Movies are made for our entertainment. Well, most of them.
Some of them are made for the sole purpose of making us uncomfortable and squirm in our seats. Some of them are intended to make us feel horrible, opening our eyes to just how depraved and perverted humans can be if they wanted to. And some of them, well some of them are just terrifying products of the writers’ imagination!
A discussion on Reddit, started by user Sammiver, talks about some of the most depressing and disturbing movies they have ever seen which made them feel awful afterwards. I’ve seen a good number of them and honestly, I don’t plan on watching them again!
Ignorance is bliss…
1. Requiem for a Dream
The film shows how drug addiction affects and completely changes the lives of its four main characters.
2. Memento
Memento follows the story of Leonard, a man who suffers from a rare form of memory loss, as he tries to track down the man who raped and killed his wife.
3. Gummo
This American dystopian film follows two friends and the disturbing and perverted stories that happen in a small town.
4. Grave of the Fireflies
Taking place during the World War 2, Grave of the Fireflies is about an orphaned boy and his little sister who must survive wartime in Japan.
5. We Need to Talk About Kevin
This psychological thriller is about a mother who fails to bond with his son, Kevin, due to behavioural issues. These issues escalate until Kevin commits one horrifying act.
6. Hotel Rwanda
Based on true story, the film takes place in a tumultuous time in Rwanda. In the midst of a violent genocide, the manager of a local hotel is forced to bring refugees and evacuees under his care and protection.
7. Oldboy
Oldboy is a South Korean film about a man who, after being arrested for drunkenness, wakes up in a sealed hotel room where he remains imprisoned for 15 years. When he escapes, his quest for vengeance begins.
8. Dancer in the Dark
This film revolves around the life of Selma, a Czech immigrant who moves to the United States with her son. She gradually loses her vision, which puts her in a series of miserable events.
9. Precious
16-year old Precious has been physically, mentally, and sexually abused by her parents from a very young age, and now she’s pregnant with her second child.
10. Apocalypse Now
Set during the Vietnam War, an American captain is deployed on a secret mission to assassinate a renegade colonel who now thinks he is a demi-god.
11. It Comes At Night
It Comes at Night is a dystopian film following a family of 3, and the strangers they let inside their home, as they struggle to survive in a world where a highly contagious outbreak just occurred.
12. The Descent
Six friends reunite for a caving adventure, but instead of the widely explored cave they originally planned on going to, they end up in an unknown cave where rescue is impossible.
13. A Serbian Film
A semi-retired porn star is offered a starring role in a movie and he accepts it, not knowing that he has just been recruited into a violent snuff film.
14. Boys Don’t Cry
Inspired by real events, the film follows the life of Brandon Teena, a young trans man, who gets subjected to violence when his gender identity is revealed.
15. 120 Days of Sodom
In the height of the fascist Republic of Salò, four wealthy Italian libertines kidnap eighteen teenagers to subject them to extreme atrocities for four months.
16. Human Centipede
This is the story of a mad scientist who kidnaps three unsuspecting tourists to subject them to a cruel experiment and mutilation.
17. Hills Have Eyes
An American family finds themselves stranded in a barren wasteland, inhabited by a family of cannibalistic mutants.
18. The Girl Next Door
Also based on real events, The Girl Next Door tells the story of two adolescent girls who, after their parents’ death, are sent to live with a sadistic woman and her three sons.
19. Martyrs
Lucie was imprisoned and tortured for a very long time. She escapes and eventually takes vengeance on those who are responsible for her suffering but her insanity and personal ghosts continue to terrorise her.
20. Antichrist
A couple experiences a series of sinister things, escalating from bad to plain evil, after the death of their child.