20 Anxiety-Inducing Moments That'll Terrify You Senseless

With Requiem for a Dream, a drug addiction drama, Darren Aronofsky crafted it like a fully-fledged horror movie, which is appropriate. Drug addiction is a terrible thing that ruins so many lives, and to hammer this point home, Aronofsky delivered a surreal, explicit, and genuinely nightmarish descent into the abyss. It's tough going from the off, yet somehow it just keeps getting more and more difficult to watch. Like many great movies, it peaks at the end. 

The story concerns four drug addicts in New York. Sara (Ellen Burstyn) is addicted to amphetamines, while her son Harry (Jared Leto), his girlfriend Marion (Jennifer Connelly), and Harry's best friend Tyrone (Marlon Wayans) are all addicted to heroin. It ends horribly for all of them. 

Sara's mind is destroyed by her drug use, and she ends up being subjected to electroshock therapy in an asylum; Harry and Tyrone end up in prison (with the former having his arm amputated due to his arm sores becoming infected); and Marion subjects herself to degrading sex shows in exchange for money. 

Throughout the movie, Aronofsky utilizes fast-paced editing, extremely short shots, and surreal imagery, smartly conveying the tortured realities for these unfortunate characters. This technique is taken to the greatest extremes during the final montage, which cross-cuts the characters' endings together, creating a nightmarish crescendo of hellish tragedy. It is one of the most intense sequences ever committed to film.