It’s hard to think of many, but if I had to pick one, it would be “The Incident” (1967). It’s a great movie, too, a favorite of mine. It’s a straight-forward thriller (Martin Sheen’s first role, and possibly Beau Bridges), but it’s also allegorical.
The Usual Suspects
Leaving Las Vegas
I don’t really “like” anyone in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off; even Sloane is kind of dark. If I was fond of anyone in Lifeboat or Flight of the Phoenix, I got over it well before the credits rolled. And the most likeable characters in The Player were just people we hadn’t gotten to know very well.
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The Grifters.*
I don’t know about peripheral characters, but I wouldn’t want to be close with any of the leads in The Graduate. Although as I’ve gotten older I find myself feeling sorry for Mrs. Robinson.
For a recent example, in Parasite all of the main characters are either scumbags or at best hopelessly naive.
pulp fiction although the 3 main characters do one semi redeemable thing in the movie …
Julius in the restaurant robbery not just starting a gunfight in the restaurant
vincent not banging mia as they both want, and him saving her ta the end when he could have just left her there to die … and bruce Willis going back for Ving Rhames instead of just taking off …
Off the top of my head I can’t think of a likable character in Catch 22. I mean, you can be empathetic towards Yossarian, but do you like him?
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Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind comes to mind.
“The Swimmer” (1968) is another great movie (that I like even more than my OP), also no likable characters.
My favorite film might be Miller’s Crossing. The lead character has strong sense of honor, but he’s also a bad person. No one in the movie is likable — but several are charismatic, and (again) have a code of honor. Maybe that’s true of most films with gangsters as the main characters.
Memento
Goodfellas is another example. Henry Hill might be somewhat charming but everyone in the film is pretty evil.
Flesh and Blood
Robocop
Total Recall
Basic Instinct
Showgirls
Paul Verhoeven has a rather grim view of humanity. There are no heroes in his movies. Some villains are more charismatic than others.
Tunes of Glory
Dead Ringers
Each film starts with a stereotypical Good Guy and an almost cartoonish Bad Guy. As each film progresses, the Good Guy starts to alienate your affections, and the Bad Guy starts to earn a bit of respect. By the end of each film, you just want to slap some sense into both of them.
House of Sand and Fog fits this bill for me.
Godfather
Gone With the Wind
Two great movies about despicable people.
I disagree about Robocop. Both Murphy and Lewis are fine, and Miurphy-as-Robo is a fine honorable “person”. Everyone else with more than one line of dialog, however…
You on Netflix has almost all creepy characters. There’s a child in it, but it’s a lot of creeps in one story line.
ETA: I just remembered, the kid turns evil.
The Hateful Eight are indeed all pretty hateful.
I hated it so much I turned it off after 20 mins!