Spoiler warning for Infinity Pool, Knock at the Cabin, Barbarian, The Menu, and The Killing of the Sacred Deer!!! I’ll be talking about how disturbing each film was, and that means detailing some of the more disturbing parts for me. 

• Infinity Pool 
• Quick synopsis: A man and his wife travel to an exotic island, but after committing a crime, the man is given the opportunity to pay his death penalty by creating a clone to die in his place. 
  • 10/10

One of my friends really really wanted to watch this movie because it’s the most recent A24 film. We spent a long time trying to find it in theatres, but it wasn’t showing in any theatre near us nor even at an appropriate time. The only theatre we found was 30 minutes away and it showed at 12:30. Am. 

We ended up renting it on Amazon Prime, and I soon understood why it wasn’t showing in theatres.

I rated this a 10/10 on my disturbing scale. It’s kind of like Midsommar but if you cranked the “disturbing” notch up a few pegs. The horror comes in bright colors and uncanny imagery, which can be both satisfying to watch and also extra uncomfortable. This movie definitely toys with downright strange and uncomfortable imagery, giving you the urge to close your eyes but also keep watching. This film isn’t afraid to show gore and other forms of body horror, and I found myself closing my eyes for the latter half of the movie. 

• Knock at the Cabin
• Quick synopsis: A couple and their daughter stay at a cabin for vacation. Soon, they receive 4 visitors, who tell them to sacrifice a member of their family in order to prevent the apocalypse. 
  • 3/10

The concept was really interesting, and most of the movie had me wondering whether the 4 intruders were insane or telling the truth. To be honest, if the intruders were part of a cult and they had genuine delusions, I would find this whole movie a lot more disturbing. Instead, their predictions of the apocalypse took away from the realism (which I find a lot scarier) of the movie.  

Overall, I really didn’t find this one too disturbing, but I really enjoyed it. The acting was great and the concept had me hooked the whole time. 

• Barbarian 
  • Quick synopsis: A woman stays at a rental home, only to find that it’s already occupied by a stranger. She decides to stay and learns that there are worse things that inhabit the home. 
  • 6/10

This one was pretty disturbing for me because it played on my personal fears. One of my weird and niche fears is to live in a temporary home like an AirBnB/hotel, and for someone to be still in the home while I’m living there. 

While it was uncomfortable, this one was pleasantly broken up with humor, so it didn’t feel so uncomfortable to watch. The ending was satisfying and the social commentary was amusing. 

The implied horror was more disturbing than the horror on the screen. Shots that included an empty bloody room with a bed and a camera, several VHS tapes with the names of various women, and evidence of a baby’s existence were more disturbing than the actual focus content itself. 

• The Menu
• Quick synopsis: A couple attends a tasting at an exclusive restaurant, only to realize they were never meant to leave.
  • 2/10

The concept of this one was really interesting but contrasted with all of the other movies that I’ve seen, this one was not very disturbing at all. 

I’d say the most uncomfortable thing was the cult-like following the sous chefs had for the head chef. Otherwise, this movie almost felt a little bland in the context of all of the other horror movies I’d seen. 

• The Killing of the Sacred Deer 
• Quick synopsis:A cardiovascular surgeon and his family slowly become more and more haunted by a boy named Martin.
  • 9/10

This one was also very uncomfortable to watch. The dialogue in this movie is stilted and unnatural. It’s also very hard to tell whether the warnings that Martin heeds are real or if he is just crazy. “The Killing of the Sacred Deer” is filled with uncomfortably realistic gore and unnatural human movements. The whole movie exceeds at being unsettling, and the ending just leaves you feeling gross inside. I felt like I needed to wash my brain and eyes. 

All in all, watching movies with my friends has been a really good escape from all of the stressors in my life. Horror movies especially…

[edit: bros i’m looking up these movie posters and I’M GETTING SCARED AGAIN]