Trainspotting

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Trainspotting

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1h 34m

Comedy

Drama

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90%

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99 Reviews

93%

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250,000+ Ratings

Heroin addict Mark Renton (Ewan McGregor) stumbles through bad ideas and sobriety attempts with his unreliable friends -- Sick Boy (Jonny Lee Miller), Begbie (Robert Carlyle), Spud (Ewen Bremner) and Tommy (Kevin McKidd). He also has an underage girlfriend, Diane (Kelly Macdonald), along for the ride. After cleaning up and moving from Edinburgh to London, Mark finds he can't escape the life he left behind when Begbie shows up at his front door on the lam, and a scheming Sick Boy follows.

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Critics Consensus

A brutal, often times funny, other times terrifying portrayal of drug addiction in Edinburgh. Not for the faint of heart, but well worth viewing as a realistic and entertaining reminder of the horrors of drug use.

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Kevin Maher

The Times (UK)

05/29/2024

5/5

Easy to start, all-consuming, impossible to quit.

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Jay Carr

Boston Globe

05/01/2024

The unsinkable vigor coursing through the veins of Trainspotting leaves no doubt that it intends to come down on the side of life. In its chance-taking, its virtuosity and its ultimate morality, it's an exhilarating film.

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Eleanor Ringel Cater

Atlanta Journal-Constitution

05/01/2024

3.5/4

Choose Trainspotting... if you think you can take it.

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Andrew Parker

The Gate

9h

8/10

Boyle shows compassion for those who need a little extra something to get through the day, but... there’s a lot of skepticism throughout Trainspotting that serves as a cautionary tale.

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Sarah Boslaugh

TheArtsStl

Aug 16

8/10

Rewatching Trainspotting after almost 30 years, it’s as funny and awful as I remember...

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Nicolás Medina

Peliplat

05/10/2025

10/10

The addictions of each of the characters are nothing more than a kind of desperate cry in the face of the uniformity of a decade that, although its montage seems prosperous and pleasant, is nothing more than theatrical and hollow. [Full review in Spanish]

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Christopher

6h

Classic. I saw it when it came out 30 years ago, and it holds up.

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Stephen C

@bob25009 15h

The worldwide gross is $72,000,000.00.

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ALAN B

@MacRotten 18h

...not a great representation of Scotland...dire, dreadful movie...not funny, not thought provoking, not well acted....simply put not worth watching..DIRE.!

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Jonathan O

@RT41230270 4d

Incredibly outrageously British stoner comedy film with unexpected non horror shock moments that will hunt your memories forever.

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Freya H

@RT86373996 4d

Easily one of the best British films of all time.

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Matthew C

@LoyalMovieFan 5d

When considering the library of movies about drugs use and addiction, Trainspotting rises very near to the top (if not the top). This movie has all of the energy you would expect from Danny Boyle's early work. Every frame is exciting. His foot is on the gas the whole time. I saw this in 1996 when it came out and at the time I felt it to be revolutionary. I had not seen Shallow Grave during its theatrical run, but after seeing this I had to watch it. Ewan McGregor is astounding in this movie. Also, if you're a fan of big needle drops Boyle seemingly tapped into his inner Scorsese on this one. For any youngster thinking about dabbling in hard drugs, this and Requiem for a Dream should be a required double feature.

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Danny Boyle

Director

Ewan McGregor

Mark "Rent-boy" Renton

Ewen Bremner

Daniel "Spud" Murphy

Jonny Lee Miller

Simon David "Sick Boy" Williamson

Kevin McKidd

Tommy MacKenzie

Robert Carlyle

Francis (Franco) Begbie

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Synopsis

Heroin addict Mark Renton (Ewan McGregor) stumbles through bad ideas and sobriety attempts with his unreliable friends -- Sick Boy (Jonny Lee Miller), Begbie (Robert Carlyle), Spud (Ewen Bremner) and Tommy (Kevin McKidd). He also has an underage girlfriend, Diane (Kelly Macdonald), along for the ride. After cleaning up and moving from Edinburgh to London, Mark finds he can't escape the life he left behind when Begbie shows up at his front door on the lam, and a scheming Sick Boy follows.

Director: Danny Boyle
Producer: Andrew Macdonald
Screenwriter: John Hodge
Distributor: Miramax Films
Production Co: Figment Films, Noel Gay Motion Picture Company, PolyGram Filmed Entertainment
Rating: R (Nudity|Graphic Heroin Use|Sex|Some Violence|Strong Language)
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Original Language: British English
Release Date (Theaters): Jul 19, 1996, Wide
Rerelease Date (Theaters): Jun 5, 2026
Release Date (Streaming): Dec 19, 2015
Box Office (Gross USA): $16.6M
Runtime: 1h 34m
Sound Mix: Dolby Stereo, Dolby A, Stereo, Surround, Dolby Digital, Dolby SR
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.85:1)