People Are Sharing The Movies And Documentaries That Are So Brutal, They Either Turned Them Off Or Walked Out Of The Theater

Recently, redditor u/Elixir_Jx asked, "What film is so brutal to watch, you had to stop watching it?" and people were quick to share the movies and documentaries that were a touch too much to handle.

Vitagraph Films

So, with that in mind, here are just a few of the films viewers simply couldn't make it through:

CONTENT WARNING: Due to the nature of the AskReddit thread question being answered, this post does contain graphic descriptions of scenes of violence, sexual assault, and rape, as well as feature stills and trailers from these films that depict gore. Please proceed with caution, and take care of yourself!

1.The Last House on the Left (1972)

A group of two men and a woman, looking sinister, sit smoking on a forest floor
American International Pictures / Courtesy Everett Collection

"The rape scene in that movie was way too brutal for me to get through it. I can still picture scenes from it for some reason; that's how real and violent it felt. It didn't help that it was a movie that my family decided to watch together, either. That said, we still tease my mom for picking that movie out as some weird shared trauma bonding experience all these years later. So, maybe it wasn't a bad family movie after all?"

u/lastcallcarrot

Watch the trailer here:

2.Inside (2007)

An injured, bloody person in a bed with a woman looking over them
Weinstein Company / ©Weinstein Company/Courtesy Everett Collection

"I saw some French horror film about a nurse who went to some pregnant lady's house, tormented her, tortured her, then proceeded to cut open her belly with scissors to get the baby out."

u/DioramaDad

Watch the trailer here:

3.Watership Down (1978)

A rabid looking rabbit
Avco Embassy / ©Avco Embassy / Courtesy Everett Collection

"My mother was a kid when she saw that movie in theaters, and she had her parents and her leave because she was so disturbed. Now she can't stand looking at rabbits, and literally shudders if she sees a scene from it or thinks about it too much. She saw it when she was like 4, so it's not like it scared her as a teen and she would get over it."

u/Renting-Milk767

Watch the trailer here:

4.The Trials of Gabriel Fernandez (2020)

A man holds another man, who's crying, in a courtroom
Netflix

"It's a documentary. As a 32-year-old man, I sobbed like a baby for poor Gabriel. I first heard his story when I was in the military, and have followed it since. When the documentary came out, I knew it was going to be hard. Sure enough, it was one of the most despicable horrors ever."

u/albasirantar

Watch the trailer here:

5.Grave of the Fireflies (1988)

An animated man holds an animated child's palm open and pours food into it
Toho

"One of the only movies I've ever stopped watching partway through."

u/Janube

Watch the trailer here:

6.The Road (2009)

A bearded, dirty man lies on the ground, reading with his dirty child
Dimension Films / ©Dimension Films/Courtesy Everett Collection

"I was out sick from work and feeling a bit sorry for myself. I was searching for a movie to divert my attention and came across this. I knew nothing about it, but I thought it looked like a decent action movie. After watching it, not only was I sick, but I was absolutely devastated emotionally. I was a recent dad, and that movie ripped my heart out."

u/gpchamb

Watch the trailer here:

7.I Spit on Your Grave (1978)

A woman holding an axe on a boat
© Cinemagic / Courtesy Everett Collection

"I already knew the movie scene by scene because of an internet review I'd read, but the entirety of the second third was too much and I had to take a pause."

u/Tommy-Lee-Gio

Watch the trailer here:

8.Funny Games (1997)

A young man sits on a couch, next to a child who has a bag over their head
Attitude Films / Courtesy: Everett Collection.

"My husband turned it on, and I started watching it not knowing what it was about. I was like, 'Oh, this is interesting...he’s so annoying! Just leave her alone… Wait, what?! ... Oh shit…I can’t watch, but I can’t turn away…'"

u/Wam_2020

Watch the trailer here:

9.American Murder: The Family Next Door (2018)

A woman administering a lie detector test on a man
Netflix

"It’s about a dad who killed his wife and two daughters in Colorado. He disposed of his two daughters in an oil tank. I watched the entire thing up until he started to describe what he did. I hit pause, started crying, and held my daughter tight. I don't know what drives a person not only to kill, but to kill his own children. To this day, Netflix always asks me if I want to continue watching, even though there’s just a few minutes left. I can’t."

u/MrSANTANIMAL

Watch the trailer here:

10.Hotel Rwanda (2004)

Two men and one woman peeking out from behind a door
United Artists / ©United Artists/Courtesy Everett Collection

"My history class wanted us to watch it in 10th grade. I made it through one part, and begged my mom to call the school to get me out of watching the rest. Turns out, more than half the class was unable to finish watching it, and our history teacher let us know how 'disappointed' she was that we stopped, since we all signed release forms and had parents sign permission slips. We thought we could handle it, but nothing prepares you for the horrors those people had to suffer."

u/Pkyug

Watch the trailer here:

11.Pan’s Labyrinth (2006)

An eyeless creature holds out a hand with an eyeball on it
Warner Bros. Pictures

"I stopped it after the broken bottle scene."

u/placer128

Watch the trailer here:

12.Earthlings (2005)

Pigs in a barn
Nation Earth

"It's the documentary about animal abuse produced by Joaquin Phoenix. I never finished the film, but I went vegan after seeing it (six years ago)."

u/Loggerdon

Watch the trailer here:

13.I Saw the Devil (2010)

A woman looking frightened with her hands bound
Magnolia Pictures / ©Magnolia Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection

"It's a Korean horror movie about a serial killer. I saw it at an indie theater several years ago, and even though I didn't stop watching it, I thought about it."

u/Reverend_Tommy

Watch the trailer here:

14.Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father (2008)

A man kissing his baby son on the cheek
Oscilloscope Pictures / Oscilloscope Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection

"I did eventually finish it, though it was nonstop tears from the beginning to end."

u/isayfuckalot12099

Watch the trailer here:

15.Beasts of No Nation (2015)

A group of young people march forward, holding large guns
Netflix

"Holy fuck. You have to stop midway to have a cigarette and gather yourself."

u/witch_doctor_who

Watch the trailer here:

16.August Underground's Mordum (2003)

A woman sneers over an unconscious man
Toetag Pictures

"Only movie I had to stop. I did finish it, but I took a break. One of the most vicious movies I've ever seen. Makes A Serbian Film look like a Marvel movie."

u/ferox965

Watch the trailer here:

17.The Girl Next Door (2007)

A battered woman lying on a mattress
©Modern Distributors / Everett Collection

"It was based on a true story, and I couldn’t even get through the first half hour."

u/WeirdPotential2992

Watch the trailer here:

18.Green Room (2015)

A group of friends stand together, on man holding a gun
©A24 / courtesy Everett Collection

"Me and my girlfriend watch some pretty appalling movies, and I've never seen her flinch. She shut off this movie within 30 minutes. That movie is intense."

u/Affectionate_Box

Watch the trailer here:

19.The Invisible Man (2020)

A woman in a shower with a mysterious handprint on the glass behind her
© Universal Pictures / courtesy Everett Collection

"The one with Elisabeth Moss. Even knowing how it ends, the abuse was so real and gave me so much anxiety that I couldn't finish it."

u/maggyta10

Watch the trailer here:

20.Kids (1995)

A group of teenage boys stand together, looking at something offscreen
Shining Excalibur Pictures / ©Shining Excalibur Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection

"Not because it was violent or brutal necessarily, but because there was a 10 goddamn minute long scene of a girl being raped while unconscious. It’s the only movie I’ve turned off in disgust, and I’ve seen comparatively a whole lot worse."

u/cuppajess

Watch the trailer here:

21.Precious (2009)

A teenager sits next to a woman with a baby
Lions Gate / ©Lions Gate/Courtesy Everett Collection

"The movie as a whole was turned into a meme, but that scene where her mom was describing being in bed with her baby daughter while she was molested — I felt physically sick. I had to fast-forward and just watch the ending. So disturbing."

u/MugglesUnited

Watch the trailer here:

22.Trauma (2017)

A woman tied up while a man looks on, unbothered
© Artsploitation Films /Courtesy Everett Collection

"After the first 10 minutes, I just turned it off. I’ve seen so many gory, torture porn, shock factor movies without a care, but for some reason that movie in particular just made me go, 'Ya know what? No thanks. I’ve seen enough.'"

u/bluewolfgirl

Watch the trailer here:

23.Nightcrawler (2014)

A man looks at something outside at night
Chuck Zlotnick/©Open Road Films/Courtesy Everett Collection

"Great performance of a 'creepy' character. I actually stopped watching before the really fucked-up things started happening, simply because Jake Gyllenhaal's performance as a 'creepy person' was so good."

u/narvoxx

Watch the trailer here:

24.Irréversible (2002)

A woman leaning against a wall in a tunnel, looking up
Mars Distribution / Courtesy Everett Collection

"Years ago, me and a friend attempted to find the absolute most fucked-up horror movies we could find. We watched a bunch of the classic recommendations: A Serbian Film, Human Centipede, Cannibal Holocaust, Antichrist, Audition, etc. None of them even came close to making us uncomfortable enough to stop watching — then we found Irréversible."

"The scene that made us have to take a break was a scene where a woman is raped in a subway. The worst part was that it was nine minutes long and completely uncut. The camera was just set down on the ground in front of the woman's face for the entire nine minutes, and the scene dragged on and on. It felt too personal, like we were right there witnessing this terrible event unfold in real life, but unable to do anything about it. To this day it's still the only movie I've seen where I needed to stop and take a break."

u/devanmist

Watch the trailer here:

25.And finally: Audition (1999)

a woman holds a string up
Vitagraph Films Llc / ©Vitagraph Films LLC/Courtesy Everett Collection

"I walked out right after the when she was getting ready to cut the guy's foot off. Some other guy left at the same time, too, and fainted right in front of me. Hit his head on the floor. I stayed with him while the ambulance was called. One of the paramedics asked why I wanted to see a movie like that, but all I could say was that I had heard it was good. That movie turned me off of gore in films. I just don't like them anymore. Also, I am determined that, in the future, if someone faints, I should try to catch them."

u/PM_BITCOIN_AND_BOOBS

Watch the trailer here:

What's a movie or documentary so brutal, you had to turn it off, walk out of the theater, or take a break while watching? Share yours in the comments below!

Some responses were edited for length and/or clarity. H/T: Reddit.