We are at a point in time in which the horror movies don’t really shake us that much, it’s not that they are bad it’s just that we have become so desensitized by all the blood, gore, and jump scares that they are just normal now. So, in the spirit of that statement, we made a list of 10 movies that while being non-horror movies are deeply disturbing and could keep you awake at night, and that’s what the horror fans really want, right.
The Assistant
Synopsis: The Assistant follows one day in the life of Jane (Julia Garner), a recent college graduate and aspiring film producer, who has recently landed her dream job as a junior assistant to a powerful entertainment mogul. Her day is much like any other assistant’s – making coffee, changing the paper in the copy machine, ordering lunch, arranging travel, taking phone messages, onboarding a new hire. But as Jane follows her daily routine, she, and we, grow increasingly aware of the abuse that insidiously colors every aspect of her work day, an accumulation of degradations against which Jane decides to take a stand, only to discover the true depth of the system into which she has entered.
Enemy
Synopsis: Enemy tells the story of a university lecturer named Adam (Academy Award nominee Jake Gyllenhaal) who is nearing the end of a relationship with his girlfriend Mary (Mélanie Laurent). One night, while watching a film, Adam spots a minor actor who looks just like him. Consumed by the desire to meet his double, Adam tracks down Anthony, an actor living with his pregnant wife Helen (Sarah Gadon) and engages him in a complex and dangerous struggle. Directed by Denis Villeneuve (the Academy Award nominated director of Incendies), and based on the novel The Double by Nobel Laureate author José Saramago, the film is a haunting and provocative psychosexual thriller about duality and identity, where in the end only one man will survive.
Changeling
Synopsis: Clint Eastwood directs Oscar® winner Angelina Jolie and Oscar® nominee John Malkovich in a riveting and unforgettable true story. Los Angeles, 1928. When single mother Christine Collins (Jolie) leaves for work, her son vanishes without a trace. Five months later, the police reunite mother and son; but he isn’t her boy. Driven by one woman’s relentless quest for the truth, the case exposes a world of corruption, captivates the public and changes LA forever.
Candy
Synopsis: Candy (Abbie Cornish), gorgeous, sexy, free-spirited, meets the roguish, reckless Dan (Heath Ledger). The two souls fall so deeply in love that nothing can come between them. They are financially broke; yet survive on the light they see in each other. Even the heroin they so casually flirt with is no more than an extension of the intoxicating world they inhabit. Their own belief in an invincible future spurs them ever onwards and envelops them in a blissful cocoon. As their commitment to the addiction grows, they renew their bond through marriage and pregnancy. As long as they stay together, nothing can go wrong.
Pan’s Labyrinth
Synopsis: In a dark time for a young girl, Spain and the entire world, the haunting fantasies within her mind merge into reality, giving birth to a land of fantastical creatures and secret destinies–Pan’s Labyrinth . . . El laberinto del fauno. 1944. Rural Spain. As Franco consolidates his brutal hold after years of civil war, lonely and dreamy Ofelia must come to terms with the cruelty around her. Living with her mother and adoptive father–a military officer under the Fascist government who is tasked with ridding last rebels from their area, Ofelia creates a fable, giving life to a secret inner world to help her cope with a world gone wrong. From acclaimed director Guillermo del Toro (Cronos, Mimic) and produced by Alfonso Cuarón, director of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and Y tu mamá también.
Requiem for a Dream
Synopsis: Drugs. They consume mind, body and soul. Once you’re hooked, you’re hooked. Four lives. Four addicts. Four failures. Doing their best to succeed in the world, but failing miserably, four people get hooked on various drugs. Despite their aspirations of greatness, they succumb to their addictions. Watching the addicts spiral out of control, we bear witness to the dirtiest, ugliest portions of the underworld addicts reside in. It is shocking and eye-opening but demands to be seen by both addicts and non-addicts alike.
Zodiac
Synopsis: Based on the true story of the notorious serial killer and the intense manhunt he inspired, Zodiac is a superbly crafted thriller form the director of Se7en and Panic Room. Featuring an outstanding ensemble cast led by Jake Gyllenhaal, Robert Downey Jr., Mark Ruffalo and Chloë Sevigny, Zodiac is a searing and singularly haunting examination of twin obsessions: one man’s desire to kill and another’s quest for the truth.
Nightcrawler
Synopsis: Nightcrawler is a thriller set in the nocturnal underbelly of contemporary Los Angeles. Jake Gyllenhaal stars as Lou Bloom, a driven young man desperate for work who discovers the high-speed world of L.A. crime journalism. Finding a group of freelance camera crews who film crashes, fires, murder and other mayhem, Lou muscles into the cut-throat, dangerous realm of night crawling – where each police siren wail equals a possible windfall and victims are converted into dollars and cents. Aided by Rene Russo as Nina, a veteran of the blood-sport that is local TV news, Lou blurs the line between observer and participant to become the star of his own story.
Prisoners
Synopsis: Synopsis: Keller Dover ( Hugh Jackman) is facing every parent’s worst nightmare. His six-year-old daughter, Anna, is missing, together with her young friend, Joy, and as minutes turn to hours, panic sets in. The only lead is a dilapidated RV that had earlier been parked on their street. Heading the investigation, Detective Loki (Jake Gyllenhaal) arrests its driver, Alex Jones (Paul Dano), but a lack of evidence forces the only suspect’s release. Knowing his child’s life is at stake, the frantic Dover decides he has no choice but to take matters into his own hands. The desperate father will do whatever it takes to find the girls, but in doing so, he may lose himself, begging the question: When do you cross the line between seeking justice and becoming a vigilante? Led by Jackman and Gyllenhaal, Prisoners features an all-star cast, including Maria Bello (Beautiful Boy) as Keller’s distraught wife, Grace; Oscar nominees Terrence Howard (Hustle & Flow) and Viola Davis (The Help, Doubt) as Franklin and Nancy Birch, whose daughter Joy went missing with the Dovers’; and Academy Award winner Melissa Leo (The Fighter) as Alex Jones’ Aunt Holly. Denis Villeneuve, who helmed the Oscar-nominated Foreign Language film Incendies, directs this suspense thriller from an original screenplay by Aaron Guzikowski (Contraband).
Oldboy
Synopsis: After a drunken night, Oh Dae-su is locked up in a private ‘prison’ for 15 years until he finds himself unexpectedly liberated. No one will tell him why he was imprisoned, but he is determined to discover the identity of his mysterious enemy.
