# Most depressing movie? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 12, 2000, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-movie/32912 "2000-09-12T18:04:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2000, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-movie/32912/41 "2000-09-13T03:10:28Z")
**One True Thing** is one depressing flick. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2000, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-movie/32912/42 "2000-09-13T03:36:11Z")
More animated depression: _Grave of the Fireflies_. Follows a Japanese boy and his little sister following WWII. Major downer. I just saw the Anthony Hopkins movie _Titus_, and it’s unreal what Titus had to endure in his life. But, that’s a Shakespearean tragedy for you. I thought _Chasing Amy_ was a downer, and so personal it’s painful to watch. Sure, it has funny moments, but for the most part I was identifying with Affleck and just plain hurtin’. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2000, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-movie/32912/43 "2000-09-13T04:22:14Z")
Even more depressing animation: _The Plague Dogs_. Good luck finding it because this beautifully animated film is long since out of print but it’s one of the saddest films I’ve ever watched. If you don’t want to know the ending (or be depressed), scroll down now to the next post. Two dogs, Rowf and Snitter are in a research lab having varous tests performed upon them. They get the chance to escape and decide to become wild animals after they fail to find a “master” who isn’t cruel. In the meantime, it is leaked to the press that (a) two dogs escaped from the lab and (b) one of the things being tested in the lab was bubonic plague. The media makes a field day of it claiming that the dogs may be carrying plague (they’re not – plague carrying fleas don’t feed on dogs) and eventually public pressure gets the military into it, performing a sweep of the area to find and destroy the dogs. The dogs are chased down to the shore and with no other choice, swim out into the sea. Snitter convinces Rowf (who is deathly afraid of water since his tests involved repreatedly drowning and reviving him) that there was an island out there, an island where they would have kind masters and be free. Snitter: “Rowf, I’m tired… I don’t… think I can swim… anymore…” Rowf: “Don’t… stop… we must be near… the island by… now…” Snitter: “I… lied… Rowf… There is… no… island…” Pull back and fade into the credits and end song as the screen shows the lapping waves. ---
**Author:** ![Renton\_lvr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7feea3/32.png) [@Renton\_lvr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renton_lvr)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2000, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-movie/32912/44 "2000-09-13T04:28:04Z")
\*River’s Edge[i/] was pretty gloomy. ---
**Author:** ![Renton\_lvr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7feea3/32.png) [@Renton\_lvr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renton_lvr)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2000, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-movie/32912/45 "2000-09-13T04:30:06Z")
oops. ---
**Author:** ![Saturn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e19b73/32.png) [@Saturn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saturn)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2000, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-movie/32912/46 "2000-09-13T05:06:52Z")
Dead Ringers ---
**Author:** ![Palandine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/958977/32.png) [@Palandine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palandine)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2000, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-movie/32912/47 "2000-09-13T15:08:04Z")
I know it wasn’t supposed to be that way, but \Muriel’s Wedding\ depressed the hell out of me. Is there anyone in that movie with any redeeming qualities? ---
**Author:** ![BoBettie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@BoBettie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BoBettie)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2000, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-movie/32912/48 "2000-09-13T16:35:38Z")
The worst, most depressing movie I’ve seen recently was “The Story Of Us”. Anyone who is divorced and can sit through this movie without their heart being torn out is a stronger person then I. It actually left me depressed. “Message in a Bottle” was very depressing, and I’ve always had trouble trying to sit through “Steel Magnolias”. Zette ---
**Author:** ![Guy\_Incognito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guy_incognito/32/3920_2.png) [@Guy\_Incognito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guy_Incognito)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2000, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-movie/32912/49 "2000-09-13T16:45:35Z")
Totally devastated me when I first saw it. Still tears me up on the rare occasions it shows up on cable. ---
**Author:** ![Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/bc8723/32.png) [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unauthorized_Cinnamon)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2000, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-movie/32912/50 "2000-09-13T16:54:19Z")
Boy, I’m feeling blue just reading the descriptions. First, **Welfy** , I hated My Best Friend’s Wedding for the opposite reason - a whole movie about the “heroine” trying to break up an engaged couple for her own selfish purposes - wow, what fun! I tend to avoid sad movies, because they always make me cry, and I hate to cry. For what it’s worth, I nominate **In Dreams** because it is depressing on the plot level and in the (lack of) quality. SPOILERS Daughter is kidnapped and murdered, mother drives car into lake in suicide attempt, is hospitalized and treated as crazy when she dreams what the killer is doing, slits her wrists, arrives just in time to see her husband’s dead body being gnawed on by the family dog, etc. It is also mind-numbingly bad, and if you don’t break down in tears when you see Robert Downey, Jr. with long red hair, you’re just not human. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2000, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-movie/32912/51 "2000-09-13T17:26:20Z")
I’m surprised no one has mentioned any Chinese films yet. I have yet to see one that _wasn’t_ depressing. The one that I think takes the cake is “Xiu Xiu the Sent Down Girl”. I saw that one with my mother while home for break, and she thought it should have come with a warning about how depressing the ending is. ---
**Author:** ![jab1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ee7513/32.png) [@jab1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jab1)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2000, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-movie/32912/52 "2000-09-13T17:28:08Z")
**1984** , starring John Hurt as Winston Smith and (in his last performance, and a GREAT one) Richard Burton. It’s just like the novel. A bleak beginning, a bleak middle, a bleak ending. It was filmed in color, but everything is so grey and depressing, it may as well have been filmed in B&W. I don’t know if it’s on video, but if it is, get it. It’s one of the best film adaptations of a novel ever. It will make you glad you don’t live in such a world. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2000, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-movie/32912/53 "2000-09-13T17:47:12Z")
The end of “Das Boot” was pretty depressing, I thought. ---
**Author:** ![Avumede](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/avumede/32/7235_2.png) [@Avumede](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avumede)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2000, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-movie/32912/54 "2000-09-13T19:36:03Z")
The most thoroughly depressing movie: Koyaanisquatsi (this is probably spelled somewhat incorrectly). Incredible movie, the depressing part is it reminds you how unimportant you, other people, and just about everything actually is. Next to that awful truth, how can any other movie be depressing? ---
**Author:** ![Welfy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e56c9b/32.png) [@Welfy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Welfy)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2000, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-movie/32912/55 "2000-09-13T20:32:16Z")
> [@](#): > > First, Welfy, I hated My Best Friend’s Wedding for the opposite reason - a whole movie about the “heroine” trying to break up an engaged couple for her own selfish purposes - wow, what fun! Actually, that was another aspect of the movie that I found terribly sad. I was thinking, “Poor Julia, she doesn’t get to be with her best friend.” but at the same time I was like, “but then again, isn’t that kind of mean of her to try to break up two happy people?” ---
**Author:** ![Welfy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e56c9b/32.png) [@Welfy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Welfy)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2000, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-movie/32912/56 "2000-09-13T20:35:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Lamia \* > \*\*I’m surprised no one has mentioned any Chinese films yet. I have yet to see one that _wasn’t_ depressing. \*\* Ever see China Cry? That movie made me tear up quite often. The sad thing is that it’s a true story. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Angel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d26b3c/32.png) [@Johnny\_Angel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Angel)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2000, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-movie/32912/57 "2000-09-13T21:39:44Z")
Anything with Billy Jack. ---
**Author:** ![Kupek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/90db22/32.png) [@Kupek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kupek)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2000, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-movie/32912/58 "2000-09-13T21:57:26Z")
I’ll second **8mm**. I wanted to go watch wholesome kids cartoons after that one. And for some I haven’t seen here: **Very Bad Things** : This movie is just painful for me to watch. Every thing that can goes wrong does. It’s a comedy of errors, but it’s still depressing. **A Simple Plan** : Like the above, it’s a comedy or errors, except there’s nothing funny about it. It’s just depressing. Billy Bob Thorton is just incredible in this movie. The monolouge he has about how lonely he is, and about how he’s only kissed one girl in his life (he’s a rather goofly looking guy in the movie) is easily one of the most depressing things I’ve seen. It’s really like Macbeth in that the wife starts a lot of the bad ideas. **Boys Don’t Cry** : The fact that it’s based on a true story makes it rather unbearable. Hey, **Max** , I agree with you on **Chasing Amy**. It’s Kevin Smith’s best, but damn did that movie depress me. Sad love stories do that. With that in mind, I can’t forget **Romeo and Juliet**. Yes, the recent one with Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes. Hey, I thought it was good (but still very depressing, as it’s supposed to be). ---
**Author:** ![Serendipity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f17d59/32.png) [@Serendipity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Serendipity)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2000, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-movie/32912/59 "2000-09-13T22:49:03Z")
**Max** and **Kupek** are both dead on with **Chasing Amy**. God, I love that movie. I’d also have to nominate **The Elephant Man** , even though it did lead to a terribly funny moment after I watched with some friends. One of the guys asked my ever-innocent friend Raeesa if she would sleep with the Elephant Man based on his personality. Her response: “But… but he can’t lie down!” (Maybe you had to be there, but we still tease her about it.) ---
**Author:** ![GreenEyes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f9ae1b/32.png) [@GreenEyes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenEyes)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2000, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-movie/32912/60 "2000-09-13T23:13:25Z")
Legend of the Fall with Brad Pitt. Everyone is miserable, everyone kills themselves or dies in some fashion. At the end you think… well, ok… Brad Pitt \ will at last be happy… Nooo he goes off into the woods… and gets munched by a bear. SSIIGGHHH [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-movie/32912.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-movie/32912.md?page=4)