28 Movies That Shocked Us By How Unexpectedly Dark They Were

“It was listed as a comedy on Netflix, the trailer showed some funny parts. It is about how the Mary Poppins movie was made. Spoiler alert – this movie is dark. The author’s father drank himself to death, her mother had a nervous breakdown. The author wanted to still protect her father in Disney’s interpretation of the books. It was stressful to watch.”

—dellarock

“P.L. Travers had a tragic childhood.”

—abigailh45f5949f6

“I thought it was gonna be a fun college movie about well you know spring break. Then it turned into a crime movie and I was so confused.”

—annaparis16

“Based on the poster and the trailer, I thought it would be about a poor guy who won Who Wants To Be A Millionaire and used his winnings to reunite with his childhood sweetheart with a few cute flashbacks thrown in. It was an amazing watch, I just wasn’t expecting so murder and child trafficking from a film advertised as ‘feel-good.'”

–hanifahrahman

“I had no idea what it was about and thought it was a feel-good teen movie like The Breakfast Club or Clueless. I was wrong.

—foureyedshark

“I went in knowing the premise and that it was a ‘dark comedy’, but I didn’t realise HOW dark it was going to be. I stopped watching after the first death because it was too uncomfortable.”

—acrombleholme

“All I knew about it was that it starred Adam Sandler and Jonah Hill and it was about comedians. I remember feeling so sad after! What a downer!”

—putter3494

“I was blindsided by how dark that got. I saw Adam Sandler and assumed comedy…”

—2Recalcitrant4U

“Can we talk about Click? Because I’ve been dying to talk about Click. Most particularly how Adam Sandler DIES after a horrific existential crisis that he entirely brought upon himself. This movie woke up and chose violence.”

—jconway

“It was advertised just like all Sandler’s other film, lighthearted comedy, but OH MY GOD! It got dark FAST and had me and my entire family bawling! So so so sad!”

—that1girlthatmightnotbehuman

“I went into the theater expending a silly Lindsay Lohan movie and gasped when it got darker. It’s one of my favourites though!”

—hmmfeed

“Honestly, I never thought it would escalate so quickly…”

—sillyme1129

“Parasite. Just…Parasite man.”

—m4d4e02be6

“Oddly enough, Magic Mike. I thought it was going to be stupid-fun like the sequel was, but oof.”

—butterbear33

“I fully expected the plot to centre around how exciting it was to watch Channing Tatum and Matthew McConaughey grind onstage, but it turned out to be quite dark.”

—s44cec4721

“I didn’t read anything about the plot so I assumed it was some kind of biopic about Ma Rainey’s life, but there was so much drama! I wasn’t expecting it to be lighthearted, and I knew it would be emotional seeing Chadwick Boseman’s last performance, but the second half had me speechless.”

–hanifahrahman

“I thought it was going to be a cute, romantic, and retro coming of age movie. But, I was an emotional wreck after Vada’s best friend and first crush Thomas J. died. I couldn’t watch that movie more than a couple of times.”

—ilovemycatskittle

“I took my daughter to see it when it came out. A birthday party for a five-year old-had rented half the theatre we were in. Midway through the part with Carl and his wife, my kid was bawling and I heard a little voice from the party side say ‘Mommy, you said this movie was going to be funny.’ Every kid was sobbing.”

—eclecticladyland

“Not just the first 10 minutes either, but Russell’s home life, the evil corporations, etc.

—ellesevensten

“My then-boyfriend picked me up and took me to his house so we could watch what I thought was a fun and ultimately uplifting sports movie about a scrappy female boxer. That was the quietest drive home we ever had.”

—amlysl

“It was so unexpectedly dark. I went into it thinking it would be a Mamma Mia type movie, especially with the Abba music used in it, but it was absolutely devastating. There was suicide, chronic illness, loneliness, bullying, toxic family environments, manipulation, and more. Totally not the happy, finding-yourself-and-making-lifelong-friendships movie I thought it was going to be.”

—slee0152

“From what I read it sounded like it was about a young girl becoming a baker’s assistant to help provide for her family; you know, a little sad cause of the circumstance but still lighthearted with a hopeful message. I was dead wrong. It’s a great movie but not at all what I thought it was going to be and not one I’ll watch again.”

—justchillman

“I went in with no expectations and when Miguel kept talking about Ernesto I thought for sure he will be his great grandfather and that’s it. And then I remember feeling smug that I thought I was right from the beginning and then it got dark real fast when Hector’s old friend vanished. By the end of the movie I was crying and it took me a few minutes to compose myself and get out of my seat.

—diyanahj

“I thought it was going to be fun and romantic. It started off that way but then you find out about what happened to Tom, and then the rest is just sad.”

—shamu109

“I was devastated and I won’t let anyone I know watch it without telling them to grab some tissues 😭😭😭”

—sabrinaam

Saturday Night Fever. Thought it was just a dancing movie about the disco. Nope. Themes of misogyny, rape, loss of faith, suicide. Very heavy movie, with a kick-ass soundtrack.

—smileyk

“When I saw it was written by Diablo Cody, who also wrote Juno, I thought it’d be a kind of light-hearted and would remind me of Juno. It did NOT remind me of Juno and got super dark super fast!”

—melissaw4c75d8be8

“The trailer definitely made it look like a comedy. And it was written by Diablo Cody, so I figured I was in for some fast-paced wit. NOPE!”

—clairebsaenz

“Based on the title and the fact that Carol Burnett, Fred Armisen, and Auli’i Cravalho are in it, I thought this was a musical comedy. It’s actually about a teenager whose homeless with her mother and over the movie, things go from bad to worse. I was not prepared and cried four or five times.”

—erinb41a06d89a

“I thought: Susan Sarandon and Julia Roberts being funny? Awesome!!! Mom dying of cancer? WTF?!? There were guys in the movie theatre on dates.”

—lbcoburn

“I assumed it would be about a piano player, and like, his spirit friend, but it was about the meaning of life and basically existence! It wasn’t necessarily ‘dark’ in a bad way, just kind of more than expected.”

—rosewaterbubbles

“This movie was so much sadder than I expected it to be for being marketed as a comedy.”

—cdpatterson92

“The ending absolutely wrecked me. I was sitting for like ten minutes after the credits were rolling just straight sobbing. People were tryna get past, and let me tell you, I was DISTRAUGHT.”

—maggpie87

“It looked like an adorable Kaiju-themed romcom about a woman learning responsibility, but is actually a psychological thriller tackling misogyny and abusive relationships. Did not see it coming at all, but so harrowing in the second half.”

—inconceivableian

“I watched it on a plane. Was totally labelled ‘comedy’. It. Was. Not.”

—fanosaurusrex

“I went in expecting a fun teen superhero hero film and certainly did not expect the level of blood and gore in it! I was watching behind my hands for so much of it.”

—kathrynr4af7577c5

“Was expecting a lighthearted family holiday comedy. Not quite!”

—erinbrewster

“It’s a Christmas movie, but I feel like it’s anything but a Christmas movie.”

—tracy110302

“I took my friend to see it when it came out, a few weeks after her father died. The trailer looked so cute and fun but the end is so tragic!”

—karas4e071572a

“I put it on the other day for my 1-year-old, expecting something fun and bright with lots of music. Those moments were there, too, but stuff like the seal chase and religious extremism were super creepy. Then towards the end where Mumble is caught and kept in captivity to the point of almost losing his mind was very unsettling, considering what I expected.

—davesbrokenleg

“That shit gets real, quickly.”

—amyjaz