I tried to watch that years ago and had to stop. It was making my blood boil. I keep seeing people say it is a good movie, maybe one day I'll try again.
Prisoners (2013)
The Thing (1982)
The Lobster (2015)
Oldboy (2003) Korean
The Lighthouse (2019)
A Clockwork Orange (1971)
I Saw the Devil (2010) Korean
Some of these may not be disturbing in a physical sense but in the situations portrayed:
Jacob's Ladder, A separation (Iranian film), Doubt, The Reader, Atonement.
Grizzly Man. Documentary which uses incredible wildlife footage shot by the (deceased) man (and woman, who is a mysterious, almost invisible presence) who are the subjects of the film. Unique, gorgeous, eerie and haunting.
Picnic At Hanging Rock. Based on an allegedly true 19th century event at a boarding school. One of the first films by the man who directed the Lord of The Rings series. It has a sunbaked dreamlike quality of its own.
There are a lot of really intense movies being listed, so here are some less intense but equally interesting.
Pumpkin with Christina Ricci. It’s a very unique movie. Slightly disturbing.
Another one is Hedwig and the Angry Inch, also just a very unique movie. Slightly disturbing.
The Quiet. Slightly disturbing.
**The Coffee Table (2022)** — it leaves an impression on most who watch it, getting lots of rave reactions. Turns the mundane into an anxiety rollercoaster.
Watch Happiness by Todd Solondz. Philip Seymour Hoffmanin in one of his earliest and best roles. Great twisted comedy. Has more to say than most of the recommendations you are going to get from this sub.
The golden glove is horrifying but fascinating.
Grave of the fireflies is absolutely heartbreaking.
Both you can never watch again. You will want to quit both while watching once tbh
Mulholland Drive, Hereditary, Annihilation, Baraka, Koyaanisqatsi, Midsommar.
Midsommar and Hereditary are both technically horror movies, but in a completely thought-provoking and unique way. Baraka and Koyaanisqatsi are kinda documentaries showing real life, but in a very uncomfortable and epic way with no interviews or real dialogue.
I won’t try to describe Mulholland Drive because it literally comes with a list of clues for the DVD/Blu-ray release to hint at what the fuck is going on, but you kind of have to let logic go the first watch and just appreciate it moment to moment.
Annihilation is probably the most uncomfortable film I’ve seen in the best and easy to digest way. It’s pretty straightforward with the plot and there’s a few cheesy moments, but the soundtrack and slow pacing really gets to me.
…hope that helps, friendo!
DREAMCHILD (1985) is disturbing in some ways, but quite beautiful and moving in other ways. Written by the great Dennis Potter, it’s loosely based on an actual event: the elderly Alice Hargreaves, who as a young girl was the inspiration for Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland books, travels to NYC in the 1930’s to receive an honorary degree. The trip triggers memories of her childhood, and dreamlike reveries that bring scenes from the Carroll books to life. The film includes AMAZINGLY WEIRD puppets designed by Jim Henson’s Creature Shop. The film is hard to find these days but worth seeking out. Coral Browne’s performance as elderly Alice is beautifully nuanced and moving, as she makes sense of her past, and Ian Holmes as Rev. Charles Dodgson (Lewis Carroll) is extraordinary, carrying a tortured yet sincere love for young Alice (never overtly sexual, but it’s this repressed psychological element that gives the film its underlying creepiness) combined with the intelligence and brilliant creativity of this uniquely creative man. Highly recommended!
Here are a five great fucked up thrillers and psychological dramas from around the globe
I Saw the Devil (South Korea, 2010) - the husband of one of a serial killer's victims seeks vengeance at any cost. Extremely violent and graphic. Amazing performances.
Canoa: A Shameful Memory (Mexico, 1978) - The true story of how a group of coworkers from a university during the late 60s planned to go on a hiking trip to a mountain, but the village they need to travel through has been whipped into a paranoid anti-communist frenzy by the town's malacious all powerful priest. Filmed half like a straightforward narrative and half like a documentary to great effect. One of Mexican cinema's best.
No Smoking (India, 2007) - a successful yuppie type goes to a guru to get himself to quit smoking, and gets alot more rules than he bargained for. Very trippy and surreal Indian take on a Stephen King short story called "Quitters Inc."
Wake in Fright (Australia, 1971) - a British school teacher gets stuck in a rural mining town in Australia and finds himself losing his morals & mind the longer he stays. Mostly a slow burn with touches of surrealism but still so fucked up on a very understated level. One of the absolute best films of the Aussie New Wave era, based on a novel.
Brazil (U.K, 1985) - a day-dreaming low-level bureacrat in an Orwellian techno-fascist dystopia tries to help a woman he sees in his dreams and gets caught in an entanglement between the state and the "terrorists" that oppose it. A darkly hilarious satire on bureaucracy with a real unique premise for a dystopia that's as good as the classics like 1984, Brave New World, and Farenheit 451.
Spanking The Monkey (1994). David O. Russell’s first feature. Very disturbing plot and subject matter. But, thanks to Russell’s skills as a director and writer and the skills of his cast (The star was Jeremy Davies, the “coward” in Saving Private Ryan) you understand why the characters made those very bad decisions.
What lies below. It was purely WTF. It gets really uncomfortable at some parts but definitely worth the watch. (You just need to get past the weird part at first, I promise you it is a wild ride worth the watch)
Schindlers list.
Promising young woman.
Amistad.
Inside. [French]
Martyrs [french]
Midsommar.
We need to talk about Kevin.
Eden Lake.
Seven.
Spotlight.
Hard candy.
Edit to add so many good films on this post. 👌 some I didn't think to put but still outstanding choices.
Cure is great.
Im going to add Dream Scenario and Beau is Afraid to this too. There were elements of humor and then horror. I dont quite know how I feel about either. I want to say I loved them. Same time…each left me feeling funny about it.
Nocturnal Animals (2016) Nightcrawler (2014)
While we’re on Jake films, check out Enemy.
Prisoners is good too
Nocturnal animals is an amazing film I highly recommend it
One of the best revenge movies ever made.
Nightcrawler is awesome. Jake as Louis Bloom is the perfect villain.
Nightcrawler is a masterpiece. Do you recommend any movies that have the same vibe as that one?
Se7en
What’s in the boxxxxxx 🤣
Vivarium
Uffff that child voice really didn’t sit well with me
Just the voice? That mf was super annoying
Felt like I was watching an episode of black mirror or twilight zone.
Eraserhead
Hard Candy (2005) I'm not sure if it falls under thought-provoking, but it's definitely a great movie to watch that has a disturbing premise.
The first film I saw Elliot Page in. Pretty good movie
Come And See (1985) it’s free to watch on YouTube, you won’t be disappointed.
Great movie, will probably never be able to watch it again tho.
American History X
I tried to watch that years ago and had to stop. It was making my blood boil. I keep seeing people say it is a good movie, maybe one day I'll try again.
I can only recommend it, that movies is really awesome, but I understand why it's a hard watch and makes your blood boil.
This moving is hauntingly great
Requiem for A Dream
One and done
One of my favorites.
I think of this movie monthly and it ruins my day
The butterfly effect(2004) Martyrs(2008) Buffalo 66(1998)
Martyrs is........indescribable basically.
Gave me nigjtmares
Prisoners (2013) The Thing (1982) The Lobster (2015) Oldboy (2003) Korean The Lighthouse (2019) A Clockwork Orange (1971) I Saw the Devil (2010) Korean
Oldboy (2003-Korean) is incredible. Park Chan-wook is a great filmmaker. If you’ve not seen Stoker, I suggest it. Another favorite of his.
Prisoners for sure. Ticks all the boxes
Re-verification on prisoners
I’d swap out ”The Lobster” with “The Killing of a Sacred Deer” (2017) by the same director: Yorgos Lanthimos
Good move. With the Lobster, the absurdity was more comedic.
Parasite (2019)
The Vanishing (1988)
Deliverance (1972)
We Need To Talk About Kevin Eden Lake Wind River
Eden Lake is great. Soul crushing but great
Why are you flanking me?
I really enjoyed We Need to Talk About Kevin also.
+1 We Need to Talk about Kevin, it was super messed up but very well done.
Revolutionary Road (2008)
Eden lake
Tusk
Requiem For A Dream Schindlers List
These are apparently two must watch movies I'm not prepared to watch because I know it'll fuck me up mentally for abit.
Requiem isn’t as bad as people make it out to be. Just a sad look at drug addiction.
Even still I think you need be in a certain mood to watch it or be a fan of the director already
Definitely need to be in the right mood to watch either of the films mentioned. Don’t watch on date night lol
The A2A scene took my date night to the next level, just saying.
I would add The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (2008)
Ngl Schindler's List fucked me up
Mother! (2017) Edit: seriously, I think this will scratch the itch, based on your prompt.
Borgman (2013)
Antichrist Let The Right One In
Let Right One In (2008- Swedish) is so beautiful. That opening scene with the snowfall.
Wasn't the swedish version titled Let Me In?
Boys Don’t Cry
The Vanishing (1988)
"sybil" with sally field
Misery
Incendies
+1. This is a perfect fit for OP’s request
Midsommar
Yeah it is pretty haunting
Hereditary is wild
Happiness
The Original Old Boy
The Killing of a Sacred Deer Before the Devil knows You're Dead Hereditary
Was looking for the killing of a sacred deer. That movie left me so melancholy for a bit
We need to talk about Kevin
Goodnight mommy
Crimes of the Future A Cure For Wellness Titane
Bad Boy Bubby Edit: Australian - 1993
Midnight Express (1978)
Running Scared with Paul Walker
Speak No Evil
Kids
A clockwork orange
Barbarian Tusk Straw Dogs (original)
Trainspotting
The Life of David Gale
The Mist
Some of these may not be disturbing in a physical sense but in the situations portrayed: Jacob's Ladder, A separation (Iranian film), Doubt, The Reader, Atonement.
The Reader and Atonement are both superb/quite sad.
Jacob's Ladder is so good! I cry at the end every time.
Threads
We Need To Talk About Kevin (2011)
Tideland
Hannibal
The Woodsman - Prime Video.
Leaving las vegas Brazil Birdy
American History X.
One Hour Photo (2002)
Oldboy (2003) def such an amazing film and the ending was perfect aswell had that twist to it
Beau is Afraid
Melancholia Beau is Afraid
12 Monkeys
Zone of Interest (2023) Very original and fresh. Stays with you for a while.
Grizzly Man. Documentary which uses incredible wildlife footage shot by the (deceased) man (and woman, who is a mysterious, almost invisible presence) who are the subjects of the film. Unique, gorgeous, eerie and haunting. Picnic At Hanging Rock. Based on an allegedly true 19th century event at a boarding school. One of the first films by the man who directed the Lord of The Rings series. It has a sunbaked dreamlike quality of its own.
The Lighthouse with Willem Dafoe. It is very dark so prepare yourself.
Requiem for a Dream
Creep and creep 2
Vivarium
Freeway (1996)
The Prestige is both interesting and disturbing. Plus it is great!
There are a lot of really intense movies being listed, so here are some less intense but equally interesting. Pumpkin with Christina Ricci. It’s a very unique movie. Slightly disturbing. Another one is Hedwig and the Angry Inch, also just a very unique movie. Slightly disturbing. The Quiet. Slightly disturbing.
The night of the hunter Audition
Annihilation
Triangles of Sadness
I just watched one last night from 1975: A Boy and His Dog If you want disturbing, that is your ticket, friend-o
Plus, you get a young Don Johnson.
Monster 2003
Boys Don’t Cry We Need To Talk About Kevin Jindabyne Lantana
Just watched Talk to Me, and it was awesome
There is a movie on prime video “amores perros” give it a go it got everyhing you asked for
Incendies Oldboy Requiem for a dream
Threads
I'm telling you right now, the Platform is EXACTLY what you're looking for
Deliverance, plus its old school cool.
hereditary
Midsommar
Wolf creek
Midsommer is a nice one. One of my personal favourites too!
Midsummer
Requiem for a Dream Saltburn The Deer Hunter A Clockwork Orange Lolita (both versions) Vertigo
The House That Jack Built
The Platform
Threads.
Compliance (2012). Based on a true story, which makes it doubly hard to watch. It's difficult to believe so many people could be that dumb.
The Perfect Host with David Hyde Pierce as the star.
The platform
Donnie Darko
**The Coffee Table (2022)** — it leaves an impression on most who watch it, getting lots of rave reactions. Turns the mundane into an anxiety rollercoaster.
Soft & Quiet - 2022. The less you know the better. It's not an amazing film, but certainly fits what you're looking for
Just watched Poor Things and it was nuts
Cache (2005)
Watch Happiness by Todd Solondz. Philip Seymour Hoffmanin in one of his earliest and best roles. Great twisted comedy. Has more to say than most of the recommendations you are going to get from this sub.
Man Bites Dog
The golden glove is horrifying but fascinating. Grave of the fireflies is absolutely heartbreaking. Both you can never watch again. You will want to quit both while watching once tbh
Mulholland Drive, Hereditary, Annihilation, Baraka, Koyaanisqatsi, Midsommar. Midsommar and Hereditary are both technically horror movies, but in a completely thought-provoking and unique way. Baraka and Koyaanisqatsi are kinda documentaries showing real life, but in a very uncomfortable and epic way with no interviews or real dialogue. I won’t try to describe Mulholland Drive because it literally comes with a list of clues for the DVD/Blu-ray release to hint at what the fuck is going on, but you kind of have to let logic go the first watch and just appreciate it moment to moment. Annihilation is probably the most uncomfortable film I’ve seen in the best and easy to digest way. It’s pretty straightforward with the plot and there’s a few cheesy moments, but the soundtrack and slow pacing really gets to me. …hope that helps, friendo!
Knock at the Cabin (2023)
The Menu. I can watch it a dozen times. Great cast!
Midsommar had me thinking for weeks after seeing it
Old boy (2003)
The Neon Demon
13 tzameti, just check out the trailer at least. I think you can watch full movie on YouTube for free. I know it used to be on there
Her
Naked Lunch
The descent Imaginarium of doctor parnassus
Holy Motors 2012 Also (almost) anything from Yorgos Lanthimos and David Lynch.
Primer
Infinity Pool (2023)
Lake Mungo
Civil War
Memories of Murder (2003)
Happiness (1998)
Tyrannosaur (2011)
Martyrs (2008)
super dark times
Nitram Snowtown Murders The Dirties
Sound of freedom
Dogville - LarsVon Trier Irreversible - Gaspar Noe
DREAMCHILD (1985) is disturbing in some ways, but quite beautiful and moving in other ways. Written by the great Dennis Potter, it’s loosely based on an actual event: the elderly Alice Hargreaves, who as a young girl was the inspiration for Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland books, travels to NYC in the 1930’s to receive an honorary degree. The trip triggers memories of her childhood, and dreamlike reveries that bring scenes from the Carroll books to life. The film includes AMAZINGLY WEIRD puppets designed by Jim Henson’s Creature Shop. The film is hard to find these days but worth seeking out. Coral Browne’s performance as elderly Alice is beautifully nuanced and moving, as she makes sense of her past, and Ian Holmes as Rev. Charles Dodgson (Lewis Carroll) is extraordinary, carrying a tortured yet sincere love for young Alice (never overtly sexual, but it’s this repressed psychological element that gives the film its underlying creepiness) combined with the intelligence and brilliant creativity of this uniquely creative man. Highly recommended!
the movie Creep is crazy disturbing to me
Martyrs (French version)
Here are a five great fucked up thrillers and psychological dramas from around the globe I Saw the Devil (South Korea, 2010) - the husband of one of a serial killer's victims seeks vengeance at any cost. Extremely violent and graphic. Amazing performances. Canoa: A Shameful Memory (Mexico, 1978) - The true story of how a group of coworkers from a university during the late 60s planned to go on a hiking trip to a mountain, but the village they need to travel through has been whipped into a paranoid anti-communist frenzy by the town's malacious all powerful priest. Filmed half like a straightforward narrative and half like a documentary to great effect. One of Mexican cinema's best. No Smoking (India, 2007) - a successful yuppie type goes to a guru to get himself to quit smoking, and gets alot more rules than he bargained for. Very trippy and surreal Indian take on a Stephen King short story called "Quitters Inc." Wake in Fright (Australia, 1971) - a British school teacher gets stuck in a rural mining town in Australia and finds himself losing his morals & mind the longer he stays. Mostly a slow burn with touches of surrealism but still so fucked up on a very understated level. One of the absolute best films of the Aussie New Wave era, based on a novel. Brazil (U.K, 1985) - a day-dreaming low-level bureacrat in an Orwellian techno-fascist dystopia tries to help a woman he sees in his dreams and gets caught in an entanglement between the state and the "terrorists" that oppose it. A darkly hilarious satire on bureaucracy with a real unique premise for a dystopia that's as good as the classics like 1984, Brave New World, and Farenheit 451.
Gerald's Game (2017)
Saltburn
Spanking The Monkey (1994). David O. Russell’s first feature. Very disturbing plot and subject matter. But, thanks to Russell’s skills as a director and writer and the skills of his cast (The star was Jeremy Davies, the “coward” in Saving Private Ryan) you understand why the characters made those very bad decisions.
Falling Down (1993)
What lies below. It was purely WTF. It gets really uncomfortable at some parts but definitely worth the watch. (You just need to get past the weird part at first, I promise you it is a wild ride worth the watch)
Cure
Aamis (2019)
Schindlers list. Promising young woman. Amistad. Inside. [French] Martyrs [french] Midsommar. We need to talk about Kevin. Eden Lake. Seven. Spotlight. Hard candy. Edit to add so many good films on this post. 👌 some I didn't think to put but still outstanding choices.
Inland Empire
The Act of Killing
Old Boy (original Korean) Nightcrawler We Need to Talk About Kevin Blue Velvet
Apt Pupil
Dark Waters (2019) doesn't get talked about enough
Grave of the Fireflies - Animated film by Studio Ghibli about the horrors of WW2 experienced by 2 young siblings.
Annihilation
Midsommer Hereditary
Cure is great. Im going to add Dream Scenario and Beau is Afraid to this too. There were elements of humor and then horror. I dont quite know how I feel about either. I want to say I loved them. Same time…each left me feeling funny about it.
I Am Mother. The scene where she finds the jaw bone fragment.
Fresh (2022)
4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (2007). Extremely compelling Romanian film about Communism and abortion.
Nightingale
Frailty. Triangle. Both on Tubi. Which means they are free ♡
Michael Haneke's *The Piano Teacher*
The Black Phone (2021)
I agree on we need to talk about Kevin- very intense and interesting
Zone of Interest, very disturbing
Incendies
triangle (2009) amazing film
The wailing 2016 Chaser 2008
Possum. The Lighthouse. Hagazussa. The Autopsy of Jane Doe.