The Pink Pill: Sex, Drugs & Who Has Control tells the story of the ongoing fight to make sexual satisfaction a priority for women and gender diverse people in a biased battleground where much of their basic healthcare needs are under-researched, underfunded, and often outright ignored.
At the center of a medical battle is Cindy Eckert, a pharmaceutical entrepreneur who dared to challenge the regulatory system. Recognizable by her signature pink attire and unapologetic determination, Eckert became public enemy number one when she fought to bring Addyi—dubbed "the female Viagra"—to market. After the FDA rejected the drug twice, Eckert boldly accused the agency of gender bias, ultimately securing approval in 2015 against overwhelming odds. Her battle turned into a billion-dollar sale of Addyi, but the struggle didn't end there.
The film reveals the shocking double standard in healthcare: while Viagra and over 20 medications for male sexual dysfunction sailed through approval in months, Eckert's battle for Addyi stretched over a decade, facing excessive restrictions and public vilification despite addressing a condition affecting millions of women.
Alongside Eckert, a new wave of trailblazers, doctors, scientists, and influencers are dismantling outdated norms and confronting the medical establishment's dismissal of female pleasure, and are forcing a shift in how we view sexual health for women and gender diverse people.
The Pink Pill: Sex, Drugs & Who Has Control captures a pivotal moment in the ongoing struggle for complete healthcare equality, at a time when bodily autonomy hangs in the balance.
PRESS ARTICLES
THE NEW YORK TIMES - A Pill for Women’s Libido Meets a Cultural Moment
GOOD DAY NY (FOX NEWS) TELEVISION INTERVIEW - with Cindy Eckert and Aisling Chin-Yee
NEW YORK FILM CRITICS - Nora Lee Mandel - included in her list of Best Female POV list
ELLE MAGAZINE Feature - Not the Female Viagra: How Addyi Rewrote the Rules of Desire
PEOPLE MAGAZINE Feature - A new documentary … explores the fight to bring the women’s sexual health pill, Addyi, to market
PEOPLE MAGAZINE - Heather Graham and Awkwafina attend DOC NYC Screening
DAILY MAIL - Heather Graham at DOC NYC Screening
FAST COMPANY - A new film reveals just how hard it was to make the ‘female Viagra'
"Witty, urgent, and illuminating, The Pink Pill interrogates the double standards in science, medicine, and society that shape how female desire is understood and often dismissed."
DOC NYC - Ruth Somalo
"an engaging, educational documentary with a lot of interesting layers"
ALLIANCE OF WOMEN FILM JOURNALISTS REVIEW
"a good film that explains the battle to get the pill approved and how the forces of the right are trying to control women by controlling them."
UNSEEN FILMS
"informative (and infuriating)"
ALLIANCE OF WOMEN FILM JOURNALISTS REVIEW
"illuminates the profound inequities between men and women’s sexual health care"
ALLIANCE OF WOMEN FILM JOURNALISTS REVIEW