As the opioid epidemic expanded across the United States, Mexican farmers abandoned their corn crops and replaced them with poppy flowers to meet the growing demand for heroin. In remote towns in Guerrero state, the mountainside turned red and poppy became king.

With the profits from opium paste sales, families were now able to pay for their children’s school supplies, construct their homes and put food on the table. That was until the synthetic drug fentanyl, crashed the market, making heroin from natural opium largely obsolete.

Through intimate portraits, Poppy Crash examines these largely indigenous farmers' dependence on a volatile clandestine market. When prices fluctuate, farmers migrate, join criminal groups or try to eke out a living harvesting corn.

This film diverts the lens from mass death caused by fentanyl overdoses and encourages viewers to reflect on the impact of global drug policies on those who slice poppy flowers just to survive.