15 Best Movies About Drugs And Addiction In Cinema History

3. Human Traffic

Justin Kerrigan's severely underrated Human Traffic is one of the best British films of the nineties, perfectly capturing the Cardiff rave scene and the hedonistic stance of a gang of twenty-somethings who live for the weekend. John Simm shines as protagonist Jip, who along with the rest of his friends is no addict, but rather a bored, young male who endures the monotony of the nine-to-five in the week and goes all-out when Friday arrives. Packed with innovative camerawork and trickery, abrupt cut-aways and even bursts of song, Human Traffic takes us into the mad world of booming bass-lines, absorbing trance and blinding strobe-lights, a world packed wall-to-wall with ecstasy, booze, and euphoria. "What goes up, must come down" Jip tells us, and Kerrigan also shows us the nauseating buzz of paranoia and dark self-evaluation that often arise along with the morning sun the day after. In a similar way to how Jason Reitman's Thank You For Smoking discussed cigarettes at length but contained not a single cigarette being smoked, Human Traffic immerses us in the world of drugs but never shows anyone actually taking them. Kerrigan is quick to depict every possible effect brought on by the consumption of Class A's, but never shows us the actual act. There's enough in the film to make you think as though you've witnessed a shed load of drug-taking, with an array of eyes like saucers, and bumps of white powder chopped and scratched on translucent surfaces. But Kerrigan is sneaky and never actually shows any character gobbling a pill or snorting a line. That's clever cinema.