Dream: Requiem For A

Why does the film resonate so deeply, even with people who have never touched heroin or amphetamines? Because the substance is irrelevant. The addiction is the point.

lived by the clock. At 7:00 AM, she made tea in the same yellow cup. At 7:15, she watched the infomercial for the “NuYou Total Body Shaper,” a garish contraption of rubber straps and pulleys that promised to peel away decades. At 7:30, she wrote a letter to her son, Harry, which she would never send. Requiem for a Dream

We meet Sara Goldfarb (Ellen Burstyn in a career-defining performance), a lonely, aging widow living in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn. Her life revolves around two things: watching television (specifically a vapid game show hosted by “Tappy” Tibbons) and a framed photograph of her deceased husband. When she receives a phone call informing her she has been selected to appear on the show, her life gains a sudden, desperate purpose. She must fit into her favorite red dress—the one she wore for her son’s graduation. Thus begins her descent into amphetamine psychosis. Why does the film resonate so deeply, even