Trainspotting

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2:12

Trainspotting

R

1996

1h 34m

Comedy

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

93%

Tomatometer

174 Reviews

93%

Popcornmeter

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

Breathlessly kinetic, darkly hilarious, and unapologetically transgressive, Trainspotting transforms the highs and lows of addiction into a ferociously stylish feat of cinematic invention.

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Peter Aspden

Financial Times

1d

Boyle's master-stroke is to spurn the obvious route of social realism and use thrillingly abrupt changes of set, tone and mood.

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David Denby

New York Magazine/Vulture

1d

Trainspotting is far from a raw documentary. But it is precisely this evasion of realism that makes it so fun.

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Ryan Gilbey

Independent (UK)

1d

Danny Boyle's kinetic take on Irvine Welsh's novel has the kick of good speed.

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Vern Perry

Orange County Register

1d

The film features top-notch performances, particularly that of Ewan McGregor as Mark Renton.

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Betsy Sherman

The Improper Bostonian

1d

3/4

Its scatalogical vaudeville misses as often as it hits.

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Toby Young

Boston Phoenix

1d

The filmmakers haven’t really added anything; they’ve just succeeded in not taking too much away. They’ve done a workmanlike job of turning a sprawling, plotless melee into a 90-minute feature, but there’s nothing inspired or imaginative about it.

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Tim O

Jun 8

I forgot how strong most of the characters accents are in this cult-classic-to-now-unqualified-classic movie. Seeing it on the big screen (in a new 4K restoration) was great, but when you see this at home (as Im sure I did the last time that I watched it), be very glad that you can put on English subtitles to understand their Scottish version of English! This is especially true of Ewen Bremners and Robert Carlyles characterizations. Theres so much humor and wit in the dialogue in Trainspotting, that you really dont want to miss out on half of what theyre saying in most scenes, even if you get the gist of whats happening.

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David

Jun 8

the best film of the 90's

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Christopher

Jun 7

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

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Gareth D

@HiGarethDavies Jun 30

30 years later the worst toilet in the world is still vomit inducing, begby is a bit cringe now as a grown man, not impressive and scary from the view of a teenager. Overall still a very engaging, consuming movie.

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Rick G

@Rickg68 Jun 24

The characters and soundtrack make this realistic look into the dark, disturbing addict lifestyle also entertaining. As someone who actually lived it, "but the sickness is on its way." really hits close to home, as do a lot of things about this movie.

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Meri S

@mschroeder Jun 23

DNF. My husband wasn’t interested 10 mins in. Hopefully it got better: I would assume so based on the high ratings. Beginning subject matter was a no go.

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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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14%

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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)