As one of the most beloved genres,horror always treads new paths. From straight-up slashers to psychological horror, the genre is filled with movies that frighten the body and the mind. There are also films that were never meant to be horror, but have been classified as such because of their themes or storylines. One such kind are existential horrors.
These movies make the viewer question the characters' (and sometimes their own) sanity, or have them sitting in silence long after the credits wrap, wondering what life’s all about. Redditors in ther/moviesandr/horrorthreads took to discussing these types of films, and they pointed out some great, famous, and notoriously difficult movies.
10’Possession' (1981)
Possessionis one of the most famous films in the horror genre, and it’s a psychologically grueling story of a woman fighting to get out of a marriage, and her own demons. Although simplified in storyline, this is the most that can be said without spoiling the film for those that haven’t seen it.Isabelle Adjanigives it her all in a no-holds-barred portrayal of Anna.
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Possessionevokes existential crises in viewers for its use of doppelgängers. When asked why the idea of doppelgängers is so scary, theuser Axiom147 had a great answer: “We see each individual life as a separate entity. So when something comes along and “copies” us or “becomes” us or is actually another version of us, it completely destroys our outlook on how we view ourselves.”
9’Annihilation' (2018)
One of the best sci-fi horrors of the last ten years,Annihilationwas based on the same named novel byJeff VanderMeerand directed by the master of existential and suspenseful cinema,Alex Garland. Annihilation follows the biologist Lena (Natalie Portman) as she leads a team of experts into a zone that doesn’t seem to follow rules of nature.
As the team discovers a never-seen-before zone,they experience heavy existential momentsand life doesn’t move the way they expected.The commenter elerner explained it best: “There, decisions and actions are the only things that define a person, and thus, there is no such thing as a stable, permanent, “real” identity.”
8’Under the Skin' (2013)
The movie’s name,Under the Skin, feels almost like an entire explanation of the premise. The Woman (Scarlett Johansson) roams Scotland, seducing men. However, The Woman is an alien wearing a human skin, and seducing the men is how it feeds. When they are seduced, they are sucked into a different dimension, where they’re ultimately devoured.
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The human form gives the alien more time to consider its purpose; observing people, talking to them, the entity under the skin begins to question things.The Redditor aptly named Existential-Horror described it like this: “The protagonist goes through its own existential crisis over the meaning of its role/identity and is confronted by the absurdity of what its been “created” for, realising that it is fundamentally free to choose its own life.”
7’Melancholia' (2011)
Lars von Trier’sMelancholiamight be a tame film by his standards, but it’s still a heavy watch.Melancholiais also not classified as a horror film, but its premise and ending arefull of existential horrors. The movie opens with Justine’s (Kirsten Dunst) wedding day, a day during which she should seemingly be happy, but she can’t force herself to be.
Justine knows something no one else does - a planet called Melancholia is rapidly hurling towards Earth, and she’s fighting to reconcile her feelings with the fact.Melancholiais often considered existential horror; one Redditor wrote this about it: “I related a lot to Kirsten Dunst in this. That idea of depression making you expect the worst anyway, so you’re not as anxious as everyone else when it happens.”
6’Aniara' (2018)
Aniarais an underrated science fiction film which was, interestingly, based on a poem. The Swedish poetHarry Martinsonwrote an epic sci-fi poem of the same name about a passenger cargo ship wandering space after going off course. The 2000 passengers on the ship boarded it to escape destruction on Earth, but end up facing a dread-filled existential crisis.
This Swedish-Danish movie was dubbed an existential horror because of the despair that the passengers go through when they realize their ship’s off course. The Redditor tont0r described Aniara as “Pure dread and despair.” Although lesser known, it’sone of the best sci-fi horror films of the century.
5’Jacob’s Ladder' (1990)
Despite more modern filming styles and effects, the emotional toll of some cult classics can never be surpassed by such technology.Jacob’s Ladderis among the most mentioned existential horror films that question one’s sense of reality, memories, and the ability to deal with grief and loss.
Tim Robbinsdelivers a gut-punching performance as Jacob, a Vietnam War veteran dealing with PTSD, successfully immersing viewers into his psyche. In a thread dedicated toJacob’s Ladder,the Redditor Ok-Reality-9197 wrote: “Every scene worked to capture the paranoia and uneasiness that the main character was feeling while continually pulling me in deeper into his psyche.”
4’In the Mouth of Madness' (1994)
John Carpenteris the father of horror, but his magnificent feature,In the Mouth of Madness, is one of his most underrated films. AfterPossession,Sam Neilltakes another lead in a horror film - making him a sort ofcult classic scream king. Like Castle Rock, Derry, or any other Stephen King-universe town, Hobb’s End comes to life in all its monstrous glory here.
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Neill plays an insurance investigator seeking a missing horror writer, eventually ending up in Hobb’s End. The monsters depicted by the writer are much like those created byH.P. Lovecraft,which was an intentional homage by Carpenter. The movie is dubbed existential horror because it questions sanity, or,as Redditor fantasmal_killer said: “This idea of mass hysteria and how sanity on even a societal scale is just barely balanced at all times.”
3’Coherence' (2013)
Coherenceis a fairly unknown movie, but one that’s left a lasting impression on numerous people. The film follows a group of friends gathered for a house party/hangout while a comet passes over Earth. As this cosmic event unfolds, strange things start to happen - from losing phone signals to total loss of electricity, this is just the beginning of strange events.
Although not technically horror, the film’s sci-fi elements definitely evoke fear. Many Redditors putCoherencehigh on the list of movies that will awaken an existential dread in anyone watching it. When trying to recommend a movie with a topic like that, the user colter108 simply wrote: “Not horror but I was freaking terrified. Also, it will fuck up your mind.”
2’Lake Mungo' (2008)
How does one deal with grief, especially when losing a child? The parents (and brother) of 16-year-old Alice Palmer, who died by drowning, are forced to deal with the loss. After they start uncovering Alice’s life, they begin experiencing mysterious events. That causes them to invite a psychic Ray to help them see what’s behind the events.
Lake Mungobecomes a ghost story, an existential horror flick, and an intense drama by the end of its fairly short runtime.The user HermineLovesMilo said"What it did really well was to tap into existential dread and anxieties about the inevitability of death."
1’Enter the Void' (2009)
For viewers who want to spiral into realizations that everyone is mortal and trauma can define people, the movie most mentioned and recommended by Redditors isEnter the Void.Gaspar Noéis an interesting and fairly controversial director, but all of his films make a dent in the psyche in some way.
Enter the Voidis entirely from the first-person view of Oscar, a drug dealer in Tokyo who gets shot in nightclub. As Oscar’s life comes to an end, the viewers are led through intense flashbacks of his life, like a trip through purgatory. This is existential horror at its best and the neon colors make the film feel like a long acid trip. The user seekingeagle said this about it: “I’ll tell people about it, but I do not recommend it. The whole experience is traumatic.”
