Fun
Frisky
Nostalgic
Intense
Adventurous
Choked Up
Curious
Romantic
Weird
Pills, acid, and mushrooms — oh my! Forget the gateway drugs and just enter the gates with these ten psychedelic onscreen moments that either made us super envious for an altered state of mind or wholly thankful we’re not inebriated at the moment. From synthetic hazes to fungus-induced crazes, psychedelic drug use on film has attempted to capture exactly what it feels like to freak out and lose all control amidst sensory overload, which, as we’ve learned from the ten following flicks, can be life-changing or, in some cases, nothing short of terrifying. Here they are, ranked from easy-going experimental adventures to mind-melting hallucinations.
'Knocked Up' (2007)
DRUG OF CHOICE: Mushrooms
The only life lesson we took away from Judd Apatow’s romantic comedy — other than a schlubby stoner like Seth Rogen will, in fact, be an awesome father to your baby — is to never, ever go see Cirque du Soleil after eating a bunch of mushrooms. Because they will turn on you.
'21 Jump Street' (2012)
DRUG OF CHOICE: HFS (Holy Fucking Shit)
Phase One: The Giggs. Phase Two: Tripping Major Ballsack. Phase Three: Over-Falsity of Confidence. Phase Four: Fuck Yeah Mother. Phase Five: Pass Out. As soon as Schmidt (Jonah Hill) and Jenko (Channing Tatum) ingested those two tabs of HFS, we had a feeling they were in for something otherworldly. The only one who actually benefitted from the experience, however, was Rob Riggle — hands down.
'Harvard Man' (2001)
DRUG OF CHOICE: Acid
Dusted off from the YouTube archives is this glorious moment from Adrien Grenier in his pre-Vinny Chase era. Hired by the mob to help fix a major Ivy League basketball game, Alan (Grenier) does the deed, gets paid, and immediately takes way too much acid. Believe us, this was no Oscar contender from director James Toback, but it does feature one of the longest, wackiest trips of recent memory.
'Altered States' (1980)
DRUG OF CHOICE: Ketamine and LSD
A lengthy look into the minds and marriage of Eddie and Emily Jessup (William Hurt and Blair Brown) during a science experiment gone awry. Though the special effects are a tad outdated, Hurt’s and Brown’s performances make this psychotropic weirdness still worthwhile.
'Enter the Void' (2009)
DRUG OF CHOICE: DMT
Argentinean visionary Gaspar Noé took us on one of the most inventive drug tales to date in Enter the Void. After a Tokyo-based drug dealer is murdered, his soul seeks resurrection in the form of inhaling every hallucinogen known to man, particularly DMT, which invites us inside his brain. Unfortunately, no Machine Elves included.
'Easy Rider' (1969)
DRUG OF CHOICE: Acid
Yikes! Thank goodness Dennis Hoppers’ choppy direction didn’t catch on during the late-1960’s counterculture movement. The acid trip shared between Billy (Hopper) and Wyatt (Peter Fonda), however, is a timeless sequence of psychedelic tropes. They saw Jesus, for Christ’s sake.
'Requiem for a Dream' (2001)
DRUG OF CHOICE: Heroin and copious amounts of amphetamines
After becoming heavily addicted to amphetamines, elderly widow Sarah Goldfarb (Ellen Burstyn) is obsessed with the idea of being a guest on Tappy Tibbons’ (Christopher McDonald) infomercials. Through director Darren Arronofky’s brilliant eye and Jay Rabinowitz’s haphazard editing, we were slowly shown what it’s like to literally lose your mind.
'Trainspotting' (1996)
DRUG OF CHOICE: Heroin
Sure “The Toilet Scene” is one of a kind, but it’s when Renton (Ewan McGregor) begins the withdrawal process, or “Junkie Limbo” as he calls it, do we get an honest look inside the agonizing pain of a slow, wrenching come down.
'Fear And Loathing in Las Vegas' (1998)
DRUG OF CHOICE: “Two bags of grass, seventy-five pellets of mescaline, five sheets of high-powered blotter acid, a saltshaker half-full of cocaine, and a whole galaxy of multi-colored uppers, downers, screamers, laughers… Also, a quart of tequila, a quart of rum, a case of beer, a pint of raw ether, and two dozen amyls.”
Johnny Depp’s Raoul tries to keep it cool while checking into his Vegas hotel, even trying to fool us with a singsongy voiceover. But he’s sweating bullets and control his control is fading fast. Luckily, he’s gripping his typewriter, so any worthwhile sensory experience can, at least, attempted to be documented.
'The Big Lebowski' (1998)
DRUG OF CHOICE: Acid (flashbacks)
The Coen Brothers took us on a meta-cinema trip with “Gutterballs,” a terrifying movie within a movie thanks to The Dude’s (Jeff Bridges) ongoing acid flashbacks. Things we feared upon watching: scissors, red jumpsuits, bowling shoes.
[Where to stream The Big Lebowski]
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