# Depressing movies **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 20, 2004, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/depressing-movies/270287 "2004-10-20T21:54:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2004, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/depressing-movies/270287/41 "2004-10-21T12:52:04Z")
Hm. I didn’t find some of the films listed here depressing. **AI** was depressing because it kept going on for 45 minutes after the ending. Had it ended underwater, it would have been a great downbeat ending. **Breaker Morant** was sad for the guys involved, but I didn’t find it depressing at all. Ditto **Gallipoli**. **Cast Away** was only depressing because it was so boring. **Of Mice and Men** depressing? Not at all! It’s a wonderful film. (I haven’t seen the remake.) I think there’s a difference between “downbeat” and “depressing”. I think “downbeat” leaves the viewer with a feeling of empathy for the characters, while “depressing” leaves the viewer just feeling bad. (Not that that makes them bad films. There are very good depressing films, such as **Johnny Got His Gun**.) Another good, but depressing, film to add to the list: **Zentropa**. ---
**Author:** ![andymurph64](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a88e57/32.png) [@andymurph64](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andymurph64)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2004, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/depressing-movies/270287/42 "2004-10-21T15:44:49Z")
On the Beach. ---
**Author:** ![BurnMeUp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@BurnMeUp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BurnMeUp)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2004, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/depressing-movies/270287/43 "2004-10-21T16:03:49Z")
Breaking the Waves Angel Baby (the aussie film) ---
**Author:** ![TwoTrouts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a9adbd/32.png) [@TwoTrouts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwoTrouts)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2004, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/depressing-movies/270287/44 "2004-10-21T16:09:28Z")
For depressing, you have to go to Ingmar Bergman. Try \*Virgin Spring \* to put you in a dark, depressed mood. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2004, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/depressing-movies/270287/45 "2004-10-21T16:11:22Z")
> [@KidCharlemagne](#): > > The House of Sand and Fog is the poster movie for depressing. A couple of weeks ago I rented both _The House of Sand and Fog_ and _My Life Without Me_ on the same day. Both are pretty damned bleak, although I can see some people as seeing MLWM as semi-optimistic. ---
**Author:** ![TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tellmei_mnotcrazy/32/3419_2.png) [@TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TellMeI_mNotCrazy)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2004, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/depressing-movies/270287/46 "2004-10-21T16:15:10Z")
If I want movies guaranteed to make me cry: Life is Beautiful The Color Purple A Patch of Blue Run them back to back and I’m just useless for the next week and a half. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2004, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/depressing-movies/270287/47 "2004-10-21T17:17:38Z")
JOHNNY GOT HIS GUN was the first to come to mind. 1984 (the John Hurt version) maybe ERASERHEAD OF MICE AND MEN definitely (the original, have not seen the Sinise-Malkovich remake yet, have seen the TV Robert Blake-Randy Quaid version & it’s OK, but the Burgess Meredith-Lon Chaney Jr original MUST be seen first) MOTHER NIGHT, not to be confused with 'Night Mother. MN is by Vonnegut, stars Nick Nolte, Alan Arkin & Sheryl “Twin Peaks” Lee- and is about Howard W. Campbell Jr., a US playwright turned Nazi radio propagandist but is actually a double agent for the Allies. “We must be careful what we pretend to be because what we pretend to be is what we become.” ---
**Author:** ![kelly5078](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6f9a4e/32.png) [@kelly5078](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kelly5078)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2004, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/depressing-movies/270287/48 "2004-10-21T21:41:47Z")
**Dogville** and **House of Sand and Fog** are real contenders, but the bleakest thing I’ve seen lately is **Songs from the Second Floor**. ---
**Author:** ![Dogzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@Dogzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogzilla)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2004, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/depressing-movies/270287/49 "2004-10-21T21:57:03Z")
I see your **Gummo** and I raise you **Heavy** followed by **Happiness** , perhaps the most depressing thing I’ve ever seen. Whatcha got? ::Eyes other Dopers over cards:: ---
**Author:** ![VunderBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/839c29/32.png) [@VunderBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VunderBob)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2004, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/depressing-movies/270287/50 "2004-10-21T22:02:53Z")
_Thir13en Ghosts_ and _Event Horizon_ were pretty bad… For that matter, most horror movies I find depressing, and not scary. ---
**Author:** ![YellowTail](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/b5ac83/32.png) [@YellowTail](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YellowTail)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2004, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/depressing-movies/270287/51 "2004-10-21T22:44:20Z")
Crumb ---
**Author:** ![PastAllReason](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f07891/32.png) [@PastAllReason](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastAllReason)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2004, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/depressing-movies/270287/52 "2004-10-22T02:43:27Z")
Another depressing movie featuring Ben Kingsley (since at least a couple have shown up already) [Death and the Maiden](http://imdb.com/title/tt0109579/) directed by Roman Polanski with a very close adaptation of the Ariel Dorfman play. ---
**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:** [October 22, 2004, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/depressing-movies/270287/53 "2004-10-22T03:20:43Z")
> [@PastAllReason](#): > > Another depressing movie featuring Ben Kingsley (since at least a couple have shown up already) [Death and the Maiden](http://imdb.com/title/tt0109579/) directed by Roman Polanski with a very close adaptation of the Ariel Dorfman play. I don’t remember that movie as being particularly despressing, but I’m sick and twisted. For instance, while most would consider **Closet Land** depressing, I found it somewhat erotic. ---
**Author:** ![Uvula\_Donor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e19adc/32.png) [@Uvula\_Donor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uvula_Donor)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2004, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/depressing-movies/270287/54 "2004-10-22T03:53:33Z")
**What Dreams May Come** Oh, wait. Never mind. You said you wanted a _good_ movie. ---
**Author:** ![emacularius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@emacularius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emacularius)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2004, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/depressing-movies/270287/55 "2004-10-22T06:14:07Z")
**About Schmidt** w/ Jack Nicholson is the most depressing I’ve seen in a long time. ---
**Author:** ![mambocrow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc348/32.png) [@mambocrow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mambocrow)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2004, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/depressing-movies/270287/56 "2004-10-23T14:29:57Z")
Sophie’s Choice ---
**Author:** ![Crusoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@Crusoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crusoe)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2004, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/depressing-movies/270287/57 "2004-10-23T21:20:03Z")
**[Threads](http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt0090163/)**, British 1980s TV drama (very similar to the US “Day After Tomorrow”), charting the effect of nuclear war in the short- and long-term. **[url=http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt0090315/]When The Wind Blows[/url**, ditto, but animated, by the same chap that did “The Snowman”. Both are ultra-bleak end-of-the-world movies, in very different styles. ---
**Author:** ![artemis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/91b2a8/32.png) [@artemis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/artemis)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2004, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/depressing-movies/270287/58 "2004-10-24T05:12:48Z")
Two other worthy candidates to add to the list: **Exotica** **The Sweet Hereafter** ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2004, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/depressing-movies/270287/59 "2004-10-24T15:16:58Z")
> [@Crusoe](#): > > **[Threads](http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt0090163/)**, British 1980s TV drama (very similar to the US “Day After Tomorrow”), charting the effect of nuclear war in the short- and long-term. That was a good one. I wouldn’t mind seeing it again. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2004, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/depressing-movies/270287/60 "2004-10-24T16:05:46Z")
> [@artemis](#): > > Two other worthy candidates to add to the list: > > **The Sweet Hereafter** I just watched this a few days ago. I saw it as basically hopeful, but maybe I didn’t get it. Everyone was perfect in that movie. Another depressing but hopeful movie I just watched is **Big Bad Love**. Have tissues handy. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/depressing-movies/270287.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/depressing-movies/270287.md?page=4)