Rotten Tomatoes
Submit search Movies Tv shows RT App News Showtimes

Trainspotting

Play trailer 2:12 Poster for Trainspotting R 1996 1h 34m Comedy Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
90% Tomatometer 100 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.
Watch on Prime Video Stream Now

Where to Watch

Trainspotting

Trainspotting

What to Know

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.

Read Critics Reviews

Critics Reviews

View More
Adam Kempenaar Filmspotting Jun 12
4.5/5
...to Gen-X what The Graduate was to Baby Boomers, including the indelible soundtrack. "Choose Life" replaces "Plastics"; heroin replaces sex. Go to Full Review Kevin Maher The Times (UK) 05/29/2024
5/5
Easy to start, all-consuming, impossible to quit. Go to Full Review 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. Go to Full Review Andrew Parker The Gate Jun 7
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. Go to Full Review Sarah Boslaugh TheArtsStl Aug 16
8/10
Rewatching Trainspotting after almost 30 years, it’s as funny and awful as I remember... Go to Full Review 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] Go to Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View More
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. See more David Jun 8 the best film of the 90's See more Christopher Jun 7 Classic. I saw it when it came out 30 years ago, and it holds up. See more Rick G @Rickg68 2d 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. See more Meri S. @mschroeder 4d DNF. My husband wasn’t interested 10 mins in. Hopefully it got better: I would assume do based on the high ratings. Beginning subject matter was a no go. See more Jacqueline R @Wharf504 Jun 9 Overrated corporate slop. See more Read all reviews
Trainspotting

My Rating

Read More Read Less WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW POST RATING

Cast & Crew

View All

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

More Like This

View All
Moonlight and Valentino 14% 53% Moonlight and Valentino Watchlist Keys to Tulsa 10% 38% Keys to Tulsa Watchlist Wild at Heart 66% 81% Wild at Heart Watchlist Brassed Off 79% 79% Brassed Off Watchlist Intimate Relations 14% 57% Intimate Relations Watchlist Discover more movies and TV shows. View More
View All

Trainspotting

"It Was a Moment in Time with the Music" Ewan McGregor on the Making of 'Trainspotting' "It Was a Moment in Time with the Music" Ewan McGregor on the Making of 'Trainspotting' 12:21 Trainspotting: 30th Anniversary 4K Restoration Trailer Trainspotting: 30th Anniversary 4K Restoration Trailer 2:12 View more videos
View All

Trainspotting

Trainspotting (1996) Trainspotting (1996) Trainspotting (1996) Trainspotting (1996) Trainspotting (1996) View more photos

Movie Info

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)