Parasite

When Jeff arrives in New York City seeking adventure and a fresh start in the land of the free, as well as an apartment in which to complete his book celebrating the vaudeville cast of reprobate pleasure victims with whom he cohabited on the dole in England, he soon meets Monica, a seductive debutante model who invites him to move in with her. She also invites him to try meth-amphetamine. And so the crystal meth nightmare begins.

The nightmare, the brutally introspective speed-comedowns, and the cast of characters that follow in Monica's wake are, he decides, worthy of a book also: her estranged, jealous husband, and their drug dealers. Sylvie, an escort, her clients, and her sugar daddy. Plus, a procession of fellow low-rent American dreamers: artists, musicians, drag queens, fag hags, and wannabe-gangsters.

Hence, in a series of back-and-forth episodes, Jeff describes the unfolding, spiralling nightmare, and seeks solace from it by recalling sagas from strange and darkly humorous soap opera back home.

Ultimately, Parasite is a modern-day immigrant tale, but also a cautionary, yet unapologetic, glimpse at the American crystal meth culture.