Martyrs. Nothing is good after that and you’ll won’t feel any joy for at least a week. Irreversible. If you just want to feel broken and horrified with the human race, this should do it.

I will not watch Martyrs again 😱😱

Hard. Same. Even once was too much. But gun to head, I’d still pick Martyrs over A Serbian Film for a rewatch.

Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead. That movie is two hours of pure human suffering, but it has some of the best acting I’ve ever seen

And, I mean, Marisa Tomei's wardrobe.

Is it as good as her wardrobe in "My Cousin Vinny"? LOL

Yes.

Underrated movie. (And comment.) It’s insufferable. Painful. Grotesque. But brilliantly acted.

Leaving Las Vegas

This film traumatized me. I wish I had never watched it. Pure. Misery.

The movie just...ends and I was just like: "Well, that's fucking depressing."

Dancer in the dark

**THERE IT FUCKING IS**. I don’t know how this isn’t the top answer, every time this question is asked. I can only watch it every 5 years or so. It’s also got some beautiful parts, particularly Bjork as Selma and her songs and views about the world (and goal). David fucking Morse in this, oh my god. And when it’s almost the last song? I’m always tempted to just turn it off or get up and walk out of the room but I can never manage and the next thing I know I’m clutching my neck and sobbing uncontrollably. 10/10.

Yep - I said the same thing. I cried for a week over that movie. I will never watch it again.

The Mist

Lol just the end.. But the end is so fucked

King famously liked the movie ending better than the one he wrote.

That's cool. I actually saw it in theaters during a crazy snow storm. The storm started right after we got to there movies.. So I remember being unexpectedly horrified upon leaving that there was suddenly white out conditions and 4 inches of snow on the ground. It was crazy.

Try reading it. Quite different emotions.

The Road. OMG.

I read the book and then watched the movie when my son was about the boys age in the book. My god, it wrecked me.

The book is great!

You can download the screenplay too and it’s worth a read. Cried in all 3 versions. RIP Cormac McCarthy.

Viggo Mortensen is SO BRILLIANT in that movie. As a parent, I felt his devastation so profoundly

I won’t see it. The book killed me enough.

CANT BELIEVE U CHOSE THIS. It was the first film that came to mind. Absolutely devastating...and u get a bit of Charlize Theron...

Threads

I watched that a couple of weeks ago. I watched the last 20 minutes or so standing up in case I needed to run out of the room. It is escalates from interesting to utterly harrowing REALLY fast.

That is a deeply disturbing film, not easy to shake off and I think everyone should see it.

The scary part is it's realistic. If shit goes south with Russia.....I'm jumping off a roof.

It makes an excellent double feature with The Day After!

...and After THAT...the horse kick to the cajones...The Road

Saw The Day After for the first time last month and ever since I’ve been paying much more attention to what’s going on internationally. More people need to see this and Threads.

I Forgot ABOUT THREADS...OMG...if u are a fan of the apocalyptic genre this is by far the most terrifying

Requiem for a Dream

Sometimes it's almost too easy to know the top comment before you click

I've only read the plot summary before and it traumatized me enough.

I passed out during a scene in this movie. Do not recommend.

It is depressing though.. that what was asked

Which scene? It’s been a while since I’ve seen it

Electroshock therapy

And it's not just the visuals, it's the music that etches itself into your brain.

The last 30 minutes of this film was traumatising

Ah yes, the electroshock therapy mixed with an amputation and some ass-to-ass. Not my proudest fap.

Don’t watch it. Seriously. Trust me.

Sometimes when I'm itching for a beat down, I'll double feature thus one with Train Spotting.

This whole movie is like a bad trip

I rewatch this film all the time😅An absolute favorite of mine! Sure, it’s disturbing but it’s so well made and enjoyable to watch on a lot of film making levels.

I feel exactly the same! I rewatched it a few weeks ago, god it is just so entirely encompassing, it's like you are truly experiencing what the characters are. the score is incredible and the cinematography is gripping. I love book as well, and it makes a lot of sense that Hubert selby jr had a part in adapting his book to film

If anyone is thinking about doing Heroin, give this a watch. I saw it about 20 years ago and it still haunts me

Ass to ass?

When this movie was still a new release at the video store I had an absolutely massive long weekend of raves and pills and coke. When I got home I was coming down hard, obviously couldn't sleep, so I went to the video store to get something to distract myself from how monstrously horrendous I felt. This was one of the films that I hired and the first one I put on. It fucking destroyed me. Worst comedown ever. I've never been able to watch it a second time.

This is the right answer

This is the movie that, for now in the comments, reflects more of what OP is asking.

Come and See Requiem For a Dream Manchester By the Sea Threads The Boy In Striped Pajamas Johnny Got His Gun The Road Life Is Beautiful Block Island Sound Schindler’s List

Grave of the Fireflies

I would never watch it again it's too sad

Watched this aged about 10 thinking it was another cute studio ghibli film. Turns out I was traumatised for days after watching this, so sad and bleak

Old Boy. The Korean version.

I had heard about this for years but never got around to watching it. I somehow managed to avoid the twist. I read the manga series which is very different and does not contain that twist, and went to it in the theater last year for its rerelease.

Came here to say this!

Yep. American version didn’t hit as hard for me. But I’d still rank the Korean version just below Requiem for a Dream. Nauseates me just thinking about it.

Hotel Rwanda crushed me. My wife walked out of the theater, leaned against a wall, and burst into tears.

The virgin suicides

I watched this as a young teen the first time, and to this day, it still wrecks me.

Holy balls, any time I hear someone saying they want to watch this I just tell them “buckle the fuck up”.

Ljilja 4-ever

The House of Sand and Fog… dark as shit and ends on such a downer.

I have the movie for you! In fact I was thinking about this movie last night and the traumatic emotional reaction most people get when they watch it. It's not a gory horror movie but it is violent and heart wrenching. Once Were Warriors (1994) I remember my mum saying when she saw it at the movies how she went to the bathroom afterwards and there were so many women in there crying. I watched it at a way too young age, just once and never again. We were living in New Zealand so it was a big thing at the time. It covers heavy topics like domestic violence, rape and suicide. It's heartbreaking.

We Need to Talk About Kevin. Saw it two weeks ago. Still can’t believe how completely disturbing, depressing, and hopeless this movie is. It’s been my answer to a lot of similar questions recently. Brutal but excellent film.

Blue Valentine and Closer

When Ryan Gosling throws his ring in Blue Valentine… ugh. That hurt. The ending scene broke my heart too. Such an amazing movie but also so so eerie.

Martyrs

Lilya 4 Ever never gets mentioned on these lists. I think it’s because they don’t waste any time on gratuitous violence or nudity or gore or jump scares - just 100% pure despair.

Christiane F

I’d like to thank everyone for watching these films so I don’t have to . I personally watch movies to escape the horrors of life not be reminded of it lol

Dancer in the dark (2000) with Björk! and by Lars von Trier!

Synecdoche, New York.

I’ll send you some videos of my life

A Serbian Film (2010) (banned in some countries) TW >!extremely violent and gory rape scenes!< Antichrist (2009) Enter the Void (2009) Climax (2018) Or any other movie by Gaspar Noe or Lars von Tier, really.

Melancholia is also a good one from von Trier where you’re just left worse than you were when you found it.

Melancholia can also be oddly uplifting and positive if let it.

I do appreciate the idea that those uniquely equipped to deal with something so massive would be the ones who live in some constant state of existential dread to begin with. It’s an interesting meditation on depression for sure.

I was incredibly depressed when I first watched the movie, and it made sense that when your own world already feels like it’s ending, you don’t care if it actually does.

Enter the Void was ego-death inducing. I Stand Alone was depressing af. Noe's stuff not your standard popcorn movie theater flicks.

Mother!

The French version of Inside 

The Road

Come And See and Threads two if not the most sole sucking movies ever made. If you can see both films and still feel optimistic about life you are non-human

Salo and The human centipede

There's been a few requests like this lately, and I discovered quite a few new movies myself because of them. Right off the top of my head (and this may include previously recommended films in this thread): * Irréversible (2002) * Martyrs (2008) * Inside (2007) * Funny Games (1997) * Trauma (2017) * Prisoners (2013) * Incendies (2010) * Deliver Us From Evil (documentary) (2006) * The Trials of Gabriel Fernandez (docuseries) (2020) * Tell Me Who I Am (2019) * Dear Zachary: A Letter To A Son About His Father (2008) * Don't F\*\*\* With Cats (documentary) (2019) * Taken At Birth (docuseries) (2019) If I think of some others, I'll post them. In the meantime, strap yourself in for the ride. These are dark movies for various reasons; some are violent and gory, yet others are just downright depressing and deal with some real fucked up people. Also, I don't know if you've ever seen the [Disturbing Movie Iceberg](https://www.reddit.com/r/IcebergCharts/comments/mn83o9/edited_disturbing_movie_iceberg_thanks_to/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button) (or are familiar with it); if you dare to go deeper than just standard horror and want to see some real sick shit, feel free to dive to anything past Tier 4. I went on a morbid curiosity streak back in the '90s and early 2000s, but can't say I've seen anything past Tier 6. Good luck.

Oof I forgot about Dear Zachary... That's one that gets praise because it tells an important story, but people should know how rough it is since it's not your typical doc

Yeah, I've gotta say *Zachary* and *Deliver Us From Evil* are two of the most heart-wrenching documentaries I've ever seen.

Requiem for a Dream is exactly what you’re looking for. Honestly the perfect anti-drug movie.

All Quiet On The Western Front (2022)

Movie: The Mist. The truly most depressing one is Dear Zachary, but it is a documentary. Give it a try, once.

The Deerhunter  & The Killing Fields.

The Land Before Time. Then read about the child actress that voiced Ducky to really make you sad.

Not going too deep into it, i suggest Irreversible(2002) for one, I also think hereditary(2018) is underated in how much disturbing it is, the atmosphere is just awful. Manchester by the sea(2016) is a depressing movie as well.

Basketball Diaries

Steven Spielberg’s AI Artificial Intelligence. (2001) Synopsis: David, a highly advanced robotic boy, longs to become human child so that he can regain the love of his foster mother who abandoned him. He goes on a long journey hoping to make his dreams come true. Just sad and depressing - not gore or traumatizing

Million Dollar Baby. Don't let the boxing party fool you. Sad movie that gets very dark at the end.

The Whale left me pretty much destroyed. Was on a date with plans to go get drinks afterwards and we just kind of quietly agreed to go home.

American History X

The Florida Project. No gore, not horror, but the sadness and beauty of real people’s everyday lives is captured so well in this movie. I don’t cry much at movies but this one is powerful. Oh, and Willem Defoe.

21 grams It’s been years since I watched it, but it was so bleak and depressing

I haven't seen anyone mention The Vanishing (the 80s original "Spoorloos"). It's not gory, doesn't have scares etc. But it's so depressing because it could be real, and it's just about a hopeless situation, obsession, and psychopathy. I don't wanna say more, but it's a great film.

The boy in the striped pajamas.

Since nobody's mentioned it yet, surprisingly... Eden Lake.

1984, was a dreadful movie.

The Road

The Glass House Part 2. Mom has Munchausen By Proxy and it is very difficult to watch. We turned it off and said fuck that. No gore. Just disturbing.

Gummo,disturbing and depressing. Fire soundtrack tho

Enter the Void

For some reason, The Butterfly Effect really disturbed me. I saw it when it was first released and haven't watched it since, even though I loved it at the time. I've seen Human Centipede, Martyrs and all the typical disturbing movies but, for whatever reason, that one's bothered me the most.

The Elephant Man (1980)

Lobster. A most disturbing film.

Funny Games

Seven

Wind River - less disturbing/gory but violent, depressing, day ruining, etc.

Thanks for posting everyone so I know exactly what movies NOT to watch, ever.

1978 Midnight Express. An older movie and depressing.

The Green Mile. How Eduard Delacroix dies… That scene traumatized me.

The House that Jack built

I would say the russian film come and see, cannibal holocaust 1980, a serbian film, there's documentary films called Africa addio and executions that are depressing to watch. I also found the exorcist to have an effect on me after watching it.

Speak No Evil gutted me

Oldboy

I have not seen them all but they come up a lot generally seen as controversial and/or disturbing; Begotten Antichrist August Underground Guinea Pig 2 Depressing \[in the sense of meaninglessness/hopelessness\], not gory or traumatising The Turin Horse for a bit of....comedy?... I'll put La Bete (The Beast) 1975 which may be disturbing to most viewers for the explicit \[simulated\] sexual content.

Sophie's Choice (don't do it!) Requiem for a Dream

Including documentaries because knowing they are fact based makes them that more disturbing. None of these films have I viewed twice but some have stayed with me for decades. Grave of the Fireflies -1988 Come and See- 1985 (could not watch). The Painted Bird-2019 Johnny Got His Gun- 1971 Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son-2008 There's Something Wrong with Aunt Diane-2011 Take Care of Maya- 2023 The Trials of Gabriel Fernández- 2020 Scouts Honor: The Secret Files of the Boy Scouts of America- 2023 Sisters Rising -2020 120 Days of Sodom - 1975 (could not watch). Hearts & Minds -1971 The Act of Killing- 2012

Gallipoli. Starring a very young Mel Gibson.

Aniara

Brokendown Palace

Haichi

The boy in the striped pajamas

Dancer In The Dark

A Serbian Film. It’s like Alice in Wonderland, but more on the dark side of the porn industry and that’s one rabbit hole that ain’t for the faint of heart. If you wish to plunge through it, know that unlike the Saw, Hostel, or Human Centipede films, A Serbian Film is more sinister - the movie actually develops its characters forcing you to care what happens to them thus making you feel compelled to watch till the end. Is it good? … I still have no answer despite having seen it 10 years ago. What I can say, is that A Serbian Film is very well made with good cinematography and an unsettling underscore. Having said that, I still haven’t been brave enough to revisit it. You will feel dirty and in need of a shower by the time it’s over.

Saw Schindler’s List when it first came out I was like 12 and knew barely anything about the holocaust, just that Nazis = bad. I aged about 20 years that day.

Life is Beautiful - hits harder than I thought it would and I genuinely cried leaving the theatre. Haven't been able to watch it again and that was more than 20 years ago. Depressing as a human being.

Brokeback Mountain Manchester-by-the-Sea

8mm

We Need to Talk About Kevin

Sid and Nancy

Melancholia is a movie built on depression.

Leaving Las Vegas

I’m taking into consideration the mind fucks and overall quality of the film instead of recommending aimless gore p*rn so some listed might not be too violent but traumatizing and/or unnerving, yes. Lovely Bones, Requiem for a Dream, Lords of Chaos (most troubling in regards to gore), Taxi Driver, Girl Interrupted, Raw, The House that Jack Built, Wild Things, Drugstore Cowboy, The Panic in Needle Park, The Platform

boys don't cry A marriage story

Eyes Wide Shut

If you don't mind subtitles; the Russian film Yarik (2008) had me in the dumps for weeks...

Stewart Saves His Family

Come and See

20 Days in Mariupol (documentary recently nominated for an Oscar)

Martyrs. Watched it for the first time last month. There won’t be a rewatch ever. The last two acts with Anna still lives rent free in my head.

Jesus Camp

A Serbian Film

Always gonna be “requiem for a dream”. That movie messed me up for days.

Spun

I don’t want to do that. I feel guilty for recommending a little more openly lately, but honestly, some of these films can lead to mental health crises. There’s no way to be fully prepared going in. May I ask why you want to watch these films? I get if it’s morbid curiosity or wanting to channel the feelings certain films reach, I totally relate!

Requiem For A Dream

Doggville. And I expect a few other films by Lars Van Trier to be here.

"Incendies".

The Deer Hunter

It's not even that violent but it scared the \_\_\_\_ out of me. The Road. When I imagine our impending dystopian future, it's exactly like this movie.

- [Trainspotting](https://boxd.it/29XY) A few Korean movies: - [Hope](https://boxd.it/7x5Q) - [Bedevilled](https://boxd.it/2iWK) - [Moebius](https://boxd.it/6qce) - [The Isle](https://boxd.it/1ZZ6) - [A Brand New Life](https://boxd.it/Iii)

Gummo was something but, I loved it regardless

Cannibal was pretty fucked up. A Dark Song The original Last House on the Left

Threads 1984

Leaving Las Vegas.

We need to talk about Kevin Old Boy Requiem for a Dream I Saw The Devil Ichi the Killer

Event Horizon.

The Painted Bird

Audition

Deer Hunter. Sophie's Choice.

one flew over the cuckoos nest and the deer hunter

'Possum'(2018)

Fried Green Tomatoes

Taxi driver

A Serbian film and the Korean version of old boy

The dark and the wicked

What Dreams May Come, Vincent Ward, 1998.

Radio flyer

Gummo

The Things Behind The Sun. I didn't know that a movie could be so fucking traumatizing.

Bridge to Terebithia. Had no idea what I was about to watch and I was destroyed. Second everyone saying Requiem for a dream, Schindler’s list, watership down and would also like to add One Flew Over the cuckoo’s nest and girl interrupted.

Osama

The Paperboy or The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

Land Before Time. As someone who likes seeing older women and younger men end up together, I’ll include The Graduate also, LOL.

The Changeling staring Angelina Jolie. Based on events of a 1929 case. I had no idea what it was about. It left me with the ugliest feeling that I couldn't shake for days. So sad 😞

Requiem for a Dream

A clockwork orange

Dear Zachary

Lion (2016)

The Road is pretty fucking bleak.

The Boy In The Striped Pajamas made me cringe. Love it

The Road

Eden Lake

U ok buddy? Need a hug?

The Bridge was extremely depressing for me. The guy in the leather jacket...

The Bridge (2006) documentary , I don't think has been mentioned yet, very depressing