Grim Films

[Yetman]

That film's very sad, when he can't drown himself at the end, it's tragic

Way to spoil the film for anybody who wanted to watch it asshole

/*American teenage insult mode

 

[Bakunin]

not as grim as many mentioned but not exactly a film to make you feel warm and fuzzy: the young poisoners handbook. worth a mention as it is IMO criminally underrated.

An excellent film about one of the most flint-hearted criminals in British history.

Graham Young poisoned friends, workmates and even members of his own immediate family. Not because they had given him any reason or he had anything to gain by doing so, but simply because he was curious as what effects different poisons had on human beings.

He kept a diary of his 'experiments' as he called them, and was truly devoid of any sense of morality, ethics or compassion for others. A very good example of the classic psychopath and one I'm currently researching a forthcoming article about.

 

[Flavour]

I watched Jacob's Ladder on a speed comedown once and that was baaaaad.

What others are worthy of mention?

Just watched this last night and it was unbelievably sick!!! So good!

Can see how it would disagree with the comedown mindstate tho. Sheeeet.

 

[pennimania]

That's one of my all time favourite films. haven't seen it for years.

My vote goes to 'Threads' too. after seeing it I was plagued by a horrific series of nightmares for about 3 years

 

[Nanker Phelge]

This film was fucking grim....and horrible...and exploitative....and....urgh!

 

[DotCommunist]

Lilya 4 ever

 

[MikeMcc]

Given that I'm a Sci-Fi geek geek rather than looking at the social outcome, etc:

28 weeks later, doesn't matter how far you run, or what you do, it still catches up with you.

Carriers - self centered view on survival in post apocalyse US, getting increasing worse as it gets closer to home.

 

[sim667]

Oldboy is pretty grim, and the story line is excellent, make sure you watch the proper one clicky....... They were making a new US version but ive not seen any more about it, it would have been shit...... there's a new film called 'bakjwi' (thirst) by the same director which is also pretty grim clicky

I'd also recommend Das experiment Clicky and children of men clicky which i think is massively underrated

If you dont mind a bit of a war film idi i smotri (come and see) clicky will leave you just about ready to scoff those aspirin and slit them wrists.

 

[100% masahiko]

Mysterious Skin - in my top 10 fav.

Romeo is Bleeding - I love that.

Antichrist.
Don't Look Now.
Bitter Moon.

 

[sir.clip]

Go on father, go on. Lock the gates to God's house. Sure they were locked at the time of the Famine too. No priest died the time of the Famine: only poor people like us.

The Field

By god, a Savage film.
Just wish they had not changed the Englishman for an American.

Douglas Triolgy: My childhood, My Ain Folk & My way home.
All bleek blockbusters.

 

[Elpenor]

'Family Life', the film that Ken Loach made next after 'Kes' is extremely grim and depressing. Its about a teenage girl who is sectioned by her very controlling/strict parents after she gets pregnant. She's treated compassionately to begin with by a psychotherapist character in an experimental ward (the character was modelled on R.D.Laing and his anti-psychiatry ideas), but when she's moved to another ward things get worse and worse. It really is grim, but fascinating in the way it shows a completely different side to the Swinging Sixties image of Britain in this period and suggests how little, arguably, had changed in the majority of people's lives e.g. parents still being very authoritarian. Brilliant film, but very hard to watch. (On a lighter note, Harry Cross from Brookside plays her dad!)

A good summation. I watched this today, recorded off the wonderful Talking Pictures TV last night. My mum spent some time as an in-patient on a psychiatric ward in the 90s so it was an uncomfortable watch at times.

The family Sunday tea scene was a particularly downbeat moment in the film. A well observed slice of life.

 

[BCBlues]

Just came accross this thread and some of these films are amongst my favourites so I'm a bit worried.
But I will add Erazerhead into the grim mix.

 

[SpookyFrank]

Any film where you have to watch Jared Leto trying to act.

 

[Sue]

Watched Come and See on Saturday. That's about as grim as it gets.

 

[T & P]

I mostly avoid grim films however acclaimed they might be, because life’s too short to purposely bring yourself down for entertainment. But if I had to recommend one it would be Oldboy (the original Korean one of course). One of the most memorable and remarkable scripts I have ever watched, which more than compensates for the fucked up themes.

 

[weltweit]

Deliverance

 

[hitmouse]

Dunno if black comedies count as grim, but I really like some Todd Solondz stuff, Happiness is up there as an alltime favourite and I remember Dollhouse being good as well. I suppose Kids probably counts as being fairly high up there on the bleakness scale?

 

[Magnus McGinty]

Dunno if black comedies count as grim, but I really like some Todd Solondz stuff, Happiness is up there as an alltime favourite and I remember Dollhouse being good as well. I suppose Kids probably counts as being fairly high up there on the bleakness scale?

I’ve been meaning to watch Kids, and Bully also by Clarke. Happiness is amazing but completely wrong.

 

[Chz]

That's quite the thread necromancy. But I'll bite, here's one that wasn't around the last time this thread was live - The Selfish Giant

 

[Idris2002]

No Man's Land.

Set during the Bosnia war. A Serb soldier rigs a landmine to what he thinks is the corpse of a Bosnian soldier, as a booby trap. But it turns out the Bosnian lad isn't dead after all.

 

[shambler]

Salo
Sex and the City

 

[Ming]

Saviour is pretty grim. Great movie though.

 

[furluxor]

Edit: oops
Anything by Ken Loach (it took me and my partner 3 goes to finish watching Sorry We Missed You because of how depressing it was) and Lars von Trier (I can't rewatch Breaking the Waves). Turtles can Fly, about children collecting land mines. I can't recall the title of the worst I've seen but it involved an illegal abortion in Romania, a rape by the guy carrying out the abortion and the foetus getting chucked down a rubbish chute.

Glad someone likes those. I just...can't.

 

[Magnus McGinty]

I’ve seen Dogville by Lars Vom Trier which is pretty grim.

 

[Part 2]

The Golden Glove
Angst
I Stand Alone
The Seventh Continent
Cow
Punishment Park
Dancer in the Dark
Festen
The Strange thing about the Johnsons
The Child Molester
A Boy and his Dog
Man Behind the Sun
For Sama

 

[chemn]

Grave of the fireflies.

Also, I find 28 weeks later to be very grim. The bit with the eyes and the bit in the dark room are excessively grim and beyond terrifying, respectively.