20. Antichrist (2009)
What is it? A mother (Charlotte Gainsbourg) crippled with grief over her son’s death retreats to the woods with her husband (Willem Dafoe) for a getaway. Things start to get occult when she rediscovers her thesis on gynocide and turns borderline feral in her hatred for women.
Why you’ll only watch it once: Sexual violence dominates in the movie. Simply put, you won’t want to watch genitals being mutilated more than once.
19. Precious (2009)
What is it? Precious (Gabourey Sidibe), an abused teen who’s insulted on a daily basis by her mother (Mo'Nique), becomes pregnant for a second time after being raped by her father. Although she finds daydreams are way to escape her horrendous life, her efforts to flee are increasingly futile.
Why you’ll only watch it once: The scene in which a baby that’s only days old gets deliberately dropped is excruciating. Witnessing familial abuse throughout the movie doesn’t help either.
18. Lilya 4-Ever (2002)
What is it? After being abandoned by her mother who moves to the United States, Lilya (Oksana Akinshina) is left alone in the Soviet Union. She’s forced to become a sex worker to make a living. Befriending an abused boy Volodya (Artyom Bogucharskiy), her life deteriorates as she’s taken advantage of by others.
Why you’ll only watch it once: Not one good thing happens to Lilya, and every time something looks like it’s about to make her life better, the opposite happens.
17. Tyrannosaur (2011)
What is it? An apparently irredeemable racist, violent thug (Peter Mullan) meets a Hannah (Olivia Colman) religious second-hand shop volunteer. Abused by her alcoholic husband (Eddie Marsan), the two begin to grow close, but breaking out of the damaging pattern of behaviour brought on by domestic abuse isn’t easy.
Why you’ll only watch it once: The acts carried out by each character are depraved, but it’s the acting of the two central characters that makes you really believe all this happened.
16. Leaving Las Vegas (1995)
What is it? Moving to Las Vegas to drink himself to death, Ben (Nic Cage) is devoid of hope. After almost running over a sex worker named Sera (Elisabeth Shue) he gets to know her and the two move in together. But Sera has her own issues, and their initial promise not to criticise each other falls apart.
Why you’ll only watch it once: The scenes where Nic Cage awakes with alcoholic withdrawal are almost unwatchable in their physical desperation, as is the sexual violence Sera is subjected to.
15. Gone With the Wind (1939)
What is it? Scarlett O’Hara (Vivien Leigh), the daughter of the owner of a cotton plantation, is stuck in a love triangle involving her one true love Ashley (Leslie Howard), and Rhett (Clark Gable), the man she eventually marries. The Civil War rages in the background, and Scarlett’s headstrong demeanour gets her into some scandalous trouble with society.
Why you’ll only watch it once: At 3 and a half hours long, finding the time to watch it again would be a challenge, and keeping up with Scarlett’s various exploits is trying.
14. The Blair Witch Project (1999)
What is it? The found footage movie that started it all, this horror legend follows three film students Heather (Heather Donahue), Mike (Michael C. Williams), and Josh (Joshua Leonard) as they investigate the woods rumoured to house the Blair Witch.
Why you’ll only watch it once: As well as being terrifying, the movie feels unsurprisingly real. You’ll find it more difficult to watch knowing the fates of the three filmmakers.
13. Grave of the Fireflies (1988)
What is it? Near the end of WW2 Seita and his younger sister Setsuko struggle to find a way to survive after their mother is killed in a bomb raid. Discovering that human compassion has its limits, food shortages brings out the uncomfortable sides of their relatives and even Seita himself.
Why you’ll only watch it once: Grave of the Fireflies is so distressing that on release in Japan, it had to be double-billed with My Neighbour Totoro. Knowing that children were forced into this situation in the ‘40s makes Grave of the Fireflies incredibly harrowing.
12. Audition (1999)
What is it? A widowed movie producer, Shigeharu Aoyama (Ryo Ishibashi), holds an ‘audition’ for a new wife and becomes smitten with Asami Yamazaki (Eihi Shiina). But her idea of love is unhealthy (to put it mildly), and Aoyama finds himself falling deeper into a disastrous relationship.
Why you’ll only watch it once: Discovering what Asami is really like is disturbing in the extreme, especially as that realisation comes too late for Aoyama.
11. Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986)
What is it? As the title suggests, Henry (Michael Rooker) is a serial killer who spends his days travelling around America killing waitresses, prostitutes, and more. He lives with Otis (Tom Towles) who’s just brought his sister Becky (Tracy Arnold) to stay with them after she left her abusive husband. Otis eventually finds out what Henry does and the pair go on a killing spree, sometimes even filming their gruesome murders. Then one night Otis catches Henry and Becky together and things go from bad, to worse.
Why you'll only watch it once: Even the most bloodbath-loving horror fans will struggle to watch this one all the way to the end.
