There’s a chance that at some point in your life, when you were watching a film in a theater or at home, you actually covered your eyes. Forget experiences during childhood, when someone else probably did it for you. Sometimes, covering your eyes means simply looking away, and doing what Nicolas Cage did during 8 mm and that terrible scene. Chances are something terrible was taking place on the screen, and it probably had some violence in it.
Sure, there are disgusting 'video nasty' style films which relish their own gore, and low-budget or arthouse movies with visceral violence that few people see. But most of the time, scenes of such nature aren’t well shot, and are probably missing the element of realism that would make the events more credible, if ever there was a need for it. There are many ways to tell a violent story, and violence doesn’t even have to be extremely graphic to represent realism. Sometimes, it’s not even as physical as it is emotional.
With all that in mind, we came up with a list of more mainstream films with the most realistic violence in their final cut (because let's face it, some of these movies probably had more than what you just saw). Nevertheless, what was left in the theatrical cut made you squirm, and probably had such authentic violence that some viewers' hands hid eyes.
Enjoy!
8 The Revenant
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In Alejandro González Iñarritu’s The Revenant, man is submitted to a journey of endurance that excels belief. It’s a visual experience with a plot that frequently gets put on the back burner due to the film’s technical side and emphasis on aesthetics, which are nothing short of amazing.
Visual effects and makeup are essential to the film’s violent scenes. You will believe Leonardo DiCaprio was being attacked by the bear because of good editing, effects, and a post-attack sequence that’s incredibly realistic. This is a western, but it’s also a war movie, with man at war with nature and vice versa.
7 Eastern Promises
David Cronenberg’s career is mostly based in body horror. No question about it. However, his latest work is more grounded and almost never addresses the supernatural elements which made the director so famous. In Eastern Promises, violence is a gift from the Russian mafia that will show its teeth whenever possible.
The iconic bathroom sequence is very violent, but not to the extreme. However, it feels organic and tangible, mostly thanks to Viggo Mortensen’s pristine performance, with the actor and stunt coordinators unable to hide or disguise just about anything, considering his nudity
6 12 Years A Slave
In Steve McQueen’s 12 Years A Slave, one of history’s most shameful moments is depicted in all its ugliness. Slavery was horrific. It’s very well documented, but in McQueen’s film, the violence is brought to life from the past and is as graphic as it is psychological. This is one of those films that most people will find impossible to rewatch due to the racial violence, and how it shrouds the whole film under a veil of absolute terror.
5 A History of Violence
Cronenberg and Mortensen show up yet again with a film that carries a key word in its title. A History of Violence is mostly a dramatic film, but its action scenes are incredibly gruesome and well-shot, with a bone-crunching relentlessness to them that simply doesn't exist in most action sequences.
There’s nothing more chaotic about a man who hides a monster inside himself, and suddenly decides to let that monster go. This was one of the first times in which Cronenberg strayed from the gross spectacle in favor of a more grounded version of this awakening that doesn’t end well, and it worked out wonderfully.
4 Bully
Larry Clark’s Bully is terribly hard to watch. Clark has always gone for deep dives in worlds where adolescence is an inevitable fault in modern society. These kids really misbehave. In Kids, he made a point, but in Bully, he takes one step further and injects malice in the system.
Troubled youth isn’t new in cinema, but in Clark’s universe, this means they will act violently, never think before acting, and will never stop when they should. Bully’s realistic violence is proof of a reality which society constantly fails to address.
3 Saving Private Ryan
The horrors of World War II had to show up in the list with its most notable film. Steven Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan was the director’s response to those who said his Schindler's List wasn’t as commercial as it should have been. With this one, he made a statement so powerful, some people left the theater for the first time in a Spielberg film.
Regardless, he just shot what he heard in stories about the war. Guts and wails filled the screen as soldiers were massacred in one of the most realistic depictions of war we have ever witnessed.
2 The Passion of the Christ
Some of us still wonder if The Passion of the Christ would have been as successful if it hadn’t been as violent, but ultimately, any adaptation of the crucifixion would have to be violent to be biblically accurate. Mel Gibson’s film about the last hours of Jesus is a horrific retelling of one of the Bible’s most adaptable moments.
People attended theaters in droves and witnessed a film that materialized what’s still displayed in churches, museums, and other cinematic interpretations — Jesus suffered (and wept). Whether you’re religious or not, you will find yourself disturbed by the violence on the screen. There was a limit to what you could do, and Gibson confidently crossed it and changed religious cinema forever.
1 Snowtown (AKA The Snowtown Murders)
Few films are able to compel audiences to need a rest. Justin Kurzel’s Snowtown is probably one of them. Based on the true story about a series of murders in Australia, the film tells everything from a young man’s perspective. He has suffered violence at home; both physical and psychological abuse are part of his days. But then a kind man arrives. He promises to change the teenager’s life, and his brothers’ as well.
What this “angel” is hiding is something horrific that’s evidenced slowly by the audience who comes to terms with the reality in Snowtown. The bathtub scene is something vieweres will probably never watch again for its gruesome depiction of lines that should never have to be crossed in cinema. Yes, it’s hard to believe the actor didn’t suffer a bit.