I had no idea this was even being made. I did not think it is a needed sequel, but am I glad we got it! It’s not a sequel that picks up where the first one left off. It picks up 20 years later as we check in on the cast of characters from Trainspotting. Everyone is 20 years older and it’s time to see how life has treated them since Renton ran off with the money. Obviously Boyle is older now and it shows in the more mature direction and the subtle ways he draws on the original. Honestly it is tough to pinpoint why T2 works. It’s the characters, the self-aware nostalgia. The perfectly delivered and setup scenes. The changing world and changing city. The way it captures friendship, loss and relationships. It’s the reckoning and that every action can be a turning point in life. That really worked on my middle-age self now the same way the first one worked when I was a college student.