Trainspotting

Trainspotting opens with Mark Renton and Spud sprinting through Edinburgh streets while Renton delivers a sardonic monologue rejecting conventional society's idea of 'choosing life,' embracing instead his existence as a heroin addict in the depressed Leith district. Renton's circle includes manipulative James Bond obsessive Sick Boy, docile and bumbling Spud, volatile psychopath Begbie, and honest footballer Tommy — the latter two initially abstaining from heroin. Renton makes a first attempt to quit using opium suppositories from dealer Mikey Forrester, culminating in a surreal, degrading sequence where he retrieves them from the filthy toilet of a betting shop. On a night out, the libido-boosting effects of sobriety lead him to seduce Diane, who turns out to be underage and living with her parents; she blackmails him with a statutory rape threat into continuing the relationship. Renton, Sick Boy, and Spud relapse into heroin use. Tommy, whose sex tape Renton had stolen, breaks up with his girlfriend Lizzy and descends into addiction himself. The group's moral nadir arrives when the infant daughter of Sick Boy and fellow addict Allison — baby Dawn — dies of neglect while the group remains too drug-hazed to intervene. Despite the shock, no one quits. Renton and Spud are caught shoplifting; Spud receives a short prison sentence while Renton avoids jail by entering a rehabilitation programme and receiving methadone, but he quickly relapses and nearly dies of an overdose. His parents bring him home and lock him in his childhood bedroom, forcing a brutal cold-turkey withdrawal punctuated by vivid hallucinations: friends appearing as apparitions, dead baby Dawn crawling on the ceiling, his parents on a game show answering HIV-related questions. He emerges clean and, despite years of sharing needles, tests HIV-negative. Tommy, however, tests HIV-positive. On Diane's advice, Renton moves to London and finds legitimate work as a property letting agent, enjoying sobriety and corresponding with Diane. His fresh start unravels when Begbie — wanted for a failed armed robbery — and Sick Boy, now posturing as a pimp and small-time drug dealer, arrive and force themselves into his life. Their assault on prospective property buyers costs Renton his job. The trio returns to Edinburgh, where they attend Tommy's funeral; he has died of AIDS-related toxoplasmosis. Sick Boy then proposes a deal: pool money to buy two kilograms of pure heroin from Mikey Forrester for £4,000 and resell it for £16,000, with Renton putting up half the stake. Begbie's threat ensures Renton's compliance. The four — Renton, Sick Boy, Spud, and Begbie — return to London, complete the sale, and celebrate in a pub. Renton suggests to Sick Boy and Spud that they cut Begbie out and split the money; Sick Boy is receptive but Spud refuses. That night, Renton quietly takes the entire bag of money and slips out; he notices Spud watching but Spud says nothing. Begbie wakes, finds the money gone and destroys the hotel room in a rage, alerting police who arrest him. In a post-credits scene Spud discovers £4,000 left for him by Renton. Renton walks away into an uncertain but self-determined future, revisiting his opening monologue — this time choosing life genuinely on his own terms.

Sources: Wikipedia, IMDb