Requiem for a Dream

Based on the novel by Hubert Selby Jr., who collaborated on the screenplay with director Darren Aronofsky, Requiem for a Dream is a harrowing portrait of four New Yorkers caught in deadly spirals of drug addiction and self-delusion, ultimately leading to catastrophe for them all. Locations in Coney Island and Brighton Beach provide a solid grounding in New York City reality, while innovative camera and editing techniques saturate the film with hallucinatory intensity and surreality, abetted by riveting performances from Jared Leto, Jennifer Connelly, Marlon Wayans, and the Oscar- and Golden Globe-nominated Ellen Burstyn.