"Shame," And 11 Other Films You'll Only Want To Watch Once

Steve McQueen's "Shame" -- the NC-17 film starring Michael Fassbender as a sex addict and Carey Mulligan as his damaged younger sister -- hits theaters today. But don't go expecting to envy Fassbender for his bustling sex life -- "Shame" is a snapshot of two very broken people dealing with their misery in different ways. Once you've seen it, you may feel grateful to McQueen for taking you into their psyches -- but you probably won't want to go back anytime soon.

"Shame" is a part of the vast and varied canon of films that achieve the same effect. These are the movies critics tend to describe as "harrowing," the movies that leave you with the sense that the world is broken, and probably can't be fixed, that people are damaged, often irreparably so, that when you choose to walk out onto the street to live your life, chances are, something terrible will happen, or has already happened -- you just haven't realized it yet.

Some subjects are richer for this kind of filmmaking. It's a good bet that any movie focusing on murder, pedophilia, addiction, prostitution or any similar material is not going to fill your soul with sunshine, though it might just be the cathartic self-flagellation you were looking for.

Read on for our list of movies that you should see at least once -- though you might need a hug afterwards:

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Comments

[dondodondo]

12:30 PM on 11/23/2012

I nominate Henry, Portrait of a Serial Killer. Once was definitely enough.

[MIchaelXYZ]

08:41 PM on 03/22/2012

Agree that Irréversible was the most difficult movie I've ever watched, and would never watch again. I'd forgotten the name of it though, until reading the comments here. Before I did, I stumbled across Memento, which I might also nominate. Not quite as dark, but two Ralph Fiennes movies I would never sit through again are Oscar and Lucinda, and The English Patient.

[Mike-Honcho]

02:29 AM on 01/17/2012

I've seen Salo, and a few of those movies mentioned dozens of timed each. Salo is AMAZING!

[TallThinMan]

03:20 PM on 01/02/2012

My newest movie review tackles film and social justice
Great stuff.....
http://www.examiner.com/foreign-films-in-san-diego/even-the-rain-a-struggle-within-a-struggle

[cree1997]

10:45 PM on 12/29/2011

After watching those trailers looks like Hollywood has given us another bumper crop of the sick lives they think everyone needs to see. We wonder why our world is so sick and violent nowdays.

[theroundearth]

07:10 PM on 12/29/2011

The Cable Guy (1996) by Ben Stiller was a strange depressing comedy with Jim Carrey -- watching it as a horror film, though, was kind of disturbingly enjoyable.

[Kimberly Colley]

12:06 PM on 12/29/2011

Winter's Bone?

[Isabella85]

01:55 AM on 12/29/2011

Whatever I've seen Blue Valentine 3 or 4 times already. Eventually I'll see it again. Sure it's kind of depressing but it's not disturbing to the point where you can't sit through it again. Schindller's List is a movie you only need to see once. I agree with everyone who said Irreversible. Monster has some moments that are extremely difficult to watch, but overall Charlize Theron's acting is so brilliant that you might sit through it again just to see the way she carries that film so well.

[InABox]

02:07 AM on 12/28/2011

That "Salo" trailer was so over-the-top I couldn't help but laugh. Does that make me sick? ;o)

[charon]

02:01 AM on 12/28/2011

Personally, I prefer Pink Flamingos. Not quite of this genre, it is tangentially related. A beautiful psychotic episode.

[Matt12]

04:58 PM on 12/21/2011

"Shame" is an incomplete story with gratuitous frontal nudity: why does he act the way he does; what caused his inability to develop intimacy? Even his "desperation for a quick fix" is not well developed.

[Mallory Pope]

05:39 PM on 12/08/2011

Larry Clark directec Kids. Harmony Korine wrote the screenplay.

[mburgh]

05:33 PM on 12/07/2011

The Neil LuBute film "The Shape of Things" is also a difficult film.

[Json]

05:30 PM on 12/07/2011

How about 'Happiness' and 'Welcome to the Dollhouse'?

[drawingthings]

11:39 PM on 12/06/2011

you left off Irreversible. holy moly.

[boston33]

01:29 AM on 12/07/2011

My first thought exactly.