The Top 10 Films Too Disturbing To Revisit, According to Reddit

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May 18, 2022

You know the feeling. You’ve just survived watching one of the best cinematic experiences in your entire life. But it was so draining, so emotionally exhaustive, that you make a pact with yourself never to revisit it again. That’s the general vibe today over on the internet’s front page where Redditor Lostscribe007 asks the question: what are the greatest films you’ll never sit through a second time? And Reddit has, of course, pulled through with a host of reliably traumatic answers.

Topping this list of heavy hitters is Lynne Ramsay’s unflinching adaptation of We Need to Talk About Kevin. Tilda Swinton stars in this title as a mother doing her best to understand her unhinged and undeniably unwell son Kevin in the aftermath of a massacre he perpetrated. Ever since this film’s 2011 release, the USA has seen countless mass shootings, leaving this film a constantly relevant affair, and truly must watch material.

Another film with deeply disturbing American undertones is The Girl Next Door, based on a novel of the same name by horror hero Jack Ketchum. The book was inspired by the true story Sylvia Marie Likens, an American teenager who was tortured and murdered by her household and other members of her Indiana neighbourhood in 1965. During the trial for her death, Deputy Prosecutor Leroy New described the ordeal as “the most diabolical case to ever come before a court or jury”.

Art imitating life continues to be an active theme with Mother!, this list’s seventh entry. In 2017 filmmaker Darren Aronofsky (responsible for Requiem for a Dream, another selection on the following list) unleashed Mother!, a controversial and polarizing work of utter darkness. This one stars Jennifer Lawrence and Javier Bardem as a couple living in a picturesque country home where nothing bad happens and everyone turns out fine.

Here are the top 10 films too disturbing to revisit, according to Reddit:

  1. We Need To Talk About Kevin
  2. Martyrs
  3. Requiem for a Dream
  4. The House That Jack Built
  5. The Girl Next Door
  6. Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer
  7. Mother!
  8. The Last House On the Left
  9. Threads
  10. Eden Lake

A personal favorite from the above list of deeply disturbing titles is Lars von Trier’s 2018 release The House That Jack Built. This ballsy horror film concerns Jack (played impeccably by Matt Dillon), a serial killer who is responsible for a number of brutal slayings in Washington state. Co-starring Uma Thurman, Bruno Ganz, and Riley Keough, the narrative format of The House that Jack Built might surprise you if you haven’t had this one spoiled just yet. Creative, brutal, and totally one of a kind, this nasty slice of modern cinema is too tough to sit through more than once.

Lastly, what say you? What are some of the best made moments in cinema history that are just too nasty to visit a second time? Make sure to let me know over on Twitter via @joshkorngut. I’m always around to chat all things horror!

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