Trainspotting (1996)

Trainspotting rating: IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic

IMDb8.1/10· 765K votes

Rotten Tomatoes90%

Metacritic83%

TMDb8/10· 10K votes

With 90% on Rotten Tomatoes, backed by 8.1/10 on IMDb and 83/100 on Metacritic, critical reception of this film has been very positive.

About Trainspotting

Heroin addict Mark Renton stumbles through bad ideas and sobriety attempts with his unreliable friends --Sick Boy, Begbie, Spud and Tommy. He also has an underage girlfriend, Diane, along for the ride. After cleaning up and moving from Edinburgh to London, Mark finds he can't escape the life he left behind as Begbie and Sick Boy come knocking.

Cast of Trainspotting

• 

  Ewan McGregor

  as Renton

• 

  Ewen Bremner

  as Spud

• 

  Jonny Lee Miller

  as Sick Boy

• 

  Kevin McKidd

  as Tommy

• 

  Robert Carlyle

  as Begbie

• 

  Kelly Macdonald

  as Diane

• 

  Peter Mullan

  as Swanney

• 

  James Cosmo

  as Renton's Father

• 

  Eileen Nicholas

  as Renton's Mother

• 

  Susan Vidler

  as Allison

• 

  Pauline Lynch

  as Lizzy

• 

  Shirley Henderson

  as Gail

Trainspotting facts

Budget

$4M

Box office

$72M

Collection

Trainspotting Collection

Our take on Trainspotting

Danny Boyle's 1996 crime drama plunges into the ragged orbit of heroin addict Mark Renton and his unreliable Edinburgh circle: Sick Boy, Begbie, Spud and Tommy, plus his underage girlfriend Diane. Lurching between bad decisions and half-hearted attempts to get clean, Renton eventually flees to London, only to find the life he abandoned won't let go when old friends come knocking. Kinetic, funny and unsparing, it renders addiction and dead-end friendship with dark wit rather than moralizing, its restless style matching its restless characters. It suits viewers who want a raw, energetic story with bite. Those sensitive to drug use and bleak comedy should approach with care.