A Hallucinatory Journey into Cinema: The Drug Movies

Cinema has always used drugs as a powerful narrative engine. The collective imagination is marked by epic crime works, like Scarface or Pulp Fiction, and generational descents into hell like Trainspotting. These films defined the genre, using excess and violence to tell stories of rise and fall.

But beyond the spectacle of crime, a more intimate and raw gaze exists. It is a cinema that honestly explores the complex and painful reality of addiction. Far from the spotlight, these films transform drugs from a mere prop into a powerful metaphor for the human condition, venturing into psychedelia where the narrative fragments to translate altered states of consciousness into images.

This guide is a journey across the entire spectrum. It is a path that unites the great masterpieces of the genre with the most visceral independent productions. We will analyze how drug addiction has become fertile ground for exploring love, loss, loneliness, and the desperate search for meaning.

💊 Modern Chemistry: New Visions on Addiction (2023-2024)

Love Lies Bleeding (2024)

In 1989 New Mexico, Lou (Kristen Stewart), the reclusive manager of a gym, falls in love with Jackie (Katy O’Brian), an ambitious bodybuilder headed to Las Vegas for a competition. To sculpt the perfect physique in record time, Jackie begins abusing steroids provided by Lou. In Love Lies Bleeding, the injections don’t just pump up muscles but fuel a spiral of hallucinatory violence, paranoia, and murderous rage that drags the two women into a pulp nightmare against Lou’s criminal father (Ed Harris).

Rose Glass directs a sweaty, visceral noir that treats steroids like a dark magic potion. The film visualizes the drug’s effect with surreal body horror: we see muscles pulsing, veins expanding, and reality warping under the weight of synthetic testosterone. It is not the usual drug movie leading to physical decay; here, the substance makes one “superhuman” but monstrous, exploring how addiction can be a desperate attempt to regain control over one’s body and destiny in a chauvinistic world.

Talk to Me (2023)

A group of Australian teenagers discovers a new high: an embalmed ceramic hand that, if clasped while saying the phrase “Talk to me,” allows one to be possessed by a random spirit. The rule is not to exceed 90 seconds, otherwise, the spirit stays. For Mia and her friends, possessions become a viral drug to be filmed on TikTok, until the abuse of the ritual opens a door that cannot be closed. In Talk to Me, the supernatural is a transparent and powerful metaphor for getting high and peer pressure.

The Philippou brothers have created the best film on youth addiction in recent years, masking it as horror. Possession is staged exactly like taking a synthetic drug: dilated pupils, uncontrollable euphoria, disorientation, and the terrible comedown that follows. The film perfectly captures the dynamics of the “party drug”: the initial curiosity, the feeling of invincibility, the need to do it again to escape pain (in Mia’s case, grief for her mother), and finally the inevitable destruction of those around you.

Infinity Pool (2023)

James (Alexander Skarsgård) and his wife are vacationing at an exclusive resort on the fictional island of Li Tolqa. After a fatal accident, James discovers that local law mandates the death penalty, unless one pays an exorbitant fee to clone oneself and have the double executed in one’s place. Entering a circle of wealthy hedonistic tourists, James begins consuming a local hallucinogenic drug, “Ectrogams,” which he uses to dissociate during orgies and the executions of his clones. In Infinity Pool, the drug is the fuel that allows the privileged to annul their moral conscience.

Brandon Cronenberg signs a psychedelic nightmare where the narcotic substance serves to endure the horror of one’s own existence. The trip sequences are visually stunning, made of strobe lights and melting flesh, representing the dissolution of identity. Here, drugs are not an escape from reality, but a tool of power that allows the rich to live in an endless cycle of sin and artificial redemption, making death itself a recreational experience to be consumed under the influence.

Sick of Myself (Syk Pike) (2023)

Signe is a girl from Oslo pathologically jealous of her artist boyfriend’s success. To attract attention to herself, she decides to illegally obtain a banned Russian drug, Lidexol, known to cause severe skin deformities as a side effect. In Sick of Myself, Signe begins taking pills compulsively, not to get high, but to destroy her own body and become an interesting “victim” in the eyes of society and the media.

This Norwegian black comedy is a disturbing analysis of a new form of addiction: addiction to attention and victimhood, mediated by chemistry. The protagonist uses the medication as a calculated tool of self-sabotage, turning medicine into poison to feed her narcissism. It is a grotesque and uncomfortable film reflecting on the image-obsessed society, where illness (chemically induced) becomes a brand to be monetized and self-destruction is the only form of validation left.

💊 Beyond Addiction: Where the Journey Continues

Drug cinema is not a genre in itself, but a virus that infects every type of storytelling. From cartel wars to chamber dramas, from visionary psychedelia to social realism. If you want to explore how other film categories have treated the themes of excess, power, and downfall, here are the routes to follow.

Drama Movies

Addiction is, first and foremost, a human tragedy. If you are looking for stories that focus on the pain of broken relationships, inner struggle, and the emotional weight of wrong choices, this is the section where the heart matters more than the chemistry.

👉 GO TO THE LIST: Drama Movies

Gangster & Crime Movies

Where there is demand, there is supply. And where there is supply, there are guns, money, and power. If you are interested in trafficking dynamics, the rise of bosses, and the war on the streets (from Scarface to City of God), here you will find the dark side of the business.

👉 GO TO THE LIST: Gangster Movies

Drug Movies and Indie

Independent cinema has often treated substances with a freer, more experimental gaze, devoid of pre-packaged moral judgments. Explore our streaming catalog to discover auteur works that use drugs as a lens to distort and analyze reality.

👉 BROWSE THE CATALOG: Stream Independent Movies

The Man with the Golden Arm

Now Available

Drama film, noir, by Otto Preminger, United States, 1955.
Frankie Machine (Frank Sinatra), a former drug addict trying to pull himself together after being released from prison. However, Frankie is a very good drummer and is constantly tempted to kick the drug habit in order to play even better. His life is further complicated by pressure from his wife Zosch (Eleanor Parker), who tries to keep Frankie in their criminal ring, and his old flame Molly (Kim Novak), who tries to help him kick heroin addiction and change your life by playing drums in a band.

The film was highly acclaimed by critics for Sinatra's performance, which earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. In addition, Elmer Bernstein's score, which features a sad and melancholic main theme, is considered one of the best in cinematic history. The film is also known for being one of the first Hollywood films to tackle the subject of drug addiction without filters, with a strong criticism of the society that creates the conditions for drug addiction. Preminger had to fight with censorship to get the film approved, due to the subjects considered taboo in the 1950s. Sinatra worked hard to prepare for the role of Frankie, learning to play the drum and drums and studying the behavior of drug addicts. Novak and Parker, both at the peak of their careers, gave unforgettable performances. The film earned over $4 million at the box office at the time. Today it is considered one of Preminger's masterpieces and one of Sinatra's best films.

LANGUAGE: English
SUBTITLES: Spanish, French, German, Portuguese

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💉 Artificial Paradises: Classics of Addiction

Before the opioid crisis changed the rules of the game, cinema depicted drugs as an act of rebellion, a mystical escape, and an inexorable descent into hell. From the years of psychedelic counterculture to the dirty realism of 90s heroin, these films defined the aesthetic of getting high, turning needles, spoons, and pills into dark icons of pop culture. They are not simple moral warnings, but visual and sonic journeys that challenged censorship to show, without filters, the very high price to pay for a moment of ecstasy.

The Panic in Needle Park (1971)

The film follows the love story between Bobby, a young and charismatic Al Pacino in his first leading role, and Helen. He is a small-time heroin dealer and user; she is a restless girl who is drawn into his world. Their relationship deteriorates inexorably as addiction takes over, leading them to a series of mutual betrayals in the desolate setting of “Needle Park” in New York. Jerry Schatzberg’s work is a cornerstone of drug film realism. Programmatically rejecting any musical score, the film adopts a documentary style that immerses the viewer in the raw and repetitive daily life of its protagonists. The “panic” of the title is not just withdrawal sickness, but the existential desperation that erupts when the heroin supply runs low, turning love into a desperate game of survival. It is a merciless exploration of the psychology of addiction, where every human bond is inexorably subordinated to the need for a fix.

Christiane F. – We Children from Bahnhof Zoo (1981)

Based on the shocking biography of Christiane Felscherinow, the film chronicles the descent into hell of a thirteen-year-old girl in 1970s West Berlin. Attracted by the music scene and the figure of David Bowie, Christiane moves from soft drugs to heroin, eventually prostituting herself at the infamous Zoo station to finance her addiction, along with an entire generation of youngsters. The impact of this film was devastating because it tore away the veil on the idea that drug addiction was a problem for adults on the fringes. By showing 13 and 14-year-olds shooting up in filthy public restrooms, Uli Edel created a work of drug-related social commentary cinema of unprecedented power. David Bowie’s soundtrack, Christiane’s idol, creates a heartbreaking contrast between the aspiration for a glamorous life and the squalid reality of addiction, highlighting how subcultures and drugs can become a death trap for a youth without reference points and left to fend for themselves.

Toxic Love (Amore Tossico) (1983)

Set in the desolate outskirts of Ostia, the film follows a group of young heroin addicts in their daily routine of schemes to get their fix. Cesare, Michela, Enzo, and the others live a life with no future, trapped in a cycle of petty crime, arguments, and overdoses, in a choral and hopeless portrait of the drug addiction that marked an era. Claudio Caligari’s work is unique in the landscape of Italian and world cinema. The radical choice to use non-professional actors, almost all with a real past of drug addiction, gives the film a shocking authenticity. The slang, the gestures, the desperation are not acted, they are real. Toxic Love does not tell a story, but documents an existential state, offering one of the most raw narratives on drugs ever seen, a ruthless portrait of a lost generation against the backdrop of an urban landscape that is a perfect mirror of their inner emptiness.

Sid & Nancy (1986)

Alex Cox’s film tells the short, violent, and tragic love story of Sid Vicious, bassist of the Sex Pistols, and his American girlfriend, Nancy Spungen. Their relationship, consumed by heroin and an all-encompassing, destructive love, leads them into a spiral that culminates in Nancy’s death and Sid’s subsequent arrest and overdose. A punk, desperate, and dirty work that portrays the couple not as icons, but as two lost and self-destructive kids. Gary Oldman delivers a legendary performance as Sid, capturing his vulnerability and childish rage. The film is a powerful “anti-drugs statement” that shows how addiction devoured the rebellious energy of punk, turning it into a squalid tragedy. It is the merciless portrait of toxic love par excellence.

Withnail & I (1987)

In 1969 London, two unemployed and perpetually drunk actors, the histrionic Withnail and the more reflective “I,” decide to leave their squalid flat for a refreshing holiday in the English countryside. Their stay turns into a tragicomic disaster, amidst alcohol, rain, hostile locals, and the unwanted attentions of Withnail’s uncle. A masterpiece of British black comedy, Withnail & I is less a film about drugs and more an elegy on alcoholism as a lifestyle and the end of an era. The lines have become legendary, but beneath the comedic surface lies a deep melancholy for a friendship that is about to end and for the shattered dreams of the counterculture. It is an unforgettable portrait of artistic failure and addiction, as hilarious as it is, in the end, deeply moving.

Barfly (1987)

Written by Charles Bukowski and based on his own life, the film follows the days of his alter ego Henry Chinaski, an alcoholic poet who spends his time between bar fights, odd jobs, and writing. His routine is interrupted by his meeting with Wanda, another alcoholic, and with Tully, a wealthy publisher who wants to publish his works. Directed by Barbet Schroeder, Barfly is an auteur portrait that captures the essence of Bukowski’s poetics without romanticizing it. Mickey Rourke offers a mimetic performance of Chinaski, a man who has chosen the abyss as his muse. The film explores alcoholism not as a disease to be cured, but as an existential condition, a conscious rejection of bourgeois society. It is a raw and at the same time lyrical celebration of life on the margins, an arthouse drug film in the purest sense.

Drugstore Cowboy (1989)

In 1971, Bob Hughes leads a “family” of four drug addicts who travel across the Pacific Northwest robbing pharmacies to support their habit. When tragedy strikes the group, the superstitious Bob decides to try to go straight, discovering that leaving the life of an addict is harder and more dangerous than he imagined, especially when the outside world proves more ruthless than the one he left behind. Gus Van Sant’s work is a cult drug film that stands out for its extraordinary compassion and complete lack of judgment. Unlike many films of the genre, Drugstore Cowboy does not focus on the squalor, but on the humanity of its characters and the strange, ritualistic normality of their criminal life. Matt Dillon’s performance is iconic, and the appearance of the Beat Generation’s patron saint, William S. Burroughs, as an old junkie priest, serves as a literary blessing. It is a melancholic and authentic portrait of subcultures and drugs.

Naked Lunch (1991)

Exterminator Bill Lee, after accidentally killing his wife while playing William Tell, finds himself catapulted into the surreal Interzone. This nightmarish place is populated by typewriters that turn into talking cockroaches, secret agents, and monstrous creatures. Lee navigates this landscape fueled by a powerful drug derived from the powder of a giant centipede. David Cronenberg does not adapt, but interprets William S. Burroughs’ “cursed” novel, merging it with the author’s own biography. The result is a masterpiece of body horror and paranoia, an inner journey and drugs where addiction, repressed sexuality, and the creative process merge into a single, terrifying reality. The hallucinations are not special effects, but the very substance of the film, a powerful metaphor for how writing can be a form of addiction and addiction a source of frightening creativity.

Rush (1991)

Two undercover cops, Jim and Kristen, infiltrate the 1970s drug world to bust a powerful kingpin. To maintain their cover, they are forced to use drugs, eventually becoming addicts themselves. The pressure to get results pushes them to falsify evidence, crossing a moral line from which there is no return. A tense and dark crime drama that explores the thin line between duty and addiction. Jason Patric and Jennifer Jason Leigh are exceptional in showing the psychological descent of their characters, consumed by the world they were supposed to fight. The film is a bitter reflection on the war on drugs and its victims, showing how the fight against “evil” can irreparably corrupt even those on the side of the law, in a game where no one wins.

La Haine (1995)

Twenty-four hours in the lives of three friends – Vinz, Saïd, and Hubert – in the Parisian banlieues, in the aftermath of violent clashes with the police. While a friend of theirs is on his deathbed in the hospital, the discovery of a police pistol ignites tensions. The film explores the hatred, frustration, and brutality of life on the margins of French society, in a crescendo of violence that seems inevitable. Although not a “drug movie” in the strict sense, Mathieu Kassovitz’s work is fundamental to understanding the context of marginality and drugs. The use of substances, mainly hashish, is a constant, a symptom of the malaise and boredom that pervades the protagonists’ lives. La Haine is a powerful work of social commentary cinema that shows how social desperation and systemic violence create fertile ground for self-destruction. The black-and-white aesthetic and nervous direction perfectly capture the urgency and anger of a youth with no future.

The Basketball Diaries (1995)

Based on the autobiographical novel of the same name by Jim Carroll, the film follows the descent of a young and promising basketball player and poet (an exceptional Leonardo DiCaprio) into heroin addiction. The death of his best friend and the pressures of life push him into a spiral of crime and self-destruction on the streets of a raw and ruthless New York. This film is a raw path of self-destruction that stages the loss of innocence in a visceral way. DiCaprio’s performance is heartbreaking in depicting the transformation from a talented teenager to a desperate outcast, forced to sell his own body for a fix. The film is a powerful portrait of youth drug addiction, exploring how trauma and depression can be catalysts for addiction, while also offering a glimmer of hope through writing as a possible path to redemption and rebirth.

Trainspotting (1996)

In the economically depressed Edinburgh of the 1990s, Mark Renton and his group of friends try to escape boredom and lack of prospects through heroin. Between overdoses, petty crimes, sex, and betrayals, the film follows Renton’s journey in his cynical and desperate attempt to “choose life” and leave behind his past and his so-called friends. Danny Boyle’s film is the manifesto of underground drug cinema of the ’90s. With its overwhelming visual energy, cult soundtrack, and pitch-black humor, Trainspotting captured the imagination of a generation. Far from moralizing, the film explores the nihilistic attraction of self-destruction as the only response to a society that offers no future. It is a ruthless analysis of the social impact of drugs in cinema, showing how addiction can be an existential choice, however desperate, in a meaningless world.

Gridlock’d (1997)

After their friend and band singer overdoses, two heroin-addicted musicians from Detroit, Spoon and Stretch, decide to get clean. Their day turns into a Kafkaesque odyssey as they try to navigate the bureaucracy of the healthcare system, while also dodging the police and a dangerous dealer they owe money to. Written and directed by Vondie Curtis-Hall, the film is a black comedy with a dramatic heart, made memorable by the performances of Tim Roth and Tupac Shakur (in his last, great performance). Gridlock’d offers a sharp and frustrating critique of the bureaucratic inefficiency that prevents those seeking help from getting it. The humor arises from the protagonists’ desperation, making the film a powerful and surprisingly funny social commentary on the difficulty of attempting a path to redemption.

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998)

Journalist Raoul Duke and his attorney, Dr. Gonzo, head to Las Vegas with a suitcase full of every imaginable drug to cover a motorcycle race. Their journey quickly turns into a delirious and hallucinatory search for the American Dream, amidst chaos, paranoia, and a bar full of humanoid reptiles in the capital of vice. Terry Gilliam translates Hunter S. Thompson’s unfilmable novel into a torrential and unstoppable stream of hallucinatory visions. The film is an immersive experience, a grotesque and hilarious bad trip that uses psychedelic cinema to stage the failure of the 1960s counterculture. There is no traditional plot, but a series of surreal episodes that perfectly capture the anarchic spirit of Gonzo journalism, offering a fierce, visionary, and still relevant critique of American society.

Permanent Midnight (1998)

Based on the autobiography of comedy and television writer Jerry Stahl, the film tells of his double life in the 1980s: by day, a successful writer for popular sitcoms; by night, a heroin addict with a thousand-dollar-a-week habit. His addiction leads him into a spiral of lies, degradation, and tragicomic situations, risking his career, family, and his very life. Ben Stiller delivers one of his best dramatic performances, playing Stahl with a mixture of desperation and black humor. The film is an honest and brutal analysis of the life of a “high-functioning addict,” an addict who manages to maintain a facade of normality while his private life falls apart. It is a powerful addiction narrative that exposes the hypocrisy of Hollywood and offers an unfiltered look at the loneliness hidden behind success.

Jesus’ Son (1999)

Adapted from Denis Johnson’s short story collection, the film follows the surreal and fragmented misadventures of a young drug addict nicknamed “Fuckhead.” Amidst bizarre encounters, chaotic relationships, and failed attempts to help others, the protagonist stumbles almost by chance towards a form of grace and redemption, finding his calling in a nursing home. A unique film of its kind, blending drama, black comedy, and a touch of magical realism. Jesus’ Son offers a non-linear addiction narrative, reflecting the confused and anecdotal memory of its protagonist. It is a story of redemption and addiction that does not follow a conventional path, but is built through moments of unexpected compassion and absurd comedy. A poetic and touching work about clumsily stumbling towards salvation.

Requiem for a Dream (2000)

The lives of four people in Brighton Beach are linked by unfulfilled dreams and devastating addictions. Harry, his girlfriend Marion, and their friend Tyrone sink into heroin addiction while dreaming of a better life, while Harry’s widowed mother, Sara, becomes addicted to amphetamines in a desperate attempt to appear on television. Their parallel trajectories will lead them to an inevitable and heartbreaking catastrophe. Darren Aronofsky directs a shocking work on the psychology of addiction. Through frantic editing, split screens, and a hallucinatory visual style, the film drags the viewer into the downward spiral of its characters. The film’s genius lies in juxtaposing heroin addiction with diet pill addiction, showing that drugs are just one of many manifestations of a deeper malaise: loneliness and the desperate search for an escape from reality. It is a universal drug drama and one of the most powerful portraits of drug addiction ever made.

Spun (2002)

In a three-day whirlwind, Ross, a young methamphetamine addict, becomes the driver for “The Cook,” an eccentric drug manufacturer. During this frantic journey, he meets a cast of bizarre and desperate characters, all consumed by their addiction, in a hyper-kinetic montage that simulates the effects of the drug and the resulting paranoia. The directorial debut of music video director Jonas Åkerlund is an explosion of visual energy. Influenced by Requiem for a Dream, Spun uses an aggressive and fragmented aesthetic to immerse the viewer in the feverish world of methamphetamine. Although at times stylistically derivative, the film possesses a black humor and an “effortless wickedness,” as Roger Ebert called it, that make it a unique cult drug film. It is a sardonic and unfiltered portrait of the desolation of provincial America.

The Salton Sea (2002)

After his wife’s murder, a jazz musician reinvents himself as Danny Parker, a “tweaker” (methamphetamine addict) and police informant. His descent into the drug underworld is part of a complex plan to find and take revenge on the killers, but the line between his true identity and his persona becomes increasingly blurred and dangerous. A stylish and underrated neo-noir, with a unique atmosphere and an excellent cast that includes Val Kilmer and an unrecognizable Vincent D’Onofrio. The Salton Sea mixes the revenge thriller with a raw and at times surreal portrait of drug addiction. The film explores themes of loss, grief, and redemption in a world populated by bizarre and dangerous characters, where drugs are both a tool of infiltration and an escape from reality.

A Scanner Darkly (2006)

In a dystopian near future, an undercover cop named Bob Arctor is assigned to spy on his friends and himself to uncover the source of Substance D, a drug that causes personality splitting. As his addiction grows, Arctor loses the ability to distinguish his identity, spiraling into a vortex of paranoia and government surveillance. Richard Linklater adapts Philip K. Dick using the rotoscoping technique, which digitally animates every live-action frame. This stylistic choice is brilliant: the flickering and unstable appearance of the images perfectly reflects the protagonist’s altered perception and loss of identity. It is a sharp psychological exploration of drugs that serves as a powerful social critique of the war on drugs and surveillance, a film that asks unsettling questions about what defines our reality and our identity.

Half Nelson (2006)

Dan Dunne is a brilliant and beloved history teacher in a Brooklyn school, but he hides a cocaine addiction. When one of his students, thirteen-year-old Drey, discovers him getting high, an unlikely and fragile friendship forms between them. Both, in their own way, try to save each other from the difficulties and loneliness of their lives. Ryan Fleck directs a film of rare sensitivity, anchored by Ryan Gosling’s extraordinary and measured performance. Half Nelson avoids every cliché about drug dramas, focusing on the complex and delicate relationship between Dan and Drey. Dan’s addiction is not portrayed spectacularly, but as a silent weight that undermines his ability to be the mentor he wants to be. It is a profound psychological exploration of drugs that investigates loneliness, failure, and the possibility of finding connection in the most unexpected places.

Candy (2006)

A poet named Dan and an artist named Candy fall madly in love with each other and with heroin. The film, divided into three acts (Heaven, Earth, and Hell), follows their initially idyllic relationship as it transforms into a spiral of addiction, prostitution, and despair, leading to a tragic and inevitable breaking point. Based on the novel by Luke Davies, the film is a devastating portrait of drug addiction within a love story. The performances of Heath Ledger and Abbie Cornish are terrifying in their authenticity, showing how love and addiction can become indistinguishable, a single force that first elevates and then destroys. It is one of the most heartbreaking stories of drug redemption, where the final redemption is not in staying together, but in finding the strength to let go in order to survive.

Sherrybaby (2006)

Fresh out of prison, Sherry, a young woman recovering from heroin addiction, tries to put the pieces of her life back together. Her main goal is to rebuild her relationship with her young daughter, who was raised by her brother and sister-in-law, but the challenges of parole, sobriety, and reintegration prove almost insurmountable. Led by a magnetic and courageous performance from Maggie Gyllenhaal, Sherrybaby is an intimate and unflinching portrait of an imperfect woman fighting for redemption. The film honestly explores the difficulties of recovery and the consequences of addiction on the dearest bonds. It is one of the most touching stories of drug redemption, showing how the path to sobriety is paved with obstacles, frustrations, and the painful need to confront one’s past mistakes.

Enter the Void (2009)

Oscar, a young American drug dealer in Tokyo, is killed by the police during an ambush. The film follows his soul, in a continuous first-person perspective, as it floats above the city, observing the consequences of his death on his sister Linda, reliving memories of the past, and seeking a path to reincarnation, in a psychedelic journey inspired by the Tibetan Book of the Dead. Gaspar Noé creates an extreme and unprecedented cinematic experience. Shot entirely in first-person, with strobe lights and hallucinatory sequences that simulate a DMT trip, the film is the most radical example of psychedelic cinema. The addiction narrative here is not a story, but a total sensory experience that pushes cinema to its extreme limits. It is a hypnotic and disturbing work that explores themes of life, death, and rebirth through a visual language that aims to disrupt the viewer’s perception.

Oslo, August 31st (2011)

Anders, a recovering drug addict, gets a one-day leave from his rehab clinic for a job interview in Oslo. In these 24 hours, he wanders the city, meeting old friends and confronting the ghosts of his past. Feeling too old to start over, he sinks into an existential crisis that will lead him to an irrevocable decision. Joachim Trier directs a work of piercing melancholy and depth. The film does not focus on the physical aspects of addiction, but on the existential void it leaves behind. It is a sharp psychological exploration of drugs that investigates depression, regret, and the difficulty of forgiving oneself. Oslo, August 31st is a minimalist masterpiece that captures the silent desperation of someone who, despite being “clean,” feels they have irretrievably lost their life.

Filth (2013)

Based on the novel by Irvine Welsh (the author of Trainspotting), the film follows Scottish detective Bruce Robertson: a misanthropic, corrupt, sexist man addicted to cocaine and alcohol. While investigating a murder, Bruce manipulates and torments his colleagues to get a promotion, but his already fragile psyche begins to crumble, leading to a series of hallucinations and a confrontation with his inner demons. Another descent into hell born from the mind of Welsh, Filth is a disagreeable, outrageous, and ultimately tragic black comedy. James McAvoy’s performance is monumental in bringing to life a character as despicable as he is, at times, pathetic. The film uses humor and the grotesque to explore deep themes such as mental illness, grief, and trauma, offering a fierce and nihilistic social critique through a drug film.

Heaven Knows What (2014)

Based on the unpublished memoirs of its protagonist, Arielle Holmes, the film follows Harley, a young homeless heroin addict on the streets of New York. Her life is dominated by an obsessive and self-destructive love for Ilya and the constant, feverish search for the next fix. Between suicide attempts, petty thefts, and fleeting relationships, the film offers a hyper-realistic and unfiltered glimpse into life on the margins. The Safdie brothers take drug film realism to a new level of intimacy and urgency. Shot with long telephoto lenses that isolate the characters from the crowd, the film forces us to experience addiction from Harley’s point of view, without mediation. There is no judgment or sociological explanation; there is only the immediacy of need, the confusion of feelings, the brutality of the street. It is a psychological exploration of marginality and drugs that portrays love itself as the most powerful and destructive of addictions.

Mandy (2018)

In 1983, the peaceful existence of lumberjack Red Miller and his partner Mandy is destroyed by a sadistic hippie cult and a group of demonic bikers. After helplessly witnessing Mandy’s murder, Red embarks on a surreal and bloody journey of revenge, fueled by grief, rage, and a cocktail of powerful drugs that alter his perception of reality. Panos Cosmatos creates a modern “acid western,” a work of psychedelic cinema that blends heavy metal aesthetics with the revenge movie. The film is divided into two parts: the first is an idyllic and melancholic daydream; the second is a feverish nightmare, an explosion of ultra-stylized violence. Red’s drug use is not just a detail, but the catalyst that transforms his pain into a mythological fury, making the film an overwhelming visual and auditory experience, an instant cult drug film.

Climax (2018)

A French dance troupe gathers in an abandoned school for a party after rehearsals. The evening degenerates into an anarchic nightmare when they discover that the sangria they’ve been drinking has been spiked with LSD. Amidst paranoia, violence, and desire, the group descends into a psychedelic hell from which no one will emerge unscathed, in a crescendo of chaos and horror. Gaspar Noé again, this time orchestrating a descent into collective chaos. Shot with very long takes and a dancing camera that moves among the bodies, the film is a technical tour de force that immerses the viewer in the protagonists’ bad trip. It is a terrifying analysis of how the fragile framework of civilization and social coexistence can collapse under the effect of a substance, unleashing the most primal instincts. A work that explores society and drugs in a visceral and terrifying way.

Beautiful Boy (2018)

Based on the memoirs of David and Nic Sheff, the film tells the heartbreaking story of a father (Steve Carell) struggling to save his son (Timothée Chalamet) from methamphetamine addiction. Through flashbacks showing Nic’s happy childhood, the film explores the devastating impact of drugs on a family and the unwavering love of a parent in the face of a disease he doesn’t understand. The film offers a powerful dual perspective on addiction on screen. By showing both Nic’s pain and David’s anguish, Beautiful Boy illustrates how drug addiction is a disease that affects the entire family. It is an emotionally intense work that avoids easy solutions, presenting relapse not as a failure, but as part of the difficult and non-linear path to recovery. An essential narrative on the psychology of addiction and the resilience of family bonds.