Pusher

The debut film of both Nicolas Winding Refn (Drive) and Mads Mikkelsen (Casino Royale) is a ferociously gritty crime thriller about a drug dealer's dizzying descent into self-destruction.

As a heroin dealer in Copenhagen, Frank (Kim Bodnia) is far from the top but earns good money pushing with a friend. When he decides to up the ante, Frank goes to Milo, a drug lord—except he doesn’t have enough money for the heroin. Instead, Milo fronts him the goods upon the condition of immediate repayment. So begins a dizzying decent into self-destruction and degradation.

Beginning life as a short film, Pusher became a breakout indie success for Nicolas Winding Refn leading to international recognition and a career directing Hollywood A-listers like Ryan Gosling (Drive). Winding Refn eventually followed the film with two sequels following the exploits of supporting characters, Tonny (Mads Mikkelsen) and Milo (Zlatko Burić).