The prospect of director Danny Boyle making a sequel to his culturally defining 1990s opus Trainspotting, over 20 years later with the same cast, seems like an unnecessary and pointless exercise in cashing in on nostalgia. True, there has been quite a resurgence in belated returns in major Hollywood filmmaking in recent years (Independence Day: Resurgence, Tron Legacy, Jurassic World, Zoolander 2), but these films usually try to provide a bigger version of their predecessor in terms of budget and story, and have been raked over the coals by critics for doing so.

T2 Trainspotting is the rare kind of sequel that, while completely driven by the very essence of nostalgia, chooses to instead tackle the youthful exuberance of its forerunner, almost like an interrogation. The consequences of the past are the through line of the film, coupled by the dire feeling of a dim future. There's not as much energy here as in Trainspotting and very little heroin use, but it's a highly heartfelt return, and one where the idea of being an addict still permeates through its veins.

Renton (Ewan McGregor), now clean and living in Amsterdam, returns home to Edinburgh after 20 years, having abandoned his mates Sick Boy (Jonny Lee Miller), Spud (Ewen Bremner), and the oafish Begbie (Robert Carlyle) following a drug deal that netted them £16,000. Renton's had a near-death experience and intends to settle past scores, soon finding that they're mostly just the same, unable to fit into the customs of society no better than when they were in their 20s. Sick Boy makes a living running his aunt's pub while dealing in blackmail schemes with his girlfriend/business partner Veronika (Anjela Nedyalkova), Spud is still addicted to smack and facing rock bottom, and Begbie, fresh out of escaping from prison, has taken to robbing homes and wants to bring his son along for the ride.