Misunderstood

Rating: 8/10 (6 January 2008)

It's a shame how many people mislabel this as a "drug movie" (or an "anti-drug movie"). It's not about drugs. It's about addiction in all its forms. If it seems heavy-handed, it's because it doesn't waste time dabbling in the extras. This movie does what it's supposed to do with a high rate of efficiency.
Few other films simultaneously reach such extremes of beauty and brutality as Requiem does. Watching it will wipe you out for a while, but you'll be back for more in time. My main gripe is Clint Mansell's music score, which sounds more like it should be played on a $20 Casio than by the Chronos Quartet (and which, inexplicably, has become "one of those soundtracks" that finds its way into trailers for other movies ALL THE TIME).