PRESS
“A moving and powerful portrait of trauma and recovery, Cracked Up will likely prove as therapeutic for many viewers as it clearly is for Hammond himself." Read the full story here
“Thanks to Esrick’s skill and Hammond’s vulnerability, Cracked Up advocates for survivors by showcasing and humanizing the aftershocks of trauma.” Read the full story here.
“In this documentary, Darrell Hammond, a former stalwart of “Saturday Night Live,” emerges as a riveting, eccentric character.” Read the full STORY here.
“The clinical community, too, is singing its praises. “The world desperately needs to see this movie,” said trauma expert Bessel van der Kolk. “It tells it like it is, unflagging.” Renowned Buddhist teacher and psychologist Jack Kornfield has called it “brilliant.” “Read the full STORY here.
“Like Darrell says, ‘If you got hit by a car you wouldn’t be ashamed or if you broke your leg you wouldn’t be ashamed,'” the director continued. “But somehow if you have things you can’t explain, anxiety, depression, alcoholism, addictions you feel ashamed.. It’s Darrell’s story, but it’s a bigger story that we both wanted to tell.” Read the story here.
Saturday Night Live veteran Darrell Hammond, filmmaker Michelle Esrick, and Mount Sinai psychologist Jacob Ham, PhD, discuss childhood trauma, complex post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and healing.Dr. Ham is director of the Center for Child Trauma and Resilience at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.
Road to Resilience Podcast: An honest conversation on what it is really like to live with Trauma and Complex PTSD as well as a compassionate approach for healing.
Allison Stewart host of All Of It on WNYC
Director Michelle Esrick and Darrell Hammond speak with Allison Stewart, host of All Of It on WNYCC. (Interview begins at 34:07)
Leonard Lopate at Large
Director Michelle Esrick and Darrell Hammond meet with Lenard Lopate for a look behind the mask of one of the world’s preeminent impressionists.
"Cracked Up is a very powerful, great story. It certainly struck a chord with me"
- CNN, John Vause
“I think this movie is going to help a lot of people."
- WNYC - All Of It, Allison Stewart
"Esrick said, 'It's Darrell's story, but it's a bigger story that we both wanted to tell"
- Variety
"Hammond's hero's journey of helping others is now well underway — a sign of his hard-won and ongoing healing"
- Psychology Today
"Hammond and the film’s director, Michelle Esrick, hope the film will encourage more doctors to learn how to identify and treat trauma"
- New York Post
"The bulk of the documentary concerns...weighty topics, but Hammond also reveals some nuggets about his comedy life, which, for a guy who was on SNL for 14 seasons, has gone curiously under-documented, until now"
- New York Magazine - Vulture
"Esrick felt if people knew this was a biological issue it would lift the shame and the stigma. The film is really about the long-term effects of childhood trauma"
- The Daily Beast
"I've been struck and remarkably impressed by director Michelle Esrick's powerful new film, Cracked Up"
- David Tereshchuk, The Media Beat