Dreams turn to nightmares in this tale of four Coney Island residents troubled by addiction

Rating: 9/10 (7 February 2019)

In the summer four residents of Coney Island dream of better times. Widow Sara Goldfarb spends her days watching self-help programmes on television; then one day she gets a phone call inviting her to be on a show... she is determined to go on wearing her favourite red dress. Unfortunately she is a little too large for it; dieting doesn't work so she turns to pills. Her son Harry and his friend Tyrone are regular drug users who have a plan to fund their habit and raise money for a better life by turning to dealing... all goes well till their supply is shut off. Harry's girlfriend Marion is also using and resorts to prostituting herself to get her fix.
It must be stated that this film isn't easy viewing; in the opening scene we see Harry taking his mother's television to pay for a fix. Then, even as things are getting better for him, we see his mother drawn into a different but no less dangerous addiction... prescribed by a doctor. As summer turns to autumn things get much grimmer and one wonders just how bad things will get... and it gets worse. Director Darren Aronofsky's use of rapid cuts captures the manic urgency of the addicts' lives. The cast is impressive; in particular the four leads; Ellen Burstyn as Sara Goldfarb; Jared Leto as Harry; Jennifer Connelly as Marion and Marlon Wayans as Tyrone. They really make us believe in their characters as their lives descend into a nightmare. Overall I'd certainly recommend this but prepare to be disturbed.