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5. The Killing Fields (1984)
The movie:: Roland Joff's masterpiece is predictably upsetting, given its concern with the atrocities committed by Cambodia's Khmer Rouge. Less frequently documented than the troubles in neighbouring Vietnam, it's a horrific look back at a dark and very recent passage of history.
4. The Passion of the Christ (2004)
The movie: Mel Gibson's divisive look into the last days of Jesus Christ. Regardless of your religious beliefs, watching a man brutally beaten, tortured and killed for the best part of two hours will likely leave you feeling a little down.
Most miserable moment: Jesus' repeated collapse under the weight of the cross is as sickeningly painful as it is frustratingly drawn out.
3. Leaving Las Vegas (1995)
The movie: Nicolas Cage plays a profoundly miserable man on the brisk of suicide who opts to take his leave of this mortal coil in Las Vegas. He befriends Elisabeth Shue's hooker-with-a-heart-of-gold but even she can't save him. You're essentially using your Friday night trip to the movies to watch a deeply unhappy man drink himself to death for two hours. Uplifting, it ain't.
Most miserable moment: You know it's coming, but when Cage snuffs it in Elisabeth Shue's arms. Oh, its just too sad!
2. Requiem for a Dream (2000)
The movie: Darren Aronofsky's waking nightmare follows four lives as they slowly descend into desperation. Ravaged by various forms of addiction, Jared Leto, Marlon Wayans, Ellen Burstyn and Jennifer Connelly all get put through the emotional wringer. Electro-shock therapy, intravenous drug use, prostitution... it's not exactly a laugh riot.
Most miserable moment: That end-of-movie montage when all four of the main characters succumb to misery and assume the fetal position. You'll feel like doing the same.
1. The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (2008)
The movie: You might think you know what you're in for when you sit down in front of a Holocaust movie, but nothing can prepare you for the incredibly shocking ending to Mark Hermans film. It'll leave you speechless.
Most miserable moment: Two little boys, a terrible mix-up and a gas chamber. All you need to know.
