The 10 Best Movies About Addiction

ComingSoon.net is looking back on film history’s long list of movies about addiction to determine which ones handle the heavy subject the best. Check out our selections in the gallery below!

Addiction is one of the most painful, most horrible things imaginable. It ruins lives, it ruins families, it ruins careers, it ruins everything. It’s all-consuming, it’s practically inescapable. Naturally, filmmakers from all over the world have been more than willing to mine this global crisis for material. Because of its worldwide prevalence—alcohol addiction, drug addiction, even sex addiction can be found in any country on the planet—movies about addiction are not hard to find.

What can be hard to find, however, are good movies about addiction. More often than not, this incredibly emotional and serious subject matter can come across as out-of-touch or completely inappropriate if done incorrectly. With this in mind, these are some of the very best movies about addiction to date.

What is your favorite movie from this list? Let us know in the comments below!

addiction movies

Drugstore Cowboy (1989)

Matt Dillon and Kelly Lynch are two actors who are superb at their jobs but don’t often get the opportunity to prove it. Luckily, Gus Van Sant’s Drugstore Cowboy gives them more than enough to work with—it’s a tragic film about how addiction can tear apart relationships.
Enter the Void (2013)

Gaspar Noe is a little bit too edgy for his own good, oftentimes coming across as someone trying to be subversive who ends up looking goofy instead, but his 2013 film Enter the Void is one of the most interesting portrayals of the impact addiction has on a family. After the lead character overdoses incredibly early on in the film, he spends the rest of the runtime floating around his world as his friends and family mourn their loss.
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998)

Based on the Hunter S. Thompson book of the same name, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is practically the bible for addiction stories. Thompson and his “lawyer” bum around the city for a while, doing every drug and drinking every kind of alcohol imaginable until their bodies just can’t take it anymore. It’s honestly hard to watch at times, with director Terry Gilliam doing his best to show what it’d really look like to be that messed up nonstop.
Inherent Vice (2014)

Based on the inimitable Thomas Pynchon novel of the same name, Paul Thomas Anderson is really the only person who could’ve ever pulled off Inherent Vice’s genius on such a perfect scale. Following a deadbeat detective who’s always drunk or high (or both), the movie often feels like a dream but isn’t afraid to venture into nightmare territory.
Leaving Las Vegas (1995)

If anyone ever questions Nicolas Cage’s acting ability, just show them Leaving Las Vegas. He plays a man determined to drink himself a death—that is, until Elisabeth Shue’s character changes things up for him and love gets in the way. Still, it’s an achingly real portrayal of how alcohol can destroy, and Nic Cage is at the top of his game here.
Naked Lunch (1991)

David Cronenberg is the king of body horror, and it’s hard to imagine anything more horrific for the body than addiction. His 1991 film Naked Lunch follows those addiction to bug killing chemicals as they venture into much harder territory. Cronenberg’s films carry a unique, darkly comedic tone, which means he’s able to tackle very serious subjects with a refreshing perspective.
Scarface (1983)

Possibly the most recognizable film on this list, Brian De Palma’s Scarface is all about cocaine—the dealing of it, the refining of it, and (of course) the use of it. Al Pacino is unmissable here as kingpin Tony Montana.
Shame (2011)

Steve McQueen’s Shame shows a completely different kind of addiction than anything else in this slideshow—sex addiction. One of the first films to really make people realize how great Michael Fassbender is as a performer, the film follows the actor as his life crumbles around him due to his untreated addiction.
The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)

Martin Scorsese is no stranger to movies about addiction, but his 2013 feature The Wolf of Wall Street might be the greatest movie of the sort Scorsese has ever made. Following a stock broker who profits exponentially off of some really inventive fraudulent practices, the movie stars Leonardo DiCaprio as the man who couldn’t stop making money off the rich (and couldn’t stop the endless flow of drugs and booze, either).
Trainspotting (1996)

Perhaps the movie that proved how talented Ewan McGregor truly is, Danny Boyle’s Trainspotting sees the actor portraying one of the most troubling characters of his career: a heroin addict hoping to make a change. It’s a horrible drug, to be sure, and the movie doesn’t take this lightly in the slightest.