Unlike most of those included here, this scene isn't hard-to-watch because it's violent. There's no weird sex stuff and there's nothing particularly tense about it, either. It's just weird. Endlessly, bizarrely and outright creepily weird, because what? What is this scene? Gummo is a very strange film that comes courtesy of director Harmony Korine, perhaps best known nowadays as the filmmaker behind Spring Breakers. It's a film built from experimental vignettes with no clear plot or set narrative. The moment occurs when the film hones in on a really odd-looking boy as he sits in a dirty tub being washed by his mum, and proceeds to gulp down a plate of spaghetti. That's enough to make you feel sick on its own, but there's even more: said child is given a chocolate bar, which he accidentally drops into the water, re-finds, and then eats like nothing happened. The whole thing is incredibly disgusting, with a set-up that seems to have been designed purposely as a way to make anyone watching super uncomfortable. Compared to the other entries on this list, Gummo's spaghetti scene might seem tame, but don't be fooled: it's just as hard-to-watch as any of them, albeit for different reasons.
Sam Hill is an ardent cinephile and has been writing about film professionally since 2008. He harbours a particular fondness for western and sci-fi movies.
