Review:

I feel like Requiem for a Dream requires more knowledge of drugs and drug culture to "get" this film. I understood what was happening, but I was often confused as to why. Like Mother!, Requiem for a Dream is a movie you experience. I don't think I liked the film, but there are a lot of things I liked about it. Although I still don't think Jared Leto is a good actor and Jennifer Connelly is a cardboard cutout they just move from room to room, Marlon Wayans does surprisingly well in such a serious role. The best performance is easily Ellen Burstyn. The score was very interesting too. They have a real violin trio playing and the pair it with hip-hop(?) beats. It's often a little disorienting like the Under the Skin score. The other great part is the cinematography. Aronofsky is unbelievably creative and does things here that I have never seen before. Requiem for a Dream has earned a reputation as a super dark and disturbing movie. I kept waiting and waiting for the uncomfortable scenes and disgusting sequences, but they never came. Requiem is very dark, but the way it's filmed and edited and the title card sequence feel like they'd be right at home in an early 90's comedy. It wasn't at all what I expected, but I enjoyed being able to go in essentially blind.