The Top 10 Best Drug Addiction Movies
Drugs Are Bad, but these Drug Addiction Movies are Good!
If there’s one thing that always makes audiences feel better, it’s seeing that someone else’s life is way worse than theirs. That’s why this week, Stars & Popcorn is taking a look at the best drug addiction movies. Of course, addiction is no laughing matter and ruins lives, but that doesn’t mean we don’t love seeing it on the big screen. There are tons of movies out there that focus on the battle with addiction, so I had to come up with a few rules for this list. For one, it has to be a movie with a character addicted to drugs, sorry to all the friends of Bill W. out there. The second rule is that drugs have to be a major part of the plot. That means a “party guy” who smokes a bit too much “weed” won’t really qualify. Instead, I was looking for movies that featured the downside of drug addiction. That being said, the movies that made the cut might be a little depressing at times, but all of them are pretty damn good. So, for legal reasons, I want to remind you that Stars & Popcorn doesn’t endorse drug use… Unless you’re looking to party. Even then, please get ripped responsibly.
10. The Basketball Diaries
Leonardo DiCaprio is no stranger to playing drug-addled characters (you might remember the famous quaalude scene from Wolf of Wall Street). For this list of drug addiction movies though, I’m including one of his earlier roles in The Basketball Diaries. The film portrays an adolescent high school basketball player who slowly descends into the dark world of hardcore drug use. Leo’s character loses it all, turning to harder and harder drugs in order to fend off his sense of shame. Of course, in order to get his hands on more drugs, he does a lot more shameful acts, thus a deadly cycle begins. The Basketball Diaries shows that anyone can be affected by drugs, even white kids with bright futures. It’s a tough movie to watch but happens to be one of the best basketball movies out there.
9. Half Nelson
Teachers are supposed to have their acts together. At least that’s what we always thought as kids. If anything, Half Nelson proves that they’re people and just as screwed up as the rest of us. The film follows Ryan Gosling who plays a teacher with a bit of a cocaine problem. Of course, if I was working with kids all day, I might need a pickup or two over the course of the day (probably why I’m not a teacher). His secret is eventually discovered by one of his students, and he’s forced to re-evaluate his life. In all honesty though, Gosling’s character isn’t a half bad teacher in the film. Sure, he’s got plenty of issues and is in need of psychological help, but he knows that he’s a mess and tries his hardest to steer kids away from ending up like him.
8. Ben is Back
Strangely enough, 2018 was actually a pretty good year for drug addiction movies. Ben is Back tells the tale of a young man who returns home for the holidays to visit with his family. It just so happens that he’s a recovering addict who has pretty much burned every bridge in his hometown to the point where no one in his family trusts him anymore. That doesn’t stop his mom (Julia Roberts) from welcoming him back with open arms. Unfortunately, Ben’s past comes back to haunt him and he sets out to make things right for his family. We slowly get a peek at what lead to his spiral. The guilt of the past and the stress of running down some enablers from his past threaten everything that Ben has worked so hard for. If anything Ben is Back proves you can’t trust an addict.
7. Beautiful Boy
As I said, 2018 was a pretty good year for drug addiction movies. We get a hard look at the toll that drug takes on the loved ones of an addict. Steve Carrell watches the painful journey his son undertakes as he becomes more and more dependent on drugs. Despite his many attempts and pleas, Carrell is powerless in the face of his son’s addiction. It’s a heartbreaking film that shows his son tries desperately to get clean only to relapse as soon as he encounters new stressors. Anyone who has any experience with addiction knows that recovery is not an easy road and this film shows just how difficult it is. A lot of the entries on this list of drug addiction movies focus on the drug users, but it’s their loved ones that tend to suffer the most.
6. Flight
Once there was a time when we used to joke about pilots being drunk all the time. Of course, they’re not all alcoholics… A lot of them do drugs too. In all seriousness though, most of the film focuses on Whip Whitaker’s dependency on alcohol, but let’s not forget that he gets more than a few visits from his fairy drug dealer, played by John Goodman. “Whip” usually needs a pick me up after a long night of drinking, and his drug of choice is cocaine. He uses the drug multiple times to “sober” himself up and even used it the morning of the fateful flight at the center of the film. Now, I’m not going to say that drug use is good, at least not on the record. However, something was up with Whip’s brain chemistry that morning and this addict managed to save 98 lives while coked up.