The Best Drug Movies on Netflix

What it's about: A mentally unstable Vietnam War veteran works as a night-time taxi driver in New York City where the perceived decadence and sleaze feed his urge for violent action, attempting to save a preadolescent prostitute in the process.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Netflix & The Criterion Channel) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: Loosely based on the true-life tale of Ron Woodroof, a drug-taking, women-loving, homophobic man who in 1986 was diagnosed with HIV/AIDS and given thirty days to live.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Netflix) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: The tender, heartbreaking story of a young man’s struggle to find himself, told across three defining chapters in his life as he experiences the ecstasy, pain, and beauty of falling in love, while grappling with his own sexuality.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Netflix & Kanopy) & rent or buy from $0.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: In the wake of his dramatic escape from captivity, Jesse Pinkman must come to terms with his past in order to forge some kind of future.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Netflix).

What it's about: When the incompetent Officer Frank Drebin seeks the ruthless killer of his partner, he stumbles upon an attempt to assassinate Queen Elizabeth.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Netflix) & rent or buy from $1.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: The story of a precocious six year-old and her ragtag group of friends whose summer break is filled with childhood wonder, possibility and a sense of adventure while the adults around them struggle with hard times.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Netflix & Kanopy) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 7 services (iTunes, Google Play & 5 others).

What it's about: An in-depth look at the prison system in the United States and how it reveals the nation's history of racial inequality.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Netflix).

What it's about: After a botched bank robbery lands his younger brother in prison, Connie Nikas embarks on a twisted odyssey through New York City's underworld to get his brother Nick out of jail.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Netflix & Kanopy) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 7 services (iTunes, Google Play & 5 others).

What it's about: A documentary on the life of Amy Winehouse, the immensely talented yet doomed songstress. We see her from her teen years, where she already showed her singing abilities, to her finding success and then her downward spiral into alcoholism and drugs.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Netflix) & rent or buy from $0.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: A punk rock band becomes trapped in a secluded venue after finding a scene of violence. For what they saw, the band themselves become targets of violence from a gang of white power skinheads, who want to eliminate all evidence of the crime.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Netflix & Kanopy) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: A boy named George Jung grows up in a struggling family in the 1950's. His mother nags at her husband as he is trying to make a living for the family. It is finally revealed that George's father cannot make a living and the family goes bankrupt. George does not want the same thing to happen to him, and his friend Tuna, in the 1960's, suggests that he deal marijuana. He is a big hit in California in the 1960's, yet he goes to jail, where he finds out about the wonders of cocaine. As a result, when released, he gets rich by bringing cocaine to America. However, he soon pays the price.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Netflix) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: Tragedy strikes a married couple on vacation in the Moroccan desert, touching off an interlocking story involving four different families.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Netflix) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: A newly-released prison gangster is forced by the leaders of his gang to orchestrate a major crime with a brutal rival gang on the streets of Southern California.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Netflix) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: Marcus Burnett is a hen-pecked family man. Mike Lowry is a foot-loose and fancy free ladies' man. Both are Miami policemen, and both have 72 hours to reclaim a consignment of drugs stolen from under their station's nose. To complicate matters, in order to get the assistance of the sole witness to a murder, they have to pretend to be each other.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Netflix) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: Two teenage boys cycle 160 km on stolen bikes pursued by police to find a missing bale of cocaine worth 7 million euro. Set around the real event of Ireland's biggest cocaine seizure in 2007 of 440 million euro.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Netflix).

What it's about: British soldiers guarding the Kajaki Dam set out to rescue a three-man team after one of them loses a leg to a landmine.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Netflix) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: An ex-con reunites with his estranged wayward 16-year old daughter to protect her from drug dealers who are trying to kill her.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Netflix) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: In Lincoln City, some inhabitants have extraordinary abilities. Most live below the poverty line, under the close surveillance of a heavily militarized police force. Connor, a construction worker with powers, involves with a criminal gang to help his ailing mother. (Based on the short film “Code 8,” 2016.)

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Netflix) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 2 services (iTunes & Prime Video).

What it's about: The insurgence of substance abuse among the young in the Indian state of Punjab through the stories of a rock star, a migrant laborer, a doctor and a policeman.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Netflix).

What it's about: A teenage girl with nothing to lose joins a traveling magazine sales crew, and gets caught up in a whirlwind of hard partying, law bending and young love as she criss-crosses the Midwest with a band of misfits.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Netflix & Kanopy) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 7 services (iTunes, Google Play & 5 others).

What it's about: The life and career of the hailed Hollywood movie star and underappreciated genius inventor, Hedy Lamarr.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Netflix) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 4 services (iTunes, Google Play & 2 others).

What it's about: Struggling to make ends meet, former special ops soldiers reunite for a high-stakes heist: stealing $75 million from a South American drug lord.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Netflix).

What it's about: Out-of-control, trash-talking buddy cops Marcus Burnett and Mike Lowrey of the Miami Narcotics Task Force reunite, and bullets fly, cars crash and laughs explode as they pursue a whacked-out drug lord from the streets of Miami to the barrios of Cuba. But the real fireworks result when Marcus discovers that playboy Mike is secretly romancing Marcus’ sexy sister.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Netflix) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: An unemployed pot-smoking slacker and amateur drummer, Anthony Stoner ditches his strict parents and hits the road, eventually meeting kindred spirit Pedro de Pacas. While the drug-ingesting duo is soon arrested for possession of marijuana, Anthony and Pedro get released on a technicality, allowing them to continue their many misadventures and ultimately compete in a rock band contest, where they perform the raucous tune "Earache My Eye."

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Netflix & fuboTV) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: Two lifelong friends head up to an isolated Scottish Highlands village for a weekend hunting trip that descends into a never-ending nightmare as they attempt to cover up a horrific hunting accident.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Netflix).

What it's about: The stranger-than-fiction true story of a Russian mobster, a Miami playboy, and a Cuban spy who teamed up in the early 90’s to sell a Soviet submarine to the Cali Cartel.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Netflix) & rent or buy from $7.99 on 1 service (iTunes).

What it's about: Teenagers Zach and Josh have been best friends their whole lives, but when a gruesome accident leads to a cover-up, the secret drives a wedge between them and propels them down a rabbit hole of escalating paranoia and violence.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Netflix) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: Johnny Truelove likes to see himself as tough. He's the son of an underworld figure and a drug dealer. Johnny also likes to get tough when things don't go his way. When Jake Mazursky fails to pay up for Johnny, things get worse for the Mazursky family, as Johnny and his 'gang' kidnap Jake's 15 year old brother and holds him hostage. Problem now is what to do with 'stolen boy?'

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Netflix) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: In a ghetto where religion and drug trafficking rub shoulders, Dounia has a lust for power and success. Supported by Maimouna, her best friend, she decides to follow in the footsteps of Rebecca, a respected dealer. But her encounter with Djigui, a young, disturbingly sensual dancer, throws her off course.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Netflix).

What it's about: Following on the heels of popular teen-scream horror movies, with uproarious comedy and biting satire. Marlon and Shawn Wayans, Shannon Elizabeth and Carmen Electra pitch in to skewer some of Hollywood's biggest blockbusters, including Scream, I Know What You Did Last Summer, The Matrix, American Pie and The Blair Witch Project.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Netflix) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: To escape his life of crime, a Paris drug dealer takes on one last job involving Spain, unhinged gangsters, his longtime crush and his scheming mother.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Netflix).

What it's about: A visionary, innovator, and originator who defied categorization and embodied the word cool—a foray into the life and career of musical and cultural icon Miles Davis.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Netflix) & rent or buy from $4.99 on 1 service (iTunes).

What it's about: Two kids find themselves in the centre of a deadly game of cat and mouse after taking a sheriff's cruiser for a joy ride.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Netflix) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: A special forces team is sent to snuff out a drug den, but find themselves trapped inside it after being set-up and betrayed.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Netflix) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: This documentary follows three women -- a fire chief, a judge and a street missionary -- as they battle West Virginia's devastating opioid epidemic.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Netflix).

What it's about: Set in a separate storyline not related to the "Trailer Park Boys" Television show, but with the same lovable characters. The boys get arrested for robbing an ATM machine and spend 18 months in jail. When the get out, they decide to pull off "The Big Dirty" which is to steal a large amount of coins because they are untraceable and quit their life of crime forever

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Netflix).

What it's about: Britt Reid (Seth Rogen), the heir to the largest newspaper fortune in Los Angeles, is a spoiled playboy who has been, thus far, happy to lead an aimless life. After his father (Tom Wilkinson) dies, Britt meets Kato (Jay Chou), a resourceful company employee. Realizing that they have the talent and resources to make something of their lives, Britt and Kato join forces as costumed crime-fighters to bring down the city's most-powerful criminal, Chudnofsky (Christoph Waltz).

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Netflix) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: The uplifting and heart-wrenching struggles of families who treat their cancer-stricken children with marijuana, some with astonishing results.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Netflix).

What it's about: Weed. Marijuana. Grass. Pot. Whatever you prefer to call it, America’s relationship with cannabis is a complicated one. In his directorial debut, hip hop pioneer Fab 5 Freddy presents an unparalleled look at the racially biased history of the war on marijuana. A range of celebrities and experts discuss the plant’s influence on music and popular culture, and the devastating impact its criminalization has had on Black and Latino communities. As more and more states join the push to legalize marijuana, this documentary dives deep into the glaring racial disparities in the growing cannabis market.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Netflix).

What it's about: A group of young Cardboard Gangsters attempt to gain control of the drug trade in Darndale, chasing the glorified lifestyle of money, power and sex.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Netflix) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 3 services (iTunes, Prime Video & Vudu).

What it's about: Busan, South Korea, 1970s. Lee Doo-sam is a small-time smuggler. After helping a drug gang to smuggle meth, he falls into the dark crime world. Quick-witted and full of ambition, he eventually takes over the drug underworld and starts to lead a double life: a good community leader during the day but an infamous drug lord during the night.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Netflix).

What it's about: Driven by an intense need for fame and validation, members of a dysfunctional Hollywood family are chasing celebrity, one another and the relentless ghosts of their pasts.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Netflix) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: Summer, New York City. A college girl falls hard for a guy she just met. After a night of partying goes wrong, she goes to wild extremes to get him back.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Netflix) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: When two youngsters meet and fall for each other, they must go on the run from the girl's corrupt father, who is also the sheriff of the town.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Netflix) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: Nineteen-year-old Ari confronts both his sexuality and his Greek family. Ari despises his once-beloved parents, former radical activists, for having entombed themselves in insular tradition. Ari is obsessed with gay sex, although he does make an unenthusiastic attempt to satisfy the sister of one of his best friends. While all of this is going on, he's facing problems with his traditional Greek parents, who have no clue about his sexual activities.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Netflix).

What it's about: Dev who, after spurning Paro's love due to a misunderstanding, turns to drugs and vodka for solace. Paro moves on but Dev still is in remorse. He meets Chanda, a prostitute with problems of her own. Dev likes her but his penchant for self-destruction prevents him and Chanda from truly getting together. He also meets sleazy people like Chunni, Chanda's pimp who drags Dev further into self-destruction to further his own needs.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Netflix).

What it's about: Over the course of one night, a woman drives across LA with her heroin addict brother in search of a detox center, with his two-year-old daughter in tow.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Netflix).

What it's about: When his daughter's criminal boyfriend becomes an increasing threat to the family, a father must take action to protect them.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Netflix) & rent or buy from $1.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).