Traffic

Traffic

2000 · 147 min · EN · R · 7.1 (2,425 votes)
Dir. Steven Soderbergh · Starring Michael Douglas, Benicio del Toro, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Erika Christensen, Don Cheadle, Jacob Vargas · Music Cliff Martinez

No one gets away clean

ThrillerDramaCrime

An exploration of the United States of America's war on drugs from multiple perspectives. For the new head of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, the war becomes personal when he discovers his well-educated daughter is abusing cocaine within their comfortable suburban home. In Mexico, a flawed, but noble policeman agrees to testify against a powerful general in league with a cartel, and in San Diego, a drug kingpin's sheltered trophy wife must learn her husband's ruthless business after he is arrested, endangering her luxurious lifestyle.

VIBE

A relentless, multi-faceted descent into the grim realities of the drug trade. It feels urgent and morally complex, painting a bleak, unvarnished portrait of systemic failures and personal devastation across borders. The interwoven stories create a tense, propulsive experience that lingers.

grittytensemorally ambiguousurgentbleakpropulsivemulti-narrativedocumentary-esqueraw realismdesaturated cinematographysystemic corruptionaddiction's tollmoral compromisethe futility of war
drug dealerdaughtermotherdrug abusedrug smugglingsmuggling (contraband)war on drugsdrug traffickingaddictedpolice operationfatherusa–mexico borderaddictiondrug lordmarriage dispute
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