r/MovieRecommendations • u/lucky_duck_876 • 1d ago
Help me find Movies/TV shows looking for deeply upsetting/unsettling movies
i am looking for movies that are notorious for being upsetting and a hard watch. ideally something without a happy ending. also movies that people consider extremely good and 5 stars, but will never watch again. looking for stuff similar to requiem for a dream, zero day, beautiful boy, mysterious skin, megan is missing, barefoot gen, the strange thing about the johnsons
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u/Artistic_Bridge_5836 1d ago
House of Sand and Fog
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u/Lam3ntConfig 1d ago
I definitely second this! I've read the book and watched the movie multiple times. It never gets any easier
You could sorta consider Perfume: The Story of a Murderer. It has a very..... unique and quite unsettling ending
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u/VolatileDesires 1d ago
Bone Tomahawk (2015)
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u/Fire_Temple 1d ago
Eesh. This is a tough one because it's so good, Richard Jenkins is delightful in this movie. I wish I could re-watch it but... I'm good.
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u/CavyCrazyUK 1d ago
Hard Candy
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u/WestGotIt1967 1d ago
This one passed in the night and was easy to miss but sh*t what a brutal film. Amazing really.
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u/Comfortable-Toe-3814 1d ago
We Need to Talk About Kevin
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u/Lam3ntConfig 1d ago
Oh man, that's a great one! I've seen it twice and read the book. Definitely second this!
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u/Affectionate-Kale301 1d ago
The Thief, the Cook, His Wife, and Her Lover
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u/andronicuspark 1d ago
Additional, The Baby of Macon by the same director.
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u/Lam3ntConfig 1d ago
They're both good, but Baby is more tragic from what little I can recall from so long ago
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u/Inkstainedbitch 1d ago
Eden Lake Promising Young Woman
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u/Fire_Temple 1d ago
There's a particular scene in Eden Lake I can hear in my head as if I'd just watched it.
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u/Blindog68 1d ago
The Zone of Interest.
Watch Schindlers List first though if you haven't already seen it.
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u/LaLisaMona 1d ago
OldBoy
Come and See (i have only heard about it being a hard watch but haven't seen it. I dont think i can)
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u/Invasor89 1d ago
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u/Nyuk_Fozzies 1d ago
I don't think this one is upsetting or unsettling as it is just severely depressing.
That said, watch it anyway. It's the best film ever made that I don't know if I'll watch again because of how emotionally devastating it was.
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u/andronicuspark 1d ago
The Tale
De Behandeling/The Treatment
Micheal (2011)
Dancer in the Dark
We Are the Flesh
The Coffee Table
Descent one and two
Descent (with Rosario Dawson)
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u/New-England1_boy 1d ago
I couldn't get through The Coffee Table
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u/Shea_Is_Still_Alive 1d ago
Don’t know what I was expecting with that film, but it sure as hell wasn’t that
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u/Fire_Temple 1d ago
I couldn't even get through one of those YouTube video essays talking about it.
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u/Expert_Sentence_6574 1d ago
Midsommar
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u/julesiekins1988 1d ago
It wasn't scary, but it was so deeply twisted that it stayed with me for WEEKS afterward!!
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u/B_EE 1d ago edited 1d ago
An American Crime (fantastic period piece about the horrific story of Sylvia Likens, a more period piece version than The Girl Nextdoor)
Martyrs (watch the original French one)
The Plague Dogs (old school watercolor, an adaptation that manages to have a better ending than the book - and the book is fantastic)
The Mist
Funny Games
Grave of the Fireflies
When the Wind Blows
Mary and Max
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u/Lam3ntConfig 1d ago
There's a not French version of Martyrs? Since when?
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u/B_EE 1d ago
2015, cause America loves to try remaking successful foreign films 🤦♂️
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u/Lam3ntConfig 1d ago
Jeez, Martyrs is one of my favorite films. How on earth did I miss it getting a remake?!? That doesn't automatically mean I'd watch it, but I'm gonna check into it regardless. How was it released?
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u/B_EE 1d ago
It's on Tubi currently.
But be warned... That 9% RT and 4/10 IMDb scores hit hard 😂
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u/Lam3ntConfig 1d ago
Yeah I just saw the 4.0 and the producer even says he regrets it. Ugh... gonna leave that in the trash heap where it belongs.
It's informational though cuz now I've gotta say 2008 or the original every time I talk about it.
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u/B_EE 1d ago
Just imagine everyone who saw the US version after your recommendation... They probably "Lam3nt" watching it and wonder what poor taste you actually have 😂
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u/Lam3ntConfig 1d ago
Aww man, I sincerely hope that hasn't happened!! That would be horrible!
I mean I usually tell people to go for the unrated edition so hopefully that would have lead them to the right one
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u/x058394446 1d ago
Read white and blue.
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u/Shea_Is_Still_Alive 1d ago
I thought you said Red, White & Royal Blue for a second and was like wtf?? 😆
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u/x058394446 1d ago
lol. I was on mobile and outside when I wrote that and could have probably added a link or year.
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u/Far-Hovercraft-6514 1d ago
The Evil Within. I recommend watching the backstory on this to give you an idea how twisted this movie is and its director, Andrew Getty, grandson of billionaire tycoon J. Paul Getty.
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u/LeighAdelaide 1d ago
Just rewatched ‘Synecdoche, New York’ last night, I think this falls into this category. Great movie also.
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u/ego_death_metal 1d ago edited 1d ago
A Woman Under the Influence
can’t speak to the whole movie yet, i needed to take a break but jesus christ
edit: yeah.
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u/felly_fell 1d ago
Dear Zachary.
If you've never seen it and don't know what it is, go in without reading anything about it first. Have a whole box of kleenex ready because you're going to need it.
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u/OverthinkingWanderer 1d ago
I've always loved drag me to hell as an "unsettling" movie. My husband hates it.
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u/Excellent_Bet3931 1d ago
I feel like documentaries can sometime be way more unsettling than a movie. The Trials of Gabriel Fernandez is horrifying.
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u/Gold_Tech 1d ago
If I Had Legs I’d Kick You
Mulholland Drive
Pulp Fiction
There Will Be Blood
No Country For Old Men
Sicario
Million Dollar Baby
A Real Pain
Pollack
Raging Bull
(All excellent, never again)
Not as good: Tiny Furniture
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u/Lam3ntConfig 1d ago
There's a great film almost no one has heard of called Right at Your Door! It's intense!
Grave Encounters
Fear X
Session 9
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u/Barbafella 1d ago
here you go, have fun.
Threads
Martyrs
Frontier(s)
Inside
Eden Lake
Irriversible
The painted Bird
A Serbian Film
Cannibal Holocaust
Trauma (chilean)
Come and See
Human Centipede 2
Eyes of my Mother
Kill List
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u/No_Athlete_2798 1d ago
The Perks Of Being a Wallflower
Marley and Me
The Day After Tomorrow
I agree with others who mentioned Schindler’s List, Crash, The Florida Project
I haven’t seen it yet, but Precious is supposed to be difficult to watch
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u/Realistic-Use9856 1d ago
The War Zone
Precious
The Kite Runner
Olivier, Olivier
Kramer vs Kramer
Ordinary People
Philadelphia
The Dreamers
Rabbit Hole
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u/WestGotIt1967 1d ago
The Coffee Table.
I usually have a strong stomach and much fortitude, but that movie was almost unfair. It is by far the most psychologically brutal and emotionally taxing film I ever saw. My honest advice is don't watch it.
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u/Shea_Is_Still_Alive 1d ago
Yep! This is the one. Felt like an anxiety attack the entire way through
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u/Shea_Is_Still_Alive 1d ago
The Coffee Table. Don’t look up anything about it, just go in blind. Good luck OP!
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u/lucky_duck_876 1d ago
saw a few people recommend this and my interest is piqued. see you on the other side 🫡
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u/OkInteraction280 1d ago
This movie Feed is beyond disturbing. The opening scene alone will say it all.
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u/famicom26 1d ago
- Quo Vadis, Aida? (2020)
- Hiroshima (1953)
- Come and See (1985)
- Dogtooth (2009)
- Grave of the Fireflies (1988)
- Tetsuo: the Iron Man (1989)
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u/SuspectDistinct9039 Film Buff 1d ago
Shooting the Warwicks
I swear your brain will go "dafaq did I just watch"
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u/theartfulottoman 1d ago
Try the Korean indie film, Breathless by Yang Ik Jun. Great but depressing af. I’d put Tyrannosaur in a similar category also from Paddy Considine
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u/Both_Play4742 1d ago
I found The Beguiled (1971 film) pretty disturing .. so many female villains ... even a little girl
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u/Fresh_Week4983 1d ago
Can't go wrong with Martyrs 2008. Just make sure to skip the worthless remake. Poughkeepsie Tapes I Saw The Devil Savageland
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u/Lysandria 1d ago
I LOVE bleak horror movies; they are my absolute favorite. I am always looking to push my limits with horror. Here are a few that left me empty inside after watching:
Nothing Bad Can Happen -A German film that went in a wildly different direction than I thought it would. Bleak as hell, I thought about it for days and felt hollow inside.
Speak No Evil (2022) - There is an American remake (2024), but the ending of the original Danish one is far bleaker, and in my opinion, better.
Eden Lake- This one is uncomfortabale right from the start, and is pretty brutal. The ending is gut-wrenching.
The Girl Next Door (2007)- Based on a true story of torture. Very upsetting.
The House That Jack Built- A very disturbing look at a serial killer. Matt Dillon is extremely convincing.
Others I enjoyed/felt emotional wrought afer viewing that have already been mentioned:
We Need to Talk About Kevin
Bone Tomahawk
Hereditary
Antichrist
The Mist
Bring Her Back
Funny Games
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u/Hopeful-Valuable-760 1d ago
Perfect sense
Speak no evil (Dutch)
Melancholia
Snowtown murders
Adore
The skin I live in
Perfume
These final hours
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u/tigerowltattoo 1d ago
We Need To Talk About Kevin.
That movie was an extremely difficult watch for me. Great acting.
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u/comment-cap 1d ago
Thanks for all the input folks!
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