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Movies where evil wins

No last-minute rescue, no comeuppance, no arc of justice. These are the films with the nerve to let the wrong side win, and they stay with you precisely because of it. Some of the greatest endings ever filmed are on this list for exactly that reason.

Can't choose? Answer three questions and get one movie for tonight.

Fair warning: this premise is itself a spoiler. Every film here ends badly for someone good.

No Country for Old Men poster
No Country for Old Men
2007 · dir. Joel Coen
🍅 93%★ 8.2crime · thriller · westernParamount+Peacock

Llewelyn Moss stumbles upon dead bodies, $2 million and a hoard of heroin in a Texas desert, but methodical killer Anton Chigurh comes looking for it, with local sheriff Ed Tom Bell hot on his trail. The roles of prey and predator blur as the violent pursuit of money and justice collide.

Se7en poster
Se7en
1995 · dir. David Fincher
🍅 84%★ 8.6crime · mystery · thrillerParamount+

Two homicide detectives are on a desperate hunt for a serial killer whose crimes are based on the "seven deadly sins" in this dark and haunting film that takes viewers from the tortured remains of one victim to the next. The seasoned Det. Somerset researches each sin in an effort to get inside the killer's mind, while his novice partner, Mills, scoffs at his efforts to unravel the case.

The Usual Suspects poster
The Usual Suspects
1995 · dir. Bryan Singer
🍅 87%★ 8.5drama · crime · thrillerMax

Held in an L.A. interrogation room, Verbal Kint attempts to convince the feds that a mythic crime lord, Keyser Soze, not only exists, but was also responsible for drawing him and his four partners into a multi-million dollar heist that ended with an explosion in San Pedro harbor – leaving few survivors. Verbal lures his interrogators with an incredible story of the crime lord's almost supernatural prowess.

Rosemary's Baby poster
Rosemary's Baby
1968 · dir. Roman Polanski
🍅 97%★ 8drama · horror · thrillerParamount+

A young couple, Rosemary and Guy, moves into an infamous New York apartment building, known by frightening legends and mysterious events, with the purpose of starting a family.

Chinatown poster
Chinatown
1974 · dir. Roman Polanski
🍅 98%★ 8.1crime · mystery · thriller

Private eye Jake Gittes lives off of the murky moral climate of sunbaked, pre-World War II Southern California. Hired by a beautiful socialite to investigate her husband's extra-marital affair, Gittes is swept into a maelstrom of double dealings and deadly deceits, uncovering a web of personal and political scandals that come crashing together.

A Clockwork Orange poster
A Clockwork Orange
1971 · dir. Stanley Kubrick
🍅 86%★ 8.2science fiction · crimeMax

In a near-future Britain, young Alexander DeLarge and his pals get their kicks beating and raping anyone they please. When not destroying the lives of others, Alex swoons to the music of Beethoven. The state, eager to crack down on juvenile crime, gives an incarcerated Alex the option to undergo an invasive procedure that'll rob him of all personal agency. In a time when conscience is a commodity, can Alex change his tune?

Gone Girl poster
Gone Girl
2014 · dir. David Fincher
🍅 88%★ 8.1mystery · thriller · drama

With his wife's disappearance having become the focus of an intense media circus, a man sees the spotlight turned on him when it's suspected that he may not be innocent.

Nightcrawler poster
Nightcrawler
2014 · dir. Dan Gilroy
🍅 95%★ 7.8crime · drama · thrillerNetflix

When Lou Bloom, desperate for work, muscles into the world of L.A. crime journalism, he blurs the line between observer and participant to become the star of his own story. Aiding him in his effort is Nina, a TV-news veteran.

Hereditary poster
Hereditary
2018 · dir. Ari Aster
🍅 90%★ 7.3horror · mystery · thrillerPrime VideoMax

Following the death of the Leigh family matriarch, Annie and her children uncover disturbing secrets about their heritage. Their daily lives are not only impacted, but they also become entangled in a chilling fate from which they cannot escape, driving them to the brink of madness.

The Mist poster
The Mist
2007 · dir. Frank Darabont
🍅 74%★ 7.1horror · science fiction · thrillerPrime Video

After a violent storm, a dense cloud of mist envelops a small Maine town, trapping David Drayton and his five-year-old son in a local grocery store with other local residents. They soon discover that the mist conceals deadly horrors that threaten their lives, and worse, their sanity.

Primal Fear poster
Primal Fear
1996 · dir. Gregory Hoblit
🍅 77%★ 7.7crime · drama · thrillerParamount+

Defense attorney Martin Vail takes on jobs for money and prestige rather than any sense of the greater good. His latest case involves an altar boy, accused of brutally murdering the archbishop of Chicago. Vail finds himself up against his ex-pupil and ex-lover, but as the case progresses and the Church's dark secrets are revealed, Vail finds that what appeared a simple case takes on a darker, more dangerous aspect.

The Talented Mr. Ripley poster
The Talented Mr. Ripley
1999 · dir. Anthony Minghella
🍅 85%★ 7.4thriller · crime · dramaParamount+Starz

Tom Ripley is a calculating young man who believes it's better to be a fake somebody than a real nobody. Opportunity knocks in the form of a wealthy U.S. shipbuilder who hires Tom to travel to Italy to bring back his playboy son, Dickie. Ripley worms his way into the idyllic lives of Dickie and his girlfriend, plunging into a daring scheme of duplicity, lies and murder.

American Psycho poster
American Psycho
2000 · dir. Mary Harron
🍅 69%★ 7.6thriller · drama · crimePrime VideoHulu

A wealthy New York investment banking executive hides his alternate psychopathic ego from his co-workers and friends as he escalates deeper into his illogical, gratuitous fantasies.

Oldboy poster
Oldboy
2003 · dir. Park Chan-wook
🍅 82%★ 8.3thriller · mysteryRent or buy

With no clue how he came to be imprisoned, drugged and tortured for 15 years, a desperate man seeks revenge on his captors.

There Will Be Blood poster
There Will Be Blood
2007 · dir. Paul Thomas Anderson
🍅 91%★ 8.2dramaPrime VideoParamount+

Ruthless silver miner, turned oil prospector, Daniel Plainview, moves to oil-rich California. Using his son to project a trustworthy, family-man image, Plainview cons local landowners into selling him their valuable properties for a pittance. However, local preacher Eli Sunday suspects Plainview's motives and intentions, starting a slow-burning feud that threatens both their lives.

Midsommar poster
Midsommar
2019 · dir. Ari Aster
🍅 83%★ 7.1horror · drama · mysteryPrime VideoMax

Several friends travel to Sweden to study as anthropologists a summer festival that is held every ninety years in the remote hometown of one of them. What begins as a dream vacation in a place where the sun never sets, gradually turns into a dark nightmare as the mysterious inhabitants invite them to participate in their disturbing festive activities.

The Killing of a Sacred Deer poster
The Killing of a Sacred Deer
2017 · dir. Yorgos Lanthimos
🍅 79%★ 7drama · thriller · mysteryMax

Dr. Steven Murphy is a renowned cardiovascular surgeon who presides over a spotless household with his wife and two children. Lurking at the margins of his idyllic suburban existence is Martin, a fatherless teen who insinuates himself into the doctor's life in gradually unsettling ways.

Joker poster
Joker
2019 · dir. Todd Phillips
🍅 68%★ 8.3crime · thriller · dramaMax

During the 1980s, a failed stand-up comedian is driven insane and turns to a life of crime and chaos in Gotham City while becoming an infamous psychopathic crime figure.

Watchmen poster
Watchmen
2009 · dir. Zack Snyder
🍅 64%★ 7.6mystery · action · science fictionMax

In a gritty and alternate 1985, the glory days of costumed vigilantes have been brought to a close by a government crackdown. But after one of the masked veterans is brutally murdered, an investigation into the killer is initiated. The reunited heroes set out to prevent their own destruction, but in doing so they uncover a sinister plot that puts all of humanity in grave danger.

Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith poster
🍅 79%★ 7.7adventure · action · science fictionDisney+

When the sinister Sith unveil a thousand-year-old plot to rule the galaxy, the Republic crumbles and from its ashes rises the evil Galactic Empire. Jedi hero Anakin Skywalker must choose a side.

Avengers: Infinity War poster
Avengers: Infinity War
2018 · dir. Joe Russo
🍅 85%★ 8.4adventure · action · science fictionDisney+

As the Avengers and their allies have continued to protect the world from threats too large for any one hero to handle, a new danger has emerged from the cosmic shadows: Thanos. A despot of intergalactic infamy, his goal is to collect all six Infinity Stones, artifacts of unimaginable power, and use them to inflict his twisted will on all of reality. Everything the Avengers have fought for has led up to this moment - the fate of Earth and existence itself has never been more uncertain.

Funny Games poster
Funny Games
1997 · dir. Michael Haneke
🍅 73%★ 7.5drama · horror · thrillerMax

Two psychotic young men take a mother, father, and son hostage in their vacation cabin and force them to play sadistic "games" with one another for their own amusement.

The Vanishing poster
The Vanishing
1988 · dir. George Sluizer
🍅 96%★ 7.6thriller · mystery

Rex and Saskia, a young couple in love, are on vacation when they stop at a busy service station. Saskia is abducted in broad daylight and three years pass with no answers or closure surrounding her disappearance. Rex has nearly given up all hope when he suddenly begins receiving letters from her abductor.

The shows that belong here too

Death Note poster
Death Note
2006–2007 · 1 season · Nippon TV
★ 8.9animation · mystery · sci-fi & fantasyNetflixPrime Video

Light Yagami is an ace student with great prospects—and he’s bored out of his mind. But all that changes when he finds the Death Note, a notebook dropped by a rogue Shinigami death god. Any human whose name is written in the notebook dies, and Light has vowed to use the power of the Death Note to rid the world of evil. But will Light succeed in his noble goal, or will the Death Note turn him into the very thing he fights against?

Every title above links to its kindred spirits. Find the one you love, then follow the thread. Or browse the mood behind this shelf: bleak, tense, gritty.