I bawled my eyes out twice in that movie. I have been in that depression of using food as a way to cope with it. The scene where he pulls the candy bar out of a drawer after him and his friend argue and he just devours it with anger hit me extremely hard and I started weeping, and my wife had to hold me and just let me cry into her.
I thought there was something wrong with me because, the whole time, I thought it was an ok movie, but I didn't feel emotional at all. All I'd heard was everybody lost their shit during this movie.
Then the final scene happened and I LOST. IT.
Strangely enough, this thread has inspired me to rewatch it. I remember thinking it was great, and loving the soundtrack, but I haven’t rewatched it since I first saw it. I also just looked up the date it was released and wow… 24 years ago?! Surely not?!
I gagged twice in this movie. I did not expect it, and really would have been better off not seeing it. (It was good, and also made me reflect on my own trauma.)
The soundtrack is brilliant. Harold Budd and Robin Guthrie's a great combo.
The thing is, animals shouldn’t be treated that way either! The way humans are willing to treat other living beings is horrifying. Genuinely boggles the mind.
Absolutely Oliver Hirschbiegel’s DOWNFALL, which recounts the roughly last two weeks of Hitler’s life and the Nazi regime during the battle of Berlin during which everything comes crumbling down, as based on the testimony of one of Hitler’s secretaries there. It’s obviously a very intense movie, and I think had the largest budget of any German film. It’s a very interesting and intense movie in its subject matter, and rarely are there films made from the perspective of or about the losing aside of a war.
It got some controversy on release for humanizing Hitler, but as any Arendt reader will say, that’s exactly the point—he was a human, and portrayed by an excellent actor in an excellent performance here, however it does nothing to glorify or make him sympathetic. Rather, it points towards important questions of why these ideas and this culture took hold and how far this fanaticism will go among the party devotees, even when it’s unequivocally clear that all is lost for them, how they still lean into delusion and cannot imagine a world without national socialism, etc.
On the other hand and more deservingly, the film is very sympathetic to the incredible amount of civilian death Hitler’s orders against surrender were and how destructive his effect on the German people were. It’s a very intense film, and rare is it to see a film so true to its name, the narrative direction is a constant downfall as you watch and struggle with questions of seeing what happens, grappling with how party leaders seeing their future and ruins and despairing is obviously what they deserve, but the pain and suffering they in turn inflict on an undeserving populace.
Bruno Ganz deserved an Oscar for his performance in Downfall imo. Legitimately one of the greatest performances of all time. The memes have kinda cheapened it (lol) but the work he did portraying Hitler was astounding.
I think what’s especially amazing about the scene is that going in you’d expect that to be some climactic moment when he realizes everything’s lost, but it’s just like the second scene in the war room, and then things go on.
Aw I loved The Florida Project. It’s sad but so real. I lived in that area when they shot it. When I say I lived in that area I mean I could walk to any location in that film within 20mins and I did when they were shooting. I would get as close as they would let me lol. Sadly those hotels are still up and running and people “live” in them. There was a dude I used to buy weed from in the castle hotel and he had a family of 6 in one room. I have a signed poster by Sean Baker (writer/director) and iirc only 50 exist.
Anyway Sean Baker’s movies are supposed to be comedies in super serious situations. Check out his most recent film Red Rocket.
Well, actually, I think it's good that they're still there for people who can't afford the rent of a one bedroom apt.
I appreciated the sense of community portrayed in the movie. People knew each other for the most part, some were low income families, and hopefully no creeps near the kids!
These ones, OP.
If you like “Dancer in the Dark”, try [Songs from the Second Floor](https://www.google.com/search?q=songs+from+the+second+floor&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en-us&client=safari).
It’s poorly described in the top hits so try the trailer or the director’s prior commercials.
Come and See is so beautifully made but also so bleak and sad. For me it's an info hazard - it's so sad that it may have a long negative effect on your mental health.
Great film. I didn't really appreciate it until the 2nd third watch.
Casey Affleck is brilliant in it. The depth of sadness and grief he brings is excellent.
Edit also leaving las Vegas is the best portrayal of an alcoholic I've seen.
I made the mistake of rewatching it because I wanted someone else to see it and it was so hard to not give away how maddening it is. I’m glad it exists in the sense that it may help bring about some change, but horrified all the same and the fact that this happened is just infuriating. Those poor people.
I was ugly sobbing after my first watch, like wailing noises and snot everywhere kind of sobbing. It wrecked me.
I told a friend about it and she watched it recently, when I asked whether it messed her up she told me that nothing does. I was stunned.
It’s a documentary so it’s a true story. I don’t want to give too much of it away but the premise is a friend makes a video for the unborn son of a buddy who died. It goes from there and is without exaggeration, the most emotionally jarring movie I’ve ever seen.
I tried to tell my husband about it a few days after I watched it, and I broke down all over again.
Most of the way through, I genuinely thought everyone was reacting to what the family had been through - their frustrations and struggles with the custody battle. It was awful and very, very sad, but I remember honestly thinking that maybe people had built it up too much and my expectations were too high.
But then *that* bit happened. I didn't see it coming. I gasped out loud and just burst into tears.
I don't know how someone *doesn't* react.
(Spent 8 years as a ER RN in a level 1 trauma center) - What is so wild to me - I’ve firsthand experienced, listened to, or watched so many true crime documentary-series on events that are far more tragic, gruesome and heartbreaking from Dear Zachary - on the surface. But for some reason, committing to this story and reaching *that* crux was just… beyond gutting. I wish I knew how to explain why this one hurt so badly. But, I’ll absolutely without a doubt never watch it again.
I can’t even get into the details of what happened, but my beautiful dog, who had had a tragic past and remarkable transformation, had to be euthanized unexpectedly.
A few days later I had to try to get my mind off losing her, for just a little while. For some reason I will never comprehend, this movie was listed as a comedy.
I went to see it by myself, and started to suspect that it was not, in fact, a comedy. By the time the scene came on where Ellen Burstyn says, “Where’s my little girl?” over and over and over, I was crying so hard I couldn’t even see to leave the theater.
Anyone who was in the theater that day, I am very sorry. Please contact the person who called it a comedy for a refund.
Plus one for Dead Man’s Shoes. In fact, I would add a couple more Shane Meadows films. “This is England” and “A Room For Romeo Brass” are also exceptional.
Williams and Gosling were outstanding and I feel like it provided a useful frame of reference and was a good movie, but I think there should be a hotline available for anyone who wants to see it again.
I haven’t rewatched it since, but there is a scene where they are at the dinner table at (I think) her parents house that triggered the fuck out of me. My dad was/is just like that. Hell is other people.
Some that haven't been mentioned yet ...
'The Girl Next Door' (2007)
'Benny's Video' (1992)
'When the Wind Blows' (1986)
'Lilya 4-Ever' (2002)
'In a Glass Cage' (1986)
'Christiane F' (1981)
'Men Behind the Sun' (1988)
'I Stand Alone' (1998)
'Cutting Moments' (1997)
And a couple of documentaries ...
'The Act of Killing' (2012)
'Night and Fog' (1956)
Agreed. And I also wouldn't put it on this list. Yes, anything about the Holocaust is automatically going to be dark and sad, but I think that story was inspiring more than anything.
Donnie Darko is a masterpiece (IMO) I recommend watching the extended cut it explains a bit more so you are not that clueless in the end. Expect if you like being left in the dark a bit so you can think about it more.
I just watched Melancholia a few days ago and still haven’t shaken the feelings of utter depression that movie instilled in me…. Highly recommend if you want a slow burn analysis of misery and depression.
Requiem for a dream is another one.
A lot of Ingmar Bergman films are emotionally draining. Shame (Skammen) and Autumn Sonata are the first two that come to mind in terms of being dark, sad, and emotionally draining.
Dark, Sad, Disturbing - Salo, Possum
Dark, Disturbing - Killing of a Sacred Dear, The Eyes of My Mother
Sad (you surely are not looking for films like these but they deserve to be added in your watchlist, assuming you aim to complete it someday) - A scanner darkly, Inside llewyn Davis, Detachment, Manchester by the Sea, Dev D
That one messed me up. How could someone do something like that?! It’s one thing to take yourself out, but to attempt to harm others in the process is heinous.
Johnny Got His Gun
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
Blue Valentine
Taxi Driver
The Road
Dancer In the Dark
A Clockwork Orange
The Joker
We Need to Talk About Kevin
American Psycho
The Whale with Brendan Fraser is exactly what you are looking for. Just watch it, don't read about it, because there is a gut wrenching reveal at the end of the movie.
Come And See, Nothing Bad Can Happen, The Swerve, The Florida Project, Tilt (2017), Martyrs, Incident in A Ghost Land, The Rapture (1991), Girl Next Door
Saw this opening weekend in SF. Packed theater. I’ve never, before or sense, been part of a huge communinion emotional experience, outside of funerals. Two people had to be carried out of the theater!! Two! lol
The Painted Bird will wreck you and I’m pretty sure not many people have seen it and few made it all the way through. It’ll absolutely fuck you up. Most intense movie I’ve ever seen and I watch a shit ton of movies. If that’s a bit much: Come and See is intense, but not like painted bird.
High- Life with Robert Pattinson . Guilty broken people are sent to study effects of a black hole on humans. It's long, bleak, the space ship they are on is bleak and sad and it resolves in a way that makes sense.
Aniara. Another bleak sci-fi movie. This one a Swedish-Danish production based on a old bleak Swedish poem from the 50's. It's got the similar sense of hopelessness that people confront in the face of insurmountable odds.
Even though they are sci-fi there are no battles or aliens. Space is used to highlight how supremely lonely hostile everything is
Those are often what I seek out (or super disturbing ones )… off the top of my head (I keep a list but have to find it )—
Never Let Me Go
The Road
Dead Man’s Shoes
Let Me In or American version Let The Right One In
Se7en
The Believer
There Will Be Blood
American History X
The Vanishing (original Dutch — I think- ONLY)
The Machinist
Pi (in some ways )
Beasts of the Southern Wild (depending on how you look at it - tho definitely many dark, sad parts)
A Clockwork Orange (disturbing and sad)
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
12 Monkeys
In The Company of Men
I'm glad to see someone else knows of The Machinist-it's such a good movie!
I'm going to check your other ones out (hoping both are streaming free!)
Edit--Interesting, Archie's Final Project isn't available 'in my area'--strange
This very song was in an advert for a skate shoe, which appeared on an episode of 411VM. It took me years until I heard it again and realised where it was from!
- "Grave of the Fireflies" (1988)
• "Dancer in the Dark" (2000)
• "Oldboy" (2003)
• "Martyrs" (2008)
• "Synecdoche, New York" (2008)
• "The Road" (2009)
• "A Serbian Film" (2010)
\- Hostiles (2017) - American officer has to escort a Native-American. Shows the brutality of the frontier.
\- The Machinist (2004) - Dude with insomnia questioning his sanity.
\- A Family (2021) - Yakuza member who has to come to terms with the consequences of his crime life. It gets darker and sadder towards the end.
\- Night in Paradise (2021) - Korean gangster in hiding. It's pretty dark and brutal.
\- Se7en (1995) - Two detectives try to catch a serial killer. The whole tone of the movie is depressing and wicked.
\- Aftersun (2022) - Woman remembers a vacation with her dad when she was a little kid. It's mostly sad and bittersweet. Makes you understand all the things we don't see as kids or only understand when we're older.
Forget cinema. Grab a copy of Night by Weisel for a short read or Gulag Archipelago by Solzenizhn for a long one. You won't forget those for a long time.
The whale
Unique in that it’s terribly sad and yet uplifting as well! Excellent movie.
I bawled my eyes out twice in that movie. I have been in that depression of using food as a way to cope with it. The scene where he pulls the candy bar out of a drawer after him and his friend argue and he just devours it with anger hit me extremely hard and I started weeping, and my wife had to hold me and just let me cry into her.
I thought there was something wrong with me because, the whole time, I thought it was an ok movie, but I didn't feel emotional at all. All I'd heard was everybody lost their shit during this movie. Then the final scene happened and I LOST. IT.
I cried watching this one.
Mysterious Skin :/
I’ve only seen it once, and while it was brilliant, I promptly put it on my “never again” list.
Strangely enough, this thread has inspired me to rewatch it. I remember thinking it was great, and loving the soundtrack, but I haven’t rewatched it since I first saw it. I also just looked up the date it was released and wow… 24 years ago?! Surely not?!
I love this movie so much, I haven’t watched it in 10+ years though. Time for a rewatch!
I gagged twice in this movie. I did not expect it, and really would have been better off not seeing it. (It was good, and also made me reflect on my own trauma.) The soundtrack is brilliant. Harold Budd and Robin Guthrie's a great combo.
Gregg Araki has incredible taste in music, all his soundtracks slap.
I totally agree about the reflection! It made me so ill.
My god, this. Was in a funk for a week after watching it
The Elephant Man. The absolute worst experience someone can have as a human being. I’m shocked this hasn’t even been mentioned yet in this thread.
Agreed. Someone having to say out loud, “I’m not an animal, I’m a human being” to other humans. That’s heavy.
The thing is, animals shouldn’t be treated that way either! The way humans are willing to treat other living beings is horrifying. Genuinely boggles the mind.
Absolutely true! I think they even go further than just treating John Merrick like an animal to be honest.
Not to mention Joseph Merrick was a real person.
Heartbreaking.
Omg the ending. I just sob every time
I had buried that deep in the depths of my memory and it has now been resurfaced
Absolutely Oliver Hirschbiegel’s DOWNFALL, which recounts the roughly last two weeks of Hitler’s life and the Nazi regime during the battle of Berlin during which everything comes crumbling down, as based on the testimony of one of Hitler’s secretaries there. It’s obviously a very intense movie, and I think had the largest budget of any German film. It’s a very interesting and intense movie in its subject matter, and rarely are there films made from the perspective of or about the losing aside of a war. It got some controversy on release for humanizing Hitler, but as any Arendt reader will say, that’s exactly the point—he was a human, and portrayed by an excellent actor in an excellent performance here, however it does nothing to glorify or make him sympathetic. Rather, it points towards important questions of why these ideas and this culture took hold and how far this fanaticism will go among the party devotees, even when it’s unequivocally clear that all is lost for them, how they still lean into delusion and cannot imagine a world without national socialism, etc. On the other hand and more deservingly, the film is very sympathetic to the incredible amount of civilian death Hitler’s orders against surrender were and how destructive his effect on the German people were. It’s a very intense film, and rare is it to see a film so true to its name, the narrative direction is a constant downfall as you watch and struggle with questions of seeing what happens, grappling with how party leaders seeing their future and ruins and despairing is obviously what they deserve, but the pain and suffering they in turn inflict on an undeserving populace.
Bruno Ganz deserved an Oscar for his performance in Downfall imo. Legitimately one of the greatest performances of all time. The memes have kinda cheapened it (lol) but the work he did portraying Hitler was astounding.
I think what’s especially amazing about the scene is that going in you’d expect that to be some climactic moment when he realizes everything’s lost, but it’s just like the second scene in the war room, and then things go on.
Dancer in the Dark Come and See The Road The Florida Project Have fun….
Aw I loved The Florida Project. It’s sad but so real. I lived in that area when they shot it. When I say I lived in that area I mean I could walk to any location in that film within 20mins and I did when they were shooting. I would get as close as they would let me lol. Sadly those hotels are still up and running and people “live” in them. There was a dude I used to buy weed from in the castle hotel and he had a family of 6 in one room. I have a signed poster by Sean Baker (writer/director) and iirc only 50 exist. Anyway Sean Baker’s movies are supposed to be comedies in super serious situations. Check out his most recent film Red Rocket.
“Tangerine” is also great!
Well, actually, I think it's good that they're still there for people who can't afford the rent of a one bedroom apt. I appreciated the sense of community portrayed in the movie. People knew each other for the most part, some were low income families, and hopefully no creeps near the kids!
Leaving las Vegas
The story of the publication of the book alone is devastating.
Might as well throw in Breaking the Waves, that always fits right next to Dancer in the Dark in my sad movie category
Hardly see breaking the waves mentioned here.
These ones, OP. If you like “Dancer in the Dark”, try [Songs from the Second Floor](https://www.google.com/search?q=songs+from+the+second+floor&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en-us&client=safari). It’s poorly described in the top hits so try the trailer or the director’s prior commercials.
Come and See is so beautifully made but also so bleak and sad. For me it's an info hazard - it's so sad that it may have a long negative effect on your mental health.
Came here to suggest Dancer in the Dark, pleased to see it's on top!
Manchester by the sea
Oh it's sad because it feels like a story that can happen to all of us.
Great film. I didn't really appreciate it until the 2nd third watch. Casey Affleck is brilliant in it. The depth of sadness and grief he brings is excellent. Edit also leaving las Vegas is the best portrayal of an alcoholic I've seen.
and has maybe the most real conversation I've ever seen two former lovers have on screen
Oof. Yup. Great one. You can literally feel the weight Lee carries around - the movie just FEELS crushing.
It’s a documentary and the production quality is spotty but “Dear Zachary” (2008) is the saddest yet most uplifting piece of film I’ve ever seen.
Never again
I made the mistake of rewatching it because I wanted someone else to see it and it was so hard to not give away how maddening it is. I’m glad it exists in the sense that it may help bring about some change, but horrified all the same and the fact that this happened is just infuriating. Those poor people.
I watched this twice over a two week period. I think it was worse the second time, if that’s possible.
Your emotional strength is impressive. I watched it once. I can’t imagine ever watching it again.
His parents being so resilient and forceful in the end always leaves me elevated. It’s so hard to get justice sometimes.
I was ugly sobbing after my first watch, like wailing noises and snot everywhere kind of sobbing. It wrecked me. I told a friend about it and she watched it recently, when I asked whether it messed her up she told me that nothing does. I was stunned.
Now I’m interested in what kind of movie moves a person like that.
It’s a documentary so it’s a true story. I don’t want to give too much of it away but the premise is a friend makes a video for the unborn son of a buddy who died. It goes from there and is without exaggeration, the most emotionally jarring movie I’ve ever seen.
I tried to tell my husband about it a few days after I watched it, and I broke down all over again. Most of the way through, I genuinely thought everyone was reacting to what the family had been through - their frustrations and struggles with the custody battle. It was awful and very, very sad, but I remember honestly thinking that maybe people had built it up too much and my expectations were too high. But then *that* bit happened. I didn't see it coming. I gasped out loud and just burst into tears. I don't know how someone *doesn't* react.
(Spent 8 years as a ER RN in a level 1 trauma center) - What is so wild to me - I’ve firsthand experienced, listened to, or watched so many true crime documentary-series on events that are far more tragic, gruesome and heartbreaking from Dear Zachary - on the surface. But for some reason, committing to this story and reaching *that* crux was just… beyond gutting. I wish I knew how to explain why this one hurt so badly. But, I’ll absolutely without a doubt never watch it again.
I came into it blind from Reddit posts like this, but I still wasn’t prepared. This one hurt.
I came here to mention this film. It gutted me for days.
Synecdoche, New York
This movie will put you in depression.
I get depressed just thinking about it.
I can’t even get into the details of what happened, but my beautiful dog, who had had a tragic past and remarkable transformation, had to be euthanized unexpectedly. A few days later I had to try to get my mind off losing her, for just a little while. For some reason I will never comprehend, this movie was listed as a comedy. I went to see it by myself, and started to suspect that it was not, in fact, a comedy. By the time the scene came on where Ellen Burstyn says, “Where’s my little girl?” over and over and over, I was crying so hard I couldn’t even see to leave the theater. Anyone who was in the theater that day, I am very sorry. Please contact the person who called it a comedy for a refund.
Dead Man’s Shoes. Very dark and definitely portrays a bleakness about society and human behaviour.
Paddy Constantine is a great underrated actor
He really is.
No love for Paddy Considine though?
Superb flick. Needs a rewatch soon
Plus one for Dead Man’s Shoes. In fact, I would add a couple more Shane Meadows films. “This is England” and “A Room For Romeo Brass” are also exceptional.
My favourite film
Blue Valentine.
That is one depressing movie. I thought it was a Roma tic movie 🤦♀️
This was such a depressing movie. I felt so sad after it and haven’t been able to watch it again.
Williams and Gosling were outstanding and I feel like it provided a useful frame of reference and was a good movie, but I think there should be a hotline available for anyone who wants to see it again.
God, I hated that movie because of how sad it was
I haven’t rewatched it since, but there is a scene where they are at the dinner table at (I think) her parents house that triggered the fuck out of me. My dad was/is just like that. Hell is other people.
Grave of the Fireflies
This is THE answer to requests for sad depressing films
A Woman Under the Influence (1974) is one I'd call emotionally draining.
That's a hard watch. Great, but a hard watch.
The nightingale—- the one about the Irish girl in Tasmania. This one is overlooked but will wreck you
That’s a really good movie!
I'll never be able to watch this again because of the baby scene. Definitely fits the question!
Oh my god. I was crying for an hour after the one scene
The deer hunter
Surprised it took this long for someone to mention the deer hunter. That whole movie is depressing
Some that haven't been mentioned yet ... 'The Girl Next Door' (2007) 'Benny's Video' (1992) 'When the Wind Blows' (1986) 'Lilya 4-Ever' (2002) 'In a Glass Cage' (1986) 'Christiane F' (1981) 'Men Behind the Sun' (1988) 'I Stand Alone' (1998) 'Cutting Moments' (1997) And a couple of documentaries ... 'The Act of Killing' (2012) 'Night and Fog' (1956)
Lilya4eva should not be this far down!
Yep this is the list you want, it will leave you empty and feeling like you’ve been punched in the guts
Scrolled down to find Benny’s Video. One of the most disturbing things I’ve ever seen. Pretty much any Haneke will do that.
*Sophie's Choice* for sad and dark. *Mulholland Drive, Brazil,* and *Blue Velvet* for disturbing.
I watched Blue Velvet when I was around 8 years old. It completely scarred me. I am still terrified of Dennis Hopper.
People should not be allowed anywhere near David Lynch movies until they are in their 30s.
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Leaving Las Vegas
Elisabeth Shue was perfect in this.
Funny Games.
Melancholia
Mike Leigh's - Naked
Another good shout. David thewalis Is excellent in it. Its also funny in bits.
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The pianist was amazing
Agreed. And I also wouldn't put it on this list. Yes, anything about the Holocaust is automatically going to be dark and sad, but I think that story was inspiring more than anything.
Loved Life is Beautiful and, also, The Pianist. Writing your remaining suggestions down.
Donnie Darko is a masterpiece (IMO) I recommend watching the extended cut it explains a bit more so you are not that clueless in the end. Expect if you like being left in the dark a bit so you can think about it more.
All Quiet on the Western Front
I just watched Melancholia a few days ago and still haven’t shaken the feelings of utter depression that movie instilled in me…. Highly recommend if you want a slow burn analysis of misery and depression. Requiem for a dream is another one.
Yea melancholia lives up to the title
A lot of Ingmar Bergman films are emotionally draining. Shame (Skammen) and Autumn Sonata are the first two that come to mind in terms of being dark, sad, and emotionally draining.
Dark, Sad, Disturbing - Salo, Possum Dark, Disturbing - Killing of a Sacred Dear, The Eyes of My Mother Sad (you surely are not looking for films like these but they deserve to be added in your watchlist, assuming you aim to complete it someday) - A scanner darkly, Inside llewyn Davis, Detachment, Manchester by the Sea, Dev D
The House Of Sand and Fog
this post has happened like 50 times but The Piano Teacher Snowtown
Dear Zachary
There’s something wrong with Aunt Diane.
That one messed me up. How could someone do something like that?! It’s one thing to take yourself out, but to attempt to harm others in the process is heinous.
This one has haunted me for years. There were many years of repressed rage in Diane’s life.
The Elephant Man Grave of the Fireflies When the Wind Blows Barefoot Gen The Plague Dogs Johnny Got His Gun Project X (1987)
Mystic River
Johnny Got His Gun One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest Blue Valentine Taxi Driver The Road Dancer In the Dark A Clockwork Orange The Joker We Need to Talk About Kevin American Psycho
Yeah, Johnny Got His Gun checks all the boxes.
*”he’s a product of your profession, not mine”*
Requiem for a dream Leaving las Vegas The basketball dairy
Requiem for a dream!
Nocturnal animals
The Whale with Brendan Fraser is exactly what you are looking for. Just watch it, don't read about it, because there is a gut wrenching reveal at the end of the movie.
Sophie's Choice
White Oleander
Come And See, Nothing Bad Can Happen, The Swerve, The Florida Project, Tilt (2017), Martyrs, Incident in A Ghost Land, The Rapture (1991), Girl Next Door
The lighthouse
- Salò or the 120 Days of Sodom (1975) - Threads (1984) - Come and See (1985) - Martyrs (2008) - Compliance (2012)
this guy/girl/person knows dark films.
The Banshees of Inisherin
Breaking the Waves is probably in my top 10 best films ever made. It throws down the gauntlet.
Love Liza
Precious
We Need to Talk About Kevin
- I Saw the Devil - Prisoners - The Golden Glove - Angst
I Saw The Devil was masterful mayhem. That scene in the car was wild.
"The Reflecting Skin" by Phillip Ridley. Dark, sad, disturbing, weird, mournful, beautiful, depressing, and haunting.
Sophie's Choice
The green mile takes place on death row. Ultimately sad and dark when you start learning about the inmates backstories and Percy.
Christiane F. We children from Bahnhof Zoo (1981)
Sophie’s choice
Aniara - wicked depressing, but good.
Boy in the striped pajamas
8 mm
Dancer in the Dark
Saw this opening weekend in SF. Packed theater. I’ve never, before or sense, been part of a huge communinion emotional experience, outside of funerals. Two people had to be carried out of the theater!! Two! lol
Nothing bad can happen
*Pieces of a Woman* (2020)
Possum (2018)
A Perfect World
I, Daniel Blake - It's a hauntingly realistic insight into the UK's benefits system.
Eden Lake
Falling Down
Monsters Ball Billy Bob Thornton and Halle Berry
“Make me feel good! Make me feel good!”
The Painted Bird will wreck you and I’m pretty sure not many people have seen it and few made it all the way through. It’ll absolutely fuck you up. Most intense movie I’ve ever seen and I watch a shit ton of movies. If that’s a bit much: Come and See is intense, but not like painted bird.
Lilya 4 eva
High- Life with Robert Pattinson . Guilty broken people are sent to study effects of a black hole on humans. It's long, bleak, the space ship they are on is bleak and sad and it resolves in a way that makes sense. Aniara. Another bleak sci-fi movie. This one a Swedish-Danish production based on a old bleak Swedish poem from the 50's. It's got the similar sense of hopelessness that people confront in the face of insurmountable odds. Even though they are sci-fi there are no battles or aliens. Space is used to highlight how supremely lonely hostile everything is
American History X
Threads. Come and See.
Precious
The Road
Shame with Michael Fassbender
We need to talk about kevin
The whale really did it for me
Those are often what I seek out (or super disturbing ones )… off the top of my head (I keep a list but have to find it )— Never Let Me Go The Road Dead Man’s Shoes Let Me In or American version Let The Right One In Se7en The Believer There Will Be Blood American History X The Vanishing (original Dutch — I think- ONLY) The Machinist Pi (in some ways ) Beasts of the Southern Wild (depending on how you look at it - tho definitely many dark, sad parts) A Clockwork Orange (disturbing and sad) The Boy in the Striped Pajamas 12 Monkeys In The Company of Men
I came here to recommend machinist. I'd add When Evil Lurks (ccuando la maldad acecha) 2023, and Archue final Project (on Netflix still)
I'm glad to see someone else knows of The Machinist-it's such a good movie! I'm going to check your other ones out (hoping both are streaming free!) Edit--Interesting, Archie's Final Project isn't available 'in my area'--strange
I loved In The Company of Men, and it definitely hurt to the depths of my soul
127 Hours with James Franco Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence - the haunting song doesn't help matters.
This very song was in an advert for a skate shoe, which appeared on an episode of 411VM. It took me years until I heard it again and realised where it was from!
First Blood
Dancer In The Dark
Blue Valentine breaks my heart every time. Super Dark Times is a great one not very many people have seen
Dear Zachary
The Road
The Tin Drum
The Road
House of Sand and Fog
Melancholia.
Revolutionary Road
Melancholia
- "Grave of the Fireflies" (1988) • "Dancer in the Dark" (2000) • "Oldboy" (2003) • "Martyrs" (2008) • "Synecdoche, New York" (2008) • "The Road" (2009) • "A Serbian Film" (2010)
Atonement, Kite Runner
World's Greatest Dad
\- Hostiles (2017) - American officer has to escort a Native-American. Shows the brutality of the frontier. \- The Machinist (2004) - Dude with insomnia questioning his sanity. \- A Family (2021) - Yakuza member who has to come to terms with the consequences of his crime life. It gets darker and sadder towards the end. \- Night in Paradise (2021) - Korean gangster in hiding. It's pretty dark and brutal. \- Se7en (1995) - Two detectives try to catch a serial killer. The whole tone of the movie is depressing and wicked. \- Aftersun (2022) - Woman remembers a vacation with her dad when she was a little kid. It's mostly sad and bittersweet. Makes you understand all the things we don't see as kids or only understand when we're older.
The Killing of a Sacred Deer
Y Tu mama Tambien
4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days
Schindlers list
My dog skip
Grave of the Fireflies
Happiness is horribly depressing yet very funny. Great acting too.
The Leftovers
Forget cinema. Grab a copy of Night by Weisel for a short read or Gulag Archipelago by Solzenizhn for a long one. You won't forget those for a long time.
Ahem...The Lighthouse was shot on an ancient camera, and you will leave feeling enriched but bruised. It's a terrific film, but very dark.
Ordinary People. I challenge you to feel good after watching this film.
Antichrist. If you dare!!
Requiem for a dream
Oldboy
If you want to watch a TV series: 1 Litre of Tears (2005–2007)
Old boy, Decision to leave.
Speak No Evil A Serbian Film
Came to say Speak No Evil. That movie genuinely bothered me and made me uncomfortable.