The Acid House is a 1998 Scottish black comedy fantasy drama film based on the book of the same name by Irvine Welsh (who also wrote the screenplay). The film is an anthology of three short films:
The Granton Star Cause - Boab Coyle (Stephen McCole) watched his life being dismantled: dropped off by his football team, kicked out of the house by his parents, dumped by his girlfriend, arrested for vandalism, beaten up by the police in custody and fired from his job. Eventually, he met God (Maurice Roëves) who turned him into a fly.
A Soft Touch - Johnny (Kevin McKidd) marries Catriona (Michelle Gomez) in a shotgun wedding. Johnny is left to take care of their daughter while Catriona starts to sleep with Larry (Gary McCormick), a shady neighbor who recently moved above their flat. Johnny increasingly finds himself being taken advantage of and mistreated by both Larry and Catriona, but can't do anything about it due to his kindhearted nature.
The Acid House - An acidhead, raver and Hibs' hooligan Coco Bryce (Ewen Bremner) switched bodies with Tom, the newborn baby of a middle-class couple, Jenny (Jemma Redgrave) and Rory (Martin Clunes). Following this event, Kirsty (Arlene Cockburn), Coco's girlfriend, takes advantage of making him the perfect man for herself, while Jenny has to deal with a foul-mouthed baby.
Tropes:
- Cluster F-Bomb: And how! The f-bombs were uttered 384 times throughout its 111-minute runtime.
- Ruder and Cruder: Even more so than the seemingly more mainstream and sanitized Trainspotting, where one critic noted that it makes the former "look like a mild-mannered youth comedy!"
- Asshole Victim: It's really hard to sympathize with Eve, Tambo and Rafferty after what they did to Boab.
- Downer Ending: Boab gets hit with a newspaper by her mom during his fly form and dies.
- Asshole Victim: Catriona when she was pregnant with Larry's baby.
- Downer Ending: After everything Catriona did to Johnny (sleeping with their neighbor Larry, abusing him, leaving him to take care of their daughter by himself and parasitizing his life), he easily forgives her and agrees to be with her while she was pregnant with Larry's baby. It shows that he learns nothing from his life because he is "a soft touch."
- Earn Your Happy Ending: Coco and Tom switch their bodies back and Coco raves with the local Hibs in the pub.
- Lighter and Softer: Compared to the previous two entries, no one dies or gets seriously injured, and Coco and Tom return back to their bodies.
- Title Drop: The film's titular entry, The Acid House.
