What were the pills?

I want to know as well. The guy said double bubbles all round before they started popping the pills into the glasses. Double bubble is slang for cocaine, so maybe there's a connection? I dunno.

Could've been alka-seltzer or something similar.

The filmmakers spoke at a Brighton based screening about the film, and they said something about how that's a bit of an in joke regarding drug abuse - that in reality these types of people don't go out and get illegal drugs that's been cut to *beep* with other chemicals, they get legal drugs and get *beep* up that way. I don't remember whether they said the characters' general protocol was to use too much of prescription drugs, or if they combine appropriate amounts with other stuff like booze. It was in keeping with the general tone of anti sensationalist, anti drama ethos of the film.

I vaguely remember assuming they meant something like Tramadol when they said this; Tramadol if taken by those in pain will just deal with the pain, but if taken by those in no pain it has nothing useful to do, and induces a high, and can become very addictive. I assumed they meant the characters would be savvy enough to use something like that...

Solpadine. Contains codeine. Recently available on the shelf at all pharmacies, but found to be extremely addictive (because of the codeine) so has since become an 'over the counter' drug - only available with a prescription now. Good for hang-overs!

Firstly, anyone who wants to read my opinion touting this as one of the two or three best films I have seen in the last twenty years can check it in the replies to the 'Not a good film' post. In shorthand, I found this film to be operating on so many levels of genius that I have watched it several times again. In particular, the music that provides momentary tranquility to the pitch black story is a revelation.

As regards the pills, this was also one of my favorite clever touches that makes the film immediately stand out as one of the greatest family melodramas I've ever seen, which is exactly what it is. This film is not a 'gangster' movie. And while I think in order to get it at all, you need to be the type of person who enjoys watching unlikeable characters doing unlikeable things. For me, I love stories like this because I can experience glimpses of that lifestyle without actually living it or having people in my life who are. That said, I also find the characters deeply sympathetic as they endure their seemingly predestined fates in such a horribly claustrophobic environment. I also find it unbearably funny. I'm always baffled by folk's inability to hold more than one idea in their head when they read, listen to music, watch movies, etc. Just let it go. Let the story take you on a ride instead of immediately trying to bend it to what you think it should be.

Let's try this again. Sorry about that. The pills, yes. This is just my individual take without knowing the filmmaker's intent at all. I believe that the viewer is not supposed to know what drug it is for a number of reasons. I don't think it matters what it is when we can witness with our own eyes the effects on the characters. I believe it was purposefully obscured for our imagination's sake, to not deny any possibility of what drug it might be, to show the ritualistic nature of drug abuse, to imply the casualness of the environment, and many other things. This is in contrast to when the characters are smoking what I think we are intentionally made to understand is grass, by virtue of the use of the Proto-Pipes (think that's trademarked). Anyway, if this is the case, then it is more than a bit of a nod to Post-Modernism and/or Deconstuctionism that values the stripping of individual traits that might interfere with an individual's experience of art in favor of leaving room for one's imagination to move around a bit.

The best, and most similar, instance of this I've seen is from the Nicholas Ray film 'Bigger Than Life' starring James Mason as a schoolteacher and family man, who has been suffering bouts of severe pain and blackouts. He is diagnosed with polyarteritis nodosa, a rare inflammation of the arteries. Told he has only months to live, he agrees to an experimental treatment: doses of the hormone cortisone. At the time, cortisone had just been perfected after almost a century of development by many scientists. It's announcement as a wonder drug and the inherent problems with the idea of any blanket approval of medication as a miracle prompted the story of addiction, megalomania, and insanity behind 'Bigger Than Life', where Ray skewers the 1950's pervasive conformism and, in particular, the family dynamic in the United States at the time. Godard calls it one of the best ten sound films in American cinema history. It is one of my favorite films of all time. If you liked 'Down Terrace' and its ultra-grim take on life, I highly recommend it.

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They seemed mostly to get through loads of cannabis: maybe their violence is partly due to paranoia from long term strong cannabis abuse ? Heavy cannabis use tends to burn up a lot of energy, and depletes vitamin C, among other things. I think they were most likely just swallowing industrial quantities of fizzy vitamin C to recover from smoking every day.

I thought it was alka-seltzer or whatever that stuffs called, to help with heart burn or whatever.... that's what it looked like when they dropped it in the water.... I've never heard of any recreational drug doing that.