iwamasa, have pled guilty to charges related to obtaining and distributing the ketamine to Perry.
A sentimental tone overtakes the documentary in its closing moments, as fans are shown mourning Perry’s death, his family discusses Perry’s posthumous foundation, and the interviewed journalists discuss the actor’s legacy and how he will forever be a friend to Friends viewers around the world. In closing, clips of Perry’s classic moments are shown from the sitcom that defines his life, which made him a household name and perhaps left him feeling isolated while providing the means that led to his unfortunate and untimely death.
“I think one of the most dangerous parts of success, whether that’s wealth or fame or both,” author Anna David tells the filmmakers, “is that all of your worst instincts are going to be catered to, and that is a really dangerous place to be.”
Peacock’s Matthew Perry: A Hollywood Tragedy is now streaming.
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