Cannabis movies and series (2019)

Here at Alchimia, the team especially appreciate that moment at the end of the day, when we can relax while consuming our favourite Indica variety, as we prepare to watch a movie or a series on our streaming platform of choice. And if we're fortunate enough to immerse ourselves in a good story revolving around our favourite plant: Cannabis, then a good night can turn into an exceptional one.

Bearing in mind that the range of films and series offered by these video-on-demand services is regularly extended, and also that the content may vary from one country to another, in this article we've selected the series and films available for viewing on some of these platforms that are related to cannabis in one way or another. We're hoping you enjoy a good cannabis TV session as much as we do, smoking comfortably in the company of Netflix, HBO, Amazon Prime...

The Beach Bum, a new Matthew McConaughey comedy starring Cannabis

At the time of writing, this movie hasn't yet been released on the big screen in Spain, but no doubt this comedy will soon reach the usual streaming or video on demand platforms. The Beach Bum is a whacky comedy film created, scripted and directed by Harmony Korine, creator of the controversial and controversial Kids, a 1995 film infamous for its explicit sex and drug sequences featuring New York adolescents. The Beach Bum is another thing altogether, more similar to another movie also starring McConaughey, Surfer, Dude (with an impressive cast of famous stoners including Woody Harrelson and Willie Nelson), but with a more anarchic touch.

Beach Bum also features Zac Efron, Martin Lawrence and Snoop Dogg, among others. It tells the vicissitudes of Moondog (McConaughey) a writer -poet who lives without rules, or rather, by his own anarchic rules, with cannabis as a crucial and influential factor in every decision he makes. There are many scenes showing cannabis smoking, for example, an enormo-spliff consumed on-screen by Captain Wack (Martin Lawrence) or the countless joints smoked by Moondog himself.

McConaughey tells how that in one of the scenes where he is shown smoking a spliff, Snoop Dogg thought it'd be funny to swap the fake prop joint of oregano provided by the production team for a real one. They recorded the following scenes exceptionally stoned and for what it seems, they had a great time: "The next 9 hours were a lot of fun but I don't think we used one word in the English language", related McConaughey in this interview:

There's no doubt that The Beach Bum is a "highly" enjoyable comedy and essential viewing for stoners.

Disjointed, the latest cannabis-related series from Netflix.

Disjointed is a 2018 series that was heavily promoted by Netflix upon its launch, offering 2 seasons of 10 episodes each. The series revolves around Ruth Whitefeather Feldman (played by Kathy Bates), a veteran pro-cannabis activist who opened a cannabis clinic in Los Angeles, California with her son. Although the series was launched with great fanfare, and produced by Chuck Lorre, creator of hit series such as The Big Bang Theory or Two and a Half Men, unfortunately, it hasn't managed to win the hearts of the public and Netflix cancelled its production in 2019, leab¡ving stoners with a total of 20 chapters, divided into 2 parts, with which we can immerse ourselves in the smoky atmosphere of the US cannabis dispensaries in the style of an American sit-com.

Weeds, the longest running and most highly acclaimed cannabis series.

One of the best cannabis series that most of us must have already seen, or at least heard about, is Weeds. Nancy Botwin (played by Mary-Louise Parker) is a mother dedicated to producting the cannabis that she grows and sells to her neighbours as she attempts to move forward in life after the death of her husband. Weeds ran for 8 seasons and the series was widely recognised by both the public and critics, winning numerous awards, including the Golden Globe for Best Comedy Series in 2006, 2007 and 2009 and the Emmy Award for the Best Series in 2009.

Pineapple Express, a cannabis-packed action comedy.

With this hilarious movie, the Netflix catalogue offers a classic among cannabis comedies, written by Seth Rogen: Pinneaple Express revolves around stoner Dale Danton (Seth Rogen) who witnesses a mafia murder, and who, along with his weed dealer (James Franco), is embroiled in a series of dangerous and exciting adventures as they attempt to escape the clutches of the criminal mastermind who seeks to silence the two friends at all costs. This 2008 comedy, with cannabis as its main theme, was very well received by both critics and public. Pineapple Express is such an emblematic film that it has already given its name to several cannabis crosses, such as the Pineapple Express variety from The American Fast Buds Company (Fast Buds).

Snoop Dogg, star of "Mac & Devin go to High School"

Being a Hip Hop themed movie, fans of US rappers Snoop Dogg and Wiz Khalifa have probably already heard of Mac & Devin Go to High School. Along the same lines as emblematic films like How High with Method Man and Redman, or Friday with Ice Cube and Chris Tucker, this comedy tells the story of Mac and Devin, two high school students who, despite their differences, are united by their passion for weed. This is another of the genre movies that you can see on Netflix:

"Green is Gold", cannabis as a way forward in life.

We leave the comedy genre now with Green is Gold, a drama that follows the tragic story of a 13-year-old kid whose father has been sent to prison and is now forced to live with his brother, the largest producer of cannabis in northern California and with who he has had barely any previous contact. This movie is a dramatic story of self-improvement, telling how Cannabis was capable of changing their lives when everything else fell apart. Green is Gold, an independent production written and directed by Ryon Baxter, was awarded the Audience Award at the Los Angeles Film Festival in the same year it was released in 2016. Green is Gold is on Netflix

Murder Mountain, the fight to control Cannabis.

Another notable Netflix production is the documentary series Murder Mountain. This documentary series, based on real events, takes place in Humboldt County, California (USA), an area of the "Emerald Triangle", famous for its extensive cannabis production, but also for many disappearances and murders. This investigative series attempts to provide answers to the 2013 case of the murder of Garette Rodríguez. The investigation unfolds among the grows and the most important legal and illegal cannabis producers in the region. In its first season, over the course of 6 episodes, we discover the dark secrets that lie beneath cannabis production in California.

https://vimeo.com/321273638

Super High Me, or "Super Size Me" on weed!

The Netflix platform also offers several different documentaries related to the topic in hand: Cannabis. In this case, we encourage you to watch Super High Me, a documentary that follows in the footsteps of Doug Benson, a comedian well-known for his love of the herb who decides to spend 30 days of abstinence and the following 30 days of daily cannabis consumption. A similar experiment was carried out in 2009 by Spanish journalist Samanta Villar when she spent 21 days smoking cannabis, but this time it's on an international level and as a documentary film. In this experiment, Benson underwent a variety of medical and psychological exams throughout the process. Super High Me is an entertaining and engaging documentary that challenges some of the stereotypes about cannabis use.

The Legend of 420, a documentary about decriminalisation.

The Legend of 420 takes us on a journey through the decriminalization of cannabis in the United States. The documentary explores the different methods of consumption, turning the typical image of recreational cannabis on its head. This report delves into the world of haute cuisine, art and medicine among others, taking a different approach to the usual stereotyping. An hour and twenty minutes of 100% cannabis, this documentary explores various unseen aspects surrounding the cultivation and consumption of cannabis in the States. An enjoyable film to watch, and if you don't know much about Cannabis is, it will give you another point of view on its uses and benefits. Highly recommended!

Rolling Papers, a cannabis documentary from a journalistic perspective.

The Denver Post was the first major media outlet to hire a pro-cannabis editor and to dedicate a section of the paper to cannabis culture, shortly after the legalization of Marijuana in Colorado in 2014. Rolling Papers, a title that plays on the concept of "newspapers" and "smoking papers", looks at this revolution in the world of news and information. Cannabis recipes, tests of new varieties for cannabis cultivation indoors or outdoors, news about legal themes and many other topics related to cannabis. All in all, it deals with normalizing cannabis among the inhabitants of the state of Colorado. From that moment onwards, and one way or another, cannabis would be part of their lives. Hear all about it in this 2015 documentary film which is available on Netflix.

Illegal, the irrationality of banning Medical Cannabis

For those people interested in medicinal cannabis, we recommend watching Illegal, a 2014 documentary that triggered great controversy in Brazil. Illegal looks at the struggle of Brazilian mothers to take care of their children with therapeutic or medicinal cannabis, a practice that's illegal in this country and one that sparked a strong movement in favour of the legalisation of cannabis for therapeutic use in Brazil. Illegal is a dramatic documentary, and very real, focussing as it does on the specific case of Katiele, who is trying, at any cost, to obtain the medicine that alleviates her daughters suffering from a rare form of epilepsy. The only thing that can calm her daughter is cannabis oil. This documentary uncovers the coldness of medical and administrative bureaucracy, obstacles in the way of stopping a girl's suffering.

High Maintenance, the web series about a dealer that ended up on HBO.

High Maintenance is a very popular series on the other side of the pond. Now available on HBO, this series follows the misadventures of a New York weed dealer. This series began life as a web series, lasting between 5 and 11 minutes, totalling 19 episodes up till 2015, of which, the last were made with the help of Vimeo. This comedy/drama, created by the ex-husband and wife team of Ben Sinclair and Katja Blichfeld caught the attention of the US broadcast giant after the success it achieved on the internet. Each chapter tells the story of different characters, whose only linking thread is that they are clients of the same dealer, a man (played by Sinclair himself) known only as "The Guy". The plot centres around the various characters in New York City who source their weed from this particular dealer.

So far there have been 3 seasons of this series, with a total of 25 episodes each of about 25 minutes on HBO, plus the previous 19 on the Vimeo platform, so it's a great way to have a fun time.

Kid Cannabis, the tale of a teenage trafficker.

Kid Cannabis is a dramatic comedy based on the true story of a US teenager who made millions of dollars running a cannabis trafficking network over the US-Canadian border. The film was initiated by an article written in Rolling Stone magazine, where the editor told the story of two boys, Topher an 18-year-old high school student and Nate, a friend of 27, who start taking weed over the border between Idaho (USA) and Canada with a clear goal: to get rich. However, what this pair doesn't realise is that this job will change their lives forever.

This 2014 film was directed by John Stockwell ('Top Gun', 'Blue Crush') and starring Jonathan Daniel Brown ('Project X', 'Bad Milo!') and Kenny Wormald ('Footloose', 'Clerks II' ), and is available for you to watch on HBO.

Gringo, the power of the Mexican Cartels.

Amazon Prime presents "Gringo, Wanted Alive or Dead", a fictional comedy that tells the fate of Harold Soyinka, an executive for a pharmaceutical company that markets a cannabis-based drug who is sent to Mexico to monitor the production of the raw material. Things go sideways when Harold gets kidnapped by a Mexican cartel who intend to scare away the legal competition. A fast-paced action film, which features the always-fantastic Charlize Theron in a supporting role.

We hope you like these suggestions for movies, series and documentaries and that they'll help you to spend some highly enjoyable moments relaxing with your favourite plant. Films and series related to cannabis often give this particular subject matter a more comical treatment, but in this article, we've shown that this needn't always be the case and that this theme can adapt perfectly well to other genres, as well as making us laugh.

Happy and high viewing as you relax and enjoy some cannabis-themed entertainment!