10 Most Anxiety-Inducing Movie Scenes EVER

Nocturnal Animals's power to stress out its audience is second to none, with a story-within-a-story serving as a devastating examination of one man's struggle with grief, redemption, and vengeance. Edward has written a novel that he shares with his ex-wife, telling the story of Tony, a man on a 14 hour road trip through Texas. With his wife and daughter, the family hit a patch with no phone signal - right about the time a gang of troublemakers harasses them off the road.

It's here that things get incredibly sticky. Making any watcher instantly feel nauseous, a delicate situation that could snap at any second begins to unfold, where the gang use the guise of changing Tony's tire and reporting a collision to manipulate the family to their sick will.

Tony's non-confrontational nature seems to be the only thing saving him, as the men outnumber him and could easily overpower the family should he p*ss them off. Trying to keep his cool eventually works against him though, and he loses all grip in a slippery slope that results in his wife and daughter being abducted.

A glimmer of desperate hope flickers that they might yet come out unharmed as Tony escapes on his own, but it's one that's quickly snuffed out.