Danny Boyle specialised in cult fare before breaking into the mainstream with his Oscar winning Slumdog Millionaire. Such later work (127 Hours, Steve Jobs) seems designed to draw awards and pull in huge audiences, but it remains that the director's earlier films amassed devoted followings outside of these circles, and ones like his debut, Shallow Grave, and his well-regarded 28 Days Later, have become cult films in their own right. None quite as much so as Trainspotting, though, Boyle's adaptation of what is itself a cult novel by Irvine Welsh. The film was Boyle's breakthrough, and it still stands as his best work, filled with great performances from the likes of Ewan McGregor and Robert Carlyle, and famous moments, too: Renton's (McGregor) dive into the "worst toilet in Scotland" to retrieve his drugs; the Choose Life monologue which opens the picture; pretty much anything Begbie (Carlyle) does. Tough and uncompromising, Trainspotting was an instant cult hit in Britain, and to this day posters of the film's gang still adorn countless bedrooms all over the country.
