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Movies that absolutely destroyed you emotionally? I'm not talking a small tear or two, or a bit of sad recognition before promptly moving on. I'm talking the worst of the worst. The stuff that haunts you for a while, for whatever reason. For me it's got to be "the road".
- 20 'Like Someone in Love'
- 19 'Stranger Than Fiction'
- 18 'Melancholia'
- 17 'Sideways'
- 16 'Anomalisa'
- 15 'The Great Beauty'
- 14 'Fight Club'
- 13 'Synecdoche, New York'
- 12 'Birdman'
- 11 'Waking Life'
Directed by Abbas Kiarostami
Iranian auteur Abbas Kiarostami's final masterpiece, the French-Japanese production Like Someone in Love is among the most underrated examples of existentialism in film. Set in the bustling streets of Tokyo, the movie follows sociology student Akiko (Rin Takanashi), who is also a high-end sex worker. When she's sent to the elderly former professor Takashi (Tadashi Okuno), she's surprised at how he's more interested in dinner and conversation than sex. Akiko's story may not seem like an existe...
Directed by Marc Forster
A criminally underrated comedy film, Stranger than Fiction follows an IRS auditor named Harold Crick (Will Ferrell) who lives a mundane life. One day, he begins to hear a bizarre voice that seems to be narrating his life story. As he tries to uncover the source of the narration, he learns that he's a character in a book that's bound to end at some point. While billed as a gut-busting comedy, Stranger than Fiction is also among the most dread-inducing existential movies. As Harold attempts to...
Directed by Lars von Trier
Anyone looking for a good dose of existential dread needn't look further than Melancholia. This apocalyptic film revolves around the relationship between two sisters, Justine (Kirsten Dunst) and Claire (Charlotte Gainsbourg). When a mysterious planet threatens to collide with Earth, the sisters' already strained relationship is challenged. It's far too depressing a movie for many viewers, but those able to stomach it are in for an unforgettable experience. The movie is one of the best ever ab...
Directed by Alexander Payne
Based on Rex Pickett's eponymous 2004 novel, Sideways is a road trip film unlike any other. It's centered on two men in their forties, Miles (Paul Giamatti) and Jack (Thomas Haden Church), who go on a wine-tasting trip to California. Along the way,audiences learn about Miles' struggles as a failed novelist and Jack's anxieties about getting married. One of the great films where "not much happens", most of Sidewaysis just two middle-aged men finding purpose and adventure in their lives through...
Directed by Charlie Kaufman
Writer-director Charlie Kaufman has existentialist themes in pretty much every single one of his films, but rarely as strongly as in Anomalisa, the story of a middle-aged man called Michael (David Thewlis) who struggles with crossing the gap between the self and the other. In his world, everyone speaks with an identical voice (Tom Noonan), until a unique woman voiced by Jennifer Jason Leighcomes into his life. A stop-motion work of art that proves animation isn't just for children,Anomalisa i...
Directed by Paolo Sorrentino
The Great Beauty is a gorgeous art drama that follows Jep Gambardella (Toni Servillo), a 65-year-old seasoned journalist and theater critic who spends his days attending the social events of Rome and appreciating its beauty and history. Jep begins to have a crisis after his 65th birthday, though,and looks beyond mindless parties and mundane activities to find "the great beauty." This award-winning movie is one of the highest-rated Italian films on IMDb. Yet, The Great Beauty is rarely cited a...
Directed by David Fincher
Fight Clubis a cult classic that needs no introduction. It tells the story of an unnamed protagonist known only as the Narrator (Edward Norton), who lives with insomnia and depression. His life changes when the anarchic soap salesman Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt) talks him into starting an underground fight club with him. While it may not be the most subtle or nuanced existentialist movie, Fight Cluboffers powerful commentary on consumerist culture and alienation, aided by visceral twists and turn...
Directed by Charlie Kaufman
Charlie Kaufman's directing debut might just be his most ambitious work to date. In Synecdoche, New York, a theater director (played by Philip Seymour Hoffman in one of the best acting performances of the 21st century) struggles with his work and the women in his life as he tries to create a life-size replica of New York as part of his new play. Synecdoche, no doubt one of the best existentialism movies of the 21st century, presents the heartbreak brought by failure in capturing the entire sc...
Directed by Alejandro G. Iñárritu
Another one of the great examples of existentialism in pop culture, the multi-awarded modern masterpiece Birdman is a film that showcases the flaws of fame. Made to look like it's all one long unbroken shot, it's centered on Riggan Thomson (Michael Keaton), a Hollywood has-been known for his titular superhero role, who is now trying to prove his worth as a thespian with a Broadway play. Frantic, stressful, and strangely relatable despite Birdman's very specific characters, it's impossible not...
Directed by Richard Linklater
Waking Life is a mind-boggling animated filmthat should never be excluded when discussing existentialist movies. This experimental animated film follows the ethereal experience of an unnamed young man who meets all sorts of people on a surreal journey, each imparting important bits of knowledge from their respective fields and personal experiences. Its stunning rotoscoped trippy visuals only serve to emphasize the heaviness, range, and depth of subjects it covers in a way that's both enthrall...
- Downfall (2004) Bruno Ganz is Adolf Hitler in Oliver Hirschbiegel’s powerful retelling of the final days of the Nazi empire. Perhaps nothing else on celluloid captures with such telling impact the sickening implosion that follows when unbridled power, barbarism and delusion go hand in hand.
- The Departed (2006) Martin Scorsese’s remake of the Hong Kong film Infernal Affairs (2002) boasts a heavyweight cast of stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, Mark Wahlberg, Martin Sheen, Ray Winstone and Vera Farmiga.
- United 93 (2006) Paul Greengrass presents the harrowing events aboard United Airlines Flight 93 (hijacked by terrorists as part of the September 11 attacks of 2001).
- Braveheart (1995) Mel Gibson’s rousing adventure epic tells the story of the failed Sottish rebellion led by William Wallace against King Edward of England.
- Little Women (2019) Directed by Greta Gerwig. Little Women. PG. Romance. Drama. Release Date. December 25, 2019. Director. Greta Gerwig. Cast. Emma Watson , Timothee Chalamet , Bob Odenkirk , Florence Pugh , Eliza Scanlen , Abby Quinn , Lilly Englert , Chris Cooper , James Norton , Sasha Frolova , Meryl Streep , Saoirse Ronan , Laura Dern , Louis Garrel.
- Pieces Of A Woman (2021) Directed by Kornél Mundruczó. Pieces Of A Woman. R. Drama. Release Date. January 7, 2021. Director. Kornél Mundruczó. Cast. Vanessa Kirby , Benny Safdie , Sarah Snook , Iliza Shlesinger , Shia LaBeouf , Molly Parker , Ellen Burstyn.
- If Beale Street Could Talk (2018) Directed by Barry Jenkins. If Beale Street Could Talk. R. Romance. Drama. Crime. Release Date. December 14, 2018. Director. Barry Jenkins.
- A Star Is Born (2018) Directed by Bradley Cooper. A Star is Born. R. Music. Drama. Musical. Release Date. October 5, 2018. Director. Bradley Cooper. Cast. Michael Harney , Sam Elliott , Bonnie Somerville , Lady Gaga , Anthony Ramos , Dave Chappelle , Bradley Cooper , Andrew Dice Clay.
There's countless movies that can and will emotionally destroy you, but nothing like "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind".. Idk what it is about it, but that movie literally increased my anxiety and existential crisis to a whole another level.
Oct 31, 2023 · Ever. These films stay with us long after the credits roll, haunting our thoughts and leaving us emotionally shattered. Here, we’ve compiled a list of 25 movies deemed one-time experiences by...
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Sep 10, 2018 · 10 Movies That Totally Destroyed You. Love + Loss + Ryan Gosling = Broken. Never underestimate the power of films to make you feel. They can be the light that leads you out of the darkest fog...
