wow, you're so brave to be sharing these personal stories online. your honest emotion can be so helpful to people who are struggling with things. well done, we love you
To be honest, Midsommar changed how I view my relationships, myself, and even how I deserve to be treated. It’s such a brutal and intense film, but it’s so beautiful and it’s genuinely my comfort film and my most favorite film of all time simply because of the things it taught me.
no.1 film that changed me was Donnie darko. I found it when I was 12 and every few years I learn something different from it. from understanding non linear storytelling to dealing with schizophrenia and now realizing the duality of life and acceptance of fate. it's a movie I would give everything else up for. great vid as always.
Donnie Darko is amazing to me because of how little I feel I understand it, and despite that, on how emotionally it affects me. I don't understand on how it makes me feel the way it does, despite multiple viewings. Nothing like it. One of the best soundtracks of all time.
I still remember the first time I saw Requiem and the raw emotions I felt. I first watched it in the height of my addiction. It 100% helped me see the end result of that lifestyle. That movie still gives me chills
wow, couldn't aggree more! Requiem for a dream was an amazing nightmare to me! I love this film and it deeply disturbed me so much that I refuse to rewatch it, still recommend it to everyone I know though
This movie terrifies me every time I watch it. You know its going to be a dark film due to who it is directed by but WOW it goes from what seems like a semi ok film to black hole levels of dark so quickly.
The first movie that comes to mind for me is “Girl Interrupted”. I saw it when I was 13, probably 6 months after I went through a very similar situation. Although obviously at the time I was a minor so it wasn’t exactly the same. I’ve only ever watched it once. I’ve tried to watch it again more recently but it just brings up too many memories that I’d rather not think about, even though this all happened to me almost 15 years ago.
The one movie that definitely changed me the most was *"Eraserhead".* Never before - or after - have I seen a movie that made me this uncomfortable, especially in such a subtle and surreal way. It's hard to describe, but this movie still gives me the chills, it's a nightmare. Others would be: Jacob's Ladder, There Will Be Blood, Lake Mungo, Alien, Jurassic Park, Mulholland Dr, Martyrs, The Incredibles, Peter Jackson's King Kong, Clockwork Orange and Fight Club.
I immediately thought this film. When I was a kid I saw so interesting nightmares and when I started watching David Lynch's movies I realised why I connect with them so much
The worst thing about Compliance is that it ALL was true. Makes its messages about blind trust in power and the influence of fear of authority that much more real
I understand that but I just can't wrap my head around how she would give a guy head just because a cop told her to. So it ruined the movie to me because it wasn't relatable at all. There had to be some other motive that I'm not getting.
Melancholia. I only watched it once years ago. Haven't been able to get my head in a place to watch it again, knowing what I'd be in for and how it would make me feel. But I think about that movie all the time. I think it would be even harder to watch now, given how bleak everything seems to me in what we're doing to the planet.
Adrienne Lee wow that’s crazy because that’s the exact movie I would say changed me and made me lose my faith when I was in middle. Definitely a bleak film.
Palendrom rocked me when I saw it years ago. Can't say I thought it was a GOOD film, but I find myself thinking about it even now (just like welcome to the doll house)
I had honestly never thought of the movies that have changed me, but there are definitely movies that have and immediately come to mind. I only first watched Fight Club last year (and I'm 27😅) way after the ending was spoiled for me, I wish I watched it years ago without any spoiling. These are the movies that come to mind when I think of films that have changed me. I have found they all surround mental illness, coming of age, and psychological issues. Issues I struggled with as a child and teenager. Thirteen Girl, Interrupted The Virgin Suicides American Beauty Melancholia The House that Jack Built
The Lost Boys (1987) - in a time where I too, felt like a high school reject, I was on a search for the most horrifying horror movies EVER. And then I watched The Lost Boys, and it re-shaped my view on horror. I know it’s really not scary, but the cheesiness, the 80s music, the questionable acting, the nods to horror gems such as Nosferatu and Edgar Allan Poe, everything about it just made it such a fun and cool movie for me. It’s a guilty pleasure that I am honoured to have😂 That’s also the first time I ever experienced escapism via film❤️🦇
Watch the film Lilya 4 Ever. I’ve seen it only once but it always stays with me and I think about it a lot. It’s incredibly heartbreaking and based on a true story
The Blair Witch Project To this day I am still terrified of the woods, especially at night, because of that movie. Listening to a narration of "The Stairs in the Woods" only deepened that fear. I watched it with my brother when I was in 6th grade (11-years-old), and at the scene when the guy drops the camera in the basement I started frantically telling my brother "turn it off! turn it off right now!!" to which he replied "it's just a movie" but he turned it off fast af, haha. We were so scared we slept with our dad that night. It wasn't until I rewatched the movie at 16 that I realized we had turned off the movie only 30 seconds from the end, smh. To this day it is still my favourite horror movie, and the only one that has ever truly, truly scared me.
Here's the link to that narration, "Horrifying Search and Rescue Stories | 'Im a Search and Rescue Officer for the US Forest Service..'" (a.k.a., "Stairs in the Woods") ua-cam.com/video/nhkgXOUDetc/v-deo.html
Palindromes totally scarred me, not gonna lie. I was definitely too young to watch it when I saw it, lol. I'm always surprised and happy whenever someone else has actually seen it so that I can talk to them about how weird it made me feel, lol.
I clicked cause I saw "Palindromes" in the avatar (can't remember the name lol). That movie was so.. the storytelling as you said was incredible. You have to check out that directors trio: Welcome to The Doll House, and Storytelling.
When I was 16 I went through almost a year of watching the most disturbing horror movies ever made, just out of my love for scary and disturbing films, I wanted to see how far I could go. I watched a movie called The Heart is Deceitful Above All Else. As far as subject matter, this isn't the most intense thing I've seen by far, however the dread and sorrow and amount of sheer pain that the main character goes through even in the few years the movie takes place.. is enough to never make me want to see it again, and yet i still think about this film everyday. No other movie has taken me so far down.
yay, high five on the Fight Club. For me it was also the most important movie that started my love for cinema. It's brilliantly done, and still love it years and years after
midsommar helped me come to terms with the fact that i have ptsd and im getting help for it now. ive never seen trauma acted out in film exactly the way i experienced it (sans the ending of the film lol) and it was such a healing movie for me.
The original susperia changed my life , up till then i just watched movies , after i understood directing , cinematography, lighting , editing etc... From then on i started enjoying films in every aspect , absorbing extras on dvd's commentaries, the entire experience.
Emma, I did enjoy this more personal video about films that changed your outlook on cinema and your life in general. It is fun you learn about your mind, & how it works. Thanks for the journey ! Part two sounds like a fabulous addition to your content :-) Thanks for sharing with your community.
Personally the movie I'm A Cyborg But That's OK really resonates with me. I think it's easy to get caught up in the weirdness but at its core it's so sweet and heartfelt and imaginative, it really changed my perception.
Doctor Sleep-taught me that death is inevitable but that we shall not fear it. If you fear death that means you've lived a meaningful life. Blair Witch Project- Never before or after this movie have I stayed up all night long ,terrified to go to sleep. SCRE4M- Scream 4 (and the first one) were to me what Fight Club was to you. An escape from reality. It's the reason I got so much into horror and the reason why I want to becomea horror filmmaker. Also Gayle's character was really important to me. Her bitchiness,while to some people might seem irritating, to me was a way of learning how to defend myself in a world that looked down upon me because of my sexuality and body type. I don't know if that makes sense😅. Dark Water-I've never cried this much with a film in my life. The whole mother-daughter dynamic really gets to me,since I'm really close with my mother. Oooh and that ending😭😭😭😭. Also don't feel stupid or nerdy just because you share your feelings. I don't understand why people think that being honest about the way you feel is something geeky. That's bulldust!!!!😂
"A Ghost Story" was my favorite film of 2017. As one of your older viewers (59), I could relate to the passage of time and how environments and homes change after we're gone. I often wonder what my childhood home and neighborhood, both of which are still intact, will change in the next 100 or 200 years. Who will be living there? The final shot (which I won't spoil here) is both cathartic and heartbreaking. Thank you for mentioning this beautiful film.
I’m somewhat like this as well, I drive by homes that I lived in when I was growing up, experiencing bittersweet memories & also wondering who lives there now, what kind of people they are...I also wonder the same of old beautiful homes that I pass that I haven’t lived in. I wonder how many families were raised there, what memories were made there, etc.
Everyone laughs at me for this. But it’s legend 1985 by Ridley Scott. I will never forget the intensely magical feeling it gave me at five years old.... because miraculously I still get it every time I watch it and I’m 34. It makes me cry every time and reminds me of everything that was good about my childhood. It’s what made me obsessed with films, and there has never been a film that comes close to being as magical. Also hereditary, it feels like the horror I’ve been wanting to see all my life.
Hereditary actually made me re-think how I felt about hit-and-run accidents. Not that they're a good thing, but that the reason for them might not be that the driver just didn't give a shit...it might be the exact opposite.
Corn Pone Flicks I saw so many comments saying he was casual and an A hole for going home to bed. The dude was traumatised and couldn’t accept the reality of what happened. It’s the most realistic reaction I’ve seen in a horror film. I’d react exactly the same way. Who could face turning to look at what they’d done? Not me. You’ve made a really good point!!
Movies that have changed my life: - Harold and Maude (Watched this one recently, but Maude taught me and Harold so much about how to enjoy life) - Life is Beautiful/La Vita e Bella (Saw this in middle school and this movie taught me to enjoy life through an optimistic lens) - Creepshow (Although my first horror film was The Evil Dead (1981), this was the film that made me fall in love with horror and Stephen King) - Happiness (This film changed my perception on what could be shown on film. Much like Todd Solondz's other works, he presents his film with an extreme depiction of characters that only want to achieve happiness and it is an unapologetic view on how life treats people) - School of Rock (Along with expanding my love for Classic Rock, I loved Jack Black's interactions with the students and how he never discouraged them) - Can't Buy Me Love (What I consider to be the best romantic comedy of all time. I loved the nerd and popular girl dynamic and how it's great to just be yourself)
Some of mine include Jaws (saw it at 9yrs old in 1975 and saw it 13 times that summer. Still the most times I saw a movie in theaters.) and I’m still afraid of the ocean because of it. Eraserhead was one that opened my mind to films that could be difficult and surreal. Star Wars made me a lifelong geek, The Exorcist because my parents took me to a rerelease at 13 and it scarred (and scared) me for life. Made me a true blue horror fan. It was my first R-rated movie. Then there was Friday the 13th that gave me a love for slashers. I was so inspired by the makeup effects, I drew a severed hand for an art class and got in trouble for it. So that film gave me the love for makeup effects in movies, AND my rebellious disdain for stupid art teachers who were spooked by a drawing.
Parasite was the best movie theater experience of my life. My friend and I got tickets to watch Knives Out, but it was playing in a room that served alcohol and we were 19 at the time, so they couldn't let us in. They offered to either give us a refund of our tickets or trade them for another movie that was playing at that time slot, so we traded them for Parasite. Neither of us had heard anything about it beforehand, and we were lightly stoned. Left the theater feeling like my life had just been turned upside down. Every time I watch the trailer I tear up, wishing I could watch it for the first time again.
I personally really enjoy these types of videos. Seeing what films really affected people really speaks on who they are or what they’ve been through. I would be totally happy if you did more videos like this in the future.
Thanks for this great brief collection of reviews! Definitely please do a part 2 (or an open-ended series!) because your background and grasp of the language of cinema makes these every bit as educational as they are entertaining!
Fight Club has been my favorite movie for over 20 years. It transcends film into a modern philosophy lesson that amazingly becomes more and more relevant as time goes on, and the world grows more and more twisted.
I 100% agree with you on A Ghost Story. That one and Joker are to date the only two movies that have hit me in such a deep, raw and personal place that I couldn't cry and just needed to process the emotions they brought out in me. The very end of A Ghost Story is just... I think I have mentioned before how the ending made me gasp out loud and then I just felt the grief so heavily that I curled up in my bed and stayed there until my body was ready to move on from that gut punch. With Joker it was just everything. I talked to one of my friends about it recently and she had had the same experience as me. It truly was a movie for people who have been hurting and struggling and dealt with intense loneliness. It hit me so hard because I felt like this movie understood me. My friend said that when she watched it she was like: omg this movie gets me. I thought it was so empowering too because it forced me to face my lowest point in life once again through this other character and while he gave in to the hurt he experienced I had managed to pull through it. Joker was like watching what could have happened if I hadn't been stronger. My friend said the same thing. I don't think this movie will ever leave me. Took me two to three days after watching it the first time before I broke down bawling my eyes out. Couldn't stop. Just cried and cried and cried. Man it hit some deep shit in the soul.
YES to a part 2. I 100% agree that Compliance was a big life changer for me. It taught me not to trust everything that people say. I LOVE Blue is the Warmest Color, but if I had to pick one film that really helped me find my sexuality, it'd be High Art. Such a beautiful film.
I don't know if a movie has ever changed my life. But some movies that completely moved me and which I have never forgotten: - City Lights (Charlie Chaplin) - Elephant Man - Field of Dreams - The Shawshank Redemption - Contact - It's a wonderful life Some movies that disturbed me and I have never forgotten: - Goodfella's - Elephant Man - Bone Tomahawk - Under the skin - Blue Velvet - The Blair Witch Project
The Perks of Being a Wallflower for me. My all time favorite movie. I have never felt so emotionally connected to a film and its characters before. I genuinely felt an attachment to the three leads and every time I watch it, I never want it to end because I don’t want to leave them. It sounds weird, but it’s a film that makes me not feel so alone. Plus it’s just such a beautiful film with beautiful performances.
I watched Compliance back to back with Killer Joe several times in the theater. Those are both crazy films. It’s also good to hear some more love for Scott’s film. Instructions Not Included is a big one for me. Not many films put you on a roller coaster of almost every emotion like that film does.
FIght Club: I remember in high school, I was 18, being given an assignment in English class where I had to give a presentation and pick a clip that demonstrates a hard shift in narrative. And it can only be 60 seconds because 3 students were presenting that day I chose Fight Club and picked the scene where we find out Tyler isn’t real. I showed the clip, and it has Marla getting railed, and Jack on top of a skyscraper committing terrorism yelling “You’re not you’re Job!” And then I had to awkwardly explain how that movie affected me. To my surprise, no one in the class had seen it, and the teacher was like.. well we have some extra time before the bell... I was going to let you guys can pick which of the three we can keep watching til then, but we’re gonna keep watching Remember the Titans. I remember thinking “I thought we’re all adults here! How have NONE of you seen Fight Club?” And yeah I think was the point where I realized that my tribe of people was not in this high school but out there somewhere, which probably eventually led me here as a UA-camr years later. Thanks for sharing 😊
The House That Jack Built; Jacob's Ladder (1990); Hereditary; The Autopsy of Jane Doe; The Vanishing; The Babadook; They Live; Get Out; The Shinning; Taxi Driver; Christine; The Shawshank Redemption; The Thing (1982); Fight Club (obviously).
@evilangel7769 well, my mother is very sick mentally. Christine was my first horror movie ever, I must have watched it +100 times and the Plymouth Fury still induces more fear than most horrors out there. And The Autopsy Of Jane Doe is because I work at a morgue and to this day, every time I step my foot at work, this movie floods my mind.
I would have to say ‘Radio - 2003’ severely changed my life. I was always raised and still believe that you need to treat everyone with respect and dignity, regardless of who they are. Unfortunately, I went to school with kids that were always picking on the mentally disabled and that always broke my heart. It made me feel like I was them for a moment and I hated myself sometimes because I was “normal”. I could never fully be in their position to understand but I always try to.
Thanks for opening up about the films that changed your life Emma. A few that really affected me: Jack the Giant Killer (1962) hallucinogenic imagery that has returned to me over and over through out my life. Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) completely changed my aesthetics. Taxi Driver (1976) long long story. The Elephant Man (1980) I probably don't have to explain this one to you. Tarkovsky's Andrei Rublev & Stalker, changed my vision of art and the world. Martyrs is probably the 21st Century film that meant the most to me. And I could go on and on. But I think those are the big ones. YES! Part two & three!
Taxi Driver absolutely! I had such a huge crush on Robert DeNiro as a teenager, such a beautiful man in the 70s and 80s, but beyond aesthetics this was probably my most meaningful movie as a teenager.
Im new to the channel and I found this video and it really hit me the movie that really hits me the hardest is Roberto Benigni's Life Is Beautiful the movie is about a father and son in a concentration camp. Determined to shelter his son from the horrors of his surroundings, Guido convinces Giosue that their time in the camp is merely a game. And till the moment before his death Guido has a smile on his face and tries to keep his son in the dark of whats going on. As a single dad I use Guido as a becon to try and reach as a father
There are some rare moments, you watched a movie and the world will never be the same. First movie that changed and started my love for movies was in 1978, I was a little 8 year old boy and STAR WARS on the big screen was my first and longest love of my life. The original trilogy is part of my DNA. Alessandro Jodorowski’s SANTA SANGRE was one with the biggest impact as an as an adult: When you smell the blood of the dying elephant, Jodorowski infected your mind, it's like a LSD trip. MELANCHOLIE DER ENGEL by Marian Dora is another life-changing experiment. The title says it all: The angels melancholy - disturbing and beautiful at the same time. This piece of art is mindblowing. The newest movie of little list is by far the most extreme movie experience of my life. Me and my girlfriend watched MARTYRS without knowing anything about of it. We love Horror, but the kick in your stomach was to much, normally we talks about the movie. After MARTYRS: No talking, just silence… I've never had such a feeling: disturbed, depressed, overwhelmed that we just watched the best movie of all time!! Pascal Laugier made the ultimate Horror Movie and changed the world forever.
To be honest i feel that serials often inspire me much more and also changed my view on certain things much more then most movies could. Things like The Wire or True Detectives or even Breaking Bad had very interesting perspectives on crime, guilt, responsibility, etc.
Inside Out for me too. In childhood, all her memories are one color. One emotion. Made me realize that part of becoming an adult was experiencing emotion as something mixed, like at the end of the movie, when her memories change. Made me accept a lot of things I didn't want to accept about adulthood, but ultimately made me better. So damn deep for a Pixar movie. x
Don't ever regret putting stuff like this out, and don't feel embarrassed, we all appreciate this a lot and love your content. Keep up the amazing work!
I adore this video, I've never thought about this as a topic of discussion before. I've heard favourite movies, worst movies, technically brilliant films. But never ones that changed me. Maybe I'll come back and share one when I have the brain capacity to put it into words. But thank you for this video, it's given me a lot to think about
Great great topic and happy you shared your inner journey through pictures. A lot of titles are on my 'to-watch list'. "Palindromes" I haven't seen. "Found" has been on my queue. "A Ghost Story" is wonderful. That's actually when I got hooked onto your channel when you shared how much of an impact it made on you, because there's many UA-camrs out there who review horror movies etc, but it was refreshing to see the sincerity and authenticity you were sharing with the cosmos. It meant something! "Fight Club" punctuated my coming-of-age teen angst (my conscious fallout with Catholicism in which I was raised into, family divorce, living in a post-9/11 world, and an overall existential crisis of 'what's my meaning vs. what's expected of me') with unseen self-actualization. "Fight Club" and Chuck Palahniuk's work ("Choke", "Invisible Monsters", and "Haunted" really come to mind) was 'life', was my second wind with finding myself. "Bowling for Columbine" also was a cousin to this sphere for me. As a kid: "Edward Scissorhands" taught me 'don't judge a book by its cover' while also feeling empowerment for being 'me' someone who always felt different in school, and "Terminator 2: Judgment Day" was like a fantasy of having the dad I didn't have growing up (he was lost in alcoholism) while also getting some sort of validation that hey despite your upbringing (John Connor's turbulent past) you could be destined for greater things ala 'the future is not written'. During my teens: "Leon: The Professional" struck a cord where 'it's better to get hurt because you have something to lose than to go through a pacified life having not gained anything', and "Girl, Interrupted" as well as "Magnolia" reflected the whole 'what does it mean to be living' inner dialogue that I found myself relating to the mosaic of characters. They're all films I'd 'live in' and can't count how many times I'd replay them. Just felt like 'this is where I am right now, this is the world as I see it'. Nowadays, since I've integrated more as an active filmmaker, I re-watch movies that serve a certain tone/theme I'm currently writing/developing etc. Would have to meditate on if there's a title that I re-visit countlessly. Hmm!
Fear and loathing. A french film set in japan about a japanese speaking french woman who gets a job at an office. I was working a very underwhelming job at the time and absolutely sobbed while watching this.
The Edge of seventeen, that movie made me realize how I have to behave with my family, at the time I saw hit I was always fighting with my brother so it really touched me, and it is also a pretty funny movie. Other movies: Hereditary and Jurasic park, I bought a lot of dinosaurs books when i was a llittle boy because I was obsessed for dinosaurs. (I hope my english is correct)
A movie that changed my life is “Edge Of Seventeen” It showed me that it’s ok to be yourself. Even if friends and family don’t accept you. It made me accept my sexuality and gave me the courage to come out to everyone after I watched it. It’s the reason why I now live my truth unapologetically.
Fight Club is what did for me. When I was 10 years old I watched the movie alone. It literally changed my whole perspective on life. But most importantly this movie followed throughout my youth reminding me of the nature of being a male around other males. In the beginning I was very intrigued by the whole consumerism existentialism and the "We live in a society" concepts, but I'm older now, I now know a lot more about politics and the world, so those things don't really move me anymore. But I still watch this movie often.
Apologies for the length but I'm passionate about this one: At a young age in the 90's, I saw this film and it made me rethink the world around me; that life cannot be taken for granted and yet, nor should one shy away from the opportunities that will alter who you are as a person, for that is how we all grow. It taught me to learn how to trust, and yet not be too trusting. To embrace friendships and loved ones wholeheartedly, for good or ill, and not sacrifice them needlessly to a baseless cause. It taught me this and that life doesn't always work out the way you plan it, but no matter what hardships you face, there are rewards, and others who will support you even when all seems lost. It was movie where gods walked among men, journeys were taken and fully realized; a movie with thrills, laughs and genuine emotions. You might say it was The Greatest Adventure of All Time. (Dragonheart theme intensifies) I truly believe that this is one of those rare films with universal appeal, and with an undying legacy that has absolutely stood the test of time, and will continue to do so long after imitations fade into obscurity. The movie in question is, of course: Wayne's World.
Thanks so much for sharing this with us. I would love to see part two! I've only seen Fight Club on this list. I would say that the movie that most changed me is Secretary 2002. I just identify we everything about it. It's about finding love and acceptance where you're at right now and personal growth through that support. I just love everything about it.
Children of Men really effected me in a visceral way seeing it by myself in a small cinema with no expectation. I don't think I'd felt so immersed in a different world before, I was staggered by the technical achievement but also I was moved by it. There's so many great experiences I can recall though. Man, I just love movies so much.
Call Me by Your Name. I saw it after breaking up with my partner of 4 years. Not only is it a beautiful, sweet, tender film, but it also encouraged me to embrace all of my emotions surrounding love-- even the sad ones. It emphasizes that just because someone is no longer in your life, it doesn't mean that you didn't profoundly impact each other. The father's monologue at the end made me feel so validated. The very last shot of Elio at the fireplace, crying, but eventually looking content and grateful, made me feel so much hope.
movies that changed my life: a little princess (literally my childhood and the cinematography!!!), the virgin suicides (this was seriously a film that made me appreciate COLORS and editing), pride and prejudice (just pure goodness and gorgeousness and loveliness), the social network (this film was just SO SO SURPRISING!), prisoners (every scene took my breath away...one of the most amazing films ever!), gone girl (this film is just pure perfection...i adore amy dunne as a character!), as far as horror: the ring, signs, sixth sense, scream franchise!!! all so good!
I had to digest your video. Your topic really got me thinking. I have struggled with drug addiction my whole life. I have been a "sober man" for 22 years. On a dark melancholy day as I was feeling sorry about myself and my f-up situation and felt beyond hope. The film "Ben-Hur" 1959 ‧ Drama/Historical period drama ‧ 3h 44m aired on TV. This film touched me emotionally and had such a profound impact that summer day . After watching this masterpiece of Cinema. I was compelled to change my life and to get my act together and sober the hell up. Thanks for the memory cue. Peace, Rob
3 years late, but... while I was watching your video I was thinking what movies could make this list for me, and Pink Flamingos came to my mind, and then you read that comment, it's strange cause for me it wasn't the disturbing aspects of it (althought it was for sure the first movie that extreme that I watched), I was 18 and I became obsessed with Divine, it's an icon and I still love her/him today, one of those people that you just wish you'd met in your lifetime... anyway, so this movie was the first one of her and John Waters that I saw, and it's so special to me. I have a poster since then that I've put in my door (outside) in every room that I've lived in. It's so strange to me to see that movie in every "disturbing movie iceberg" video or thing like that, cause although I know it's INSANE and probably it deserve that place, it's so different in my mind. Anyway, it was always about Divine and her powerful powerful presence, being unapologetically you. So much to say about this movie I guess hahah. Love all your videos Emma!
Emma, I watched Compliance (2012) right after this video. I knew nothing about the film or about the events that inspired it. When I see "based on true events" I was rolling my eyes and even flicking off the film during many scenes. Turns out, it was all more true than my mind can accept. If I had court documents in my hand I still wouldn't believe it.
The Babadook change me so much. So deep and dark, it showed me how dark depression is and how to let go of things. It is also why im so into psychological horror
It was really tough to choose, movies have been such a huge part of my life and such an amazing way to connect with my family. But I think the movie that hit me the most and it had me sobbing uncontrollably for a while was The Fall (2006). I've been suicidal for most of my life so this movie hit me like a sledgehammer and I deeply related to the character of Roy. On having such a wonderful imagination and fantastic creations in your mind but how you just want it to end, how you lash out and resent others for loving you and not wanting to let you go despite how desperately you want to go. In the end, you hold on, live for others while you find a way to live for yourself and be at peace with yourself. Thank you for sharing this, it really reflects how movies go so much deeper than just entertainment for a couple of hours.
So I checked out Compliance, because it had such an impact on you Em... Far out. I'm shaken to the core. So it took me three sittings to watch it all, i kept getting up and walking away in frustration, rage, and sheer helplessness. I knows its 'just a movie' but fuck, i love horror, however this one really got to me. Its brilliant, unbelievable, and shockingly yes it can and does happen. I think thats why it resonates. We all believe we would never fall for such insanity, but would we question the obvious in the face of 'authority'? Lucky, i checked out your other recommendation, Extra Ordinary. An antidote if there ever was one!!! That all said, thanks Emma, for sharing a couple of movies that knocked it out the park. :)
"The passenger" with Jach Nicholson (the search for identity), "Synecdoche New York". There is something also something very special about the movies by Alexander Payne, especially the endings. Like the endings to About Schmidt, Sideways and Downsizing taught me so much about being a human.
Ah man i love cinema... For me Arrival, that movie absolutely stunned me! Also i think the pie scene in a ghost story is one of the most relatable moments ive ever watched
Emma I really did enjoy your personal movies video I think it's neat that you make a video like this you have no reason to be embarrassed by it, just proves your real and not fake and I like that.
mysterious skin, happiness, black christmas (1974), let the right one in, and videodrome probably impacted me the most. mysterious skin at the very top of that list for a good reason, never once have i seen trauma depicted as well and as accurately as it is in mysterious skin and that's probably the first movie i ever saw that connected to me on a very personal level.
I don't think any movie has ever hit me as hard as Bright Star (2009). I spent more than 24 hours crying on and off after watching that movie. It's beautifully filmed and beautifully acted, and I've never seen love and grief depicted in such an understated yet powerful way before. It's definitely a movie that will remind you to treasure every moment you have with your loved ones. Moonlight (2016) is another movie that just completely blew me away and continues to influence my worldview in a major way.
Great video, Emma! The movies that changed me might sound pretentious, but they are what they are. Ingmar Bergman's Persona is the first movie that REALLY made me think, I just couldn't get it out of my head and I had to read a lot about it, investigate and overthink in order to decide what had happened and what it meant. Michael Haneke's The Piano Teacher showed me the difference between "commercial" movies that make you THINK something's wrong, as opposed to art-house movies that make you FEEL unnerved, uncomfortable and restless. Jessica Hausner's Lovely Rita showed me there was a different kind of movies, those that don't have a soundtrack and many dialogues, those that don't explain themselves. Clive Barker's Hellraiser made me enjoy horror movies, because as a child I was too scared of them and didn't like them. And I think that's it.
The Rocky Horror Picture Show was my first venture into something that was so open in sexuality and identity. I had already known I was at least bi-sexual but I had never watched a movie where people were so unapologetic and free about who they are or wanted to be. I was about 13 years old and my 12 year old friend showed it to me. That was around the time I started to embrace my feminine side a lot more and stopped caring so much about trying to fit into a box. I started to seek out similar things which led me to Hedwig and other LGBTQ movies. This was in 2001 or so and representation in the mainstream was pretty much non existent. I was pretty taken back to see something from the 70's that was so proud! Thanks for sharing, I vote yes on a part 2.
There are lots of films I could list that have had a strong impact on me, but when it comes to that "one film that you feel is about you", that would be THE BODYGUARD (1980). When I saw this film on television, I was the same age as the lead character Cliff (sophomore in high school). After being tormented by a gang of bullies every day (again, my sophomore life) and getting no help from his disinterested parents (ditto), Cliff asks this older kid (who's a loner with a dark secret) for help. It's a bit dated now, but it felt like high school to me at the time and the idea of a bodyguard to help keep bullies off my back was such a cool premise. Even better when Cliff learns to face the lead bully himself at the end.
Not gonna lie hearing you where a outcast made me feel sorry for you. It shocked me to hear someone as awesome and pretty as you was a outcast. Glad you found your outlet and comfort zone in movies. And im glad things turned out well for you in the end. I would hug you if i could
I don't comment much but I watch all of your videos and you always raise such good points. You also make me think of a lot of stuff in different ways. Totally agree on A ghost story, it made me feel so much!
Loved this vid! Definitely would love to see a part 2 if you get a chance! I would say Donnie Darko, The Perks of Being a Wallflower and Call Me By Your Name are films that have changed my outlook on certain things, each in a completely different way!
The part where you talked about never being able to fit in the class, I had the exact same experience and feeling when I was a teenager, realizing I was probably very different. The movie that changed me and determined my passion for cinema is James Cameron's Aliens. I watched it on TV when I was 13 and I was amazed by how good the movie was. I felt I wanted to share it with everyone in the world that this is the best movie I saw. My movie geek life started and never ceased since then.
Most of my life-changing movies I saw during my late teens/early twenties. I think it's such a vulnerable point in your life, looking for hope and validation and comfort wherever you can find it. Here's a few...not exactly favorites, but still have a deep place in my heart for how they made me see myself, life, and film differently: The Hours Minority Report The Fall Stranger Than Fiction Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind Garden State
A film that I watched last year that has stuck with me everyday since is Paprika, after watching Inception and enjoying the premise but finding it too much of a good film rather than an impactful story (it’s hard to explain) when I heard it was very much like the anime thriller paprika in premise I had to check it out and oh boy was it a ride. I think because I watched it alone in the dark it made it that much more intense, it felt like I was literally watching a dream, I have lucid dreams a lot and this film was so reminiscent of the fear and uncontrollability of dreams. It’s incredible, eerie and full of mind numbing actions. I will truly never forget it.
Yay, Fight Club! One of my all-time favorites. It was a film I knew next to nothing about and thought I wouldn't like...within a year I could probably quote it from memory. Also, thumbs-up to whoever mentioned Heavenly Creatures, the film that proved that love conquering all is not necessarily a good thing. That ending is positively gut-wrenching. I suppose mine would have to be the original Star Wars. It made me want to be a filmmaker...finally getting around to that.
For me these would be the following films that have changed my life: A clockwork Orange, Donnie darko, Ghostbusters, Back to the future, Jacob's ladder, Labyrinth, Batman the dark knight, Joker, Parasite, The house that Jack built, Hereditary, It, Halloween, Who framed Roger rabbit, Get out, The cabinet of dr caligari Eraserhead,etc. But number 1 would probably be The Shining for me.
The first film I remember seeing that could be called 'disturbing' was David Lynch's Blue Velvet. I've been a huge fan of 'disturbing' cinema ever since. Emma, of course we want to see part 2! It is so endearing when you open up.
There are several I could mention, but Ginger Snaps is the first one that comes to mind. I saw that movie at a dark time during my first semester at college, and it kind of helped inspire me to choose life over self-destruction. Bright Lights, Big City is an underrated Michael J. Fox movie that had a similar effect on me.
The Shawshank Redemption was the first movie that truly changed me and made me see the art of film. Since then, I've had visceral reactions to a lot of movies but I'll never forget leaving the theater after Birdman and Hereditary. Birdman spoke to me so much as a film-lover and Hereditary just instantly became my favorite horror movie. It also came out on my birthday, so it was like A24's special gift for me lol
Fun flick....Motel Hell. Lol My kids and I love watching it and just giggling at the gory silliness. Happy Wednesday Emma from Minnesota in The States! :)
- Anaconda and Species are two horror movies I watched constantly at the age of 6 and forward whenever I went to my grandma's place, because my parents wouldn't let me watch horror, but I was so fascinated by the genre, so those two movies really got me into it, so while they are maybe considered "bad" movies, I have to include them for getting me into horror. - Titanic. This is so dumb, but it was the first movie that ever had a real effect on me, like I couldn't even finish it the first time (granted I was like 8 at the time), because I knew it was based on true events, and it got to me. To this day though, I've seen it well over 100 times, and I still love it. - Hereditary. Never in my life have I been so shaken up by a horror movie. Like the movie would not leave my head for 4 fucking days after watching it. All I could do was rewatch it or read theories about it. I was so deep into the lore and the story. It takes a lot to rattle me, but this one did it. - IT: Chapter 2. Yes yes yes, I know. This is not a perfect movie, it is flawed, I have lots of problems with it. But I watched the miniseries as a kid, and I adored the hell out of the first chapter, like loved it to death. I fell in love with these characters, which is this movie's strength. The entire week up until its release I was tense, because I knew what was going to happen, I knew the basics, and when you love the characters so much, it is a fucking devastating movie to see. I have legit never cried so hard at a movie before. I was a wreck, and even now, I can't make it through the ending without shedding tears.
Spring Awakening- its a musical but it really changed me and helped me understand that there will always be powers greater than ourselves fighting against us. It's extremely emotional and not scary at all, but the way it dealt with one characters suicide really affected me emotionally, first time I experienced this musical I had to go to the bathroom to audibly bawl.
wow, you're so brave to be sharing these personal stories online. your honest emotion can be so helpful to people who are struggling with things. well done, we love you
Thanks Rum x
To be honest, Midsommar changed how I view my relationships, myself, and even how I deserve to be treated. It’s such a brutal and intense film, but it’s so beautiful and it’s genuinely my comfort film and my most favorite film of all time simply because of the things it taught me.
How should you be treated? Just curious
Here's an excellent analysis of the film that I think you might love: ua-cam.com/video/Por7tzo8qqc/v-deo.htmlsi=IC94F7ThFEBxjVuv
no.1 film that changed me was Donnie darko. I found it when I was 12 and every few years I learn something different from it. from understanding non linear storytelling to dealing with schizophrenia and now realizing the duality of life and acceptance of fate. it's a movie I would give everything else up for. great vid as always.
Yes!!! This movie is what got me into film. I even named my son Donnie!
One of my fave time travel flicks
Same same same
Donnie Darko is amazing to me because of how little I feel I understand it, and despite that, on how emotionally it affects me. I don't understand on how it makes me feel the way it does, despite multiple viewings. Nothing like it. One of the best soundtracks of all time.
Requiem For a Dream (2000) just WOW , I was scarred, seeing this film opening weekend in a theater of 6 people .... just wow.
I still remember the first time I saw Requiem and the raw emotions I felt. I first watched it in the height of my addiction. It 100% helped me see the end result of that lifestyle. That movie still gives me chills
wow, couldn't aggree more! Requiem for a dream was an amazing nightmare to me! I love this film and it deeply disturbed me so much that I refuse to rewatch it, still recommend it to everyone I know though
Same!
This movie terrifies me every time I watch it. You know its going to be a dark film due to who it is directed by but WOW it goes from what seems like a semi ok film to black hole levels of dark so quickly.
This movie made me need a cigarette afterwards, and I don't even smoke.
The first movie that comes to mind for me is “Girl Interrupted”. I saw it when I was 13, probably 6 months after I went through a very similar situation. Although obviously at the time I was a minor so it wasn’t exactly the same. I’ve only ever watched it once. I’ve tried to watch it again more recently but it just brings up too many memories that I’d rather not think about, even though this all happened to me almost 15 years ago.
The one movie that definitely changed me the most was *"Eraserhead".* Never before - or after - have I seen a movie that made me this uncomfortable, especially in such a subtle and surreal way. It's hard to describe, but this movie still gives me the chills, it's a nightmare.
Others would be: Jacob's Ladder, There Will Be Blood, Lake Mungo, Alien, Jurassic Park, Mulholland Dr, Martyrs, The Incredibles, Peter Jackson's King Kong, Clockwork Orange and Fight Club.
I love the sound in Eraserhead so much. All the industrial/white noise is so perfect
Yes...and Requiem for a Dream.
lila l YES! My friends just got a new sound system and I told them Eraserhead is a MUST!
I immediately thought this film. When I was a kid I saw so interesting nightmares and when I started watching David Lynch's movies I realised why I connect with them so much
I'm seeing a lot of Jacob's Ladder here. It's one of my favorites because it made me change my mind against my suicidal thoughts.
Perks of Being a wallflower, I dont know what it is I just think this movies perfect in every way.
This movie makes me reminise of my high school days. I was a Walflower the drama loving geek
The worst thing about Compliance is that it ALL was true. Makes its messages about blind trust in power and the influence of fear of authority that much more real
100%
I understand that but I just can't wrap my head around how she would give a guy head just because a cop told her to. So it ruined the movie to me because it wasn't relatable at all. There had to be some other motive that I'm not getting.
Melancholia. I only watched it once years ago. Haven't been able to get my head in a place to watch it again, knowing what I'd be in for and how it would make me feel. But I think about that movie all the time. I think it would be even harder to watch now, given how bleak everything seems to me in what we're doing to the planet.
Adrienne Lee wow that’s crazy because that’s the exact movie I would say changed me and made me lose my faith when I was in middle. Definitely a bleak film.
Palendrom rocked me when I saw it years ago. Can't say I thought it was a GOOD film, but I find myself thinking about it even now (just like welcome to the doll house)
Agreed on Welcome to the Doll House!
I had honestly never thought of the movies that have changed me, but there are definitely movies that have and immediately come to mind. I only first watched Fight Club last year (and I'm 27😅) way after the ending was spoiled for me, I wish I watched it years ago without any spoiling. These are the movies that come to mind when I think of films that have changed me. I have found they all surround mental illness, coming of age, and psychological issues. Issues I struggled with as a child and teenager.
Thirteen
Girl, Interrupted
The Virgin Suicides
American Beauty
Melancholia
The House that Jack Built
The Lost Boys (1987) - in a time where I too, felt like a high school reject, I was on a search for the most horrifying horror movies EVER. And then I watched The Lost Boys, and it re-shaped my view on horror. I know it’s really not scary, but the cheesiness, the 80s music, the questionable acting, the nods to horror gems such as Nosferatu and Edgar Allan Poe, everything about it just made it such a fun and cool movie for me. It’s a guilty pleasure that I am honoured to have😂 That’s also the first time I ever experienced escapism via film❤️🦇
Watch the film Lilya 4 Ever. I’ve seen it only once but it always stays with me and I think about it a lot. It’s incredibly heartbreaking and based on a true story
Lilya 4 Eva is one of the most amazing films I've ever seen! I will never forget that one!
Very intense film
The Blair Witch Project
To this day I am still terrified of the woods, especially at night, because of that movie. Listening to a narration of "The Stairs in the Woods" only deepened that fear.
I watched it with my brother when I was in 6th grade (11-years-old), and at the scene when the guy drops the camera in the basement I started frantically telling my brother "turn it off! turn it off right now!!" to which he replied "it's just a movie" but he turned it off fast af, haha. We were so scared we slept with our dad that night. It wasn't until I rewatched the movie at 16 that I realized we had turned off the movie only 30 seconds from the end, smh.
To this day it is still my favourite horror movie, and the only one that has ever truly, truly scared me.
Here's the link to that narration, "Horrifying Search and Rescue Stories | 'Im a Search and Rescue Officer for the US Forest Service..'" (a.k.a., "Stairs in the Woods")
ua-cam.com/video/nhkgXOUDetc/v-deo.html
amazing horror movie. I saw it when I was 10 and I was terrified
The search and rescue series on reddit has absolutely made any forest off limits, day or night. Its a truly remarkable story.
@@strangeduckling watch Channel Zero Butchers Block
absolutely 100% my favourite horror movie too, and Heather Donohue is my favourite woman in horror
Palindromes totally scarred me, not gonna lie. I was definitely too young to watch it when I saw it, lol. I'm always surprised and happy whenever someone else has actually seen it so that I can talk to them about how weird it made me feel, lol.
I clicked cause I saw "Palindromes" in the avatar (can't remember the name lol). That movie was so.. the storytelling as you said was incredible. You have to check out that directors trio: Welcome to The Doll House, and Storytelling.
When I was 16 I went through almost a year of watching the most disturbing horror movies ever made, just out of my love for scary and disturbing films, I wanted to see how far I could go. I watched a movie called The Heart is Deceitful Above All Else. As far as subject matter, this isn't the most intense thing I've seen by far, however the dread and sorrow and amount of sheer pain that the main character goes through even in the few years the movie takes place.. is enough to never make me want to see it again, and yet i still think about this film everyday. No other movie has taken me so far down.
yay, high five on the Fight Club. For me it was also the most important movie that started my love for cinema. It's brilliantly done, and still love it years and years after
midsommar helped me come to terms with the fact that i have ptsd and im getting help for it now. ive never seen trauma acted out in film exactly the way i experienced it (sans the ending of the film lol) and it was such a healing movie for me.
im so happy to hear that
The original susperia changed my life , up till then i just watched movies , after i understood directing , cinematography, lighting , editing etc... From then on i started enjoying films in every aspect , absorbing extras on dvd's commentaries, the entire experience.
Emma, I did enjoy this more personal video about films that changed your outlook on cinema and your life in general. It is fun you learn about your mind, & how it works. Thanks for the journey ! Part two sounds like a fabulous addition to your content :-) Thanks for sharing with your community.
Thanks for watching!
Personally the movie I'm A Cyborg But That's OK really resonates with me. I think it's easy to get caught up in the weirdness but at its core it's so sweet and heartfelt and imaginative, it really changed my perception.
Doctor Sleep-taught me that death is inevitable but that we shall not fear it. If you fear death that means you've lived a meaningful life.
Blair Witch Project- Never before or after this movie have I stayed up all night long ,terrified to go to sleep.
SCRE4M- Scream 4 (and the first one) were to me what Fight Club was to you. An escape from reality. It's the reason I got so much into horror and the reason why I want to becomea horror filmmaker. Also Gayle's character was really important to me. Her bitchiness,while to some people might seem irritating, to me was a way of learning how to defend myself in a world that looked down upon me because of my sexuality and body type. I don't know if that makes sense😅.
Dark Water-I've never cried this much with a film in my life. The whole mother-daughter dynamic really gets to me,since I'm really close with my mother. Oooh and that ending😭😭😭😭.
Also don't feel stupid or nerdy just because you share your feelings. I don't understand why people think that being honest about the way you feel is something geeky. That's bulldust!!!!😂
The movies that changed me are:
Hereditary
Before I fall
The shining
"A Ghost Story" was my favorite film of 2017. As one of your older viewers (59), I could relate to the passage of time and how environments and homes change after we're gone. I often wonder what my childhood home and neighborhood, both of which are still intact, will change in the next 100 or 200 years. Who will be living there? The final shot (which I won't spoil here) is both cathartic and heartbreaking. Thank you for mentioning this beautiful film.
I’m somewhat like this as well, I drive by homes that I lived in when I was growing up, experiencing bittersweet memories & also wondering who lives there now, what kind of people they are...I also wonder the same of old beautiful homes that I pass that I haven’t lived in. I wonder how many families were raised there, what memories were made there, etc.
I saw this at a film festival soon after the death of a loved one. I cried so much. And you could say it haunted me for a bit.
Everyone laughs at me for this. But it’s legend 1985 by Ridley Scott. I will never forget the intensely magical feeling it gave me at five years old.... because miraculously I still get it every time I watch it and I’m 34. It makes me cry every time and reminds me of everything that was good about my childhood. It’s what made me obsessed with films, and there has never been a film that comes close to being as magical. Also hereditary, it feels like the horror I’ve been wanting to see all my life.
fantasy films today are not as good as Legend, it is a fucking masterpiece!
seamonkey1979 nothing come close does it?!
Hereditary actually made me re-think how I felt about hit-and-run accidents. Not that they're a good thing, but that the reason for them might not be that the driver just didn't give a shit...it might be the exact opposite.
Corn Pone Flicks I saw so many comments saying he was casual and an A hole for going home to bed. The dude was traumatised and couldn’t accept the reality of what happened. It’s the most realistic reaction I’ve seen in a horror film. I’d react exactly the same way. Who could face turning to look at what they’d done? Not me. You’ve made a really good point!!
1985 Legend is pretty great. def one of the most underrated of those 80s fantasy movies.
Martyrs scarred me for life. And I'm not the soft type at all. I literally won't look at the humanity the same ever again.
Such a great film
spookyastronauts Definitely!
Movies that have changed my life:
- Harold and Maude (Watched this one recently, but Maude taught me and Harold so much about how to enjoy life)
- Life is Beautiful/La Vita e Bella (Saw this in middle school and this movie taught me to enjoy life through an optimistic lens)
- Creepshow (Although my first horror film was The Evil Dead (1981), this was the film that made me fall in love with horror and Stephen King)
- Happiness (This film changed my perception on what could be shown on film. Much like Todd Solondz's other works, he presents his film with an extreme depiction of characters that only want to achieve happiness and it is an unapologetic view on how life treats people)
- School of Rock (Along with expanding my love for Classic Rock, I loved Jack Black's interactions with the students and how he never discouraged them)
- Can't Buy Me Love (What I consider to be the best romantic comedy of all time. I loved the nerd and popular girl dynamic and how it's great to just be yourself)
Some of mine include Jaws (saw it at 9yrs old in 1975 and saw it 13 times that summer. Still the most times I saw a movie in theaters.) and I’m still afraid of the ocean because of it. Eraserhead was one that opened my mind to films that could be difficult and surreal. Star Wars made me a lifelong geek, The Exorcist because my parents took me to a rerelease at 13 and it scarred (and scared) me for life. Made me a true blue horror fan. It was my first R-rated movie. Then there was Friday the 13th that gave me a love for slashers. I was so inspired by the makeup effects, I drew a severed hand for an art class and got in trouble for it. So that film gave me the love for makeup effects in movies, AND my rebellious disdain for stupid art teachers who were spooked by a drawing.
Parasite was the best movie theater experience of my life. My friend and I got tickets to watch Knives Out, but it was playing in a room that served alcohol and we were 19 at the time, so they couldn't let us in. They offered to either give us a refund of our tickets or trade them for another movie that was playing at that time slot, so we traded them for Parasite. Neither of us had heard anything about it beforehand, and we were lightly stoned. Left the theater feeling like my life had just been turned upside down. Every time I watch the trailer I tear up, wishing I could watch it for the first time again.
I personally really enjoy these types of videos. Seeing what films really affected people really speaks on who they are or what they’ve been through. I would be totally happy if you did more videos like this in the future.
Thanks Aspen
Thanks for this great brief collection of reviews! Definitely please do a part 2 (or an open-ended series!) because your background and grasp of the language of cinema makes these every bit as educational as they are entertaining!
Fight Club has been my favorite movie for over 20 years. It transcends film into a modern philosophy lesson that amazingly becomes more and more relevant as time goes on, and the world grows more and more twisted.
I 100% agree with you on A Ghost Story. That one and Joker are to date the only two movies that have hit me in such a deep, raw and personal place that I couldn't cry and just needed to process the emotions they brought out in me.
The very end of A Ghost Story is just... I think I have mentioned before how the ending made me gasp out loud and then I just felt the grief so heavily that I curled up in my bed and stayed there until my body was ready to move on from that gut punch.
With Joker it was just everything. I talked to one of my friends about it recently and she had had the same experience as me. It truly was a movie for people who have been hurting and struggling and dealt with intense loneliness. It hit me so hard because I felt like this movie understood me. My friend said that when she watched it she was like: omg this movie gets me.
I thought it was so empowering too because it forced me to face my lowest point in life once again through this other character and while he gave in to the hurt he experienced I had managed to pull through it. Joker was like watching what could have happened if I hadn't been stronger. My friend said the same thing. I don't think this movie will ever leave me. Took me two to three days after watching it the first time before I broke down bawling my eyes out. Couldn't stop. Just cried and cried and cried. Man it hit some deep shit in the soul.
YES to a part 2. I 100% agree that Compliance was a big life changer for me. It taught me not to trust everything that people say. I LOVE Blue is the Warmest Color, but if I had to pick one film that really helped me find my sexuality, it'd be High Art. Such a beautiful film.
I don't know if a movie has ever changed my life.
But some movies that completely moved me and which I have never forgotten:
- City Lights (Charlie Chaplin)
- Elephant Man
- Field of Dreams
- The Shawshank Redemption
- Contact
- It's a wonderful life
Some movies that disturbed me and I have never forgotten:
- Goodfella's
- Elephant Man
- Bone Tomahawk
- Under the skin
- Blue Velvet
- The Blair Witch Project
"Lilja 4-ever" is one of the most emotional and depressing films I've ever seen and of course I like Rammstein !!
The Perks of Being a Wallflower for me. My all time favorite movie. I have never felt so emotionally connected to a film and its characters before. I genuinely felt an attachment to the three leads and every time I watch it, I never want it to end because I don’t want to leave them. It sounds weird, but it’s a film that makes me not feel so alone. Plus it’s just such a beautiful film with beautiful performances.
I watched Compliance back to back with Killer Joe several times in the theater. Those are both crazy films.
It’s also good to hear some more love for Scott’s film.
Instructions Not Included is a big one for me. Not many films put you on a roller coaster of almost every emotion like that film does.
I havent seen Killer Joe, thanks for the recommendations.
FIght Club: I remember in high school, I was 18, being given an assignment in English class where I had to give a presentation and pick a clip that demonstrates a hard shift in narrative.
And it can only be 60 seconds because 3 students were presenting that day
I chose Fight Club and picked the scene where we find out Tyler isn’t real.
I showed the clip, and it has Marla getting railed, and Jack on top of a skyscraper committing terrorism yelling “You’re not you’re Job!”
And then I had to awkwardly explain how that movie affected me. To my surprise, no one in the class had seen it, and the teacher was like.. well we have some extra time before the bell... I was going to let you guys can pick which of the three we can keep watching til then, but we’re gonna keep watching Remember the Titans.
I remember thinking “I thought we’re all adults here! How have NONE of you seen Fight Club?”
And yeah I think was the point where I realized that my tribe of people was not in this high school but out there somewhere, which probably eventually led me here as a UA-camr years later.
Thanks for sharing 😊
Eternal Sunshine of the spotless mind
Antchrist and David Lynch stuff really struck a chord with me
The House That Jack Built;
Jacob's Ladder (1990);
Hereditary;
The Autopsy of Jane Doe;
The Vanishing;
The Babadook;
They Live;
Get Out;
The Shinning;
Taxi Driver;
Christine;
The Shawshank Redemption;
The Thing (1982);
Fight Club (obviously).
@evilangel7769 well, my mother is very sick mentally. Christine was my first horror movie ever, I must have watched it +100 times and the Plymouth Fury still induces more fear than most horrors out there. And The Autopsy Of Jane Doe is because I work at a morgue and to this day, every time I step my foot at work, this movie floods my mind.
I would have to say ‘Radio - 2003’ severely changed my life. I was always raised and still believe that you need to treat everyone with respect and dignity, regardless of who they are. Unfortunately, I went to school with kids that were always picking on the mentally disabled and that always broke my heart. It made me feel like I was them for a moment and I hated myself sometimes because I was “normal”. I could never fully be in their position to understand but I always try to.
Thanks for opening up about the films that changed your life Emma. A few that really affected me: Jack the Giant Killer (1962) hallucinogenic imagery that has returned to me over and over through out my life. Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) completely changed my aesthetics. Taxi Driver (1976) long long story. The Elephant Man (1980) I probably don't have to explain this one to you. Tarkovsky's Andrei Rublev & Stalker, changed my vision of art and the world. Martyrs is probably the 21st Century film that meant the most to me. And I could go on and on. But I think those are the big ones. YES! Part two & three!
Taxi Driver absolutely! I had such a huge crush on Robert DeNiro as a teenager, such a beautiful man in the 70s and 80s, but beyond aesthetics this was probably my most meaningful movie as a teenager.
Im new to the channel and I found this video and it really hit me the movie that really hits me the hardest is Roberto Benigni's Life Is Beautiful the movie is about a father and son in a concentration camp. Determined to shelter his son from the horrors of his surroundings, Guido convinces Giosue that their time in the camp is merely a game. And till the moment before his death Guido has a smile on his face and tries to keep his son in the dark of whats going on. As a single dad I use Guido as a becon to try and reach as a father
Inside out I loved how it showed emotions in a way anyone can understand and I gets me every time and reminds me to not push my emotions away.
There are some rare moments, you watched a movie and the world will never be the same.
First movie that changed and started my love for movies was in 1978, I was a little 8 year old boy and STAR WARS on the big screen was my first and longest love of my life. The original trilogy is part of my DNA.
Alessandro Jodorowski’s SANTA SANGRE was one with the biggest impact as an as an adult: When you smell the blood of the dying elephant, Jodorowski infected your mind, it's like a LSD trip.
MELANCHOLIE DER ENGEL by Marian Dora is another life-changing experiment. The title says it all: The angels melancholy - disturbing and beautiful at the same time. This piece of art is mindblowing.
The newest movie of little list is by far the most extreme movie experience of my life. Me and my girlfriend watched MARTYRS without knowing anything about of it. We love Horror, but the kick in your stomach was to much, normally we talks about the movie. After MARTYRS: No talking, just silence… I've never had such a feeling: disturbed, depressed, overwhelmed that we just watched the best movie of all time!! Pascal Laugier made the ultimate Horror Movie and changed the world forever.
To be honest i feel that serials often inspire me much more and also changed my view on certain things much more then most movies could. Things like The Wire or True Detectives or even Breaking Bad had very interesting perspectives on crime, guilt, responsibility, etc.
Inside Out for me too. In childhood, all her memories are one color. One emotion. Made me realize that part of becoming an adult was experiencing emotion as something mixed, like at the end of the movie, when her memories change. Made me accept a lot of things I didn't want to accept about adulthood, but ultimately made me better. So damn deep for a Pixar movie. x
Don't ever regret putting stuff like this out, and don't feel embarrassed, we all appreciate this a lot and love your content. Keep up the amazing work!
Thank you
I adore this video, I've never thought about this as a topic of discussion before. I've heard favourite movies, worst movies, technically brilliant films. But never ones that changed me.
Maybe I'll come back and share one when I have the brain capacity to put it into words.
But thank you for this video, it's given me a lot to think about
Great great topic and happy you shared your inner journey through pictures. A lot of titles are on my 'to-watch list'. "Palindromes" I haven't seen. "Found" has been on my queue. "A Ghost Story" is wonderful. That's actually when I got hooked onto your channel when you shared how much of an impact it made on you, because there's many UA-camrs out there who review horror movies etc, but it was refreshing to see the sincerity and authenticity you were sharing with the cosmos. It meant something!
"Fight Club" punctuated my coming-of-age teen angst (my conscious fallout with Catholicism in which I was raised into, family divorce, living in a post-9/11 world, and an overall existential crisis of 'what's my meaning vs. what's expected of me') with unseen self-actualization. "Fight Club" and Chuck Palahniuk's work ("Choke", "Invisible Monsters", and "Haunted" really come to mind) was 'life', was my second wind with finding myself. "Bowling for Columbine" also was a cousin to this sphere for me.
As a kid: "Edward Scissorhands" taught me 'don't judge a book by its cover' while also feeling empowerment for being 'me' someone who always felt different in school, and "Terminator 2: Judgment Day" was like a fantasy of having the dad I didn't have growing up (he was lost in alcoholism) while also getting some sort of validation that hey despite your upbringing (John Connor's turbulent past) you could be destined for greater things ala 'the future is not written'.
During my teens: "Leon: The Professional" struck a cord where 'it's better to get hurt because you have something to lose than to go through a pacified life having not gained anything', and "Girl, Interrupted" as well as "Magnolia" reflected the whole 'what does it mean to be living' inner dialogue that I found myself relating to the mosaic of characters.
They're all films I'd 'live in' and can't count how many times I'd replay them. Just felt like 'this is where I am right now, this is the world as I see it'. Nowadays, since I've integrated more as an active filmmaker, I re-watch movies that serve a certain tone/theme I'm currently writing/developing etc. Would have to meditate on if there's a title that I re-visit countlessly. Hmm!
Fear and loathing. A french film set in japan about a japanese speaking french woman who gets a job at an office. I was working a very underwhelming job at the time and absolutely sobbed while watching this.
The Edge of seventeen, that movie made me realize how I have to behave with my family, at the time I saw hit I was always fighting with my brother so it really touched me, and it is also a pretty funny movie.
Other movies: Hereditary and Jurasic park, I bought a lot of dinosaurs books when i was a llittle boy because I was obsessed for dinosaurs. (I hope my english is correct)
A movie that changed my life is “Edge Of Seventeen” It showed me that it’s ok to be yourself. Even if friends and family don’t accept you. It made me accept my sexuality and gave me the courage to come out to everyone after I watched it. It’s the reason why I now live my truth unapologetically.
Fight Club is what did for me. When I was 10 years old I watched the movie alone. It literally changed my whole perspective on life. But most importantly this movie followed throughout my youth reminding me of the nature of being a male around other males. In the beginning I was very intrigued by the whole consumerism existentialism and the "We live in a society" concepts, but I'm older now, I now know a lot more about politics and the world, so those things don't really move me anymore. But I still watch this movie often.
Apologies for the length but I'm passionate about this one:
At a young age in the 90's, I saw this film and it made me rethink the world around me; that life cannot be taken for granted and yet, nor should one shy away from the opportunities that will alter who you are as a person, for that is how we all grow. It taught me to learn how to trust, and yet not be too trusting. To embrace friendships and loved ones wholeheartedly, for good or ill, and not sacrifice them needlessly to a baseless cause. It taught me this and that life doesn't always work out the way you plan it, but no matter what hardships you face, there are rewards, and others who will support you even when all seems lost. It was movie where gods walked among men, journeys were taken and fully realized; a movie with thrills, laughs and genuine emotions. You might say it was The Greatest Adventure of All Time.
(Dragonheart theme intensifies)
I truly believe that this is one of those rare films with universal appeal, and with an undying legacy that has absolutely stood the test of time, and will continue to do so long after imitations fade into obscurity.
The movie in question is, of course:
Wayne's World.
Thanks so much for sharing this with us. I would love to see part two! I've only seen Fight Club on this list. I would say that the movie that most changed me is Secretary 2002. I just identify we everything about it. It's about finding love and acceptance where you're at right now and personal growth through that support. I just love everything about it.
Children of Men really effected me in a visceral way seeing it by myself in a small cinema with no expectation. I don't think I'd felt so immersed in a different world before, I was staggered by the technical achievement but also I was moved by it. There's so many great experiences I can recall though. Man, I just love movies so much.
Call Me by Your Name. I saw it after breaking up with my partner of 4 years. Not only is it a beautiful, sweet, tender film, but it also encouraged me to embrace all of my emotions surrounding love-- even the sad ones. It emphasizes that just because someone is no longer in your life, it doesn't mean that you didn't profoundly impact each other. The father's monologue at the end made me feel so validated. The very last shot of Elio at the fireplace, crying, but eventually looking content and grateful, made me feel so much hope.
OMG I still need to watch this one! I don't know if I'll ever be ready!
movies that changed my life: a little princess (literally my childhood and the cinematography!!!), the virgin suicides (this was seriously a film that made me appreciate COLORS and editing), pride and prejudice (just pure goodness and gorgeousness and loveliness), the social network (this film was just SO SO SURPRISING!), prisoners (every scene took my breath away...one of the most amazing films ever!), gone girl (this film is just pure perfection...i adore amy dunne as a character!),
as far as horror: the ring, signs, sixth sense, scream franchise!!! all so good!
I had to digest your video. Your topic really got me thinking. I have struggled with drug addiction my whole life. I have been a "sober man" for 22 years. On a dark melancholy day as I was feeling sorry about myself and my f-up situation and felt beyond hope. The film "Ben-Hur"
1959 ‧ Drama/Historical period drama ‧ 3h 44m aired on TV. This film touched me emotionally and had such a profound impact that summer day . After watching this masterpiece of Cinema. I was compelled to change my life and to get my act together and sober the hell up. Thanks for the memory cue. Peace, Rob
thank you for sharing Rob x
3 years late, but... while I was watching your video I was thinking what movies could make this list for me, and Pink Flamingos came to my mind, and then you read that comment, it's strange cause for me it wasn't the disturbing aspects of it (althought it was for sure the first movie that extreme that I watched), I was 18 and I became obsessed with Divine, it's an icon and I still love her/him today, one of those people that you just wish you'd met in your lifetime... anyway, so this movie was the first one of her and John Waters that I saw, and it's so special to me. I have a poster since then that I've put in my door (outside) in every room that I've lived in. It's so strange to me to see that movie in every "disturbing movie iceberg" video or thing like that, cause although I know it's INSANE and probably it deserve that place, it's so different in my mind. Anyway, it was always about Divine and her powerful powerful presence, being unapologetically you. So much to say about this movie I guess hahah. Love all your videos Emma!
Emma, I watched Compliance (2012) right after this video. I knew nothing about the film or about the events that inspired it. When I see "based on true events" I was rolling my eyes and even flicking off the film during many scenes. Turns out, it was all more true than my mind can accept. If I had court documents in my hand I still wouldn't believe it.
Sometimes things are too awful to believe
The Babadook change me so much. So deep and dark, it showed me how dark depression is and how to let go of things. It is also why im so into psychological horror
Such a good movie. The metaphors are more powerful to me than any gore or monster could be.
It was really tough to choose, movies have been such a huge part of my life and such an amazing way to connect with my family. But I think the movie that hit me the most and it had me sobbing uncontrollably for a while was The Fall (2006). I've been suicidal for most of my life so this movie hit me like a sledgehammer and I deeply related to the character of Roy. On having such a wonderful imagination and fantastic creations in your mind but how you just want it to end, how you lash out and resent others for loving you and not wanting to let you go despite how desperately you want to go. In the end, you hold on, live for others while you find a way to live for yourself and be at peace with yourself.
Thank you for sharing this, it really reflects how movies go so much deeper than just entertainment for a couple of hours.
Thank you so much for this comment. I hope you are doing better x
So I checked out Compliance, because it had such an impact on you Em... Far out. I'm shaken to the core. So it took me three sittings to watch it all, i kept getting up and walking away in frustration, rage, and sheer helplessness. I knows its 'just a movie' but fuck, i love horror, however this one really got to me. Its brilliant, unbelievable, and shockingly yes it can and does happen. I think thats why it resonates. We all believe we would never fall for such insanity, but would we question the obvious in the face of 'authority'?
Lucky, i checked out your other recommendation, Extra Ordinary. An antidote if there ever was one!!!
That all said, thanks Emma, for sharing a couple of movies that knocked it out the park. :)
"The passenger" with Jach Nicholson (the search for identity), "Synecdoche New York". There is something also something very special about the movies by Alexander Payne, especially the endings. Like the endings to About Schmidt, Sideways and Downsizing taught me so much about being a human.
Ah man i love cinema... For me Arrival, that movie absolutely stunned me! Also i think the pie scene in a ghost story is one of the most relatable moments ive ever watched
Emma I really did enjoy your personal movies video I think it's neat that you make a video like this you have no reason to be embarrassed by it, just proves your real and not fake and I like that.
Thanks Katie
mysterious skin, happiness, black christmas (1974), let the right one in, and videodrome probably impacted me the most. mysterious skin at the very top of that list for a good reason, never once have i seen trauma depicted as well and as accurately as it is in mysterious skin and that's probably the first movie i ever saw that connected to me on a very personal level.
I’d def love to see a Part 2. Movies are powerful!!!
I don't think any movie has ever hit me as hard as Bright Star (2009). I spent more than 24 hours crying on and off after watching that movie. It's beautifully filmed and beautifully acted, and I've never seen love and grief depicted in such an understated yet powerful way before. It's definitely a movie that will remind you to treasure every moment you have with your loved ones. Moonlight (2016) is another movie that just completely blew me away and continues to influence my worldview in a major way.
Wow thanks for recommending Bright Star, I’ve never heard of it
Great video, Emma! The movies that changed me might sound pretentious, but they are what they are. Ingmar Bergman's Persona is the first movie that REALLY made me think, I just couldn't get it out of my head and I had to read a lot about it, investigate and overthink in order to decide what had happened and what it meant. Michael Haneke's The Piano Teacher showed me the difference between "commercial" movies that make you THINK something's wrong, as opposed to art-house movies that make you FEEL unnerved, uncomfortable and restless. Jessica Hausner's Lovely Rita showed me there was a different kind of movies, those that don't have a soundtrack and many dialogues, those that don't explain themselves. Clive Barker's Hellraiser made me enjoy horror movies, because as a child I was too scared of them and didn't like them. And I think that's it.
“The Deer Hunter” and “Coming Home” Are, Perhaps in the truest sense. Horror masterpieces
Would love to see a second part of this video. Thank you sharing with us what movies have changed your life. This was amazing to watch. x
Thanks Steph
The Rocky Horror Picture Show was my first venture into something that was so open in sexuality and identity. I had already known I was at least bi-sexual but I had never watched a movie where people were so unapologetic and free about who they are or wanted to be. I was about 13 years old and my 12 year old friend showed it to me. That was around the time I started to embrace my feminine side a lot more and stopped caring so much about trying to fit into a box. I started to seek out similar things which led me to Hedwig and other LGBTQ movies. This was in 2001 or so and representation in the mainstream was pretty much non existent. I was pretty taken back to see something from the 70's that was so proud!
Thanks for sharing, I vote yes on a part 2.
There are lots of films I could list that have had a strong impact on me, but when it comes to that "one film that you feel is about you", that would be THE BODYGUARD (1980). When I saw this film on television, I was the same age as the lead character Cliff (sophomore in high school). After being tormented by a gang of bullies every day (again, my sophomore life) and getting no help from his disinterested parents (ditto), Cliff asks this older kid (who's a loner with a dark secret) for help. It's a bit dated now, but it felt like high school to me at the time and the idea of a bodyguard to help keep bullies off my back was such a cool premise. Even better when Cliff learns to face the lead bully himself at the end.
Not gonna lie hearing you where a outcast made me feel sorry for you. It shocked me to hear someone as awesome and pretty as you was a outcast. Glad you found your outlet and comfort zone in movies. And im glad things turned out well for you in the end. I would hug you if i could
I'ts mindblowing that compliance actually happend for real
🤯🤯🤯
I don't comment much but I watch all of your videos and you always raise such good points. You also make me think of a lot of stuff in different ways. Totally agree on A ghost story, it made me feel so much!
Thanks Monica
Loved this vid! Definitely would love to see a part 2 if you get a chance! I would say Donnie Darko, The Perks of Being a Wallflower and Call Me By Your Name are films that have changed my outlook on certain things, each in a completely different way!
Thanks for sharing Adam. I still need to see Call Me by Your Name!
The part where you talked about never being able to fit in the class, I had the exact same experience and feeling when I was a teenager, realizing I was probably very different. The movie that changed me and determined my passion for cinema is James Cameron's Aliens. I watched it on TV when I was 13 and I was amazed by how good the movie was. I felt I wanted to share it with everyone in the world that this is the best movie I saw. My movie geek life started and never ceased since then.
Most of my life-changing movies I saw during my late teens/early twenties. I think it's such a vulnerable point in your life, looking for hope and validation and comfort wherever you can find it. Here's a few...not exactly favorites, but still have a deep place in my heart for how they made me see myself, life, and film differently:
The Hours
Minority Report
The Fall
Stranger Than Fiction
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Garden State
A film that I watched last year that has stuck with me everyday since is Paprika, after watching Inception and enjoying the premise but finding it too much of a good film rather than an impactful story (it’s hard to explain) when I heard it was very much like the anime thriller paprika in premise I had to check it out and oh boy was it a ride. I think because I watched it alone in the dark it made it that much more intense, it felt like I was literally watching a dream, I have lucid dreams a lot and this film was so reminiscent of the fear and uncontrollability of dreams. It’s incredible, eerie and full of mind numbing actions. I will truly never forget it.
One of my absolute favourites! RIP Satoshi Kon 🖤.
I love this! Thank you so much for sharing! Do a part two! I had a similar experience with watching Palindromes as a teenager.
Thank you Daisy!
Thank you for sharing your personal opinions on these movies Emma. I hope you make a part 2!
Yay, Fight Club! One of my all-time favorites. It was a film I knew next to nothing about and thought I wouldn't like...within a year I could probably quote it from memory. Also, thumbs-up to whoever mentioned Heavenly Creatures, the film that proved that love conquering all is not necessarily a good thing. That ending is positively gut-wrenching. I suppose mine would have to be the original Star Wars. It made me want to be a filmmaker...finally getting around to that.
For me these would be the following films that have changed my life: A clockwork Orange, Donnie darko, Ghostbusters, Back to the future, Jacob's ladder, Labyrinth, Batman the dark knight, Joker, Parasite, The house that Jack built, Hereditary, It, Halloween, Who framed Roger rabbit, Get out, The cabinet of dr caligari Eraserhead,etc. But number 1 would probably be The Shining for me.
The first film I remember seeing that could be called 'disturbing' was David Lynch's Blue Velvet. I've been a huge fan of 'disturbing' cinema ever since. Emma, of course we want to see part 2! It is so endearing when you open up.
Blue Velvet is a strangeeee movie. But that's Lynch!
There are several I could mention, but Ginger Snaps is the first one that comes to mind. I saw that movie at a dark time during my first semester at college, and it kind of helped inspire me to choose life over self-destruction. Bright Lights, Big City is an underrated Michael J. Fox movie that had a similar effect on me.
I love that you brought up Compliance. I watched in on a whim one day and it disturbed me badly.
I'd have to give my pick a long thought, too many have changed me.
I'd love to see a part 2! This is one of my favorite videos you've done. 💜
The Shawshank Redemption was the first movie that truly changed me and made me see the art of film. Since then, I've had visceral reactions to a lot of movies but I'll never forget leaving the theater after Birdman and Hereditary. Birdman spoke to me so much as a film-lover and Hereditary just instantly became my favorite horror movie. It also came out on my birthday, so it was like A24's special gift for me lol
Part 2 would be awesome. Probably A Clockwork Orange.
Fun flick....Motel Hell. Lol My kids and I love watching it and just giggling at the gory silliness. Happy Wednesday Emma from Minnesota in The States! :)
- Anaconda and Species are two horror movies I watched constantly at the age of 6 and forward whenever I went to my grandma's place, because my parents wouldn't let me watch horror, but I was so fascinated by the genre, so those two movies really got me into it, so while they are maybe considered "bad" movies, I have to include them for getting me into horror.
- Titanic. This is so dumb, but it was the first movie that ever had a real effect on me, like I couldn't even finish it the first time (granted I was like 8 at the time), because I knew it was based on true events, and it got to me. To this day though, I've seen it well over 100 times, and I still love it.
- Hereditary. Never in my life have I been so shaken up by a horror movie. Like the movie would not leave my head for 4 fucking days after watching it. All I could do was rewatch it or read theories about it. I was so deep into the lore and the story. It takes a lot to rattle me, but this one did it.
- IT: Chapter 2. Yes yes yes, I know. This is not a perfect movie, it is flawed, I have lots of problems with it. But I watched the miniseries as a kid, and I adored the hell out of the first chapter, like loved it to death. I fell in love with these characters, which is this movie's strength. The entire week up until its release I was tense, because I knew what was going to happen, I knew the basics, and when you love the characters so much, it is a fucking devastating movie to see. I have legit never cried so hard at a movie before. I was a wreck, and even now, I can't make it through the ending without shedding tears.
As a teen, the film Giant Little Ones, impacted me on a emotional level. Some others are American History X and American Beauty
Spring Awakening- its a musical but it really changed me and helped me understand that there will always be powers greater than ourselves fighting against us. It's extremely emotional and not scary at all, but the way it dealt with one characters suicide really affected me emotionally, first time I experienced this musical I had to go to the bathroom to audibly bawl.