Toxic Love: Fellini meets Heroin Chic? (A little too real for me)

Alright, so I just finished "Toxic Love" (1983)...wow. Talk about a time capsule of hopelessness! It's like if Fellini, in his grittier days, decided to follow a pack of strung-out junkies in Rome instead of glamorous actors. Seriously, those scenes of them struggling to score, then crashing in some abandoned building...it's unflinching. I think I even saw some real needles being used, which, if true, yikes! The shaky camera work and the almost documentary style reminded me a bit of some early Cassavetes, but way darker. Forget the jazz, this is just a constant, throbbing headache of addiction. Some of the visuals were beautiful in a disturbing way, like the contrast between the decay of the city and the fleeting moments of euphoria they chase, but honestly, it was hard to watch. Not exactly 'entertaining', ya know? And the characters... there's not much 'character development' happening, which makes sense, I guess, given their lifestyles. But you kind of just get dropped into their world, and you're left to piece together their relationships (or lack thereof). There's a scene where this girl, Stella I think, is just sitting there, staring blankly at the wall after a fix, and it's just... haunting. Like, you can see all the life draining out of her eyes. It's effective, sure, but I needed a stiff drink after. I think it was trying to say something profound about alienation and the emptiness of addiction... and it succeeded, maybe too well? Look, I get it, art isn't always supposed to be fun. And I appreciate a film that takes risks. But "Toxic Love" just felt...exploitive at times, almost. I'm not sure. It's stayed with me, that's for damm sure, and I still think about some scenes in particular, but I don't know if I'd recommend it unless you're prepared for a really bleak, and potentially triggering, experience. Maybe if you're a fan of stuff like "Requiem for a Dream" (but way more raw), give it a shot. But don't say I didn't warn you! Anyone else seen it? Am I being too sensitive here? I'm open to hearing other people's thoughts on this one. It's a hard film to shake off. For all of its flaws, though, it might be one of the more impactful films I've watched. I don't know...