I’ve watched the series “Narcos” last year on
Netflix and I really liked it (and I’m into Pedro Pascal, main reason I started
watching). The show centrals drugs. And I started about all the movies that are
about drugs. And there are a lot! I decided to focus on the movies that you
might not have seen, that are underrated or overlooked. Here are my five picks:
Dope (2015)
Three teenagers with a penchant for nineties hip-hop get stuck with a backpack full of drugs via a birthday party that got out of hand. Classic movie idea, but “Dope” is much more than just another American coming-of-age film in which sex, drugs and unattainable dream girls play a big role. Thanks to a by violent gangs dominated slum as a backdrop, a brilliant eclectic soundtrack and an arsenal of completely unique characters. The young protagonists are all fantastic.
Requiem for a Dream (2001)
Widowed and unorthodox mother Sara Goldfarb is firmly convinced that she will soon be invited to one of her favorite TV shows. She swallows amphetamines, then she can wear her red dress when the big night is there. Son Harry, like his friends, is also on drugs. Smart big-city story by Darren Aronofsky. It makes effective use of hypnotic imagery and music. The most depressing movie I have ever seen. When you think your life is bad, watch “Requiem for a Dream”. It also has one of the most gruesome scenes imaginable, I simply can’t watch it.
The Basketball Diaries (1995)
A very young Leonardo DiCaprio plays Jim Carroll. A student at the New York Saint Vitus College. He becomes a member of the basketball team. There he comes in contact with drugs and then becomes addicted to heroin, making his life go downhill.
City of God (2002)
“City of God” is a film about poverty and violence, in which little boys have weapons, use drugs and die in the bishes. Yet it is not a melancholic tearjerker. It’s a drama, lusciously photographed and quickly edited. “City of God” is loosely based on the book by Paulo Lins, a man who himself lived in the slum in Rio de Janeiro.
A Scanner Darkly (2006)
In the not too distant future, three junkies live in a messy single-family home. One of them is an undercover cop, looking for the source of the new, devastating drug Substance D, while he himself slowly breaks down the stuff. Director Richard Linklater had the recordings of his actors redrawn by fifty illustrators using special software. This ‘interpolated rotoscope effect’ contributes to the alienating atmosphere of this film.
Three teenagers with a penchant for nineties hip-hop get stuck with a backpack full of drugs via a birthday party that got out of hand. Classic movie idea, but “Dope” is much more than just another American coming-of-age film in which sex, drugs and unattainable dream girls play a big role. Thanks to a by violent gangs dominated slum as a backdrop, a brilliant eclectic soundtrack and an arsenal of completely unique characters. The young protagonists are all fantastic.
Widowed and unorthodox mother Sara Goldfarb is firmly convinced that she will soon be invited to one of her favorite TV shows. She swallows amphetamines, then she can wear her red dress when the big night is there. Son Harry, like his friends, is also on drugs. Smart big-city story by Darren Aronofsky. It makes effective use of hypnotic imagery and music. The most depressing movie I have ever seen. When you think your life is bad, watch “Requiem for a Dream”. It also has one of the most gruesome scenes imaginable, I simply can’t watch it.
A very young Leonardo DiCaprio plays Jim Carroll. A student at the New York Saint Vitus College. He becomes a member of the basketball team. There he comes in contact with drugs and then becomes addicted to heroin, making his life go downhill.
“City of God” is a film about poverty and violence, in which little boys have weapons, use drugs and die in the bishes. Yet it is not a melancholic tearjerker. It’s a drama, lusciously photographed and quickly edited. “City of God” is loosely based on the book by Paulo Lins, a man who himself lived in the slum in Rio de Janeiro.
In the not too distant future, three junkies live in a messy single-family home. One of them is an undercover cop, looking for the source of the new, devastating drug Substance D, while he himself slowly breaks down the stuff. Director Richard Linklater had the recordings of his actors redrawn by fifty illustrators using special software. This ‘interpolated rotoscope effect’ contributes to the alienating atmosphere of this film.
