10 Incredibly Depressing Movies To Completely Ruin Your Day – Ranked (Spoilers)

Welcome to Ranking Horror. Yesterday’s list looked at 10 Amazing Japanese Horror Movies on Tubi. Today we are switching things up and aiming to ruin your day with 10 Incredibly Depressing Movies To Completely Ruin Your Day.

Horror movies are a form of escapism. I mean, let’s be real, us horror fans are cut from a different cloth. We don’t enjoy pleasant things so, when you just want to forget the world and unwind for a bit, what better way than to throw on a slasher or supernatural spookfest and just drift away into some violent, scary serenity? But what about those movies that have absolutely no interest in making you laugh, smile, or entertaining you? What about those movies that are bleak, miserable, and relentlessly depressing?

Today we are going to be looking at 10 Incredibly Depressing Movies. If you are already feeling a bit down and need something to share in your sombre mood, this list may just do the trick. Obviously, there will be spoilers so be warned. These aren’t all strictly horror but they are horrific. Suffice to say, if you want a slice of misery with your entertainment then all of the movies on this list will do the trick. Let’s take a look.

10. Killing Ground (2016) – Camping Chaos

Why it Ranked: Man, do those Aussies ever know how to craft a depressing, and disturbing, horror movie. Damien Power’s Killing Ground is just the first of a couple of movies on this list from the land down under. Killing Ground consists of a cat and mouse tale that, eventually, lets us in on the truly disturbing reality of what took place at a remote campsite. While also leaving us with an even more sinister revelation regarding the fate of the family’s infant child. Not a fun watch at all.

Synopsis: A couple’s camping trip turns into a frightening ordeal when they stumble across the scene of a horrific crime.

Where to Watch: AMC+, IFC Films Unlimited

9. Kill List (2011) – The Hitman’s Burden

Why it Ranked: We are heading off to the UK for this entry on our list with Ben Wheatley’s Kill List from 2011. Kill List is, simply, a brutal movie. Some of the scenes are incredibly vicious and, frankly, a bit stomach turning. I doubt many will be able to forget the brutal hammer attack scene for its realist interpretation of violence. It would turn out that our hitman has been earmarked by a cult as their future leader, eventually resulting in him murdering his own wife. Gruesome and very nasty.

Synopsis: Nearly a year after a botched job, a hitman takes a new assignment with the promise of a big payoff for three killings. What starts as an easy task soon unravels, sending the killer into the heart of darkness.

Where to Watch: Criterion Channel

8. Hounds of Love (2016) – Suburban Sadism

Why it Ranked: A young girl is captured by a maniacal couple in 2016’s crime thriller Hounds of Love. This movie is incredibly grim, depicting the suffering of a young girl at the hands of a, frankly, disgusting man. Almost everyone in this movie feels like a victim in one way or another. Hounds of Love has a somewhat happy ending but the relentless misery of our protagonist’s surroundings, and her traumatising predicament, make this movie a legitimately difficult watch. What makes it even worse is that director Ben Young drew on real life cases to craft his story of misery. A truly shocking fact.

Synopsis: In suburban Perth during the mid 1980s, people are unaware that a serial killer couple is abducting and murdering young girls. When seventeen-year-old Vicki Maloney is randomly abducted, she realizes she must drive a wedge between her captors if she is to survive.

Where to Watch: Amazon (Rent/Buy), Tubi (US)

7. Funny Games (2007) – Polite Torture

Why it Ranked: We can throw in the 1997 Austrian original here, or the 2007 American remake. Both movies are shot for shot copies by the same director, Michael Haneke, so it’s all down to personal preference. I really like the cast in the 2007 version so that’s why it is on this list. Funny Games was never intended to be a horror movie. It was intended to poke fun at people’s obsession with violence. What makes Funny Games so depressing is how hopeless it all turns out to be. As the men shove the last remaining survivor over the side of a boat to drown, it’s hard not to wonder what you just watched. Truly depressing and grim.

Synopsis: Two psychopathic young men take a family hostage in their cabin. They force the family to participate in a number of sadistic “games” in order to stay alive.

Where to Watch: Max

6. Snowtown (2011) – Bodies in Barrels

Why it Ranked: Snowtown is a truly grim movie that leans more towards crime drama, but in my opinion, there is enough crossover appeal for horror fans to feel satisfied. This is unrepentantly violent and brutal in a way that few movies can hope to match. Much like Hounds of Love, Snowtown is depressing for more than one reason. The setting is gritty and miserable, presenting us with a backdrop of violence, depravity, and hatred. The real shocking thing is that Snowtown is based on the real-life Bodies in Barrels murders that took place in Australia. Grim, discomforting stuff and a real task to actually get through.

Synopsis: Based on true events, the film follows a teenager who is introduced to a charismatic man who becomes a father figure, only to lead him down a path of torture and murder.

Where to Watch: AMC+, IFC Films Unlimited

5. Speak No Evil (2022) – Dutch Discomfort

Why it Ranked: There are two versions of Speak No Evil: the 2022 Christian Tafdrup original and the English language remake from 2024. There is no question which of those two movies is the more depressing, though. The Danish original takes that title by a long way. Speak No Evil has the unlikely privilege of being a horror movie that makes people legitimately angry. The story ends when our Danish family’s inability to say no is taken to a ridiculous level, resulting in them allowing their child to be taken from them before they are stoned to death by their captors. It is a silly ending that takes the story’s basic premise to a ludicrous extreme, but it is hard to deny how depressing it is.

Synopsis: A Danish family visits a Dutch family they met on a holiday. What was supposed to be an idyllic weekend slowly starts unraveling as the Danes try to stay polite in the face of unpleasantness.

Where to Watch: Shudder, AMC+

4. Eden Lake (2008) – Broken Britain

Why it Ranked: This list would be incomplete without one of the most depressing horror movies of the 2000s, Eden Lake. Directed by James Watkins, who would later go on to direct a far less depressing version of another movie on this list, Speak No Evil. Eden Lake is depressing in more ways than one. Its gritty portrayal of the dark side of the UK’s youth is both troubling and controversial, receiving allegations of classism and discrimination. It is the ending of the movie that really stands out, though. With our protagonist Jenny (Kelly Reilly) finally making it to assumed safety, only to find herself in the house of the children’s parents. We can only guess what happened to Jenny in those final scenes but we can be very sure it wasn’t good.

Synopsis: Refusing to let anything spoil their romantic weekend break, a young couple confront a gang of loutish youths with terrifyingly brutal consequences.

Where to Watch: Amazon (Rent/Buy)

3. Exhibit A (2007) – Home Video Hell

Why it Ranked: Exhibit A is another movie that leans more towards crime than horror but it has enough shock content to keep genre fans entertained. It also has one of the most disturbing, realistic, and depressing endings in found footage history. The story is presented as pieces of recovered footage that pertain to a violent crime that took place. It isn’t until the family’s patriarch, Andy (Bradley Cole), purchases a new house that the cracks begin to show. The movie becomes truly depressing when Andy comes to the conclusion that the only way to deal with the situation is to claim the lives of each of the family members. The last scenes are beyond shocking and act as a fitting conclusion to a hugely depressing movie.

Synopsis: A psychological drama told through a camcorder, depicting the disintegration of a normal British family under financial pressure.

Where to Watch: Amazon Prime

2. Martyrs (2008) – Pain & Transcendence

Why it Ranked: Martyrs is one of those movies that acts as an exercise in just how much depression and misery you can endure in one horror movie. As well as how fine the line is between storytelling and just outright sadism. Often incorrectly classed as a New French Extremity movie, Martyrs shares a ton of violence and brutality with the style but features themes of both religion and sacrifice that seem to go deeper than would be normal for the sub-genre. The shocking content is only topped by the depressing final scenes, as Anna becomes a martyr herself. I am never quite sure whether this film is truly deep or just a splatter horror with a few extra layers of paint. Either way, it is genuinely miserable and far from what you would class as enjoyable.

Synopsis: A young woman’s quest for revenge against the people who kidnapped and tormented her as a child leads her and a friend into a terrifying journey into a living hell of depravity and suffering.

Where to Watch: Tubi (US), Amazon (Rent/Buy)

1. The Descent (2005) – Claustrophobic Darkness

Why it Ranked: For this entry, we are off to the home of bleak and miserable horror movies, the United Kingdom. There’s something about the greyness of the skies here that just makes our horror movies so depressing. Neil Marshall’s The Descent barely takes place in the UK at all, instead following a group of friends heading into a cave system in Appalachia to explore. We really have to stick to the British release of The Descent to truly appreciate how dark it is. After all, the USA edit sees our protagonist escape and go on to live another day. In the British version, Sarah’s grand escape from the cave turns out to be nothing but a fantasy, dreamed up while she is unconscious. She eventually awakens to hear the crawlers getting closer. Ultra depressing.

Synopsis: A caving expedition goes horribly wrong, as the explorers become trapped and ultimately pursued by a strange breed of predators.

Where to Watch: Amazon (Rent/Buy), Tubi (US)

Depression Session

So there you have it, 10 movies guaranteed to ruin your day and leave you staring at the wall in silence. From the social discomfort of Speak No Evil to the relentless brutality of Martyrs, this list proves that horror doesn’t always have to be fun. Sometimes, it just wants to hurt you. If you made it through this list and still want more, you are made of stronger stuff than I am.

I’ll be back soon with something a little lighter, I promise. In the meantime, why not check out some of our other less soul-crushing rankings? Stay spooky.

😭 Quick Picks: The Misery Essentials

• 🏆 The All-Rounder: The Descent (2005)
• 🔨 The Brutal Choice: Kill List (2011)
• 📹 The Realistic Nightmare: Exhibit A (2007)
• 😶 The Frustrating Watch: Speak No Evil (2022)
• 🩸 The Endurance Test: Martyrs (2008)