Dallas Buyers Club

film by Vallée [2013]

Written by

The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last updated

July 21, 2026

Quick Summary

Dallas Buyers Club is a 2013 film directed by Jean-Marc Vallée. It stars Matthew McConaughey as Ron Woodroof, an electrician who contracts HIV/AIDS. Facing a terminal diagnosis and unable to access legal treatment in the United States, Woodroof begins smuggling unapproved alternative medicines from Mexico into Texas for himself and other AIDS patients.1

The film depicts the challenges and stigma surrounding HIV/AIDS in the 1980s and 1990s, a period when the disease was a rapidly escalating crisis. McConaughey's portrayal of Woodroof earned him an Academy Award for best actor.231

Summary created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

3 Britannica Sources

Ask Britannica AI about this topic

Britannica doesn't have a full article on this topic, so we've curated a list of our relevant coverage.

Jennifer Garner
Roles from the 2010s and divorce from Affleck
…in the critically acclaimed film Dallas Buyers Club, starring McConaughey. She then appeared alongside Kevin Costner in Draft Day (2014); Steve Carell in the Disney movie adaptation of the popular children’s book, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day (2014); and Al Pacino in Danny Collins (2015).…
Read More
…in the critically acclaimed film Dallas Buyers Club, starring McConaughey. She then appeared alongside Kevin Costner in Draft Day (2014); Steve Carell in the Disney movie adaptation of the popular children’s book, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day (2014); and Al Pacino in Danny Collins (2015).…
Read More

Jared Leto
Dallas Buyers Club and later roles
…AIDS-stricken transgender woman Rayon in Dallas Buyers Club, which brought him both a Golden Globe and an Academy Award for best supporting actor. Leto followed that triumph with a turn as the Joker in the critical and box-office failure Suicide Squad (2016). He then appeared in Blade Runner 2049 (2017)…
Read More
…AIDS-stricken transgender woman Rayon in Dallas Buyers Club, which brought him both a Golden Globe and an Academy Award for best supporting actor. Leto followed that triumph with a turn as the Joker in the critical and box-office failure Suicide Squad (2016). He then appeared in Blade Runner 2049 (2017)…
Read More

Matthew McConaughey
In Dallas Buyers Club (2013) he portrayed Ron Woodroof, a man who starts a business smuggling HIV/AIDS medications into the United States after he finds that he has contracted the disease and is unable to legally obtain lifesaving treatment. The role, for which McConaughey lost some…
Read More
In Dallas Buyers Club (2013) he portrayed Ron Woodroof, a man who starts a business smuggling HIV/AIDS medications into the United States after he finds that he has contracted the disease and is unable to legally obtain lifesaving treatment. The role, for which McConaughey lost some…
Read More