20 films about addiction that you have to see

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 art.

Next we will see various movies about addiction, in which 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.

• Related article: "20 movies about depression to understand this disorder"

20 movies about addiction

Here you will find films in which the subject of addiction is addressed, either as this main part of the plot or as a separate problem, along with which 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 his teenage girlfriend are addicted to heroin. They spend great adventures together, but Renton is aware that he should rehab and he decides to turn his life around, moving from Edinburgh to London, although this is not enough for his past to leave him alone.

This movie is a good representation of addictions in real life. The routes of administration, its short-term pleasurable effects and also its long-term consequences are shown quite clearly.

2. Kids (1995), by Larry Clark

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

This film shows the key aspect of addictions: the lack of control of behavior. In addition, it 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 starts playing with his mind.

Little by little, Jim leaves sports and his home behind, moving closer to the underworld of the Big Apple, where he becomes addicted to heroin. Your addiction will jeopardize both your health and the life you have known.

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

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

This is another of the films about addiction that have achieved great international success. It is about the lives of four addicts who are addicted to heroin, cocaine and pills. These addictions send their lives into a downward spiral, ruining everything he had ever known.

• You may be interested in: "The 14 most important types of addictions"

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

Yes ok It's not a movie, more of a documentary., Addiction 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 cure.

The documentary shows how drugs affect our brain, resembling it as a chronic disease with risks of relapse. In the brain, areas that are involved in decision-making are altered, in turn related to learning and memory, and behavior control.

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

Writer Ben Sanderson (Nicolas Cage) is an alcoholic. His addiction, far from causing him calm and tranquility when they are very stressed, makes him immerse himself in a self-destructive spiral.

Fed up with everything, he decides to put an end to everything 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 addiction to alcohol is one of the main causes of suicide in people who end up committing it. In addition, he shows how this substance, totally legal and widely accepted in our society, leads to physical, cognitive and emotional deterioration.

7. Stories of the Kronen (1995), by Montxo Armendáriz

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

In the film it is shown how the main element of drug use is usually lack of inhibition, unbridled fun. Recreational drug use, especially in youth, implies a greater risk in the conduct of the person, 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 that he is gaining fame in the course of his career, is fully integrated into the heroin.

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

In the film it is shown that people do not become addicted just because. There is a whole set of elements that can make a person, given the opportunity, use drugs frequently 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. Following the passing 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, it is not only possible to understand how drugs work through the testimonies of their victims and also through the explanations of expert doctors and psychologists. It is a work that combines both Brand's professional point of view, as 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 the perfect family. But appearances are deceiving Her husband, who loves her, hides an alcohol problem, and she did not know what the true gravity of it was.

The film shows how addiction affects the relational health of the family. As loved ones they care about our problems, and how family ties can help heal us or otherwise make the situation worse.

11. Nymphomaniac (2013), by Lars von Trier

Joe (Charlotte Gainsbourg) is a nymphomaniac, that is, addicted to sex. Your sexual behavior is compulsive and is present in every moment of your life.

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

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 worried girlfriend asks him to stop gambling, and he promises that she will. But a friend of his needs money and, far from keeping his promise, Mike decides that he will risk everything to earn enough money to bail him out.

This film is ideal for understanding how dangerous gambling addictions are, something that in recent For years the media, especially television, have belittled the consequences of gambling pathological.

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

Jordan Belfort (Leonardo diCaprio) is a clear example that you can have more than one addiction (it usually is, in fact). She wants money so she can pay for her drugs and have all the sex she wants. The life of this character, which is based on a real businessman, reaches the top of the business world and then sees how everything falls apart due to his shady business.

14. 28 days (2000), by Betty Thomas

Gwen Cummings (Sandra Bullock) has a serious alcohol problem. So serious that she, going drunk to her sister's wedding and ruining it for her, decides to catch the wedding limo after her and, unsurprisingly, she crashes it into a family home.

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 lost in life.

There she will meet addicts to other substances, become aware of her problems and see how cruel they are. are these kinds of problems, especially with a girl he meets there who turns almost on his sister.

It is a very inspiring movie., in which it becomes understandable the great effort that those who have just come out of rehabilitation must put on their part. Returning to the environment in which the addiction was acquired runs the risk of relapsing.

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

In this film there is talk, above all, of addiction to sex. Three people, who see how her problem is sinking their lives, decide to sign up for a program to get ahead.

Like typical programs of this type, this one consists of several steps that allow us 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. On the tape you see how this drug is produced, describing the process as if we were experiencing the symptoms of consumption of this drug. Everything happens very fast.

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

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

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

When he was 14 years old, he began to prostitute himself to be able to pay for his daily fix. For a time he became one of the drug addicts in his area, as he watched how the cold embrace of death took several of his friends who were also addicted to him.

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

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

In the film his director, Terry Gilliam, managed to capture a criticism of the consumer society, although 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 United States, he must deal with his daughter's cocaine addiction.

Meanwhile, on the border with Mexico, police officer Javier Rodríguez (Benicio del Toro) faces 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 house.

20. Blow (2001), by Ted Demme

Another movie that deals with drug trafficking. George (Johnny Depp) and Mirtha Jung (Penelope Cruz) are a couple of drug lords who live, throughout the film, a great boom accompanied by the inevitable fall.

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