This film is relentlessly unforgiving, letting what you see before you on screen feed on every last emotion you have within, and allows you to feel what the characters feel.

Rating: Null/10 (16 May 2002)

Usually, having seen a great film will leave me shaking. It's funny I know, but this is the case. I shook after I saw Traffic, Cast Away, and Memento, just to name a few recent films. I don't know why exactly I shake, it's an uncontrollable reaction to something so moving that it can't be expressed through words. Well, it's not always as deep as that, but with Requiem for a Dream, my shaking turned to complete abandonment. This film is relentlessly unforgiving, letting what you see before you on screen feed on every last emotion you have within, and allows you to feel what the characters feel. This is the most powerful film ever made about the affects of drug addiction. The film is based on a book by the same name, in which four characters, whom for there own reasons, become addicted to drugs. There's the old Jewish woman, played all to real by Ellen Burstyn, her son (Leto), his girlfriend (Connely), and his best friend (Wayans).
It starts harmless enough, these are all everyday characters we have seen before in some way or another, the old lonely mother watching t.v. and gossiping with neighbors. The young couple in love, and the best buddies trying to score some dope. But I can promise you, never have you seen the consequences these characters face at the end. I know a few friends that have seen the movie, and they all, one way or the other, felt the loss of something inside. That may sound a little exaggerated, but then again you haven't seen the film. You will come out of that theater affected. This does not have a happy ending, be well warned. I have heard people speak about Requiem for a Dream, having hated it. The reason for this is exactly the reason why you should see it. They hate it because it stays with them long after the credits have passed. If you consider that a bad thing then this is probably a film you won't want to see. These are probably also the same people that loved the forgettable film, BLOW (see review). I hated how I felt once the film was over. I hated what those characters went through, and believe me, you wish through out the whole movie that they would make different choices. This is a great film, it's important, it's real, and it's probably the best work no ones seen.