The Most Amazing Moving You'll Never Want to Watch Again

Rating: 10/10 (9 June 2003)

Requiem for a Dream is an utterly amazing film achievement. Darren Aronofsky has created a vibrant, pulsating, repugnant masterpiece. The director's visual flair and Scorsese-esque use of music creates an immediacy and sense of elation and dread that accurately capture the world of drug use. The technical mastery on display here elevates the film from "Afterschool Special" territory (where it could have easily fallen, based on the "drugs are bad" message) to a absolutely haunting masterpiece.
This movie should be shown to every teenager or college students. Pounding people with the ham-fisted "drugs are bad" approach seriously undermines the credibility of the messenger--anyone who has dabbled knows that they can be a lot of fun with seemingly very few negative consequences. Requiem for a Dream confirms the pleasure of drugs while slowly taking the viewer into the hell of junkie-hood.