As we head into spooky season, we probably find ourselves wanting to experience some dark or outright bleak movies. They might not necessarily be horror, but they surely have enough disturbing and potentially scarring elements to make for a deviously entertaining time. Then there are those movies that are undeniably dark, the ones where it seems like the plot almost relishes in inflicting distress on its audience—we’re here to talk about those movies.
Some belong to the horror genre and offer straight-up nightmares that sneak up on you and never let go. Others offer a more subtle type of dread that might not be as traumatizing but is no less insidious. No matter their execution, the movies on this list will prove a challenging watch for even the most experienced cinephiles. Their plots, characters, narratives, and style are all remarkably dark, to the point where they’ll stay with you long after you finish watching them.
‘The Dark and the Wicked’ (2020)
There are dark movies, and then there’s The Dark and the Wicked. This 2020 Southern Gothic horror stars the incredibly underrated Marin Ireland as Louise, a woman whose mother commits suicide, leaving her infirm husband behind. Along with her brother, Michael (Michael Abbott Jr.), Louise travels to her parents’ remote rural house in Texas. Soon, the siblings begin suspecting supernatural powers might be at play.
The Dark and the Wicked is genuinely harrowing. It’s one of the rare movies that offers no respite, no sense of hope, much less a positive ending. The atmosphere is oppressive to the point of being crushing; every scene offers near-overwhelming dread, and when the many jump scares come, they’re rendered even more effective. Unlike many other entries into the current era of elevated horror, The Dark and the Wicked doesn’t have any insightful commentary to provide; instead, it just wants to scare the living crap out of you, and at that it succeeds. Watch with the lights on and with someone to hold.
‘Mad God’ (2021)
Leave it to Phil Tippett to craft a movie that truly feels like a descent into the very vowels of hell. The legendary animator spent years developing his passion project—30 years to be precise—and you can appreciate his enthusiasm for the material in each horrifying scene. The plot, as it is, follows the journey of a figure, dubbed The Assassin, from the heavens into a pit of nightmarish creations, each one more terrifying than the one before.
Trying to make sense of Mad God might not be the best way to appreciate it. There is the skeleton of a plot, and plenty of themes can be interpreted from it. However, the film works better as a purely sensory experience. Indeed, the visuals are among the most singular ever created: from witches to demons, skinned corpses, and bizarre babies, the creatures here are works of demented art, striking, occasionally revolting, genuinely horrifying, and utterly unforgettable. Mag God is for those with strong stomachs, but if you can endure the carnage on display, it’s also a work of genius from a singular artist at his most unrestrained.
‘Infinity Pool’ (2023)
The Cronenberg family is famous for their willingness to provoke audiences. Brandon has followed his famous father’s footsteps, carving a place for himself in modern horror through movies like Antiviral and Possessor. However, it’s his most recent offering that lands him a spot on this list. Infinity Pool stars fellow sicko Alexander Skarsgård as James Foster, an American novelist on holiday with his wife at a resort in an unnamed but corrupt and dangerous country. There, they come across a cult that will challenge their sense of security.
Joining Cronenberg and Skarsgård is Mia Goth, creating a perfectly unhinged and macabre trifecta that pushes Infinity Pool to the extreme. The film is an exercise in excess, critiquing absurd wealth and the inherent moral corruption that accompanies it. To do it, it opts for the most unsubtle approach possible, but hey, this is Brandon Cronenberg we’re talking about. Indeed, the movie is dark, aggressively off-putting, and relentlessly bleak, offering a cynical and outright cruel outlook on human degeneracy that will leave you feeling numb and incredibly disturbed. You’ll probably want to take a shower after watching it.
‘Bring Her Back’ (2025)
A textbook entry into the elevated horror subgenre, Bring Her Back is one of the most distressing horror movies in recent memory. The Philippou Brothers‘ psychological horror stars Billy Barratt as Andy, a 17-year-old dealing with complicated feelings of guilt following his father’s death. Alongside his visually impaired step-sister, Piper (Sora Wong), Andy goes to live with Laura (Sally Hawkins), a mother grieving the loss of her daughter and fostering another boy, Oliver (Jonah Wren Phillips). However, Laura’s erratic behavior soon hints at something more sinister.
As their follow-up to 2022’s Talk to Me, the Phillippous’ Bring Her Back is a near-traumatizing domestic horror dealing with themes that will ring close to home for many. The scares are many and perfectly executed, as expected, but the film’s most disquieting moments come from scenes of harrowing domestic violence, powered by a towering performance from the mighty Sally Hawkins. With a sense of dread pervading through the whole thing and mounting tension, Bring Her Back is one of those movies where you’ll sometimes have trouble keeping your eyes on the screen.
‘Obsession’ (2026)
One of the biggest successes of the year is also a remarkably dark and bleak movie about the dangers of misguided wishes, the trappings of cowardice, and the perennial struggle of self-identified “nice guys.” In Curry Barker‘s Obsession, Michael Johnston plays Bear, a young man who harbors an intense crush on his friend, Nikki (Inde Navarrete). Hoping to earn her love by any means possible, Bear wishes for her to love him more than anyone. His dream comes true, but it soon turns into a nightmare when Nikki becomes dangerously fixated on him.
Obsession became an instant cultural phenomenon, breaking all manner of box office records and cementing itself as the leading horror movie of the year. The plot might seem like standard genre fare, but the intricacies of its story reveal just how disturbing it truly is. Bear might not be an outright villain, but his actions are incredibly unsettling, largely because they come from a place of cowardice and self-interest rather than outright cruelty or inherent malice. Yet, he’s also far truer to real life, as his insidious tendencies hide behind a facade of normalcy. In his mind, Bear is a victim of circumstance, but in reality, he is the perpetrator of everything awful that falls on him and his friends; he just doesn’t have the courage to own up to his responsibility.
Obsession
- Release Date
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May 15, 2026
- Runtime
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108 minutes
- Director
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Curry Barker