10 Emotionally Gutting Films That Wrecked Their Audiences

Now we come to a lesser known production from Jennifer Kent. The Nightingale takes place in a penal colony as Irish convict Clare Carroll (Aisling Franciosi) works as a servant in indentured labour to the British. Abusive soldiers oversee the prisoners gruesomely murder her family and she looks to track them down with help from an Aboriginal tracker named Billy (Baykali Ganambarr).

Yet ironically, Clare's push for revenge ends up feeling more futile than anything else, revealing the stark divide between herself, the soldiers, and the indigenous Australians who had their land stolen from them.

There is no catharsis when she finds and kills one of the perpetrators and little care is paid to her suffering by those who manage the colony. The absolute worst elements of British colonialism are put on full display as a convict is brutalised by corrupt soldiers. Sam Claflin plays the absolutely loathsome Lieutenant Hawkins, the main source of much of the film's horrors. At the time of its release it was so controversial that many mainstream critics walked out early on following its extreme depictions of rape and murder. The divide between all sides and the cruelty that ensues makes The Nightingale one that's sure to remain lodged in the mind of all who watch it.