Rocketman(2019)

After the collapse of his marriage to Renate (Celine Schoenmaker), as well as due to Reid’s (Richard Madden) relentless abuse and carelessness, Elton’s (Taron Egerton) life further goes off the rail. He breaks it off with Reid after seeing him getting oral sex from a male visitor, but Reid openly shows him he only cares about Elton making money. Later, while having a house party, he overdoses on alcohol and pills and tries to drown in his pool.

His battle with his personal demons worsens; he has a falling out with his mother Sheila (Bryce Dallas Howard) and his best friend and collaborator Bernie (Jamie Bell). Dejected and angry, he overdoses again and has to be hospitalized, due to a heart attack. However, Reid manages to cover it up as “a simple chest infection” and forces Elton to fulfill his commitment at Madison Square Garden. It is here that Elton finally understands he must turn his life around, so he walks off the concert and gets into rehab – represented in the addiction support group to which he’s been talking to, throughout the movie.

At this point, Elton is shown having an epiphany where he emotionally disconnects himself from the abusive shadows of Reid, Sheila and his father, Stanley (Steven Mackintosh), forgives himself by hugging his childhood self (Mathew Illesley) and makes ammends with Bernie. Bernie brings him new songs to work on, but Elton fears he might not be able to work without being under the influence, to which Bernie reassures him otherwise. Eventually, Elton steps up and gets back into performing, shown through a music-video depiction of his song “I’m Still Standing”.

The movie ends with title cards and real pictures of Elton, informing that he has been clean for almost 30 years -although he still struggles with being a shopaholic-, is still close to Bernie and has stepped off from touring to spend time with his longtime partner/now husband David Furnish and their two children.