Astounding! Dark! I finally managed to watch this movie that I have heard about a lot.

The way the movie is stitched together is out of the world. It engrosses you while keeping you at a distance. Some frames do overwhelm you more than necessary. Some frames get a tad repetitive. On the whole, though, these imperfections lend a magical spell to the movie.

The cinematography stands out. True art.

On one level, the movie paints this soul-digging portrait of drug abuse and addiction. On another, it allows you the freedom to interpret the deeper meaning.

We talk so much about people addicted to drugs. We pity them, we hate them, we think of them as low-lifes, we cannot understand their need, we think they are cowards. Why? Why do we hold such opinions?

Aren't each one of us addicted to something or the other? Some of us are addicted to our work, some to the idea of luxury, some to the need for appreciation, some to the need to be. How are the drug users different? Of course, they are addicted to something that alters them but so is everything that we crave or want. Perhaps it will end up killing them or ruining them, but isn't that a choice that they have made.

Like the mother in the movie - wasn't her true addiction that of popularity and looking good. How did she end up dependent on her pills? It all started because she wanted to wear her pretty red dress and be on television. That would make her popular and as she puts it *liked*.

Of course, not all drug users turn addicts. Yet, most of us that can accept *occasional* drinking or smoking have a very different view about substance use. Why? How different are these habits? How different is a rare drink from a rare pill? How different is our need for luxury? How different is our craving for chocolates? How different our constant effort to get noticed? Such are the questions that the movie left in me. Nope, I don't have answers.

p.s: thanks sanchapanzo. your short, to-the-point movie reviews rock.