Whether it’s a horror or disturbing film that comes with unsettling elements, it is always meant to show us what we can’t see with our naked eyes on this earth. Those disturbing elements depict the sides of humans that we don’t want to get too close to, they depict the areas of this earth we don’t want to explore, and the cults that we don’t want to be associated with at all. These disturbing movies are perfectly the kind that shows the cruel, eerie nature of this earth, and particularly the ten most disturbing movies that you can stream on Netflix, which represent the cruelest and most vicious aspects of human nature.
Disturbing Movies on Netflix :
10. 1922
Directed by: Zak Hilditch
The James family moves to a farm in Nebraska in 1922 after Arlette inherits it from her father. After a while, Arlette decides to move to the city, since farming isn’t for her. However, Wilfred insists on staying and will kill in order to accomplish this. As a result, a lot of unintended consequences result.
“1922” is a slow, methodical look at guilt and the consequences of moral compromise. Adapted from Stephen King’s novella “1922” is a film that will divide certain audiences. It’s a film that basks in its atmosphere, it’s also a film that’s solely focused on its characters rather than plot. – Ben Hibburd, Letterboxd.
9. Cam
Directed by: Daniel Goldhaber
An erotic webcam performer finds her followers stolen by a malicious doppelganger who hijacks her channel, pushes the sexual envelope further, and seems determined to ruin her life. I know right? Sounds intense. It’s definitely one of the most disturbing movies you could find on netflix.
Finally, someone has made a film about the existential horror of getting locked out of your account, and the horror is all too real. Daniel Goldhaber’s “Cam” also touches on a number of other digital crises (e.g. the way in which the internet’s short attention span requires people to constantly reaffirm their own existence), but this clever and unnerving mind-fuck of a movie is at its most effective when tracing the uneasy shadow relationships we share with our online personas. – davidehrlich, Letterboxd
8. The Ritual
Directed by: David Bruckner
Friends get together to plan a vacation after a long time. Their plan is to go on a hiking trip in Sweden (Northern Europe). When one of them is injured, they must cut through the forest to reach the lodge earlier. As a result of a raging rainstorm, they were forced to spend the night in a haunted, abandoned house. However, the trip that was supposed to bond them brings with it things they never expected. I know you might say the story sounds similar to any kind of slasher movie, but it’s not the story that makes movies special. I mean imagine The Shining (1980) movie being directed by another director, no way that film would have worked out.
As much as I admit to liking cheesy jump scares and sometimes dumb teenager based horror, David Bruckner’s The Ritual is exactly the kind of adult dread jam I was looking for: an unsettling, moody picture that’s beautifully shot, well acted, and drenched in a specific atmosphere that I love. – Ian West, Letterboxd
7. Creep, And Creep 2
A videographer responds to an advertisement on Craigslist for a one-day job in a remote mountain town to video the dying man’s last messages, but when those messages become darker and darker, things take a strange turn. Definitely check this out, it’s one of the most disturbing movies on Netflix.
Realized i’ve never logged this. just wanna say this and creep 2 are super great compared to most jump scare movies. they do the whole sub-genre super well and in a really interesting and engaging way imo. – kársten, Letterboxd
6. The Killing Of A Sacred Deer
A renowned cardiovascular surgeon, Steven Murphy lives with his wife, two kids, and a spotless home. Martin is a fatherless teen who insinuates himself into the doctor’s idyllic suburban life in gradual, unsettling ways. Martin’s intent becomes crystal clear to Steven as he confronts him with a long forgotten transgression that will ruin his domestic bliss.
Words can’t really describe how horrific this movie made me feel. You’d have to look at my face while watching it: mouth agape and eyes wide open in terror. What was going to happen next? Definitely had me on the edge of my seat, metaphorically of course. – Allison M, Letterboxd
5. Nocturnal Animals
The story revolves around a lamenting and unhappy art curator (Amy Adams), who imagines herself in the pages of a novel manuscript, sent to her by her former husband (Jake Gyllenhaal), whose negative associations of their relationship have been fictionalized as violence.
Nocturnal animals is one of those films that will stick with you for a very long time because it just gives you that feeling that you cannot describe for the life of you. this almost perfect neo-noir film is one that i will have to re-visit very soon. – Bethany, Letterboxd
4. Apostle
That shot right above speaks for itself, and expect how disturbing the film is going to be. It is set in 1905, Thomas Richardson is attempting to rescue his sister from a mysterious religious cult that has kidnapped her and demanded a ransom for her safe return on a remote island. It soon becomes apparent that the cult will regret the day it baited this man, as he digs deeper and deeper into the secrets and lies upon which the commune is built.
The moments of physical action in this will have you drooling for what begs to be THE RAID meets THE WICKER MAN, but Evans is way more interested in a (very) slow to roll cult thriller – matt lynch, Letterboxd
3. The Platform
This movie isn’t just disturbing, it’s almost a horror flick, except it’s in lowercase. It is in The Hole that Goreng wakes up, a place where food is sent down through The Platform. However, as people above become selfish and consume whatever they like, people below receive less. After learning from the other cellmates that the people below can lose their sanity and turn into bloody cannibalism, Goreng begins planning his plan for The Hole’s people.
I recommend not eating while watching this film. The idea of food running out as the platform travels from floor to floor is a simple concept, and many will make Snowpiercer comparisons (as they should), but it is well-crafted. – Austin Burke, Letterboxd
2. Gerald’s Game
Directed by: Mike Flanagan
In a remote retreat, a harmless game between a married couple becomes a harrowing struggle for survival, forcing wife Jessie to confront long-buried demons deep within her own mind. “A brilliantly written horror film that does not just rehash ‘overcoming supernatural demons’ trope, but rather dares to explore a metaphorical story of “how a woman overcomes her own inner demons.”
Perhaps the quintessential King adaptation, owning the author’s problematic worldview, inability to stick the landing, and guttural dialogue/character work. But it transforms the fetishistic potboiler into a yarn about confronting one’s historical abusers, and embracing their pain. Wonderful stuff Flanagan should be so, so proud of. – Jacob Knight, Letterboxd
1. Hereditary
Annie (Toni Collette), her husband (Gabriel Byrne), her son (Alex Wolff), and her daughter (Milly Shapiro) mourn the loss of her mentally ill mother when she passes away. In order to cope with their grief, the family attempts to cope in various ways, including Annie and her daughter flirting with the supernatural. Their family members begin to experience disturbing, otherworldly experiences involving sinister secrets and emotional trauma passed down through the generations.
What you’re looking at, is the most disturbing horror movie of the 21st century. Here’s an interesting fact: People who literally loved this film say they wouldn’t want to watch it again. Yup, confused right, and contradictory, but imagine how disturbing it would have been for them to make such an assertion.
I honestly don’t know how to talk about this movie. There are no words that could describe how terrifying, heartbreaking, hysterical and fucking brilliant this movie is. Nothing could have ever prepared me for this. Hereditary busted through our doors, confident and blazing. Hereditary doesn’t let the genre define what it can be. Hereditary takes your head and slams it into the goddamn wall, and will not apologize. – #1gizmofan, Letterboxd
Honorable Mentions:
- The Conjuring 1, 2
- The Perfection
Plot summary credits: IMDB
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