10 Harrowing Movies You Can’t Watch Twice

10. Grave Of The Fireflies

Don't let the Studio Ghibli branding fool you. Grave of the Fireflies is anything but another whimsical adventure in the vein of Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away, nor is it your typical World War II movie. It's told from the afterlife as the spirits of its two protagonists recount their final days in battle-scarred Japan.

The movie shuns the global ramifications of the war and Japan's Axis role, instead focusing on the personal tragedies that arise when a nation takes up arms.

The story follows two young siblings who lose the rest of their family in an air raid, and suffer one depressing hardship after another from that point. Things hit rock bottom for the brothers when the eldest of the two is forced to turn to a life of crime to prevent them from starving to death in their new home, an abandoned bomb shelter.

You won't find many bleaker films than Grave of the Fireflies, nor will you find too many with a more powerful message to ram home. Anyone who tries to argue that animation is just for kids won't know what hit 'em if you make them sit through this.