15 Best Movies About Drugs And Addiction In Cinema History

10. The Wolf Of Wall Street

Jordan Belfort came to be known as The Wolf of Wall Street during his tenure as a New York City stockbroker. A corrupt, ego-maniacal motormouth, Belfort lived a lavish life that saw eventual incarceration for fraud, and in 2013 had his memoirs lifted from page to screen by one of the world's best directors in Martin Scorsese. Always eager to explore wild individuals, Scorsese's most recent escapade into the themes of excess, overindulgence and debauchery tells a tale about abhorrent men with ugly ideas and dollar signs for eyes. Belfort and his Wall Street buddies are some of the most reprehensible people you're likely to see on screen, and Scorsese makes a spectacular show of how they run themselves into the ground through excessive drug use, sex and drinking. Scorsese himself previously suffered from cocaine addiction, and whilst he has been clean for several years, the Italian-American has never forgotten what is was like to be under the influence of the powerful stimulant - or the overbearing, crushing effects it had on his life. It is intriguing to consider that the director has not so much kicked his drug habit cold turkey, but rather channeled his addiction through filmmaking. Scorsese is so often preoccupied with the theme of mental instability, and The Wolf Of Wall Street is arguably his most insane picture yet.