Do I Need This?

Do I Need This? is a film about consumerism, excess, and the stuff from which happiness is truly made.
by
Year Released
2023
Film Length(s)
62 mins
Closed captioning available
Remote video URL

Introduction

Do I Need This? is a film about consumerism, excess, and the stuff from which happiness is truly made.

This quirky, relatable, and profound award-winning film delicately interweaves the filmmaker’s complicated relationship to her family possessions, together with a journey into the homes and minds of her fellow Americans.

Do I Need This? was named one of the 10 best documentaries of the year by Video Librarian!

Featured review

"It is by far the best film out there on the nature of ownership of objects."
Randy Frost
PhD Harold Edward and Elsa Siipola Israel Professor Emeritus of Psychology, Smith College

Synopsis

Do I Need This? is a documentary film about consumerism, excess, and the stuff from which happiness is truly made.

This quirky, relatable, and profound award-winning film delicately interweaves the filmmaker’s complicated relationship to her family possessions during the late stages of her parents’ lives, together with a journey into the homes and minds of her fellow Americans - from a Buddhist monk to a woman who hoards and hides it, and a colorful cast of characters in between.

On the surface, Do I Need This? is a joy ride through our excessive consumption habits, but at its core, it is a deep and genuine reflection on happiness and aging, materialism and mortality. Audiences are invited to ponder their own threshold for excess, their own formula for a life well-lived, and their impact on our planet. One viewer recently said, "‘I recommend this film to every person living on this planet."

Do I Need This? will be broadcast on PBS stations nationally in 2024. The film features Randy Frost, co-author of 'Buried in Treasures’, Juliet Schor, author of ‘The Overspent American’, Peter Whyrbow, author of ‘American Mania’, Bea Johnson, author of ‘Zero Waste Home’, and Finn Murphy, author of ‘The Long Haul’.

Do I Need This? won the Audience Choice Award at its premiere screening at the Green Film Festival of San Francisco, and a 2023 Telly Award.

Do I Need This? was named one of the 10 best documentaries of the year by Video Librarian!

Reviews

“'Do I need this?' is a delightful, confessional and quirky film that tackles the question head-on. So do we need this film? We certainly do, and before it’s too late."

- Peter C. Whybrow MD
Judson Braun Distinguished Professor of the Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences at the David Geffen School of Medicine, UCLA
“This film is remarkable for its breadth and depth in capturing not only hoarding but a variety of reactions to stuff and the hold it has on our lives"
Gail Steketee
PhD Professor and Dean Emerita Boston University
‘Unique, quizzical, quirky, and funny’
Sabina Dana Plasse
Film Threat
‘Immensely relatable’
Randy Myers
San Francisco Chronicle
‘Do I Need This? follows a compassionate path and refuses to be pedantic nor make us feel bad.’
Randy Myers
San Francisco Examiner

Awards and Screenings

Telly Award (silver) - Non-broadcast Documentary
Audience Choice Award, Green Film Festival of San Francisco

Director Commentary

Total retail sales in the U.S. amounted to nearly $5 trillion in 2022, and in early 2023, American consumer debt hit an unthinkable new high of $17 trillion. As our credit card debt soars, so do global temperatures and extreme weather conditions, directly fueled by our buying habits themselves.

Why do we buy so much? And how does it impact our lives on a personal level? I had these questions in mind when I set out to make Do I Need This? a decade before its eventual completion. I started the film by exploring the way other Americans consume, but as my own parents started the downsizing process, and I became attached to every object in their home, I turned the camera on myself and my family. This created the emotional heart of the film that viewers most relate with.

Do I Need This? is motivated by my concern for the dire environmental challenges facing our planet, and how our consumption habits fuel them. Yet, I didn’t want to make a film to preach to the converted, or one that preaches in any way. So the film’s focus is very intentionally not on our impact on nature (although it gets a short and powerful mention), and instead draws attention to our human nature to consume.

Do I Need This? provokes audiences to evaluate their own consumption habits for the sake of their personal well-being, and in doing so, guides them to consider more conscious consumption habits that will benefit the planet, as well.

Features and Languages

Film Features

  • Closed Captioning

Film/Audio Languages

  • English

Subtitle/Caption Languages

  • English

Promotional Material

Promotional Stills

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