Whether we like it or not, drugs are a part of everyday life in most of the world. The drug trade can make one rich beyond one’s wildest dreams, but also places the drug users and dealers in great physical jeopardy and can ruin lives. It should be no surprise that there are literally hundreds if not thousands of films dealing with drug and alcohol use.

While some films like Dazed and Confused, Friday, and most of Seth Rogen’s work glorify casual drug use, the films in this list all show the darker, deadlier side of drug dealing and drug abuse. Terms like 'addict' and 'addiction' are now considered to be stigmatizing and discriminative (and have been replaced with de-stigmatizing language like 'substance use disorder'); no matter the language, however, these are the most powerful and devastating films about drug use.

Updated on September 7th, 2023, by Gargi Chatterjee: This article has been updated with additional content to keep the discussion fresh and relevant with even more information and new entries.

16 Last Days Here (2011)

Last Days Here movie
Sundance Selects

Last Days Here is a documentary about the 1970s metal band Pentagram. The documentary focuses on the desperate life of the band’s disturbed singer, Bobby Liebling, who is a crack and heroin user who lives in his parents’ sub-basement and relies on them to get through the day. Heroin releases histamines which causes the skin to itch, and cocaine abuse can cause users to believe they are crawling with bugs that are hiding under the skin. Because of this, the lead singer is constantly scratching himself, digging holes in his skin, in a frantic search for non-existent bugs.

The documentary’s big reveal comes when he rolls his sleeve up, and we see that he has dug a gigantic hole in his arm big enough to fit a fist into. It is utterly disgusting and a total tragedy, stronger than any PSA. Although he is known to some as a rock and roll star, we learn the truth, that he is a sad person who lives with and depends on his parents, and who causes disgusting harm to his body due to his substance use disorder (SUD), which eventually kills his career and is the reason that Pentagram are not a very well known band, despite a great metal sound. A nasty documentary about the tragedy of hard drug abuse.

15 Amy (2015)

A scene from Amy
A24

The 2015 documentary movie Amy is a glaring testament of the horrors that drug overuse can bring on an individual, even when they are at the peak of their stardom. The movie tells the life story of British singer and songwriter Amy Winehouse through old videos, home movies, and more than 100 different interviews with people that Winehouse was close to during her lifetime. The singer met her tragic end in 2011 at the very young age of 27. The main cause of her death was alcohol overuse as lethal amounts of alcohol was found in her body. She had been struggling with substance abuse for quite some time before her death and ultimately succumbed to the same.

Amy Winehouse was an extremely talented artist who constantly struggled with eating disorders, mental health issues, and drug usage. The film is heartbreaking as it shows us how cruelly the media and fans treated Amy and how that was one of the main driving forces of her untimely death. The movie is devastating, and it teaches us that we need to be kinder to people who are struggling with these issues or it can lead to fatal conclusions.

14 Killing Zoe (1993)

Killing Zoe with Eric Stoltz
October Films

Killing Zoe is a drugged-out bank robbery film starring Eric Stoltz (the heroin dealer in Pulp Fiction) that takes place in France. Stoltz is lured to Paris where he hangs out with his SUD pals as they plan a robbery - but this is like no bank robbery in film history. The lead bank robber, played by Jean-Hughes Anglade, is dying from AIDS and has no intention of actually stealing any money. He just wants to go out with a bang, killing as many people as possible.

In an astounding scene, in the middle of a bloody, deadly bank robbery, Anglade takes a bathroom break, so he can inject himself with heroin. At this point we can figure out that the bank robbery was never meant to succeed. Stoltz finds his loyalty questioned as he must decide what to do when he realizes the robbery is just an excuse for a massacre, and that he has had sexual relations with Zoe (Julie Delpy), a prostitute who works at the bank he is robbing. Written and directed by Roger Avary, who won an Oscar for co-writing Pulp Fiction with Quentin Tarantino.

13 Enter the Void (2009)

Trippy imagery in the movie Enter the Void
Wild Bunch Distribution

Enter the Void is an extremely controversial French film from renegade director Gaspar Noé (Irreversible, I Stand Alone). Drugs used, shown and discussed in this film include pills, alcohol, LSD, DMT, cocaine, GHB, marijuana, ice, heroin, and more. Featuring bright flashing lights and a hyperkinetic, psychedelic style, the film is nearly seizure-inducing and attempts to be a perfect representation of an acid trip. Besides drugs and murder, the art film is a provocation that deals with a whole host of adult themes like abortion, sexuality, incest, infidelity, conception, car accidents, and stripping. It's not for the faint of heart.

The camerawork is brilliant, and most of the shots are filmed from either high up or right behind the head of protagonist Oscar (Nathaniel Brown), so that he stars in the film, yet we rarely see his face; this is meant to mimic an out-of-body experience. The film takes place in Tokyo, primarily on the street, in sex clubs, and at the apartments of drug dealers. Like most Noe films, there is a nihilistic feel to Enter the Void that is a powerful warning against the dangers of an illegal drug lifestyle, which can lead to devastation, death, and sexual exploitation. Everything about this film is avant-garde and stunningly original, and it is a mesmerizing and hallucinatory masterpiece.

12 The Falcon and the Snowman (1985)

Falcon and the Snowman
Orion Pictures

The Falcon and the Snowman is the true story of a high-level military contractor with access to national security matters, and his partner with SUD who sells secrets to the Soviet Union. Sean Penn plays Timothy Hutton's sleazy partner, whose heroin use spirals out of control; when Hutton catches Penn snorting it, Penn lies, arguing that he's ‘just using cocaine.' It's pretty bad when your cover-up lie is still an illegal activity.

Things get disastrous for the two when they visit the Russian embassy in Mexico, where Penn tries to make a heroin deal with scary KGB agents who don’t take too well to Penn and his addiction. As is the case of many drug films, users lose control and clear heads, forcing them to make terrible and dangerous decisions. The Falcon and the Snowman is one of Penn’s best performances as a fast-talking criminal with SUD.

Related: These Are Sean Penn's Best Movies, Ranked

11 Udta Punjab (2016)

A scene from Udta Punjab

The 2016 movie Udta Punjab is one of the most controversial Bollywood movies of the last decade as it tackles an extremely taboo topic of rampant drug usage among the youth of the state of Punjab and how the law enforcement helps this. The movie is raw, disturbing, and can be a bit hard to handle for some people. It shows how young school boys of Punjab are becoming addicted to heroin and how police officers are turning a blind eye to the problem for money.

We also see a famous Punjabi singer who is addicted to cocaine and a young migrant worker who is captured by a drug gang and forced into addiction and sexually assaulted. The disturbing themes in the movie will make your skin crawl but the realistic scenes will also make you worry about the effect massive amounts of smuggled drugs can have on the youth.

10 Gia (1998)

Gia (Angelina Jolie) models
HBO

Angelina Jolie plays the role of 1970s supermodel Gia Carangi in the dark and somber biographical drama Gia, which delves deep into Carangi's life as a model and the darkness that lay beneath the glamorous life that everyone saw. The movie shows how Gia became a runway darling with her immense talent but how, even her fame, could not keep her away from alcohol and drug abuse.

Gia is shown to fall in love with a make-up artist named Linda, who gives her an ultimatum to give up drugs as it was not only negatively impacting their relationship but also ruining Gia's life. When she chooses drugs over her love, she is left alone. She is eventually able to fight off her addiction, but the tragedy comes in the shape of the HIV she contracted after years of intravenous drug use. Gia is the grim reality of a lot of people who have an extremely glamorous life which are ruined by their addiction.

9 Scarface (1983)

Al Pacino in Scarface
Universal Pictures

Scarface, written by Oliver Stone and directed by Brian De Palma, is the ultimate cocaine movie. It is a remake of the classic 1932 gangster film of the same name, but couldn't be any more different. At first glance, the film seems to glorify the cocaine trade, but a closer watch reveals the devastation caused by drug use. Al Pacino plays Tony Montana, a criminal psychopath from Cuba, who works his way up the drug dealing world until he has a massive cocaine empire. Pacino’s epic performance as a small-time criminal who moves to the top of the drug world and gets increasingly hooked on cocaine is simply impossible to ignore. Pacino doesn’t play Tony Montana as much as he transforms himself into the character.

Tony Montana makes the enormous mistake of breaking the one key rule for high-level drug dealers, which is ‘don’t get high on your own supply.’ In one infamous scene, he snorts from a mountain of cocaine the size of a watermelon. His massive cocaine use totally alters his judgment and drives him mad with rage and jealousy, killing those closest to him, and making fatal mistakes. Ironically, it's a nearly canonical film for gangsters everywhere, despite depicting the epic downfall and destruction of its antihero. One wonders if director Luca Guadagnino will do the same in his upcoming remake.

8 The Salton Sea (2002)

Salton Sea with Val Kilmer
Warner Bros.

In The Salton Sea, a terrifying portrayal of crystal meth, Val Kilmer plays an undercover agent infiltrating the crystal meth community, trying to solve a personal tragedy. The real stand out in the film, though, is Vincent D’Onofrio.

He is absolutely terrifying as he re-enacts the assassination of JFK with pigeons and engages in other bizarre activities after injecting crystal meth. A man who has a fake nose because he destroyed it from snorting too much meth, and looks and sounds terrifying, this is one of the actor’s best roles.

7 Bug (2006)

Bug movie with Michael Shannon
Lionsgate

The fact that Bug is about crystal meth and amphetamine psychosis is heavily down-played and subtle, and is hidden beneath metaphors and imagery. We only really learn that the two characters, played incredibly by Ashley Judd and Michael Shannon, are smoking crystal meth when a mysterious man enters their bizarre hotel room and takes a hit from a meth pipe, explaining to Judd that Shannon is a mental patient.

Their mental health condition as a result of their use of speed leads them to sink deeper and deeper into paranoid psychosis, imaginary bugs infecting them and infesting their world as a result. The ending is one of the most disturbing, surprising, devastating, and unforgettable scenes in film history. Bug is a brilliant movie about psychosis and paranoia from a late-career William Friedkin, director of The Exorcist and The French Connection.

Related: The Most Devastating Films About Schizophrenia

6 Flight (2012)

Flight 2012
    Paramount Pictures

The 2012 movie Flight stars Denzel Washington in the role of Whip, a pilot who has an alcohol problem. The movie begins when Whip, drowsy from the previous night's alcohol consumption, uses cocaine to stay awake for a flight. His recklessness results in a fatal accident that leaves two crew members and four passengers dead, and his co-pilot succumbs to a coma.

The rest of the movie shows how legal proceedings take place after Whip wakes up in the hospital and how he ultimately comes clean about his drug and alcohol problems and finally is imprisoned for his crime. The movie shows how dangerous reckless drug and alcohol usage might be and how it can be fatal not just for the user but also people around them.

5 Carlito’s Way (1993)

A scene from Carlito’s Way
Universal Pictures

In this follow up to Scarface, director Brian De Palma and star Al Pacino again team up for another story dealing with cocaine, Carlito's Way. Unlike in Scarface, Pacino is not the person with a dangerous SUD with cocaine.

Instead, it is his lawyer, Sean Penn (again), who has a cocaine habit that degenerates to the point that he becomes a dangerous and unstable individual, committing violent acts and ultimately losing out because of terrible, cocaine-influenced decisions he chooses which make him a liability. Sean Penn’s transformation to a cocaine addict is brilliantly done.

4 A Scanner Darkly (2006)

Robert Downey Jr is a bug in A Scanner Darkly
Warner International Pictures

Keanu Reeves stars in A Scanner Darkly, based on the infamous book by Philip K Dick, whose visionary stories were the basis for films like Minority Report, Blade Runner and the series The Man in the High Castle. Reeves plays an undercover cop taking Substance D (D is for Death), a drug that is taking over future America. In addition to having a SUD, he is also unknowingly tracking himself in his own police investigation.

Substance D causes a split in the user’s brain so that one man can literally be following himself and his own actions without knowing it. His wild friends (including a brilliantly manic Robert Downey Jr. before his big career comeback and a fun Woody Harrelson) are all also deep into using Substance D, with Rory Cochrane seeing bugs everywhere, especially in his own body and hair. It's a brilliant film that uses rotoscoping to solidify its hallucinogenic visuals.

3 Beautiful Boy (2018)

Beautiful Boy
Amazon Studios

Based on the heartfelt memoirs of David Sheff and his son Nic Sheff about their journeys through the latter's drug addiction and how they overcame it, the movie Beautiful Boy is a biographical drama that is bound to make you cry. The movie stars Steve Carell in the role of David Sheff and Timothee Chalamet in the role of his drug addicted son Nic Sheff.

The movie shows us glimpses of the heartbreaking struggle of parents trying to bring children back from the brink of ruin that drug abuse eventually results in. It is a story of a father trying to create a bond with his young son who has fallen off the deep end into the dark pits of addiction. It is so well-made that it will definitely make you shed a few tears, but the hopeful note that it ends on also reminds us that even though addiction is a monster, we can beat it with the help of our own will and unconditional love from the people around us.

2 Drugstore Cowboy (1989)

Drugstore Cowboy
International Video Entertainment

Matt Dillon leads a small group of drug users who resort to stealing from pharmacies to get powerful painkillers in Gus Van Sant's Drugstore Cowboy. Dillon’s girlfriend (Kelly Lynch) is sexually unsatisfied because his opiate use has killed his libido and made him essentially asexual. Things get worse for the group, and at one point they rent a hotel room in a hotel full of police who were there for a major conference.

This terrifies the gang, who escape into a series of adventures and meet a mix of odd characters along the way, the most memorable being a cameo by the famous writer and heroin user William S Burroughs. Things start going south for Matt Dillon and his crew after a drug tragedy strikes, and he tries to get clean. Drugstore Cowboy is a gritty and realistic look at the lives of a group of criminals with SUD in the 1970s.

1 The French Connection II (1975)

The French Connection II
20th Century Fox

The French Connection II is unlike any other drug film because the user gets involuntarily addicted to heroin as revenge. American cop Popeye Doyle (the great Gene Hackman) travels to France to hunt down a heroin dealer, Fernando Rey, in this gritty film from John Frankenheimer (The Manchurian Candidate). He is abducted by a drug gang and imprisoned, and they start injecting him with heroin on a regular basis. At first, he fights it, but as time goes on he develops a SUD, eagerly awaiting his next fix.

The transformation is an incredibly powerful indictment of the addictive nature of heroin. When the drug dealers are done with Hackman, they dump him in front of a police station as a message. Now a free man, he has to undergo cold turkey heroin withdrawal. He is so sick that he does everything possible to resist getting clean and going through dope sickness. Once clean, however, Popeye Doyle is on a mission for revenge in this underrated sequel to The French Connection.