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Can You Handle This? The 10 Most Intense Movies To Stream On Netflix

Do you consider yourself a tough guy? Think you can handle the most extreme, mind-blowing, unnerving movies ever made? Well, here’s a list of films that will challenge your sensibilities and your patience, and each one is available to stream on Netflix. We’ve got cerebral dramas, intense and trippy thrillers, and even some downright gruesome features that will put your endurance to the test.

10

'Upstream Color' (2013)

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Photo: Everett Collection

Shane Caruth’s mind-melding thriller is a curious film about a woman (played by Amy Seimetz) who is kidnapped, drugged, and mysteriously given strange mental tasks to complete before her abductor leaves her in an abandoned SUV on the side of the road. Soon thereafter, she meets a man (Carruth) who had a similar experience, and the two join forces to learn their secrets. A bizarre, cerebral drama, Upstream Color rewards its viewers with a surprising ending — assuming they make it to the end of the film. [Where to stream Upstream Color]

9

'Enter the Void' (2009)

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Photo: IFC; Courtesy Everett Collection

Gaspar Noé’s trippy, psychedelic drama follows an American drug dealer named Oscar who has an out-of-body experience after a gunshot wound. A bizarre, evocative, existential film, Enter the Void takes its viewers on a madcap, mind-blowing journey thanks to its first-person perspective and intense, hallucinatory visuals. [Where to stream Enter the Void]

8

'The Machinist' (2004)

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Photo: Paramount Classics; Courtesy Everett Collection

Christian Bale infamously dropped 62 pounds for his role in Brad Anderson’s critically acclaimed psychological thriller. Bale plays the titular machinist who slowly descends into madness when his insomnia makes him more paranoid of the world around him. Weighing in at around 120 pounds, Bale’s emaciated figure is just one of the unnerving aspects of the film that makes it a tough one to watch. [Where to stream The Machinist]

7

'Wetlands' (2013)

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Photo: Strand Releasing; Courtesy Everett Collection

Charlotte Roche’s controversial 2008 novel was turned into a shocking comedy about a young woman’s sexual awakening. At times both hilarious and graphic, the German coming-of-age film has been described by many critics to be one of the most disgusting movies ever made. But if you can handle the raunch, you’re in for a delightful cinematic experience. [Where to stream Wetlands]

6

'Battle Royale' (2000)

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Photo: Anchor Bay; Courtesy Everett Collection

Love The Hunger Games but wish those teens would really rip the hell out of each other? Battle Royale is for you. A class of Japanese students are abducted and drugged by the government and placed on an island. Fitted with electronic collars that track their every move, the students are instructed to fight to the death until only one remaining student stands. The film was both critically acclaimed and universally controversial, even getting banned in Germany. [Where to stream Battle Royale]

5

'Oldboy' (2003)

Oldboy
Photo: Tartan Films; Courtesy Everett Collection

Forget Spike Lee’s timid remake and stick to the Korean original. After being held hostage in a hotel room for 15 years, Oh Dae-su is released unexpectedly and goes on a rampage to find his missing daughter and the people responsible for his kidnapping in Park Chan-wook’s brutal, yet brilliant, tale of revenge. [Where to stream Oldboy]

4

'Funny Games' (1997)

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Photo: Attitude Films; Courtesy Everett Collection

Austrian auteur Michael Haneke directed this psychological thriller that tests the patience of its characters and its audience alike. A wealthy family visiting their lakeside vacation home get a deadly visit from two young men, dressed in identical tennis whites, who hold them hostage and push their boundaries through sadistic mind games and violent tasks. [Where to stream Funny Games]

3

'The Human Centipede: First Sequence' (2009)

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Photo: IFC; Courtesy Everett Collection

Here’s a movie even I won’t watch — I couldn’t even make it through the trailer — but if you have a stronger stomach and can handle the notion of a crazed scientist stitching three human bodies together from mouth to anus, by all means: go nuts and watch it. [Where to stream The Human Centipede: First Sequence]

2

'Antichrist' (2009)

antichrist
Photo: IFC; Courtesy Everett Collection

Lars Von Trier’s most personal film is also his toughest. An unnamed couple (Willem Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg) retreat to a cabin in the woods to grieve the death of their young child. Secluded in the depths of the woods, they both begin to lose their grip on sanity and soon experience to nature of evil — and the evil of nature. [Where to stream Antichrist]

1

'Irreversible' (2002)

irreversible
Photo courtesy Everett Collection

Monica Bellucci and Vincent Cassell star as a star-crossed French couple in Gaspar Noé’s intense and gruesome thriller. The polarizing film is told backwards, with Cassell’s beleaguered character exacting revenge for his partner’s brutal sexual assault. It’s not for the squeamish, but it’s a searing, provocative film that examines the nature of fate and revenge. [Where to stream Irreversible]

 

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