# Most harrowing scene in a movie. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 15, 2011, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-harrowing-scene-in-a-movie/574803 "2011-03-15T16:52:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2011, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-harrowing-scene-in-a-movie/574803/1 "2011-03-15T16:52:52Z")
The Saving Private Ryan thread goes into one of the most gut wrenching scenes I’ve ever watched: the killing of Mellish. Another scene that I had a large problem watching was the killing fields in The Killing Fields-- watching him carry that baby and knowing that each step was probably his last. . . Well, I couldn’t. I had to head to the lobby. The rape scene in The Accused-- just horrible to watch. What would your most harrowing movie scenes be? ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2011, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-harrowing-scene-in-a-movie/574803/2 "2011-03-15T17:04:42Z")
Setsuko starving to death while Seita cooks her some food in [Grave of the Fireflies](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grave_of_the_Fireflies). (They’ve both been slowly starving because of the war, and when Seita manages to get some food it’s too late for Setsuko.) ---
**Author:** ![jk1245](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/49beb7/32.png) [@jk1245](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jk1245)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2011, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-harrowing-scene-in-a-movie/574803/3 "2011-03-15T17:14:04Z")
The “load lightening” scene in _Amistad_. Casually chaining a bunch of people together and throwing them overboard tied to an anchor was bad enough, but something about the whole nonchalant way they went about it really pushed it into the “too much” area for me. The choice from _Sophie’s Choice_ is up there too, more so now that I have kids myself. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2011, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-harrowing-scene-in-a-movie/574803/4 "2011-03-15T17:15:03Z")
I hate the opening scene of Cliffhanger. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2011, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-harrowing-scene-in-a-movie/574803/5 "2011-03-15T17:37:05Z")
The scene in Schindler’s List where the Nazis pepper the ceiling with machine gun fire, just in case someone was hiding in the floor above. That and the unseen death of the young girl in the red coat. ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2011, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-harrowing-scene-in-a-movie/574803/6 "2011-03-15T17:57:41Z")
9 minute single-shot scene from “Irreversible.” If you’ve seen it… you know. If you haven’t… Monica Belucci gets raped and then beaten savagely. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2011, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-harrowing-scene-in-a-movie/574803/7 "2011-03-15T17:58:51Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > The rape scene in The Accused-- just horrible to watch. Ugh, yes. My friends almost had to carry me out of the screening after that part. Having trouble searching ATM as I’m on my smartphone, but I’d read that Foster pretty much blanked out the whole experience of filming that scene, plus she ended up comforting some of the male actors after that scene was finished shooting. ---
**Author:** ![Lionne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Lionne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lionne)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2011, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-harrowing-scene-in-a-movie/574803/8 "2011-03-15T18:01:40Z")
The ankle-breaking scene from _Misery_. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2011, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-harrowing-scene-in-a-movie/574803/9 "2011-03-15T18:05:35Z")
Pretty much the entire second half of _The Passion of the Christ_. It’s Jesus being whipped then nailed up then whipped some more. Most of my friends haven’t seen that movie, and none of them are Christian. I tell them if you’re not Christian, it’s just a really harrowing movie and it’s not worth seeing. It’s only good for Christians who are in to guilt. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2011, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-harrowing-scene-in-a-movie/574803/10 "2011-03-15T18:34:21Z")
The corpsman dying as he tried to tell his buddies how to treat him, also in _Saving Private Ryan_. David being left out in the woods by his mom in _A.I. Artificial Intelligence_. Bond being tortured in _Casino Royale_. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2011, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-harrowing-scene-in-a-movie/574803/11 "2011-03-15T18:36:57Z")
Several of mine have already been mentioned (specifically from _Saving Private Ryan_ and _Grave of the Fireflies_) so I will add the scene from _Reservoir Dogs_ where the cop gets his ear cut off. Gah. ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2011, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-harrowing-scene-in-a-movie/574803/12 "2011-03-15T18:37:55Z")
> [@Push\_You\_Down](#): > > 9 minute single-shot scene from “Irreversible.” If you’ve seen it… you know. > > If you haven’t… Monica Belucci gets raped and then beaten savagely. This is exactly what I came in here to post. The most horrowing scene I’ve ever watched in a movie. \< shudder \> ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2011, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-harrowing-scene-in-a-movie/574803/13 "2011-03-15T18:50:05Z")
_Sophie’s Choice._ The title scene. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2011, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-harrowing-scene-in-a-movie/574803/14 "2011-03-15T18:53:49Z")
American History X. Upper teeth. Curb. Boot. There is no other scene in the history of cinema that shook me so hard. mmm ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2011, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-harrowing-scene-in-a-movie/574803/15 "2011-03-15T19:09:56Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > I hate the opening scene of Cliffhanger. I agree with lots of other ones in this thread, but this one stands out. The others, well, I knew to expect trauma, but _Cliffhanger_…for a supposed popcorn action movie, that sequence is intense and horrible. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2011, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-harrowing-scene-in-a-movie/574803/16 "2011-03-15T19:19:47Z")
Another nomination I just thought of- the girl fighting that freaky little voodoo doll in Trilogy of Terror. ---
**Author:** ![Kingfisher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc8723/32.png) [@Kingfisher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kingfisher)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2011, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-harrowing-scene-in-a-movie/574803/17 "2011-03-15T19:48:51Z")
In the _City of God_, a Brazilian movie about gangs in Rio, there is a scene where one of the gangsters is going to shoot two kids in the feet to teach them a lesson. One of the kids can’t be more than five years old and the terror on his face anticipating getting shot is too real for a five year old actor. I wonder what they did threaten him with to scare him that much. Although there are gut-wrenching scenes like this, I highly recommend the movie especially for people who are fans of _The Wire_ series. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Hamster\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@The\_Hamster\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hamster_King)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2011, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-harrowing-scene-in-a-movie/574803/18 "2011-03-15T19:52:47Z")
> [@Baron\_Greenback](#): > > The others, well, I knew to expect trauma, but _Cliffhanger_…for a supposed popcorn action movie, that sequence is intense and horrible. The scene in _Robocop_ where Peter Weller gets maimed is similar. It had a level of grisly brutality that really seemed out of sync with the rest of the film. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2011, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-harrowing-scene-in-a-movie/574803/19 "2011-03-15T20:11:45Z")
> [@Kingfisher](#): > > In the _City of God_, a Brazilian movie about gangs in Rio, there is a scene where one of the gangsters is going to shoot two kids in the feet to teach them a lesson. One of the kids can’t be more than five years old and the terror on his face anticipating getting shot is too real for a five year old actor. I wonder what they did threaten him with to scare him that much. > > Although there are gut-wrenching scenes like this, I highly recommend the movie especially for people who are fans of _The Wire_ series. I’m not sure if _City of God_ is guilty of this, haven’t checked it in a while, but other Brazilian films do use street urchins to play… well… street urchins. So the terror may have been from some other terrible thing he really saw. It’s a reason why watching those types of Brazilian films are already a bit difficult to me, knowing that some of the child “actors” are not really actors at all but really do live in the slums. Speaking of Brazilian films, _Pixote_, which is an older Brazilian movie, is one of the most difficult to watch films I’ve seen. After seeing that, at least _City of God_ had happy moments. What sticks out in my mind, after many years, is the scene showing the remains of an illegal abortion done with knitting needles. ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2011, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-harrowing-scene-in-a-movie/574803/20 "2011-03-15T21:14:09Z")
> [@Push\_You\_Down](#): > > 9 minute single-shot scene from “Irreversible.” If you’ve seen it… you know. I’ve seen it. Game over, this wins. Makes “The Accused” look like a comedy. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-harrowing-scene-in-a-movie/574803.md?page=2)