1The television screen went black for a second, and the credits started rolling, leaving me mortified by the fact that I had wasted the previous 102 minutes on Requiem for a Dream, the type of disturbing movie that is not my cup of tea. Sitting beside me, my boyfriend laughingly admitted that he had been on the fence about what my reaction would be to this film, which he loved more than his entire movie collection combined. Only when I went home that evening and lay in bed, reflecting on what I had seen, did I recognize the genius of the film. I continue to be haunted by Requiem’s memorable characters and central message—that when we aim to achieve our dreams through destructive means, such as taking or selling drugs, we risk losing those dreams and more.

2Released in 2000 and set in Brooklyn, New York, Requiem for a Dream centers on the lives, hopes, and dreams of four people—Harry Goldfarb, Sara Goldfarb, Marion Silver, and Tyrone C. Love. The movie starts out with Harry stealing a television from his poor and lonely mother, Sara, so that he can buy drugs with his best friend, Tyrone. Later, after a montage in which the two friends do lots of drugs (we see pills being popped, pupils dilating, and more), Tyrone tells Harry that they have a golden opportunity to make a lot of money selling drugs. For a while, Tyrone and Harry make a lot of money this way, and their dream of hitting it big in the drug trade blossoms into reality. Soon, however, they find their lives being destroyed by everything they are doing to achieve this dream.

3The aspects of this film that make this story believable, lifelike, and disturbing are the casting, dialogue, and special effects. In terms of casting, Jared Leto delivers an unrivaled performance as the main character, Harry Goldfarb, portraying him as a daydreamer who is forever caught in a war between reality and fantasy. With his straight jet-black hair, dreamy eyes, and soft New Jersey accent, Leto captures the essence of a young druggie lost in self-delusion. He and his best friend, Tyrone C. Love (Marlon Wayans), make the perfect duo and remind the audience what a true friendship is—one in which both parties can count on the other, whatever the situation may be. Wayans wins the audience over with his carefree smile and killer dance moves, which add relief to the movie whenever situations get too tense. Always remembering the promise that he made to his mother when he was a little boy about getting off of the streets and making her proud, Tyrone aims to get in and out of the drug trade quickly and successfully. Harry and Tyrone are almost always seen with another member of their group, Marion Silver. Marion, played by Jennifer Connelly, is a self-indulgent, spoiled princess who rebels against everything that her wealthy parents stand for. Like Harry and Tyrone, she gets hooked on drugs, destroying her dream of opening a store to sell clothes she has designed. Connelly adds something extra to the film with her could-care-less attitude, steely determination, and alluring personality, which make Harry fall madly in love with her. But Marion is not the only woman in Harry’s life. Sara Goldfarb, played by Ellen Burstyn, delivers one of the best performances in the movie. With her sweet demeanor and naïve view of the world, Burstyn makes the audience feel sorry for her character, who receives a phone call misleading her into believing that she may be a guest on her favorite TV show. Excited by this possibility, Sara starts taking amphetamines so she can lose enough weight to fit into an old red dress that her late husband loved to see her in. Eventually, however, excessive doses of these drugs cause her to suffer from psychosis and to be admitted to a psychiatric ward. The casting for this movie was incredible, and no one other than Leto, Wayans, Connelly, and Burstyn could have delivered such compelling and convincing performances.

4The dialogue also significantly contributes to the movie, revealing characters’ inner selves. The dialogue between Harry and Marion is especially telling. In an intimate scene, Harry tells Marion he loves her and jokes that she loves him only because he boosts her ego. To this, Marion responds, “Well, I can’t say that it does it any harm, but that’s not what I mean. It makes me feel good all over, like...Well, you know, lots of people tell me that, and it’s meaningless, completely meaningless.” This piece of dialogue gives us great insight into Marion’s personality, showing her to be the type of person who loves to be loved and who takes but never gives back in return. Later, we see Harry on the phone with Marion, crying. He says, “Just wait for me. I’ll be back soon. You’ll wait, right?” and Marion responds with a cold and final “Yeah” that resounds over the phone and is followed with a deafening silence. This conversation exemplifies the imbalance of love in their relationship and shows how much the movie’s dialogue contributes to the development of the characters; it tells us a lot about them by saying very little.

5Special effects are the final aspect that makes this film worth watching, and, like the dialogue, these effects contribute to our understanding of the characters. Also, they vividly show the consequences of the characters’ life choices. For example, one scene shows a refrigerator coming to life as a monster in Sara’s mind, helping to drive home the point that drugs, which made the characters happy at the beginning of the movie, are now psychologically tormenting them and making their lives miserable. At another point, Harry’s arm turns a disgusting shade of purple and oozes pus while he plunges a needle into the bend of his elbow. Although this scene has made many moviegoers squirm uncomfortably in their seats, it dramatically shows that drugs now are having not just a psychological impact on the characters’ lives but also a physical one. Near the end of the movie, parallel scenes show Harry having this same arm amputated after he and Tyrone have been arrested, Marion performing in a sex show to pay for her drug habit, Tyrone trying to survive in a racist jail, and Sara undergoing traumatizing electroconvulsive therapy without her legal consent.

6After his arm has been amputated, Harry returns to a drug-induced hallucination that he experienced near the beginning of the movie: Marion, looking beautiful in a bright red dress and standing at a distance from him on the Coney Island Pier. This scene is symbolic of Harry’s frustrated desire: As much as he wants to be with Marion, reality usually gets in the way. The red dress itself is also a potent symbol. Harry possibly associates it with his mother, who has an obsession with her own red dress, which represents a happier, less complicated time for both of them—a time when his father was still alive. In Harry’s final vision of Marion on the pier, he runs toward her, yelling her name, only to find that she is not waiting for him: She is gone. Realizing that she is not there, Harry steps backward, almost as if he is trying to retrace his steps into the past, and falls off the pier altogether. This shot is symbolic of his dreams collapsing around him and the fact that drugs ruined his life and any future that he might have had with Marion.

7The biggest shock in the movie is the very last scene, in which Harry, Tyrone, Sara, and Marion are shown lying in the fetal position, alone and lost in self-delusion, forced to face reality and the consequences of their actions.

8Some viewers have criticized the film for what they consider to be inappropriate and psychologically disturbing content. In one controversial scene, Marion takes part in a female orgy circled by money-throwing businessmen. However, this scene depicts the lows that Marion sinks to in order to get her fix and pay for her drug habit. Marion forfeits her dreams and self-respect in exchange for drugs. Viewers might also be disturbed by the ending scene showing the four main characters curled up in the fetal position.

9In response to criticism of such scenes, reviewer Owen Gleiberman writes, “Aronofsky has made one of the rare dark-as-midnight movies that finds its unholy essence—and, in a strange way, its morality—by going ‘too far,’ by depicting the unspeakable without a safety net of restraint. As Requiem unspools, one’s dread surges forward with a kind of cathartic and terrified amazement. Those willing to take the journey may feel as if they’re not so much trapped as hooked—addicted to the images that are addling the characters’ brains.”

10Furthermore, as brutal as such scenes may be, they drive home the movie’s message that drugs ruin lives and that living in self-delusion fools no one. Reality eventually manages to find everyone, and the longer people try to avoid it, the harsher the outcome will be.