10 Movies That Totally Destroyed You
9. Melancholia
Lars Von Trier's Melancholia, if its title didn't give it away, is all about sadness. The first half follows Justine, suffering through an intense depressive episode on her wedding night, while the second half focuses on her sister Claire's struggle to come to terms with the fact that the world is about to end.
The first chapter in particular, which is just pure abject misery put to screen, revels in uncomfortable, intimate sequences of self destruction. Watching Dunst's character, on what's supposed to be the happiest day of her life, completely crumble while under the watchful eye of her friends and family, is horrible, in part because it's far too relatable.
Things get more abstract and existential in the second half as the entire world is literally about to explode, but it's still kept personal and grounded not only by the intimate filming techniques Von Trier adopts, but because the apocalyptic scenario perfectly reflects the crippling fatalism Justine feels every single day.
It's not totally free of the director's occasionally eye-rolling trappings, but Melancholia is undeniably a difficult, harrowing - yet powerful - watch from beginning to end.