Requiem for a Dream (2000)
88%RT Audience Score: 93%
Awards & Nominations: Nominated for 1 Oscar
37 wins & 70 nominations total
Though the movie may be too intense for some to stomach, the wonderful performances and the bleak imagery are hard to forget
Requiem for a Dream is like a rollercoaster ride, but instead of feeling thrilled, you feel like you’re going to throw up. It’s a wild trip that takes you through the lives of four people who are spiraling out of control due to their addictions. The acting is top-notch, and the cinematography is stunning, but be warned, this movie is not for the faint of heart. It’s a gut-wrenching masterpiece that will leave you feeling emotionally drained, but it’s worth it for the experience. Just make sure you have a box of tissues and a therapist on speed dial.
Production Company(ies)
Jet Tone Production
Distributor
Artisan Entertainment
Release Type
Theatrical
Filming Location(s)
Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA
MPAA / Certificate
Unrated
Year of Release
2000
-
Color:Color
-
Sound mix:Dolby
-
Aspect ratio:NA
-
Runtime:1h 41m
-
Language(s):English
-
Country of origin:United States
-
Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Oct 27, 2000 Wide
Release Date (Streaming): May 22, 2001
Genre(s)
Drama
Keyword(s)
starring Ellen Burstyn, Jared Leto, Jennifer Connelly, Marlon Wayans, Christopher McDonald, Louise Lasser, directed by Darren Aronofsky, written by Darren Aronofsky, Eric Watson, Palmer West, drama, box office performance, budget, reviewed by Candice Frederick, Lisa Alspector, Matt Noller, Geoff Andrew, Peter Bradshaw, Peter Travers, Federico Furzan, Carey-Ann Pawsey, Sarah Boslaugh, Christopher Runyon, Emanuel Levy, producer Eric Watson, Palmer West, MPAA rating R, addiction, drug culture, diet regimen, TV game show, loneliness, mother-son relationship, bleak imagery, intense performances, parallel stories, hallucinations, tragedy, happiness, lost love, inner landscape, human connection, parable
Worldwide gross: $7,390,108
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $12,817,520
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,888
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 1,397,767
US/Canada gross: $3,635,482
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $6,305,437
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,744
US/Canada opening weekend: $64,770
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $112,338
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,896
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $4,500,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $7,804,871
Production budget ranking: 1,763
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $4,202,923
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): $809,726
ROI to date (est.): 7%
ROI ranking: 1,365
Jared Leto – Harry Goldfarb
Jennifer Connelly – Marion Silver
Marlon Wayans – Tyrone C. Love
Christopher McDonald – Tappy Tibbons
Louise Lasser – Ada
Director(s)
Darren Aronofsky
Writer(s)
Darren Aronofsky, Darren Aronofsky
Producer(s)
Eric Watson, Palmer West
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
Nominated for 1 Oscar
37 wins & 70 nominations total
Academy Awards
Oscar Nominees
All Critics (137) | Top Critics (42) | Fresh (108) | Rotten (29)
At times disturbing and always intense, this flick offers its own acid trip for viewers and is a first-hand look at four people who become trapped by their own hell.
September 12, 2017 | Rating: A
Candice Frederick
Reel Talk Online
TOP CRITIC
A staccato narrative parallels the experiences and hallucinations of a woman on drugs with those of her son and his friends.
September 20, 2011
Lisa Alspector
Chicago Reader
TOP CRITIC
A gut-wrenching, formally adventurous masterpiece or an ugly, flashy piece of empty-headed propaganda?
September 8, 2009 | Rating: 2/4
Matt Noller
Slant Magazine
TOP CRITIC
Burnished camerawork and ex-Pop Will Eat Itself head Mansell’s part-punchy, part-elegiac score reinforce and counterpoint the increasingly nightmarish visuals.
June 24, 2006
Geoff Andrew
Time Out
TOP CRITIC
With spareness and unremitting cruelty, Aronofsky shows his characters’ accelerated slide to destruction. It’s an almost unbearably bleak view and its lack of any obvious redemptive moral message will revolt some.
August 27, 2001
Peter Bradshaw
Guardian
TOP CRITIC
[It] may be a bummer to some audiences, so harsh is its view of the drug culture. But no one interested in the power and magic of movies should miss it.
May 8, 2001 | Rating: 5/5
Peter Travers
Rolling Stone
TOP CRITIC
As fascinating as it is disturbing. It’s still a harrowing visit into a world not often revealed with such honesty, even if it feels artistic. [Full review in Spanish].
September 21, 2020 | Rating: 4/4
Federico Furzan
Cinelipsis
Though all aspects of the film are excellent from story to cinematography to directing it is the acting which holds the whole thing together. The three leads are amazing.
September 14, 2020 | Rating: 4/5
Carey-Ann Pawsey
Orca Sound
While a whiff of symbolism softens the horror elements in Pi, no such escape is provided in Requiem for a Dream (2000)…
November 3, 2018 | Rating: 7/10
Sarah Boslaugh
PopMatters
As uncompromising a work of art as you can ever view.
February 20, 2014 | Rating: A
Christopher Runyon
Movie Mezzanine
Aronofsky’s second feature is an emotionally intense, relentlessly grim tale of forms of addiction that may rely too much on montage to achieve real dramatic impact.
July 18, 2011 | Rating: B
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com
Translating this into a music video would make a lot more sense than the film does in present form
May 14, 2011 | Rating: C-
John A. Nesbit
Old School Reviews…
Plot
Sara Goldfarb (Ellen Burstyn) is a retired widow, living in a small apartment. She spends most of her time watching TV, especially a particular self-help show. She has delusions of rising above her current dull existence by being a guest on that show. Her son, Harry (Jared Leto) is a junkie but along with his friend Tyrone (Marlon Wayans) has visions of making it big by becoming a drug dealer. Harry’s girlfriend Marion (Jennifer Connelly) could be fashion designer or artist but is swept along in Harry’s drug-centric world. Meanwhile Sara has developed an addiction of her own. She desperately wants to lose weight and so goes on a crash course involving popping pills, pills which turn out to be very addictive and harmful to her mental state.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
Fresh Kernels praises the “wonderful performances” in Requiem for a Dream, but warns that the movie “may be too intense for some to stomach.”
Darren-Aronofsky.jpg
