Twenty years have passed since Marc Renton stole money from his friends and left Edinburgh to flee his demons. On the spur of the moment, he decides to return to his hometown to reunite with Spud and Sick Boy. The former is on the edge of the abyss, still unable to fit into society, while the latter lives off small-time schemes with his Bulgarian girlfriend Veronika. Begbie is still in prison. Generally happy, Renton rediscovers who he is, but also pays a high price for his past mistakes.

Picture gallery

From Bridget Jones to Zoolander, movie sequels released years later take the risk of no longer interesting anyone. A continuation of the cult film of 1996, which launched the careers of Danny Boyle and Ewan McGregor, Trainspotting 2 more or less escapes this sad fate. On the plus side, it has the same zany energy, driven by Boyle’s (Slumdog Millionaire and Sunshine) crazy directing and excellent performances by its cast. However, beyond the numerous nods to the original and some very beautiful, melancholic, parenthetic moments, the sequel does not really seem to justify its existence. It is therefore up to the audience to decide which way they lean, depending on their attachment to the original.