If you’re feeling low on your road to sobriety, check out these amazing movies about addiction to inspire you to stay strong and stay on your recovery journey.
If you are in recovery, you may get triggered by the many movies and TV shows depicting drugs and alcohol in ways that seem glamorous or appealing. However, there are some brilliant films out there that perfectly capture the madness of addiction.
Movies about addiction can reassure you that you’re not alone, and they can give hope that there is a path out. They can remind you about how low substances can take you, and strengthen your resolve never to go back to that place again.
Movies are also a great way to stay sober on a Saturday night!
1. 28 Days
If America’s sweetheart Sandra Bullock can be a drunk, then no one is immune to addiction.
This movie follows the predictable path of the alcoholic being forced into rehab and initially fighting against the process. The heroine struggles through some familiar situations like an unruly love life and professional challenges, and eventually finds serenity.
2. Flight
Denzel Washington won an Oscar for his portrayal of a high functioning addict who suddenly isn’t so high functioning anymore. Although he is able to land a plane under dramatic circumstances, eventually he must learn how to quit using substances and manage life sober.
This movie perfectly captures many of the addict’s most disturbing behavior patterns. The main character lies incessantly, even when facing dire consequences. He is forced to hit bottom in many ways before he can finally admit to himself he needs help.
Many people in recovery will identify with this dark yet ultimately hopeful story.
3. My Name Is Bill W
If you’re having trouble ploughing through the Big Book, you may want to check out this movie. It portrays the life story of its author and the founder of Alcoholic Anonymous, showing Bill W’s story as he could not stop drinking even when his life and marriage were falling apart.
His friendship with Dr. Bob and his long-suffering wife Lois, who went on to found Alanon, are featured prominently.
4. Clean and Sober
Michael Keaton plays an addict whose life really goes down the tubes. Like many in recovery, he finds that sobriety has its challenges too as he gets fired and romantically involved with another addict.
If you find yourself forgetting the dark consequences of getting high, this movie is a powerful reminder.
5. Lost Weekend
This classic film made in 1945 still holds up as an accurate depiction of alcoholism. It won four Academy Awards, including Best Actor and Best Picture!
Ray Milland’s character Don demonstrates the “Jekyll and Hyde” nature of addiction, and the inability to stop even when supported by a loving woman and faced with blatant evidence of drinking’s consequences.
6. Train Spotting
If you find yourself thinking that heroin might be fun again, after seeing Ewan McGregor swim down the toilet in “Trainspotting,” you may reconsider. If that scene doesn’t take the allure out of smack, the scene with the dead baby will.
This movie manages to portray the camaraderie and adventure of taking drugs with graphic depictions of what drugs can do. Many addicts can’t connect with artistic depictions which demonize the drugs.
By showing the fatal attraction of dope, this film gains credibility amongst those who understand the lure.
7. Requiem for a Dream
People in recovery know that addiction does not discriminate. It can affect people of all ages, backgrounds, and genders. In this movie, addicts young and old become slaves to their substances of choice.
This movie is also famous for its horrifying illustration of how low people will go to get a fix. The bottoms hit by the characters played by Jennifer Connelly and Jared Leto are very low, but we all know that “there but for the Grace of God, go I.”
8. BarFly
‘Barfly” is based on the semi-autobiography of poet/author Charles Bukowski. He was a notorious alcoholic who still managed to create some memorable writing which is still admired today.
Mickey Rourke is awfully convincing as a low bottom drunk who frequents dark taverns, uses people, and manipulates his way out of consequences.
The dark lighting and realistic dialogue effectively capture the world of the chronic alcoholic without giving too much of a sugar-coated ending. The hero may not seem to face the consequences of his actions, but his life is certainly not anything to emulate.
9. Leaving Las Vegas
Nicolas Cage won an Oscar for his portrayal of a man who goes to Sin City to drink himself to death. He happens to find a similarly self-destructive young prostitute to enable his downward spiral.
Few movies have so well captured the hell-bent suicidal focus of late-stage addiction and the futility of the codependents who try to help.
10. When a Man Loves a Woman
Meg Ryan, another one of America’s sweethearts, goes dark in this story of the girl who has everything and almost loses it all to her addiction to booze. Pretty, happily married and successful, she is hiding vodka bottles in her linen closet, endangering her young children with her reckless behavior.
So many drunks in the movies are portrayed by men, and so this film emerged as particularly impactful by shedding light on the female alcoholic’s journey.
Andy Garcia effectively shows the challenges that the spouses of addicts face. When marriages are based on one person being a drunk, it takes a lot of change and work for both people to recover.
Movies about Addiction: Lessons in What Happens and How to Recover
Not all depictions of addiction and recovery are completely on point, but many seek to tell the story of the iron grip that substances can take on almost anybody. If you love someone in active addiction or recovery, these stories may educate you on the challenges both addicts and their loved ones face.
If you are in recovery, you may find that seeing movies about addiction can be a great entertainment for you and your recovering friends.
Even if you don’t like the acting or writing, these movies will inspire reflection and discussion. It’s a great way to strengthen your fellowship and find ways to have fun without drinking or drugging.
If you’re looking for more information about addiction and recovery, check out our blog!
