For a time left alone behind closed doors and in underground sex clubs, “chemsex” – aka sex on drugs – has attracted quite a bit of scrutiny in recent years. Sex? Drugs? Together? Where did this scrutiny naturally lead? To a documentary by Vice, of course.

The film focuses on the scene in London, which as of recent has become a hotbed of chemsex activity. Though the poison varies from chap to chap, it largely concerns those using crystal meth, mephadrone and GHB, often with multiple partners in sessions arranged on dating apps that can last days and days.

Vice’s Chemsex is made up of frank discussions and vivid depictions featuring a wide cast of protagonists who have been caught up in the whirlwind of chemsex, from users to survivors to those treating and educating the affected members. It is this kaleidoscope of raw, personal stories that makes for evocative watching: the well-educated commercial banker who ended up selling his body to sustain his drug habit; the 21-year-old who contracted HIV in a wave of drug-fuelled, bareback sex parties; the man who realized that a week of his life had disappeared into the chemsex void. They are stories that shock some but not all, particularly for members of the gay community who have felt the struggles of finding their identity in the blur of big-city life.

As you might expect from Vice, Chemsex isn’t exactly objective filmmaking – they want to sensationalize. The filmmakers expertly exacerbate existing tensions, implementing increasingly discordant music in one scene where a meth-user struggles manically to find a vein. That’s not to say it is one-sided or simplistic in its presentation. In fact, Chemsex is given great weight by regular input from David Stuart, Substance Use Lead at Soho's 56 Dean Street, a sexual health clinic and vital service for London's LGBT community. David’s insights are succinctly presented, incredibly well informed and often very moving. His presence delivers both brains and heart to a topic that can feel chaotic and confusing.

What Chemsex does brilliantly is shine a light on one specific, formerly underreported issue within London’s gay community and lets the stories uncovered there speak for themselves. And as director William Fairman rightly says, it results in a film about “intimacy, connecting, loneliness and isolation… all big universal, human themes”. Chemsex opens up the doors to an underground world and presents the audience with a stirring, challenging and thought-provoking documentary that’s well worth a watch.

The film is available on itunes, vimeo and amazon video player.