# Bleakest movie you have ever seen **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 9, 2013, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bleakest-movie-you-have-ever-seen/657901 "2013-05-09T16:32:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![yanceylebeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yanceylebeef/32/12290_2.png) [@yanceylebeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yanceylebeef)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2013, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bleakest-movie-you-have-ever-seen/657901/181 "2013-05-14T15:26:00Z")
Another voter for Lars von Trier, but this time with Bjork starring in [Dancer in the Dark](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0168629/). Damn that movie shattered me. ---
**Author:** ![BlinkingDuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eada6e/32.png) [@BlinkingDuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlinkingDuck)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2013, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bleakest-movie-you-have-ever-seen/657901/182 "2013-05-14T17:03:50Z")
> [@lieu](#): > > Leaving Las Vegas +1 God. Glad I saw it. Don’t want to see it again. ---
**Author:** ![BlinkingDuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eada6e/32.png) [@BlinkingDuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlinkingDuck)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2013, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bleakest-movie-you-have-ever-seen/657901/183 "2013-05-14T17:07:27Z")
> [@Evin](#): > > _On The Beach_. Game over. I was going to say this one as well, but the OP said no post-apoc. ---
**Author:** ![ccarljc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6bbea6/32.png) [@ccarljc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ccarljc)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2013, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bleakest-movie-you-have-ever-seen/657901/184 "2013-05-14T18:51:44Z")
Mine would be Tess of the D’Urbervilles…Sophias Choice, and Planet of the Apes. ---
**Author:** ![thicksantorum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/65b543/32.png) [@thicksantorum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thicksantorum)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2013, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bleakest-movie-you-have-ever-seen/657901/185 "2013-05-14T21:11:40Z")
I’ve only read the book and not watched the film, but The Girl Next Door (not the one with Jack Bauer’s daughter; the other one) pretty much destroyed me inside for a month or so after finishing it. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2013, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bleakest-movie-you-have-ever-seen/657901/186 "2013-05-14T21:19:13Z")
> [@EllisDee](#): > > …Jennifer Connelly, the **queen of bleak** … Your utterance of that phrase made me think of **Michelle Williams** , who is gunning for Jennifer’s crown. Witness: [Meek’s Cutoff](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1518812/) [Wendy and Lucy](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1152850/) [Take This Waltz](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1592281/) [Blue Valentine](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1120985/) [Shutter Island](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1130884/) [Brokeback Mountain](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0388795/) That’s a pretty good _bleakness_ resume. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2013, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bleakest-movie-you-have-ever-seen/657901/187 "2013-05-14T21:22:56Z")
I stand corrected. As soon as I read the name Michelle Williams I knew you were right without even needing the list. Having seen most of them, it’s her. Hands down. (You even missed a few.) ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2013, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bleakest-movie-you-have-ever-seen/657901/188 "2013-05-14T21:25:23Z")
> [@Knorf](#): > > You mean, what fictional, fantasy wolves with behavior that does not resemble actual wolves do very well in a nightmare that has nothing to do with reality. Don’t wolves hunt particularly well? ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2013, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bleakest-movie-you-have-ever-seen/657901/189 "2013-05-14T21:32:59Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > Don’t wolves hunt particularly well? Depends on your definition of well. Hunt lemmings and other rodents well? You bet. Hunt caribou well? That’s debatable. Well-ish, but without success more often than with. Hunt humans wells? Give me a fucking break. ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2013, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bleakest-movie-you-have-ever-seen/657901/190 "2013-05-14T22:10:58Z")
It’s not nearly as bleak as some others mentioned here but the Australian film **The Square** is a pretty big downer (especially the ending.) > **[The Square (2008 film)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Square_(2008_film))** > > The Square is a 2008 Australian neo-noir thriller film directed by Nash Edgerton, written by his brother Joel Edgerton and Matthew Dabner, and starring David Roberts and Claire van der Boom. Based upon an original idea by Joel, the project was written and then shelved by the actor because he felt it was not strong enough. It was only made after his director brother Nash read the script and convinced him it could be filmed as a thriller. The film premiered in competition at Sydney Film Fe Raym... ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2013, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bleakest-movie-you-have-ever-seen/657901/191 "2013-05-14T22:35:42Z")
I suppose I should contribute to this thread, and not just a hijack of it … but there have been so many good choices so far! Hard to think of anything people haven’t mentioned already … How about _No Country for Old Men_? Its message (from the point of view of Tommy Lee Jones’ character) seems to be more or less that evil is overwhelming the good guys and in the end all but unstoppable. _Midnight Cowboy_? End with a bus ride to hell (er, Florida) next to the corpse of the protagonist’s only friend. Yikes. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2013, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bleakest-movie-you-have-ever-seen/657901/192 "2013-05-14T22:42:26Z")
A very situational case, but… \*War of the Roses \*(the Michael Douglas/Kathleen Turner disintegrating marriage “comedy”). It’s an unfunny, dark, bleak, gut-wrenching divorce movie posing as a black comedy. By itself, I’d find it pretty worthy of this list. However, try watching it as your stay-home New Year’s Eve entertainment with a spouse in a marriage about to teeter over the brink, and it’s just about the blackest thing I can remember watching. It was supposed to be an evening of reconciliation and finding reasons to hang on, and it probably was the pebble that started the final avalanche. (It was a good change in the long run but I can still pull up the seeping horror of that night.) ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bleakest-movie-you-have-ever-seen/657901/193 "2013-05-15T00:47:39Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > A very situational case, but… \*War of the Roses \*(the Michael Douglas/Kathleen Turner disintegrating marriage “comedy”). It’s an unfunny, dark, bleak, gut-wrenching divorce movie posing as a black comedy. By itself, I’d find it pretty worthy of this list. > > However, try watching it as your stay-home New Year’s Eve entertainment with a spouse in a marriage about to teeter over the brink, and it’s just about the blackest thing I can remember watching. It was supposed to be an evening of reconciliation and finding reasons to hang on, and it probably was the pebble that started the final avalanche. > > (It was a good change in the long run but I can still pull up the seeping horror of that night.) I saw that when it came out and I agree. I like dark comedy but I didn’t find anything comedic about that movie. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bleakest-movie-you-have-ever-seen/657901/194 "2013-05-15T00:51:56Z")
[Kids](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0113540/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1) ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bleakest-movie-you-have-ever-seen/657901/195 "2013-05-15T01:04:33Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > A very situational case, but… \*War of the Roses \*(the Michael Douglas/Kathleen Turner disintegrating marriage “comedy”). It’s an unfunny, dark, bleak, gut-wrenching divorce movie posing as a black comedy. By itself, I’d find it pretty worthy of this list. > > However, try watching it as your stay-home New Year’s Eve entertainment with a spouse in a marriage about to teeter over the brink, and it’s just about the blackest thing I can remember watching. It was supposed to be an evening of reconciliation and finding reasons to hang on, and it probably was the pebble that started the final avalanche. > > (It was a good change in the long run but I can still pull up the seeping horror of that night.) Can I ask one question? WHY? Why would you, as entertainment on a weekend that was a last-ditch effort to put things back together, watch a movie about a ridiculously bitter divorce in the first place? ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bleakest-movie-you-have-ever-seen/657901/196 "2013-05-15T01:46:24Z")
If we’re going to talk about _personal situation_ bleak… After my dad died, I was the only one of us four kids still at home, so I wound up spending a lot more time with my mom. I took her out to the movies. We saw _[All That Jazz](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078754/reference)_. Not, not, NOT a good movie-going choice for someone who just lost a charismatic workaholic. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bleakest-movie-you-have-ever-seen/657901/197 "2013-05-15T02:25:23Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > Can I ask one question? WHY? Why would you, as entertainment on a weekend that was a last-ditch effort to put things back together, watch a movie about a ridiculously bitter divorce in the first place? It was poorly chosen as a “comedy” to lighten up the evening. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bleakest-movie-you-have-ever-seen/657901/198 "2013-05-15T02:32:19Z")
> [@SykoSkotty](#): > > Based on the comments so far, is anyone else actually wanting to see some of these movies now? > > " Well, I’m depressed just by reading the synopsis of the movies mentioned on wikipedia. I didn’t see any of the movies listed, I think (except for Salo, but IMO, this isn’t a “bleak” movie, rather a sick one). Oh, and just remembered : I also saw the movie about a family in a small American town after a nuclear war. Oh, and “Threads” and “The road”, also mentioned. Nevertheless, there are at least three of those listed that I want to watch : the fireflies, Irreversible and the movie about the boy in Nazi occupied Russia I forgot the title of. Leaving to Watch “Waltz with Bachir”. I don’t expect it to be uplifting at all, but hopefully, it won’t as bad as those you guys talked about in this thread. ETA : I had forgotten to submit the post…Just watched it. That was bleak ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bleakest-movie-you-have-ever-seen/657901/199 "2013-05-15T02:43:33Z")
> [@cormac262](#): > > “The House of Sand and Fog” - the anti-thesis of “happy endings”. Despite awesome performances by all, just felt like slitting my wrists at the end. yep. I saw the whole premise of the movie in the opening scene and hated the “heroine” from that point onward. Did not improve the film. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bleakest-movie-you-have-ever-seen/657901/200 "2013-05-15T02:44:57Z")
> [@sisu](#): > > The Cook, the thief and his lover. Man that was messed up for a young bloke to see. Still spooky. I not only loathed that film, by the end I loathed the reviewer who led me to it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bleakest-movie-you-have-ever-seen/657901.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bleakest-movie-you-have-ever-seen/657901.md?page=11)