People often experience a complex mixture of emotions and perceptions before achieving sobriety. It can often make someone feel perplexed, lost, and helpless.
Stories offer people a sense of comfort and a source of inspiration and hope in their journey. While reading books can undoubtedly be a huge help, movies can make the overall experience more engaging while reaching a wider audience.
Consider the movies suggested in this piece if you’re seeking inspiration for your recovery process.
Movies About Drugs and Alcohol
These films show the real-life effects of substance abuse disorders, such as psychological distress and physical pain.
Here are some must-see movies, as compiled by a drug rehab in Murfreesboro, TN, about drugs and addiction:
1. The Lost Weekend
This classic is good at showing the struggles of an alcoholic trying to get sober and the people trying to support them.
Don Birnam is a frustrated writer and long-time alcoholic. He made plans with his brother and girlfriend to head out to a farm over the weekend, where he plans to start writing a novel after being sober for just ten days.
However, Don was actually struggling to keep sober and finally give in to his cravings, binge drinking the whole weekend instead. He stole from others and pawned his beloved typewriter to get money for drinking. He passes out, then wakes up to find himself in a detox ward, where he experiences alcohol withdrawal symptoms.
His girlfriend finds him in a delirious state after escaping the hospital. Out of desperation, Don pawns his girlfriend’s coat for a gun despite his girlfriend caring for him. His girlfriend foils his suicide attempt, and a friend returns his typewriter. He takes it as a sign and finally gets on with his novel, “The Bottle,” dedicated to his girlfriend.
2. Days of Wine & Roses
This film is another classic about alcohol addiction. It is a powerful reminder of how destructive it can be in a person’s life.
Joe Clay, a highly-successful advertising executive, encourages his non-drinker wife Kirsten to drink. Soon, work and life stresses make them dependent on alcohol, threatening to ruin their marriage.
Joe realizes they need to get out of this downward spiral. He seeks help and tries to get his wife to do the same but fails. Their marriage disintegrates, with Joe successfully getting sober.
After a year, Kirsten tries to reconcile with him. Joe declines–he knows getting back with Kirsten will make it difficult to stay sober. It shows a tragic but real story of recovering alcoholics worldwide.
3. Trainspotting
The film about heroin addiction has a cult following and tells a harrowing tale about a life of drug addiction.
Mark Renton is a heroin addict trying to quit, surrounded by fellow addicts. He is successful at first, but a series of events has him returning to his friends and heroin. This leads them to steal to fund their drug habits, and Renton and his friend are eventually caught.
Renton doesn’t get jail time by entering a methadone program. However, he escapes to his friend’s apartment, where he nearly dies of an overdose. He recovers but is locked up in his parents’ house, where he suffers withdrawal symptoms alone.
After getting through withdrawal, Renton eventually moves to London, starts working there, and lives a sober life. However, his friends find him and drag him back into the world of heroin. They start dealing heroin, but an altercation between his friends ends with Renton walking out on them, taking his money with him to live a quiet but stable ordinary life.
4. Clean and Sober
This an excellent movie to share with someone who wants to learn more about the 12-step program. It shows how interwoven bad luck and poor decisions can be.
Clean and Sober is the story of Daryl Poynter, a real estate professional addicted to drugs. He embezzles from his company and, at one point, wakes up beside a girl who has died of an overdose after partying all night. These events push him to go into hiding. Without money and nowhere to go, he checks himself into rehab to get the help he needs.
5. When A Man Loves A Woman
Here’s a movie that perfectly demonstrates how family and friends can help someone in recovery.
Alice and Michael Green seem like the perfect married couple at first glance, but Alice is actually hiding a drinking problem. It gets to a point where an accident occurs at home, pushing Alice to enter rehab.
Alice completes her rehabilitation, but her husband finds adjusting to her new self difficult. After seeking help, Micahel and Alice rekindle their love for each other.
Key Takeaway
Hope and inspiration come in many forms; some find them in stories told through movies. Trainspotting, When a Man Loves A Woman, Days of Wine and Roses, Clean and Sober, and The Lost Weekend are movies that tell the stories of alcoholics, addicts, and the people around them. They show their struggles and bring hope to those struggling in similar situations.
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