331 Best Depressing Movies to Watch (Page 14)

Have you got the tissues ready? Some of the most memorable watches are the ones that tug at our heart strings. Here are the best depressing movies to stream right now.

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196. Made in Hong Kong, 1997

Aggressive, grungy, and rebellious, writer-director Fruit Chan’s debut film captures teen nihilism amidst abandonment in uncertain times. Immediately, the first look of this film is reminiscent of Wong Kar Wai with its use of character narration, hazy green scenes, and over-exposed film. However, Chan pairs these aesthetic techniques with the storyline of a revenge film mixed with an us-against-the-world mentality. While the protagonists Autumn Moon (Sam Lee), Ping (Neiky Yim Hui-Chi), and Sylvester (Wenders Li) start the film with teenage concerns like dealing with wet dreams, dating, and bullying, it’s clear that they go through them aimlessly, without the guidance of their fathers, almost as if with no hope at all due to their specific circumstances. In Chan’s hands, how every kid reacts to each change feels like an outburst against the adults in their life, and of the life outside of the film. It’s as if the words “fuck you” were made into a movie.

Genre: Comedy, Crime, Drama, Romance

Actor: Doris Chow, Sam Lee, Wenders Li Tung-Chuen

Director: Fruit Chan

Rating: Not Rated

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197. Lilies, 1996

	
Many people have forgotten that representation and diversity in media isn’t meant just to fill a quota or to signal virtue– the push for it is in response to the way many of these stories were silenced, repressed, and shut out. Lilies might have been overlooked for quite a while, but its 2023 restoration has thankfully enabled more viewers to watch the tale of an imprisoned gay man finally telling his story, turning the tables on a long overdue confession. Michel Marc Bouchard adapts his play through this play-within-a-film, with director John Greyson playing with the confession booth as a viewing booth for both the bishop and the audience to get fully immersed in a love triangle a century ago, juxtaposed with motifs of martyred Catholic saints and French lilies and fire. Lilies is a well-crafted and deeply emotional masterpiece.Genre: Drama, Fantasy, Romance
Actor: Alain Gendreau, Aubert Pallascio, Brent Carver, Danny Gilmore, Gary Farmer, Ian D. Clark, Jason Cadieux, John Dunn-Hill, Khanh Hua, Marcel Sabourin, Matthew Ferguson, Michel Marc Bouchard, Pierre Leblanc, Rémy Girard, Robert Lalonde
Director: John Greyson

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198. Infinity Pool, 2023

Surreal, off-putting, and extremely disturbing, Infinity Pool plays with the concepts of cloning and the death penalty to craft an examination on colonial tourism. It’s a thematically rich horror film, with hazy neon-lit sex scenes and absolutely terrible behavior, enabled by their wealth and advanced technology that could have been put to better use. Mia Goth, in particular, is strikingly unhinged, as Gabi taunts and lures James into bigger and more terrible crimes, crimes that he can only pay off with the wealth of his father-in-law. And Alexander Skarsgård as James believably gets sucked into this extremely libertine lifestyle, fuelled by the nepotistic anxiety of not living up to his own potential. The film presents a scary notion that pushed by wealth and playground tactics, one will willingly kill their own conscience, again and again, to belong to their cohort.

Genre: Horror, Science Fiction, Thriller

Actor: Alexander Skarsgård, Alexandra Tóth, Amanda Brugel, Amar Bukvić, Caroline Boulton, Cleopatra Coleman, Gergely Trócsányi, Géza Kovács, Jalil Lespert, Jeff Ricketts, John Ralston, Kamilla Fátyol, Mia Goth, Roderick Hill, Romina Tonković, Thomas Kretschmann, Zijad Gračić

Director: Brandon Cronenberg

Rating: R

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199. Human Flow, 2017

Chinese artist Ai Weiwei directs his attention towards the ongoing refugee crisis, the biggest displacement of people since World War II. His documentary is apolitical and tries to focus on the human side of the picture. It's not a news report or a commentary on the causes of the situation. Instead, it's a combination of heartfelt stories spanning 23 countries that showcase people's battle for dignity and basic rights. A truly epic movie complemented by impressive drone footage that's as impressive as it is sad.

Genre: Documentary

Actor: Fadi Abou Akleh, Hiba Abed, Israa Abboud, Marin Din Kajdomcaj, Rami Abu Sondos

Director: Ai Weiwei, Weiwei Ai

Rating: PG-13

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200. Great Freedom, 2021

	
Great Freedom is not an easy watch. Apart from the quiet stretches of time and the claustrophobic confines of its prison setting, it also has its lead, Hans Hoffman (played with delicate force by Franz Rogowski) imprisoned again and again and again, unjustly treated like dirt by both his warden and fellow inmates.

But as a Jewish gay man who has lived through the war, Hans is no stranger to these trappings. As such, he takes each day as it comes, open to love, pleasure, and friendship, or at least the potential of these, despite the circumstances. And so Great Freedom is also hopeful and romantic, glimmering with the human tendency to not just survive but to live. Slow but compelling, subdued but powerful, Great Freedom is an affecting balancing act that's well worth watching.Genre: Crime, Drama, Romance, War
Actor: Alfred Hartung, Andreas Patton, Anton von Lucke, David Burnell IV, Fabian Stumm, Franz Rogowski, Georg Friedrich, Thomas Prenn, Thomas Stecher, Thomas Wehling
Director: Sebastian Meise

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201. Gaea Girls, 2000

When caught between taking pro wrestling too seriously and looking at it like cosplay martial arts, I lean towards the latter precisely because of cultures like this. This documentary gets in the weeds of starry-eyed trainee aspirations, as well as the physical and psychological disfigurement of those dreams that come one dropkick to the face at a time. Saika Takeuchi getting to debut doesn’t even feel like a victory at all. I wonder how much of this only happened to the extent that it did because there were cameras present; then again, I try not to think about this documentary too much.

Genre: Documentary

Actor: Chigusa Nagayo, Hisako Sasaki, Kaoru Maeda, Meiko Satomura, Saika Takeuchi, Yuka Sugiyama

Director: Jano Williams, Kim Longinotto

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202. Funny Games, 1997

	
See, usually, when American violence in media is critiqued, it’s usually through analytic studies or overly exaggerated lectures stirring moral panic. Instead of doing this, however, auteur Michael Haneke decided to surpass the crime genre, playing with the form and emotions in Funny Games. It’s terrifying, not because it immediately delves into the violence, but because it starts off with an ordinary, innocuous visit, that gradually escalates into an unpredictable home invasion where two teenagers inflict needless violence in such a scary yet spectacular way, even involving the viewer into their shenanigans. Ironically, this led to Haneke creating a shot-for-shot American remake of this same story, but Funny Games’ break in form made Haneke a director to remember, as he started to film outside his native Austria after the standout thriller.Genre: Drama, Horror, Thriller
Actor: Arno Frisch, Christoph Bantzer, Doris Kunstmann, Frank Giering, Stefan Clapczynski, Susanne Lothar, Susanne Meneghel, Ulrich Mühe
Director: Michael Haneke
Rating: R

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203. Doubt, 2008

The 2008 film Doubt offers a haunting peek into the crisis of pedophilia within the Catholic church. Featuring an all-star cast of Amy Adams, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Meryl Streep and Viola Davis, it is more than just a fictional tale. With performances that will make you question your intuition and cast a shadow of doubt on your own instincts, Doubt is a difficult film to grapple with.

I fell in love with this film very early on into the duration of it because it was so honest and it allowed the characters to navigate the nature of their suspicions. With Doubt, however, comes denial, and Viola Davis’s eight-minute monologue is simply smeared with it. Doubt is a fantastic story that has left me stunned for over a decade.

Genre: Drama, Mystery

Actor: Alannah Iacovano, Alice Drummond, Amy Adams, Audrie Neenan, Bernadette Lords, Brian Hopson, Bridget Megan Clark, Carrie Preston, Evan Lewis, Felicia Tassone, Frank Dolce, George Aloi, Gerard Adimando, Helen Stenborg, Jack O'Connell, Jackie Brown, James P. Anderson, Jennifer Lauren DiBella, Jenny Paul, John Costelloe, Jonathan Castillo, Joseph Foster, Lloyd Clay Brown, Lydia Jordan, Margery Beddow, Marylouise Burke, Matthew Marvin, Meryl Streep, Michael Puzzo, Mike Roukis, Molly Chiffer, Paulie Litt, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Seth Donavan, Steph Van Vlack, Susan Blommaert, Suzanne Hevner, Tom Toner, Valda Setterfield, Viola Davis

Director: John Patrick Shanley

Rating: PG-13

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204. What Will People Say, 2018

	
Nisha, the daughter of conservative Pakistani immigrants in Oslo, finds ways to secretly go out with her Norwegian friends. She goes to parties, plays basketball, and dates.

One day, Nisha’s father catches her with a boy, bringing what he perceives as a great shame to the family. Nisha’s delicate balance is broken, and her family acts drastically: without telling her about their plans, they move her to Pakistan.

What Will People Say is based on its director and writer Iram Haq’s own experience being kidnapped to Pakistan and going back to Norway at age 16.Genre: Drama
Actor: Adil Hussain, Assad Siddique, Ekavali Khanna, Farrukh Jaffar, Jan Gunnar Røise, Jannat Zubair Rahmani, Kjersti Elvik, Lalit Parimoo, Maria Bock, Maria Mozhdah, Rohit Saraf, Sara Khorami, Sheeba Chaddha, Sunakshi Grover, Trine Wiggen
Director:  Iram Haq
Rating: 12

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205. Tokyo Fist, 1995

	
When reading the premise, Tokyo Fist seems, at first glance, like the primordial eclectic mix of Challengers and Fight Club, with tennis swapped for boxing, and with sweat swapped for bruises. The film is entirely centered on a love triangle spurred on by a sport, with both players out to settle their rivalry, triggered again by a girl. However, being directed by cyberpunk horror auteur Shinya Tsukamoto, Tokyo Fist takes on a more visceral approach, with repressed resentment only able to be released through beating the hell out of each other, beating the hell out of themselves, and through bloodying both their fists and their opponents’ faces. It gets avant garde at certain moments, but Tokyo Fist is a sports horror ahead of its time, and an unexpected, underrated film from the man behind cult classic Tetsuo: the Iron Man.Genre: Action, Drama, Thriller
Actor: Chu Ishikawa, Julie Dreyfus, Kaori Fujii, Koichi Wajima, Kôji Tsukamoto, Naomasa Musaka, Naoto Takenaka, Nobu Kanaoka, Shinya Tsukamoto, Tokitoshi Shiota, Tomorowo Taguchi
Director: Shinya Tsukamoto

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206. The Woman in the Wall, 2023

	
On the surface, The Woman in the Wall is immediately scary. It’s riddled with jumpscares, shrieks, haunting Latin songs, blood-hued flashbacks, and, of course, incessant Catholic and Gothic imagery. But while it’s effective as a horror, it’s more meaningful as a tribute to the survivors of the Magdalene Laundries, that is, Catholic convents where nuns took care of “wayward women,” which ranged from teen girls who’ve engaged in premarital sex to prostitutes. They’re often abused and forced to work long hours, and in the case of some pregnant women, their babies were taken away from them as punishment for their sins. That’s what happened all those years ago to Lorna (Ruth Wilson), who’s never learned how to cope with her loss and trauma in the years since the laundries were banned in ‘96. She becomes the main suspect in the case of a murdered priest, and the more we learn about it, the more we question Lorna’s memories and recollections. Is she capable of this brutality? Where is her baby? And what does the detective, played ably by Daryl McCormack, have to do with all this? The show can seem too much at first, but it weaves all these questions and prickly themes deftly by the end.Genre: Crime, Mystery
Actor: Abby Fitz, Daryl McCormack, Dermot Crowley, Frances Tomelty, Hilda Fay, Mark Huberman, Ruth Wilson, Simon Delaney
Rating: TV-MA

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207. Santa sangre, 1989

	
With an acrobat in a sanitarium, elephant trunks spouting blood, and a religious cult whose patron saint is a rape victim, Santa Sangre isn’t going to be an easy watch, especially with the avant-garde direction of the iconic Alejandro Jodorowsky. It’s tough to watch the explicit scenes, both of Fenix’s childhood circus reality and his adult hallucinations, with the hallucinations visually recalling his childhood trauma. But through these terrifying, freaky images, Jodorowsky takes his own memories and crafts it into a twisted, but deeply personal psychosexual nightmare, confronting the exploitative nature of faith and family through various circus acts. Santa Sangre is one of its kind.Genre: Drama, Horror, Thriller
Actor: Adan Jodorowsky, Axel Jodorowsky, Blanca Guerra, Brontis Jodorowsky, Faviola Elenka Tapia, Gloria Contreras, Gustavo Aguilar Tejada, Guy Stockwell, Héctor Ortega, Hilario 'Popitekus' Vargas, Jacobo Lieberman, Jesús Juárez, Joaquín García Vargas, Sabrina Dennison, Sergio Bustamante, Teo Jodorowsky, Teo Tapia, Thelma Tixou, Valérie Crouzet, Zonia Rangel Mora
Director: Alejandro Jodorowsky
Rating: NC-17

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208. Sankofa, 1993

	
While most are familiar with Hollywood depictions of the transatlantic slave trade, there were also other countries that depicted this terrible time period, including countries from the African continent. Ethiopian filmmaker Haile Gerima self-funded and self-distributed Sankofa in its initial release, but despite the lack of screens, it still managed to become a landmark classic thankfully restored. Like plenty of films on the topic, Gerima creates a harrowing depiction of the slave owners’ evil, but unlike others, it’s more interested in the difficult dynamics between the enslaved, the ways they sought refuge and freedom in each other, and the inner lives of the community they shared despite the terror, all through Gerima’s striking images and the masterfully mixed soundscape, both in the soundtrack and various accents. It’s not perfect, and it’s definitely not easy to watch, but Sankofa has a distinct vision that needs to be seen.Genre: Drama, Fantasy, History, Science Fiction
Actor: Afemo Omilami, Alexandra Duah, Kofi Ghanaba, Mutabaruka, Mzuri, Nick Medley, Oyafunmike Ogunlano, Reggie Carter, Reginald Carter
Director: Haile Gerima

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209. Red Rocket, 2021

When Mikey Saber’s porn career takes a dip in California, he returns to an estranged wife in Texas, where he meets new and old friends alike and attempts to rebuild his life through a couple of odd jobs. Though Mikey eventually earns his keep, his vanity and eagerness to succeed at all costs threaten to get the best of him.

All this happens against a vibrant backdrop of local sights, beautifully lit and framed by director Sean Baker (The Florida Project, Tangerine). Quaint, naturalistic, and ever-so-subtly political, Red Rocket is another great entry into Baker’s impressions of the vexed American Dream.

Genre: Comedy, Drama

Actor: Bree Elrod, Brenda Deiss, Ethan Darbone, Karren Karagulian, Shih-Ching Tsou, Simon Rex, Suzanna Son

Director: Sean Baker

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210. O-Bi, O-Ba: The End of Civilization, 1985

	
The thought of the end of the world and everything as we know it is scary, but going through it, and somehow surviving, can be a much more depressing idea. What do you do now? O-Bi, O-Ba: The End of Civilization is aptly titled, as its characters remain stuck inside a dome after a nuclear war, but the way the survivors’ hopes are warped, manipulated, and used against them can feel eerily familiar, and the way Piotr Szulkin unpacks this through Soft’s journey crafts a bleak, yet necessary examination of the fantasies we need in order to live in peace.Genre: Drama, Science Fiction
Actor: Adam Ferency, Alfred Freudenheim, Elżbieta Zającówna, Henryk Bista, Jerzy Stuhr, Kalina Jędrusik, Krystyna Janda, Krzysztof Majchrzak, Leon Niemczyk, Marek Walczewski, Mariusz Benoit, Mariusz Dmochowski
Director: Piotr Szulkin

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