What happens when people who do not identify as dependent on alcohol decide to stop drinking for a while? Going Dry follows author and performance coach Andy Ramage, together with a group of moderate drinkers, as they take a 60 to 90-day break from alcohol. The documentary tracks the effects on their health, mood, relationships, work, and everyday lives, while asking why alcohol has become so deeply embedded in social routines.

Ramage’s own experience provides the starting point. Eleven years ago, he stopped drinking out of curiosity rather than because of addiction. He describes himself at the time as an average drinker who felt overweight, anxious, unfit, and disconnected from the husband and father he wanted to be. After removing alcohol, he lost weight, experienced less anxiety, improved his relationships, and became convinced that many other moderate drinkers might benefit from testing life without alcohol.

The film combines these personal stories with interviews with doctors, researchers, whistleblowers, and other experts. It examines alcohol’s effects on sleep, anxiety, mood, energy, concentration, skin, fitness, and long-term health. It also addresses alcohol’s carcinogenic properties and questions the way the alcohol industry has influenced public understanding of moderate drinking, including the promotion of research suggesting health benefits.

Rather than presenting alcohol-free living as a punishment or a permanent identity, Going Dry frames a break as an experiment. Participants report clearer thinking, more energy, better sleep, improved relationships, and a stronger sense of control. The documentary’s central message is that social connection does not depend on alcohol, and that stepping outside the drinking cycle, even temporarily, can help people see more clearly what alcohol may be adding to, or taking away from, their lives.

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