Top 10 Movies So Depressing You Can Only Watch Them Once

“House of Sand and Fog” is a powerful but often overlooked movie starring Ben Kingsley and Jennifer Connelly, about two parties battling for control of a house and the destruction of the various lives involved. The movie takes the rather bloodless issue of house ownership and turns it into a tragedy - an investigation of the many ways in which life can fall apart, complete with a brutally emotional ending that sees the suicides of an Iranian husband and wife. While the novel’s ending is actually far darker and even more depressing, the film is upsetting enough to warrant one good watch, and some somber reflection, but not a repeat viewing.

Studio Ghibli movies are often exercises in imagination and wonder, but “Grave of the Fireflies” is a harrowing and realistic look into Japanese life at the end of WWII. The movie begins with a wallop, by having us watch as a young boy starves to death. From there, the film never really lets up, jumping back in time to show we got there, in excruciating detail. We witness horrible images of realistic violence, and the slow descent into desperation and death of our protagonists, Seita and Setsuko. The movie is often considered to be one of the greatest anti-war films ever made due to its harrowing depiction of innocent lives caught in the crossfire.

Since the movie’s release in 1982, the titular choice has been ingrained in popular culture - it’s a scene so devastating that even those who haven’t seen the film are well aware of what it involves. Upon arriving in Auschwitz, Sophie had to make the terrible choice of which of her two children would be sent to the gas chambers. This revelation alone kills the desire to revisit “Sophie’s Choice”, but that’s far from the only difficult scene. Meryl Streep delivers a mesmerizing award-winning performance, but that only serves to make it more realistic and disturbing. While the movie is required viewing, seeing it once is more than enough.

Those ignorant of “Million Dollar Baby’s” massive plot twist surely found their jaws on the movie theater floor when it hit. The movie begins like a female version of “Rocky,” as an aspiring boxer named Maggie trains with a grumpy old man named Frankie. However, the movie takes a massive turn midway through when Maggie becomes quadriplegic after breaking her neck. It then spirals into a emotionally exhausting story of family tragedy and the morality of euthanasia. Clint Eastwood is known for his difficult and extremely personal movies, but we believe that “Million Dollar Baby” takes the cake as his most emotionally upsetting. It makes for a very challenging and depressing viewing experience.

Regardless of your religious beliefs, “The Passion of the Christ” makes for such a disturbing time at the movies that seeing it once is more than enough. The movie was criticized upon release for its excessive violence, as a large portion of the running time is dedicated to Jesus’ torture and impending death. Roger Ebert called the movie “the most violent film [he had] ever seen,” while others called it little more than a snuff film. Viewers are likely to remember the horrific violence over the religious themes, leaving little reason to see the movie twice, as its distressing imagery will surely play on repeat in your mind for years to afterwards.

“Precious” was produced by Oprah Winfrey, so you just knew it was going to be sad. The film goes to places and explores themes that most Hollywood movies would never dare to visit. Precious is a 16-year-old who is raped by her father and becomes pregnant on two separate occasions. Her mother uses her and her, child, who has Down Syndrome, to receive welfare. Precious later learns that she has contracted HIV from her father. And while the movie ends on an uplifting note, the preceding two-odd hours makes for an extremely upsetting viewing experience due to the stellar performances and disturbingly realistic look into abuse and poverty.

Called the African “Schindler’s List” by some, “Hotel Rwanda” chronicles the real story of the Rwandan genocide, an event that saw the deaths of up to one million people in the spring and summer of 1994. While the story is generally about hope and survival (Paul Rusesabagina saved 1,268 Rwandans in the genocide), the movie is nevertheless riddled with scenes of extreme violence and hate. While the violence is rarely graphic, the implications are horrendous, and knowing that it was based on real events makes viewing it even more difficult. Some its images, like the famous road scene, will stick with you for years.

Any movie concerning genocide or the Holocaust makes for difficult viewing, and “The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas” is no exception. The story follows a German boy named Bruno who befriends a Jewish boy in a concentration camp named Shmuel. We are then made to witness some extremely unsettling imagery, including a vicious beating of an old man and the weakened prisoners of the camp, before the movie ends with the deaths of both Bruno and Shmuel in a gas chamber. Stories about the Holocaust are obviously grim but watching one centered around two young boys, both of whom die, is almost too much to handle.

While “Sophie’s Choice,” “Hotel Rwanda,” and “The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas” share similar themes with “Schindler’s List,” this is perhaps the most painful of them all due the depravity of the onscreen violence. “Schindler’s List” lays it all out and presents viewers with arguably the most disturbing and horrifying account of the Holocaust ever put to film. The acting is also mesmerizing, as we feel every ounce of pain, fear, and disgust experienced by these unfortunate characters. The ending, which features the real Schindlerjuden leaving stones on Schindler’s actual grave, will also leave you a blubbering mess. It’s an undeniable masterpiece, but we can understand if you never want to watch it again.


Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.


“Life Is Beautiful” (1997)


“Boys Don’t Cry” (1999)


“Blue Valentine” (2010)

“Requiem for a Dream” is probably the most consistently depressing movie of all time. The movie is a realistic look at the depravities of drug addiction, as each character slowly spirals deeper into ruination and regret. Sara becomes addicted to amphetamines and grows manic, resulting in a dismaying scene of electroshock therapy. Harry’s injection sites grow infected and his arm is amputated. Marion regrettably sells her body for heroin. Aside from the bleak and pessimistic storylines, the movie’s imagery is haunting and unforgettable, and the performances are simply heartbreaking. It’s not only one of the saddest movies ever, but also one of the scariest.