What is the most depressing movie you've ever seen?

[Mutley]

Mine is Grave of Fireflies. While very emotional and difficult to watch, it is one of the most beautiful movies I've ever seen. Read the review on IMDb. That explains it far better than I ever could.

http://imdb.com/title/tt0095327/

So, what about you, Loungers?

[mainegreen]

1. *ever* not sure about, but recently? I'd have to go with 'The Corporation'

I felt sooo drained after that. I just wanted to go hide under my pillow.
x(

[BOSSHOG]

2. Mixed emotions about One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

with the protaganist (McMurtry) manipulating his way into an insane asylum, running askew of Nurse Ratched by helping the residents have a little fun in their miserable lives, given a lobotomy because of his violent actions and then killed by his friend Big Chief to put him out of his misery. Alot to be depressed, or angry about, with that one. The movie did have its fun moments though.

[mainegreen]

Weird. I was just thinking about that movie this morning.

Especially that last scene with Big Chief.

[BOSSHOG]

6. I'm trying to muddle through the book

Its somewhat of a tough read and McMurphy in the book ain't near the charmer Nicholson is (yet.) I'm about a fourth through. Its not as easy as watching the movie.

[JoePhilly]

168. It's been on TV in the last week a few times .... nt

[Beer Snob-50]

36. it was on tv the other day (amc i think)

yeah, that was the first movie i remember leaving really disturbed over.

[av8rdave]

44. It is depressing, but what an unforgettable film

I'm a huge McMurtry fan. I even liked Cadillac Jack!

[truedelphi]

73. Ken Kesey is often given credit in arious mental health circles

in California, for various weird and atrocious practices to be discontinued.

I'm not sure about that - I think the proverbial was hitting the fan with a younger group of mental health people wanting change and wanting it badly.

But his movie was a good rallying point.

[malta blue]

3. "Kids" was one of the most depressing and

disturbing films I have ever seen. Years later, I am still shocked by it.

[XemaSab]

43. That's the one for me.

Jebus. :scared:

[Jimbo S]

75. Saw that one as well.

Good call.

[toadzilla]

152. oh yes.

saw it when i was about 16 or so for the first time. i was told it was funny by my friends at the time. shocked!

[MissMillie]

4. Requiem for a Dream

not one ounce of joy in that movie (well, none that isn't artificially induced)

[livetohike]

31. This was the most depressing and disturbing movie I've seen

I couldn't get it out of my head for awhile :-(.

[MrCoffee]

74. oh god...kill me now

just when you're positive that that movie can't get any worse, it does. oh does it ever.

such a great film.

[pitohui]

111. i'm really sorry i saw that movie

jesus, shoot me now, what's the point of something like that?

[Fire Walk With Me]

5. Why watch depressing movies?

[Mutley]

7. Generally, depressing movies are nothing more than that. Depressing.

But a few of them are actual works of art that I'm glad I made myself watch.

[Fire Walk With Me]

10. Good point. Nowaday, considering the state of things, I avoid depressing films.

But back in the day, Deer Hunter, The Wall, and Apocalypse Now were favorites.

[Mutley]

11. I've never seen Deer Hunter

but the other two... :thumbsup:

[pitohui]

112. some movies are good for a good healthy cry or to let you know others have felt what you felt

however i will make an exception for "requiem for a dream" mentioned above, that just seemed intended to make someone suicidal

ugh!

there is nothing wrong w. a damn good cry but that thing was just creepy in its depressing-ness

[Iris]

76. because life comes in equal parts bad and good.

It's helpful to have an outlet to sort some of it out.

[seemunkee]

8. I'll second that

We didn't know how emotional it was and watched it as a family.

[Mutley]

9. Ouch.

How old was the youngest kid?

[seemunkee]

19. I think she was 12 at the time

My son would have been 14/15. We all were pretty down for the entire weekend. I know my daughter watched again several years later.

[Mutley]

30. I've only seen it once

but I'd like to see it again.

[raccoon]

12. They Shoot Horses, Don't They?

Having said that, this is also a great movie. If you haven't seen it, check it out.

[Mutley]

13. I think so.

I don't remember off-hand, but food becomes a rarity in the movie, so I wouldn't be surprised.

[opiate69]

14. Definitely agree with your pick... and with your assessment of it..

Very, very sad, but also extremely beautiful film.

[Seashell Eyes]

15. Dancer in the Dark

[mainegreen]

16. I enjoyed the music to much to be depressed in that movie.

I came out of the theater humming and bopping around.

[Seashell Eyes]

17. It was beautiful, and depressing

[Omphaloskepsis]

18. That was my first thought..

A great movie, just very sad.

[grace0418]

52. That was going to be my pick too. I loved the movie and though Bjork was

wonderful in it, but I don't know if I can ever watch it again.

[dysfunctional press]

20. leaving las vegas

nt

[edbermac]

21. Seconds with Rock Hudson; and Night Of The Living Dead.

Both end with the lead actor getting whacked. Ugh. x(

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

22. The Pawnbroker.

[underpants]

23. "Wonderland" and "Cider House Rules"

I had to take a shower after watching Wonderland

[terrya]

24. "21 Grams"

A person dealing with depression should not see this movie. I almost felt like slitting my wrists after I saw it. Relentlessly downbeat with not one single likable character.

[Beaverhausen]

107. Oh yeah, that one hurt. I made the mistake of watching it 2 days after being dumped

It's a wonder I'm still alive.

[formerrepuke]

25. 'Gummo'.....I still wish I hadn't seen it.

[bleedingheart]

26. Lorenzo's Oil

I can't even watch it again...makes me cry thinking about it...

[JVS]

83. wrong place

[nosillies]

27. Hotel Rwanda n/t

[Mutley]

41. I've almost watched that movie several times

but decided against it at the last second. I think I have to be in just the right place to watch it so I don't go into a month long depression.

[LeftyMom]

28. Earthlings.

http://www.tv-links.co.uk/show.do/9/5575

[mitchum]

29. "Grey Gardens"...

Big Edie and Little Edie woke up every morning and started that hell all over again

[LostinVA]

32. "Leaving Las Vegas" and "Priest"

With "The Departed" and "Mystic River" running very close behind.

[Aristus]

33. For a film billed as a comedy, "Idiocracy" left me thoroughly depressed for a few days.

Ostensibly about a society 500 years in the future peopled entirely with stupid idiots (you know, the kind who voted for the Shrub), it was actually satirizing the way we are today. It was so true to life, I was in a funk for days.

[Mutley]

37. You know what?

I felt the same way about that movie. I can see the future being very similar to that if we're not careful. Kinda scary. :scared:

[Inchworm]

34. Forrest Gump

I'm going with that because I'm not sure if I understand "depressing movie" as a concept.

Sad, gloomy, upsetting, ...daunting even. That's why I watch movies-- to get a temporary borrowed feeling. Depressing... I'm sticking with Forrest Gump.

:hi:

[Burma Jones]

35. Monster's Ball

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0285742/

[Mutley]

42. That's one of those movies I've been meaning to see

but haven't gotten around to it.

Do you recommend it? Or is it just too much?

[ronnykmarshall]

161. Oh my god yes!

[cobalt1999]

38. Gallipoli

Left that one in stunned silence.

[lost-in-nj]

39. Dog Day Afternoon

ranks up there in my top 5

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0072890/




Just watched One flew Over.....
the other day......
I think its awesome.... depressing yes but, wow


lost

[Coventina]

40. "Trip to Bountiful"

I bawled my eyes out.

[bertha katzenengel]

45. Sophie's Choice, with Schindler's List a close second. n/t

[Mutley]

46. I read Sophie's Choice

but I couldn't bring myself to watch the movie.

[JCMach1]

47. L.I.E.

Fifteen-year-old Howie loses just about everything and everyone in the space of a single week, but ends up finding himself in the process. His mother has just died. His father, a corrupt building contractor, can barely keep tabs on his young girlfriend, let alone his own son. Thus, the teen must navigate his adolescence virtually unsupervised... http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1804383753/info


Kind of an obscure candidate, but farking depressing.

[jobycom]

48. I agree with "Grave of Fireflies," but I'll mention "Bridge to Terabithia"

since I watched that one recently and still can't shake it. Through the whole film I kept thinking the AnnaSophia Robb character reminded me of one of my daughters, and the ending is still haunting me. :(

[Mutley]

49. I've been eying that one in the video store

but haven't rented it yet. Do you think I should?

[jobycom]

50. It's very good.

I had not heard of the book before I saw it, so I had no idea what was coming. I thought it was a "Chronicles of Narnia" kind of fantasy.

The acting is very good. Robert Patrick and AnnaSophia Robb, especially. I'm convinced that kid may be the best female child actor in movie history.

I was impressed by the directing, too. Even though it's a movie about children, and somewhat for children (though not for overly sensitive children), and highly emotional, the directing is subtle, and lets the audience figure out key points, rather than explaining them.

I'd recommend it, but I won't be held responsible if it makes you sad! :) For me, it triggered a couple of days of serious blues, but that had to do with connections I made in the movie to myself and my kids and an event in my childhood. You mileage may vary.

[Danger Mouse]

133. The end made me cry.

As an older brother...the 'awww' factor was just too much. I sat there and bawled. Lol.

[JCMach1]

51. Oh, don't forget "Charlotte's Web"

book, or movie make me bawl like a baby... My and 9 and 11 year old were quite put out by it!

[Divameow77]

142. Both my 10 year old

and I cried watching The Bridge to Terabithia, I just wasn't expecting that. *Spoiler - I knew something was going to happen with that creek but it still caught me off gaurd.

[Guava Jelly]

53. Crash

.
:hi: mutley :D

[Tikki]

54. My kids (30 somethings) just had a 'depressing movie' night...

last weekend. The stars of the show were "Miracle Mile" and "The Grey Zone".




Tikki

edit: Gray to Grey...

[RandomKoolzip]

57. Miracle Mile: great choice.

I love that movie, but DAMN what a bummer.

[HughBeaumont]

55. Irreversible.

No joy AT all in that one.

[rbnyc]

146. that one belongs on this list for sure. (nt)

[Monkey see Monkey Do]

56. When the Wind Blows

Two old people slowly die from radiation sickness, after Britain is nuked. All the while, they believe that by following the Government's advice they will be fine and that help is on its way.

It's currently up on Google Video if anyone's interested:
http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=-3335238684076482887&q

[Left Is Write]

58. Boogie Nights.

[JVS]

85. That movie was depressing? I thought it was a high-spirited romp

[Left Is Write]

100. I found it dark, violent, and depressing.

[JVS]

103. You weren't just disappointed by the fakey prosthetic wiener at the end?

I saw girls leaving the theater in tears, bewailing the fact that they didn't get to see the real piece ;-)

[jobycom]

130. Dark and violent. I found it more sobering than depressing.

Like he had suffered the beatdown of life and survived.

I finally quit calling him "Marky Mark" after his final speech. :)

[XemaSab]

123. Agreed.

Total downer.

[MAGICBULLET]

59. hmmmm

The Waterdance <http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0105789/> with Eric Stoltz, Helen Hunt, Wesley Snipes and William Forsythe.
Some sad shit...

another one that has left me blue is Bergman's 'Scenes From a Marriage'
<http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070644/>

[stuntcat]

60. Magnolia

Because of the kid in the trivia contest :cry: and now when I hear the songs from the soundtrack they make me sad.

[bamacrat]

61. "O", ...

also, Open Water and Hotel Rwanda.

[flying rabbit]

62. Children of men

n 2027, in a chaotic world in which humans can no longer procreate, a former activist agrees to help transport a miraculously pregnant woman to a sanctuary at sea, where her child's birth may help scientists save the future of humankind.

Good movie but made me disgusted with the human race. Affected me for days.

[Aristus]

71. Interesting. I found it quite optimistic (if you make it all the way to the end).

And I was excited by what a terrific piece of storytelling it was. Great movie. OTOH, the "Quietus" thing did make me very sad...

[fudge stripe cookays]

63. "Come and See"

A Russian movie about WWII. I sat stunned for a few minutes afterward.

[anarch]

64. Roadhouse

[begin_within]

65. Silence of the Lambs - yuck

A friend dragged me to it during its initial theatrical run, and I've never forgiven him.

[MissMillie]

70. depressing?

gory and suspenseful... but depressing?

[begin_within]

78. Let's just say it left a bad taste in my mouth.

I felt yucky and had to watch some comedy movie right afterwards to forget about it.

[Arugula Latte]

109. The taste of human liver and fava beans with Chianti?

*slurp slurp slurp slurp*

(Sorry, it had to be done)

[begin_within]

115. Now I have to watch "Mr. Hobbs Takes A Vacation" just to clear my mind again.

Sorry - to each his own!

[HuskerDU]

66. Born to Lose (the Last Rock-n-roll Movie)

I don't know what is more depressing; the scumbags and squalor that my hero Johnny 'shoulda been a contender' Thunders was surrounded by in his final days, the possibility that he was murdered, or the fact that almost nobody cares.

[deucemagnet]

67. The Reflecting Skin

Depressing, disturbing, bizarre, yet hauntingly beautiful and quirkily funny in spots.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0100469/

[Myrina]

68. Vanilla Sky

:wtf: was that all about, anyway?

And yeah, One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest ... :(

[ronnykmarshall]

162. I was too stoned when I watched Vanilla Sky.

Probably the only way to watch it.

[myrna minx]

69. Last Exit to Brooklyn.

I watched it once, 17 years ago and it still haunts me.

[Contrary1]

72. The Green Mile was pretty depressing to me

Good movie, loved the actors, but won't watch it again.

[Hugin]

77. 'Project X'

When they nuke the monkey. :cry:

[MorningGlow]

79. Breaking the Waves

:scared:

And Barfly.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

80. "Happiness"

Needed a shower after.

[mondo joe]

81. THIS BOY'S LIFE was hard for me.

And I don't have a hard time with depressing movies.

[Bread and Circus]

82. at close range

oops, meant to respond to OP

[JVS]

84. American Beauty

I thought Lester was going to be an Achiever, to use the parlance of our times.

[BlueIris]

86. "Fahrenheit 9/11."

Especially because of the segments in which investors in big name defense-oriented firms talk with zero emotion about how much money they're making and going to make "right now" (ie; because of the war).

I was warped for a couple of weeks after F9/11, even though I was pretty sure I was as jaded as I could get when I walked into the theater to see it for the first time.

[helderheid]

87. I was just going to say that.

[My Good Babushka]

88. I half remember a documentary

called 'My Brother's Keeper'.

[My Good Babushka]

89. Crumb

[BlueIris]

91. Ooooh, I forgot about "Crumb."

Yeah, that was horrifying.

[NashVegas]

90. "Men With Guns" Has To Be Right Up There

Tragically beau John Sayles flick.

[TrogL]

92. Disturbia

but it's a personal issue.

I triggered really, really badly on the villain, some of the plot elements, the water...

[Starbucks Anarchist]

93. The 400 Blows.

[rockymountaindem]

94. Paths to Glory

I was kida ashamed to be a member of a human race after watching that, but it was also 100% great.

[texas1928]

95. My Life... Can not make it through that movie.

[Ava]

96. life is beautiful

i still cry everytime i watch the movie.

[sasquatch]

97. "To end all wars"

[TheFriendlyAnarchist]

98. Clockwork Orange and Crash.

[Ava]

99. i still have not and probably never will watch a Clockwork Orange

Stanley Kubrick is pretty cool, but i don't think that is a movie i could handle. I know enough about the book to know that if the movie is anything like it I certainly don't want to see it. On a side note, Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket is very depressing but an amazing film. The ending gave me chills.

[otherlander]

131. Haven't seen Clockwork, only read the book.

Did you read the book too? Anthony Burgess originally wrote another chapter for the end, after the part where he goes back to being a criminal, where he gets tired of the destructiveness of his life and wants to create instead of destroy, but they took it out because the publishers thought that "boy grows up and outgrows destructive urges" wasn't as interesting as "boy brainwashed into doing good, escapes brainwashing, goes back to being evil".

Then when they put it back in, Burgess wrote a new introduction, saying that the optimism of the final chapter is "what makes it fiction". That's depressing... '_'

[TheFriendlyAnarchist]

134. Never read the book, although my friend told me bout that.

The movie was depressing as hell though The dude ends up being worse than before, as well as being in the gov't pocket over it.

[otherlander]

137. Working for the government? Really?

In the book, it's an opposition party that tries, and fails, to recruit him.

[The Straight Story]

101. Blue Velvet (nt)

[pitohui]

113. how so is blue velvet depressing?

the kid walks on the wild wide, gets to flirt w. the world of weird and fetish and skates through to the other side just fine

a perfect description of the ideal adolescence

[Connonym]

102. Schindler's List

[AwakeAtLast]

104. Others posted my most depressing choices, a close 3rd was "In America"

Votes for "Requiem For a Dream" and "Kids"

[Mutley]

125. "In America" was a really good movie.

Depressing, yes. But I loved it.

[RedSpartan]

105. The Champ

With Jon Voight, Faye Dunaway and a young Rick Schroeder

[Lil Missy]

106. Ironweed

[Lindsey]

108. The Deer Hunter, Sophie's Choice, The Pianoist, Schindler's List..

Notice they all have a theme - yea - war... oh yea, one without a war theme...Trainspotting.

[smitty]

110. Chinatown, The Asphalt Jungle, Midnight Cowboy,

[YDogg]

114. All Quiet on the Western Front

[begin_within]

116. "Mouchette" is a real downer, though as with all Bresson films it's a masterpiece of technique.

[JANdad]

117. American History "X"

and Training Day w/ Denzel Washington...

[Bzzzz]

118. Ditto...American History "X"

So sad ;(

[Mutley]

126. American History X

Another one I really like.

Apparently I like depressing movies.

[Xipe Totec]

119. Same here - can't top that one

can't even watch it again; it is so sad.

[Mutley]

124. Funny thing is

I kinda want to watch it again. I must be a glutton for punishment.

[derby378]

120. Taxi Driver

A great film, wonderfully done, but I have trouble watching it all the way through a second time.

[Zomby Woof]

121. Ironweed

Nicholson and Streep, with Tom Waits. Puts depression in the Depression.

Most recently seen: SiCKO.

[tigereye]

122. Salvador

I've never forgotten how creepy and sad that film was....

Memento.... ick.

[Rabrrrrrr]

127. Grave of the Fireflies for me, too

After 9-11, I couldn't watch it - I'd freak out in the first ten minutes, until mid-2006, I finally could watch it again.

[idgiehkt]

128. Sophie's Choice

Because you see how one moment can ruin the rest of a person's life, no matter what happens after that point. One choice whether under duress or not, can haunt you to the point where your life is essentially over from that point forward.

[Release The Hounds]

129. Legends of the Fall

[Haole Girl]

157. Agreed

I wouldn't be able to watch that one twice.

[hyphenate]

132. I suppose the obvious on this one

Schindler's List.

But to be honest, there have been movies where it was depressing to see the final result of something I'd been waiting for.

I have yet to see An Inconvenient Truth, but that's going to be pretty depressing as well, as are others in that cateogry. Much happens in this world for which there is little joy or celebration, but I am of the opinion that for everything good, there is another law that says both good and bad are ofoten on a fragile balance, and it is never as one-sided as we imagine.

[Neoma]

135. The most recent one.

American Psycho.

[Danger Mouse]

136. Definitely 'Sans toit ni loi' a french film also known as 'The Vagabond'

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vagabond_%28film%29

It begins with the main character lying dead in a ditch, and it doesn't get much happier from there. The whole film is dark and miserable, and the main character isn't all that likeable either.
Tough to watch, but in the end, I felt it was pretty good.

I also found 'Solaris' to be very depressing. Very good, but very depressing.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

156. That IS a downer!

I saw it about 20 years ago when the foreign language department at the university where I was teaching sponsored a French film festival.

[Danger Mouse]

164. Yeah, the movie is very bleak.

VERY. BLEAK.
lol.

[HamdenRice]

138. Plague Dogs -- the audience in the theater was weeping!

It was an animated movie about a couple of laboratory animals -- dogs -- who are horrifically abused by the scientists. The dogs are given very human personalities and voices, and the experiments performed on them are pointless and mindbogglingly cruel. They then escape and try to survive in the British countryside but are hunted because the lab they escaped from may have infected them with a dreaded disease.

There is no "triumph of the spirit" as in most tragedies. This was one long dismal downer, but nevertheless an amazing film. It in also beautifully animated.

Obviously as a dog lover it affected me, but really anyone would be deeply affected.

The day I say it, most of the small audience was weeping when the movie ended.

I've seen most of the movies others have listed in this thread but in terms of being depressing, they're all tossers compared to Plague Dogs. One of the greatest and most disturbing movies of all time imo.

[My Good Babushka]

139. Leolo

I still like it very much. It's one of my favorites.

[Roon]

140. pink floyd the wall eom

eom

[DeaconBlues]

141. Johnny Got His Gun

Extremely depressing, and horribly pertinent for today's world in which soldiers come home from Iraq and Afghanistan maimed every day.

[Divameow77]

143. Trainspotting

and votes for Sophie's Choice and Requiem for a Dream

[AwakeAtLast]

144. I forgot about that one!

Another good, I mean, depressing choice.

[rbnyc]

145. Grave of the Fireflies

Close second: Trainspotting

[Mutley]

148. I didn't find Trainspotting depressing so much as enlightening

It certainly kept me away from heroin.

[rbnyc]

151. Well that's good.

I had enough real-life examples to already hate heroin. I should have known to stay away from that movie.

[rbnyc]

147. I don't know the name of it...

...I saw only 3 minutes of it and turned it off--it made me cry for about an hour.

It's got to be 30-50 years old. What I saw was a woman chasing a young boy around a barn. The boy was talking about another boy who had been bad--this other boy either didn't exist or was dead. Other adults were franticly looking for a baby that had been hidden by the boy. The baby was found sealed in a barrel of water, drowned.

I can't stand anything where kids die. It just levels me.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

149. Jesus H. Q. Rhyste. I watched that one.

The baby thing happens near the end of the movie; before that is just a nice The Omen-esque ambiguously supernatural suspense. Bottom line: the screenwriter is a dick. (My standard mental defense when I'm suckered into watching movies like that)

But wait, it gets better: they execute an innocent man for the murder, and the perpetrator (who planted false evidence) gets away scott-free! Peachy, huh? :argh:

Now I need to watch a Jerry Lewis movie. :(

[alphafemale]

150. In the Classics- "The Days of Wine and Roses" "Come Back Little Sheba"

:cry:

[Tyler Durden]

153. Got you all beat: "Sophie's Choice"

The only film that comes with razor blades IN THE PACKING for you to commit suicide with once you finish watching.

[gmoney]

154. The Sweet Hereafter

Very sad and beautiful...

[Joe Fields]

155. Documentaries on concentration camps during wwii

[ceile]

158. Trainspotting, Sophie's Choice

I could probably watch Sohie's Choice again, but Trainspotting-once was enough!

[newcriminal]

159. Kramer vs. Kramer

I still remember watching my mother cry watching it.

[ronnykmarshall]

160. Leaving Las Vegas

Great acting, but depressing as hell.

[jayfish]

163. "Once Were Warriors"

Not a glimmer of hope in the whole picture. It's hard to watch more than once.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0110729/

Oh, an although it's not a movie, I was pretty depressed after watching Futurama last-night. It was the episode (Jurassic Bark) where Fry had a chance to clone his 20th century dog from its fossilized DNA.

Jay

[smirkymonkey]

166. Ugh - I forgot about that one. SO Depressing.

I had to watch it for a class, believe it or not, and was totally pissed at the professor. It really made me miserable for months afterward. Even thinking about it now depresses me and I saw it years ago.

[FloridaJudy]

165. Testament

About the after-effects of a nuclear war on a small community. It reminded me a bit on "On the Beach". Both of those movies should come packaged with a bottle of Seconal and a plastic bag.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086429/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0053137/

[greatauntoftriplets]

167. All Mine to Give.

I was a kid when I saw it. Parents of a large family living on the frontier died of some disease, while the kids lived. The oldest kid was charged with finding homes for his siblings, which proved to be interesting.

:cry:

Edited to add link.

http://imdb.com/title/tt0050112/plotsummary

[Catchawave]

169. oh man, I got depressed just reading the titles...

guess my pick would be Steel Magnolias or Terms of Endearment.

[Vidar]

170. The English Patient.