10 Movies You Should Never Watch Alone

Back in 2000, Darren Aronofksy was still a relatively unknown filmmaker to the wider audiences, but hot off the success of his 1998 indie debut Pi. His sophomore film proved to be one of the most disturbing, upsetting visions ever to come out of Hollywood.

Based on the novel by Hubert Selby Jr. (who also co-wrote the screenplay with Aronofsky), Requiem For A Dream tells the story of four drug addicts: Jared Leto's Harry, Jennifer Connelly's Marion, Marlon Wayans' Tyrone, and Ellen Burstyn as Harry's mother Sara.

While the three younger people spiral deeper into heroin addiction, Sara develops a dependency on amphetamines which she has been prescribed for weight loss; fixated on a dream of appearing on a TV game show, she gradually loses touch with reality.

Whilst Burstyn earned a well-deserved Best Actress Oscar nomination, Aronofsky gets career-best performances from the whole cast, whilst crafting an overwhelmingly oppressive atmosphere via creative camerawork, editing and sound.

Detailing the potentially horrific cost of addiction in harrowing detail, Requiem For A Dream is the best possible film to send a 'drugs are bad' message. But above and beyond this, it's a painful treatise on the fragility of our aspirations, and how devastating the death of a dream can be.

It might not leave the viewer quite so battered and broken as its protagonists, but it certainly gives it a damn good shot. Aronofsky wouldn't make another film quite so intense, disturbing and confrontational until 2017's mother!