The new movie Cherry from the Russo Brothers stars Tom Holland as a former soldier who battles drug addiction. There have been many movies based on this subject with Requiem for a Dream often being singled out as one of the most powerful examples.
The drama by Darren Aronofsky stars Jared Leto and Ellen Burstyn in a movie showing multiple stories of addiction. While it certainly leaves an impact on audiences, some prefer Danny Boyle's similarly acclaimed movie Trainspotting. Both movies address heroin addiction though with quite different approaches. Each film is excellent, but which is the more powerful story of addiction?
Requiem For A Dream: Directing
There is no disputing that both Aronofsky and Boyle are very skilled directors. They each approach their movies with a certain visual style that felt quite innovative at the time and both of these styles have been copied many times since these movies were released.
However, Requiem for a Dream is a real display of what a unique director Aronofsky is. He has a talent for shooting sequences in a way that helps the audience gets into the headspace of the characters and feel the world as they do if only to a small degree.
Trainspotting: The Characters
In both movies, the characters are introduced in the midst of their addiction. In Requiem for a Dream, apart from the character of Sara, it feels like the audience doesn't get to know them as people beyond their situation.
Trainspotting, on the other hand, makes the audience like these characters and want to spend time with them even while they are doing questionable things. This attachment to the characters makes it a lot easier to get invested in their struggle.
Requiem For A Dream: The Horror
Both of these movies make drug addiction look like a miserable disease that is all-consuming and destroys lives. There is nothing glamorous about its depiction in either movie, but Requiem for a Dream really highlights the horror of it.
In many ways, Requiem for a Dream could actually be considered a horror movie. As the characters sink deeper into their addiction and become more desperate, the movie turns outright gruesome and deeply unsettling. It is an effectively troubling depiction of drug use.
Trainspotting: The Humor
While humor might not seem like it has a place in a movie about addiction, Boyle is able to balance just enough of it to ensure it doesn't take away from the messier aspects of the movie.
However, the humor also makes the movie feel like a more rounded story than Requiem for a Dream. Aronofsky's movie is so dark and so grim that it can almost be hard to connect with. The humor in Trainspotting helps pull the audience into the movie more, which makes those dark moments more impactful.
Requiem For A Dream: The Darkness
The lack of humor is not really a fault of the movie as it was certainly intentional on Aronofsky's part. The movie exists in a world of darkness and despair that is meant to reflect the world of a drug addict looking for their next fix.
The downbeat nature of the movie might make it less accessible, but it's hard to imagine that it would have been as powerful if it went easier on the audience.
Trainspotting: Hope
By the end of Requiem for a Dream, the audience walks away from the movie with a feeling of defeat and hopelessness. Again, this seems to be something Aronofsky intended, and it is pretty effective. However, the glimmer of hope in Trainspotting has its value as well.
Given the audience's attachment to the characters, they want to see them beat their addiction. Boyle avoids the mistake of giving a happy Hollywood ending but does allow there to be a hint of hope. It doesn't rob the movie of its message but ssuggests there is still hope.
Requiem For A Dream: Realism
Both of these movies could be called gritty and realistic depictions of drug addiction, but Requiem for a Dream feels a little more grounded in what such a situation would be like. While Trainspotting tells a story, Aronofsky seems more interested in just detailing the downfall of these characters.
The situations and funny asides in Trainspotting might break the realism for viewers, but Requiem for a Dream holds onto that truthful feel from beginning to the end.
Trainspotting: The Understanding
Requiem for a Dream serves as a very effective deterrent from ever using hard drugs as it makes the lives of these people seem miserable. Even the moments of euphoria they experience while high are made to look ugly for those watching.
Trainspotting certainly doesn't glorify the use of drugs in any way, but it makes the audience understand how these people turned to them. In Requiem for a Dream, the characters just exist as addicts. But the narration monologues by Ewan McGregor's character in Trainspotting gives a fascinating insight into the seduction of this life.
Requiem For A Dream: Different Stories
While the destructive nature of heroin, in particular, is at the center of both movies, Requiem for a Dream does an interesting job exploring a wider understanding of the notion of addiction.
Trainspotting is great at exploring the lives of the heroin users and what drives them, but Requiem for a Dream also looks at an equally devastating addiction with the character of Sara Goldfarb (Ellen Burstyn). Her desire to be young and thin again as a way of achieving happiness is as tragic and hard to watch as the downfall of her heroin addict son in the movie. Her amphetamine addiction is one that is not seen in movies often.
Trainspotting: Rewatchable
Requiem for a Dream has a reputation as being one of the most unpleasant movie experiences an audience is likely to endure. While that makes it a fascinating first watch, it makes it very hard to ever revisit the movie.
Trainspotting is also filled with some truly disturbing moments, some of which are hard to shake. But the energy, the characters, and the tone of the movie make it worth seeing again. While Aronofsky certainly meant for his movie is be off-putting, being able to return to Trainspotting allows the audience to appreciate it more.