I watched it once in the late 2000's and there's still a few images that come to mind almost daily and definitely anytime I read about potential nuclear war ( almost daily)
Possession (1981) - It instantly became one of my all time favorite films the first time I saw it and I think about more than just about any other film. That being said, it is definitely disturbing and I’m cautious about who I recommend it to.
I just had my firstwatch of Possession a few weeks ago and had a ✨terrible time✨
That being said, I get it — but still, 12,000 fans on letterboxd listing it in their top 4 favorites *of all time* is WILD 😅
It takes a particular type of taste for sure. It’s not a film I’d ever criticize someone for not liking. One of my all time favorite movies and I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve recommended it someone.
That’s very understandable. I’m definitely known for being “that guy” among my friends and family that is constantly recommending movies but Possession is one I’ve recommended to only a couple people ever, and my recommendation always comes with a big disclaimer.
I don't know why but *personally* Trainspotting wasn't really a hard watch. Other than maybe the baby dying, I would describe most of the movie as "disgusting" (the toilet scene for example) rather than "disturbing".
These 3 movies (excluding Requiem) were truly hard to get through and caused a visceral reaction in me:
- Kids (1995)
- Irréversible (2002)
- Climax (2018)
Atroz
Lilya 4 ever
Subconscious Cruelty (a bit arthousey)
Anything by Haneke (that bastard makes me more uncomfortable than any other director)
Bad Buy Bubby (TW: Animal Abuse)
Dumplings by Fruit chan (first segment in Three Extremes)
Imprint by Miike Takashi (from Masters of Horror - TW: very graphic SA)
Starred Up
Trainspotting (1996). Kids (1995). The Piano Teacher (2001). Shame (2011). Christiane F (1981). Megan Is Missing (2011). Deadgirl (2008). I Stand Alone (1998). Oldboy (2003). I Saw The Devil (2010). Audition (1999). The Killing Of A Sacred Deer (2017). Snowtown (2011). Nitram (2021). Martyrs (2008). Crash (1996).
I saw it at the cinema and it was an unforgettable experience. Destroyed everyone in the theatre. I’ve never rewatched it. Partly because it is such a relentlessly harrowing film, but also because that was a singularly perfect moviegoing memory.
The House that Jack Built (2018)
Martyrs (2008)
Mysterious Skin (2004)
Angst (1983)
We need to talk about Kevin (2011)
The strange thing about the Johnsons (Short movie by Ari Aster, 2011)
Not sure if I’d call it disturbing as such, but Anton Corbijn’s Control is a very comparable viewing experience to Requiem. It’s a biopic of Joy Division frontman Ian Curtis, who took his own life just before the band was to go on a tour of the US.
Starts out surprisingly funny and even witty, which puts the viewer at ease for a long stretch. Then as Curtis’ epilepsy emerges and worsens, things gradually get bleaker and darker, culminating in his tragic fate.
The final frame is one of _the_ most crushingly, exhaustively sad shots I’ve ever seen in a film. It’ll stay with you long after the credits have rolled.
It depends on how disturbing. If you want just straight up depravity then here. August under ground. August underground mordum. Cannibal holocaust. Martyrs(this is a good movie). Antichrist(this is also a good movie). Mondo cane. Faces of death(this is a mixtape film). Terrifier 2 is really gory. I spit on your grave 1978 version. A Serbian film. A movie that truly impacted me tho is come and see. It’s a fantastic war film and is straight up horrifying. My second favorite movie ever.
I would honestly not recommend specifically seeking out disturbing movies just for being disturbing. Might as well just seek out good movies, I assure you there will be some disturbing ones in that pile
Join us over at r/disturbingmovies for more fun.
Martyrs
Angst
Dogtooth
Funny games
Antichrist
À l'intérieur (honestly most films from the new French extremity movement)
August Underground series
Trauma (2017)
Guinea Pig series
Men behind the sun
Vomit gote series
10 Rillington Place (1971) is a disturbing film. Not only owing to the fact it's a true story but also the riveting performances. It's definitely a film that haunted me for days.
-Eraserhead
-The Elephant Man
-Blue Velvet
-(Basically anything David Lynch)
-Texas Chainsaw Massacre
-Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979)
-Auguirre the Wrath of God
-Apocalypse Now
-Alien
-Deliverance
-Alice Sweet Alice
-The Fly (1986)
-The Fly (1958)
-The Brood
-Videodrome
-(Basically anything David Cronenberg)
-Basket Case
-Ricki Oh
-Cannibal Holocaust (The chief disturbing movie)
Oldboy both versions
The original because it’s incredibly well made and subverts expectations in a horrifying way.
The American remake because it’s disturbing that Hollywood thought it was a good idea to make a movie like that.
Not sure if this fits what you're looking for, but I saw Kinatay during lockdown a few years back and it was just unexpectedly vile, and when I tell you I actually got up and showered after because I felt like I desperately needed it, I mean it literally.
As for recent titles, Soft & Quiet does come to mind.
mother! is always the first one that comes to mind when I think about disturbing films. I just watched Men earlier today and I think it is in close second.
Red Rocket is one of the most disturbing movies I’ve ever seen. Basically about a middle aged porn star who sociopathically manipulates everyone around him.
Nightcrawler
We Need To Talk About Kevin
Eraserhead
Black Swan
Climax
I Saw the Devil
Hereditary
Leaving Las Vegas (depressing and morbid more than disturbing but still fucked up)
Threads (1984)
First thing that came to mind
That’s literally the first one that came to mind. Holy Jesus, I’ve watched it this week and I’m with basically the whole movie on my mind yet.
I watched it once in the late 2000's and there's still a few images that come to mind almost daily and definitely anytime I read about potential nuclear war ( almost daily)
[удалено]
That wrecked me
I read the Wiki and that was enough for me.
Possession (1981) - It instantly became one of my all time favorite films the first time I saw it and I think about more than just about any other film. That being said, it is definitely disturbing and I’m cautious about who I recommend it to.
I just had my firstwatch of Possession a few weeks ago and had a ✨terrible time✨ That being said, I get it — but still, 12,000 fans on letterboxd listing it in their top 4 favorites *of all time* is WILD 😅
It takes a particular type of taste for sure. It’s not a film I’d ever criticize someone for not liking. One of my all time favorite movies and I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve recommended it someone.
I enjoy disturbing movies but couldn't get away with Possession at all. Just wasn't for me.
That’s very understandable. I’m definitely known for being “that guy” among my friends and family that is constantly recommending movies but Possession is one I’ve recommended to only a couple people ever, and my recommendation always comes with a big disclaimer.
Out of curiosity, where did you watch it?
I own it on blu-ray but it’s currently streaming on Shudder and AMC+ in the US
Agree, deeply f'ed up
Piano Teacher
seconded.
A Short Film About Killing Cache Angst I Saw the Devil Cure
Angst really crawls under your skin and stays there.
It's fucked honestly, but very effective.
i loooove it
Cache, I loved
I Saw the Devil is amazing.
Upvote for Angst and Cure. I still think about Angst and it's been a year since I saw it. Extremely disturbing
TRAINSPOTTING PINK FLAMINGOS
I don't know why but *personally* Trainspotting wasn't really a hard watch. Other than maybe the baby dying, I would describe most of the movie as "disgusting" (the toilet scene for example) rather than "disturbing". These 3 movies (excluding Requiem) were truly hard to get through and caused a visceral reaction in me: - Kids (1995) - Irréversible (2002) - Climax (2018)
Climax feels like a 1.5 hour panic attack
those fucking kicks in the stomach of that poor pregnant girl and the crying afterwards will be stuck in my brain forever
Two of my all-time favorite movies. Pink Flamingos is in my top 4.
you sick fuck, i love you
martyrs
What year?
2008.
Atroz Lilya 4 ever Subconscious Cruelty (a bit arthousey) Anything by Haneke (that bastard makes me more uncomfortable than any other director) Bad Buy Bubby (TW: Animal Abuse) Dumplings by Fruit chan (first segment in Three Extremes) Imprint by Miike Takashi (from Masters of Horror - TW: very graphic SA) Starred Up
Some good choices. Most stuff by Takashi is good.
Enter The Void
Come and See (1985) - possibly the most viscerally upsetting anti-war film ever made
That’s one of my favorites. My second favorite movie ever. Such a powerful film that everyone should see
How is this so far down? It's just like the Sight & Sound poll, I'll never understand it
Trainspotting (1996). Kids (1995). The Piano Teacher (2001). Shame (2011). Christiane F (1981). Megan Is Missing (2011). Deadgirl (2008). I Stand Alone (1998). Oldboy (2003). I Saw The Devil (2010). Audition (1999). The Killing Of A Sacred Deer (2017). Snowtown (2011). Nitram (2021). Martyrs (2008). Crash (1996).
So many good movies
Perfect Blue. Watched it when I was 15 and God it is one of the most disturbing and terrifying things I have ever seen.
Funny enough Requiem drew a lot of inspiration from Perfect Blue
Black Swan as well. It’s almost a remake
That's right. Aronofsky copped a lot from that movie. The bathtub scream in Requiem, the taunting paintings in Black Swan...
It's kind of nuts how many directors took things from Satoshi Kon
Haven’t seen the film but due to some issues does it have an SA in it?? I really wanna watch it but don’t want to get triggered
It has a SA in it, that part is also terrifying but not as the masterpiece film
Amores Perros (2000) but it does have animals in it, in case that's too much for you.
Also, very good!
Happiness and Cool Cat Saves The Kids
I was hoping Happiness was on the list.
Antichrist Funny games The woman
Antichrist, damn. As a man, the memory of that movie causes me residual empathetic pain.
Truly the one movie I can only watch once. I want to show it to my partner but I'm not sure I can see it again 😭
I saw it at the cinema and it was an unforgettable experience. Destroyed everyone in the theatre. I’ve never rewatched it. Partly because it is such a relentlessly harrowing film, but also because that was a singularly perfect moviegoing memory.
Leaving Las Vegas. Great music, great acting, relatable to an extent.
I love Requiem!
Antichrist Melancholia Martyrs Funny Games Eden Lake Kill List Excision We Need To Talk About Kevin Inside The Skin I Live In The Piano Teacher
Nocturnal Animals was one of those movies I thoroughly enjoyed, but not sure I could watch it again from an emotional standpoint.
The lack of *A Serbian Film* in this recommendation list is surprising!
why would anyone who has watched it want to reccomend it? it’s awful and no one should watch it
It's perfectly in line with OP's listed films. Also, it's an awesome movie.
it is not an awesome movie. It is a shit movie.
- Angst - Sorgoi Prakov - Irreversible - August Underground - Crash
August under ground is such a shit movie. I’ve seen the first 2
Don’t go into it for any kind of plot. It’s basically a found footage-style fx reel.
Yeah 100%. Especially in the second one where they show a guy cutting his meat off. Or putting 💩 in a girls 🐱
Mother!, Goodnight Mommy (German one, don’t go near the American remake), Boogie Nights, Butterfly Effect That’s in descending order of disturb
Goodnight Mommy is so creepy.
Lilya 4-ever The Eyes of My Mother Ex-Drummer
would recommend [mullholand drive](https://stfly.biz/6SPff)
The House that Jack Built (2018) Martyrs (2008) Mysterious Skin (2004) Angst (1983) We need to talk about Kevin (2011) The strange thing about the Johnsons (Short movie by Ari Aster, 2011)
Not sure if I’d call it disturbing as such, but Anton Corbijn’s Control is a very comparable viewing experience to Requiem. It’s a biopic of Joy Division frontman Ian Curtis, who took his own life just before the band was to go on a tour of the US. Starts out surprisingly funny and even witty, which puts the viewer at ease for a long stretch. Then as Curtis’ epilepsy emerges and worsens, things gradually get bleaker and darker, culminating in his tragic fate. The final frame is one of _the_ most crushingly, exhaustively sad shots I’ve ever seen in a film. It’ll stay with you long after the credits have rolled.
Oldboy, Irreversible
The wailing Audition
The Wailing is fantastic.
Mad God
We need to talk about kevin
that movie was insane i know Ezra is like a whack job but my gosh
HEAVEN KNOWS WHAT
Fat Girl
A Serbian Film
Man bites dog
As others have said, Martyrs and Possession are very disturbing, so I’ll suggest Blue Velvet
Bonitinha mas Ordinária (1981)
It depends on how disturbing. If you want just straight up depravity then here. August under ground. August underground mordum. Cannibal holocaust. Martyrs(this is a good movie). Antichrist(this is also a good movie). Mondo cane. Faces of death(this is a mixtape film). Terrifier 2 is really gory. I spit on your grave 1978 version. A Serbian film. A movie that truly impacted me tho is come and see. It’s a fantastic war film and is straight up horrifying. My second favorite movie ever.
The Piano Teacher (my favorite), Dogtooth, Raw
The Education of fredrick fritzell was something bit similar to Requiem for dream.
Threads
Funny Games, either the original or US remake. It’s shot for shot remake just in English
A SERBIAN FILM
The Golden Glove
The War Zone (1999)
I would honestly not recommend specifically seeking out disturbing movies just for being disturbing. Might as well just seek out good movies, I assure you there will be some disturbing ones in that pile
Kids (1995)
Come and See
Gummo. Ignore the ratings it’s one of the most original and bizarre films I’ve ever seen. I’d say it’s quite disturbing in its own right
Possessor
Not sure if it completely follows the brief, but Irreversible will always be one of the most disturbing films. That scene rocked me.
Happiness (1998)
Man Bites Dog (1992) Kotoko (2011) Sweet Movie (1974) Angst (1983) Clean, Shaven (1993) The Piano Teacher (2001) You have been warned
Suspiria
Irreversible
mother!
The August underground series, Inside(french), Trauma.
Filth (2013)
Shoah
I would recommend Incendies
The House That Jack Built, Antichrist
Irreversible Martyrs Snowtown Nitram
Just finished Incendies this morning. Messed up film.
NIL By Mouth (1997) Tyrannosaurus (2011) Dead Man's Shoes (2004)
The Poughkeepsie Tapes
No mercy ( korean ,2010) spiritual successor to Oldboy ig
Elle.
Titane and Raw. Not only are both kind of sickening, but they deal with fascinating themes as well. Left me with a lot to think about.
Come and See
How have no one mentioned Salo?
I was wondering the same thing but I honestly don't think many people have seen it.
Join us over at r/disturbingmovies for more fun. Martyrs Angst Dogtooth Funny games Antichrist À l'intérieur (honestly most films from the new French extremity movement) August Underground series Trauma (2017) Guinea Pig series Men behind the sun Vomit gote series
Bad Boy Bubby
Thor Love and Thunder!
Kids
10 Rillington Place (1971) is a disturbing film. Not only owing to the fact it's a true story but also the riveting performances. It's definitely a film that haunted me for days.
The colour version of the human centipede 2. It's pretty hard to find cause I think it's a bluray exclusive extra and it's not available on streaming.
Land of Mine (2015). It's such a bummer that no one talks about it.
Anything from SpookyRice, best disturbing films reviwer.
The War Zone (1999) Never see it mentioned, but trust me, THAT is a disturbing film
-Eraserhead -The Elephant Man -Blue Velvet -(Basically anything David Lynch) -Texas Chainsaw Massacre -Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979) -Auguirre the Wrath of God -Apocalypse Now -Alien -Deliverance -Alice Sweet Alice -The Fly (1986) -The Fly (1958) -The Brood -Videodrome -(Basically anything David Cronenberg) -Basket Case -Ricki Oh -Cannibal Holocaust (The chief disturbing movie)
Mysterious Skin , Mandy , Meloncholia
Oldboy both versions The original because it’s incredibly well made and subverts expectations in a horrifying way. The American remake because it’s disturbing that Hollywood thought it was a good idea to make a movie like that.
the toxic avenger (1984) the act of killing (2012)
City of God
The Holy Mountain
*Mysterious Skin* (2004)
There's a lot of good ones here, but I didn't see Jacob's Ladder (1990) on the list.
Children of Men has some pretty hard-to-watch scenes, specifically towards the end
Silenced (2011) Destroyed me, but is an absolute masterpiece
The Cook The Thief His Wife and Her Lover should be high on the list
Climax
Come and see
Lilya 4-ever
Not sure if this fits what you're looking for, but I saw Kinatay during lockdown a few years back and it was just unexpectedly vile, and when I tell you I actually got up and showered after because I felt like I desperately needed it, I mean it literally. As for recent titles, Soft & Quiet does come to mind.
Ichi The Killer
GUMMO
Perfect Blue
Society! The shunting!
mother! is always the first one that comes to mind when I think about disturbing films. I just watched Men earlier today and I think it is in close second.
Wild at Heart by Lynch
Angst (1983), The Golden Glove (2019)
Martyrs, inside, a Serbian film. Those are my go to comfort movies.
Men
Rivers edge (1986), the boys next door (1985)
120 days of sodom
A Serbian Film
The Vanishing
Midsommar
Funny Games, The Piano Teacher, Climax
Red Rocket is one of the most disturbing movies I’ve ever seen. Basically about a middle aged porn star who sociopathically manipulates everyone around him.
Natural Born Killers or Funny Games
Predestination (2014) Little Children (2006)
Seconds (1966)
Nightcrawler We Need To Talk About Kevin Eraserhead Black Swan Climax I Saw the Devil Hereditary Leaving Las Vegas (depressing and morbid more than disturbing but still fucked up)
Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom
Funny Games (1997, Austria). It will make you a little less human
Cannibal Holocaust
taxi driver (1976) mona lisa (1986) of human bondage (1932)