***Warning: This list is full of major spoilers.***

Some of these films are brilliant, but…they will depress the hell out of you.

They will break your heart. Haunt you for days. Weeks. Months.

Make sure you’re in the right frame of mind before proceeding with a viewing. You may need a walk at the park and a rom-com to cheer you up afterward.

If you’re brave and and enjoy unflinching portrayals of all life experiences, worry not. I offer suggestions to soothe the soul.

I’ve worked on this list in my mind over many years; it’s not comprehensive but it’s a start. I’m sure there are many more films to add that I haven’t watched yet, such as Civil War starring Kirsten Dunst.

10. Sicilian Ghost Story. Logline: Against a heavy cloak of secrecy, a 12-year-old girl smitten with her handsome classmate ventures deeper and deeper into the enchanted Sicilian forests to find him, unaware of just how thick is the mystery behind his strange disappearance. (IMDb)

This film was sooooo good and poetic and beautifully filmed. I loved it. And hated the sad ending.

Rx: School Spirits. Logline: Maddie, a teen stuck in the afterlife investigating her own disappearance, goes on a crime-solving mission as she adjusts to high-school purgatory. Humor helps balance the murder mystery.

9. Dancer In The Dark. Logline: An Eastern European US immigrant with a love for musicals has to cope with the gradual loss of her vision. (IMDb)

I don’t remember much about this film except that the protagonist played by Bjork is executed by hanging. Stories of injustice are the most difficult for me to endure. I avoid them.

The production pushed the actress to the brink of a nervous breakdown. Two Lars Von Trier films appear on this list. Protect your mental health: avoid his films.

Rx: Música. Logline: A coming-of-age love story that follows an aspiring creator with synesthesia, who must come to terms with an uncertain future, while navigating the pressures of love, family, and his Brazilian culture in Newark, New Jersey. (IMDb) This is next on my watch list and looks like the perfect antidote. Also appreciate the representation! Two Latino lead actors.

8. Melancholia. Logline: Two sisters find their already strained relationship challenged as a mysterious new planet threatens to collide with Earth. (IMDb)

If you can make it past the first 20 or so minutes in which the main character is seemingly frozen in time and space, save for infinitesimal movement, you’re treated to some verrrrry awkward scenes with Alexander Scaarsgaard, who is perfect as an eager and clueless new husband.

The opening sequence is a visually stunning metaphor for clinical depression. Eventually, a rogue planet collides with Earth. This Lars Von Trier film won a bunch of awards and is considered a masterpiece by some. But…ouch. This hurts.

Rx: Seeking a Friend for the End of the World and Don’t Look Up have the same end-of-the-world outcome but the humor, tenderness of human connection, friendship, and romance balance the tragedy.

7. Anna Karenina. Logline: In late-19th-century Russian high society, St. Petersburg aristocrat Anna Karenina enters into a life-changing affair with the dashing Count Alexei Vronsky. (IMDb)

Unhappy in her marriage. Passionate affair. Lover eventually tires of her. She throws herself off a train.

If you must, watch this film adaptation of the classic novel by Leo Tolstoy for the beautiful people, costumes, and cinematography. Also…Aaron Taylor-Johnson is smokin’ hot.

Rx: Pride & Prejudice for a sumptuous, romantic feast of a movie. It will cure you of the depression you’ll feel witnessing Anna Karenina’s tragic fate (which is probably not a favorite of feminists).

6. Submergence. Logline: James and Danielle meet on vacation and fall in love. She’s going to the dark North Atlantic bottom to find life. He’s going to Somalia to find a terrorist but gets a dark cell. (IMDb)

Alicia Vikander and James McAvoy are always great and this love story is enthralling. But you can guess what happens.

Rx: Any of the X-Men movies starring McAvoy as a young Charles Xavier.

5. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga. Logline: The origin story of renegade warrior Furiosa before her encounter and teamup with Mad Max. (IMDb)

The horrible death of Furiosa’s mother is bad enough, but the horrible death of Praetorian Jack* ruined the entire movie for me. Her mentor was the one good man who treated her with respect and kindness. Maybe their relationship would’ve evolved into something more. But it’s a post-apocalyptic wasteland. I get it. No one achieves “happily ever after.” At least not in this installment of the series.

It’s interesting, though, to see the title character’s origin story. Persevering moviegoers are treated to scenes from Mad Max: Fury Road as the credits scroll, reminding us of how Furiosa’s vengeance arc concludes: victorious.

Rx: Watch this fan-made compilation of all the tender and touching will-they-or-won’t-they Cormoran and Robin scenes from Tom Burke and Holliday Granger’s TV series C.B. Strike to cheer yourself up. (*He lives! Always…in my heart.) Bonus material: comic scenes from the same series, and a second more of important footage of the final scene in which he almost places his hand on her back as they walk away.

Note: C.B. Strike is based on the bestselling detective novels by Robert Galbraith, the pen name for J.K. Rowling, who is famous for writing the beloved Harry Potter novels but also infamous for being a trans-exclusionary radical feminist (TERF). Cue the sound of millions of Harry Potter fans’ hearts breaking.

Here’s an excerpt from National Women’s Law Center: “It Bears Repeating: Trans Women Are Women: Like most extremist groups, TERFs do not share opinions with the majority of our country. Support for trans people and the fight for trans rights remains steadily on the rise—but that doesn’t make the TERF movement any less dangerous. The obsession with legislating, tracking, and surveilling trans bodies is the same playbook being used to ban abortion and strip away bodily autonomy for people with the capacity for pregnancy. The goal is always control. They can call it “radical feminism” or being “gender critical,” but it doesn’t change the truth. And if history has taught us anything, an attack on one of us is an attack on us all.”

4. Requiem for a Dream. Logline: The drug-induced utopias of four Coney Island people are shattered when their addictions run deep. (IMDb)

The ugliest rock bottom you could ever imagine. Watch Jennifer Connelly’s Vanity Fair interview about one scene with co-star Jared Leto, then read the comments about how everyone who watched it was traumatized.

Rx: Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle. Seriously. You’ll laugh.

You’ll also appreciate the representation. Who doesn’t love John Cho? Logline: A Korean-American office worker and his Indian-American stoner friend embark on a quest to satisfy their desire for White Castle burgers.

3. Aniara. Logline: A spaceship carrying settlers to Mars is knocked off course, causing the consumption-obsessed passengers to consider their place in the universe. (IMDb)

The survivors drift through space without fuel, enduring depression, suicide attempts, and dwindling supplies. They increasingly seek refuge in a virtual reality meditation room. In one of the final scenes, 20 years later, about eight people — the lone survivors — sit in a circle in prayer. 10,000 years later, the spaceship drifts past Earth.

Rx: The rom-com Moonshot starring Lana Condor and Cole Sprouse, which features a much happier Earth-to-Mars journey.

Even better is If You Were The Last featuring the chemistry-is-off-the-charts duo of Zoë Chao and Anthony Mackey. Drifting through space was never more fun and swoony. One of my new favorite rom-coms of all time.

2. Blue Valentine. Logline: The relationship of a contemporary married couple, charting their evolution over a span of years by cross-cutting between time periods.

Ryan Gosling transforms from hot, exciting musician boyfriend into house-painting, resigned dad whose wife is repulsed by him. Torture.

Rx: Ryan’s “I’m Just Ken” Oscars performance. Watch it whenever needed to restore your faith in humanity.

1. Atonement. Cecilia and Robbie. Rich girl, poor boy. A passionate affair. After being torn apart by a false accusation that sends him to prison and then to war, the two lovers never see each other again. He dies of sepsis due to an infected wound, and she drowns in an underground flood after a Tube station bombing.

This movie haunted me for months. Aside from James McAvoy and Keira Knightly’s intense performances, the only good thing about this movie was that it launched Saoirse Ronan’s brilliant career.

Rx: Watch Greta Gerwig’s Little Women, Love Actually, and Penelope to see these actors in happier movies.

There you have it. Which depressing film would you add to this list? Oh. Never mind. Apologies for bringing it up. Erase it from your memory. Now, go treat yourself to an ice cream and rom-com, such as My Lady Jane based on the best-selling novel, or Earl’s Trip by Jenny Holiday.

Notes: I link to The Cherry Picks whenever possible to promote reviews and essays by women and non-binary movie critics. Visit to show your support! IMDb is good for loglines (one-sentence summaries of the plot) and a comprehensive database but its policy of claiming ownership of reviews published by website users still rankles.

Kat Valdez watches mostly rom-coms and heartwarming indie films to keep her spirits up while dealing with the state of the world (such as Thelma, inspired by writer-director Josh Margolin’s own grandmother…although you’ll want to suspend your annoyance at ageist tropes).

At other times you can find her playing the Pianos About Town or writing at the thrilling intersection of pop culture and racial equity.

TheDefiantCurtsy.com Pop culture through an equity and inclusion lens