Image credit: Miramax, Artisan Entertainment, Lions Gate Films, Columbia Pictures, Twentieth Century Fox, Warner Bros., Tartan, Newmarket Films, New Line Cinema
Here are some of the movies that would give even Stanley Kubrick a run for his money.
10. Trainspotting (1996) Ewan McGregor stars as Renton, who along with his pals Sick Boy, Spud, and Begbie, explores the highs and devastating lows of drug addiction. The gang starts off in a euphoric daze but soon spirals into chaos. Renton tries to go clean multiple times but gets pulled back into the muck by his friends. He even moves to London to start fresh but returns to his old stomping grounds when things go south.
9. Requiem for a Dream (2000) Jared Leto, Jennifer Connelly, and Ellen Burstyn deliver gut-wrenching performances in this story of addiction and its horrific consequences. Harry (Leto) and Marion (Connelly) are a young couple striving for a better life but find themselves spiraling into heroin addiction. Simultaneously, Harry's mom, Sara (Burstyn), gets hooked on amphetamines in her quest to lose weight for a TV show appearance.
From selling the TV for drug money to enduring electroshock therapy, this film spares no one.
8. Fight Club (1999) Who doesn't know the first rule of Fight Club? Edward Norton plays the unnamed protagonist suffering from insomnia and disillusionment with his white-collar job. He starts attending support groups for ailments he doesn't have, where he meets Marla (Helena Bonham Carter).
His life takes a dark turn when he crosses paths with Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt), and together they form Fight Club, a secret society that allows men to physically fight one another. As the club gains popularity, Tyler begins to take more extremist measures.
7. Oldboy (2003) This South Korean neo-noir action thriller is not for the faint-hearted. Oh Daesu (Choi Minsik) is mysteriously imprisoned in a hotel-like room for 15 years and then released without explanation. Hell-bent on revenge and finding his captor, Daesu goes on a violent rampage.
Along the way, he meets Mido, a young sushi chef, and becomes romantically involved with her. He eventually discovers his captor, Woojin, who gives him five days to figure out why he was imprisoned, or Mido dies.
6. Donnie Darko (2001) Donnie Darko, played by Jake Gyllenhaal, is a troubled teenager plagued by visions of a large rabbit named Frank who manipulates him to commit a series of crimes. Frank tells Donnie that the world will end in 28 days, a prophecy that haunts him throughout the film. At the same time, Donnie grapples with family drama, social angst, and a new romantic relationship.
As the doomsday prophecy looms closer, Donnie's actions grow more bizarre, leading to an increasingly dark mess of reality, hallucination, and possibly even time travel.
5. No Country for Old Men (2007) The film opens with Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin) stumbling upon a drug deal gone bad in the Texas desert. He finds a briefcase full of $2 million and decides to take it, kicking off a deadly game of cat and mouse. Hot on his trail is Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem), a psychopathic hitman who flips a coin to decide people's fate.
Tommy Lee Jones plays the weary Sheriff Bell, who tries to make sense of the escalating violence. Moss tries to evade Chigurh by crossing the border into Mexico, but things go south real quick.
4. Se7en (1995) What's in the box? If you know, you know. Detectives Mills (Brad Pitt) and Somerset (Morgan Freeman) are on the hunt for a serial killer who uses the seven deadly sins as his modus operandi. The first victim is an obese man forced to eat until his stomach ruptures, representing gluttony.
The sins keep coming, each more gruesome than the last, and the tension between the seasoned Somerset and the hot-headed Mills escalates.
3. Taxi Driver (1976) "Are you talking to me?" says Travis Bickle, the disturbed Vietnam vet turned taxi driver played by Robert De Niro. Frustrated with the decay and corruption he perceives in New York City, Bickle decides to take matters into his own hands.
He becomes obsessed with a political campaign worker named Betsy but is quickly rejected. This drives him further into madness. He arms himself to the teeth and starts planning to assassinate a senator but pivots to rescuing a prostitute named Iris.
2. The Shining (1980) Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) takes a job as a winter caretaker for the Overlook Hotel, bringing along his wife Wendy and son Danny. At first, the gig seems like an ideal way for Jack to focus on his writing. But soon, the hotel's malevolent supernatural influences start messing with his mind. Danny has psychic abilities and sees terrifying visions of the hotel's past. Of course, things don't go well.
1. American Psycho (2000) Christian Bale takes on the role of Patrick Bateman, a wealthy New York investment banker by day and a serial killer by night. Obsessed with status and materialism, Bateman goes on a killing spree while maintaining a facade of normalcy.
The film explores his deranged mind, showing us his affinity for Huey Lewis and the News, his meticulous skincare routine, and of course, his love for bloodshed. As the body count rises, Bateman's grasp on reality loosens.
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