20 movies about addiction that you have to see

Cinema shows us different aspects about the destruction that addictions generate.

Addiction is a very present problem in society, and that is why it is not surprising that it has been talked about in works of arts.

Below we are going to see several films about addictionIn them, this problem has acquired an important role in the development of the plot, whether the protagonist of the film is an addict or having to deal with the addiction of a loved one.

20 movies about addiction

Here you will find movies in which the theme of addiction is addressed, either this main part of the plot or as a problem on the side, along with those that the characters have to live. The plots of the films will be mentioned in a general way, to avoid revealing the ending or surprise elements of the plot.

1. Trainspotting (1996), by Danny Boyle

Max Renton and his group of friends and teenage girlfriend are addicted to heroin. They have great adventures together, but Renton is aware that he should rehabilitate himself and decides to turn his life around, moving from Edinburgh to London, although this is not enough for his past to leave him alone.

This film is a good representation of addictions in real life. It shows, quite clearly, the routes of administration, its short-term pleasurable effects and also its long-term consequences.

2. Kids (1995), by Larry Clark

It was about a normal day in the life of a group of the life of a group of New York City teenagers in the 1990s.. Their life revolves around student parties, sex, alcohol and drugs.

This film shows the key aspect of addictions: the lack of behavioral control. It also shows the compulsive need to obtain the drug, despite knowing the consequences, generally harmful to health.

3. The Basketball Diaries (1995), by Scott Kalvert

Jim's life is centered around basketball. The team he plays for seems to be invincible, and so much success begins to play with his mind.

Little by little, Jim leaves the sport and his home behind, approaching the underworld of the Big Apple, where he becomes addicted to heroin. His addiction will jeopardize both his health and the life he has known..

This film shows in a very reliable way what addiction, especially to illegal drugs such as heroin, means for the social and family sphere of the individual. The subject shows a lack of control, even though he sees how his social life is deteriorating.

4. Requiem for a Dream (2000), by Darren Aronofsky

This is another another film about addiction that has achieved international success.. It is about the lives of four addicts who are addicted to heroin, cocaine and pills. These addictions cause their lives to spiral downward, ruining everything they have ever had and known.

5. Addiction (2007), produced by HBO and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

Although it is not a movie it is not a movie, but rather a documentaryAddiction has the great advantage that it shows addictions in a general sense and also presents modern treatments and the expert opinion of specialists in the field of addiction treatment.

The documentary shows how drugs affect our brain, likening it to a chronic disease with risks of relapse. The brain is altered in areas involved in decision making, which in turn are related to learning and memory, and behavioral control.

6. Leaving Las Vegas (1995), by Mike Figgis

Writer Ben Sanderson (Nicolas Cage) is an alcoholic. His addiction, far from bringing him calm and tranquility when he is under stress, causes him to immerse himself in a spiral of self-destruction. a spiral of self-destruction..

Fed up with everything, he decides to put an end to it all by going to Las Vegas. However, there he will meet a prostitute, with whom he will maintain an intimate relationship where both understand each other, but addictions can be stronger than their love.

This film shows how alcohol addiction is one of the main causes of suicide in people who end up committing it. It also shows how this substance, totally legal and very accepted in our society, leads to physical, cognitive and emotional deterioration.

7. Historias del Kronen (1995), by Montxo Armendáriz

This film is about the life of 21-year-old Carlos, who finds himself immersed with his friends in an episode of fun without limits or rules. There is only alcohol and partying, but then he encounters his reality, which does not disappear no matter how much he consumes.

The film shows how the main element of drug use is usually uninhibited, unbridled fun. Recreational drug use, especially among young people, implies a greater risk in the person's behavior in the person's behavior, an act of rebellion.

8. Ray (2004), by Taylor Hackford

Ray Charles is a famous soul and R&B singer who lost his sight as a child. In the same way he gains fame in the course of his career, he becomes fully integrated into heroin.

Fortunately for him, his wife's help will allow him to share his music and change the world, instead of letting addiction take over and sink him.

The film makes it clear that people don't become addicted just because. There is a whole set of elements that can make a person, if given the opportunity, use drugs on a frequent basis and become addicted.

9. Russell Brand: From addiction to recovery (2012), by Russell Brand

Russell Brand is an English comedian who has been suffering from addiction for years.. After the death of Amy Winehouse, due to complications with her addiction and her rehabs, Brand decided to prepare this documentary with testimonies from addicts and specialists in the field of addiction.

In the documentary you can not only understand how drugs work through the testimonies of their victims, but also through the explanations of expert doctors and psychologists. It is a work that combines both Brand's professional point of view, as the director of the documentary, and his personal point of view, as an addict.

10. When a Man Loves a Woman (1994), by Luis Mandoki

Alice Green (Meg Ryan) lives in what, at first glance, seems like a perfect family. But appearances can be deceiving Her husband, who loves her, hides a drinking problem, and she didn't know what it was.and she was unaware of its true severity.

The film shows how addiction impacts the family's relational health. How loved ones care about our problems, and how family ties can contribute to healing or, on the contrary, worsen the situation.

11. Nymphomaniac (2013), by Lars von Trier

Joe (Charlotte Gainsbourg) is a nymphomaniac, that is, a sex addict. Her sexual behavior is compulsive and is present at every moment of her life.

While sex addiction is not included in the DSM, it is considered a serious behavioral problem, as it involves risk-taking, such as getting an STD or risking dating strangers, and having sex constantly, like other behavioral problems, can mean not giving enough time to other day-to-day actions.

12. Rounders (1998), by John Dahl

Mike McDermott (Matt Damon) has a serious gambling problem.. So serious that he has lost all his money betting against a Russian mobster. His girlfriend, worried, asks him to stop gambling, and he promises to stop. But a friend of his needs money and, far from keeping his promise, Mike decides to risk everything to win enough money to get him out of trouble.

This film is ideal to understand how dangerous gambling addictions are, something that in recent years the media, especially television, has underestimated the consequences of pathological gambling.

13. The Wolf of Wall Street (2013), by Martin Scorsese

Jordan Belfort (Leonardo diCaprio) is a clear example of the fact that you can have more than one addiction (it usually is, in fact). He wants money so he can pay for his drugs and have all the sex he wants. This character's life, which is based on a real businessman, reaches the top of the business world and then sees how it all falls apart because of the shady business dealings.

14. 28 days (2000), by Betty Thomas

Gwen Cummings (Sandra Bullock) has a serious alcohol problem.. So serious that, going drunk to her sister's wedding and ruining it, she decides to take the wedding limousine afterwards and, without anyone being surprised, crashes it into a family house.

Before putting her in jail, she manages to be admitted to a rehabilitation center to treat her problem, although she considers it unnecessary, only for people who have lost their way in life.

There she will meet other substance addicts, become aware of her problem and see how cruel this kind of problems are, especially with a girl she meets there and who becomes almost her sister.

It is a very inspiring filmIt is a very inspiring film, in which the great effort that those who have just come out of rehabilitation must make is understandable. Returning to the environment in which the addiction was acquired runs the risk of relapse.

15. Thanks for Sharing (2012), by Stuart Blumberg

In this film the main topic is sex addiction.. Three people, who see how their problem is sinking their lives, decide to sign up for a program in order to overcome it.

Like typical programs of this type, this one consists of several steps that allow them to reach the final goal: overcoming sex addiction. In addition to testing their will, along the way they will begin to maintain a strong friendship.

16. Spun (2002), by Jonas Åkerlund

Ross is a methamphetamine manufacturer in a hotel, and markets it to young people. The film shows how the drug is produced, describing the process as if we were living the symptoms of the consumption of this narcotic drug.. Everything happens very fast.

17. I, Cristina F. (1981), by Uli Edel

It is inspired by the true story of Christiane Vera Felscherinow, played in the film by Natja Brunckhorst.played in the film by Natja Brunckhorst. It is a very disturbing film.

The plot is based on Christiane's autobiographical book, "The Children of the Zoo Station", in which she recounts her terrible heroin addiction in the mid-1970s in Berlin.

At the age of 14, she began to prostitute herself in order to pay for her daily high. For a time she became one of the drug addicts in her area, while she saw how the cold embrace of death took several of her friends who were also addicts.

18. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998), by Terry Gilliam

Raoul Duke (Johnny Depp) and Dr. Gonzo (Benicio del Toro) embark on a journey to Las a trip to Las Vegas with a shipment of various drugs, including pills and mescaline, including pills and mescaline.

In the film, its director, Terry Gilliam, managed to capture a critique of consumerist society, albeit with a certain comic tone.

19. Traffic (2000), by Steven Soderbergh

In the film, Michael Douglas plays a judge who has been appointed as president of the Office of National Drug Control Policy. In addition to dealing with addiction in the U.S., he must deal with his daughter's cocaine addiction, he must deal with his daughter's cocaine addiction..

Meanwhile, on the Mexican border, police officer Javier Rodriguez (Benicio del Toro) takes on one of the largest drug cartels in the region.

The film shows, without mincing words, the world of drug trafficking in North America, presenting the drama of addiction knocking on the door of our home.

20. Blow (2001), by Ted Demme

Another film that deals with drug trafficking. George (Johnny Depp) and Mirtha Jung (Penélope Cruz) are a couple of drug kingpins who live, throughout the who experience, throughout the film, a great boom accompanied by the inevitable bust.

The combination of money, glamour, hell and, of course, addiction, is something that is present throughout the film.